Graphic designer at a publishing company
Get to know this occupation
Other denominations
Layout editor; Art director (at publishing houses)
Description
The graphic designer specialised in publishing projects designs the graphic guidelines of the printed and digital publishing house collections (books, instalments, collectables, etc.) and does so at a design company or within the design department of a publishing house. If they work at a publishing house, they may also be named art director, depending on the structure of the department.
Tasks
- Analyse the content and positioning of the publishing house collection.
The designer at the publishing house analyses the collection's content, the subject matter, the number of covers, the graphic content (weight of the text and images, etc.), as well as the positioning of the collection (quality level, differentiation with regard to the competition, novelty and strategic objectives).
Consider the different types of graphic resolution with regard to styles or trends. - Design one or more graphic proposals.
They design one or more graphic proposals (preliminary plan) for the collection, which include a definition of the style of the covers in relation to their graphic elements (colours, typesettings, photographic or graphic images, etc.) and what the publishing continuity of the collection will be.
They also define the style of the book or project, in relation to its main parts: the covers, chapters and content pages.
Of the proposals presented for the cover and inside pages, the most suitable is selected, and the designer finishes the design plans, determining the exact definition of the collection.
If the product is digital, the designer graphically presents all the essential and key screens in order to be able to to understand the creative idea of the product and its basic operation, if for example it is interactive, icons, images, texts, photographs, etc. everything must be defined in order to be able to understand the product's image and operation.
Once the graphic idea has been approved, all the screens will be developed in detail. - They coordinate the professionals that will work on the graphic project.
If the creative graphic proposal requires the involvement of other professionals, such as photographers or illustrators, they manage their selection and supervise their work. - Supervise the graphic development of the project.
Based on the graphic model that has been created, the layout editors of the publishing house create the collection under the supervision of the graphic designer.
