Many projects that I work on contain requests for photos or illustrations. Managing these is important from the start, as assets can easily stack up and it can be confusing. It’s not a post about gorgeous design but, like beautiful creations, it’s really useful!
Read MoreA romantic attachment to the print book, or a driving desire to see their book in bookstores can drive some authors into making poor print decisions. It’s okay to aim for these goals but be supercritical at the same time. Here’s some important information on print on demand and offset printing and a few important questions I’ll ask you when we’re collaborating.
Read MoreMyths about ISBNs abound, trying to find the answer is as easy as sourcing a litre of petrol. In this simple post, here’s an FAQ, taken from queries I receive from my publishers and authors when I’m designing and project managing books. I hope it’s useful.
Read MorePage planning is a key part of any multiple page document. It’s a guide for all the people who form part of a project and a really useful overview for designers, editors and authors, saving time and money by making best use of space and printing savvy.
Read MoreI was reading a post on a forum last week that asked about employing a formatter and it’s inspired these words as I felt it might be useful to untangle the language and roles. I also tested out Vellum to explore what apps offer and compared this to my bespoke skills. This post walks you though the Hello Lovely book page design process, explains what software I use, why and the stages, plus who to involve, what they do and why you may need them. The post covers print and ebook design across fiction and non-fiction.
Read MoreYou’ve heard the phrase ‘judge a book by its cover’, I’m sure and it’s very true when it comes to publishing, in particular, self-publishing when authors have more control of spend and choices. What to put on the cover and how to brief it, who to commission and who does what can be exhausting and overwhelming. I’m going to assume you’re an interested author. This blog post aims to give an overview of the styles of book covers, who does what and best practice. Grab a seat and a cuppa as it’s going to be a long but useful post!
Read MoreThese powerful, first person stories begin their own story as words recorded by dedicated volunteers. The transcripts are managed by a talented team within the charity through the editorial and design process before being printed in hard back volumes. Often they arrive with few photos and what there is, isn’t always good quality. One particularly moving book presented a problem as the subject had no photos of his family at all, just his father’s watch.
Read MoreI often get asked how I got into graphic design and what I think are the best routes. I thought it was about time I created a blog post about it! What skills do I have, what do you need and does a degree help? Find out more in this post!
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