A Character Sketch of the Book:
The story of my book, entitled "Beneath the Surface," mimics a seemingly homicide murder with three likable suspects that are deeply connected to the victim. However, there is a twist in the ending and through the investigation of the reader, they will discover that in fact it a suicide with ill intentions of framing the suspects as the murderer.

The design of the book is set up as a grown-up picture book with the reader playing a first-person perspective of the role of a police investigator. It is very interactive, with fold-outs, transparencies, pull outs, and all the little goodies found in children books. The book is bound in double way, featuring a concertina binding within a button-hole binding and will feature a creative take on the concept of end papers (Extender sleeve that is photograph based). The goal of the book is to make the readers fully "explore" the book to unravel the story plot. The solution will not be given away, with the book ending as a major cliff hanger. Only through careful examination of the evidence can you discover that in fact there is a secret confession letter of the victim hidden away in the book.

The story imitates a "real" approach compared to those seen in television. With this project, I hope that the readers realize the complexity of an investigation; promote awareness on how to support the police, and to question the stereotypes in society and those seen in television, especially in regards to criminals and their intentions. I hope that they realize the thin line between the so called "good" and "bad," of law and the complex feelings that officers battle each and every single day when confronted with these blurred situations.

The dimension of the book is 7"x10" (just a bit smaller than your standard Type 6 Catalog envelope). Both the story and the images are created/ photographed by me.


The Evolution of the Project:
The project initially started off as a series of random ideas in which I wanted to do more of a research topic into various things, like voodoo dolls, forgeries, and underlying messages. However, upon discussing with Reg, we discovered that the main theme that is evident in all my ideas is the sense of mystery and from there I took off into creating my own story plots. I came up with two main plots, one centering more on evidence and the other on puzzles (shown earlier in my blog) and decided to go with the mystery idea. From there, the evolution that took place for my project is ways to strengthen the idea and ways how everything unfolds, such as the cliffhanger ending, binding and end pages. I would say that the funniest evolution of my project that kept on changing was my story plot, which changed with the weather as my photos are dependent on what I can take.


Making Choices:
I think the two most important choices I made concerning my book is the binding and the story plot. The binding had a huge influence on how exactly my book will turn out. I wanted a binding that allowed me the flexibility of putting various objects within the book and can open flat. I actually decided at first that coil binding might suit my needs the most but Reg persuaded me otherwise and instead, I found a happy compromise by merging two binding methods into my book. With the concertina binding, I can use some of them as dividers, interesting add-ins, or as thickness placeholders that allow me the opportunity to place my interactive elements while maintaining a volume balance (so that book can remain flat).

In regards to my story plot, it took some time to narrow it down to what exactly I wanted to write about. I think the hardest choice though was how to convey all the information I've researched into a basic storyline. Did I want an experienced detective or an amateur? How exactly did I want my victim to "die"? Do I want a happy or a sad ending? There were numerous questions and decisions that I constantly to make as by writing a story yourself, it allows for unlimited opportunities. In the end, I just went with ideas that I thought worked the best. I came up with mini scenarios and through the help of Reg and my friends, we narrowed down to what might be most interesting. I am glad as to how my story goes. At first I didn't really want to reveal my plot here but I believe I cannot analyze and talk about my overall book in terms of things like design and binding without talking about my story plot and the ending. I hope that everyone will still continue to search for the "answer' within my book.


Compromises:
One of the major compromise that I had to make was the fact that I couldn't complete the book in time. Time was a huge issue, especially when you had to do everything on your own. Another thing was the fact that I could do so much that in the end, I had to cut down possible ideas in terms of how things unravel and the possible evidence. I had to keep a clear mind on what exactly I want and stick with it without getting side tracked or thinking of even more things. The photos of actual investigation tools, police stations and the realism in all that had to be compromised as well. I thought that I would be able to get photos of such things as I made sure all privacy was protected and such, but my bubble burst when I found out you would have to do another step and contact the headquarters. There was just not enough time as the process would take a long time itself. I had to make due with what I have. I am a little bit disheartened that my police branch didn't tell me straight up but left me hanging for a month with hope until I asked again for details upon setting up a photo shoot date. However, the fact that they did respond back made me truly grateful either way.

I plan to continue to work and improve on my book for the grad show. One of the things I did not have the time to create but will definitely add is a cover slip case series. It will feature the three suspects in the similar style as the end paper, with some of the objects they have in colour red (red series). If money wasn't an issue, I would play with silk screes and varnishes. Silk screening would have eased me more in terms of my paper stock and covers. Some of the hidden messages could be shown by varnishes and it would save me the trouble of thinking of other methods to do such a thing.


