Making an iBook

I am currently designing an iBook for #GeorgeRodgerArchive. The idea is that it will be a digital version of the one that will feature in the exhibition so that there is a sense of continuity in the project.

The iBook in many aspects is more versitile than a physical book as audio and videos can be included in them. However, I didn’t want to have an iBook as part of my exhibition piece because of the nature that it could be found at home; whereas there is only one physical copy.

Drawing on my inspiration from ‘Dear Robert’ by Joel Kantor, I have used a similar layout in that you can enlarge the images to view them in more detail. This means that a viewer can spend more time reading the text of the letters and diary. I have also included audio tracks which accompany some images. On the whole the audio tracks are around a minute long and so isn’t too long to be dwelling on one page with perhaps only one image. I am in two minds as to whether this makes the flow of the book better because it means a viewer has to spend longer on a particular page listening, or whether it disturbs the rhythm.

When I was reading the Dear Robert book, I found that I had to take pauses between picking it up because it is naturally at a slow pace. My book isn’t going to any where near as long. I know that if I had more visits to the archive then perhaps I could make it longer. For now I think I am happy with what I have; always with hindsight one thinks of what they could have done better. On two occasions there are long-over five second audio pieces- which are the readings of a letter and diary. These are probably too long. I wonder whether perhaps I remove the other recordings and split up the piece from the diary and use images to illustrate the audio pieces. This would mean that this book is a completely different product of this project. The idea was that there are two versions of the same piece.

I will continue with my original plan. The iBook that will disseminate the message of how rich the archive is with Jinx’s commentary. Perhaps the longer audio pieces could act as chapters and I can then use more images of prints, perhaps.