The Final Graphic Product

School Runs, Mortgages & 10 Ways to keep Sane

The audience is 30+ aged people who have given a lot up for other people and are finding life difficult. It isn’t intended to change your life, just make it more manageable.

You buy the Box. It looks a little like this. Here is the .PDF for it.

Inside the Box Comes 10 individual booklets [One,Two,Three,Four,Five,Six, Seven,Eight,Nine,Ten].
The reason for the individual booklets is to break the sense of steps and planning. It helps to embrace spontaneity.

Credits

Front Person:
© Andresr | <a href=”http://www.stockfreeimages.com/”>Stock Free Images</a> & <a href=”http://www.dreamstime.com/”>Dreamstime Stock Photos</a>

Barcode:
zeafonso

 

InDesign

I downloaded a free trial of InDesign so that I could get the benefits of it’s grids and text styling capabilities.
Below is the grid for the inside spreads.

And here is an image showing the clear difference between Illustrator layout and inDesign layout:

Now to fill the empty space and complete the other nine booklet spreads..

The Box and Additional Content

I began to look into designing my Box, Instructions Manual and a Device to Select a Random Technique.

Final 10 Booklet Covers

Above are my 10 covers for the individual and random-order booklets. The intention is that they look nothing alike and in no way related to each other. The reason for that is to give a sense of broken routine.

Intentions for Website

I have been racking my brain for a decent idea on how the website can join in with the book.

My Initial Thoughts:

• An online tracker | I was unsure on how to do this.
• I then considered a fun website to cheer you up | poor basis for an entire website.
• Reviews on the techniques | this will be in side the booklet.

My Actual Idea:

A Four-Page site- 1) Home 2) Tracker 3) Live Reviews 4) Fun

1. Description of Website, Advert for Book…
2. A Print Out of a chart and instructions on how to track progress.
3. Rather than having the reviews in the book, a constant stream of people choosing their favourite technique and saying why. Also a chart saying which one is most popular.
4. Video of the Week.
   Joke of the Day.
   A large ‘A Thousand Words’ box- a funny picture that when you open it up it makes you smile.
   (All with a link to an archive of previous weeks)

How to Track Progress:
1. Print month off
2. Fill out the fields (technique used/did it work etc.)
3. When you feel ready, which one was most beneficial? Loose the ‘Random Technique Deciding Dice’ begin make your own routine up with the most productive of the 10.

Here’s My Tracker Printout PDF

Inside My Booklets

Above is a general idea of how I would like my inside spreads to look at this point. The idea is to have an image on the left hand side that depicts the act. On the right will be a description of it, a scientific explanation, peoples reviews (out of 10 stars) and more.
My concern is that if all the inside spreads are the same, it cancels out the idea of randomness and uniqueness. Perhaps just reorder the boxes on the right page..

In my head, I initially saw the right hand page as a photograph and then I had the idea of a constant mascot that was depicting the act in all 10 booklets. Much like the ‘Change 4 Life’ plasticine men:

The Techniques

1. Scream in a Field
   > Let off steam
   > Even if not angry, it feels great!
2. Do Something for Yourself
   > Everyone deserves to be treated well and if no one is doing it, do it yourself!
   > Spend money- Buy yourself something you want (big or small).
   > Don’t want to spend money?- Get a hair cut, cut your toe nails. Do something you have been putting off.
3. Discover Something New in Something Old
   > Sit on a bench you’ve always driven past but never sat on
   > Look out your window and just watch for something that’s always been there but you’ve never noticed.
   > See things differently.
   

Text for Cover Box

As there will be no actual pages inside the box, the introduction will need to be where the blurb would be.
So it needs to cover two jobs (Blurb: Short Summary of Creative Work | Introduction:  gives readers an idea of what the rest of the writing will say and provides a reason for readers to keep reading).
Below are some ways I may achieve this..

To Emphasise Routine:

07:00-07:30: Alarm. 07:30-08:00 Feed Kids. 08:00-08:30 Drive Kids to School. 08:30-09:00 Get to Work. 09:00-15:00 Work. 15:00-15:30 Pick Kids Up. 15:30-17:00 Loud Noise and Mess. 17:00-1800 Cook Dinner. 18:00-18:30 Tidy Up Dinner. 18:30-19:00 Try to Get Kids in Bed. 19:00-19:30 Tidy Up Kids’ Mess. 19:30-20:30 Worry about Bills. 20:00-21:30 Hour of ‘You’ Time. 21:30-22:00 Ready for Bed, Set Alarm. (repeated around 3 times)

[Issues with this one is that not everyone’s routines the same and plus, it’s pretty harsh on the eyes.]

A More Traditional Approach:

Congratulations on your purchase of this book!
If you are 30 to 40 years of age (or generally stuck in a rut) and have fallen victim to routine; your days have become unpredictable and dull,  then this book may be able help you get the most out of your life!
I don’t want to give false impressions, this book isn’t going to demand you do something outrageous to change your life- you have obligations and responsibilities. Instead, I aim to help you cope. Accept what you have and begin to appreciate it. Focus on what you have, not what you don’t. When you take the time to stop and do this, you will begin to break free from the everyday schedule.

[This one isn’t comical enough to mock the subject. Also gives too much of the contents away.]

The One I Think I Will Use:

Cover Progression

Above: Here are two progressions of the front cover. They both have calm, relaxing blue borders. The right image has a line graph going through it, subtly suggesting a form of progression.
This is a simple and basic design- uncluttered and relaxing/enjoyable to look at.

Below: I made use of the cheesy covers of a Professor in Human Activity smiling and offering you help. They all look pretty 1990’s so I applied this too. For ultimate cheese, a starry bubble! I think it works really well in terms of mocking Self-Help books but I don’t think that it’s obvious enough that it is mocking them and not just another one of them..