Designer Zine

DESIGNER ZINE DONALD SAUVE

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Table of Contents

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DESIGN ELEMENTS 3 4 4 5

Character Styles Learn about creating character styles in InDesign.

Paragraph Styles Learn about creating paragraph styles in InDesign.

Importance of Indentation Learn about the importance of proper indentation.

Make A Bulleted List Learn about how to create a bulleted list in InDesign.

COLOR AND IMAGE 6 7 8 10

CMYK & RGB Color Hear about the differences between color spaces.

Pantone Color Get a feel for the Pantone color matching system.

Favorite Color Choices Learn about the author’s favorite color schemes.

Preparing Raster Images Get the lowdown on scanning raster images for print.

FINISHING METHODS 13 14 15 16

Introduction to Finishing Learn more about the Finishing process for print.

Trimming (for Production) Hear about the trimming process for print production.

Binding (for Production) Gain insights into the binding process for print.

Finishing (Overview) See the overall impact of the finishing process for print.

Character Styles (in InDesign) Character styles adjust the look and feel of characters in your document. These can be applied at the click of a button to add quality, consistency, and constancy to published work.

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On page 1, scroll to view the first paragraph in the first column of your document. (If it isn’t visible, Open the Character Styles Panel by clicking Type → Character Styles.

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Using the type tool, type the first sentence in your paragraph in the first column of page 1.

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Choose a New Character Style from the Character Styles panel menu and name it accordingly in the Styles name box.

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Tip: Character styles are useful for lead-in characters such as bullets, numbers in lists, and drop caps. They are also useful for indicating important text in body copy.

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Select Apply Style to Selection to apply the new style to the text you just formatted.

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If you like the way it looks, click ‘OK’ and save.

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Paragraph Styles (in InDesign) Paragraph styles are handy and convenient to apply across content throughout an entire document. These improve the presentation of your work, which makes it more interesting to read.

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Move your cursor within the paragraph you want to change the style of to start. Open the Paragraph Styles palette by clicking Window → Type & Tables → Paragraph Styles.

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Click on the submenu in the top right → Select New Paragraph Style (this will expand to reveal a new dialog box). → Select Paragraph and give it a name. (Body, for example.)

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Select Intro Body from the next Style Menu. This is used for the text in the next paragraphs.

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Select Apply Style to Selection to apply this new style to the text you just formatted. → Then, click ‘OK.’ 5.

If you are satisfied with the result, the process worked! You have just made a custom paragraph style.

Tip: The quickest way to create a paragraph style is to create a sample paragraph using local (non stylebased) formatting, and then creating a new style based on that paragraph to apply in the rest of the document.

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The Importance of Indentation

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ndentation is important in the modern age of publication because indents are designed to divide masses of textual content into appetizing portions. A typical indent is an em space or a quad (roughly the width of the letter’s cap height). Indents give your reader a chance to breathe and then take in the next few sentences worth of information. Indents have been common since the seventeenth century.

In the olden days, printed books marked off paragraphs with a symbol like this ||, using no extra space or line break. Stylistic tendencies changed with the advent of desktop publishing and digital and web based content. Modern mass-produced printing emphasizes fragmentation over wholeness, which allows readers to sample bits and pieces. These devices allow designers freedom with which to present their content.

Tip: Use the Space After Paragraph feature in your page layout program to insert a precise increment of space between paragraphs. Skipping a full line often creates too open an effect and wastes a lot of space. Get in the habit of inserting a full paragraph return (Enter) only at the end of paragraphs; insert a line break when you don’t want to add additional space (Shift + Enter).

“Paragraphs do not occur in nature...

Paragraphs are a literary convention.”

— Ellen Lupton

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Make a Bulleted List (InDesign) Bulleted Lists are handy and help break up important content that needs to be contextually organized for presentation. They make information easier to understand by dividing it up.

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Select the set of paragraphs that will become the list, or click to place the insertion point where you want the list to begin.

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Do any of the following: • Click the Bulleted List button or Numbered List button in the Control Panel (in Paragraph mode). Hold down ALT (Windows) or OPTION (Mac) while clicking a button to display the Bullets and Numbering dialog box. • Choose Bullets and Numbering from the Paragraph panel or Command panel. For List Type, choose either Bullet or Numbers.

