Book Reviews

In today's theory lesson we learnt a quick and easy way to write a book review. I was given a template sheet roughly outlining what I need to write about and in what order. It included sections like; background of the story line, name of publisher, a rating out of 10, good points and bad points about the book, etc.

Below are some photos of my filled out sheet on the book; The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan.

Handmade Book Ideas and Moodboard

For our new brief we have to produce a classic fairytale story, in the form of a handmade book. I have decided that my book will be a pop up book, as well as this  I would like to include some paper quilling for an added interest. At home I already have a quilling kit and I know how to make basic shapes and flowers, that can also be made into more complex designs as shown in the mood board I have created below.

I think this will make my book unique and intricate, therefore being more interesting and visually pleasing. The story I have chosen to use is Rapunzel because from a design perspective, this would work really well, as I can make a tall pop up castle where Rapunzel is looking out the window.

As far as how close to the story I want stick to, this is something that I still need to think about. For example, whether I want to take more of a dark turn within the story or to stay with the classic original is something I need to decide.

Research Project- Awareness Campaigns and their Effectiveness

My Idea for the research project- 'Awareness campaigns and their effectiveness'.

A serious yet creative advertising campaign, presenting social issues in a unique, powerful way. For example I have researched powerful advertising campaigns that instantly grabs your attention. An interesting article called '40 of the most powerful social issue ads that'll make you stop and think' had a variety of examples that I can use within my secondary research and to motivate me in the production element of the process, to make a powerful advertisement myself.

This project will be quite challenging, as I am going to create a whole advertising campaign rather than a stand alone publication. Also this research brief for me involves a lot of analysing and writing, which can be difficult in this topic to explain what the advert is trying to get across to their audiences. However because of this, it will be a step out of my comfort zone and I will have an opportunity to showcase my analytical and writing skills.

The image below is a photograph of my research idea mind map, which helped me to determine what topic I want to do this project on:

I have included website addresses as well as a few book titles that can help me with this research brief. I have also put examples of both primary and secondary research ideas which I can use when it comes to creating my own material, for example questionnaires and conducting my own focus groups.

My final design will be professional and not insensitive to the specific topic. I say this because I already know of a few advertising campaigns that have actually been banned by the ASA, from either using too graphic or disturbing imagery, or for using false facts and incorrect statistics.

From my GCSE media studies class in secondary school, we often looked at advertising campaigns and how they are effective. I already know how to analyse and write in detail about them, relating to all aspects of design, celebrity endorsement, product promotion, font use, imagery and much more. I have previously made presentations in the past about certain ads that have been banned for various reasons and have a brief understanding of the rules and regulations of doing so.

This will help me in my research project, as I will be able to determine the line between powerful and 'too far'.

What is a Research Project?

A research project is a thesis on a specific topic, that is a collection of gathered information. This includes primary and secondary research on the subject. The structure at which a research project can be presented varies, as there are many methods and layouts that you can use. However a clear and simple structure would be; title page, abstract, list of contents, introduction, primary research, secondary research, conclusion, decision, then finally the word count and bibliography. 

Title page- The research project question or statement.

Abstract- Brief summary of whole project.

List of contents- What's included in the paper, marked with page numbers.

Introduction- Introducing the subject, justification to why it was chosen and what is going to be achieved.

Primary Research- Summary and include primary results and analysis of them.

Secondary Research- Include references from books and website articles.

Conclusion- What has been found from research and what do they mean.

Decision- What final topic will be for FMP.

Word count and bibliography- Total amount of words and list of sources used throughout the project. 

The purpose of a research project is to gain knowledge on a certain topic and to collectively present found out information from a variety of different sources, including your own.

Here is a Harvard style reference example: Successful Writing (2012) V.1.0 Available at: http://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/successful-writing.pdf (accessed: 12/01/2017)

I will be using this method to reference the sources I have used in my research project including books, websites, articles and more. It will be displayed at the end of the research project paper.

Updated 60's Interactive Book

This blog post is an update on my ibook, as last post I just had 7 pages and there was a lot of changes that I still wanted to make. For example I have now added lots of moving GIFS, a video from Youtube and various hyperlinks to different pages. All of which makes my book a lot more interactive and therefore more interesting to the audience.

I have also changed a few of the pictures and fonts, to fit in better with my theme and so that it all ties in together. I tried to make the layouts and colours reminiscent of what was used in the 60's, as well as being similar to what 60's book covers looked like.

Below are my 10 final pages of my 60's inspired interactive book:

Peer Evaluation on Book Covers

After I designed 12 possible covers for my 60's fashion interactive book, as a group we gave feedback on each others work. There were mixed thoughts on which design was the best, however the one that stood out was the pink Twiggy cover, as it looked the most professional and 60's inspired.

In the one to one feedback with Steve, I came to the conclusion that my 60's fashion book lacked many interactive elements. With this I adjusted a few things on my Indesign document, for example I have now added moving gifs and am starting to embed a Youtube video into the introduction of  my book. I have yet to create an updated Epub Ibook, to ensure that all the interactive elements are working properly. Here is an example of one of the gifs that I have used in my project: