OUGD504 - Studio Brief 01 - Final Idea

Following some research and feedback, a final idea has been selected for the book. The concept is all about how Amsterdam is misinterpreted by youth, Amsterdam in a visual sense to many people symbolises Cannabis and the red light district but what I shot in the 'Venice of the north' is a far cry from that stereotype. My images show a different side to the capital of Holland, a side that shows a design city and culture beyond the norm associated with the city with many youngsters.

The context of my book will be a mix of a coffee table book and a visual guide of design in Amsterdam, the content will be limited therefore the images will the main focus of the book. The target audience is incredibly important to this book because its aim is to make youngsters aware of Amsterdam's different side, yet showcase design to people who already appreciate and know of design in the city. Engaging a target audience who are oblivious to design may come across hard so the idea is to trick an audience through the identity and style of the book, yet make it subtly pleasing to say a designers eye. In terms of product placement the book will be advertised as a design book on type, promoted on blogs such as Itsnicethat, Grafik, Aisleone and Visuelle. By promoting the book on design blogs, one half of the target audience is reached then on the other hand having the book stylised in such a rashness way associated with drugs, attracts another audience. 

Production is key to the book, in terms of style I've had the idea of placing the book into a large plastic seal bag with a cannabis leaf screen printed or stamped onto it. Having the book stylised like this will fit into the stereotype style I'm aiming to achieve, then for the book itself it will be a clean look book showcasing the images. In terms of size, I'm thinking of making the book roughly 21 cm x 15 cm but sizing will be experimented with in development, as I'll be placing the book into a bag, sizing at this point is varied. Stock for this book will be most likely be GF Smith white stock to help isolate the images on each page but for the cover stock choice, I'm undecided at this point. The book will be a softcover with a perfect bind, soft cover books are mostly bound using perfect binding. It is fairly inexpensive and fast to produce large quantities of perfectly binded books with fairly minimal risk, but what has informed this choice is the target audience, having a book that is easily produced and cheap to produce makes it affordable for youngsters. With a price point of £8, being sold at independent book stores such as Village, Colours may vary and Magma. For this book to succeed it must be placed in the right environment for people to truly appreciate it, a trendy alternative book store such as the ones ive named previously would help the book reach its audience.

In terms of printing the book here at the college, it will be digitally printed using an inkjet printer. Then the plastic cover bag will either be screen printed or stamped, experimentation will take place in  development but I've already held initial talks with Mike in the traditional print room about the possibility of printing onto a thin layer of plastic and its possible. If I was to print this book commercially I don't  believe I'd change the production method because its economical for short run publications such as photo books or small runs of books, I would find an alternative way of printing onto plastic for commercial printing though as screen printing would prove to be a timely production method.

Feedback

I presented my final idea to my peers to receive feedback, the one question I was most concerned about was how to appeal more to the youngster target audience. I explained how i'll stylise the book in a way which will appeal to youngsters, which my peers liked as they believe they'd be intrigued by the stylisation. People agreed that placing a drug related image onto the book would draw in an audience who instantly associate this with Amsterdam so it was a clever way of targeting an audience.