May 22, 2013
Discovering Digital Books
BookWall by Anke Stohlmann, Jennings Hanna, Rae Milne and Willa Tracosas
Thanks to e-readers, we can now carry entire collections of our favorite titles with us—something that’s especially welcome in the warmer months, when we can dip into a book during an impromptu stop in the park or on a longer sojourn at the beach. But for all their convenience, e-readers aren’t much of help when we’re trying to decide what to read next. In this newsletter, we take a look at the ways designers and publishers are helping readers browse and discover digital books—without judging them by their covers, or flipping through their pages.
April 24, 2013
Publishing as a Group Activity
We recently used Kickstarter to successfully launch our project Li’l Stories, and we’d like to share our own story of how the crowdfunding platform became an important part of our design process—and how it may point the way to a new kind of publishing.
Like many designers, we’ve dreamed up ideas for more projects than we know what to do with—products that were never realized because we had no idea of how we could find the funding to get them off the ground. Kickstarter is a remarkable crowdsourcing platform that helps you find backers for your creative projects. Along the way it helps you shape the marketing for your product, as well as your plans for fabrication and distribution. Best of all, it allows you to get to know the people who back your project—your potential customers—who become an important part of the process and have a rooting interest in your project’s success.
March 13, 2013
Introducing Li’l Stories
In addition to our client work, we often come up with ideas for personal projects that we’d like to pursue and develop. This month we’re pleased to announce our first Kickstarter project, developed in collaboration by Li’l Robin’s Anke Stohlmann and her husband Richard Baker, and inspired by their daughter, Luna.
Luna loves stories, and when she was younger Anke and Richard told them to her all the time—in the morning, on the train, over dinner, at bedtime. But sometimes they found it challenging to tell a captivating story on the spot—coming up with a funny, mysterious or whimsical plot on demand is hard. (Luna may be Anke’s toughest client.)
Thus we’ve created Li’l Stories, a series of cards that stack the deck, so to speak, with elements—characters, locations, and objects—for the start of a good story. The cards are tools for parents to help make storytelling a little easier and a lot more fun. We’re launching the project via Kickstarter, and our supporters will be able to contribute their own ideas for cards in the series.
February 20, 2013
Digital Books That Feel Like Books
Bookcubes by James Bridle/Image: James Bridle
In the relatively short history of the e-book, the format has mostly been considered as a digital means of delivering text. But books have always been more than this; they are objects that are seen, used, collected, felt. This month we take a look at how designers are working to incorporate these experiences into digital books.
For all their convenience, e-books leave something to be desired for many readers, who enjoy the physical qualities of paper books and how they shape the reading experience. These include knowing how far you’ve come in a book, and how much further you have to go; easily flipping back to an earlier chapter or passage to remind yourself of a character’s origins or actions, or to revisit a bit of plot; and making the text your own by slipping in a bookmark, dog-earring a corner, or writing your own notes in the margins. At the same time, readers like to see what others are reading, and keeping books as souvenirs. (When we visit someone’s home, we can’t help checking out their shelves to get an idea of their interests or personality.) E-book designers are now exploring ways to integrate these essential aspects into digital reading.
January 23, 2013
Looking Ahead to Digital Storytelling
At the start of every year we like to think about what the next 12 months will bring in publishing and technology, especially given the incredible pace of change. This year our reading may go beyond enhanced e-books to exciting new forms created specifically for the digital space.
Enhanced e-books supplement their narratives with multimedia features like video and audio. As more people do their reading on Internet-connected tablets like the iPad and Kindle Fire, enhanced e-books will become a familiar format. And soon readers will be ready to experience e-literature—digital-born works that combine written language, performance, sound and video, games and motion—to create a new kind of storytelling.