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Power BI e-Books

May 1, 2024
MICROSOFT POWER BI

E-BOOK SERIES

PUBLICATION / WEB & ANIMATION

Microsoft approached Affirma Consulting looking for a series of five eBooks advertising different unique selling points of Power BI—each speaking to independent user experiences. One of the main goals was to develop final InDesign and PDF files that offered an interactive experience that was certified as entirely accessible.

10 Reasons Customers Choose Power BI

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It’s a privilege to go through Microsoft’s Power Platform standards and create this series building an innovative design system for these eBooks off of Microsoft’s established regulations. Because my team isn’t internal to Microsoft, gathering resources was an interesting process. A large part of design was sourcing existing imagery from Microsoft’s website. I found myself pulling iconography and illustrations from the Power BI website and generating my own—mimicking the different styles.

What couldn’t be pulled from Microsoft, we sourced from licensed stock photography that was Photoshopped to match the predetermined look and feel. By the end of the project, the team had our own asset library of different photography, iconography, and illustrations. It was important to have variety and not lean on one form of visual because the stakeholders were looking for something new, exciting, and inclusive—all while following brand standards.

Microsoft’s heavy emphasis on accessible content ensures everyone can interact with their brand. This practice opened my eyes to new ways of communicating with a broader audience, and I found new marketing opportunities I hadn’t previously considered as a designer.

Drive Your Data Culture

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Designing in an interactive space that must be 100% accessible presents several challenges when it comes to layout and type design. Across all eBooks, type contrast, legibility, and flow were a key priority to cater towards individuals that live with some sort of visual impairment. I spent additional time and care to provide alt. text describing images and infographics, as well.

This practice opened my eyes to new ways of communicating with a broader audience. Additionally, I wanted a beautiful layout that could easily translate to a plain-reader view for those with cognitive impairments that have difficulty determining reading order. Microsoft’s heavy emphasis on accessible content ensures everyone can interact with their brand, not just a select few.

Power BI + Azure Synapse

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Build Unique Experiences with Power BI Embedded

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Data culture maturity roadmap: Five steps to build a data culture

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If you have a vision, let’s pair it with my flair for design! Feel free to send me an email to learn more about my experience, freelance rates, and availability.

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Ridebook

April 2, 2024
PRIVATE CLIENT

RIDEBOOK

PUBLICATION / ILLUSTRATION

“Ridebook: Activities on the Go” is a saddle-stitch activity book developed to keep your brain occupied during your daily commute to work. It was created for a private client near the Bay Area by Affirma Consulting.

The initial scope of work was broad, with stakeholders expecting a coloring brochure with a crossword puzzle. My design team went above and beyond the call to action. This 27-page book is filled with fun coloring pages, puzzling brain teasers, and helpful wellness tips—all of which was conceptualized, planned, developed, and completed by dedicated designers.

Our team adopted the private client’s brand assets for the initial structure of the book design. As for illustrations, we were particularly inspired by Hanna Barbera’s timeless, whimsical, and expressive style. We wanted the characters on the pages to feel friendly and fun!

COVER ART

My team put together a list of fifteen different titles, committed to finding something that would be perfect for the client’s vision—”Ridebook: Activities on the Go”. From there, we worked through five different covers until we settled on the final. The cover is an in-progress coloring page rendering to pull the audience in by demoing the inner content of the book.

WELLNESS GUIDES

Throughout the book, we include a series of guides on wellness stretches, hydration, and mindfulness. On each page, the reader can rate the activity and track how it made them feel. These sections were inspired by the concept of ‘unwinding’. They’re a tangle of line drawings providing a visual guide for the stretch activity.

COLORING PAGES

Our team was provided with a list of seven locations the client wanted to highlight in the Bay Area. From there, we researched each locale and pitched loose concepts to the client. Once approved, we quickly moved into the illustration phase.

“I SPY” PUZZLE

This activity was inspired by “Where’s Waldo” and “i Spy” puzzles. The postcard in the upper left corner sets the scene and leaves a list of people the audience must find before the shuttle can depart. The scene is incredibly busy and filled with red herrings and jokes.

“Ridebook: Activities on the Go” started as a small, fun idea of swag. Our team turned it into an all-encompassing statement piece complete with activities and fun facts to entertain your left and right brain. In addition to the book design, we also pitched a matching colored pencil or crayon pack.

To make this a reality, Affirma reached out to several printers and fulfillment centers across the country to research production and shipping timelines, as well as different finishing methods. We settled on an aluminum tin of 12 colored pencils as the perfect companion to the activity book.

Our designers wear many hats, including overall conceptual design and copywriting. If you have a great idea, we’ll figure the rest out in order to actualize it.

This was an excellent demonstration of the skills my team is capable of. We took an abstract concept for a book and translated it into a fully thought-out product. Here, clever content and whimsical imagery pairs with functional (and fun) design decisions. Our team promises quality— which is why we worked closely with the printer during the production stage to ensure the final book met our high standards.

One of the major challenges of this piece was the conceptual direction and content development. My team didn’t have assistance from a copywriter, so we spent much of our time writing and planning. Key to overcoming this was working closely with the client as a major resource. Our designers wear many hats, including overall conceptual design and copywriting. If you have a great idea, we’ll figure the rest out in order to actualize it.

LET'S CONNECT

If you have a vision, let’s pair it with my flair for design! Feel free to send me an email to learn more about my experience, freelance rates, and availability.

EMAIL

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