There are many types of storyboards. Some are for video, film, animation and interactive projects. When I started making book and educational game apps with Kwik, I tried using some of the many storyboard templates available on the Internet. But they never quite worked for me. So I decided to come up with my own template. I like putting all the information for each page of the app on its own storyboard page.

Many of my readers have asked for a copy of the template. So I’ve decided to offer it as a free download. Let’s take a look at the parts of the template and the information it contains.

At the top, we have my logo on the left. On the right is a place for the name of the project. This is usually the name of the book app. The client’s name is next and you might want to put their contact phone number or email address.

Under the top section is a place for general information about the book app. I usually include this information on the storyboard for only the first screen of the app, which is usually the cover page. What are the total pages in the app? Does the client want background music throughout the app? If so, what is the name of the music .mp3 file. Does the client want to use the Read-to-Me feature, a slide-in navigation menu or page-to-page navigation buttons? Both?

Under the screenshots is the name of the mockup .psd file that contains all the graphics for this page. I ask my clients to supply me with one .psd file for each page. This file should contain all the non-moving graphics on the bottom layer and each animated or interactive graphic on its own transparent layer.

The screenshot section has one before and after screenshot of the page. The first shows how the page should look when it loads into the app. The second shows the page after any animation or interactive features have played. The client can use the mockup .psd file to demonstrate the two screenshots and save them as .jpg images. Then import the .jpg in the storyboard .pdf file.

In the sample storyboard, we see that the graphic for the cookie has switched to one with a foot missing. Also the Click the Bouncing Objects message has disappeared. Another thing to notice is the arrows, which indicate that the Christmas ornaments should swing and the cookie should bounce up and down.

If the client is using the Read-to-Me feature, you will need a different .mp3 file for each page, which matches the text on the page. You will want to list the name of that file on the storyboard.

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