"This phenomenal book is a wonderful resource for children. It allows them to access images and discuss areas of concern with family, friends and staff to smooth the pathway for children on this long journey."
Stephen Marks, Consultant Paediatric Nephrologist, Great Ormond Street Hospital
Who are we?
We are a team of Kingston University academics, alumni and students who have come together to create an interactive book to help young children at Great Ormond Street Hospital through the difficult process of having a kidney transplant.
Georgina Potier Kingston University Illustration and Animation alumna
Jake Abrams Associate Professor Kingston University
Eiril Linge and Beth Madely current third year students from Illustration Animation BA at Kingston University who have created the animation for our crowdfunding campaign
our story
Georgina was born with multicystic kidneys and had her left kidney removed at Great Ormond Street when she was just six months old. She received a kidney transplant aged 7, and remained under the care of Great Ormond Street until she was 18. Her first transplant lasted 23 years, and she received a second transplant in December 2013.
She is an Illustrator and Graphic Designer with a degree in Illustration from Kingston University, and an MA in Communication Design from Central Saint Martins.
Georgina decided she wanted to use her health experiences and design skills to try and help children going through the difficult process of waiting for a kidney transplant. She got in touch with the team at Great Ormond Street and went up to meet Lyndsey Steele, a play specialist who tries to explain various procedures to children through play. Georgina decided to create a book that was child friendly and still informative - and most importantly, interactive so the children could make it their own.
Georgina has worked on the design and illustrations in this book with Jake Abrams, a Senior Professor in Communication Design at Kingston University who is very keen on using the process of design to explain difficult procedures to children.
Together with senior clinicians and consultants and play specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital over the last two years, we have created an interactive children's book called 'My new Kidney' with the premise the child can make it their own, going back for reference and adding to it throughout their journey to transplant, with pages explaining their care team, diet, medications etc.
what next
Georgina has already been told that this book should be in every paediatric kidney unit in the UK, and translated into many different languages. There is also great scope for expanding this format for use in other transplants as well as other complex health conditions. The team at Great Ormond Street believe in this book so much that they have generously donated £1000 to help us get it into production for them, and they are already connecting Georgina to other hospitals and teams across the UK.
HELP US!
Design and Development of the first prototype £3,000
We first started working on 'My new Kidney' two years ago. This has been a real labour of love and a long time in the making!
This involved face to face meetings with both staff and patients and their families at Great Ormond Street to identify the exact needs and requirements for the book so that it can be of most use to children.
We worked with senior academics at Kingston University to perfect the concept and design of the book and created a series of prototypes. We produced a bespoke hand printed typeface that would engage the young readers.
Animation £750
We chose a team of talented animators from the award winning Illustration Animation degree at Kingston University to create an engaging and quirky crowdfunding film to educate people about the important issues involved and retain the approachable aesthetics of the book.
The film can then be adapted to extend this idea to other hospitals across the UK and abroad.
It has been a great experience for the students to work on a real project with a sensitive subject matter, and to use the film to develop both their skills and portfolios for when they graduate Kingston University in 2019.
Printing and production £2,000
The initial production and printing will enable us to create a copy of the book for 150 pediatric renal patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Any further funding will give us the opportunity to adapt the design for other hospitals nationally and internationally in addition to printing more for Great Ormond Streets children.
Help us succeed!
You don't need to give money to help us succeed, but we would love it if you could! Please share this project with anyone you think would support us – on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram! Thank you!
