However you plan to work in the production of your book, spend some time now planning your workflow, using the notes above as a guide.
Workflow phases
In this brief, I was asked to plan my workflow and consider the number of days or weeks I will need to spend that to complete the fifth assignment book design. Here I need to organise each step according to the five phases, making sure that I allow myself not only to be creative but structural as well. If we are looking at the roles of preparing books for printing, I as a designer will take multiple roles as a project manager, writer, editor, picture researcher, designer, production manager and publisher.
At the same time, this particular unit is all about balance, I’ve noticed how easy here to get carried away with only planning, or how the creative part can take most of the time, and it’s easy to forget about one or another, the organisational part and the structure. That is something I need as well, to have some organisational skills, let the creativity flow and be a good planner.
I looked at the calendar, and approximately I have a deadline of approximately four weeks to complete this final part, which is a quite short time. However, as I’m committed to this course, I have a full-time job to concentrate on it and be fully involved in it.
I have friends printers who can possibly help me with this project to print. Below I described how long each phase of this assignment will take and my thoughts about it.
Phase 1: Scoping
I think, for the overall project itself I will need approximately two weeks. I should consider working with the printing companies, as they could be overloaded with workflow after the Christmas time backlog, therefore just in case I have a backup plan of printing it myself. My home printer can do A4 format, so the book I can possibly print will be around A5 format unless I found some fast print companies. My experience with working on the previous part Collating and binding helped me to understand timeframes and the structure for the project from start, where I ordered sheets of paper, sketching of future design, to the production of design, and then actual printing.
I’m going to use a sketchbook and a full brief analysis as guidance for describing the plan of the project, also things like keywords and mind maps will be quite useful here. Working on the project of the altered book gave me some ideas on how the process can look, it inspired me for creating some more alternatives for artists’ books, as the field for creation is quite broad. In regards to what kind of methods I will be using in this project, I’m thinking of combining digital and hand-made methods for the final book. I believe, using alternative methods of design help to open new perspectives. I had quite unpredictable and interesting outcomes, which makes the final product unique and exclusive.
Also, I need to consider the content of the book, and what direction of the story I will choose. For inspiration I’m going to search for some artists, using Smithsonian Library, and some more sources I’ve discovered recently. I might include in it some quotes, similar way I used for the My little book/good and bad typography. Quotes from the influencers help to focus on the particular subject and develop the idea with the special characteristics.
Phase 2: Creating content
I’m hoping, I will need just about two to four days for creating the content after I generated some ideas. I’m going to start the assignment on the 31st of January, leading to the submission of the final work on the 14th of February. For this assignment, I can try to write my content, as I did for Assignment 3. I’ve collected some magazines recently, and material about book creating, so I can do collages or scanning for my project. Also, as an idea on the side of my sketchbook, I can do watercolour illustrations and drawings. I found it a very good way for converting all images into CMYK format and high-resolution 300dpi, which should be good enough for printing.
This Creative Book Design Unit has been my favourite part so far, as I discovered new directions in design, and I found it quite creative. I will think of using concrete poetry and altered books as a basement for creating my book, also, the collection of books I’ve been buying during the course can be very helpful for this conclusive assignment.
Phase 3: Design
This part of the design process includes page set-up, such as the numbering of pages and planning the order and amount of pages. The next stage is a page layout, which I’m going to do in my sketchbook as well. I’m going to do thumbnails, they should not be detailed, just a brief positioning of the columns on the image should be enough for the understanding of the structure. After that, I’m going to choose a typeface. I can always follow the guidance of the Notes on Book Design by Derek Birdsall, with the best-provided material for the typography choice. But for the final book, I will look at the finest way of arranging the text according to the image elements. From my first assignment, I remember the rule that paragraphs shouldn’t be too long, otherwise, they are difficult to follow, and remember about gaps between the sentences, avoiding “rivers” between words, because the rule is – if that is the book of good typography, the text should look professional and neat unless it was done purposely artistic and creative. Overall, I think it will take me about one week for this process. Up to the 6th of February my deadline, as I need at least one extra week for the production part and conclusion.
Phase 4: Pre-production
Before the final printing of the book, I will need to do proofs first. Check the book for errors, make sure that I’m satisfied with colours and check the numbering of pages. I’ve heard the recent story that it can be cases of confusion with the numbering of the page or missing some pages from the final book release, which I can’t effort due to the tight terms of the book production. Also, from my experience, I had trips to the printing companies and for the colour correction of the magazine. It’s useful to have calibrated screen, but a digital copy will always have a difference compared to the printing sample, as depending on the thickness of the pages, the quality of paper, or type of inks the result can have an impact on the final piece. Even home print can provide some orientation on the colours and what the final book will look like. I can do drafting print first, make a mockup and only after that send the work for pre-production.
Phase 5: Printing and production
To finalise the whole assignment I need time to print some copies of the book. I think at the initial scoping stage I need to decide which services I’m going to use, and the company I’m going to deal with, making sure I have sufficient time for the successful outcome of the project. I’m going to research for the local printers, hopefully, they will be able to complete the order within a week. Also, I will follow the guidance of the printers, making sure I’m covering their requirements as well. Start from the 7th to the 11th of February.
Conclusion
This workflow plan helped me to build some valuable points and determine deadlines and important stages for the book production. I don’t have extra weeks for errors or adjustments if something goes wrong, so I hope this planning will be a good guide to keep myself organised and structural. Also, I have three exercises to complete, which ideally should be done by the 24th of January. I hope that complete concentration on assignments will help me to move quicker and have some good results at the end of this course.
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