Studio Brief 2: Design development

Figure 1

To further develop the audio book concept, laser cutting the story into the tape was a concept that began to be developed. When in the laser cutting induction, it was highlighted that it was very hard to cut into thin materials as it would often cause it to melt away or break. The book of experiments in fig.1 shows the process taken to find the correct setting so that it would cut out the words as accurately as possible. This could have been developed to be stuck over existing text to show a new shortened version, or as the reel of tape presented in the original cassette tape. This idea was soon discarded as it was pointed out in feedback that the concept was to shorten the process of reading a book, but this was an extremely long process of production.

When discussed, the idea of creating cards with sentence summaries of novel on and presenting them in the cassette tape case would be the most effective way to show the concept of it being an audio book. 

Leading on from the feedback, the development of the cards having sentences that summarised the novels lead to the decision to target it to students who are needing to know the plots of a large number of books to help broaden their overall knowledge on English Literature. 

Figure 2

Figure 3

The original cassette tapes came with a set of stickers (fig. 2) that could be applied to the case so that the owner could label it. The concept would be to have the stickers with the author’s name on it and then a blank space on the card for it to be stuck, creating a revision game. 

Figure 2 shows the mockup created so that the concept could be visualised, using the original set of stickers so that shapes and design styles could be applied to the final designs.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Research into existing popular books showed that bold fonts, monochrome and age are common features that run throughout them all. Applying this to the original packaging of the cassette tape, allowed for the development shown in figure 3.

The casing acts as a barrier to hide the authors name so the revision cards can be used multiple times. Feedback suggested that once the stickers have been stuck on, the interactive element of the concept is no longer present. The solution could be a set of cards that have the sentences on and then a set of cards with the author’s names on and the revision activity would be to match them together.

Figure 6

Figure 1 shows the design development of the cards that have the sentences on. The typeface that is used is called ‘Impact’ the most commonly used typeface on the original cassette tape cases. The text started off very small and central, proving hard to read. The gradual size increase and use of wider kerning made it easier to read and also effectively fulfilled the need for the modern design style that was being aimed for. The last development shows how the sticker design has been applied to the visual presentation of the title of the type of card that it is, also repeating on the final card development of figure 2.

Figure 7

Figure 2 also shows the development of the typography sizing and placement. Having the book title and the author’s name in the same size typeface didn't show them very clearly to be two separate things, so this was changed. The final development shows the book title to be in size 20 and the author’s name to be in size 14.
The cards will be printed on a thickness of card similar to that of the traditional deck of playing cards and the front cover insert will be on something thicker, resembling the original cassette tape packaging.  

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10 

Figure 8 shows a diagram of the way that the typography needs to be positioned on the sleeve so that it works in the cassette tape case. 
The different ideas on what to write on the front of the case is shown in figure 9. The chatty and light-hearted tone is something that the target audience would engage with well, taking away the seriousness that is commonly associated with literature.
Peer feedback confirmed that the Figure 10 was the most engaging front cover as it succinctly summarised the purpose of the product, whilst keeping in line with the light-hearted tone that was being aimed for. 

The pattern will change colour depending on the particular theme that it is being used for and so will title on the spine of the case.