When was the last time you pick up a book just to enjoy the experience of reading, to become fully immersed in the story, to be taken somewhere vicariously by the author?
For me, although I would say that I really do enjoy reading, the answer was “a long time ago” and I don’t think I’m alone. There are so many excuses: “I don’t have enough time to read.” “How would I know which book to read?” “Getting books is a hassle.”… And in any case, the printed book is going to die what with the new-fangled e-readers, right?
Bookstores are still kind of magical to me though. The smaller, community based ones especially so; they are like a window into another universe, where everything is possible. Guess I’m just a hopeless romantic?
This hopeless romantic has a plan though. For my final grad project at VFS Digital Design, I want to create a bookstore brand that will resonate with today’s “e-generation.” Fully-integrated with social networking and e-books/e-reader, it’ll be a hip little brand that can perhaps one day be successfully implemented in the real world. Bringing the magic back into reading through design that tells a story – fitting, no?
I’m really excited about this project and can absolutely see myself working 25 hours a day and be damned happy about it. All thanks to the great inspiration and direction from my project advisor/mentor Perry Chua. Now, the only thing left for me to do is to start designing!
Stay tuned as I will be posting my progress here. It’s going to be an exciting journey!
