Intro to Layout Book Project

Day One:

Today we were introduced to this book project in Intro to Layout. I spent some time thinking about possible subjects for the three books. To help with ideas, we spent some time looking at books on the Gutenberg Free eBook website.

Day Two:

In class, we learned a step by step process about how to get our books started. We also learned how to create the spacing. We learned how to add page numbers on our master page. I selected the books: Iliad, Odyssey and the Aeneid. I was able to follow along and our professor went around the room to make sure we are doing okay and not confused.

Day three:

We learned about how to see where the characters are on the book. We had to make the book a certain amount of pages long; so, it's not the full book but it's not too short. We were able to look at the book spacing and correct any errors.

Day Four:

I worked on my book again. I was able to adjust sizing and change the type face. I also added more text into my book since when I made the sizing smaller I had to add more text for the appropriate length.

Day Five:

I ended up going home since I wanted to use my Cricut for the three book covers, and I had a large supply of stock paper. I had an idea of the paper that I wanted to use to make the book covers special. I used red stock paper for the background, and I did a thin layer of gold around it. The gold was also perfect for the title and author of the book. I used brown paper as the silhouette of the characters I wanted to use. I also had to redo the content of my book since I had added the introduction and not actually the book. I tried printing it from home, but It wasn't a high tech printer like the ones at school. I ended up saving my project to my computer since my InDesign at home made it really glitchy, and I was scared I was going to lose it. Later that day, I went in to the negative space room and worked for hours to print my book - I finally had a copy that I thought was correct, but I ended up doing it wrong, and had to reprint it the next day.

Cricut

Day Six:

I ended up going to class and my professor said I didn't print it correctly. It needed to be printed double-sided, since the papers were going to folded. Ater class I ended up printing the book many times trying to get it right. One of my classmate helped me adjust the settings of the printer to print it correctly. I also stappled my books and bound my books. I also cut the book down since it was too big for the size of my covers.

Day Seven:

I turned in my books for the final grading.

Why these books:

The books I have chosen for the book project are the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid. I really wanted to do something with monsters and poems. I read the Iliad and Odyssey in high school English, but I haven’t read the Aeneid yet. I wanted to tie Aeneid together with that book since it is the same timeline and war as the other two books. Mythology is appealing to me. I am always intrigued by books like these. It is inspiring to see how the heroes overcome the monsters. The heroes win the wars whether the gods are fighting with them or against them. 

Materials:

For this project, I made the book covers out of stock paper and light weight paper.  I used my Cricut to create the silhouette of the characters for each book.  I used the Cricut to create the titles of each book. I really like how the gold color ties all of the book covers together. I put a layer of Modge Podge on top of each cover to provide a glossy effect.  It also made the brown paper look a little like leather.  

Challenges:

My obstacles to overcome were getting basic supplies and getting access to my Cricut, since it was at home. Formatting the book pages was challenging.  Sometimes my InDesign was glitchy. My final and major obstacle occurred with the printing of the books, as I spent hours and hours in the print room trying to get my books to print.  I said many prayers, and it worked. I am thankful for the help from my professor and my classmates.