Creating a Book or magazine – helpful things to know

Creating a multi-page document? Whether it be a book, magazine, newsletter, annual report or school yearbook – it’s always good to understand how its all going to work and how you envisage it to be.

Make a plan

Before you start, have a bit of an idea in your head of how you want your product to look and how it will resonate with your end audience. Everything from design to size to finishing. It will make it easier when you’re developing your content and also to convey your ideas to your printer.

Design & Content

Will your book be image centric or text heavy? Of course, that will depend on what you’re producing – for example, a company profile may be full of beautiful images showcasing your business, and an annual report would be text heavy with a small number of images throughout. This will determine when writing your text if it will be short and punchy (bullet points), or long reports. It will also allow you to source appropriate images or if you need to use stock images or icons. Always ensure your design is on-brand and follows your style guides, and same goes with the tone of voice in your text.

Size

Determine the finished size of your document and talk to your printer about how it can best work within your budget, and of course, what reflects your end goal the best! For example, an upmarket furniture catalogue would look stunning as an A4 (or larger) horizontal book, where as a budget instruction manual would be best off as a simple A4 size.

Paper

The stock you use should depend on the vibe you want to give to your customers – which should be determined in your plan. Are you an environmentally conscious business, then a recycled or FCS certified stock would be best, or if you are a high professional law firm, then something glossy and impressive might be the way to go. This is something your printer can help you decide. (Read more about paper options here).

Binding

The binding of your book will determine how many pages you have and what you are trying to achieve. A perfect bound glossy magazine would look great on a coffee table, but if you only have 20 pages, it won’t be possible (download out binding guide here). Saddle stitching is the most popular and quite cost effective and can look the goods if you pair it with a nice stock or cool embellishments.  

Finishing

There are so many embellishments that can really make your book pop, from foiling, varnishes and embossing just to name a few. Don’t go overboard on these – one or two is enough to keep it looking nice without being over the top. For example, a combination of a matt laminate with a foil can make a plain cover into something really special (Read more about embellishment options here).

There are so many options to make sure you’re getting the best out of your book to target it at your demographic… and if you need help, visit our website here and we will be happy to discuss any options with you!