Key Steps to Publication Design

Part 1 in this short blog series. Aimed to help designers, authors, and visual creators alike.

Books, catalogues, annual reports; whatever it is you're designing; if it has multiple pages it has multiple opportunities for mistakes. You want to start a document with as much control over the content as possible. If you're wondering where to begin, here's the first six steps I follow for each new publication I design:

1. Gather all project materials first

• Is the text finalised and proofread?

• Are the provided photos high quality?

• Has the client provided any brand fonts and logos necessary?

Once you answer yes to all of these you can start.

2. Forget about the cover for now (that comes later)

Yes, it's an exciting part of any publication design, but your book‘s inner pages dictate your cover, not the other way around.

3. Import and clean up your text

Text documents are often messy and full of the client’s customisations. You want to strip all of that down so you know exactly what you’re working with and so that your own styling work is kept clean.

4. Be sure to plan your grid

What needs to go on your page? Make sure you’re considering as many different elements as possible so your grid can accommodate your project’s needs without you having to go back to tweak the core grid-work every time you encounter a new design problem.

5. Stylise your text

By now you have your clean text and your grid laid out. Now we start designing this document by giving our text life. What are your headlines, subheadings, body copy, and captions going to look like? Start here and build up additional styles as required.

6. Design a chapter for approval

The fun part! This is where you start designing the pages around your content. Essentially here you want to show the client what their project will look like so design just enough that the client has a good grasp of the visual direction but don’t go too far as you’ll have to revisit more material if they dislike it.

You've reached the end!

This one was all about the groundwork. the second part of this short blog will address refining and finalising a publication for print. Feel free to get in touch at hello@xorxcreative.com with any questions or if you'd like to collaborate.