Gold Education, Teaching Aid and Training Content Design · 2025
Shining Moments Textbook
by Kiwook Kim
- A' Design Award 2025 Gold Winner in Education, Teaching Aid and Training Content Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: MiraeN
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 132,079
- Verification code D227D6A22D · Verify this award
About Shining Moments Textbook
Shining Moments is a series of textbooks for middle school students in Korea. Unlike textbooks that use graphics symbolizing each subject, the covers are designed like comic book scenes. Warm illustrations show the daily lives and friendships of children, drawn in soft colors with intentionally incomplete details. Colored foil highlights the book titles, and holographic foil is applied to white areas for a dynamic effect. The series includes twelve books. The aim is to reduce resistance to textbooks and to invite interest in learning.
Mirae-N Design Team's Shining Moments Textbook series exemplifies contemporary approaches to educational material design, positioning itself within a broader movement toward student-centered visual communication that acknowledges the emotional dimensions of learning alongside cognitive demands, the suite of covers demonstrates sophisticated understanding of how visual narrative can transform perceptions of academic subjects, moving beyond austere informational presentation toward invitational imagery that suggests learning as adventure and self-discovery, each cover constructs a distinct atmospheric world appropriate to its subject matter while maintaining systemic coherence through consistent illustration style, chromatic relationships, and the recurring presence of an endearing white mascot figure that humanizes the educational experience, the technical accomplishment lies in balancing contemporary illustration aesthetics with functional clarity, ensuring subject identification remains immediate while emotional resonance deepens engagement, compositional choices reward examination, from the thoughtful reader gazing toward ancient architectural wonders to the park bench moment of quiet reflection to the exuberant coastal celebration of possibility, these vignettes suggest that knowledge opens worlds both external and internal, the chromatic progression from warm rose through golden amber to refreshing cerulean creates visual variety while the shared saturation levels and illustrative approach maintain family resemblance, one might observe how the diagonal arrangement in this presentation itself suggests forward movement and progression, echoing the educational journey the materials support, the work invites consideration of how design choices shape not merely recognition but relationship, asking viewers to consider what visual qualities make them feel welcomed into rather than intimidated by academic content
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This book is for middle school students in Korea. It is designed like a comic book, unlike textbooks that generally consist of graphics that contain or symbolize the content of a subject. Warm illustrations that contain children daily lives are designed to arouse interest in and feel familiar with the book.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Frame: 220 x 280 (matte coated) / spine: 10mm
Post Processing: hologram foil, color foil
(This project consists of a total of 12 books, and the specifications of the books are produced slightly differently according to the
characteristics of the subject.) - Tags
- Textbook, Middle School
- Production Technology
- It reflects students tastes with analog illustrations of soft colors and incomplete details. To enhance the visibility of the book title, colored foil was applied. Holographic foil was used for white areas, creating a dynamic effect. Additionally, partial applications of colored foil and silk epoxy were incorporated into the illustrations to create a more dramatic look. Bright and vivid Pantone colors were used for the spine and specific sections to ensure striking clarity.
- Design Challenge
- It was necessary to persuade people who expressed concern because they did not use symbols or graphics related to the subject like traditional textbooks. As a result, a design that reduces students’ rejection of textbooks and gives them interest and liking for learning was completed, breaking away from standardized textbook design.
It induces visual interest and encourages students to naturally become interested in books through illustrations with warm scenes or humor. It stimulates learning motivation by reflecting the tastes and trends of students who like analog elements. - Project Duration
- The project was planned and produced from January to July 2024, and will be used for middle school students in Korea from 2025.
- Operation Flow
- The scenes on the cover of this book symbolize children’s friendship and experiences.
The positive energy of adolescents growing up through their daily lives was expressed in various scenes. The cover design of this textbook conveys the message that ordinary daily experiences and warm friendships are the most important values
for children.
In addition, this analogue cover design can gain sympathy from different generations. It can communicate by providing nostalgia for teachers and new experiences for children. - Research
- The cover was developed with the concept of making a textbook like a comic book that contains children’s daily lives. It creates an emotional consensus among students through warm daily scenes with friends and animals. The design of friendships with friends and everyday experiences contributes to students feeling warmer and more emotionally secure in the textbook.
- Inspiration
- The project began with the imagination of creating textbooks that would give children a familiar and enjoyable experience like a comic book. The illustrations on the cover contain the ordinary but warm daily lives of book users, just like a scene from a comic book. This strategic approach aims to arouse curiosity and interest, rather than academic pressure, when students see a book cover. It can also send a message to students that ordinary experiences and warm friendships are the most important