Target Audience Market Research
Last weekend I decided to do some market research on the types of books that are being marketed at my target audience. This is the selection that was available in the Easons bookshop on Shop Street in Galway city. I was surprised and pleased to see that older book series like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Skullduggery Pleasant were still on the shelves. In initial review of the books on display, I was disappointed to not see any Irish based contributions, until I turned down an adjoining aisle.
They had a dedicated Irish culture section! There were a couple of different books covering Irish mythology I was pleased to see and also some books which were in Irish. There were some examples of more modern Irish creative endeavours including Mark Joyce's book about Irish mythical monsters, and some work by Irish Illustrator Fatti Burke.
After review of other market research of Irish children's books on mythology, I have decided that I will be staying away from a book as an output. There are already a number of books on this topic and I think that my efforts would be better spent creating an alternative output. However this trip was helpful in understanding what style of designs are being marketed to my target audience and that has been extremely insightful.
Illustration Style sketches and Creative Approaches
I had a pretty tough week and so did not make as much headway with the style of my illustrations or to advance my creative approaches very far. I have decided though that I will be staying away from a book format and am focusing more on creating an output relating to games as this is as an engaging and fun way of appealing to my target. This may be either a board game or card game. I'm hoping to make more progress with my creative pursuits in the coming week.
Project Reframe
In review of my interview with my aunt, I have decided it's best to reframe my project slightly. After re-listening to our interview, it is clear that the teaching of Irish mythology for children in schools in the last few years has improved and it may not be necessary as my location for an output. Instead I will be creating an output centered around teaching mythology in the home. I think it would be very effective as a family activity. I am also trying to develop a more physical output as opposed to a digital one. With this change in direction, I think it is necessary to change my teacher persona, and most likely I will update this to be a parent of my target audience. This will fit better with my new direction for the project.