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Design is Functional and Fundamental
The important considerations in this process are:  The writer and/or publisher must first of all be able to define: 1. Who and what and how large the specific readership is 2. What appeals to that readership, and/or what the readership expects 3. What the message of the publication is 4. What the desired effect of the publication is 5. How and where the publication will be distributed 6. What the competitive advantages are The designer must be able to create a product or publication which will appeal to that readership, within whatever limits are imposed on him or her by the production process and/or schedule, by the budget dictated by the publisher, and - most importantly - the subject matter of the publication. The designer must understand how to make the right connections between the writer and the reader, using whatever graphic or typographic techniques and styles are available.
Three keys to communication success. It is important that all three elements are addressed in order to ensure successful publication design. 1. The design must get the readers attention. In order for this to happen, the designer must understand the competitive environment in which the publication will expect to be sold. In the case of books: bookstore and library shelves are crowded, it is rare to get face-out display for very long. Therefore the spine of the book is in most cases as important as the cover, if not more so. In the case of magazines: newstands allow for face-out display, but in the majority of high turnover outlets the only part of a magazine visible is about 1-1/2 to 2 inches wide and 6 or 7 inches deep. One should be able to identify the magazine and one or more of the most appealing elements of the issue from this visible space. 2. The design must be appropriate to the subject matter and/or the intended readership. In most cases, the content of the publication should dictate its visual appearance. It is important to understand the difference between the genres, in terms of their audience and the expectations of the readers: Books: the general classifications (in regard to format and content) are: Mass-market paperbacks: bodice-rippers, thrillers Trade paperback fiction or non-fiction Novels: serious vs popular fiction- Popular non-fiction: self-help, pop-psych, bio, history Scholarly texts: period typography Educational textbooks: el-hi and college Heavily illustrated books Childrens booksMagazines: the general classifications in regard to content are: News: very few and extremely conpetitive on newstands Special interest: wide variety, including: popular science, health and fitness, sports and recreation, hobbies and crafts, nature and geography, history and local interest Consumer: the largest circulation, including: general interest features, womens: wish books, entertainment, city and shopping guides, and pornography Scholarly: similar to books Literary: similar to books Trade: by far the largest number of tiles, and include association and organization periodicals, these are usually available by qualification or through membership and therefore don't have to compete in a retail environment.Generally, magazines follow standard format conventions, due to constraints dictated by shipping, printing and binding, and display opportunities. With some notable exceptions (Readers Digest, TV Guide) most are standard size. 3. The design must be accurate and effective. The designer is also responsible for the accuracy of the contents of a publication, as much so as the editor. It is important that things appear in their right and proper places, as dictated by convention and by the tastes of the reader. The designer is also responsible for the effectiveness of the experience of reading, that in no way is the process of reading interfered by the design and typographic elements. Design and the Marketing Plan Their are 4 main ways in which the designer has a material effect on the marketing plan: price, positioning, packaging, and promotion. Price. One of the most important considerations in the purchasing decision is the perceived value of the product. This is effected by: colour choice and mix, type choice and mix, and size and bulk. Price is a function of cost of manufacture. The cost of paper, printing and binding times 5 = the retail price, adjusted to reflect consumer price resistant points: $9.95 for paperbacks, $14.95 for trade paperbacks and children's hardcovers, $24.95 for hardcovers, $40 for oversize hardcovers. If the retail price is too high, the publisher has three choices: grants to offset the cost of manufacture, thereby reducing the ratio, lose money, or lower the cost of manufacture. It is in the third that design has a role to play. The designer can reduce the number of pages, specify cheaper materials or manufacturing methods, or design the book to look like it's worth more than it's competition. Positioning, The technique whereby the producer determines in advance where and how the product will appear in the marketplace, and therefore how it will be perceived by the consumer. This is done by analysing the products that already exist, and understanding their strengths and weaknesses - producing its product to equal or exceed the others strength, and taking advantage of weaknesses, and consciously differentiating. Books can look successful, or undistinquished and dull, by the judicious choice of cover lines, colours, typography, and size and format. Packaging. The elements that come into play when considering the packaging of a publication are: 1. Size: traditional sizes not withstanding, careful consideration should be given to customer expectations for different types of books and the typographical material to appear in them 2. Shape: Europeans tend to prefer elongated shapes, while Americans prefer squater or squarer shapes. 