Pleasures and Frustrations:
One thing I would advise is to leave a lot time. That is the main frustration in any design courses but applies the most in the case of book design, especially if you are planning to take pictures or write the story yourself (research takes a lot of time). Also, I would advise that if you are taking pictures and using friends as the main characters in your story, make sure they live near you and you have easy access to them. I ran in the trouble that they had school and went back to their residence in their respective universities (in my case, Waterloo and McMaster - far...) They also got really busy and I couldn't really schedule a good time to take pictures with the props I need. Weather can become a factor as well if you're taking outside shots. Make sure you take all the photos you need outdoors before getting interrupted (in our case, the strike) or you will find that you might have to retake a lot of pictures. Writing was a bit troublesome for me as well since I had to write more in a "script" form. I had to plan out my dialogues and the type of characters and the tone that each will convey.

However, despite the frustrations, the pleasures you get from this course is numerous. I really liked the fact that we were able to learn different binding methods, the case making, the details that go along with it and the support and creative suggestions we got from Reg into creating an awesome book. I found myself analyzing books more and taking in the creative ways of how they are put together. I would definitely suggest anyone to take book design.

Side note! If anyone wants to pursue a mystery topic and want to take any photos of police stations, tools or anything within, please either start really really early or give that idea up. You will not have the time. One of my frustrations is that I tried to do this without knowing and despite getting in contact and was able to set up an interview meeting, I discovered later that you cannot take any photos without getting approval from the headquarters (even if you wanted to take photos of your police branch), which usually takes a while for them to get back to you. This whole process made me lose a lot of time and I had to compromise, rewrite my story and work with what I have.

The next step...

Before I start tampering with layouts, materials and actual content and images (the major chunk of work that needs to be done), I knew that I had to get my story plot down and set and thus, that was the main goal of my next step. To start, I researched, watched and read a lot about mysteries, crimes, serial killers, the paranormal and even superstitions in order to gain some inspirations into what I could write and create. In the end, I came up with these two possible plots. I worked out some details but they might change (kind of like placeholder details).

Plot 1: "Skin Deep" (possible title)

A woman is found dead. She is your typical well off white collar worker with a quiet and somewhat mild personality. A normal good person that one would not expect to be killed at all. There are three suspects: her ex-boyfriend (a respectful, popular, charismatic doctor), her friend (a stylish girl that likes going out to have fun - sales associate? tbd), and one of her co-workers (hard working trustworthy man/woman tbd). At first, the suspects seem to have your everyday normal relationship with the victim yet as investigation progress, you find out the dark side of each of them. All suspects have no alibi at the time of death and there is enough evidence on them as the murder. However, there will be a really cool twisted ending.

>>> So for this story line, the solution will not be presented in the end, but just a question of whether you can find the right suspect or not. You will have to search an recheck evidence in order to find this truth.

>>>> I have a pretty cool concept for the endpaper. I want it to be the photograph of the victim (like those autopsy looking ones) but the image on the back, you will see a smile. Kind of having the spooky factor~

Plot 2: "Missing" (possible title)

A classmate or co-worker hasn't shown up for a while and hasn't been responding to calls (either that or that you are a detective and a friend of yours hasn't responded back, etc). You get worried and check up on that person. At the house, you run into three other people, all who claim to be friends of this person. They all appear suspicious as at times, they would look at each other, pause, and say things or change topics, almost as if they shared some sort of secret. You learn to trust them though and get swept away in a "game" they play with the person, where each would take turns and create a "mystery" or "puzzle" that leads to a prize (they are big fans of puzzles and mystery novels). However, as the investigation and hunt progress, everyone is thrown into confusion as the intentional puzzles end halfway and the person in question appears to be just gone/kidnapped/disappeared, where one has no clue whether he/she is still living and thus, all three people that you have learn to trust are now all suspects to the case.

>>> For this case, I haven't come up with a solid ending but rather a few possibles: that the person in the end got stuck and thus couldn't get out (like fell into a ditch), got kidnapped after witnessing something (like a mystery within another mystery) or got killed by one or more of the suspects. It will be a surprise ending, somewhat unexpected due to the second mystery element.

----

With these two plots, each has its own benefits. The first one is a bit more dark and will be neat as it leads you to hunt for the answer yourself. The second one is more linear as the right suspect or the truth will be revealed in the end. However, it is neat in the sense that it can be more amateurish and playful in its interactive elements and can thrive on mini puzzles, mind questions and the such, allowing a different path/opportunity. I am basically deciding between the two. Personally I like the first one a little bit more since I put more thought onto it but I see mass potential on the second one as well. I probably will need to go another and ask people for their opinion.


Binding
Yay! After researching for a long time and seeing what possible binding methods I could do, I've finally decided between three possible ones: buttonhole book binding, Z-fold flat back, and coil. At first, I had this idea where one can explore the spine and flip through it, but after some tests, I found that the book does not sit flat on the table, in which proves to be a hindrance to the type of book I'm making, especially since it is interactive and will contain other elements, etc.

