Blueprint (first draft)

THE BASICS

* 2 books in one
* subject of book will address speed and pace of life
* flip-book component
* smaller format – easy to hold in hand, easy to flip
* self cover, glued spine (for optimum springy/flippyness) OR Japanese-Style binding (not sure which would work best, maybe Japanese would work with my "slow down" message.)
* thicker stock for the cover, medium weight paper for inside content
* 80-100 pages (enough to flip with)
(after doing some research into flip books I estimated that for 12 seconds of animation takes about 150 pages)











THE NITTY GRITTY

* Overarching message/theme/topic of exploration: the fast pace of life in the West, the negative effects it has on our lives and the importance of slowing down.
* The user will flip/read through the book one way and then turn it over and flip/read through the other way.
* animation images will take up about 1/3 of the page and will always be on the outside.










* There will be 2 stories, featuring 2 different characters: one who partakes in all aspects of the fast pace of his society and the other who has learnt to slow down.
* stories will be fictional but based on research.
* animation for fast-paced story will show the character doing many things at once and getting older/more tired as it progresses. (multiple hands: holding cell phone, drinking coffee, on laptop, eating etc.)
* animation for slow paced story will show the character barely moving reading a book with a cup of tea (or something) a contented look on their face.
* playing with pacing both in the animation itself and also in the fact that the reader can flip through both stories quickly and get a gist of what is going on OR take the time and read the stories which will give the animations greater depth and meaning. (which is kind of the point - life will have more meaning if you slow down at least once in a while and appreciate the moment [page] instead of always rushing to get to the next chapter)


APPEARANCE

* animations will be simple line drawings, with splashes of colour
* maybe the animation for the fast-paced story could be drawn like someone did it in a hurry with ink splotches and mistakes here and there.
* typographically there will also be a suggestion of pacing in the way it is presented. (e.g fast-paced story might have congested looking type)
* potential titles: “speed junkies”, “i need this yesterday”, “up to speed?”
















TO DO

content
* conduct research
* write story x2
* capture footage of characters x2
* edit footage and export frames for animation x2
* trace frames to form line drawings x2
* add colour
* figure out binding method
* place frames in layout
* add type
* title, legal info, dedication ???


construction
* create test mock-up
* print (double-sided)
* bind


RESEARCH (so far)

* slow movement: http://www.slowmovement.com/
* slow planet: http://www.slowplanet.com/work
* TED talks: carl honore – in praise of slowness: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/carl_honore_praises_slowness.html