Tell me three tales - Be a digital artist

Studies in digital arts are the new creative discipline that, as 21st century technologies boom, has allowed discovering new ways of development within the artistic and creative processes of production and exhibition.  

In this new technological era, studies in digital arts are grounded in traditional fine arts training. Thanks to the incorporation of new technologies, digital arts studies cover a huge variety of subjects such as animation, graphic design, illustration, videogames... We have managed to create, through advanced digital tools, projects capable of developing more creative and inspiring works of art than ever before.   

During the 2021-2022 academic year, great projects were developed in the digital arts area of La Salle-URL. The students, three groups, created a series of children's stories edited and produced in collaboration with La Salle Centro Universitario de Madrid.   

The exhibition was held at the Joan Maragall library in Barcelona and the works were on display for a month.   

Discover this very special project!   

Tell me a bedtime story, or three

La Salle University Center Madrid and La Salle Campus Barcelona, join forces in a very special project, in collaboration with the students of the Degree in Early Childhood and Primary Education with mention in inclusive education (Madrid) and the Degree in Digital Arts (Barcelona).

The project "Tell me three stories" aims to develop children's stories using digital tools and pedagogical concepts during their production. A nice initiative that includes in its lines and illustrations specific reading and comprehension needs so that all children can enjoy them.

Creating stories that could be used by all children, including those with specific reading and comprehension needs, has been a concern that has always been present in us.”

- La Salle Madrid early childhood education student

The stories focused on educational themes such as empathy, respect and creativity, building stories accessible to all children. In total, more than 50 people between students and teachers participated in the project.

Development and implementation process

The stories were developed using digital illustration and visual storytelling tools to provide a greater experience for the youngest children.

The project was a great success, as the digital stories capture the attention of children and promote learning about educational topics in a fun and attractive way. In addition, "Tell me three stories" also contributed to developing students' skills in the field of digital arts and pedagogy.

The students work on the whole process, not only creating the illustration, but they are also in charge of the layout of the book, choosing the typography, adapting the texts...”

- Marta Comas, Digital Arts Degree coordinator

1. Presentation of the project – In this first phase, the coordinators of both centers met online with the students to elaborate the working groups and start the development at an organizational level.

2. Proposal of stories and illustrations- Here comes the brainstorming. The students, through joint video calls, choose their favorite idea structuring the story. Several sessions are dedicated to creating the story, until the final one is achieved. They create a storyboard, color palette and a large illustration for evaluation.

3. Text adaptation and illustration development– Students will translate the text into pictograms, to give visual support to children who need it, making it easier to read. In this phase, in parallel, the illustrations of all the pages of the story, front and back cover, are developed.

4. Layout and editing - The moment of truth. It is time to check the result of all the projects. Once the layout is done, the groups share the process of elaboration of the story and the result.

5. Publication and dissemination- Finally, the stories will be disseminated in the educational centers so that they can be used by families and educators.

Objectives

The objectives of the project were, from the beginning, elements related to pedagogy and early childhood education, including the artistic and infographics part of digital arts studies.

Deep down it's a goal they have: will we get to touch the book? The level of motivation is very positive.”

- Marta Comas, Digital Arts Degree coordinator

There were also objectives related to personal development and practical skills, i.e., knowing, knowing how to be and knowing how to do. The project can evaluate and assess the knowledge applied and acquired, allowing a greater understanding in the subjects of study.

It should be said that the main objective was to carry out an artistic project that would serve to contribute to the improvement of society, from an inclusive approach and accessible to all. In addition, all the tasks and actions of the project were carried out in a multidisciplinary team, favoring group work and exchange of ideas between students from Barcelona and Madrid.

The stories

The students in the project worked as a team to develop the stories, create the characters and design the illustrations.

A project that comes to light, that materializes and in which the level of motivation increases in the first-year students”

- Marta Comas, Digital Arts Degree coordinator

The result was as follows:

The Moon

- Fourth year Early Childhood Education grade students from La Salle Madrid wrote a poem called The Moon, using easy-to-understand language. Once the text was decided, the project was passed on to the first-year students of the Digital Arts degree at La Salle Campus Barcelona. After a brainstorming process, they decided on a concept based on visual metaphors that support the understanding of the text without falling into the obvious. To make the book more striking and interesting, they chose to use a different character for each line of the poem.

Text: María Torres Roselló y Noelia Santos Cabellos // Illustrations: Estefanía C. Campillo Sánchez, Jade Díaz Fábregas, Marc Duch Martí, Carmen Torruella Martínez 

Carlos the superhero

- The story project has been an interesting challenge for the members of our group. It has forced us to work with a professional mentality and adjust to the ways of working in the industry. In terms of character pre-production, each member completed their own design for the characters, which were then shared with the others, compared, and the best ones were chosen.

Text: Nuria Vázquez Fernández, Laura Martínez Cea y Jorge Martínez Jaramillo // Illustrations: Adriana Ezcurra Villalba, Georgia Harrison Jones, Iris Nogues Johansson // Lay out: Alba Gras Pérez 

Nico is mad

- Our intention was to transmit some didactic message to all the children who read the story, and from there came the story of Nico, a boy who is always angry, until one day he wakes up in an upside-down world where everyone is angry with him. The boy thus learns, receiving the same treatment he gave, that it is not pleasant for anyone to be angry with others, so he resolves never again to let himself be carried away by anger. The main objective of the story is to teach children that confronting things you don't like with anger will not do any good and will only cause pain to others.

Text: Barbara García García, Marlene Alonso González y Marta García Gómez // Illustrations: Duna Agustí Soldevila, Martina Pou i Teixidor, Judith Siles Vázquez, Alba Sunet Canet 

Studies and training - La Salle-URL

The Degree in Digital Arts is a university program that focuses on the use of technologies in the creation of art, ideas and designs. During the training, students learn skills directly related to illustration, digital drawing, lighting, interaction... Aiming to train people in the use of digital tools.

At La Salle-URLwe teach a Degree in Digital Arts so that our students acquire the necessary skills to become digital professionals mastering the most innovative technological tools for the development of digital artwork. Do you like art, design and digital tools?

This is your degree!