Deeper Dive IP Projects

Coming back from fall break, today in IP we looked at two "deeper dive" projects, or two more develop iterations of our projects. It was really great because this has only been the second time since starting IP that I was able to hear about other peoples' projects (we usually do small groups or one on one meetings with professor) and get an update on where they are. It was very inspiring and it was great to see how ideas have changed and how some projects are very similar.

Anyway, here is a picture of my two deeper dive projects I presented in class:

1st Deeper Dive: Infographic family tree

On the top portion of the photograph you can see my family tree laid out in a vertical styled infographic I made on illustrator. I do have a similar version of this on ancestry, but this infographic also helps me understand the book construction/layout I will need. It's almost like "site-mapping" how my book will be organized. Also, I haven't added graphic design to my project thus far, and after looking at The Book of Trees by Manuel Lima, recommended by Robert, I was inspired to layout design the information.

2nd Deeper Dive: Book Construction Prototype

What is making me most anxious about my project is realizing how much time the handmade construction of my book will take. And the best way to get the ball rolling on the physical construction of my book is to figure out how exactly I'm going to make it. The book 500 Handmade Books has been very helpful as a source of inspiration for potential book construction concepts. As of now, I've just worked out the prototype shown above. This prototype of my book involves 3 separate books, one of me, my parents and siblings; one of my dad's parents siblings; and one of my mom's parents siblings. Knowing this, if I were to go with this construction I would have to have a book set, not only one book (because of how much folding is involved). Although I do think this construction presents the information in a very understandable way (each row of pages represents a generation, going further into the past the farther down you go) for my audience to understand, it's pretty flat against the wall, and a little overwhelming to look at. I do want my project to be large and overflowing, but I don't want it to be cluttered or confusing. My next prototype will involve a construction inspired by these images in 500 Handmade books:

The construction will be based of a horizontal time instead of a vertical one. So the information would go from page to page, left to right instead of from top to bottom. Although this direction is more traditional when it comes to how information in a book is typically organized, I do have some concerns. As you go deeper and deeper into time in my family tree, the amount of family members grow, of course. It's just me, then two parents, then 4 grandparents, then 8 great-grandparents, you get the picture. So I'm wondering how I'll be able to organize that information to all fit in page to page. I'm interested to see how it'll go once I start construction.

Overall, today went well and I feel I'm making great progress. I did get some feedback on my deeper dives via post it note which I haven't looked at too deeply just yet, but I plan on going through that tomorrow/Friday and posting that after I do so!

- Manda V.