Home » Writing & Publishing » Historical Writing » The Graphic Designer: Frustrated Artist or Friend of Writers?

The Graphic Designer: Frustrated Artist or Friend of Writers?

© Julia Buitrago

One of the greatest adventures known to humankind is the act of packing all of one’s belongings and traveling out on the road to a new destination. Since the days of the pioneers heading out in their Conestoga wagons, not much has changed, especially if you rent a truck and move yourself. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks. A relocation of 750 miles begins with one box and ends with “Honey, have you seen the can opener?”

Although my moving stories would be able to capture your attention, they wouldn’t exactly fit in with this column, so I’ll now return to the purpose of this column.

When I last wrote, I was discussing what your editor really wants to see from their authors. After a manuscript is edited, the text and images end up on the desk of the graphic designer. Graphic designers have very difficult jobs. They are required to take information (usually too much or too little, never the right amount) and images (usually not the right size, shape, or quality to be easily placed) and combine it into a work of art that is modern, yet classic and simple yet complex. When it is completed, this layout must please everyone at the same time, come in ahead of schedule, and have no technical glitches. Needless to say, it isn’t hard to find a graphic designer who is a bit frazzled around the office.

It’s a good thing that I don’t have to work with a graphic artist, you might be saying. Keep in mind that every book and magazine has gone through a graphic designer (or someone who has been drafted to fill that position). You may never get a chance to speak with the graphic designer, but they play a significant role in your work. If a graphic designer has to spend hours working through technical glitches, they probably won’t have much time to spend on making your book look good. One of the last items to be completed is the dust jacket, which as every bookseller can tell you, is what will sell your book.

So how can you make your graphic designer love you if you’ve never met? Here’s my five easy steps to keeping a graphic designer glowing:

1. If you are sending in photographs on disk, check with the graphic design department for their specifications. Generally a graphic designer can only enlarge a scanned photograph a small amount. If you send in all your photos as thumbnails, don’t expect to see full page spreads in your finished book. Also keep in mind that the higher the resolution, the clearer your photos will appear.

The copyright of the article The Graphic Designer: Frustrated Artist or Friend of Writers? in Historical Writing is owned by . Permission to republish The Graphic Designer: Frustrated Artist or Friend of Writers? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.