Portfolio
Cover Design, Typesetting, Ebook Design
Project Title
Personal and Household Financial Management
Brief Overview or Introduction
Summary: Author Sibusiso Mhlongo needed a conversion of his manuscript to a reflowable ebook.
Project goals:
- Reflowable ebook
- Test on Kindle
- Delivery
Client: Self-publishing author Sibusiso Mhlongo
Problem: One of the challenges was that the manuscript editing was poorly done. When this is the case the author has a choice, either to send the ms to another editor or to publish as is. Sibusiso decided to publish the mistakes as is and correct them in the second edition. Generally speaking, all books published in South Africa follow British English-speaking conventions perhaps most clearly elucidated in New Hart’s Rules – The Oxford Style Guide, every author and editor should have a copy.
Role
Responsibilities: Riaan’s role as Book Designer was to complete the:
- Cover design
- Typesetting
- Bookmarkers
- Ebook
Process & Development:
Research: The initial phase involved researching the target market.
Conceptualisation: The concepts drew inspiration from books in the same genre while aiming for a unique identity.
Iterations: The first iterations featured numerous options that is mostly photographic and typographic.
Final Solution/Design: The final selected design features African American people reviewing their financial statements. The author felt that the photo helped to clarify the target market, which we emphasised with a small sticker on the cover.
Tools & Technologies Used: An array of tools from physical to digital, including paper notebooks, pencils, acrylic paint, masonite pressed wood boxed canvas, Photoshop, and more.
Results & Impact: The Client was very glad to receive the work and wrote that the work is ‘very impressive’.
Challenges & Learnings: I contacted the editor of the book and told her of my analysis of the quality of the editing to which she answered; ‘there were too many mistakes to correct’. The challenge was not to jump in and make corrections since it is not what I was appointed to do.
Call to Action:
Request a book design cost estimate: info@riaanwilmans.co.za