Brief 02 First idea

My first idea it's to work on an app which deal with the books, I don't know why, this subject interested me, maybe because I would like to have more literature knowledge.

Problem_

I want to start reading but I hardly know where to start. Indeed I don’t know much about literature but I am interested in becoming a booklover. However I don’t want to waste my money in the average books, I need advices from an human being.

Or how to get expensive books (art book) when you are student.

Solution_

_app to rent/lend our own books

For a booklover, the books are an essential part of their life. Books represent something precious for them. They can’t sell it but maybe they want to share it, to give a second life to their books.

They can subscribe on the app, and make their own profile. Which books they are and what they think about it. The app works with geolocation, that’s why the person who wants to begin a book know who and which book they’re able to rent/lend.

Also a book reader can be curious about what their neighbour think about a particular book

Limite number of the books (ten per genre) - only the best

Target_

New reader

Booklover

Feedback_

maybe chose type of book? 

choose genre

too many app/websites for book

people will be interesting in a favourite person-favourite book 

bookface 

date app, book the first thing to talk someone, avoiding awkward silent 

Don’t judge a book about their cover 

I’m quite lost about my feedback, the real aims of my first idea was the possibility to rent our own book, it’ll work with geolocation, that’s why the person who wants to begin a book know who and which book it’s able to rent. Also a book reader can be curious about what their neighbour think about a particular book. However, it seems that a date book app is a better idea for people. But I'm not sure I want to work on a date app.

They are a lot of this kind of app and I am not sure about the success of it.

Brief 1 pictures

Brief 01 Final production

Below is a finished digital copy of the publication.

Brief 01 Production

COVER

As I mentioned previously, the main target is graphic designers or art students,

for that reason I wanted for my cover something quite different or infrequent. The

book, SHEILA HICKS by Irma BOOM gave me the solution. Indeed she damaged her book completely aware. It made the book unique and really interesting. 

Indeed graphic designers or students are always attracted by uncommon publication or less common at least. It will be a reason for them to buy the book. Also the first impression/feelings is the most important. The cover has to make the reader want to open the book.

So I decided to engrave my cover’s paper which gives a tactile aspect as well.

Plus my book have two ways of reading, that's why I put the same illustration on both

the front and back cover because I didn’t want it to have an ending.

Finally I decided to hide the solutions of my stories with the cover, for me it’s a simple way but efficient to cover it.

I chose a saddle stitch for binding, and a digital printing. It the easier and cheaper way to do a book which has less than 16 sheets.

PAPER

Finally for my papers, I took inspiration from the travel diaries. Indeed my book

deals with the travel world too. That’s why I chosed paper in brown tints with an

antique aspect. Indeed my story deals with the travel, as the title say, it a book on a departure.
One of my classmate also think it can be link with the seaside and holidays world. 

Brief 01 Design

ILLUSTRATIONS

I wanted for my book two different illustrations to represent SGXV and Leeds. Then I discovered the graphic designer George Greaves who only works with simple shapes and colours. It’s a minimalistic design approach, this style is extremely affordable in all possible ways.

1. It is accessible to people with even limited skills and training,
2. it is easy to understand (and this would be the reason we use extremely simplified images as pictograms and signs for universal navigation),
3. it is affordable in production (less decorated the object is, less details it consists of, cheaper it is in design and production),
4. and it is simple to reproduce (to produce multiple copies without loss of quality).

I thought it will be interesting to symbolise each place with this method. The reader must be able to recognise the areas through the shapes. Indeed, the audience is young and the art students so they can be attract by this kind of design. Plus I needed a simple illustration design to suit with my pictures.

I decided to use my own pictures to colour my shapes. It was important for me to associate the colours and the material that I could find in these two specific places with my illustrations. Indeed, I selected zooms of my pictures and I did a clipping masks with my shapes. 

I finally did a selection of shapes which symbolises the city and the coat as well as possible. 

ILLUSTRATION POSITION

Also, I wanted to help the reader to understand in which way they have to read each story. That’s why I put the shapes in a different place for each page. They move from left to right for SGXV’s shapes and conversely for Leeds’s shapes.

TYPEFACES

After a research on the internet, I realised the fonts for books are generally unobtrusive serif. Indeed the typography must be clear and legible to permit easy reading. Therefore I chose Garamond. In such way sans serif fonts are more difficult to read. For this reason, they are used most often for short text such as title, then I used Aller for it. It offers all of the sans serif's function, I mean: geometric, legible, simple.

