Itonic and Guinness World Records take online gaming to the page in latest Gamer's Edition 2009 book

Traditional media still rules the world for recording history

4th February 2009: Worldwide – Itonic, the book design agency taking the world by storm, announces that its latest showcase will be in the shops from today. In addition to designing one of the world's best loved books, Guinness World Records (GWR) four years in a row, the team at Itonic proudly stands behind the very latest edition of 'Guinness World Records 2009 – Gamer's Edition'.

Itonic is a graphic design agency based in Brighton specialising in book design and covers. It has over 20 years experience in graphic design with skills honed in advertising, publishing and print. As well as GWR, Itonic's portfolio includes: Girl Guides, Visit Brighton, mybreast, Platinum Finance and Brighton & Hove PCT.

Computer gaming is one of the fastest growing markets
Computer games are enjoying record sales across the globe and are poised to eclipse all other forms of entertainment in 2009. Thanks to Itonic's imaginative representation of gaming champions, the winners who have battled online all over the world will be able to see their names go down in history in this very latest Guinness World Record Gamer's Edition 2009.

High praise from a review of last years book, also designed by Itonic, from PC World said it all: “If you truly want to prove your mettle in the gaming arena, then getting your name in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition is the only way to go about it”. The fickle gaming community agreed with Arenamagazine.co.uk hailing it “Publishing genius” and the LA Times said: “The Guinness folks have created a definitive almanac of all things games”.

“Gamers are hard core enthusiasts hungry to find the next level of animation, reality and interaction. Designing a book of digital triumphs that could engage such a savvy audience was a challenge – but a fun one! We had to incorporate depth and vibrancy onto the flat pages of traditional book media to achieve a 'gamers' feel” said Keren Turner, principle designer at Itonic.

Itonic uses clever book design to bridge the increasing digital chasm for book publishers. Gaming was reflected in the design by using views familiar with the internet such as: left hand bars, heads-up displays, snippets of information in box outs – all designed in one exciting page-turner without disjointing the spreads or the book as a whole.

Itonic’s fourth book design for GWR, the Guinness World Records 2009 edition is also now in the shops and remains the world's best-selling copyright book. It entered the book charts at no.4 (later reaching and remaining at the no.1 spot for several weeks and resulted in the company's best week of sales in its 54 year history) in both the UK and the US and as a result, Itonic have been commissioned to undertake the design of Guinness World Records 2010.

“It's a real buzz to be associated with one of the world's best loved book brands. Our biggest challenge was to build upon last year's format of the first Gamer's Edition book, but it was also enormously satisfying and we are thrilled with the final result. The Gamer's Edition book is an awesome showcase for us on a global scale” said Lisa Garner, co-founder and partner at Itonic.

The demographics
Aimed at 8-14 year old boys interested in video games, or those classed as gamers, the book also had to appeal to an older male audience (core gamers tend to be between 18-30 year old males).

Bought largely by mothers, Itonic had to stay away from overly graphic or violent representation of video games. Even when dealing with 18 rated games (such as Grand Theft Auto IV) the audience would include children as young as eight years old, Itonic therefore had to bear in mind a consistent appropriateness to accommodate the book's more tender readers.

And what does Guinness World Records think?
“That rare combination of creative, flexible, considerate and timely. The Itonic team are a joy to work with, free from the preciousness that often comes with such artists. Their work – in particular with glow in the dark and 3-D processes - has been the talk of the book trade and we look forward to many more years of record breaking client/agency relationship satisfaction...” Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief.

Keith Pullin, Editor of last year's Gamers Edition said: “GWR Gamer's Edition 2008 looks fantastic; it has that distinct video game feel to it and is everything we hoped it would be. The design has attracted plaudits from a vast range of sources including representatives from Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment.”