More Than Talk (6th Edition)
I designed the sixth edition of a now-published communications textbook from cover to cover using InDesign. The textbook is made up of 14 chapters and over 400 pages. I was responsible for designing the covers, chapter spreads, icons, figures, and other visual elements.
Project Type
Book Design
Timeline
2022-23
Client
More Than Talk
Software Used
Adobe InDesign, Notion
Key Story
More Than Talk’s 6th Edition features new contributions from student writers who bring their unique voices, diverse perspectives, and personal stories to enrich the textbook’s content and covenantal message.
Through conversations with the authors of the textbook, I discovered that the 6th edition includes several contributions from student writers that capture their unique thoughts, experiences, and perspectives. I drafted several cover and layout design options and concepts that are visually appealing to the target market and thematically relevant to the book's contents and focus.
Here are some of the cover design ideas that I tested out on InDesign:
I managed the team timeline and progress using a customized workspace created on Notion.
I created and curated properly sourced graphics, drawings, tables, and other visuals as required to enhance book chapter contents. I prioritized overall visual appeal and student readability, following professional book industry and graphic design conventions and publisher's format guidelines.
I established an overarching visual theme based on the new edition’s focus and created a unified design system to use throughout using InDesign’s book design feature. I paid careful consideration to the typography used, image curation, cover design, icon design, and print layout.
You can see examples below:
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Figure
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Info Box
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Image
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Divider & Icon
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Icons
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Quote
To capture the added diversity of their voices in the design of the textbook, I settled on a sound-wave motif that runs throughout, from the covers to the chapter introductions, pull quotes, icons, illustrations, and more. The vibrant coloured waveforms are also reminiscent of our present digital age and themes like technology, social media, AI, etc. that are addressed in the chapters.
Here are some photos and mockups of the final published textbook:
