EXPERIENCING PUBLICATION DESIGN
ALEXANDER LLOYD LLO10306451 LCC - DGC 2014 6-1-14 25-4-14 LIVE PROJECTS PU001856 20
“This unit challenges you to utilise your growing graphic communication skills and knowledge in the undertaking of a live and externally initiated design project�
introduction As of July 2013 I have been a Design Intern at Dorling Kindersley, a publisher specialising in visual, illustrative reference books for both children and adults. Since being back at university I have been working with DK on a part-time basis. I’m really looking forward to getting back to DK full-time for the LPU project.
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Before starting the live project unit, I was contemplating finding another company to spend the three months with. I felt there were advantages and disadvantages to both continuing with DK and finding another company to work with. Continuing with DK would enable to me to see the development of projects that I had already worked with but starting fresh with a new company would have given me another perspective on the industry, I would have met new people and learned how another company went about their work. What made me stay at DK was the thought of seeing a project through. I had seen projects begin in July that would be wrapping up towards the end of the live project unit, this would give me a direct look in to the whole production of a real publication, from start to finish. This is exactly what I wanted from my live project experience. This is why I continued working with DK for the live project unit.
Starting the live project unit with DK, I already knew what to expect, having been with the company for almost 6 months already took away the initial little worries I would have otherwise had. I didn’t need to worry about where things were, how things worked, who everyone was and where they were... saying this, I did have all of these back in July. I hoped to gain a lot from my live project unit. I gave myself goals* of sorts, more questions that goals... I wanted to get a greater feel of the company and how the production all came together. I have always thought about how books were made, who made them, what the teams are like and where everything comes from. This live project would show me. I was really excited to start.
* How do all teams come together to produce a publication? How does a team decide on a final artwork/spread/look? How much consideration is there for the cover? How long does it take from initial idea to store shelf? How many people are involved in making a publication?
getting to know DK My introduction to DK was just like any other internship I had been on. It is a very relaxed office environment, despite the very serious, professional looking office at 80 Strand. Everyone I have come across so far have been really nice and extremely helpful, making my time at DK really enjoyable as well as educational and skill enhancing. If there is something I’m struggling with there would be someone ready and willing to help me out. The friendliness of the office has enabled me to make new friends as well as learn new and unfamiliar skills.
The DK office is a really nice environment, I’ve got a nice big desk space, close to the window (amazing view of the river) and we get free books. I now either need to get rid of some books or move flat...
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the first week I hoped working at DK for the live project unit (LPU) would enable me to assume larger responsibilities within the production of some of the current publications. I hoped to be more involved with the day to day activities, the ups and downs of creating a publication. To feel a greater part of the team. Not that I didn’t feel a part of the team before starting the LPU. I felt that now 6 months had past, people would be confident in my abilities to produce the work that was needed. I think I’m trying to say, I hoped to feel more a ‘designer’ rather than an ‘intern’ whilst on the LPU.
One of my main aims of the live project unit was to experience the progression of work. I had sometimes felt I was simply working on things that I didn’t know much about. What stage of production were they at? How will this book feel as a whole? Who is the audience? Thankfully I quickly saw during the first week of the live project that I was being integrated far more in to the meetings and discussions surrounding all the various projects I had been working on. This was amazing to see. It was a such a great feeling to be involved in meetings to discuss the design and content of these projects, these real life books.
The first week saw me gain responsibilities for parts of a number of projects. I felt greater independence, a definite sense of responsibility and overall a sense that I was actually integrating myself in to the company and learning a great deal from it. This was the time to prove to myself and to the company that I can work to a high standard within a professional environment. This was the time to show my skills and competencies as a young designer. Having a greater involvement with projects meant having a greater involvement with different people and their teams. Before starting the LPU I had a mentor, Amy, who almost acted as an intermediary between myself and the people/teams who required spreads or artworks. The noticeable difference between before and during the LPU was my personal involvement with others, I was now required to speak to different team members to see where I could help or who required the work I had been working on. This enabled me to get to know more people, increase my confidence in speaking to new people and just generally being a greater part of the production process.
production, procedures and protocol Something I really enjoy about internships is being able to see first-hand how different companies work and how they differ in their approach to a final outcome. I like to see how people work differently in different offices and under different managers, How does office environment differ and do companies share a similar ethos or design aspiration. It was great to be at DK and to get to see how a publication goes through the different steps of production. I really enjoyed seeing all the different people involved, how they worked and how the work I would be creating will be seen and critiqued before directors before being signed off. It was great to see the whole in-office production process. I was expecting DK to be quiet different form any other internship that I had done before. DK is a large, global company with over a thousand employees. Currently celebrating their 40th birthday DK is known around the world as a leading visual educational reference book publisher. The last internship I did was with a small, two year old, shoreditch based company with nearly 30 employees. Quite a change of scene.
