Animating the big subjects

There’s a distinctly illustrative look and feel to the Profile Books series, which has been designed and animated by Cognitive Media.

Ideas in Profile begins with Politics, by David Runciman, which will be published in June 2014. The series will also be available in print accompanied by illustrations but it’s very much a digital-first exercise, which the publishers hope will shake-up the digital reading experience.

Runciman, a leading political scientist, asks of politics, what is it, why do we need it and where is it heading?  Ground covered includes the gap between rich and poor, the impact of social media, and key figures like Machiavelli, Hobbes and Weber.

All of this is illustrated and animated accordingly with a bold three-colour red, black and white aesthetic.

This film, narrated by Runciman, is a taster of what you can expect:

Other subjects waiting to be tackled are Art History, by Martin Kemp, and Shakespeare, by Paul Edmondson.

Politics by David Runciman is published by Ideas in Profile in June, priced £4.99 as an eBook and £8.99 as a paperback.