Octavo is a Latin word and technical term describing the format of a book. It is also used as a general description of books that are about 8 to 10 inches tall.

Tellwell knew early-on, that to differentiate themselves from the competition, they would need to develop software in-house to guide their authors through the publication process. To that end, I worked closely with their developers and the development team’s product owner to design and name Octavo.

The goal of the project was to create a web-based portal that gave their oftentimes technologically inexperienced authors the ability to navigate a lengthy, complicated process easily and efficiently. The design used larger icons, simple menus, and relatively low information density so that clients would not be overwhelmed.