Frank and the Frog 绘本 by Bence Meszaros is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 A' Design Award 银奖 in 平面、插画与视觉传达设计 Competition Category.

银平面· 2022

Frank and the Frog 绘本

by Bence Meszaros

Client: Bence Mészáros

A' Design Award 银奖 Winner in 平面 Category

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Colors

The Design

About Frank and the Frog 绘本

《弗兰克与青蛙》是一本关于失去与追忆的儿童绘本。故事讲述了小男孩弗兰克某天醒来后再也找不到自己的祖母，于是他离开家去寻找她，途中遇到了一只青蛙，青蛙成为他的朋友与帮手。旅程的终点，弗兰克看到祖母身处一个安全而宁静的地方，于是与她道别。全书共十二页插画，画面自左向右徐徐展开，对页之间以对比手法两两呼应。手绘线条与肌理经由数字方式进行构图与上色。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 银奖

Frank and the Frog 绘本是 A' Design Award 银奖得主，这是授予顶级、华美而令人印象深刻的设计的极为崇高的认可。银奖得主是极其卓越、极具创造力的作品，展现出其设计师杰出的专业技能、才华与敏锐。预计Frank and the Frog 绘本将成为一件出色的典范之作，兼具非凡的专业性与深刻的创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 银奖的设计是一项备受瞩目、令人钦佩的发明，造福并拓展艺术、科学、设计和技术的边界。Frank and the Frog 绘本是一件令人羡慕的创作，它唤起渴望，带来积极的情感，并激发惊叹与赞叹。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Frank and the Frog is designed to give an escape world to anybody who needs to find peace after losing a beloved one. The book tells the story of a little kid called Frank, who wakes up one day and can't find his Granny. Frank decides to leave his home to find Granny and bring her home. During his journey, he meets a frog, who becomes his friend and helps him through the adventures. In the end, Frank sees Granny is in a safe and peaceful place; he decides to say goodbye and let her go.
Dimensions & Packaging: Width 300 mm x Depth 15 mm x Height 300 mm
Tags: illustration, picturebook, children, book, bookdesign, childrenbook
Production Technology: Mixed media. Manual linework and textures, digitally composed and colourized.
Design Challenge: The hardest part was, of course, how to bring the topic of death into the picture book in a kid-friendly way. Another thing I had to consider during the development phase was that even though I always spend a lot of time thinking about death, I never had an intimate experience with it. So I wanted to be respectful with this topic.
Research: RESEARCH ABSTRACT**:
A big part of my research was to find the right mentor for Frank.
I was looking into different mythology characters, symbols, characters from my life, etc. When I find frogs, I immediately fall in love with the idea. I think they are visually exciting; frogs are travellers, and they can travel through lands, through the water. In the shaman culture, frogs as totem animals have the power of transformation and travelling between the human world and the spirit realm.
Inspiration: My main goal with this picture book was to tell a story and tackle a topic that is not that common in children's literature. A topic that was hard to understand when I was a kid and had me confused for a long time. The subject of death.
I am lucky to have all four of my grandparents alive and know them, but this is a rare phenomenon in my environment. Many people lose their grandparents during their childhood. The base idea comes from my childhood: I was always (and still am) scared of what would happen when my grandparent won't be here anymore.
Project Duration: The project started in June 2021 in Helsinki.
Operation Flow: This picturebook has 12 fully illustrated pages. All the pages have a left-to-right flow, leading the eyes of the reader to the next page. The spreadsheets next to each other are designed to pair up based on different contrasts: e.g., on one page, when the composition is complex, then on the next page, the layout is minimal, or when Franks is high up in the sky, on the next page he goes deep under the ocean.
Patents: Copyright 2022 by Bence Mészáros
Written by Barnabás Csukás, based on an original story by Bence Mészáros
Team Members: Designer, Illustrator: Bence Mészáros
Writer: Barnabás Csukás
Image Credits: Creator Bence Mészáros, Frank and the Frog