. .. s s e c o r p n io t c u d o r The p n Initial book idea generatio
Research & picture research
Initial feedback session e yp ot ot pr er gn Desi
Senior feedback
Designer’s ideas
New ideas generation
Idea development
Signing off by all project senior designers
The only aspect of DK that was noticeably different to a small company was their I.T protocol. Templates, file name rules, locational rules, server protocol and how to properly access a file... things that I had never thought about before. I did not expect such a huge number of rules and regulations over file handling and server ‘etiquette’. This was the only part of DK that was very different to a small company. You soon get used to their way of doing things, I guess this is what makes their operations so smooth when dealing with different people from all over the world who need to use the same files and servers.
Producing ideas and initial prototypes for various layouts or illustrations reminded me of the research work I have been doing over the years at university. Research methods and techniques such as the six thinking men, thinking about the target audience and audience testing all came together in the work I was producing with DK. Using a number of idea and production techniques helped me show a number of different ideas when pitching designs at a meeting.
‘the fashion book’ ready Some illustrationsfeefor to go off for dback
Before starting the LPU my work at DK concentrated on producing layouts for various new publications. Whilst working on the LPU I still worked on layout design I found myself working more with illustrations. I think this is simply because of the timing of a certain book, ‘the fashion book’ required a number of illustrations throughout the publication and the team liked some previous illustration work I had done for another book (Shakespeare). I wasn’t too keen to take on an illustration project to begin with as I am not hugely confident with illustrating or with using adobe illustrator to create or digitalise the illustrations I would be creating on paper. I took this as an opportunity to better my illustration and illustrator skills. I was really lucky to have been in an environment where I was able to try new things, such as illustration, and work with the team to improve my skills, which in turn would enable me to create better work for the publication. I can now say with confidence that I have been an illustrator.
projects Since starting at DK I have worked on a number of publications at varying points along their production process. From publications that have now been published and are in shops to publications due out for 2015/16. This made every project different in content, style and in my analysis of what was required of me as a designer. My role was different depending on the stage the book was at. Understanding the audience was key, but the ‘client’ (for me) was DK. Sometimes this was difficult, coming from university where the projects are very user focused. I don’t think I have a favorite project but it is really nice to see a physical book after working on it on screen. The only book I have worked on that is currently on the market is ‘the business book’. Maybe its just me, but i think Ive gone in to a shop way too many times to have a little look at my name in the book! I may not have been a major part of this specific publication but I still find it really rewarding to see my name printed within a mass market publication.
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The business book is a part of a series of new publications targeting areas such as politics, economics, philosophy, psychology and business. I have been working on spread layout and some jacket work for these publications due for re-issue in the near future. Its been great to see how the team works with design tweaks and new layouts in terms of designing a re-issue publication rather than a totally new publication. This project was one of my smaller projects, with less involvement than others. I am looking forward to seeing the publication of future titles where I have had a much larger input. One of these future titles is ‘the fashion book’. I have been really lucky to have had quite a large roll in the layout design and have been the main illustrator for the book. It will be really good to see the printed book after seeing it on screen for so long.
ant for thute design I was deofsignthisassisestrie yo majority cover and ints.erioLar spreads. for both
Pattern books
the fashion book Its been really great working on ‘the fashion book’ I have been able to see the book develop form initial ideas to almost being ready to send to print. I have been really involved with this publication, attending design meetings and discussing spread layouts has been really interesting and fun. ‘The fashion book’ is a 2015 title and is in fact nearing completion now ready to be sent to the printer in the coming weeks. I am so glad I’ve been able to work on this book as it develops to this stage.
