After working in the design industry for a wee while now, I’ve come to learn so much even in my first job. The most important being how to get documents ready for print, commonly known as Pre–Press. Now a lot of printers have their own requirements, techniques, and templates that they use for printing your work, and it is a very good idea to figure out what these are early on. If you create a file in Creative Suite 5 and they aren’t even up to date with their software they wont even be able to print it. So get the basic stuff out of the way first. Does the printer require a PDF (most will) or do they want working files as well (with outlined or Open Type fonts?). Once you know what you need to supply, here’s a list of important things to check before sending your artwork off to print.

• If your document has black in it (which it will 99% of the time), make sure you  know if this needs to be ’100k Black’ (C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 100), or a ‘Rich Black’. The difference being, 100k black is purely that, just black ink, no colour. Rich black is made of of anywhere between 30-80% CMY(K) as well giving it a much vibrant ‘punch’ as it were. When making this decision, be wary of what kind of stock you are going to use. Rich black for fine type is a bad idea (for offset printing). Any slight misregistration of the plates and you have blurry type.
• Remove any unused colour swatches. This can avoid wasted ink and a number of other problems.
  
• Turn Over-Printing OFF. This will give you a more accurate printing result on anything that is placed over the top of another image.
  
• Outline all of the fonts and text you have created. I can’t stress this enough. You have  a huge font library as a designer and nobody else is going to have all the fonts you have, even the printer. So Outline them to avoid any issues with the display of your fonts. This makes life a lot easier for everyone. *Note, be sure to ‘Save As’ once proceeding past this point, if you need to make changes to the document its a lot easier to have access to an ‘Open Font’ file, not an outlined one. OR; you can just use a custom transparency flattener to outline as you export your document as a PDF.
  
• Try not to use type smaller than 5pt. Its just not readable at anything less than that.
  
• Flatten any types of images you have into either JPEG or TIF (preferably TIF for a quality result). Remove any Alpha Channels. Do not embed PSD’s into your PDF’s. Any placed vector or AI artwork ideally needs to be saved as an EPS.
  
• Always have any image you place into your document cropped and resized to the correct resolution and dimensions as it is going to be. Do not scale images, at all. Images should be no less than 300DPI for print (anything higher than this is unnecessary in most cases).
  
• Ink density is important. Learn about it. You can see this in the ‘Info’ panel in InDesign. 240-260% is ideal for Newspapers, 300-350% is great of rich blacks and colour intensive adverts in magazines etc. Anything over 400% you should avoid. A high ink density and heavy rich black can cause problems with drying, especially on large print runs.
  
• Images for print should ALWAYS be in CMYK. Never print anything that is in RGB. If you need to do so, convert it to CMYK first. (The RGB colour space is used only for on screen and in particular, the web). Be sure to convert any SPOT colour swatches to CMYK.
  
• Check that your document has the basics, does it need Bleed? Trim marks or Margins? Registration Marks? This is dependent on the printing method and stock being used, binding method, folding etc.
  
• If you’re using InDesign, which you should be. InDesign CS5 and newer has one of the most helpful tools yet. ‘Pre-Flight’. Turn this on. Play with the preferences and use it religiously whilst creating your documents and before exporting them for print. This tool is invaluable.
  
• Always print and proof your work. You will always miss something. Show someone else your work. Let them read it. When you look at the same thing for too long you start to miss things.
  
• But most of all, create a good relationship with your printer. They will appreciate you doing so, and be willing to give you good rates in return for bringing them work on a regular basis. Learn from them, and they will teach you well.

There are a lot of things in that list that I never knew about during my study and I can’t believe I was never thoroughly taught it to be honest. If you’re a student, print this and highlight each step. Its honestly some of the best information you could teach yourself. If there is something vital I have missed, please comment below and I will add it to the list. I’m only human and forget things just like you.

The First Letter — July 6, in the morning

My angel, my all, my very self – Only a few words today and at that with pencil (with yours) – Not till tomorrow will my lodgings be definitely determined upon – what a useless waste of time – Why this deep sorrow when necessity speaks – can our love endure except through sacrifices, through not demanding everything from one another; can you change the fact that you are not wholly mine, I not wholly thine – Oh God, look out into the beauties of nature and comfort your heart with that which must be – Love demands everything and that very justly – thus it is to me with you, and to your with me. But you forget so easily that I must live for me and for you; if we were wholly united you would feel the pain of it as little as I – My journey was a fearful one; I did not reach here until 4 o’clock yesterday morning. Lacking horses the post-coach chose another route, but what an awful one; at the stage before the last I was warned not to travel at night; I was made fearful of a forest, but that only made me the more eager – and I was wrong. The coach must needs break down on the wretched road, a bottomless mud road. Without such postilions as I had with me I should have remained stuck in the road. Esterhazy, traveling the usual road here, had the same fate with eight horses that I had with four – Yet I got some pleasure out of it, as I always do when I successfully overcome difficulties – Now a quick change to things internal from things external. We shall surely see each other soon; moreover, today I cannot share with you the thoughts I have had during these last few days touching my own life – If our hearts were always close together, I would have none of these. My heart is full of so many things to say to you – ah – there are moments when I feel that speech amounts to nothing at all – Cheer up – remain my true, my only treasure, my all as I am yours. The gods must send us the rest, what for us must and shall be - Your faithful Ludwig.

