An exploration of book design that transcends traditional boundaries. This project seamlessly blends augmented reality, animation, typographic play, and illustration; challenging the conventional boundaries of storytelling, and showcasing how a book can engage multiple senses to create a sensory-rich experience that adapts to our modern, fleeting attention spans.  
The duality of the book's design—revealing the characters' mental states through unseen animations and presenting the visible, objective aspects on the physical side. Using augmented reality software, this project transcends traditional and ebooks, creating an experience that resonates with our phone-centric lives, ensuring books remain a vibrant part of our evolving digital landscape.

I selected this storybook to turn into an object book because the author, Yusuf Atılgan, beautifully highlighted the dual-world aspect I wanted to incorporate into my designs. 

The main characters find themselves dealing not just with the external challenges of life but also wrestling with their own inner worlds.
In the book's design process, my aim was to make the animations easily accessible through the ubiquitous presence of our smartphones. I aimed to strike a balance between embracing technology like an ebook and maintaining a tangible feel like a physical book. Consequently, I opted for a middle ground in the design, incorporating augmented reality to forward my cause.
The design garnered recognition with an exhibition and achievement award from GMK and was showcased at the 7th Base Istanbul exhibition. 

Feedback from individuals suggests that this innovative approach has the potential to inspire increased interest and motivation for reading among audiences.
S   T   O   R   I   E   S
There are ten different stories in the book. Every story has its unique illustrations and animations coherent to the context.​​​​​​​ Also, the color palette was designed to be dark, aligning with the overall context of the narratives.
Evdeki Home
Evdeki is a story about a woman who didn't get married and living with her mother. The psychical side shows the villager's oppression while animation shows the mental load it causes.
Saatların Tıkırtısı The Ticking of the Clocks

Saatların Tıkırtısı, tells the story of a clockmaker who is dissatisfied with his life and goes crazy as the clocks tick.

Tutku Passion

Tutku, tells the story of the love of a disabled man, who is ignored by all the village people, for a woman who is considered much higher than him.
The character, which can only exist in its own world, can only be seen on the digital, mental side.

Kümesin Ötesi Beyond the Coop

Beyond the Coop tells about a hen who hates her own coop and is curious about the other roosters and coops around.

Dedikodu Gossip

The same story is told from the perspective of three characters. Ultimately, the culmination reveals that all these accounts collectively contribute to the fabric of gossip.

Yük The Load

The swallow, marginalized by society for its decision not to seek a new mate, carries the profound weight of this burden during migration.

Yaşanmaz Unlivable

The protagonist, feeling entitled to a better life from others, sought a justification to end his own existence. He found his solution by taking the life of the only person who had treated him with kindness.

Atılmış Thrown

Çıkılmayan tells the story of a man skipping stones by the lake, dealing with a sense of insignificance. While walking through the market, although he got caught attempting to take an apple, he found contentment in the recognition of his presence.

Çıkılmayan Unexitable

The story narrates the experiences of the main character, who, haunted by paranoia of getting caught, struggles to resume a normal life after looting a shop during a rebellion.

Bodur Minareden Öte Beyond the Dwarf Minaret

The story unfolds the tale of two individuals who deliberately keep their distance, fearing that closeness might shatter the enchantment of their love.

As an additional touch, I crafted postcards for each story, serving as unique souvenirs for the BASE exhibition.
For designs like these please contact me on mugeozbalci@gmail.com

You may also like

Back to Top