Editorial and design inspiration
‘The fashion book’ is aimed at young adults and has an illustrative feel to it. Over the past few months I have been illustrating models, clothing, hair styles as well as famous buildings from the worlds fashion capitals. This has been great to develop my illustrative style and skills as well as developing my confidence when it comes to my illustration work. It has also been challenging, before starting with DK I would never have called myself an illustrator, DK has enabled me to test myself and my skills in new and challenging ways, ways that have improved my skills and bettered my overall design knowledge and development.
Initial idea prototype from research
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book’ Planning for ‘the fashion Fashion of capitals the world
Fashion spread prototype
fashion book’ he ‘t r fo ls de mo ing at tr Illus well! This one went down really
Developed fashion spread prototypes
yping t o t o r p ia d e Mixed m
Another project I have had a lot of involvement in is ‘the train book’. Even though I am definitely not a train enthusiast, I have learned that a great designer can make even the most... different of subjects look amazing and be visually engaging to the audience.
Full size paper prototype spreads
‘The train book’ takes the audience on a visual journey through the features of a variety of locomotives, this is done through a visual, photographic ‘map’ of the train itself. I was able to take charge of a number of spreads for this book. ‘The train book’ has been challenging, the initial stages of the book involved meeting with the photographer to understand the narrative of the trains features and from this develop a layout that keeps the features in order as well as looking visually appealing on the spread.
Paper prototyping spread layouts
I have really enjoyed working on the train book, I have developed my design skills, learned new skills in cartography and gained first hand experience dealing with internal and external professionals in creating a publication.
Possible spread layout
Testing different layouts
the train book
1: Creating layout from contact sheets
3: Finding a layout that works, ‘Initial prototype’
4: Final layout to show directors
2: Building prototypespingin InDesign. After paper prototy
help your kids with shakespeare
Illustrated characters, the story of Romeo&Juliet
This project was my first illustrative project with DK. I was asked to illustrate the scenes from Romeo & Juliet for a central spread ‘guide’ to the play and to use as the cover. Which I was also asked to design. Being my first really illustrative project I didn’t really know what they were expecting, to what level they hoped the illustrations would be, I only knew the vague style they were going for. The style was relatively loose, I had quite a bit of freedom to experiment.
Final character prototype contact sheet
The illustrations went down really well. I was happy with the end results and was so happy that the directors and managers liked them. What I didn’t know at the beginning was that this book was one of a series, the series being every Shakespeare play. I was asked to illustrate another play, Othello, in the same style as before. These two projects are 2016 titles and are still at early stages. They are actually being shown at book fairs around the world right now to gauge consumer and supplier reaction. If they come back positive I have been asked to complete the whole series of 12 in my style. This has been a really successful project for me and could become an even more successful one if the series goes ahead.
Final cover design
learning Being at DK has taught me a lot about the publication design process both within the office environment and within the company as a whole. Its been fascinating to learn about the publication design process from the initial concept to having the final published book in your hands. The initial design process of ‘building’ the book takes around 9months, then printing takes 6months from sending to receiving. DK prints in China and for most of the 6months the books are actually sitting on a ship being delivered back to the UK.
I started the LPU hoping to further understand the publication design process. Since working at DK I have been asked to assist in designing various spread layouts for a number of publications with various differing styles and target audiences. This has been great to work with, I really enjoy how the work DK does can vary so much from project to project. DK covers a huge amount of topics and creates highly visual and informative publications. I really enjoyed learning how the company goes about making the best, most visually helpful publications it can. Learning how the target audience sees certain design decisions to be better or worse, how certain page locations are better for certain topics or key facts. It has been fascinating learning about the ‘making’ of a publication, how building the best initial spread structure and layout can make the final publication stand out from the crowd.
I find the little things that I’ve learned to be the most rewarding. Shortcuts for example, it sounds odd even to me, but I have learned so many different/ easier ways of doing things from my mentor Amy. She has shown me so many ways to improve the way I work and improve how quickly I work. It is a positive for me and for the company. I now feel like a real keyboard shortcut geek. Photoshop work has been quite a large part of my internship with DK, from touching up artwork and photographs to cutting out images to get the instantly recognisable DK ‘look’. I have learned how to effectively and correctly use my existing Photoshop knowledge and learned a number of new key skills to use within the DK environment and in future university work, placements and my future career.
