We now have a Frequently Asked Questions page and User Forum for members of bookleteer to post questions, comments, tips and answers.
Year: 2011
Categories
Store your recipes…
Coming from a family that has endless recipes and being expected to know most of them, I have trouble remembering what goes into which dish. The vast amount of ingredients that goes into Indian food can be quite mind boggling!
I now understand the need for recipe books! Not the ones already filled with scrumptious dishes by our favourite chefs, but ones that are empty – so I have my own place to write down all my delicious creations. 🙂
Customising my own version on Bookleteer allows me to personalise my own recipe book in different ways including number of pages and size. So if it’s a mini pocket size book you prefer or a larger book, you can customise and personalise on Bookleteer, something which I can’t do if I go to buy one in Paperchase or Smiths.
It’s easy to edit and change things on Bookleteer too. Maybe a variation on a recipe – ingredients or amounts…so instead of re – writing the recipe or scribbling things out, easily edit it on Bookleteer!
A great use for all ages – children can get creative with weird and wacky recipe ideas, maybe on Halloween. Uni students can scribble down recipes, instead of boiling some water and plopping in some supernoodles!
The recipe book can be adapted for all sorts – you could have a themed book for each cuisine, your favourite recipes, even a cocktail recipe book! A cocktail recipe book is always handy! I have been in situations, where we all come up with the fun idea to make cocktails, but is too much hassle to go find a recipe on the internet.
An easy way to compile a list of variety of recipes for all types of food and drink and for all ages!
Take a look at the example of my ‘Cocktail Concoctions’ book…
Happy recipe making! 🙂
Another gem which has been featured on www.fastcodesign.com, and something my brain is still trying to recover from. Created by Michael Hansmeyer, and constructed from 2700 laser cut sheets of cardboard with wooden cores, these columns were spawned by an algorithm fed into a computer, forming “computational architecture”, with up to 16 MILLION facets. It’s absolutely staggering. After being cut out, the sheets left behind form a negative, empty-space column. The image of this is unreal; it looks like the hallucinatory imaginings of an alien spacecraft, mechanical yet almost organic, something that wouldn’t be out of place from the trippy sequences in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Blow your mind here.
Categories
Pitch Up & Publish 2011
We’re starting a new regular series of Pitch Up & Publish workshops to help people get started and make the most use out of bookleteer as possible : guiding them from concept to publication and beyond. The 2 hour workshops will be held at our studio, will have a maximum of around 6 places and will probably be held every 2-3 weeks.
We’d like to hear what sort of things you’d like help with: from basic level introduction to specific topics – such as designing project notebooks, embedding multimedia links via QR codes and preparing books for printing via our Short Run Printing Service. If there’s interest we can run specific workshops aimed at transferring our experiences of working with kids in schools to use bookleteer, or with other community groups.
Each workshop place will cost about £20 (UKP) and will include complimentary Alpha Club membership, discount on Short Run Printing Service orders and a free pack of new Medium size StoryCubes. You’ll be able to book places online via eventbrite.
We’d also like to hear whether people would prefer the sessions to be run during the day or evening – we may alternate if it helps more people take part.
Please contribute with your suggestions and requests – we’d like these sessions to be as useful and focused on your needs as possible. You can post comments here, or add them to the discussion on Facebook.
Categories
Observational sketches – Field report
The other week I mentioned an impromptu City As Material expedition with Mandy and Radhika, to Victoria and Waterloo stations. Despite it being FREEZING, we captured some interesting moments (fingers glove-bound) from the trip. I found just being still and observing whilst people whizzed about, quite relaxing, and it inspired a completely different way of seeing and thinking that is neglected when we’re commuting. It also a chance to watch people who were waiting for trains, their quirky mannerisms and subtle interactions with others becoming more apparent as time went by.
In the studio the day after, I assembled a quick eBook from Mandy’s sketches, Radhika’s photographs, and my writing. Designed to showcase a selection of the material created on the day, it’ll be hosted on Diffusion soon with our other efforts.
Tomorrow we’re journeying to the British Museum for more observations, comparing the contrasting locations and further developing what form these trips will take. I’ll probably be Tweeting some snippets of stuff as we’re doing it, so follow bookleteer on Twitter for a peek.
