Thinking About “Books” in More than Two Dimensions
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Abstract
For thousands of years, we have worked to structure information to be displayed on paper. Often on two printed pages that make up a spread, that are printed in signatures and are bound between covers. We have optimized our editing and design to take advantage of the features of this form factor.
Now there is a new craft arising as we are able to present and share information in a more three dimensional way as we develop books for digital consumption. It is challenging the way we think about information, the way we think about editing and designing for these new platforms and is enabling us to create more involved experiences for readers. Charts no longer need be just charts- or should they be charts and something else? Pictures can be both small and detailed and large at the same time. It just takes retraining our minds to step out of our familiar boundaries and explore.
Yet every day, the explorers who are looking to develop this new craft bump up against the boundaries that the current technologies have unknowingly set around us. “Could we do that?” “Yes, but...” is a conversation I have every day.
Come with us to explore real examples of the potential of digital books and the limitations in both technology and thinking that stand in the way of making this a bigger reality.