Publishing 2: Final project

Week 10

Jessica Ngu Wei King (0323639)
Publishing design II: Mass Communication 
Project 3: The book (Part 3: Digital book)

Instructions 

In this final project 3 you will be required to adapt the printed book you have designed for the purpose of on-screen reading. The design of the digital Book will be dependant on the device it will be read from or the type of format used; ePub/PDF/HTML. Presently most digital books are in the ePub/eBook format (How To Create a Fixed Layout Ebook with Adobe InDesign CC), which is adaptable across devices. However this format is only available in Adobe CC. We shall strive to explore and decide on an appropriate format. Your input here is vital.

One very important area to focus on is navigation between pages; this has to be well thought through, as the user interface must not be an obstacle to seamless reading.

Note: Project 3 is an attempt to work on methods that are developing as we speak, so as your lecturer I too am learning these new features, with project 03 our classroom will effectively be a laboratory. Even so we shall strive to produce work that is of good standard.

Requirements

The student will adapt the designs from the printed format without loosing the identity and style of the said in the digital book. The final work will be uploaded unto the respective eportfolios and printed out in thumbnail formats for the hardcopy portfolio. The softcopy (printed book and digital book) will also be burnt on a CD. ‘Packaged’ your InDesign files to ensure all elements of your book has been collated when burning it on the CD.

Submission

1 All gathered information (failures, successes, epiphanies, sketches, visual research, printouts, websites, images, charts, etc.) documented logically and chronologically in the A4 Clear Sheet folder. The works must be labelled and dated. 

2 All gathered information (failures, successes, epiphanies, sketches, visual research, printouts, websites, images, charts, etc.) documented logically and chronologically in the eportfolio for the duration of the project in one post and for the duration of the course in a separate post as instructed in class. 

3 Softcopy of the digital book uploaded unto the eportfolio for the purpose of reading. A thumbnail printout of the digital book. 

4 All files packaged and uploaded unto Google Drive and link provided in the eportfolio. Ensure all folders are labelled or named appropriately. 

Objectives

1 To develop students ability to adapt the various elements attractively in a digital book. 

2 To develop students ability create seamless navigation from page to page. 

3 To develop students ability to maintain a consistent identity with acceptable variation.

Submissions
Desktop PDF link click here
iPad PDF link click here
iPhone PDF link click here

Desktop screen recording
iPad screen recording
iPhone screen recording

Thumbnail prints
Desktop version

Fig. 1: Desktop thumbnail print 1

Fig. 2: Desktop thumbnail print 2

Ipad Version

Fig. 3: Ipad thumbnail print 1 (first page to the end of first chapter)

Fig. 4: Ipad thumbnail print 2

Iphone version

Fig. 5: Iphone thumbnail print 1 (first page to the end of first chapter)

Fig. 6: iPhone thumbnail print 2

Feedback

Week 9
Overall layout is looking better compare to before. Need to work more on my gifs.

Week 10
Need to add 'paper texture' to some pages because right now too much white pages make it look quite boring. Introduce more visuals before the cover page to make it more interesting and attracts people to read. Move on to iPad and iPhone version.

Week 11
For iPad and iPhone version, the images have to make it into smaller size (1024 px), otherwise the gifs won't load on iPad and make iBooks crash.

Reflections

Experience
For me, project 3 was the most difficult one among all projects for this module. I think the time period for the e-pub was too short, and we're like always rushing to do our work to meet the deadlines. I personally think that time period for project 3 can be longer so that we could work and explore more on e-pub, since we've done a lot of printed book in the previous semester, and it's our first time doing e-pubs. project 3 really brought a lot of new challenges to me, which is also a good thing, because I get to learn more new things. Before that, I never knew InDesign could do animations and e-pub. I also didn't know how to make gifs using photoshop. Overall, it was quite a tiring project, but I gained quite a lot from it ;)

Observations
I realized that throughout the whole project 3, I get bored on my own work already. I think I gained a lot from this project because I've done a lot of things which I've never done before. I find myself getting really excited for doing my very first gif (I never thought it would be that easy). Also I observed that I can't make really make good layouts following the grids and columns, especially designing layouts for iPad and iPhone versions. Besides, I found out that once we reach the final project, I'm not able to judge whether my own work is good or bad anymore...

Finding
I think I get bored doing this project its because I've been working and looking the same thing over and over again throughout the whole semester, and somehow I don't have any feelings for my own work anymore, and I can't judge whether it's good or bad anymore... Besides, designing for iPad and iPhone versions were really difficult for me. Firstly its because I can't really design according grids. Secondly, it was my first time doing e-publishing. I find myself really struggling while designing desktop versions. I don't know where am I supposed to start because the grids are really confusing. It's really different from designing a printed book. Once I get used to it, I have to think how to place my texts and pictures in a small space.. it was quite challenging.. If I find myself getting frustrated doing it, I'd take a break and then come back continuing my work...