Working with a graphic designer
Presentation by Tricia Head
EdsQ members meeting, 3 June 2020
by Ian Mathieson, Events Support Officer
Tricia started with a terrific strategy to get her audience on-side by saying, ‘I love having a chance to work with an editor’. And in her talk, she substantiated that sentiment in many ways and made it clear that it was heartfelt.
Her presentation, delivered by Zoom, was valuable and informative; it focused on practical ideas that will give insight to many editors in developing creative and productive partnerships with graphic designers.
One of the enduring recollections from her presentation is the range and downright stylishness of the images that graced each screen during her talk. Designer, indeed!
Tricia’s well-organised presentation was in four parts — why I like working with an editor, why editors might like working with graphic designers, technical things, and creative briefs.
She said she likes working with an editor because everything goes more smoothly. Teased out, this thought explored the benefits of establishing and working in a flexible and informed partnership.
Editors will find a strong blending of expertise in working closely with a graphic designer, each enhancing the creative input of the other. Shared understandings from the outset will save the editor considerable time and effort.
Tricia’s outline of technical things delved into a number of things which, when done, help the graphic designer and save her time — send everything in one go, Microsoft Word and .rtf are both OK, sharing information in style sheets helps greatly; send images separately from text; send big images and all the images; transferring files — most methods for doing this work fine; making changes — a few tips to save time.. These are things whose absence isn’t a disaster, but their presence helps greatly.
In discussing creative briefs, she drew our attention to the advantages of both the graphic designer paying attention to the broader context and intent associated with the project, and the benefit to her in doing her work, of understanding the content-focused intent of an editor. Early discussions are invaluable to her and, she understands, to editors.
In this report, we’ve chosen to bring you the outline of her presentation and make some overview comments about it, but we’re unable to detail here the wealth of ideas that Tricia offered both as part of her presentation and in response to questions sent by chat during her talk. With her kind agreement, IPEd Members can access a recording of Tricia’s presentation. The link will be available soon.
Contact Tricia at triciahead@optusnet.com.au and on 0401 319 422.