Similar to creating a baby, books have a long gestation period before they “arrive.” In fact, this book will have taken longer than three pregnancies to make its appearance. Interestingly, among the 57 authors, 7 have given birth during the writing of this book. That’s a productive group! Similar to babies, books also need a name – something to help us identify and locate them.
The Academy staff suggested two title options: Nutrition Communication or Communicating Nutrition, along with the subtitle A Handbook for Professionals. They were open to other ideas, which I wrote about here.
We picked a title!
The title we returned to as our favorite, after considering several others, was Communicating Nutrition. In addition to being clear and concise, it was active rather than passive.
The subtitle needed to be equally strong. We felt “guide” was more appealing than “handbook” and adding “the authoritative” established its credibility and standing. With the Academy listed as the publisher, the audience of current and future members was also apparent. It met the criteria for an effective title.
The book is being readied for “production,” which means a copy editor is going over the text and designers are working on the layout and graphic elements. It is so exciting to see the book take shape beyond the manuscript stage.
A cover is designed.
The cover art was the first task of the designers and artists. The production manager described their design decision as follows when she sent it to me:
“The cover design is a great visual way to engage potential readers, and we think the design we selected is going to be very successful. It blends modern style with the symbolism of connection, which is what communication is all about. We had a few things in mind as we tried out different designs. Whatever design we chose, we had to be able to see it in the classroom as a textbook. We wanted to make sure we stayed away from a lot of the covers that are already out there, so we tried to avoid stock art photography images of people gathered around a conference table, for example. We also wanted to keep a clean and professional look overall, and I think we have accomplished that with this design. Everyone that got a peek at this cover felt really confident about it and its broad appeal.
The concept you see immediately stood out to us as a winner. We could barely even look at the other covers because this one was just so inviting. We tried a few different variations on single color circles but felt that the multicolor you see here is a good representation of the diversity that we encounter in communication. I think that the circle theme is also going to translate really, really well into a coordinating interior design.”
The design team has some great ideas for incorporating elements of the cover design within the book as well. Layout and design are essential components of communicating effectively. For a book about communication we must “practice what we preach.”
What do you think? Do you like the title and cover? Does it convey an engaging and professional feel? Share your thoughts in the comments.
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” ~ Steve Jobs
If you like this content, please share it:
