05/09/2005: "Why not to procrastinate!"

Well, I have been busy trying to finish an image for the cover of my friend Susana's (aka Subi) poetry book "to stand to sea". I started out with a combination of photograph, and drawing using my new Wacom drawing tablet (love it!) but have since come to find out a lot of details about how the image will go to press (tomorrow) so now I have to redo the whole thing.

I'm afraid that with the new restrictions it won't look very good and I'll let my friend down. Also, I realize that although I'm learning a lot more about graphic design, it really is a different animal than "fine" art. There are so many details to know, color mode, resolution, image interloption, file type, vector data, merged layers...or to use line or halftone graphics, not to mention color limitations....ahhhh...

I can't just do a little painting and scan it into PhotoShop. Oh well, if I hadn't waited until the last minute to do this, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Plus, I'm learning a lot. I have PhotoShop pretty much down, and I'm learning FreeHand as well. Next I want to get Illustrator. I love learning new stuff so any excuse is fine by me. Plus, my friend Subi is very talented and I feel honored that she'd want my humble image for her cover.

Now, enough writing and back to work!

First, another mystery photo (this one's not as easy as you may think)...

Replies: 7 Comments

on Tuesday, May 10th, Dio said

Is it a ferry coming into port - nice image whatever - it looks very book covery in itself. :)

on Tuesday, May 10th, subi said

i agree DIO! I thought the same thing! I swear Elise, if Dusie ever does do real (or virtual) chapbooks, I will somehow commission you to be cover artist! I think you are doing a GREAT job on the image! Fear not, or has so much passed in the night that I missed? I feel honored to have YOUR work grace my cover! :) wondertwin powers....! i wrote stella a poem this morning, really just a write it out no revising sort of thing, but you know I wrote! So for me it is a huge deal...it's on the blog... so when are we going to do collaborative work? i know of some journals, including dusie that accept such works! So, did you hear the radio show? Click on Dusie (on the cover...as in the woman and hear it via MP3 sound file!!!) Okay! more soon!

on Tuesday, May 10th, Elise said

Argh, that one wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! Actually it's a Princess Cruise Ship as it was leaving town tonight past my livingroom window...the first one of the season in fact.

Maybe it would have been harder for someone not familiar with ferrys and the like. Speaking of which, I took the ferry from Holyhead (Wales) to Dublin with none other than Subi (remember!) small world eh?

Anyway, I worked on the piece and I'm not sure if it will work or not. I have to admit I didn't understand the instructions all that well, I saved the file in 3 different formats and posted them (HUGE files at 1400dpi) on my website and I'll send you and Kaia the links. The two of you can do whatever you like with the image...I'm hoping it will print how I see it in my head but if it doesn't I'm sorry, this black on blue process is different for me. If it looked too weird that way they could always just print it black and white!

Anyway, I will leave that, and the typeface, up to you. As for me, I think I'm coming down with something awful, I've been coughing non-stop and I have a killer headache...so I'm off to bed.
nighty night!

on Wednesday, May 11th, greg said

Hope you're feeling better!!

Yeh, GD is a different animal to be sure, and a pain besides ...
although I just read a quote from a designer in the paper, who said "Design is the only art many people ever see..." So I perhaps might re-think my attitude towards it, and swallow having to make insurance brochures *bleecccch!*

What files specs are you asked to provide?
An EPS at 300 dpi should be fine - no more than 600! and the final file size should prob be under 100mb. PDF and TIFF are other file types.

on Wednesday, May 11th, Elise said

Yah, most of the time I'm told 150-300dpi. But this person (swear to god) wanted it at 1400dpi! Working with a file that large is not easy, even for a fast computer.

But I'm developing a greater appreciation for graphic design as an art form, there really is a lot to it.

on Thursday, May 12th, greg said

The other thing too, there is no need to sacrifice quality. Does the printer offer their own art services to format your PSD file?

Design's incorporation of Typography is a real science ... one that takes a long time to master. It really eludes me! Learning boring corporate color schemes is too easy tho': "We think we'd like a Blue theme..." *yawn*

on Thursday, May 12th, Elise said

I have no idea about the printer they used. I just did an image for the cover and let them know exactly how I was doing it hoping it would work but I guess they had been wanting to use a letterpress for the acutal image, which doesn't make much sense to me (they wanted line instead of halftone) which would have been impossible for the image the author of the book wanted.

Anyway, I sent them the file in about 5 different formats and the publisher got back to me saying that it was perfect and was going to work wonderfully etc. they just had to change the process they were going to use so now they will only be using the letterpress for the title/author information (which makes more sense)...
did I mention I got my bfa in printmaking?

I just hope it all works out in the end. So, do I take it you do graphic design for a living?

05/09/2005: "Why *not* to procrastinate!"

05/09/2005: "Why not to procrastinate!"