We came across this great infographic today about the “textbooks of tomorrow”. We love it not only for it’s fun design and great stats, but because it shows the growing trend of digital textbooks on the market today. We’ve all been there – secretly cursing the yellowing pages of an outdated textbook that’s passed from student to student- annoying, right? Besides the obvious benefits of digital textbooks – the reduced impact on the environment, the lower end cost to the consumer – we’re excited about the growth of the digital textbook market because it will allow textbooks to be kept more current and relevant, not to mention adding a whole new interactive dimension to learning (check out the section on the infographic titled “What will the future of the textbook look like?”)
When looking at this trend and the effect of jobs in the design industry, we see this as a positive change – although print design opportunities will lesson in the textbook/learning materials industry (a huge industry might we add), the demand for digital and interactive designers will greatly increase, as digital textbooks by nature will demand to be updated on a very regular basis. Where print textbooks can circulate on average from 2-4 years (sometimes more!), digital textbooks offer the flexibility to be updated continually. No longer will a publisher risk losing hundreds of thousands of textbooks that have become outdated – they can now keep digital designers of staff or on contract to continually improve their learning materials.
It creates more jobs for designers and is an entirely more environmentally friendly way of learning. And that’s a good thing!
Tags: art and designdesign schooldesign trendsdigital designeducation trendstextbook design