Button-hole Binding

Z-fold flat back Binding




Aside from that, I will probably post up some images that I have in my library books later on or any interesting finds. I have about 6 books on criminology/forensics/etc, 3 books on mind puzzles and magic tricks, 3 books on superstition, forgery, legend breakers and spams (really interesting actually, I should share some stories) and 3 on essays and how to write children mystery novels. Hopefully with these books and with the research I've done online (probably post those links later on...), I can come up with a story line that is do-able and not fake. I really want this book to be pretty factual and not mess up on any scientific details that people can catch. I want it to be somewhat real, which is also why I wanted it to be a graphical based book.

The photographs in my book, especially in regards to people based ones will be cut off head shots. This will allow readers to not really see the people and thus can imagine for themselves the various people. It will allow them to associate with the book more? (or so at least I'm hoping).

I am a little bit happy that we are entering the good old Halloween season. I think I will have more chance of gaining materials and such~ Too bad it's not super gory or I would have met up with some haunted attractions to gain photos.

For the paper, I'm thinking of French folds to double up the sheets of paper so it is more durable to put interactive elements onto the sheets, but I still haven't target paper places to see other possibilities. I need to explore this.

To Do List:

• Research MORE! (for techniques, killing methods, forensics, printing, tricks, etc.) - basically read the books...
  
• Write the story and determine how many pages
  
• Take pictures of setting, background, etc.
  
• Find and take pictures of the three suspects and victims (look among friends and classmates?) - possibility of either candid shots (once) or mug like ones.
  
• Continue collecting miscellaneous objects and items lying around
• Explore various stores for paper, weird things > Look around in world
  
• Test out binding methods, interactive elements and determine what works best in book
  

More Inspirations!

The Farouche Assemblage by Matthew Hughes



Muji Chronotebook



+rosebud no.1-6 (amazingly designed) Currently showing no.5 Mystery version

Interactive Children Picture Books

Wandmaker's Guidebook




The Chronicles of Spiderwick by Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black






ABC3D by Marion Bataille




The Time Traveler's Journal by Ed Masessa, Daniel Jankowski (Illustrator), Lawrence E. Myers (Illustrator), Dan Jankowski (Illustrator), Bill Henderson (Designed by)




Cool picture book with interesting illustrations:
The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (Illustrator), Dave McKean (Illustrator)

Note to future self: Neil Gaiman has some really spiffy books - nicely designed/ illustrated. Barbara Hodgson is my new book idol. Thank you Reg for letting me know about her. Love the combination between text and illustrations.

A little more detail...

Mystery Book (Name: TBD)

Goal: To provide a fun and interactive book where one tries to solve the mystery along with the plot. One will also learn about various things and the basics of how a detective or investigator works. The target audience will most likely be teens and the book will become almost like a grown up picture book.

Format: fold outs, plastics, lemon juice, lead + fingerprint, tape, pull outs, fake blood, doodles + notes, crumpled paper, floor plans.

Images: Photography and some illustrations.

More Decisions:

• Pictures (How graphic will the book look?)
• Binding (side bind where one can explore spine, folder type, inner hidden type)
• Story (detective or newbie investigator? murder or cult/ weird/ conspiracy)
• Balance (between story and graphics + interactive parts)
• Pages (how long will the story be?)

To Do List:

• Research some more! (on mystery, cases, binding methods, printable suff, etc)
  
• Make the story
• Find pictures, take pictures
• Collect miscellaneous objects and items lying around
• Borrow children interactive books
  

Inspirations!

Some mini inspiriting book pics I ran into.
(Below: Erin Ciulla "Phase 1" and Geoffrey Hewett "Interview With My See Through Demons")

My first post on blog!

Hello! Welcome to my book blog and thank you for witnessing my first post on any blog site. I'm kind of excited at the whole entering a new media type of thingy, yet also a bit pessimistic about the whole thing, since it also means constant updating and what not.

Anyways, as you can tell from my title, the book I'll be making lies somewhere along the lines of a mystery book. Strangely, I've always been interested in things like this (although not particularly good at it...) I mean, everything in the world is mysterious and it's these little mysterious things that make everything interesting. And gosh, when you discover and solve these little mysterious, it's such a great feeling! It's like learning a great deal and being wowed at the same time.

So, I'm hoping that my book will become a pretty interactive one, where the user has to open stuff here and there, almost like peering into a police file or something like that. Like a game? Maybe a Parasite Eve type of solving mystery minus the mutant monsters? (it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of police + mystery) I'm kind of confused and lost on how to start it though. I've always been a reader/player, never the one composing this sort of thing. I mean, where does the story begin? Do I want the readers to be a character in the story or like, a watcher? Will it be a horror type with murder or a journey to finding the truth over a conspiracy and such? And the worst pondering of all... what happens if the story I create suck?

Ahhhh... so much to think about, so little time...

Well, that's around it for this intro post. Hope you can bear with this little newbie's ramblings and yup, hope you visit again? Bye bye~