The Second Letter — Evening, Monday, July 6

You are suffering, my dearest creature – only now have I learned that letters must be posted very early in the morning on Mondays to Thursdays – the only days on which the mail-coach goes from here to K. – You are suffering – Ah, wherever I am, there you are also – I will arrange it with you and me that I can live with you. What a life!!! thus!!! without you – pursued by the goodness of mankind hither and thither – which I as little want to deserve as I deserve it – Humility of man towards man – it pains me – and when I consider myself in relation to the universe, what am I and what is He – whom we call the greatest – and yet – herein lies the divine in man – I weep when I reflect that you will probably not receive the first report from me until Saturday – Much as you love me – I love you more – But do not ever conceal yourself from me – good night – As I am taking the baths I must go to bed – Oh God – so near! so far! Is not our love truly a heavenly structure, and also as firm as the vault of heaven?

The Third Letter — Good morning, on July 7

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us – I can live only wholly with you or not at all – Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits – Yes, unhappily it must be so – You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart – never – never – Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life – Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men – At my age I need a steady, quiet life – can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day – therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once – Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together – Be calm – love me – today – yesterday – what tearful longings for you – you – you – my life – my all – farewell. Oh continue to love me – never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

ever thine
ever mine
ever ours

 — Ludwig Van Beethoven. (source).

Music is a huge part of my life, and it always has been. I can’t imagine life without it and I listen to it constantly. Sometimes, if I’ve gone a day or so without listening to any music, I’ll feel like there is something missing and soon realise I need to listen to that particular thought or feeling provoking song.

When I was young and growing up, my father who was a music teacher at the time introduced me to instruments such as the Violin and Piano. At this stage of my life it was something I just had to do, rather than a preferred choice, but I’m grateful for the knowledge and experience now. I was soon performing in small school concerts playing the Violin, in small black outfits and little bow ties. Traditionally trained in the Suzuki method, which was popular at the time. I eventually gave up the Violin a few years later when I was 6 or 7 years old. I’m not completely sure why, but I assume I just didn’t have any interest in it. A number of years later I began having Piano lessons, from a very classically trained woman. I was drawn to the piano, and loved listening to music my father had in his collection, of the likes of Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach. I really loved the fun side of playing songs on the piano and tunes that I recognised, but I was still young and didn’t have the patience or concentration to play scales and small exercises over and over again through which my teacher required. At this stage, a notable tune that I learnt has stayed with me constantly and I can still play it with ease, ‘Ode to Joy’ by Beethoven, one of the first pieces of music I ever learnt on the Piano. Contrastingly, my mother was what some would call a hippy, and I often joined her on the beach for what was called ‘drumming sessions’ against the light cast by a fire or the setting sun. I later had lessons for a number of instruments, including the Flute, Recorder, Harmonica and Guitar. I still play the guitar today.

Later on in my life I began listening to generic popular music, when I was around 10yrs old I started falling into the downward spiral that is mainstream music and its dribble they call lyrics. I basically listened to anything and everything, not thinking about the music or what it meant, but just listening to it for the sake of listening to it. In college I continued to have guitar lessons, but becoming a member of a band was something that never interested me much. My music knowledge was becoming broader and I was now buying CD’s on a regular basis. The Internet became a wonderful resource, allowing me to preview and listen to nearly any kind of music I was interested in. Up until before I began working in a record store at the age of 20, I’d say my taste was pretty poor. Now after being around many like minded people and having access to a huge dynamic range of music at my finger tips, I’ve began toning and narrowing down what I like and dislike. I never actually thought it would happen, but I’m becoming more stubborn with music as I get older, and some of my friends call me a ‘music snob’. But I’m surprisingly ok with that title.

I wanted to change the layout to display more images on screen, and more projects at once. Turns out its quite a lengthy process. More work will be up over the next few days.

I went into the city to photograph some work of mine, ended up walking the streets for hours hunting for typography.

Just My Type — By Simon Garfield is a flippin’ fantastic companion to anyone remotely interested in type and typography. I’ve re-read this book a number of times now and I can’t get enough of it. Its mostly a historical record of type and their designers with back stories on how they came to be used and more often than not modern day uses and popularity.

Not only is this book a great resource and a knowledgeable investment into the history of type and their respective designers, its also presented in a lovely fashionable way. The slip cover is a gorgeous stock and the matte texture exemplifies the lavish faces used on title treatment of the book. The authors name is set in Gill Sans and the majority of the body text throughout the book is set in Univers. Although some variation is found throughout when the author divulges into particular typefaces and wants to show them off—justifiably.

Simon covers a great range of era’s and topics. He touches on the popularity of type and how that sets them apart from un-popular type. He looks at what makes a typeface legible and un-legible. The popularity of Ampersands and their beauty. And he hits home hard with the stories behind the creation of well known type families such as Futura, Baskerville, Mr. & Mrs. Eaves, Frutiger, Optima, Sabon, Gotham and ofcourse—Helvetica & why people have a love hate relationship with it. I personally prefer to use Akzidenz Grotesk—as the uppercase ‘R’ is much more attractive than that of Helvetica’s.

Despite Simon never writing a book on Typography or Graphic Design for that matter, he has done a pretty good first attempt. It’s not written especially well—but the content and back story makes up for that. It is indeed, very informative. The front a and back cover are inlaid with a Typographic Periodic Table which I’ve seen online before but it’s nice having as a reference whilst reading.

Simon even cheekily included a great little chapter on ‘The worst typefaces in the world’ which makes for a good laugh. I don’t own a lot of books on design, and in general for that matter. And to be honest I think books are a dying breed. But I’m happy to have this in my somewhat pathetic collection of design books. It must be good if I’ve gone back to it and re-read it a few times—right?

I’d like to review a couple of other books I own, including—’How To Be A Designer Without Losing Your Soul’ and ‘Designers Are Wankers’. Both of which were religious bibles by my side throughout my study at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts.