During my year-long stint at 4Cats, I was responsible for researching and writing course material and storybooks for 4Cats classes. I began with biographical and critical research into the artist, which I would gradually compile into a roughly 10,000-word curriculum detailing the artist's life, career, major works, humourous trivia and anecdotes. With the curriculum finalized and approved, I distilled the curriculum further into roughly 500-word storybooks to give children the broadest introduction to the artist.
With the books written, I passed the material to the head illustrator to create the images accompanying my words. I didn't have any input into the visual aspect of the creation, but our combined efforts resulted in published editions similar to the ones shown below. These can be found in 4Cats locations internationally.
When each book was done, I combined the visual assets with supplied voice recordings to create 5-minute Motion Storybooks, using minimalist After Effects animation and editing to bring the illustrator's visuals to life. The videos are only available to 4Cats customers, but I also created a number of trailers which 4Cats released online. Here are a few below!
Jean-Michel Basquiat – TRAILER from 4Cats Arts Studio on Vimeo.
Keith Haring – TRAILER from 4Cats Arts Studio on Vimeo.