3. Thickness: as I mentioned before, sometimes this is all the display the book will get, and therefore careful consideration should be given to maximizing the effectiveness of the design here. Differences between English and French publications. 4. Colour: we have already discussed this in some depth, but in the context of marketing it becomes even more critical. 5. Illustration and photography 6. Typography 7. Positioning of elements: the most important elements of any design should be those which not only attract the attention, but are capable of holding it. Promotion. The designer should be seen as part of the marketing team in a publishing company, and should be involved in all decisions that have to do with marketing. It that way the publisher can avoid having the designer producing materials which, however pretty, graphic and award-winning, are not helping to sell the publications. If books are bought by their covers, and that seems to be the case, then the more marketing savvy the designer has the more successful the publisher will be. Catalogues, advertising and point of sale materials are the only promotional materials that publishers can afford to produce, and as much or more energy should be put into them as into the content of the publications. Develop a standard format that works, test it in the marketplace. The prime concern to remember in the production of promotional materials is to stress the benefits, as much and as many times as necessary to get the message across. It is not harmful to repeat the main selling points. Here are a few additional tips for designing better promotional literature: 1. Think of the layout as a framework, not as artwork. Avoid over designing. A well designed piece works if it gets the message across without interference from the graphic elements. A good layout calls attention to the subject matter of the piece, not the ego of the designer or the publisher. Functional, not fanciful. Readers, and bookstore owners and buyers and librarians, buy on the basis of information. Avoid far out typefaces, type printed over a visual, reverse text type, type set completely in italics, bold, caps, overuse of white space, type set too small to read, abstracted typography or pictures, irrelevant photos or imagesand pages consisting of colour bands, borders, blips, blobs, dingbats and other design ornaments. 2. Start selling from the cover. The cover of promotional materials should be used to select an audience, grab attention, state a strong message, and get the reader to turn the page. 3. Empasize the important points. Its not enough to cover all the important points in the copy. Unless you highlight the key points, your readers may miss them. A good layout highlights and emphasizes key copy points, the benefits. Here are some graphic techniques you can use to achieve this emphasis: Underlining key words and phrases Setting key words and phrases in italic or boldface Using short handwritten notes in the margins: this is especially true in direct mail letters, the most read part Printing selected heading or text passages in colour type Surrounding a section of text with a simple border Printing a section of text against a tinted ground Using starbursts for emphasis, especially of price benefits Using lists, with bullets or dingbats, discretely Printing copy on foldout, fallout, pullout and ripoff pieces Using more than one style of type Leave space between paragraphs and around headings and special sections of text.Remember that many readers will just scan the text, jumping from head to head. The more times you stop him or her in their tracks with graphic and typographic techniques, the more likely they will find something to convince them to buy. 4. Keep it simple. Readability comes first. Visual clutter will not work in a publishing environment. A layout can be many things -- slick, neat, colourful, eye-catching, inviting, exciting, dignified, even beuautiful. But the designer's first priority should always be making the copy easy to read. Also remember that many brochures and catalogues are photocopied and circulated to a number of people, so avoid coloured papers, oversized pages, and complicated folds. 5. Use visuals that make a point. Edit visuals the way you edit your copy. Ask yourself, "Does this picture transmit information, tell a story, or prove a point? Or is it just for decoration?" Omit visuals that adorn but don't communicate. Make every picture count. Pictures that tell a story include pictures of the book cover, pictures of the author if he or she is a public figure, pictures of special promotional materials, significant visuals from the interior if they help to explain the subject or provide visual excitement or value. Use one important visual per page. Be consistent and avoid cliches. Okanagan Bookworks | books@booksokanagan.com | 250.870.2690
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