During research visits to Riejka, Croatia, Andrew Hunter of Dodolab took the photographs of signs and graffiti that adorn this set of four double sided Storycubes. Accompanying the Icons Of Rijeka eBooks, they display some peculiar and amusing images, and are given a bold physicality by the three dimensional form of the cubes – almost as if someone has excavated a chunk of wall! I particularly like the sign which shows several figures appearing to clamber over a car, but what it denotes I have NO idea.
Download, make and decipher them for yourselves here.
I feel people tend to go to the gym and expect to see results immediately, which is obviously not the case. It’s a matter of being committed and, if you’re anything like me, recording and keeping a track of the results.
Creating a book on Bookleteer is a great way of doing this. Using the book to record weekly weight loss and keep hold of vital statistics such as original weight, height, measurements etc.
Additionally I tend to ask for advice on the types of food I should be eating. It would be great to have a section in your own ‘health planner’ about what sorts of foods can be eaten and how much and even recipes that contain these foods. An easy way to remember and handy enough to keep with you, so whenever you spot that ‘powerfood’ on the supermarket shelf, just jot it down in your food planner, so you don’t forget for next time.
Take a look at my examples of a health planner I created…
This would be a great way to stay healthy, amongst all age groups! A fun and active way for kids to stay fit and healthy and keeping a record of their activities can be something fun for them to do on a weekly basis.
It’s easy to create your very own health planner with Bookleteer. Get creative and healthy at the same time!
Categories
Hours Zine
The first issue of Hours, a monthly photography Zine is available now, and apparently issue 2 launches tomorrow. Convenient of me to have just seen it now, eh? Each month, someone is chosen to take 24 photographs in 24 hours, using only a manual camera. Hours then develop the photos and publish the results. It’s a nifty concept, costing only a quid, plus the cover and minimalist design looks great as well. It could be a good idea to do something similar, combined with the spirit of our recent Pitch In & Publish series – each person takes an eBook’s worth of photos and makes their own document of the trip.
It’s available here.
Back in September Frederik posted a case study of Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination‘s use of bookleteer. They’ve continued using it as a creative and documentary resource, and in doing so have created a Library of Traces – a series of eBooks which enable both participants in their professional development workshops, and others, to follow the traces of their experiences and share reflections and observations.
To help CCI widen the audience for their work we’ve posted 7 eBooks on our diffusion.org.uk library and will be making others available there as they are created. All are welcome to download and share eBooks from the Library of Traces.
Hi, I’m Radhika, the Marketing Assistant at Proboscis. You’ll see me pop up weekly, as I’ll be writing posts on ideas and suggestions for using Bookleteer in new and inventive ways. Take a look at my first idea…
Going away this summer?? It’s a great feeling, once you’ve booked that holiday and start counting down the weeks to a get-a-way, somewhere beautiful, adventurous or even laid-back and relaxing.
Exploring the craziness of New York’s Time Square, the hustle and bustle of Abu Dhabi’s Souks, the calmness of Maldives serene beaches, the list goes on…
Coming back with all those memories and stories that you can’t wait to tell everybody! The only problem I have is remembering the name of that fantastic coffee shop I went to, or that busy vibrant market where I got my dazzling shawls from or even the restaurant where I tasted the delicious local food. So if someone asked me to recommend places to go and see or where to eat, sure I could get their mouth watering describing the succulent chicken and thirst quenching cocktails, but I couldn’t actually tell them the names of these places… because I had forgotten!
I’m always in need for a scrap piece of paper to jot things down. Having a book that can easily fit into a pocket or a handbag would be most ideal. Creating a book on Bookleteer gives me this exact opportunity, to easily print and assemble and take with me.
It’s also useful to jot down other little things you come across on holiday such as the local language. Maybe how to say ‘hello’ in Mandarin or ‘thank you’ in Greek.
Have a look at the mock up book I made, to give you an idea of what can be done…
A handy book that can easily fit into your back pocket or your handbag and taken with you everywhere on your holiday! Now you don’t have to struggle to remember everywhere you went, just scribble it down in your own Bookleteer book!