Parenting Publications of America Awards
Gold: Interior Magazine Illustration

client: Child, Copeland Publications, Sydney.
title: Do Special Needs Children Require Special Schools?

Australian illustrator Gregory Baldwin was recently asked to create four illustrations for two articles on the complexities of finding the right school for a child with a disability. One article was from a viewpoint of a parent and the other from a principal.

After reading the article and producing a series of roughs for the client, the four images were chosen. The first picks up on the theme of finding the school with the right fit for a child with a disability. As the narrator and her son actually measure the school, Gregory inserted a Butterfly. A Butterfly is a metaphor for transformation. Here the transformation is in the possibilities that the right education can achieve for the child. Gregory feels it creates an emotional bond or link between the mother and child.

The next image was to illustrate the break out .

“Parents need to feel included too. Parents of kids with disabilities find they are not welcomed by all at their local school.”

A Butterfly here distracts the child from the worries of the mother, who feels she is not included in the school community.

The third image reflects the principal’s view of how the right school can turn around and improve the possibilities that a child with disabilities has. Here Gregory uses the Butterfly motif to show the transformation metaphor by giving the children butterfly wings.

The final image accompanies a break-out quote that encourages parents to look beyond their local school to find the right one that welcomes a child with particular special needs.

Categories: General illustration news