Week 5, Book #5: Secrets

I came across a rubric from grad school for writing and creating art books, and I've decided to apply this rubric to my books from now on. It covers six elements of bookmaking: Main idea, organization, voice, choice of images, fluency, and convention. There are four measurements for this rubric including: strong, developing, emerging, and not yet.

This week's Book #5 is another box book (also see Wk. 2, Book #2). I have a story in mind to tell that's part fiction and part family secret--more of the latter--and the box book feels like the perfect vehicle and structure for the story. However, at first glance my book illustrates only some aspects of the main idea/thematic focus, being family secrets. I could have used different visual elements that people typically associate with secrets, e.g., dark colors, symbols of mysteries, etc. Similarly, my choice of images do not reinforce the message since I didn't use any images.

With regard to organization, the design and format of the book definitely work to always make people open it and explore the inside. That's a built in function of the box book: you must open it to see what's inside. The title alone, Secrets, practically dares you to NOT open it.

As for voice, while the content does convey a story the contains a family secret, it doesn't convey my particular feelings and thoughts, which is one of the measurements for voice. And I'm not sure if a secret can be effectively told from a subjective perspective, with my feelings and thoughts all mixed in there. Then again, the fact that I've chosen to tell the secret, albeit framed in the language of short fiction, means that I do feel/think it's time to tell the secret. Hmmmm. I'll have to sit with this measurement a while.

I used the accordion fold signature again because it seems to work best for the box book--until I come up with something new. The arrangement of the folded pages inside the box definitely helps the fluency and pace of the narrative as the accordion cascades out of the box. However, I think the content pops out just a little too quickly. This may be remedied by using heavier stock--maybe watercolor paper.

Finally, I think I made good use of line, shape, color, size, and texture given what this is--a box book containing a story that holds a family secret. The containment factor is metaphorical and literal. What I especially like about this book that I didn't initially intend is that you have to look for the opening to the content, i.e., a clue to the secret in the story.

Following is a short video clip of the book.