Forests Ibook

This is the front cover of my ibook. I have used this image of a sapling as the cover image because the greens are very vibrant and fresh looking and it goes well with the rest of my theme for the ibook. I also thought the idea of a sapling being the start of the life of a tree in a forest would be good for the start of an ibook about forests. I have used my Forests logo here for the title of the book and I tried to put in the Wonders of Nature logo somewhere on the front cover but it seemed out of place and didn't fit well into the image because of the tree graphic within the logo. I just didn't look right anywhere on the front cover so I left it out.

This is my first page for chapter one. Each chapter covers a different forest and the chapter pages use an image in relation to each forests with the illustrated title, as well as a paragraph with a brief overview about each forest. White and black text was very hard to read on the background images along so I had to add a black strip across the image with a 65% opacity so that the image still showed through and the white text was also more legible on top of the strip.

This is the first page for sherwood forest, i've decided to use this image of open pages on a wooden surface as the background for my ibooks because it gives it a vintage and homemade feel and it also look like a scrap book which is the style im trying to achieve in my ibook. On the wooden part of the background I have layered some elements to look it more like someone's desk, such as money, tickets, keys or similar objects you'd find on a person's desk. The decorations that I have created for the wooden part of the background differ on each chapter as they relate to the place the forest is located or the content that is being covered on that page.

Several pages in my ibook are also adorned with postage stamps from the different countries that the forest are in. These are just decorative elements to add to my scrap booking theme, as well as the stitching effect around some of the images with the buttons and ribbon bow.

The polka dot strip that sometimes decorate the sides or top and bottom of the page are a reoccurring theme throughout my ibook 

The only interactive part for this page is the fun fact pop up that i've put over my graphic of the acorn with the stitching around it.

This is the second page for my sherwood chapter and I have decided to insert and image gallery to save space so that the page isn't cluttered with images and it also makes it interactive. I've used torn edges on the image gallery with a transparent background to make it look as if it has been slightly torn and lifted off the page.

This is the first page for the Aokigahara forest chapter. Unfortunately this page isn't interactive at all and is completely static. I wasn't sure what to put here interactivity wise and if I had the time I would've liked to try and make the arrows on the compass animate, to shake or spin when you tapped the compass.

Here I have used the torn edge effect on my images and on the decorative japanese postage stamps to give it that scrappy feel again. I think these stamps work well here and compliment the photo of the forest under Mt.Fuji, as there is a lot of blue and green in the photo which match with the blue and green on the flower stamp.

Here I have used an image of a note paper to write my content text on to make some variety between the text content box I made to put my text in. I also though this made it feel more like a scrap book with the drop shadow and the tilted angle. This wasn't my original intention when I was creating this page, but I have decided to put in an image of a compass here as the text on the paper is about the magnetic rocks and it mentions how this stops compasses from working inside the forest. I cut out the shape of the compass using a clipping mask and saved it as a png with a transparent background. That way I could put on a drop shadow in ibooks author and place it so that it's partly on the page and partly on the wooden background, so that it would look as if the person who own's the 'scrap journal' had gone to the forest and used that compass to test it out.

This is the second page for Aokigahara Forest. I have put in another image gallery here which contains photos of the inside of one of the forest caves. I've decided to put some of my text content about the cave inside the gallery as i thought it would be more efficient to accompany each image in the gallery with a relative description, and so that the page doesn't seem so text heavy.

I'm not as keen on the visual style of this page. I thought it looked quite bland compared to the previous pages so i tried decorating it with some post stamps as well and some japanese money and a train ticket but I think the main problem is that it is lacking the colour variety that the other pages had. I also think my ibook overall could do with more interactive elements.

This is the first page for my chapter covering the jungles spread out through the madagascar islands.

I feel like this page is also rather bland, I found it difficult to layer things on or make space for more imagery with the keynote file in there as I didn't want to cover the animation. I have also decorated it with madagascan postage stamps and used stitching around the image as well as the polka dot strip I've commonly used.

This is the interactive keynote widget I made. I made two separate elements in illustrator which as supposed to layer on top of each other. In key note I have animated it so that when you tap on the 'Read Me!' tab it will slide out and it contains some information, somewhat like a fun fact.

Usability Testing

Could you tell what the page was about?

Jess- Yes the headings were clear, the text well spaced and the individual heading styles helped to differentiate between each section.

Jake – Yes, the headings are very clear, and the “forests” heading really jumps out due to the fact that it is in the middle.

Are there any problems regarding the colour scheme, patterns or textures?

Jess- No the textures and colours mesh well together, there’s a clear visual style and it is very natural which relates to the theme.

Jake – not as far as I’m aware, the colour scheme and patterns compliment eachother very well, and the patterned background lends itself very well to the overall content of the site. Also, the texture is RIDICULOUS. It shows the overall theme in such a creative way, that I sort of wish I’d thought of it.

Is the text legible in all sizes and fonts throughout the entire site?

Jess- Yeah its fine and legible.