Specify the settings you want, and then click OK.

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• Apply a paragraph style that includes bullets or numbering.

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To continue the list in the next paragraph, move the insertion point to the end of the list and press Enter/Return.

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To end the list (or list segment, if the list is to be continued later in the story), click the Bulleted List or Numbered List button in the Control panel again, or choose Bullets and Numbering from the Paragraph panel menu.

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If you are satisfied with the result, the process worked! You have just made a bulleted list.

Tip: The Bullets And Numbering dialog box also has options that allow you to change the bullet character, change the numbered list options, and choose a style for the numbers or bullets from the Character Style list. This allows for further customization to fit your tastes.

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CMYK & RGB Color CMYK Color stands for: “Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black.” These are the four basic colors used for printing color images. Unlike RGB (Red, Green, Blue), which is used for creating images on your computer screen, CMYK colors are “subtractive” by nature. This means the colors get darker as you blend them together. Since RGB colors are used for light, not pigments, the colors grow brighter as you blend them or increase their intensity.

Technically, adding equal amounts of pure cyan, magenta, and yellow should produce black. However, because of impurities in the inks, true black is difficult to create by blending the colors together. This is why black (K) ink is typically included with the three other colors.

RGB Color stands for: “Red, Green, Blue.” It refers to the three hues of light (red, green, and blue), that can mix together to form any color. They are “additive” by nature. When the highest intensity of each color is mixed together, white light is created. When each hue is set to zero intensity, the result is black. TVs, monitors, and other digital displays use RGB to produce the colorful images you see on them.

Col.

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Pantone Color

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antone is a corporation that created a solid color matching system (Pantone Matching System aka PMS). Pantone colors (also known as Spot colors) are a certain set of colors that will accurately match when reproduced in print because they are already pre-mixed. Therefore, Pantone colors give the truest color result.

This process is best when brand colors need to match exactly every time, or the brand color cannot be achieved using 4-color process. This route would be a good option for printing solid color logos. It could also be a cost-effective option for large quantities.

Often times, large organizations will print only two colors for large runs – their primary Pantone color and black.

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Favorite Color Choices The goal here was to come up a few color families of 3-5 colors, and talk about what I like about them, and their impact on my designs.

Fragrant Woods I discovered this color palette on a blog while I was searching for color schemes for another class projects. I love how earthy, grounded, and organic it is. It has just the right amount of cool and warm. It feels much like a nature walk in early autumn.

This color scheme feels fresh and alive.

Ocean Breeze I created this color scheme while building mood boards for another class project. It reminds me of a Mediterranean or ocean side feeling. It reminds me of the refreshing coolness of a breeze during the summer time. It has nice cadence as it goes light to dark, and instills in me feelings of clarity.

Sweet Vanilla I found this color scheme while building mood boards for another class project. I like the cohesion and relation of the colors to one another. It really cascades well from light to dark, and feels like it has one voice. It feels like a sunset, as the yellows of the sun burn into oranges, and dark reds across the sky. It’s very soothing and comforting.

Fav.

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Context and Reasons (Colors) The goal here was to come up a few color families of 3-5 colors, and talk about what I like about them, and their impact on my designs.

Fragrant Woods Here is the image I built the color scheme from. These colors are more organic.

Popular examples of logos or branding that use green are: Starbucks, Land Rover, Lacoste, Animal Planet, and Android.

Ocean Breeze Here is the image I built the color scheme from. These colors are cooler and moderate.

Popular examples of logos or branding that use blue are: Ford, GE, Gap, HP, GM, Twitter, Facebook, Intel, American Express, and IBM.

Sweet Vanilla Here is the image I built the color scheme from. These colors are light and pleasant.

Popular examples of logos or branding that use orange are: Penguin, JBL, Shell, Blogger, Amazon, Nick, Rockstar Games, GSK, Soundcloud, Mastercard, and Shutterfly.

Cont.

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Preparing Raster Images Getting Artwork Ready to Print Scanners can be used to add images that were originally hand drawn or from another analog source to your digital work. When scanning images into the computer you should always be aware of DPI.

Artwork Scanned at 150dpi

DPI is better known as “dots per inch� or the number of dots in a printed inch of surface.