I could have chosen Times new Roman for the unobtrusive serif, but I think it's overused and we're becoming bored of this type. 

Brief 01 The story

STORY

Then, I had to think about the story, teachers and classmates think it's the most important part of my publication. Indeed, if the reader plays, it is to find something at the end. To link it with my pictures. First time I didn't want to write something on my own but maybe quote some famous graphic designer in UK and in France. After some discussion with Nicky I decided to write a story which deals with France and UK. Finally I wrote my own story, one story about my last day in France and the other about my first day in Leeds. So my story is link with my pictures.

The main problems are I'm not a writer, and also I realised that my target is actually students or graphic designers but also French and English so I should write it down in these two languages.

So to help me to write a story about a departure, I chose to read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry. Indeed, he uses simple and short sentences, which is what I needed for my game. I liked his style of writing as well, as it is like poetic. It deals with a little boy who leave his planet to coming to the Earth and walking around. Plus I could read this story in French as well as in English, because this famous story is translated from the French by Katherine Woods which was useful for my own translation.

It was important for me to know if people can get involved with my own story. That's why I asked to my housemates to read it, one of them is an incoming student as well, she could has recognised her own experience. The other is English but he still had to leave his home home once and felt the same thing. So my story worked for both of them. Indeed everybody has to leave something, somewhere at least once.





MY FINAL STORY

In English:

Today I’m leaving my home.

At sunrise, I blinked hard. I looked carefully all  round me. 

At a glance I could distinguish everything that surrounded me. 

If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is invaluable. 

I looked at this world; my world, to which I belong. It was a gentle morning.  And I sank into a reverie, which lasted a long time. That morning, all these once familiar things seemed 

so sweet. It took me a long time to learn where they came from, these littles inner voices. Asking me so many questions, and never seeming to hear the ones I asked them. What is “where I live”? Why are you running away? Why are you leaving? Where are you going? It doesn’t matter where. Straight ahead of me, 

but straight ahead of me nobody can go very far… 

It was from words dropped by chance that, little by little, everything was revealed to me. For a long time I had found my only entertainment in the quiet pleasure of watching the sunset and the dancing birds that I could see from my window. 

I wanted something different. The desire to look further. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I haven’t got much time. I have worlds to discover, and a great many things to understand.

Today, I arrive where I am a stranger.

The unknown. When a mystery is too overpowering, 

one dares not move. Now I stare at this unknown with my eyes tumbling from my head in astonishment. I want to blend in, into a culture different from mine own. To figure it out. But I am not at all sure of how to succeed in this. Words are the source of misunderstanding. So I fumble along as best as I can, sometimes well, others badly. But forgive me, it will not always be this way, this is just the beginning. I need to create new adventures here. Make each day different from the next; every hour distinct from the last. To not waste any time or opportunities. See beyond. See further than what is already known. Sometimes I feel frustrated by experiencing something so unique that I can’t explain it. Overtime, I grow to understand that it’s a treasure I hold in my hands. If I try to describe it, it’s in order to not forget. As for me, that is sad - forgetting.

In French :

Aujourd’hui je quitte ma maison.

 Au lever du jour, j’ai bien frotté mes yeux. J’ai bien regardé. 

Je savais reconnaître, du premier coup d’oeil, tout ce qui m’entoure. C’est très utile si l’on est égaré pendant la nuit. Je regardais donc ce monde qui est le mien, auquel j’appartiens. C’est un beau matin. 

Et je m’enfonça dans une rêverie qui dura longtemps. Toutes ces choses familières me parurent, ce matin-là extrêmement douces. Il me fallut du temps pour comprendre d’où elles venaient, ces petites voix. Elles qui me posaient beaucoup de questions, et ne semblaient jamais entendre les miennes. Où est-ce “chez toi” ? Pourquoi t’enfuir ? Pourquoi partir ? Où aller ? N’importe où. Droit devant moi, mais droit devant soi on ne peut pas aller bien loin… 

Ce sont des mots prononcés par hasard qui, peu à peu, m’ont tout révélé. J’avais eu longtemps pour distraction que la douceur des couchers de soleil, et du bal des oiseaux que je pouvais apercevoir de ma fenêtre. Je voulais maintenant autre chose pour m’habiller le coeur. L’envie d’en voir plus. Excusez moi maintenant. Je n’ai pas beaucoup de temps. J’ai des endroits à découvrir et beaucoup de choses a comprendre.

