Developing the design

With two potential materials in mind, I developed several designs which worked with the tree. I felt a single feature tree design would work best, but there was a need to develop a design for the surrounding areas. Working with natural images and shapes which encourage environmental consideration, I firstly developed a plant print from my original prints and drawings, using endangered plant species, painting directly onto paper with ink. However the feedback I got from the designs was that it was too stylised for children and needed to be simplified.

I used children’s book illustrations to help me simplify the designs but continued using endangered species as a subject, even if children don’t identify the endangered species, I feel it has potential to arouse conversation and interest in conservation between adults. I developed the tree to connect to a washing line so that the paper creates a 2d garden around the wall, which is more aesthetically balanced and creates more room to play and interact with the paper. The tree and washing line both should hold interchangeable children’s pictures and drawings. I decided on simple frame designs which enable the child to frame their own creations within the wallpaper, without cluttering the design.

I considered the magnetic paint called Magnetico, and experimented with it using it as an undercoat to be painted over, painting the washing line and tree as these are the intended interactive areas. I also experimented with felt, using it in the same areas and attaching connecting animals with a simple Velcro backing.  (pic of magnetico)

The areas which are not interactive I decided to screen printed as I feel this was most appropriate when considering small batch production, and the process itself  as it creates less environmental impact than conventional printing.