DPI is important to consider because the more dots, the higher the quality of the finished print. Higher DPI means more sharpness and detail in your images, graphics, and text.

A noticeable difference in quality A 300dpi scanned artwork will have the twice the resolution as a 150dpi artwork. This allows for smoother, clearer, more detailed images that look much better on the page.

In the two images on the left, the artwork scanned in at 150dpi looks blurrier and more abstract than the one at 300dpi.

Img. Artwork Scanned at 300dpi

This allows for a higher quality image in print.

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Preparing Raster Images The 2X Rule Defined A great rule to remember when scanning images is the 2X Rule. This means that when scanning images, they are to be scanned at twice the DPI you are planning to print them.

If you are planning to include your images on a document printed at 150dpi, you should scan your images at 300dpi.

Adding hand drawn or collaged elements can add a unique flair to your work. Keeping DPI under consideration will ensure the highest quality from computer to printer, to finished page.

The artwork on the left was scanned in as a bit mapped TIFF file. Notice the pixelation of the line work (inset) at 300dpi. It has noticeable artifacts and noise on the lines.

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Introduction to Finishing Introduction to Finishing

Rule #1: Build to Correct Trim Size

The process of getting a digital design to press isn’t as simple as getting ink on paper.

Printed work has to be cut down to size, folded, and glued together to form a finished product. If files are made the wrong size to start with, correcting them is a major headache. To avoid problems down the road, it’s best to get a handle on how the process works first.

Always make a custom page size that matches your final trim size for each design.

Input the bleeds as well. These will be laid out or imposed onto a larger sheet which goes through the press. This large press size sheet is then trimmed down to the right small size. Not setting it to the trim size at the start is a no-no.

One Size Does Not Fit All The old adage “measure twice, cut once” applies to any manufacturing process, whether it’s sewing, carpentry, or printing.

The adage “check and recheck your work” also applies in an equal amount. Start with width and height for every design.

Rule #2: Provide Bleed Bleed is extra image beyond the true page size. Including bleeds accounts for a margin of error, because machines that perform trimming only have a certain amount of accuracy. The most common bleed is ⅛”/.125in/9pt but can be more depending on the printer. This can be done in Photoshop and Illustrator.

Rule #3: Stay Away from the Edge Placing your art and design pieces too close to the edge can lead to disaster after the printing process if even the slightest problem occurs. Wider margins can camouflage hiccups that occur in finishing.

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Trimming (for Production) Rule #4: Follow the Print Specs

Pagination

Your printer will generally give you the specs you need to properly produce your work in a physical format. Usually they will give you the minimum distance from folds and edges for design, bleed amount, and panel sizes.

This is a fancy term for multiple imposition.

Basically, it means that the pages are rearranged and paired up onto ‘spreads’ that are printed, trimmed, cut, and glued together.

Most work you hand off to press doesn’t need to be built onto spreads. Usually the printer takes care of that for you. Build things up with two-page reader spreads for best results. Also, try to keep images on one page at a time. If you’re super creative, you can make a “folding dummy” to check your layouts. Your work will go through a process called ‘shingling’ so when your pages are stapled and trimmed, your content doesn’t get too close to the edge. Printers take care of this for you as well.

Folding If you build a design that is multi-panel, such as a brochure, the panels must be different sizes. If they aren’t, your paper will buckle and crinkle. Few folds do not require this.

Generally thicker papers will have higher short-trim values. If you get templates or specs ahead of time, you can compensate for the folds on your final product.

Imposition This is the process that lays out the pages or designs in final position for printing. This follows the size of the paper fed through the printing press. Lay things out with similar sides adjacent to each other when you print at home to save paper, time, and money.

Nesting This process is used to lay designs onto shaped pieces that are cut when manufactured. It’s most commonly used for packaging and die cut designs. This process includes accounting for ink coverage to ensure a consistent quality print. There are several kinds of software designed to translate designs to common package sizes.

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Trim.

Binding (for Production) Binding (for Production)

Comb Binding

There are a myriad number of ways to combine multiple pages into a singular work.

In the office and the home: binder clips, book rings, brass fasteners, staples, and paper clips are simple. In a commercial print shop, the methods are more complex. Each method, whether it’s comb, or coil binding, saddle stitching, or padding, is tailored to a different kind of publication.

