Design to Sell

Summary

Design is not a subjective activity. Design success can be objectively measured by how effectively it balances project goals, reader needs, message, competition, distribution, and resources.

Designers must identify priorities and achieve a workable balance that results in printing the necessary number of copies at the highest possible quality level, on time, and at the lowest possible cost.

To achieve this, tradeoffs are necessary—for example, three-color printing might need to be cut back to two-color printing to add pages required by the use of a larger type size or wider margins.

Creativity comes from the designer’s willingness to come up with a project plan that identifies the important criteria, the design choices, and production ...