While writing about the users and content I’ve had some time to come up with some of the elements of design I could include…
I’m envisioning the site to be made in InDesign 5.5, and be available as an iPad App and website. Users would be introduced to the site with an original illustration and the dedication to ‘the children of Australia’ (as citizens, we are Australia’s children), and a small introduction to the site. The main interface while reading the story would look like the old-school book open with double pages, and viewers click on /swipe the pages to flick across. There’d be a few items surrounding the book on a table, which move or glow when you hover the mouse over them – like the interface of JK Rowling’s official site perhaps, but less busy. A few items would be found nestled in between pages – like the newspaper clippings I found in Webster’s Dictionary. Each item would be significant and transport users to a more in depth section about the issue – in the two categories of ‘the era’ or ‘the issues’. Across the bottom there’d be a more standard menu of the extra resources – I’ve learnt from the Waterlife doco that there’s lots of benefit in multiple methods of getting to content.
An interesting way to access the extra categories might be like Adobe’s Digital Publishing: Transforming the Magazine Experience with Wired. I’d love to have this kind of interaction with the book, but I would have to develop my technical skills somewhat. So I guess I will have to keep to the structure of a desk with things that can be delved into, for now. Here’s a really rough version of the wireframe. The extra content will also be available throughout the book, where relevant.
I’ve thought of a interaction design idea which I really like, but am not sure how to actually create… but I’m going to talk about it anyway. I like the thought of books as pre-loved treasures, and absolutely enjoyed discovering little things like Bern McClintock’s drawings in my copy of Treasure Island. So, I thought it could be cool to create some kind of interaction where users can draw some little pictures in the margins if they like – and if they’re appropriate, a moderator could approve them and they would appear on the site. As more people view the site, there’d be more evidence left behind. The idea is sort of like a strange combination of the sites ‘Doodle or Die’ and “Le Catalogue”. Doodle or Die is a fun online version of game I know as ‘Captionary’, where you are given a sentence and try to draw it and pass it on – the next person only sees the image and tries to come up with a caption for it, and so the chain continues. It’s revealed at the end like this:
“Le Catalogue” was an online art exhibit I saw at the beginning of the year, but I don’t think it’s available anymore? The link doesn’t work, anyway. Basically, whenever anyone viewed the images, they were altered. It’s described like this below:
“In “Le Catalogue,” the mastermind behind x-arn.org has created a database of documentary images (an archive) of art projects between 1990-1996 that’s available for public access. Every time an image is viewed, a horizontal and a vertical line that always intersect are added to the archived image, which is then again stored for access by another user. The more the images are accessed, the more they are abstracted or – if one thinks of preserving the object of art – destroyed. … The image is unique in time and space because next time the same file is accessed, there will be two more lines added, and so on. In this way, “Le Catalogue” takes on the idea of destruction as a progressive movement marking time, bringing on the new: one can look forward to destruction as a type of online collaboration between the author and the end user, where the archived information is not preserved but rather reinterpreted constantly—it is a constant remix, moving towards destruction. History is here dependent on linear traces that expose the instability of interpretation; much like tree rings, traces are left behind, marking time, leaving us with an allegorical database presenting destruction (death) as an inevitable part of life.” (Navas, E. 2006, ‘Remix: The Bond of Repetition and Representation’, remixtheory, http://remixtheory.net/?p=361)
Whereas I would prefer to see what people would be adding to my website, I think this could be a cool feature of the overall experience. People could have the option of turning the ‘scribbles layer’ on or off, according to their taste/disposition. But I don’t know how to make this! So: also technically unfeasible I suppose.
In terms of UI design, I’d like to keep quite a organic and intuitive layout. The colour palette will be like the bush – natural hues of browns, greens, blues, yellow, white etc. In that way, it will draw inspiration from the original illustrations:
Also, I really like the colours used Minnie Pwerle’s artworks:
The typography in ‘the era’ sections would be ‘old-timey’, but still readable on the screen. The typography in ‘the issues’ sections would be simple and readable. Both sections would include a few short paragraphs each, with accompanying images, basic interactions, links to further information, quotes from relevant people (eg elderly people reflecting, environmental experts). I’d like to keep a realistic aesthetic for these sections- faded black and white photos, yellowing newspaper clippings etc. I’m thinking of species profiles and little animated animals around the issues, with a more modern style but still matching the rest of the site.
Sound design will be kept fairly minimal, but I think it’d be nice to have an underlying bush track while the story is read. As in Gross’ film, I could insert some scroll-over sound effects of real recordings of the bird calls and other audio aspects of the book- such as Dot’s song (p.14-15) and the Platypus’s sorrowful tune “Oh, Troglyodites obscure – oh! oh!” (p.63-64). There’s frequent mentions to sounds which users may want to hear, like the Nightjar’s calls of ‘Mo-Poke’ (p. 26):
“I say, Nightjar,” she said, “I’m a little sad to-night, please go and sing elsewhere.”
“Ah!” said the Nightjar, “I’m so glad I’ve given you deliciously dismal thoughts with my song! “
The era section could include reconstructions of typical audiocscapes and some Australian folk songs (mentioned earlier) – which play if users choose them. In general, though, the sound design would be minimal and unobtrusive.
These design aspects are quite feasible. My content is using material from the public domain and citable sources, so that is also feasible. The potential scope is quite wide, however, so for the sake of this assignment, I will limit it to the first two chapters (with the intent of doing more), and four sections about the early Australian context, and four sections about modern conservation issues and endangered species.
Webbed Realities 