Aujourd’hui j’arrive où je suis étranger.

L’inconnu. Quand le mystère est trop impressionnant, on ose pas réagir. Je regardais donc l’inconnu avec des yeux tout ronds d’étonnement. Je veux m’intégrer dans une culture qui n’est pas mienne. La comprendre. Mais je ne suis pas tout à fait certaine de réussir. Le langage est source de malentendus, alors je tâtonne comme ci et comme ça, tant bien que mal. Mais ça il faudra me le pardonner, c’est le commencement. Il me faut créer des aventures ici. Faire qu’un jour est différent des autres jours, une heure, des autres heures. Ne pas perdre de temps, ni d’occasion. Voir au delà. Voir plus loin que ce que je connais d’ores et déjà. Parfois je ressens la frustration d’expérimenter quelque chose d’unique qui n’est tout simplement pas racontable. Avec le temps, je comprends mieux que c’est un trésor que je tiens entre mes mains. Et si j’essaie ici de la décrire, c’est afin de ne pas l’oublier. Je trouve ça triste d’oublier.

Brief 01 Game concept

THE FINAL GAME CONCEPT


On each double page there are 2 photographs. One from Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and the other from Leeds. The reader has to decide which is which. Once they have all the SGXV pictures, they can read “The Last Day in France“ story from left to right, and when they have found all the Leeds pictures they will be able to read “The First Day in Leeds“ story from right to left; It’s a way for me to involve the reader - to catch their attention on the book.
I decided to add just 2 pictures on each double page to not overload the book, and to stay focus on one comparison. The reader as to observe with attention the pictures, and try to analyse typographies to find which one belongs to Leeds and to SGXV.

Also the sentences and story which is link to each pictures will help the reader to find the good one, so the reader has many chances to find the solution, and the final story.

I don't know yet if I'm going to add the whole story somewhere. In my opinion, it must be hidden, the reader have to not discover it too easily, he must search the solution by his own first.
In the traditional magazine's games the solution has either written backwards in a really little type size at the end of the game or on a page at the end of the magazine with all of the game's solutions. But I think my book will be too small to add the solution at the end of each page and I want my book to be both side readable, so I can't just add a page with solution at the end because there is no end.
The shape of my final production have to resolve this issue.


Without clues it's clearly impossible to understand how to read the book, that's why a 'how to play' page is necessary to understand properly the game concept.

Brief 01 First steps

Once I chose my idea I had to think about my target audience to define what they're playing for in the book. The audience will also find the cost of the book and the production.

AUDIENCE

The focus of the pictures in my project was entirely on the typographies that I was able to find in specific places. That’s why, in my opinion, the target audience is primarily the graphic designers or the art students.

Indeed as I said earlier children will be bored with this kind of pictures, with always the same point of view. Also people who are not involved with graphic design or art can find it not really attractive, or not really interesting at least. Basically I think people in general enjoy more landscapes or pictures with many items or pictures which tell a story, where they can feel something trough it. Whereas my graphic design friends really liked my pictures, in my opinion, they are able to identify what I wanted to show because of their graphic design course.
That's why I think my main target audience is the graphic designers who learned to like typographies or the art students. It will be useful also for teacher who wants to introduce typographies to their students.

Once I found my target audience I've thought about the issues surrounding design for print.
Indeed with print edition we have to care about:

_final format (practical)
I chose to do my book not to big, because frequently you have to turn pages because of the game concept, so it's easier when the page are quite small. Also it has to be pretty big so that several people can play at the same time.

_cost
It must be cheap like 10/15£ because of the student audience, indeed a student generally live with 200£ per months. If the book is too expensive they won't buy it.

_production
For commercial consideration I should do a bulk order to make it profitable.

_paper
My audience is student so the book can't be really expensive to do. So my papers are good qualities but affordable.

_typefaces (size 6pt to 12pt, more for title)
less than 5pt the text is pretty illegible, I used 8pt because I wanted the reader to stay focus on the pictures.

_colours (change profil, CMJN)


_pictures resolution (at least 300dpi)