Let’s get it out the way books are boring! So what about an eBook?
Controversial, that’s the point!
Yes they are fantastic as a learning aid, for sure, but novels……not for me. It maybe just me but I actually prefer educational books and spend a lot of time learning from them. However when it comes to a love story, romance or SCI-FI I would prefer to see a film.
This got me to thinking.
In a technological age; will books become a thing of the past? Or will they hold a place in the world forever?
Tablets, Kindles and E-books seem to be replacing the standard book and it won’t be long before children will want to read stories on a device as it more exciting than an actual book.
Will this mean the art of the written word will be lost or not able to invoke the imagination?
I believe the opposite to be true; with E-Books becoming more interactive the immersive element of reading a book will be more enhanced. An example of this would be the books I used to read as a child where we could make decisions based on several options, “turn to page 43 and find out your fate.” These books were an early attempt of engaging with a reader, using more than just the imagination, using interaction. If this was applied to an eBook and combine graphics, we would have a visual and interactive feast.
That’s not how books work…
At this point some of you might be saying it sounds like a computer game, well in a way I suppose it is. Look at how many children are out there playing console games as we speak, you ask them about it and they can relay everything. Get them to read a book for a period of time and see how much they relay back to you. I should say that this does not apply to everyone!
A study showed that on average people in the UK spend 35.6 hours a month on the internet, browsing and surfing. To reduce this time and make it more constructive would almost seem impossible. So can it be harnessed in a way that children will be reading or learning at the same time? Every parent is so busy these days, having to work longer hours to pay for the rising cost of living, almost eradicating the time to sit down and read with their children.
How about introducing a challenge for a child or children?
They have to read a book over a set period of time, whether via eBook, internet or real book. A simple idea, but it adds a game element into reading as well as being educational.
Children love reading, and they should be encouraged to do so. eBooks combine two fundamental elements of reading – words and pictures – but on a more entertaining platform than just a book. Brighter colours, more interaction, even animated elements.
We like to explore every element of design, and we were inspired by a short story written and illustrated by a student for young children, which had an underlying message about friendship. Not an ebook as such, but we created a flash ‘cartoon story’ just to test the water. We developed the characters and environment based on the original, but gave it a rendered 3D look to run in line with the ‘new age’ look of the technological advancements in books as learning tools.
Illustration was our main focus, elaborating upon an already awesome short storyline. We all know how important a good illustration is, do you remember Quentin Blake? His style went hand in hand with Roald Dahl’s brilliant stories. We are great admirers of Disney Pixar’s work, hence why we put a 3D spin on the illustrations. A little self indulgent, but we wanted to get the story out there in one format or another.
We put togther a cute little story called Tattyanna and the Spider.
