PRINT PRODUCTION
Phonics Readers
The goal: To update Kindergarten and First Grade phonics readers to be more inclusive and diverse and offer the readers online as well as in print.
How we got there: Several stakeholders, including a diversity and inclusion expert, analyzed the readers and made suggestions to make them more inclusive. Then, the illustrations were updated or entirely redone by in-house and contract illustrators, and the new illustrations were laid out in InDesign with the text. Covers were updated to match the new illustrations, and the books were re-published. The interactive design team added color to the black and white interior illustrations, and used them to built web components with accompanying audio.
My role: I assigned illustration tasks to in-house and contract illustrators, and moved the illustrations through a series of reviews. I handled the interior layouts and cover updates in InDesign, and prepared them for printing. I also assigned web component builds to the interaction design team and completed design reviews for each component. I tracked all of these tasks using spreadsheets and JIRA tickets.
Layout in InDesign
Images had to be sized to fit within the layout, text added, and print specs followed to prepare for printing.
Finished Readers
Online Web Components
Each story was converted to a digital component with audio. Each word is highlighted as it is read.
Rachel loves to learn and even more so when she can apply it to her work. Everything she works on is given the same level of attention and thoughtfulness with regards to diversity and inclusivity. She took it upon herself to take a LinkedIn training to created accessible documents and helped fill a gap in print team resourcing. Rachel is able to apply a level of innate cultural awareness to each asset she creates and it is inspiring.
-Amy Velasquez, Creative Director, Stride