McDougal Littell
McDougal Littell is a textbook publisher of middle school and high school educational materials. In educational publishing a large focus is now on teaching through visuals. Engaging photographs and concise information graphics play a large role in the books. Books are created by teams consisting of editors, designers, photo researchers and production coordinators.
Infographics are an important part of science teaching. At McDougal Littell the designer works closely with an Editorial team to develop these visuals and determine the level of information that is shown. The images below illustrate how infographics may show different levels of complexity.
A full page cycle graphic: The Life Cycle of a Plant
A sidebar graphic lays out a complex over-arching idea in a simplistic graphic. These types of graphics initiate the student. Certain elements, shapes or colors, are repeated in future visuals to improve information retention.
The over-arching concept is then applied to the different types of plants, for instance the Conifer. In all the information graphics, as the designer, I worked closely with illustrators for the different pieces of the visual.
A more robust full page visual is included in the appendix: The Conifer Life Cycle (in detail)
