Apple Book — Apple Distinguished Program
For seven years I have been involved with the application process for Walters State's Apple Distinguished program. I am responsible for taking Academics' content and turning it into a visual book that meets the requirements for Apple's Distinguished Program application. This involves reading through the book, re-organizing materials to fit the specifications of the application and identifying chunks of content that can be pulled out into callouts and used to more visually enhance the points being made for a section. I also work to identify content that is more secondary in nature and should be pulled out of the main content flow as supporting pop-out materials; streamlining the book to meet Apple's vision for these application pieces — visually interesting, easy to read and able to be digested quickly. The editing and design process occurs in a relatively short time frame and must be completed to meet the application deadline. Apple also requires that the book be created using iBooks Author.
During this process I work alongside our photographer to identity existing photography and help determine additional imagery that will be needed specifically for this piece. The strong photography in this book gives it a very friendly and engaging feel and enhances the overall message for each section and is critical to the success of the book.
Supporting artwork is developed to tie the book to the college's identity. For this newest book, I created a textural mountain graphic that plays on the college's association as the Great Smoky Mountains Community College. This graphic combines the triangular pattern of the college's current campaign along with a subtle wash of color. The vector mountains are also added in transparent layers to give visual depth to the background. The mountain artwork is used as the foundation piece for the book and adds visual flow — which is key in an Apple book due to the scrolling nature of the format. Each page bleeds into the next and visual cohesion keeps the reader's attention. The slight grey/blue tint of the background also makes the books' lighting less harsh and makes it a little easier on the eyes for lengthy reading. The subtle textural elements are also repeated in key art at the beginning of each chapter and to enhance clickable buttons that are located throughout the book.
