Education
Geography@work for Folens
Geography@work is a major Key Stage 3 geography series that was published by Folens in 2008. This multi-component course comprises student books with accompanying activity sheets, lesson plans and CD-ROMs (PowerPoint slides, video and audio files, and interactive activities). Folens came to CPM for help with this series at short notice when their previous project manager was suddenly no longer able to continue working on it. We picked up the titles at various stages of development and, in addition to all the usual editorial tasks, had to organise ourselves immediately to seek Ordnance Survey licences and chase copyright permissions for the use of extracts. We also coordinated the CD-ROM material, which included checking audio tracks, commissioning and reviewing PowerPoint slides, and creating metadata.
It was vital for the project that its various components should progress in tandem, with any changes to the student book mirrored in the lesson plans and activity sheets. Achieving this while maintaining momentum was something of a juggling act and required a significant amount of editorial work. The early problems with the series had inevitably had an impact on the schedule, necessitating a huge commitment from everyone involved. A few days’ visit from the commissioning editor at Folens to sign off proofs and several late-night pizzas later and all deadlines were finally met
Scope of the project:
For different titles, various stages of: copy-editing of books, activity sheets and lesson plans; commissioning artwork and picture research; checking and correcting layouts; proofreading; indexing; co-ordinating and compiling material for CD-ROMs; delivery of print-ready files.
Relationships for SEN Press
CPM worked in close partnership with SEN Press right from its inception, creating age-appropriate readers about life-skills issues for teenagers with learning difficulties. We designed six series of books: Work Experience, Everyday Challenges, Scary Things, Simple Meals, Ups and Downs and Relationships. For one of the titles in the most recent series, Relationships, the artist we were using needed photographic references, but couldn’t find a teenager of the right age and size. Our project editor persuaded her fourteen-year-old daughter to be photographed acting out the scenes, and the results were perfect. As always where there is relatively little text, every word in this book had to be spot on – something we worked closely with the publisher in order to achieve.
Scope of the project:
Full project management; concept design; cover design; artwork commissioning; copy-editing; layout; proofreading; delivery of print-ready files.
Double Club for Rising Stars
In 2008 award-winning educational publisher Rising Stars asked CPM to help produce this series of innovative Key Stage 3 English pupil and teacher books. Aimed at reluctant learners (particularly boys), the series was based on the education programme created by Arsenal Football Club. The books are highly illustrated and carefully designed, with every spread featuring a football-related storyline and text accompanied by grammar, punctuation and comprehension. Keeping the grammar exercises both on-subject and educationally appropriate was no straightforward task.
In the pupil books, one page of each spread was individually designed by our freelance designer, using composite photos, cut-outs, commissioned artwork and engaging texts. We wanted lively-looking pages that drew the reader into the text but didn’t distract from its content and the learning objectives. Each opposite page, containing the lessons and written exercises, was laid out by CPM’s in-house Mac operators, and the spreads then had to be woven together. One of our football-mad readers provided valuable up-to-the-minute advice on all of the books’ content.
Scope of the project:
Full project management; concept design; artwork commissioning; copy-editing; layout; proofreading; cross-component checking between pupil and teacher books; delivery of print-ready files.