This is used for publications like cookbooks, workbooks, and textbooks. Comb binding allows a book to be opened flat. The holes in the paper to be comb bound are punched with a rectangular die. Combs have a curly set of teeth that curl back under a collar to stay locked and keep pages together. They are generally made of plastic. Most books that come in this format have heavier stock for their front and back covers. These are commonly available at office supply stores and print shops.

Coil Binding

Saddle Stitching The staples that go into a typical magazine are created from a spool of wire. The wire is fed through stacks of sheets across a saddle, cut and bent into shape by a machine. It happens within a second or two.

Perfect Binding + Case Binding These methods are used for larger publications such as textbooks and journals.

Creep occurs less often with these methods.

Pages are grouped into multiple signatures to help combat the problem. These are trimmed or ground, glued together and a cover is attached around the seam. For larger books a cloth strip may also be attached at the seam, creating a case binding.

Bind.

Plastic coils that look like springs are used for this process. This method also allows the finished work to be laid flat when opened.

It requires wider margins when the binding process occurs due to creep. You cannot imprint on the spine area of the pages when using this method. Books produced with this method often have clear plastic sheets for the front cover and a heavier stock for the back.

Post or Specialty Binding These methods are used for heavier duty books that have constantly changing content. These posts sit in a binding that can be disassembled to add or remove pages. The posts themselves can be taken apart by unscrewing them. Other specialty binding methods involve screws and ribbons, but they are used for very limited print quantities.

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Finishing (Overview) A Brief Introduction There are a few more specific tasks that can be done to printed work to give them a greater sense of quality and personality.

On this page we review a few of the most important ones. You may notice these on higher grade business cards, magazines, and samples.

Moving Beyond Two Dimensions Making a dummy model for 3D objects you plan to print designs on will save you time and aggravation in the digital realm.

This will allow you to catch mistakes early and save time and money. Always think of these kinds of things having an inside and outside surface. Each of these needs to be made as a two-page document. Build to trim size, first and foremost, and accommodate for folding and gluing. A shaped cutter, better known as a die, is used to make the pieces for a physical design. The artwork used to create this is a die line. A die line is the flat artwork that shows all the fold and cut lines on it. Most dielines are available for download on the web.

Die Cutting In this process, the die, mentioned earlier, is used to score and cut the final printed piece. This cuts the artwork into a custom shape. Scoring is a compression or pressing onto the paper that allows it to fold more easily. This is a careful and precise process that takes a deal of handiwork and expertise.

The process is done on a separate press with a flat surface or cylindrical punch. If a die has to be custom made, it goes through a process of art and engineering to be ready for the design.

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Embossing This process adds raised textured bumps to paper with shaped metal pieces called embossing dies. The effect is amplified with heat and pressure. Debossing is the opposite of this process, basically adding dents to the paper that go below the surface. Blind embossing is an emboss on an unprinted part of the paper. Registered embossing is aligned with a printed part of the page. Glazed embossing describes a shine that can show up as part of the effect, particularly on dark paper. It has to be done carefully, or it can leave a scorch mark. Not all paper can handle this process, so check with the printer to make sure it can be done right.

Foil Stamping This allows for a metallic accent to be pressed onto the page. Different kinds of foil are available to create a variety of effects on printed work. This process is often used for business cards, event invitations, certificates, and other high-quality documents.

It’s done with a heated, raised metal die that presses the foil onto the page. There is also a cold-foiling option available at some printers. It’s most commonly used on coated papers.

Fin.

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DESIGNER ZINE DONALD SAUVE

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onald Sauve (b. 1992) is a professional multimedia artist, illustrator and graphic design student at Saint Cloud State University. Now in his final year, he is striving to build a portfolio and put the finishing touches on his college education. He attended Mora High School and graduated Cum Laude in 2011. He strives to always be learning his craft.

In recent years, Donald’s attention has been focused largely on multimedia artwork and printmaking. In the off season, he splits his time between drawing, painting, reading, scrapbooking, building photo albums, watching movies, gaming, and playing the guitar. He has been maintaining an digital presence with an artwork portfolio on DeviantArt, and a professional website on Wix.