I've started to design some content for my book, but this felt a bit like the wrong order to be doing things in as I need to know what format I want my book to be. I've been researching book designs and sizes I like, as well as a few book binds and folds, which I've tried to re-create. Obviously these are just quick practises to see what the shape could look like, my real book will be much neater.
These are the selection of books, I want it to be quite small and pocket size, to be a collectable well designed item. With each book, I've also drawn in where the content could be placed.
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This mini A7 book has been arranged with a french fold, which would make it quite thick as the pages would be doubled up. It would allow for a space for patterns/block colour to fill the opposite side of the paper with the text on it. The book would need a thick, sturdy cover to keep it all intact.
I really like this fold, its a bit unusual in terms of things I've done before and looks interesting and not childish.
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This is just a hot dog fold book and to be honest I feel like this is more of a leaflet and in this context I've realised it wouldn't be relevant at all. The idea was that I could have a massive poster of one quote on the inside and maybe a few different books together in a set but it just logically wouldn't work.
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For this one I've just stuck the backs together to again double up the pages. The key in making my book is to get it thick and sturdy as its so small. This works quite well but isn't as nice to look at as the french fold. Again, it would need a good cover to support it.
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The book could also potentially be positioned horizontally. I've just put the bulldog clip where the book could be sewn up. But I think it would be quite hard to read this way, and the quotes wouldn't work across a double page spread as I want them to.
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This one is a concertina fold, which I think would look quite good but I don't really see the purpose in doing it this way - there would be no reason so it might look a bit random. And I want things to be in a logical order so think this would confuse them.
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I created this one off an online tutorial and I am really confused about the purpose and layout of the pages inside - this makes no sense?! Its more like a weird leaflet than a book. But I do like the idea of a thick cover that would open up like this, and I could use some nice ribbon/cord to tie it.
So all in all, I think I will go with the french fold but try creating a cover for it. I will stick with A7 size as this looks best, and portrait because I think this would be easiest to read and fit everything in.
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Responding to a point made in an earlier crit, I've considered how I can take this brief further than just being a book, and here are a few more ideas. Realistically, I don't have time to create an app or website but this could have been a good idea. I think I could create some merchandise for the product, as if it was a brand.
