the final proposal
For my final major project I am going to produce a book on the Volkswagen Beetle, which is going to talk and show the development of the Beetles over the years. The title of my project will be called “It’s a Bugs Life” I feel this is very suitable as it relates to the content of the book, will engage my target audience and it will create the overall feel that I want the book to give out. The proposed end point for my project is going to be a professionally finished book, which will successfully show the life and changes of the classic VW Beetle through the years, I will create a DPS for each of the Beetles which has been designed and I will break these pages up with pages of typography and print making based content which will be of relevance to my book. This project will extend my knowledge and design ability, as it will challenge me to be creative within the software and allow me to use my own existing imagery and passion for cars to motivate me throughout this project.
The influences and starting points for my project will be using book and magazine articles which I have collected over the years, I can look at the layout designs of each of these and the styles and techniques that they use. I will go to Santa Pod Raceway and other related events to collect research of images and flyers to help influence my project. Alongside this, I will research on the Internet into forums and websites that have been specifically designed for VW Beetles and use people’s opinions and thoughts on the cars.
Techniques that I intend to use will be editing my photos in Photoshop so that they are more suitable for use in my book and will work with the text content more effectively and create a strong hierarchy that looks innovative. I will be experimental with my layout designs within InDesign and use striking fonts that are going to be appropriate for my project and images. I want to create pages that are going to be textured therefore I will produce this by creating a range of experiments within my sketchbook and use lino printing techniques, tea staining and cut out print making.
I will analyse and review my work critically by the use of annotation throughout all of my work stating whether I feel it is successful, communicates with the target audience and how I can use it to help influence my project. I will ask for people’s opinions and use their feedback to help develop and improve my project. To conclude my project, I will produce a written document, which will state how I feel my project went overall, what I could’ve done to improve it and whether the final outcome is suitable for my target audience.
Chelsea Nelms
This is my time scale plan that I have created and I will use to reference and work my project to within each block so that it ensures I hit each deadline and target every week.
The Target Audience
Through the research that I have looked into, the target audience of my book is aimed at people who are car enthusiasts especially those people who favor classic cars. The purpose of this book is to engage with the reader and to show them of the developments and changes of a well loved classic car.
This book is a one off and could work alongside the Top Gear magazine, Classic Car magazine and a series of other car magazines where they could have this inside of a special edition magazine and whether you are a subscriber to the magazine. I feel this would support the magazine in the fact that they release special edition books for their readers, make people more interested and increase the magazines sales and it will make the buyer feel like they are getting value for their money.
This book could become a series and produce a range of books for different cars and styles of cars so that it appeals to a range of target audiences and it could become a monthly release, it could be a new take on magazines but with a more specific focus.
The Target Audience - Revisited
This is a one off special edition book; it is targeted towards Beetle enthusiasts and lovers of the classical cars. The purpose of this book that I want to achieve is to engage with the reader to show them how the development of the Beetle has changed through years and how the society and era’s develop and impact upon the way people design, both physically in design and mechanically in design.
I want my audience to see how the well-known and loved Beetle has changed through and over the years, but also how the modern Beetles are still influenced by the older and original designs and how modern techniques and processes are not always as successful as they were back in the day.
In my book design I will ensure that the content will be kept as simple as possible with the main important facts so that the audience can interpret the information easily without being overpowered, in a format that is fun and innovative in page designs and layout. Targeting and capturing the style of my audience is what is going to make my book successful and work well with the public.
