I’m really envious of Lindsey’s approach. I’ve lusted after those on-screen tablets for a while. When she uses the word “template” I believe (correct me if I’m wrong, Lindsey) that she’s referring to the InDesign template we use for the layouts. So she’s doing her storyboards on top of that template using her tablet rather than doing them on paper and then copying to the template.

The InDesign template itself consists of page sizes, margins, guides, styles, and more. In addition to the template, there are the library items you see me dragging from panels onto the page in the video. The template and library, btw, were put together by the multi-talented Lou Barr and make our lives much easier.

The storyboards themselves don’t have a template. But before doing them the writer needs to have in mind the parameters of the HF format. We need to stay consistent, so if we deviate from the styles or library items in any great measure there needs to be a reason for it. Plus, there are some rules you just have to know, like how you can’t allow headings or body text to spread all the way across the width of the page (unless, again, there’s a good reason for it). So the constraints you have on your design in the storyboard phase are what you’ve learned need to fit with the format.

Even though the Head First genre has a specific look and feel, and the template/library answers many if not most of the authors’ design questions, O’Reilly is quite supportive of our thinking outside the box visually. We authors are allowed to deviate from the template as much as we want, as long as we can tie our design decisions to claims about how our deviance will improve the learner’s experience.

Also, in the previous comment Lindsey mentioned drawing directly into “the template”. Is that a story board template that you folks use? Got an example we could see?

I have a draw-on-the-screen tablet which lets me do my boards direct into the template – boards take longer but the first couple of ID passes are quicker. Then my stroke of genius: I hand it over to Badger! Having a ID expert / illustrator who also happens to be neurologically diverse is definitely a bonus. She’s my most efficient crap-filter.

Thinking of it as just making crap is really liberating. At the beginning I needed things to be too perfect too quickly – it really crippled me. Since I relaxed about it it seems to go quicker!