Jake – I don’t think at this point it would be legible to all users. Perhaps having a text size that is slightly larger would be universally accommodating.

How did you find the layout of the site?

Jess- I love the home page its visually interesting and is a great start and basis to the site, each corresponding page is simple but this works because the headings are so intricate.

Jake – The home page layout is tremendous. It lends itself very well to the site, with a wonderful, clear navigation structure. Each relative page is simple in comparison, but it does work very well overall.

Is the site easy to navigate through?

Jess- Very the homepage makes it clear and the simple top nav is also understandable and easy to use.

Jake – with the home page laid out the way it is, it is very easy to navigate. As previously stated, it is so clear that it becomes a pleasure to use. Well done Aneeqa.

Production Schedule

Asset Register

Amazon Rain Forest (No longer covering this forest)

Amazon Rain forest
The Amazon rainforest (Portuguese: Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica, Amazonía or usually Amazonia; French: Forêt amazonienne; Dutch:Amazoneregenwoud), also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 square kilometres (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 5,500,000 square kilometres (2,100,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts inVenezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. States or departments in four nations contain "Amazonas" in their names. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests, and it comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.

The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, covering over five and a half a million square kilometres (1.4 billion acres).Over half of the Amazon rainforest is located in Brazil but it is also located in other South American countries including Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, Bolivia, Suriname and French Guiana.

• 10% of the world’s known species live in the Amazon rainforest.
• 20% of the world’s bird species live in the Amazon rainforest.
• It is home to around 2 and a half million different insect species as well as over 40000 plant species.
• There are also a number of dangerous species living in the Amazon rainforest such as the cougar, jaguar and anaconda.
• While the protection of the Amazon rainforest remains an issue, deforestation rates have been reducing while areas of conserved land have been increasing over the last 10 years.
  A recent study by climate change experts suggests that a 3 °C rise in world temperatures by the year 2010 would destroy around 75% of the Amazon.

Wildlife

Macaw
The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a large, red, yellow and blue South American parrot, a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots called macaws. It is native to humid evergreen forests of tropical South America. Range extends from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia and Brazil in lowlands up to 500 m (1,640 ft) (at least formerly) up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft). It has suffered from local extinction through habitat destruction and capture for the parrot trade, but locally it remains fairly common. Formerly it ranged north to southern Tamaulipas. It can still be found on the island of Coiba. It is the national bird of Honduras.

It is about 81 centimetres (32 in) long, of which more than half is the pointed, graduated tail typical of all macaws, though the Scarlet Macaw has a larger percentage of tail than the other large Macaws. The average weight is about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb). The plumage is mostly scarlet, but the rump and tail-covert feathers are light blue, the greater upper wing coverts are yellow, the upper sides of the flight feathers of the wings are dark blue as are the ends of the tail feathers, and the undersides of the wing and tail flight feathers are dark red with metallic gold iridescence. Some individuals may have green in the wings.

There is bare white skin around the eye and from there to the bill. Tiny white feathers are contained on the face patch. The upper mandible is mostly pale horn in color and the lower is black. Juveniles have dark eyes; adults have light yellow eyes.

It is frequently confused with the slightly larger Green-winged Macaw, which has more distinct red lines in the face and no yellow in the wing.

Scarlet Macaws make very loud, high and sometimes low-pitched, throaty squawks, squeaks and screams designed to carry many miles to call for their groups.

The Scarlet Macaw can live up to 75 years in captivity, although a more typical lifespan is 40 to 50 years.

Toucan

Anaconda
An anaconda is a large, non-venomous snake found in tropical South America. Although the name actually applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to refer only to one species in particular, the common or green anaconda, Eunectes murinus, which is one of the largest snakes in the world.

Jaguar

The jaguar (pron.: /ˈdʒæɡwɑr/ or UK /ˈdʒæɡjuː.ər/; Panthera onca) is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. Apart from a known and possibly breeding population in Arizona (southeast of Tucson), the cat has largely been extirpated from the United States since the early 20th century.

This spotted cat most closely resembles the leopard physically, although it is usually larger and of sturdier build and its behavioural and habitat characteristics are closer to those of the tiger. While dense rainforest is its preferred habitat, the jaguar will range across a variety of forested and open terrains. It is strongly associated with the presence of water and is notable, along with the tiger, as a feline that enjoys swimming. The jaguar is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush predator at the top of the food chain (an apex predator). It is a keystone species, playing an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and regulating the populations of the animals it hunts. The jaguar has an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats.^[3] This allows it to pierce the shells of armoured reptiles^[4] and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of prey between the ears to deliver a fatal bite to the brain.^[5]

The jaguar is a near threatened species and its numbers are declining. Threats include loss and fragmentation of habitat. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still frequently killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America. Although reduced, its range remains large; given its historical distribution, the jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of numerous indigenous American cultures, including that of the Maya and Aztec.

Climate

Plants/ Vegetation

Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/earth/amazonrainforest.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_Macaw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaconda