jasmin--without-the-e

[jasmin--without-the-e]

Week 7: Grad, Full Covers and Drag Shows

Top - Sofia’s final full cover design! (also my first official full cover!)

Left- a cup of tea and a cookie from grad after a busy and rainy industry night

Right - the drag show we went to after grad for a celebration!

All of the times I have started an entry by saying, “wow what a busy week” have all been put to shame. This week was by far my busiest and tiring-est of them all. It was jam-packed due to it being grad week. So my head was full of trying to remember what to bring and how to set up my booth while balancing all the due dates and corrections that are still ongoing through my practicum. 

This also happened to be one of the busier weeks for book design, meaning I had a lot of different books I was working on. The Heart-Driven Hairstylist was probably the heaviest one. I was going through a long list of typesetting corrections for the book (luckily it turned out to only be 134 pages). This was my first time typesetting in such detail so it wasn’t the best that I ended up doing it at 11pm after industry night and didn’t sleep until well past 3am that night (or I guess morning?). It was definitely the consequences of my own actions—I should have been planning a bit better for incorporating time for grad too. It was a fast turn around and the day after we moved onto the back cover! This was my first time properly going through the full cover design: getting the barcode, measuring the spine for the amount of paper, and all of those good things. The way my host explained it made it very simple to do and of course I took notes.

This week we also met with a new author to begin the cover design for a new book! The book, called i cut my tongue on a broken country, is a collection of poetry by author, Kyo Lee. I’m almost finished with the manuscript and wow. It reminds me of a lot of poetry I was into in high school (though this is way better), when I was reading a lot about sexuality and identity. With that touch of nostalgia, it gave me the motivation to read and I stayed for the visceral and incredibly beautiful writing. I can already tell it will be one of those covers where there's too many references from the content; it's too hard to pick just one. I’ll be moodboarding soon so we will see!

I was also finishing up the final versions of Understanding SEO which I am VERY pleased with. The direction came about after a lot of brainstorming and didn't really make it into the first round (I had had the idea after presenting them to my host and we talked about it over messages and decided to add it very close to sending off the first round). This week was just about making final tweaks and getting the colours narrowed down—and best for print. It’s been interesting to look back on the process and where I started with the design initially. I was looking through my sketchbook yesterday and it was fun to see the differences.

[jasmin--without-the-e]

Week 6: Real-Life Meetings, Cafes and Doodles

Left - Typesetting progress to fill the time (with extensive notes)

Right - Walk with Mavi <3

Bottom - Doodle experimentation for SEO Mastery

This week was a whirlwind of experiences! To start it off, I got to meet my host in person. She was in Vancouver for a little bit so we arranged a work day at a cafe. It was lovely to meet her in person—though 3d and not digital was an adjustment—it really felt like my practicum and my work is real, not all just existing online. It also gave me the opportunity to ask questions as they came up which was definitely more convenient than messaging.

It also worked out that there was a Book Collective meeting the same day! My host invited me to join this group right as my practicum started. It’s a great place for book design related questions and puts me in contact with a bunch of book designers (in all different forms) who all have different experiences to bring to the table. This was a chance to meet some in person! It was lovely to be a part of the conversations we were having, mostly because they were about books and design haha. I felt a bit out of place at the beginning, being a student I felt like I didn’t have the experience to contribute. However, everyone was so kind which made the space feel very safe and inviting. I could definitely tell I was opening up and contributing more towards the end. 

As for the actual work of the week, for the SEO covers we were working on, the author ended up going with the wildcard! I had talked through a bunch of concepts for the first round with my host, but none of the designs felt right to me. If you remember from my last post, I talked about how hard it was to balance the simplicity of what the author wanted, with his playful tone throughout the manuscript. So I came up with a new concept with doodle elements as if the author is using his “playful” tone to explain this otherwise boring topic. It wasn’t exactly what he was looking for but he loved it!

[jasmin--without-the-e]

Week 5: SEO Covers and an Inside Job

Top: my many iterations of the SEO cover

Left: a beautiful tree I saw on my walk to school to study.

Right: A rainbow!!!

Between last week and this week my motivation has been like night and day. It could be that this week was a cover-focused one (I tend to be more motivated with “more fun” projects, but I think it's also influenced by my rustiness with typesetting). 

This week we were working on an SEO-focused book called SEO Mastery: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding SEO. It was definitely a challenge for me. I usually work with lots of colours and in a very maximalist style. This client was very direct with what he liked and what he didn’t, so it was hard to match his limited criteria with the book’s content and tone. We ended up with seven versions! Originally we were aiming for four. Basically what he wanted was a simple, clean cover. No coding references, minimal imagery and minimal colours. The issue that came up was that the tone of his book reflects his personality: fun, playful and definitely NOT simple. So the hardest part was making sure he liked the cover while not being completely disconnected from the inside as well. All in all I was pleased with the amount of concepts I came up with and happy that my host liked them. We sent them off today (March 28th)! 

Also something amazing that happened this week was that my charger was returned! If you remember, last week I lost it at school after going to work with some friends. It turned out that one of them had put it into their bag thinking it was theirs and didn't realize until this Monday. Ha! What are the chances! I was just very pleased I didn’t have to spend money I didn’t have on a mistake. I had told the story to my sister and she hilariously retorted that it was an “inside job” which made me laugh.

[jasmin--without-the-e]

Week 4: Burnout, Books and the Big Bad Charger Stealer™

Left: A beautiful tree that I’ve watched flower each day I went into campus.

Right: My haul of Arsenal books I was sent!

Bottom: The first round of sketches for SEO Mastery that I started on.

This week I’ve been really unmotivated. I think it's just the time of year where the burnout of the second semester is finally settling in. I was talking to my sister about it and she’s feeling the same tiredness and unmotivation so at least I have some comradery. Knowing my tendencies when I get burnt out, I have really tried to stay on top of work despite it. I’ve been making the effort to go into school everyday this week so I can have interactions with peers and have some social time as well (remote is very isolating). Though now I’m a bit discouraged as the last time I was there someone stole my charger. So there goes a wasted $150.

As a result of the mood during the week, I felt a bit lacking in my work in all honesty. My host was working on projects independently that we had talked about collaborating on, but due to my pace, I was on other things and the due dates just kept coming up. That's one big difference I’ve noticed: Industry moves FAST.  I mean, so did IDEA, but it's almost a different kind of fast. It’s definitely something I know I’ll improve on over time—I mean we’re always told that for the first few years of your career you’ll be losing your employer’s money just based on how fast you work. However, it's rather discouraging when I don't want to let people down. That also plays a part in how many projects I take on. My host is very generous with checking in if I have too much going on, if things are doable in a certain timeframe, but it’s my own thinking that is making me say “yes i can take on more.”

But! Despite all that inner turmoil, I have been making progress with my assigned projects. We went through a very intensive typesetting lesson on Tuesday and let me tell you, working on the whole book versus the sample pages is VERY different. I was almost too scared to touch anything ha! I was also introduced to the concept of GREP styles and how they really improve the automations in indesign, but for now it looks like gibberish and is incredibly daunting. I was talking to my host about it and she shared that it's something she is also still learning. The fact that she's been using this program for so long and is still finding new things to learn about it was exciting for my career.

One very positive thing about this week was that I received a package. Arsenal was INCREDIBLY generous and sent me some books! I was not expecting any books and was just told to pick some out of their catalogs and that was that. Like what? It’s like a second Christmas! I am already a big lover of the types of books Arsenal publishes, but it's a smaller press so its authors I haven't read before. I am so excited to read them and also know that I’m working on those author’s future books (Bad Land is by the same author as The Whole Animal).

[jasmin--without-the-e]

Week 3: Sunsets and Lots and Lots of Printing

Top Left: Workspace and ideation of Bad Land.

Top Right: The gorgeous sunset on one of my walks after work.

Bottom: Testing the samples for Bad Land.

Through my busy days at my desk, I’ve been trying my best to also get out every so often so I’m not hermit-ing all week. Though it has proven to be almost impossible to enjoy my time due to the incredibly persistent cold wind and rain we’ve been getting. Though today, Tuesday, has been lovely and sunny. Everyone seemed to be out with their dog, and anytime I popped into a store all anyone could talk about was finally having some good weather.

My. First. Official. Cover. Design. This week we sent off the first round of concepts for Heart-Driven Hairstylist and one of my concepts was chosen! When I first started this practicum, I didn’t really have a good idea of what I would be doing. Sure I poured over the task list and thought about what it was going to be like. But with my little knowledge of the publishing world paired with my worries of being fully remote, I tried to simultaneously keep my hopes up and down. But this was better than I thought. 

