Editorial Designer Needed: Two Professional Publishing Guides

I'm looking for an experienced editorial designer to lay out two publishing guides for creative entrepreneurs and newsletter publishers. These need clean, sophisticated design that conveys editorial quality and strategic depth — think Harvard Business Review meets thoughtful indie magazine.

Project scope: Two guides totaling ~23,000 words plus fillable template pages.
What You'll Be Designing

Guide #1: The Full Spectrum Publishing Guide

~15,000 words

Strategic frameworks and methodologies
3 main parts + bonus chapter + introduction/conclusion
Needs: pull quotes, sidebar callouts, inset boxes for frameworks, clear section hierarchy

Guide #2: The Publisher's Audience Guide

~8,000 words + fillable template pages
8-dimension strategic framework with application guidance
Needs: same editorial style as Guide #1 PLUS fillable template pages (both example and blank version)

Design Direction

Aesthetic: Clean, typography-driven, editorial professional. Not corporate/cold, but sophisticated and substantive.

Visual references: The New Yorker, Monocle magazine, high-quality academic press
Key elements:
Pull quotes/callouts for key insights
Sidebars for examples and applications
Inset boxes for frameworks and strategic questions
Clear visual hierarchy (Part ... Chapter ... Section ... Subsection)
Generous white space
1-2 accent colors + black (open to your recommendations)

Special requirement: The Publisher's Audience Guide needs fillable template pages that work as functional PDFs and look good printed.

• Initial design concept/mood board showing your proposed approach for both guides
• Fully designed layout for The Full Spectrum Publishing Guide (~15,000 words)
• Print-ready PDF (high-resolution)
• Digital PDF (optimized for screen/tablet)
• Fully designed layout for The Publisher's Audience Guide (~8,000 words + templates)
• Print-ready PDF (high-resolution)
• Digital PDF (optimized for screen/tablet) with fillable template functionality
• Editable source files (InDesign preferred)
• Specifications:
• Page size: US Letter (8.5" x 11") or similar professional size
• Professional fonts (readable body text, distinctive headers)
• 1-2 accent colors + black
• Consistent design system across both guides
• What I'll Provide
• Complete copy for both guides (Word documents)
• Markup indicating where pull quotes, sidebars, and insets should appear
• Content for the fillable template example
• Clear direction on hierarchy and organization
• Timely feedback on concepts and drafts
• Ideal Designer
• You have:
• Strong portfolio of editorial/guide design (please share examples)
• Experience creating fillable PDF templates
• Proficiency in InDesign (or similar professional layout software)
• Understanding of typography and information hierarchy
• Ability to create sophisticated, clean layouts (not overly decorative)
• Please include in your proposal:
• 2-3 relevant portfolio examples (editorial guides, workbooks, professional publications)
• Your experience with fillable PDFs
• Your estimated timeline
• Your rate/total project cost
• Project Details
• Timeline: 2-3 weeks
• Budget: $850 - $1,000
• Looking forward to seeing your approach to making these guides both beautiful and functional!