OUGD504 - Talk about initial concepts

Collaboration meet up

During the meeting the various initial themes and ideas that had come out of the research were put to Serge.

It was discussed that the Concertina style book could work effectively for the book design based around the beach and road lines, allowing them to flow continuously across the page to create a journey.

For the expansion of Dubai concept, it was suggested that rather than using maps as a way of showing Dubai's quick growth, images from key points within Dubai's development could be used in a gridded format. This would create a photographic representation of Dubai's growth and it was said, could tie in better with the photographic contents of the main book. The centre image would be the earliest then it would fold out, with later images radiating around it. It was said however that it may not be possible to get accurate maps of both early, present and future Dubai, which would make the concept hard to do and may be too complicated. 

Further details on Serge's thoughts about the desired feel of the book:

- It was said that the guidebook isn't only about the places and buildings, instead he wants to show a sense of the place and what can be taken from it. He will do this within his own written content adding details about the place. How could this concept be reflected in the design?
- In terms of the content of the book it was said that he wanted the book to be mainly photographic with minimal text, this will be more visually engaging and appropriate for families who want to visit interesting places easily.

- Some places within the guide have multiple activities etc within them. It was asked whether all the different activities in each place should be put together in a double page spread or more spread out. It was said that the activities and information should be spread out to look less cluttered than a conventional travel guide as it was discussed that existing travel guides have a lot of content that perhaps can sometimes be visually busy.

- It was said that the guidebook would aim to suggest locations without spoiling the experience of actually visiting the place, so the content would be more personal, taking them on a journey to discover the places for themselves.

- In terms of hierarchy of themes for the book it was said that it should be modern, fashionable and then classy.

- When asked about the morning, afternoon and evening sections and what would happen with these, it was said that they would be important as only some activities could be done at certain times of the day because of the extreme heat. However, we discussed that in order for this to be included activities would have to be ordered with this in mind for it to be included in the book. Perhaps instead of having a day guide outlining activities, some advice could be put in the extra section for travelling.