February 12th, 2014, Zach Sterling

Introduction to Book Design is a professional elective course in the School of Media Sciences offered in the fall semester with Professor Riordan. This course explores the technology behind book design, digital print media, and the aesthetic makeup of a book.

Professor Riordan asked his students to question, “What is a book?” There were various answers explored throughout the class. Some common themes explored are that a book is: something with content, pictorials, a story, and endless other descriptive words as to what makes a book a book. All of these are correct, but Professor Riordan wants the class to dive deeper into the subject. Can a book be interactive? Can a book contain advertising? Can a book contain multimedia aspects? The answer to all of these questions is absolutely, yes!

The emergence of eBooks is changing the publishing landscape and Professor Riordan acknowledges that to the fullest. He goes in-depth on the standard file format of a digital book, ePub. One of the main projects includes creating a cross-media book publication that includes both a print and ePub version of a book. This helps students come to the realization that the print copy of a book and the digital version may appear similar in content but may have to be laid out differently. Students also realized that ePub files do not act like any other file format that they are accustomed to. They have their own unique characteristics, which at times feels somewhat limiting.

Introduction to Book Design embraces the technology of the book in its different forms, and educates students toward the future direction of the book industry, digital books. This course does not stray completely from the traditional book that we all love and grew up with. For the final project, students have the option to create an eBook or a print book. For one class, Professor Riordan brings the students to the Cary Collection. Through this experience, they are shown various books ranging from traditional to contemporary. This helped spark the creativity within the class and to make students think outside of the normal scope of a book. Professor Riordan was always there along the way, giving guidance and critical feedback to ensure success.

If you are questioning whether to take Introduction to Book Design, I would highly recommend it! Professor Riordan does a terrific job of educating the class about books as we know them as well as the future of the book. His fresh perspective on the industry challenges students to think about the future and the possibilities that new technologies have.