An Orlando interdisciplinary artist is bridging the gap between a physical, tangible book that you can hold in your hands and digital, interactive storytelling. The resulting physical-slash-digital – or phygital – book is called “Journey,” a narrative coloring book for both kids and adults with original music accompanying every page. Readers scan the QR codes throughout the book to hear the songs and soundscapes that set the tone for each part of the tale.
Yezdan Givci is the Central Florida-based creator, composer, writer and illustrator behind Journey. She said the story invites self-reflection and mindfulness as the reader journeys through a fantasy forest world.
Enter the forest
“At its heart, it's an immersive, illustrated story experience, and coloring is one part of how the reader enters that world. I actually wanted coloring to be part of that world so people can feel more in it,” said Givci. “‘Journey’ came from my desire to build something that brings story, music and atmosphere together in a more immersive way.”
Givci herself composed the music, in addition to writing and illustrating “Journey.” She said it’s a vital part of the experience. “The music changes how we feel a story. For me, the music is not a decoration, it's part of the emotional architecture of the journey. So I specifically composed each track to guide the emotions of that certain chapter, and then I also mix in nature soundscapes. So I didn't want a person basically listen to a music. I wanted them to feel the leaves crunch beneath their feet, or I wanted them to feel the tension when they first meet the Tiger.”
Meet the animals, meet yourself
The characters, such as the Tiger, are the forest’s animals, and in addition to offering their forms for coloring, they each have a deeper question to ask the reader. But, Givci noted, “Journey” works on two levels – a rich, interactive coloring book for kids, and an invitation to slow down and ponder larger questions for grown-ups. It has two separate forewords, one for adults and one for children.
Givci even checked in with a psychology professional to help her create the animals as archetypes, “but I don't mention this in the book at all, I just leave it to the reader,” she said. “So that's why these archetypes, the questions they ask, actually give you a chance to stop, pause, calm down, slow down, and ask these questions to yourself. So while you’re having your journey in the forest, actually you are having this little journey in your subconscious as well. The tiger asks you, ‘Now tell me, will you move forward with courage, or will you wait for the sun to rise?’ So you can apply this to any part of your life, right? Like we have decisions in life, but sometimes we hesitate to take a further step, we slow down. So all these questions are actually leading you somewhere.”
