The Beat - Spring 2018

Spring 2018
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DESIGNING FOR PRINT
The Epitome of Print Education for Designers
w
ith any project that transforms the
conceptual into the physical, two
types of brains are involved: the
creative thinker and the engineer. An architect,
for example, works closely with a builder to
ensure that their fantastical designs are, in
fact, in accordance with the laws of physics.
Marina Poropat Joyce, a self-described
“passionate paper geek,” likens this scenario
to the print industry. As in construction, two
entities are involved in bringing an idea from
imagination to paper. The designer is the
architect; the printer is the builder.
“Designers need to understand that the
printer is their partner in the process,” she
says. “They’re not just there at the end when
you hand over a file.” On the flip side, she
explains, printers tend to think of designers as
“clients with a capital C” instead of creative
entities who might benefit from discourse and
visual demonstration.
Just how to form such a partnership—as
well as tips for both beginners and experts in
the industry—is the crux of Joyce’s new book,
Designing for Print, which she successfully
crowdfunded via Kickstarter last year.
“The inspiration to write the book came
from answering the same questions for 15
years,” she explains, citing a guest lecture she
gave to a group of UCLA students several years
ago. “Afterwards, [most of the attendees]
came up to me and said, ‘Nobody is teaching
REGISTER TODAY TO WIN!
Scan the QR code or register online
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us this.’” It was a light bulb moment for Joyce,
who decided to craft a syllabus for a class
on the topic, which she intended to pitch to
UCLA. Months later, she had her syllabus—
and, she realized, the outline for an incredibly
useful textbook.
Joyce has written Designing for Print in
“designer-speak,” a tone that deviates from
most of the published material on the subject.
As the former owner of an award-winning
design-to-print company who has been an art
director for nearly 30 years, she’s qualified to
speak to both sides. And although Joyce’s initial
target audience was students, she’s found huge
demand among working designers, particularly
among professionals who went through school
post-InDesign.
“People thought, ‘Oh, designers don’t
need to be taught this, because it’s all in the
software—but it isn’t. Designers still need to
know what happens with paper and ink on a
press,” she says. “When you fold and staple
and stack and put ink on it, things change.”
As for print’s existential crisis? Joyce
believes it’s overhyped. “Is it really an increasingly
digital age? I wonder,” she muses. “There are
all these new things happening in print that we
didn’t expect.”
For one thing, the disruptive technologies
printers once fretted about have instead opened
doors. “What’s most exciting to me personally
is digital finishing,” she says. “Things that used
to cost $1,000 just don’t cost that anymore.
Personalization, too, is such an untapped
gold mine. We can version out almost infinite
[iterations] of something. And there are so
many more resources at the industry’s disposal
today. Printers, for example, can take a quick
video on their phone, text it to their designer,
and ask, ‘Is this what you hoped this fold would
look like?’ It’s just so much easier to get on the
same page,” says Joyce. And when it comes
down to it, isn’t that the goal?
Find Marina online at:
Designingforprint.com
Linkedin: Linkedin.com/marinaporopatjoyce
Instagram: designing4print
Facebook: Facebook.com/designingforprint
ABOUT THE BOOK: Designing for Print is 208
pages of proven advice for designers on how
to cost, schedule, design, and build projects for
success in digital, offset, letterpress, and flexo
print environments. n