Sourcing Content & Copyright

Whilst developing my ideas for the look of my iBook, I've also been sourcing my content that will help build it up.

Copyright Issues

One of the main issues I've been focusing on is Copyright. There are 1000's upon 1000's of articles of Volcanoes on the Internet, and even more Images. A lot of these are really good images, but they have next to no information on Copyright and whether or not they can be used or not. Whilst I will not be selling my iBook, I still want to adhere to any restrictions and avoid as many problems as possible when it comes to copyright. So, I've been looking at Wikipedia.

At first, that sounds a bit ridiculous. I understand that Wikipedia is not considered a reliable resource, so I haven't been using it to gain any knowledge and write any articles for my iBook - I've been using it for images. I've found that a lot of (and on the subject of Volcanos, the major of) the images on the Wikipedia articles for that subject are 'free in the public domain'. This means that in most cases, credit is not generally required and I am free to do with those images as I please. So, they can feature in my iBook without any big issues. Of course, Wikipedia does not hold the key to a huge gallery of fabulous and suitable Volcano images - they usually only contain a maximum of 4-5 images per article - so I haven't been able to find all of my images here. I've also looked at the NASA site.

Very similar to Wikipedia, NASA supplies images (that they have created themselves) in a public photo gallery that is free for anyone to access. They're free to the public domain and have limited restrictions on their use. Below are some examples of some images I'm considering using in my iBook.

http://nasasearch.nasa.gov/search/images?affiliate=nasa&m=false&query=volcanoes

Videos

I've been looking to Vimeo and YouTube for good educational videos that I can include in my iBook. Below are some that I have decided are appropriate and would fit within my iBook.

Shield Volcanoes

Yellowstone Caldera

Graphics

As far as sourcing Graphics and Graphs goes, I've decided not to do this. I want to create them all myself to fit within my chosen visual style, as I can decide exactly what information to include and have the freedom to truly simplify something or develop it further. I want to stick with flat colours - so steer away from textures as much as possible. Below are some colour schemes that I have picked off of images that I like and that illustrate the sort of look I want to achieve. There aren't too many 'pure' colours there, as I think I may try to add a hint of the 'retro' style in too. 

Presenting My Idea

I have successfully pitched my idea to the class. Whilst I didn't really get too much feedback on their thoughts on the designs and concepts I proposed, they did comment on their worry that I'm going to try and cover too many subjects within it. In some ways, I agree. I think I have expanded hugely within each chapter I'm going to cover, and am considering condensing down those so as not too overloud myself, as well as merging sections that don't have much consistency to create a better section between the too.

Aside from that, my ideas were accepted positively and were encouraged and they seemed to be interested to see how I would progress and to see the final product.

An Inspirational iBook

A while ago I was browsing www.kickstarter.com and came across a project called 'Chineasy'. I read the article, watched the promotional video and thought that the idea was absolutely brilliant. Then, thinking no more of it, I closed the page and haven't looked much into it since.

Today whilst having a quick browse through the iBooks online Library via the iBooks app, I saw that the creators of 'Chineasy' released the iBook version of their book. Knowing that it contained, what some consider, a "revolutionary" way to learn a language, I downloaded the free sample to have a look. 

I'd like to analyse it quickly, whilst I'm in the midst of my project, as I am currently in the middle of trying to workout layouts through constantly drawing wireframes. I find the layout of this book really inspiring and a brilliant platform for someone to learn from. 

There is a very consistent design style. It's very current, very engaging and very aesthetically pleasing.

Example 1: Chineasy: The New Way to Read Chinese

Comparing the above and below examples, there is not a consistent colour scheme but rather a consistent colour style - very, very slightly muted. Some pages are coloured through a set of shades of a colour (e.g. above, with orang/red), whereas others work with contrasting colours, and offsetting a darker shade against a lighter one. 

The use of the full, portrait image on the left compared to the smaller, 4-piece grid offsets the page and prevents the need to have a page of 4 images on the left as well. It reminds me a of a magazine - the advertisement, then the magazine content.

Example 2: Chineasy: The New Way to Read Chinese

The layouts vary from page to page, but general stick to a grid system. Example one features a clear 2up - 2down grid, whereas example 2 has a column of imagery and then matching information on the outer edge of the page, leaving breathing space within the central column. I think this is a brilliant way to present information - break it into small chunks and arrange it in a way that makes logical sense. The way Example 2 is organised is similar to what I've seen in a lot of magazines, and even shopping catalogues - the way icons are used to match up with the information that is in a seperate area on the page. 

Example 3: Chineasy: The New Way to Read Chinese

The use of dramatic comparisons, using imagery that we recognise, seems to be a good way to enable someone to learn something easily. My dad always told me that if I ever needed to remember a set of numbers to turn them into something visual in my mind based on what they looked like (e.g. number 2 = swans) and then make a short one sentence story containing all of those things. This is a similar thing, associating the information with something very visual and recognisable, increasing the chance of the reader being able to remember it. 

Initial Ideas & Wireframing

To get an idea of how I am going to layout my iBook and how it may look on an iPad, a made a few wireframes. These were more for me to experiment further and gain more understanding on the layouts that I could pursue within the dimensions of the iPad.

Here I pursued one of my initial drawings from my sketchbook. It's a basic layout, with room for 4 images (one that's a lot skinnier and longer) as well as 3 rows of text below the smaller rectangular images. Then with an arrow to click to the next page. I'm going to have to look into the navigation of iBooks and whether or not that arrow is actually necessary, as my experience and analysis of them so far has been that it's not, and you just swipe. 

I then experimented with how an image would be viewed. If an image is clicked, much like on a lot of websites, it will appear bigger with a dim background to highlight it. Then with an X to close. I also like the idea of being able to click anywhere around the image (just not on it) to close it. Again, I need to start looking further into the restrictions of the program I am using.