Book printing

This is what I did last Monday:

On Press! Camilla Engman: The Suitcase Series from UPPERCASE gallery on Vimeo.

Printcrafters, Winnipeg
November 9, 2009

(Music by The Postal Service, photos and video taken with the iPhone 3GS=awesome)

Pre-order the book here.

November 9

Hi everyone: Janine is press checking her latest publishing effort in Winnipeg and I am stuck in Missouri. However, I have arranged for a guest to come for the morning to talk to you and offer her perspective and advice. Her name is Sabrina Kaun and she graduated from ACAD three years ago. She is a very talented and sought after art director and designer.

I would suggest that you work hard on your projects in the afternoon. In the interests of keeping everybody on track Janine and I would like to see full mockups of your books for the 16th. That means everybody. We will have a critque of them on that day.

- Alan

Full speed ahead!

You should be in page design mode at this point: there are just a handful of classes until the book is due on December 7 less the time the project will need for production. Please use your time wisely. Double-check your project schedule and make sure you're on track.

For next week, you are required to have the cover design and sample pages to present to the class (printed out at actual size, please). The pages should contain your actual copy and imagery.

NOVEMBER 9 -- 9am: covers and sample pages due

Schedule/project change: we were asking you to produce an advertising postcard in the next few weeks, but the due date for this promotional item will be with your final book. Some students want to explore media other than print (ie motion graphics, web) to promote their project, so we are opening it up to you: what would be a suitable piece to promote your book? Is it a special package for the book? A poster? A postcard? A point of sale? A website? A commercial?

Discount codes for blurb and lulu

If you sign up with Blurb and Lulu, they send regular promotional offers. Here are the latest offers.

20% off at Blurb with the code: BLURBTREAT

Their fine print: *Offer valid through 11/24/09 (11:59 p.m. PST). This offer is good for 20% off the product total for Blurb books made by you, and covers up to $100 off the product total. Not valid toward the purchase of gift cards – or any other items in the upcoming Blurb Gift Center. Offer extends to any Blurb user and covers free ground shipping up to $7.99 for up to five books to one address and is valid for transactions in US $ only. This offer is good for one-time use and cannot be combined with any other offer.

20% off at Lulu with the code: TREASURE

Their fine print: *Disclaimer: Enter coupon code 'TREASURE' at checkout and save 20% off your next photo book purchase - maximum discount $75 per account. Discount cannot be used to pay for, nor shall be applied to, applicable taxes or shipping and handling charges. Promotional codes cannot be applied to any previous order. No exchanges or substitutions allowed. Only one valid coupon code may be used per account. Offer expires on 11/1/09 at 11:59 PM GMT. Lulu.com reserves the right to change or revoke this offer at any time. Void where prohibited.

Indesign and pdfs

You should all be at the stage where you're working on rough page designs and taking your pencil sketches to the computer for more precise page designs.

You should be using Indesign when laying out your book and it is important to set your files up correctly now to avoid extra work at the end when preparing your final files for printing. Providing print-ready pdf files is becoming the industry standard for sending projects to print.

Here's a link to an article that describes the basics of setting up Indesign files for printing. (download pdf here.)

Things to remember:

- for typical print jobs, image files must be at 300dpi at actual print size. You may be able to get away with a lower resolution for digital printing on this project; consult with your output provider.

- include at least 0.125" - 0.25" bleed around your document when setting it up. Again, consult with your printer or review the specs on their website.

Blurb: pdf to book resource

Lulu: how to make a pdf

Blitzprint: pdf info

Using someplace else? Ask them for their pdf requirements. They usually can provide detailed instructions.

For next week

By this stage of the project, you should be conceptualizing the design of the book - its pacing, page design and cover concepts. For next week, please have rough designs underway and be prepared to present either rough cover designs or page designs (or both!) You should also start working on your three information graphics and how they will be integrated with your page design.

Continue refining your content, writing and research.

Information Graphics Inspiration Gallery

Flowing Prints

Graphic design thesis

Typeface classification

Nonsense info graphics

Good magazine infographics

click here to read

click here to read

Simple Complexity  (lots of good stuff here)

Komboh

"Komboh is comprised of two individuals who realized that working together solved more problems than it produced." Michael Mateyko and Hans Thiessen, recent graduates from the Alberta College of Art & Design joined forces to form this company. Michael provided some excellent illustrations for the current issue of UPPERCASE. Here's his image for "Fedora", below. Thanks to Michael and Hans for visiting my fourth year design class on Monday, October 19.

October 5 assignments

This is a work day: continue your research per your content list. Start to plan your pages: how many pages do you need to present the content? what are your page dimensions?

Start on design roughs: begin with thumbnail sketches of your page layouts and a page-by-page plan of the book. Start on full size page layouts to determine typographic styles, text and image treatments. How many words will you have per page on average? Will some spreads have full page images, some spot illustrations? What are your three info graphics? Consider the pacing of the book to make it engaging for the reader.

Begin writing your content. We suggest a minimum of 1000 words but you will likely need more. The writing does not have to be one long essay. It can be divided into chapters, subheads, etc... some content can be presented as sidebars or informational graphics.

Next Monday is Thanksgiving so there is no class. By October 19, have your book's text completed (at least as a rough draft). Be prepared to delve into the design production of the book.

Planning your book's pages

Your publication should be at least 48 pages (plus the cover - covers are usually not counted as part of the page count of a book unless it is a "self-cover" book: ie all the same paper stock, printed on the same signature and then folded and bound together usually with staples ("saddle stitched".) Your books will be perfect bound, and so the cover is printed separately on a heavier cover stock.

BASIC STRUCTURE OF A BOOK

FRONT COVER
Left hand page: inside front cover

Front Matter:

Right hand page: half title page
(page numbering/counting starts on this page)

L: title page

R: title page

L: copyright page

R: table of contents

content pages

back matter:

   appendices if necessary

   bibliography if necessary

   index if necessary
   colophon if necessary

inside back cover
BACK COVER

As you can see, the structure of a basic book will take up quite a few pages, so you may need to increase the page count of the book to allow for your content. When considering the final page count, keep in mind that you cannot just add a single page; books are printed in signatures in multiples of 4: usually 16 or 32. Digital printing may allow you more flexibility in the final page count, so consult with your production house.