Design & production
The increasing use of new technology particularly affects the design and production of the finished book. Authors will often now deliver their text both in hard copy and on disk ready for the publisher to edit and finalise the preparations for printing. As well as planning the look of the finished book, including typeface, type size, type of paper and other technical details, designers may have to select or commission illustrations (reconciling the demands of the author, artist and editor) and to commission the jacket. Book design requires training in typography and layout.
The production department has to order paper, obtain estimates from and place orders with printers, binders and paper merchants, and check the book through each stage of its progress to finished copy, all of which demands great attention to detail and a tight control of scheduling. Administrative ability is essential in production work, together with reasonable numeracy for evaluating estimates and calculating costs.
Design and production are aspects of publishing for which formal preliminary training is available and desirable. Courses in book design, graphics, typography and printing techniques are provided by many polytechnics, colleges of art and printing schools.
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