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How to Design Educational Schemes

Writer's picture: Wild Apple DesignWild Apple Design
A selection of educational publishing designs including covers and inside pages.

What are educational schemes?

A typical ‘educational scheme’ includes a student’s book, a workbook and teacher’s book. Additional resources often encompass flashcards, digital PDFs, handouts, and posters - providing a well-rounded toolkit for educators.

In the world of educational publishing, a plethora of resources are available to help educators meet curriculum standards and teach specific subjects or courses. While some of these resources are stand-alone books, publishers often provide comprehensive packages that include both printed and digital materials. Despite the shift towards digital products, the demand for physical books remains strong, especially in foreign markets where schools might lack the infrastructure or resources for digital education.

On point cover and inside pages, designed by Wild Apple Design for Delta Publishing

Our role as designers in a scheme

As designers, we must oversee the aesthetics and functionality of every component within the project. Our work is guided by standard design principles, with the client’s brief serving as a crucial document that outlines their expectations and desired style direction. In the following sections, we will explore some fundamental steps and elements involved in creating an educational design scheme:


Sample design

The sample design is where we, as designers, begin to outline a concept for the client. This is based on designs from a tender document and the initial client’s brief.

The sample is usually based on a spread, or unit, from the student’s book (SB), as it is the most stylized component of the scheme. From our experience, it is best to choose a unit that includes occasional design elements, such as; review sections, exam tests, or summaries. This approach simplifies the process later on, reducing the amount of additional design work needed and minimizing potential delays from client approvals.

At this stage, we may also be asked to create a sample design for the cover/s of the scheme, often as a potential set, particularly if the scheme spans multiple levels or subjects. We have found it helpful to treat the covers as a condensed set of the full run, allowing the client to see first-hand how the design will work with different colours, photos/illustrations, or other chosen unit/level differentiators.


Brand Identity

Brand identity involves establishing a coherent set of design rules that apply across various elements, such as workbooks (WB's) and textbooks (TB's). These design parameters ensure that the scheme sits well together, creating a unified look and feel.

Not only is brand identity important from a visual perspective, but the use of recurring styles, features, and illustrative characters also helps engage learners and retain their interest. This consistency ensures a smooth transition between elements, maintaining the learner’s journey throughout the scheme without interruption.

A cohesive brand identity not only enhances the overall impact of the set, but also makes it easier for marketers to sell to schools. Often the ‘signed-off’ sample unit becomes a fast track promotional piece to show educators before the scheme is actually printed.

While the brand identity will be applied consistently across all elements of the scheme, it is essential that each component remains distinguishable. This distinction is often achieved through variations in cover design. For example, the workbook cover might be an inversion of the student’s book design, while the teacher’s book could be presented in greyscale. These subtle differences help to differentiate each element while maintaining a cohesive overall look.


Role out

A selection of covers, posters, flashcards and inside pages for Richmond ELT

The rollout stage involves using the established brand identity and sample design to create the various components of the scheme. This process can take several forms. Individual elements may be designed and approved independently, such as the student’s book (SB) being signed off before work begins on the teacher’s book (TB), followed by the workbook (WB). Alternatively, the elements might be produced concurrently with overlapping timelines. If there are multiple levels or subjects, they are often produced as sets, with level 1 being completed independently of level 2. In cases of tight deadlines, production may be staggered to allow for overlap between levels. The challenge arises when design changes are made, as these modifications must then be applied consistently across all elements and subsequent levels.


Quality Control (QC)

Our in-house Quality Control (QC) checks are similar to those for standalone designs, ensuring consistency in design, and running thorough preflights to guarantee that files reach the publisher/printer in the best possible condition. This ensures they pass their own testing before printing.

When working on schemes, we maintain extensive notes detailing any global changes or specific design modifications that need to be applied to some or all elements within the scheme. These checklists add an additional layer of QC, ensuring that nothing is overlooked.

Images of spreads and covers for SMART business for Folens

To sum up...

The designing of full ‘Educational Schemes’ is something in which our team at Wild Apple Design are well-versed. The trick is producing an initial design, with the scope and flexibility to be adapted across ALL components in the scheme, whilst remaining cohesive and distinguishable as a set. It’s inevitable that design changes occur as the project develops, which need to be carried across the entire scheme. Our in-house checks, combined with clear communication with editors and freelancers come to the fore to ensure continuity. 

Ultimately as with every educational project we work on, our aim is to produce high-quality designs that effectively support teaching and learning.

For more on educational schemes and other subjects related to educational publishing, we regularly post on our socials, feel free to check them out and maybe leave a comment.

We hope this insight has been helpful. If you would like to discuss your next design project or educational scheme, please get in touch.

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