Flying Sideways

The Story of the World’s Most Famous Stunt Pilot

By Fred and Peggy North

PROJECT SCOPE:

This memoir book project was one that used all our 30+ years of graphic design experience and self-publishing expertise. We love working with authors who have a creative vision for their books and trust us to bring that vision to life! Thank you Peggy and Fred for trusting us with your book!

In our initial discussion, co-author, Peggy North explained she would need special maps created to show the extreme paths that the pilot flew across multiple continents. She knew that, as graphic designers, we would have the ability to create these special features for her book. We created the maps with a similar hand-drawn look from the cover, adding the full-bleed images at the beginning of the appropriate chapters. We also created special chapter title pages, full-color photo collages, and QR codes that linked to YouTube videos showing behind-the-scenes on movie sets, videos from the races in the ’90s, and trailers from many of the movies he was involved in over the last few years. We refer to this type of interior formatting as complex interior layouts for a reason! Of course, each part of these special treatments requires additional time and increases the cost of the book design, but these extras bring the story to life!

Peggy knew Fred’s story was unique and tried to find a traditional publisher to work with from the beginning, but none of the imprints were willing to think outside the box for this manuscript. Instead of being discouraged, she decided to figure out how to self-publish and started researching. This led her to our website and we met for the first time in November of 2022. The book was in the final stages of design when the book cover we designed, caught the eye of the CEO, Matt West, and he knew he wanted to get involved. Dexterity Books, in Nashville, offers an award-winning menu of customized publishing services, from product idea to launch.  They were the perfect people to collaborate and assist with the final commercial editing, production, and marketing on a larger scale—just what was needed for this author’s extensive platform.

We created the unique cover layout using the author’s photographs and a digital illustration process in Photoshop (watch this clip to see Kayla working on this project). We then brought the artwork into InDesign where we added all the text onto another layer. Since this wasn’t a typical self-publishing project, we were able to add special treatments that aren’t available using Print-on-Demand distribution. We built the hardcover jacket files with an embossing and spot matte treatment that is typical for a more traditional publishing project using a commercial printer.

In addition to the cover design and interior formatting, we also assisted with creating the marketing collateral for a conference in Atlanta in March of 2023. We designed posters, postcards, and bookmarks announcing the book presales and created multiple mockups for their social media feeds. Once we began work with the publishing company Dexterity, we assisted them in creating an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) that was printed by IngramSpark and distributed to their audience, created all the final interior, photo collage inserts, endpapers, and jacket cover files. Collaborating with the author, Peggy, the publishing house Dexterity, and the commercial printer was a great experience and an opportunity to produce this beautiful book with the help of an array of professionals working together. Thank you Fred and Peggy for this opportunity.

This book is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all your favorite book retailers.

• Adobe Illustrator CC
• Adobe InDesign CC
• Adobe Photoshop CC
• Book Design and Layout