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!
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.
Rob Annable, an architect at Axis Design Architects, used bookleteer to create this eNotebook whilst visiting Germany to study Passivhaus design principles. Using a blank eBook complete with trip itineraries and QR code web links, he wrote down observations, and placed in photographs taken and printed on site with a Polaroid PoGo printer. It was then scanned and uploaded it for anyone to view and use. This custom notebook, combining essential trip information and a means to record data in a single artifact, avoids carrying excess documents, and allows for easier cross reference.
Courtesy of the Creative Review blog, I’ve just been reading about how book spines are often neglected when designing covers, and the importance of their appearance when on bookshelves (after all, that’s the portion potential buyers or aesthetically conscious owners often see first). We’re currently in the process of designing a slipcase template for series of eBooks, which will lend a much needed physicality – transforming them int0 stable, store-able artifacts, rather than handfuls of booklets. The studio is overrun with vast quantities of eBooks produced over the years, and these will provide a handy organisation system, as well as looking swish. As for the spines, we’re bound by certain template constraints, but they’ll surely surpass some of the clangers featured here.
In August last year, I lent a hand to the Graffito crew whilst they were running an installation at the Vintage at Goodwood festival. Whilst festival-goers doodled on the iPhone app, their drawings were displayed on a huge L.E.D screen, along with everyone else using it. Giles prepared a blank eBook with the Graffito emblem, and lent us a portable pogo printer, so that we could instantly print screenshots onto stickers and place them in the scrapbook. It was later scanned and published on Diffusion, so anyone who played with Graffito at Vintage can therefore own a tangible souvenir of the event. Something so digital and temporary is saved from dissipating, and recorded somewhere other than the imagination.
Rather than a Zine Highlight, I thought I’d share with you an astounding book/film/theatre piece that I’ve just spied (courtesy of www.fastcodesign.com – which features some brilliant stuff), which Karen Martin will surely love, after her exploration of Pop – up books and book / technology hybrids. “The Ice Book” , by Davy and Kristin McGuire, is a book of miniature stages made from pop-up cut outs. It seems innocuous enough, until combined with interactive light projection, and it transforms into a magical, ghostly tale that plays with shadows and optical illusions. I was performing a constant double-take whilst watching the video – its amazing to think such a vivid and cinematic effect can be produced with the materials used. The Ice Book website is currently down, due to massive interest it seems, but you can watch the video and read more about it here.
A report by Julie Anderson, British Museum
In January, I returned from Sudan where my co-author Salah Mohamed and I distributed the eBook we produced last autumn. Frederik Lesage has previously written about the development of our eBook, which deals with the archaeological excavations conducted in Dangeil, Sudan, as a case study for eBook usage, in this blog. students on their way to school
Salah and I have been excavating in Dangeil for more than 10 years. Over this period, we have lived in the community and have come to know our neighbours well. Every year many work with us in the excavations. The archaeological site is situated in the centre of the village and an increasing number of tourists, both Sudanese and foreigners, are visiting the ruins. There is also a large primary school situated along the northern edge of the site. Students cross the site daily on their way to and from classes. As a means of engaging further with the local community, school children and site visitors, we decided to create a resource which would help them to better understand the excavations, the ancient temple and its importance, and to place Dangeil in its historical context. We were also driven by a need to explain what we were doing and why, in an accessible fashion. The key was communication and the end result was the eBook.
So, what sort of reaction did the eBook receive? Simply put, its reception, both in Khartoum and in the rural farming village of Dangeil, exceeded expectations. We produced 500 English copies and 500 in Arabic, the local language. We ran out of the latter. In retrospect, we should have produced a greater number of copies in Arabic. Copies were given to the local school and arrangements were made so that every household in the village received a copy. Unloading eBooks and textbooks at the school
Following the distribution of the eBook, teenagers began coming to our door in the village to ask questions about the site / archaeology / their own Sudanese history. In the past, usually they had wanted to have photographs taken, but now instead were connecting with their history as made possible through the booklet. It was astonishing. More surprising was the reaction people had upon receiving a copy. In virtually every single case, they engaged with the eBook immediately and began to read it or look through it. This occurred regardless of location or other business being conducted. Many of our workmen looked for images of things they themselves had helped to excavate and of people they knew, though the latter was true for almost everyone seeing the eBook.
Although our eBook takes the form of a more traditional and perhaps somewhat static publication, its impact cannot be underestimated. The Dangeil villagers, and indeed university students and antiquities staff in Khartoum, viewed the publication as written for them, about them, and in their own language. The eBook has served not only as an educational tool, but has empowered the local community and created a sense of pride and proprietary ownership of the ruins and their history.
Julie Anderson
Assistant Keeper
Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum
This was created alongside cartoonist Seth‘s model city installation, “Dominion”, shown at the Dundas Museum & Archives in Ontario, Canada. Seth constructed a scale cardboard city, inspired by the aesthetic of Canadian cities and towns like Hamilton and Dundas, infused with a detailed fictional narrative and history. The eBook showcases a selection of buildings from Dominion, alongside exhibition notes and a biography of the artist. It’s main purpose however, was to encourage visitors to recount their own tales and memories of Dundas, record them in the book, and leave it with the Museum to be read and shared. Sparking the imagination of readers, by relating the fictional Dominion to their experiences, this eBook allows the Museum to enrich it’s knowledge of Dundas and it’s inhabitants.
Instead of a Zine Highlight, I thought I’d give a shout out to a Zine which hasn’t even been created yet. Young Blood is “a UK based zine dedicated to showcasing work by young creatives from around the world under the age of 25; covering art, photography, music and literature.” They are currently asking for submissions for the debut issue, which will hopefully be published in late March. I think it’s a great way for young uns’ like myself to showcase their work, and am considering doing a similar zine with bookleteer, so for anyone interested, drop me an e-mail at: haztag@msn.com. It’s likely this would take the form of a literary / short story / poetry zine, but I’m open to input.
