Publication design is the layout and graphic design for printed materials such as newsletters, magazines, books, brochures, etc. Publication Design is one of 8 different types of graphic design.
“Graphic designers who specialise in publications, work with editors and publishers to create layouts with carefully selected typography and accompanying artwork, which includes photography, graphics and illustrations.”
When printing a product, it’s necessary to take your booklet design into account to create a high-quality and professional looking printed work. When used correctly, publication design can inform and instruct an audience through the combination of words, graphics, and layout.
Designing for print
Publication design is used across all different types of publications and even then, the content has to be specific to a subject or genre. The inside of the magazine retains the same design theme throughout, using similar colours, fonts, and images to communicate the purpose of their magazine to their audience. The design needs to express the theme of the magazine.
Designing for digital use
Publication design is also seen on digital platforms like blogs, online magazines, etc. The largest obstacle for publication design web design is that your product must look great on different devices, which all have their own aspect ratio, screen size, and resolution. This may cause you to prioritise which products you are going to publish your work on.
Things to consider
So how do you effectively design visual masterpieces? You want your product to look visually pleasing while communicating the most important information to your consumers. I have compiled some are some things to think about and discuss with your designer.
Fonts
Limit the number of fonts that you use in your publication. This will help you have an aesthetically consistent theme across your project. Pick a font that is legible for the bulk of your text. This means no scripts! Try a font like Arial that has some mild variations that you can use like Bold, Black, and Italic for your headers or titles. Additionally, choose a font that will be your eye-catching font. This can be used for call-to-actions or to draw your customers eye to an important piece of information.
Images
Choose images and graphics that are going to be consistent with the theme of your project. Make sure that your images are well-lit, high-quality, and topical. Also, don’t be afraid do add a full spread. This can provide a nice break for your reader and highlight an image that captures the theme of your project.
The recommended DPI that you will need for printing is at least 300 DPI. Typically, images that are downloaded off of the internet, sent via email, or taken on your phone will not be at a high enough DPI to print clearly.
White Space
White space can help you keep a good balance between text and images. Don’t let your print project get too cluttered looking by feeling like you need to fill up every nook and cranny of your page. White space can be a very useful tool, when used correctly.
Colours
Choose a colour palette for your project and stick to it! Having an established colour pallet will force you to stay within your theme and make it easy for you to create a cohesive looking project. Remember, it’s not only about the information in your project, your project has to be nice to look at to keep your audiences’ attention. Make sure you choose a contrasting colour that you can use for important areas.
Body Copy
When creating a publication printing project, changes are your project is going to include some text, so it’s important to get it right. Make sure that the height between two lines of text (also known as Leading) is large enough that there is some breathing room. Don’t use single space! Nobody likes a block of text. If you have a paragraph of text, try not to create ‘widows’ or ‘orphans’. These refer to one word that is left to its own line, either at the bottom of a paragraph or on the next page. These are not good because they create an unnecessary break in the copy.
Navigation
Make sure that your project is easy for your readers and customers to navigate. This means including a table of contents, page numbers, and chapter/ section titles. This will help your audience to be able to find information that they are looking for quickly.
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