NEW SKILLS strator Improved Photoshop & Illu ing at tr s lu Il , ng ti ut C , ng hi uc Reto Better design thinking Faster at small task e around Increased confidenc a team of designers
As well as learning technical skills I feel I have learned a huge mount about the different production stages and the people involved with them. I have seen publications progressing through concepts, researchers and curators, photographers, editors and designers, all linking to create one publication. How many people are involved, how many prototypes and versions of a spread there are, post production, the paper work involved in a manager signing off a single spread. It’s fascinating to see. Seeing the progression of a publication was my one real aim for the LPU, I definitely feel I have had the best experience at DK in finding the answer to my questions about publications and the publication design process.
development My skills and knowledge have grown a huge amount throughout the LPU at DK. I feel I have been continuously ‘assessed’ and tested to see how my skills and I come with certain projects and tasks. This has meant I have seen a great improvement in my design thinking as well as my design skills. Assuming more responsibilities have made me understand the project in a greater depth and understood how the work I am doing effects the project as a whole. It’s this development in my thinking that I think has been the biggest change since starting the LPU. I have really enjoyed showing DK what I can do and how quickly I learn new skills and new ways of doing things. The main skills I have developed are my illustration skills and my layout work. These are the two main areas DK have had me concentrating on. I have always wanted to improve my illustration work, DK has enabled me to work with them to develop my skills as a designer and illustrator. Transferable skills I have learned are definitely my illustration skills and my greater knowledge of illustrator as a software. Both will hopefully enable me to see my university projects and future professional projects in a new light.
Working with layouts at DK has really developed my existing layout design skills as well as show me some new ways in which to develop a great looking layout. It has shown me how images can change so much depending on the layout in which the page is set and how image selection working with the base layout can make or break a spread. Being at DK and working with professional InDesign files on a daily basis has taught me rules around document styling. This will be of huge help when it comes to creating final presentations and final work for university. I had only scraped the surface of what InDesign could do in my first years at university. I feel confident in knowing that I can now create documents in a far better, cleaner, more professional and proper way.
action I hope to use the experiences I have developed over my time at DK in a positive way to further develop my design work both within university and in my personal work. My work has definitely developed and improved over the time I have spent on the LPU at DK. I plan on developing these new skills further within my personal and university work. I feel in a far stronger position now as a designer to be confident when searching for work and to work well when I do get in to the world of work. I hope my experiences during the LPU will enable me to show another side of myself within my work, I hope the new skills I have developed at DK will enable me to create new, innovative design work as well as improve the work currently within my design portfolio.
Since completing my time on the LPU project with DK I have been offered a full time design position within the company upon graduating. I am really looking forward to returning to DK as a graduate designer in August.
I couldn’t believe it when I was asked to stay on with DK as a permanent employee. I went in to DK in the hope of learning some great things about the industry, not really thinking about the job possibility an internship can create. I never thought it would actually happen to me though. I am really proud of myself and was over the moon in telling my parents of my achievement. I’m really lucky and proud to have been offered a position upon graduation. Especially in a time where graduate opportunities seem a rare occurrence, especially in publication. I would very much like to think that in the time I have spent with DK I have worked to a high standard, showing a level of skill and professionalism, making myself a part of the team and a valuable resource to the company. I cant wait to get started as a junior designer and am looking forward to what my future at DK has in store for me.
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During his time at DK, Alex has been a pleasure to work with. A very enthusiastic, bright young man who takes everything in his stride, no job is to big and he always delivers. He’s happy to take on any project and always does it with a smile on his face. Alex is a great designer, who has grown in confidence during his time here. I do hope that he can become a permanent fixture in the DK knowledge team.
Amy Child Project Art Editor DK Knowledge Cultural
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conclusion My time spent at DK has been amazing. I was so lucky to have found an internship within an industry I have a great interest in. From day 1 I have been given the opportunity to show my own design skills as well as learning some new ones. I have been able to learn form some great people and have my input in some really interesting publications. I was always being kept on my toes and was thrown in at the deep end when it came to working to a deadline, working consistently to a high standard, attending design meeting and feedback sessions with managers and directors. It was quite overwhelming to begin, but its far better than just sitting in the corner. I have found working with a publisher to be far more enjoyable than I ever imagined. Perhaps it is the DK environment, my whole LPU experience has been amazing, a true experience of the industry and how it works.
LIVE PROJECT REPORT