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research
For the research side of my project I am going to be researching:
- Poetry books
- Spoken word poetry
- Audio books & QR codes
- Audio sites
- Printing
This is a rough research map I created to understand what research I will be doing and what methods and questions are going to be my main focus regarding my primary and secondary research.
Primary Research
For part of my primary research I decided to do a instagram poll asking questions to my followers. I asked a range of questions and got a variety of answers from my target audience - teenagers. With the stats I received I created an infographic highlighting the key points from my research.
This infographic is highlighting the main percentages I thought were important to note.
Analysing my results
My research has proved that the majority of teenagers are interested in reading poetry books. This is my research from my instagram poll in detail.
My first question was 'Would you be interested in reading poetry about heartbreak or love?'
53% said romance and 47% said heartbreak. This is basically half and half meaning that I will be most probably going through with my idea about doing a contrast of love poems and heartache.
The next question I asked is 'Would you be interested in reading poetry based on mental health?' 85% said yes and 15% said no meaning the majority of teenagers would like to read about poetry about mental health.
Another question I asked is 'Would you prefer to read happy poetry or sad poetry?' 54% said happy and 46% said sad which again is basically half and half so I will most likely be doing a contrast of happy poems and sad poems to show the good and the bad.
'Would you prefer text based poems or poetry with visuals ie photos and illustrations?' 28% said text based and 72% said visuals proving that teenagers prefer something with a visual aspect and not just a book full of text.
'Do you like reading things you can relate to?' 94% said yes and 6% said no. This shows people like to read things which touch them personally because they can see themselves in the poem perhaps giving them a sense of comfort having someone understand and make them feel less alone.
'Do you prefer to read or listen to poetry?' 70% said read and 30% said listen which surprised me as there is a perception that teenagers don't like to read as much anymore, especially due to social media being around too but this statistic clearly shows that teenagers still do enjoying reading.
'What book cover would attract you more simplistic or busy looking?' 87% said simplistic and 13% said busy looking. This proves that people would be more attracted to buy a simple cover over one which is over crowded.
Adobe After Effects Video
This is a quick video showing some of my research in a visual animated format.
Many people also commented on some topics which they would like to see written about and as you can see on the left hand side most of them all go hand in hand with the topic about mental health. I would like to try and incorporate all these somehow into my poems in my book too.
layout research
Another part of my primary research I looked into was layout and design. I googled different forms of poetry book layouts and book covers and created a visual survey for my target audience to respond to.
For my first question I asked which layout people preferred 1,2 or 3 from the 3 choices down below in the same order they are presented in.
These are my results. As you can see the most popular design was number 2 which is a colourful but simple illustration with 71.4% of votes. This is showing that my target audience, teenagers and young adults prefer simple visuals to look at over more crowded visuals which may have a lot more going on. However 21.4% also said they liked the photography with the text over the picture which again proves that colour is a stating factor in what people pick up and choose to look at as only 7.1% voted for the plain black and white visual.
Another question I asked in my survey was 'what book cover would you be more attracted to buy?' These were the book covers I put on the survey in the same order.
Here we have a range of results with the most popular being the first book cover design by 28.6% overall however, not far behind drawn was book covers 5 and 6 with both 21.4% of votes. This is showing again that my target audience like something simple however also with some colour and even intrigue. The first book cover has roses upside down poking through the top of the book with 2 different typography's on the title of the cover. Book cover number 5 and 6 are both photographs with text over the top but are both quite eerie and don't give too much away making the audience intrigued from the get go.
Not many people liked designs 3 and 2 with only 7.1% of votes and 14.3% of people liked number 4 which was a fancy looking cover with gold typography and outlining.
Secondary research
For my secondary research I looked into
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Other poetry books
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Reviews
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Youtube comments
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Layouts and design
Poetry Books
For my first book which I decided to research was 'Light filters in poems' by Caroline Kaufman. My reasoning behind choosing this book is because her poems are mostly related to mental health. As written on the blurb of the book she 'captures the varied, wondrous moments that define what it means to be human' She began writing poetry at 13 years old and became known via social media. Her poems capture her raw experience with mental health.
Having read the book it is mostly text based with a few black and white illustrations here and there as you can see to the right. The poems vary in length which I think is a good way to keep the reader engaged as it's not too much but not too little. The poems are all written in first person making it very personal to read and allows readers to be able to relate to the writer which again, I think is a very captivating experience when reading poetry and is something I would like to achieve in my own book.
She seperates certain topics by sectioning the book in 4 'chapters'
- The darkness falls
- The night persists
- The dawn breaks
- The sun rises
An example of how these chapters are presented in the book is to the right. Overall I like the simplisity of this book however I would like to include more visuals in mine but I will be taking into consideration for my FMP the idea of splitting topics up by 'chapters'. The front cover of the book in my opinion is attracting to a teenage audience for its uncomplicated look and is quite intriguing, this is also proven in my primary research.
To go more in depth to my analysis and research on this particular poetry book I decided to read some reviews on amazon written by different people to see their take on it. I thought this would be helpful for myself and to see what other people like and don't like.
There was many positive reviews however there was a small percentage some critical reviews towards her book.
Reading through these reviews allowed me to understand what people like and don't like and understand what people don't find touching in poetry books and how I could try not to make the same mistake.
Popshot quarterly magazine
As another section of my secondary research I decided to look into a illustrated magazine including short stories, flash fiction and poetry. My main focus was to concentrate on the illustrations in the magazine, the layout and the poems. I found the idea of the magazine great as it was promoting new writers however the aesthetic wasn't for my taste. I found it useful seeing how they had presented the writers and the illustrators together creating visuals to the poems or stories. Here are some pages which I liked below.
