Plot Twist, Brief Change

Within today’s session, we were given a number on a slip of paper, this number correlated with another person within the session.

This person was now to be briefed on your subject and content, they would now be taking over your book as their own. Creating the book within a client designer relationship, giving us some insight into how this relationship would work within industry.

Although, in contrast to industry, the designer within this task is to see the design, format and presentation of the book as completely an independent creation; which the content must influence, rather than the client.

I have been partnered with Hannah Rice, her content for her book is based around her summer travels within Vietnam.

Author

Hannah Rice

Brief title / working title

Same same … but different cultural trail through Sapa

Short description of publication (purpose)

A cultural trail through Sapa based on a personal experience as a young traveller. A series of subjective images, clues and thoughts to help you focus on what cultural lessons a trail through Sapa can truly provide by simply stepping away from the cliché tourist activities.

Target reader / audience (include reasons)

This publication is aimed at young travellers who most probably do not have a large amount of disposable income. The book will need to be made on a budget so that the target audience can afford to buy and not worry if it is damaged when travelling. It is likely that the target audience will have an interest in exploring new cultures, be up for new experiences and lead a fairly active lifestyle if they are considering visiting Sapa. It is likely that their relationship status will be single if they are embarking on a trip of South East Asia as a solo traveller, but the guide is equally accessible to those in a relationship. The relationship status of the target audience isn’t something that will have too much of an impact on how the content is presented.

Genre

Travel

Competition (3 titles)

Fragments of a Journey - Camille Palandjian -       Photographs are used to illustrate the impressions that she had of Berlin as a city -       Imagery sparks thoughts rather than directs someone to visit each of the locations Barcelona – Meet you outside. -       No plans for the trip other than working on street photography that captures the city in its purest form and to see the real people -       Small amounts of writing that trigger thoughts to help with the visual journey that the book offers -       The colour scheme is relevant to the country in which the photography is of, but also works well in contrast to the look of the photos -       Strong visual identity despite the lack of consistent page layout which works well to show the dynamic of the city and how much it has to offer. It also shows that the project was about discovery and what is published is very raw and unplanned. The Wander Society – Keri Smith -       ‘to walk/explore/amble in an unplanned or aimless way with a complete openness to the unknown’ -       In terms of content, this book would be competition because it focuses on the art of wandering and how it can feed the creative mind. The book does have a lot more information than I intend to include in my book as it will be more of a visual journey, but the tone of voice is something that I would like to adopt. It is a friendly and personal tone so that the reader can easily feel engaged, relate to it and trust the content. -       Keri smith has also published a book called ‘Wreck This Journal’ which is a collection of suggestions, questions and illustrated prompts to encourage the reader to escape the fear of the blank page and fully engage with the creative process. Taking an element of interaction and adding it to my content would be a good way to ensure that the message of stepping away from the norm of travelling and the idea of getting involved with the culture is obviously portrayed in this publication.

Positioning (USP, bookshop section, other points of sale)

Most publications on Vietnam or Sapa as a place are very much focused on the itineraries that as a traveller you could follow, the sights you could see and the best places to stay. The content of this book is very different and offers an insight into the cultural lessons that can be learnt when in Sapa, portrayed through a very subjective and visual publication. This is directly aimed at the young traveller as it is the cultural lessons that they go out to seek when travelling so far away from home. It is the lessons from others that will continue to influence their lives once they are back home, something that the majority of guide books do not emphasise as the important part of travelling. The travelling routes, the accommodation and the places to eat can all be found very easily online and by word of mouth. But it is the hints on where to learn or who to talk to that is often missing as information to those travelling. In reference to the Waterstone website and the non-fiction book categories, this book could appear in one of three places in a book shop due to the nature of the content and the design style that it follows. Firstly, the ‘travel & maps’ section of the bookshop would be a suitable place for it to be as I think this would be the first place in which most people would look when trying to find information on a place to travel to.  Once the basic information on the place to visit had been obtained, the target audience may try to look slight further afield for other approaches to travelling the particular area. The ‘art, fashion & photography’ may be another section for it to be located as it could have a book or visual guide that focuses on the importance of stepping away from the basic information that most travel guides tend to offer. This kind of book often provides a more personal take on a particular subject and personally as a creative minded, solo traveller I looked at a lot of photography journals before I visited the particular countries to see what different people had captured in each of the areas. Another appropriate area in which this book could be located is in the ‘mind, body & spirit’ section because the content will be guiding the reader to think about different things, interact with the locals and step away from the tourist locations in order to obtain a cultural lesson that the tourist spots cannot provide in the same way. This end display in Urban Outfitters is also another location in which the books visual style and finalised content would work well. It would be a place in which a lot of the target audience would visit and consider to be a trustworthy and trendy source of information when looking for things to do on their trip to Sapa. The books are often unconventional in terms of size and all follow a very stylised and trendy design style in which the guide would require in order to speak to the intended target audience.

Price point

-       Low cost production as it is for a target audience that may not have a large disposable income, or one in which they would want to spend on resources before they actually reach their destination of travel -       The materials used would need to be light, but also durable

Mandatory requirements

-       Visually subjective -       Low cost production process -       Small, A6/A5 size to allow for the traveller to take it with them without it being a hassle to carry around -       Personal and relatable tone of voice -       Minimalistic design style -       Include interactive elements -       Large focus on the actual photography as the content -       Fold out map illustration