The amount of learning I’ve been doing in the past few weeks has been so informative and helpful. I had mentioned before that I had a hard time pushing to learn more about industry standards in publishing. Which has made me all the more eager to learn now. As I begin working on the interior of books (which tend to have more rules than the cover), I’m noticing I know nothing of book anatomy! Part head, chapter head, epigraph, Leading header, leading footer, folios, space break, line break, dingbat, leading, kerning, tracking, leisures, the list goes on and on. After I had that little panic (it really was a panic, I read so much I thought I'd have paid better attention), I got down to actually designing. I was a little worried about this sample. My host had informed me that the author is also a designer and there was a lot of back and forth on the cover. So, it was safe to say there was a little bit of pressure I had put on myself for this one. It took longer than I would have liked. It was a mixed effort of being syrupy-slow at InDesign and also just doubting all my design decisions as probably the most inexperienced designer who would be working on it. But no matter! I did my best to do lots of testing and brainstorming and I’ve been really pushing myself to ask questions.

[jasmin--without-the-e]

Week 2: Dinosaur bones and book rants

Left - Beginning thumbnails of my cover exploration for Heart-Driven Hairstylist.

Right - Different chapter heads to begin my interior sample sketches.

Bottom - The books and their champions for Canada Reads.

This week I had a lot less meetings. As I’m working remotely, I had to rely heavily on my routines and be diligent with how I’m using my time. Though I’ve used the same place for studying for years, it felt different as I started my practicum. Maybe because I’m counting my hours or that the work I’m doing feels more real, but I’m just more aware of my time now and trying to do a good job managing it. 

This week started out with the cover ideation for Heart-Driven Hairstylist. I was pleased that both my host and I went in similar directions, it felt like another confirmation that I’m in the right spot and heading in the right direction. This design felt like a good beginning to me. Though it was a challenge with the image, the client had a very specific look and feel in mind that was easy to emulate once I got through research and ideating.

This week I also began working on my first proper interior sample! It reminds me of a past interior book design I did — though looking back on the set up, it was horrendous. This time I have the proper guidance and someone just a click away if I need help. Though I began sketching and designing I realized I know nothing about book anatomy. Despite all the books I read, I actually haven't had a good look at what they put where. So, I ended up opening a bunch of books on my bed and started with looking at all the differences and similarities. It definitely helped me understand the different tones such small adjustments can create. The book that I started on is called Bad Land. It’s about a small town famous for its dinosaur bones and two main characters trying to reconcile on a road trip. It reminds me of a camping trip I went on in The Rockies. We ended up at a dinosaur museum in the middle of nowhere and we were literally the only people there.

The highlight of the week was probably getting to sit in an Arsenal Pulp Press meeting. It was just interesting to see how it worked, how people worked together and everything. The hot topic of the meeting was the outcome of Canada Reads that had just happened that day. Which really made me realize how on track I feel in terms of working with people with similar interests and personalities. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than one INFJ in that meeting.

[jasmin--without-the-e]

Week 1: Heart Cushions and Typesetting Set-up

Left - The beginning of the ideation process for Understanding SEO and one of the many pages of notes I took during the week

Right - The stock image provided by the client for Heart Driven Hairstylist that I have mixed feelings about.

Bottom - My entire ideation process, currently, for Heart Driven Hairstylist.

Wow. What a first week. I feel like, as someone that doesn’t do well with change, I had a bit of a challenge switching from going into school this first half of the term to fully online for my practicum. It's interesting that even on the first day, there was a big difference with the clientele. It surprised me a little that so many different people are writing books—which is obvious when you think of the thousands of topics, but still. Not even just the topic but intelligence level, taste and method of communication was different. As I’m writing this it feels like common sense, but as it’s all new experiences for me, everything feels like this big epiphany. I haven’t even done the first week and It's crazy to me the amount of differences between school and industry that have already come up. 

I was given two different titles to work on this week, Heart Driven Hairstylist and Understanding SEO. For the first one, the client provided a stock image to use on the cover. As I started my ideation process, I found it really difficult to match what the client wanted and what kind of design I thought would best convey the content. I have so many ideas for different directions, but they either contradict the image or just look weird. But no matter! I’m viewing this image as just a stubborn crease. I just need to find a more creative way to iron it out. 

The highlight of my week was definitely the two meetings where my host and I went over the ins and outs of setting up typesetting—which I was attentive all throughout. Comparing that to 3 hour lectures, I noticed throughout this meeting my attention span and willingness to absorb information was a lot higher and I was just generally more engaged with the content. I feel like its been years of schooling where I’ve been discouraged to learn these things because “books are dying.” It was refreshing to not have any resistance and just be able to learn as much as I can—and we haven't even gotten to typesetting yet!