Andrew Phelan Internship

This week I began my last task for this internship. A part of the design process for the Grade 3 textbook, which focuses on age of exploration and the European discovery of the Americas, is to design a vignette of the central figure for each chapter.

The vignettes are small, 2 inch by 2 inch illustrations that depict the figure during what is called an “anchor event”. In other words, the biggest moment of their life. For each figure an anchor event or events was provided along with a template for the illustration. Once the researchers, myself in this case, compile as much detail about the figure and their anchor event as possible, the filled-out template is set to a team of artists who will complete the illustration following a list of design guidelines.

This process began this week and will continue into next, which is where most of my work will actually be completed. During this week I met with my supervisor and her team to learn about this process and what it will entail. I was excited to hear about a new project so late in the summer, especially something that requires creativity. My first figure is Prince Henry the Navigator. His anchor event is the sponsorship of the voyage past Cape Bojador in 1434. This was a tricky event to start with because sponsorship of a voyage is not the most exciting image to try to depict. I started by finding out as much information about Prince Henry’s likeness as I could by using primary sources and depictions that are as close to his lifetime as possible. Then, I devised an image that I felt would capture the Prince’s importance and leadership to the voyage, despite his absence. I put this information on the provided template and submitted them to my supervisor for review.