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.