Digital Trompe-l'œil

Ironically, because the Guardian 'Special' on Building Schools of The Future  was not available online, Ian Usher used Issuu to create this superb online document from pdfs. In doing so Ian has done what the Guardian failed to do; offer the information online in a form that is aesthetically pleasing,

Using a digital camera and taking no more than a few minutes to photograph the newspaper, and upload the images; Ian has created a very tactile experience.  I think  there is something very reassuring and satisfying about turning these creased pages.

So here we have it, a simple creative process that is crying out for children and teachers to use, and achieve some wonderful, (and as yet unforeseen), results.

Not forgetting of course that Ian's article firmly hits the nail on the head with regard to the issues of BSF (Building Schools for The Future) and LPs (Learning Platforms).

Comments

[Steve]

Theo, where does Ian stand with regards copyright of this information?

[Theok]

I am not a lawyer, and neither can I speak for Ian; so apologies for not giving a direct answer. However I do think you are highlighting a valid point. I would assume this particular instance is quite complex because Ian has written some of the material in the newspaper. I can't speak for Ian but I won't be be losing any sleep over re-distributing' the work; best to take it in the spirit of 'fair use' whose intention was to showcase a creative solution teachers and children could adapt.

[Ian U]

Hi Theo and Steve,
I have (a while ago now) emailed my contact at the Guardian who commissioned the piece from me to tell them about this and check what their opinion is, and have so far had no reply. I said that if the article was online digitally I'd be happy to simply link to it - and the only reason for doing this (the Issuu piece) was to provide access to something that probably should be online and isn't. If they ask me to take it down, I will, but I don't think anyone would confuse it with the Guardian/Observer's digital editions, which have the interaction of Issuu without the badly taken photographs of creased pages on my table.