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.