AVIA 100 Textbook

Figure 1: Course path of United Airlines 232 with the engine failure.

UX + UI

2020

                                                                                                  

Role(s): UX Designer, Creative Director, Editor

The Fundamentals of International Aviation textbook is written by Dr. S. Kearns for her course: AVIA 100, taught in the University of Waterloo. With the success of the first edition, I along with a team of two are commissioned to illustrate and update graphics for an upcoming 2nd edition to be released in the Fall 2021 semester.

"How can a textbook be more engaging and equally informative for students?"

Information Architecture

TOOLS: Microsoft Word, Adobe XD, pen and paper
SKILLS:
Navigation Design, Content Organization

The textbook's aim is to make learning as engaging and enjoyable as possible through illustrations and stories that bring their corresponding lessons to life, sometimes openly discussing sensitive topics about the immense responsibility of human lives.

Exploratory Seeking - Case Studies

Diagram from the chapter 10 case study depicting a time-lapse of the AF 447 aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean.

Case studies have a purple box design and case study icon.

Exploratory Seeking - Infographics

Diagram illustrating the formation of wake turbulence forming from differing pressures of air when an airplane flies through an atmosphere.

Different types of navigation systems for routing airplane paths.

Known Item Seeking/Re-finding - Table of Contents

① Headers for chapter subsections are included underneath the chapters with their respective page number for easier navigation.

② Chapter names are given a heavier font weight to stand out as the main categories and underneath are headings with a lighter font and corresponding page number.

Known Item Seeking/Re-finding - Text Hierarchy

① Font styling now matches first edition's styling guide.

② Different weights and text styling distinguish between font hierarchies with the highest (Header 1) being the most decorated and visible.

③ Links have a blue color and underline for PDF textbooks and definitions are italicized and bolded for easier visibility.

Known Item Seeking/Re-finding - Tables

① Definitions as established above can be bolded and subsections can be ordered in a number list. This way, both elements are visually separated.

② Table styling is established to differentiate header columns and description columns. Sections have their own row to separate their information from their neighbor's information.

③ Special tables like the above have a highlighted column icon for their respective SMS column.

Default Table Templates

Alternative Table Templates

Exhaustive Seeking - In-chapter Boxes

Visual Design

TOOLS: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, pen and paper
SKILLS: Visual Directing, Illustration

Building upon the established rules of the first edition's style guide, many additions are to compliment the already existing assets. New inclusions to the style guide are a pastel color palette, box designs, tags, tables (as established above), text hierarchy and shape design.

Readability (Visual Design + Editing)

① Redundant text such as descriptions in the graphic was moved into the legend.

② Subtitle is larger and bolded in case there is variation in print quality and ink saturation.

Updating Graphics - Correcting Information

Updating Graphics - New Color Palette

① Color coding between hot section and cold section differentiate from cross section of engine parts.

② Turbines are serrated diagonally representing blades which distinguish from other engine parts.

③ Photograph of a jet engine cross section is a real-life reference to compare and contrast with the diagram.

Updating - Terminology (Editing)

① Replacing harsher terminology with more neutral terms makes the graphic more digestible.

Final Graphics with Texture

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