My reasoning behind liking this spread is due to the colours conveying the mood of the poem and the colours almost melting together. I like how the poem overlays on top of the illustration and it almost seems the man is looking at the poem and the words are his own thoughts. I thought this was a smart way to get people to connect more with the written words and understand it in a more visual aspect.
This is another spread I liked due to the colours chosen, it's bright and colourful and draws you straight in. The words match with the illustration allowing both the poem and image to create a story for the reader in different ways.
I liked this spread due to the simplicity however also the illustration really drew me in. I like how the background colour for the page with the poem matches the colour scheme of the illustration making it look put together.
This is a more simple spread however I liked that throughout the book there was different coloured backgrounds and not your typical white all throughout, personally as a reader myself I prefer reading on just plain white paper however that's a personal preference but its something I would like to experiment with in my FMP.
VIOLET BENT BACKWARDS OVER THE GRASS
The first thing I noticed was she had many different layouts and styles which she tried throughout the book which you will be able to see to the right hand side. She had some pages with simply a poem on one side and a photograph on another, whether that be in colour or b&w. She also had different coloured pages some yellow some white. I thought the yellow pages gave a letter type feel to the poems creating a personal feeling as if looking into somebody's old journals and keepsakes. Her poems varied in size, some 3 lines long others 4 pages full. The typography throughout the whole book was in a type writer font which again I found gave the book a very personal feel for the reader and a sense of nostolgia. Making the book even more personal she even left her editors notes with a written pen in some poems.
Another poetry book I decided to look into was 'Violet bent over backwards over the grass' by Lana Del Rey whom you may know as the singer. The reason I chose to also look into her poetry book is because I had read that she had included photographs in her poetry book and was intrigued to see how she included them with her poems. I am a fan of her music and think she is very lyrically talented and wanted to also see how she writes her poems.
She also had 2 page spreads filled with either 2 photographs or 1 photograph taking up the 2 pages. I found this quite interesting as it seemed like a memory journal almost of words and photographs which meant a lot to her personally.
Printing
For my FMP I would like to have a handmade copy as the final product. To do this I will need to look into printing companies to be able to print and get the book binded. I will need to look into prices, binding and page quality.
Binding
For binding I am choosing between perfect bound and sewn bound. Perfect bound and saddle stitched are two very popular and common binding methods. Perfect bound books have a flat spine and saddle involves multiple pages being binded together. These two methods are shown to the right hand side. Soft cover books mostly use perfect binding. Making perfect bound books the cover and pages are glued together at the spine, the edges are smoothed to give the book sharp edges.
Another method of binding is sewn binding. This looks like a traditional sewing machine type style. The pages are sewn down the centre into the cover or the case. It is a durable binding method and has a low to medium cost. Perfect binding is also known as lay flat binding traditionally. The cover of the book is only glued to the sides of the spine allowing the book to lie flat.
page sizes
The most common standard fiction and non fiction books are: 5'' x 8'' , 5.5'' and ''6 x 9''
A4 - 210 x 297 229 x 324
A5 - 148 x 210 162 x 229
A6 - 105 x 148 114 x 162
Paper
Soft touch lamination
Offers a protective finish with a matte effect with a velvet, soft texture of the pages. Leaves the product finger print free. It is non yellowing conveying the finish is prolonged. It can be used on both sides of the pages.
Matte lamination
Produces an elegant, sophisticated finish and provides a soft natural look. It adds a 'velvety' texture to the pages. Matte paper can also soften the contrast between darker colours so they don't stand out as much. Matte absorbs light making it easier to read at any angle however is much harder to clean than say for example gloss.
Gloss lamination
Produces a shiny, almost glass like appearance to the pages which enhances colour and vibrancy of the inks. Light reflects on gloss however provides a strong protection and is much easier to clean than matte.
Paper thickness
120 gsm - heavy quality paper, heavy enough to withstand wear and tear.
130 gsm - seals the colour and gives extra stability. Ideal for printing high quality images.
For my FMP my choices between paper quality and thickness is most probably going to be soft touch lamination with 130gsm paper. I think this will be best suited for the pages inside the book to get the best colour across.
AUDIO
Another section of my FMP I need to research is audio sites as I would like to have an audio version of all my poems too. I am going to need to research audio and music sites where I may be able to upload my spoken poems.
soundcloud
One of the sites I am looking into is Soundcloud. Soundcloud is an app where you can stream or upload music of your choice for free however there is also a premium version available called Soundcloud go. As a free user on Soundcloud you are able to upload up to 3 hours of audio. This is a maximum file size of 4GB. The process behind uploading is easy as you just create an account and click upload and drop the audio files in as long as they are the suitable size, if not they must be separated.
Spotify
Spotify is another music, audio app where you can stream or upload onto. This is also free app overall however you can get Spotify premium to avoid ads and get other extra features. Uploading audio to Spotify is free-to-all artists and doesn't charge you any fees or commissions no matter how frequently you upload. However the direct upload option currently is only available as invite only.
QR CODES
The way I would like to display the fact my project is also an audio book, as well as a printed copy, will be via a QR code inside or on the outside which will direct people to an audio version.
How to make a QR Code:
- Select a QR code generator
- Choose the content your promoting
- Enter data
- Download a dynamic QR code
- Customise
- Test it
- Share it
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