Summary
Lebanese Reforestation Initiative (LRI) and American University of Beirut- Nature Conservation Center (AUB-NCC) wanted to create a guideline book. It’s the result of years of joint local and global experiences of the Cooperative of Native Tree Producers (CNTPL) and LRI. It provides a step-by-step scientific guide for producing local forest seedlings and establishing a forest nursery. AUB-NCC spent years conducting field research at AUB Advanced Research Empowering Communities and used the University’s agricultural facility to collect, store, clean, treat and grow seeds of native Lebanese trees. All this research and trial and error by those initiatives was compiled into this concise manual with detailed technical illustrations.
Objective
LRI and AUB-NCC approached us to help in creating a unique book that would compile an extensive and technical guideline for nursery management. They asked us to help make this book handy, easy to use, clear, accurate, straight forward and meticulous. We were requested to design this book in parallel while our clients finalized its content.
Target audience
National Guideline for Nursery Management targets farmers and other professionals for the purpose of having a handy, professional and inclusive reference manual.
Implementation
To bring to life our clients’ vision of this book, we focused on each element separately. We worked very closely with one of the authors, Khaled Sleem, to ensure the accuracy of every detail. We had our illustrator Jamila Mehio create intricate illustrations of the plants, trees, processes, etc. One of the most unique twists to the book is it being bilingual; we created the right side in Arabic and the left in English, with the final chapter being a combination of both.
Steps
During our initial meeting with our clients, we got briefed on exactly what they want the purpose of this book to be. Since the content finalization was going to happen simultaneously while we were designing and illustrating, we started by helping our clients create the initial general layout and outline of the book. This provided both of us with a rough guideline to help organize our work for the next few months. The illustrations in the book were highly technical, so we met up with one of the authors, Khaled Sleem, who provided us with all the reference pictures of all the plants, trees, procedures, etc., his research and explanations of all the processes. We collaborated very closely with Sleem during those months since his expertise was extremely valuable in creating the most scientifically accurate and realistic illustrations possible. For this project we dove into every single detail from the choice of paper, to the colors and textures, to unique elements and accents throughout the whole book.
Features
National Guideline for Nursery Management is full of very distinctive details that make it both appealing and informative.
- Starting with the basics, the paper itself is textured and recycled.
- At the beginning of every chapter, there is a large illustration that provides a preview of the topic tackled in this chapter.
- Every process and important concept is visualized in very accurate and technical illustrations to clarify to the reader exactly what it is, how it works, what to do, etc.
- Chapter 9 stands out for multiple reasons some of which are:
- It’s in Arabic and English simultaneously.
- Its papers are a different color, texture and thickness to set it apart from the rest of the book.
- Each page has a flap that includes the legend on one side and on the other, an illustration of the native species.
- The legend is a set of icons that are each explained and elaborated separately and then used throughout the chapter.
- The illustrations are recycled throughout the whole book to create cohesiveness in the identity and style. Those pieces are reused on the book cover, book jacket, extra elements in folio, etc.
The book jacket plays more than just a decorative role. On the inside it includes a list of references and a large and extensive table that explains seed collection and handling of native tree species of Lebanon. The first flap includes the list of the content inside the jacket, References and Seed Table. On the second flap, there is a list of the authors.
Challenges & Solutions
The biggest challenge we faced was going back and forth with the authors to ensure that we are constantly up-to-date with any changes, new content and other tweaks that could affect what we are working on. We then adapt and make any required amendments to accomodate any of these changes. In addition, we had to stay in close contact with Slim to get all the information, references, explanations and images we needed to guarantee the precision of every illustration.
Another challenge was to illustrate scientifically accurate drawings that clarify and explain the content. This required commitment from our team to understand how the processes, technologies and other details work.
Check out the full PDF: Nursery Management AUB Guidebook
