Study Task with Koyni

Today we were told to bring a book with us for a study session. I bought in the book 'OH SH*T WHAT NOW?' by Craig Oldham. it's an informative, education, self-help book for new graphic designers. It's written in the 2nd person, making the reader feel as if they are having a conversation, making the book feel even more personal. I brought this book in because the colours instantly just drew me in. I actually saw this book while researching in Village Books a week before. I was really interested in the way the book was bounded as the pages were prominently thick and made of quite sturdy material however, I could access the pages with ease. The bold, overlaid messages on top of the grid paragraphs also kept me intrigued and entertained. I thought bring this book in would give me a good starting point of thinking about how my own book/publication would look as well as give me an interesting book to look and discuss with my pair.

On the other hand, Koyni brought in the graphic novel Map of Days by Robert Hunter. It follows the story of a man and a grandfather clock. It's very illustrative and a reflection of what she is interested in which may be why she decided to bring in this book.

WHAT ARE THE PROPERTIES & CONVENTIONS OF THE BOOKS?
*OH SH*T, WHAT NOW?

• Material stands out - thick and sturdy
• interesting overlay of bold and bright text on fairly text heavy pages.
• a green, and pink colour motif all throughout the pages - restrictions of colour made the book look more consistent.
• the contrast between the grid paragraph columns and the huge overlaid text is a good mix of playful typography -> overlaid text also spans across different pages making the book much more intriguing and interactive - make them work for the book much like the content of the book itself!
• Quality of the materials used for production overall increases the quality of the book and it's content -> it makes it much more trustworthy and readers will be more willing to read it. 
• Human like conversation structure with light-hearted humour makes it effective and communicative to the viewers.
• Typography looks like it's been personalised or an existing type that's been manipulated in order to fit the aesthetic of the book - contemporary, geometric, simple and bold. 
• Looks as if it's screenprinted? but were not sure as it's mass produced?

*MAP OF DAYS

• Longer than conventional books -> for me it looks quite awkward and the height would've been nice if the width was also increased in order to keep it aesthetically balanced. 
• Fabric bound affects the atmosphere -> I think it made the book look quite organic and soft, reflecting the content inside. 
• Looks as if it was risographed?
• Comic like composition -> more illustrations than paragraphs. 
• Prominent colours of green, blue, pale yellow -> calming and atmospheric colours also a reflection of the story itself.
• Combination of sans serif and modern looking serif font which keeps the balance of the typography in the book. I quite like this because it show how both types of type can be used in unison.
• Visually striking overall 

WHAT CAN YOU ADD/TAKE AWAY/MANIPULATE FROM THESE CONVENTIONS?
*OH SH*T, WHAT NOW?

• Make it crazier and bolder - add bulldog clips, change and add different sized pages or create the bold text interjections in between pages into pull out posters -> further immerses the viewers in the book and really make them experience the book and also it can further emphasise the self-help and encouraging aspect as viewers may feel that they are starting to take action from what they have read by putting up the posters on their wall.

*MAP OF DAYS

• For me personally I found the length awkward so either make it a bit smaller or wider. 
• We found that it might not fit into normal shelves so maybe make it the same size as normal books but thicker in order to retain the same information in them (but will that interject with the pace and structure of the story? will it make sense still? will some illustrations have to be erased all in all? OR  make pull out pages for longer illustrations? will it have the same effect as the original?)