BOW A5: Print queries and responses

~ Sarah-Jane Field

I have copied and pasted the book over into a slightly bigger size. Originally it was A4. Now it is a few mm taller.  I have written to a couple of printers asking about cost as I know all my ideas will pile on the costs and if I go for half pages and different sized pages, it can’t just be ordered as a standard book from a digital book print company using their templates. However, I do recall Milk saying in their website they do handmade publications so maybe worth inquiring – although it seems nuts to ask an Australian company when there are plenty here. I am also aware that this activity pre-empts SYP but the design is integral to the overall concept so I can’t really separate it out. Scroll down for responses.

Here is an extract of my inquiry (included here, not least because some of the concepts are outlined succinctly):

I am working on my final Body of Work (BOW) project. It is not finished but I need to start thinking about how much money it will cost to produce, what is realistic and what might be impossible.

[…]

It is slightly over A4 and the design is based on some Situationist Times publications (see video)

These publications had vertical and horizontal 3/4 or 1/2 pages and I have included those too in my work for now.

I am also thinking about the sort of maths exercise books with graph paper from my school days as an influence. Coding and decoding reality using mathematical formulas should subtly weave its way through the work.

I would ideally like different textured paper for text (there are four pages of text inserted) like they have in a FOAM publication.

I think of the work as a bunch of signifiers behaving like rowdy children.

At the moment, there are coloured blocks which might indicate paper colour rather than ink. Please advise me about this.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions and warnings.

I have had one response so far:

Thanks for the artwork and email.  It is a very ambitious publication and will need plenty of time to finetune and get perfect from an artwork then a production point of view.
So, picking through the points, is the finished publication 310x216mm with a total of 48 pages?  4+44pp?
Are you able to send over a video of a mock-up please?  The pdf is great but really doesn’t show which pages fold in which direction
Page 8 is a fold-out? If this folds out then page 9 should be with same width because it backs up to it?  Same with 14, the next page has to be the same size?
If you can make a mock-up you’ll see the mechanics that you need to consider with the actual paper.
From a cost point of view, having the height at 310mm means the print costs will be double what they would at A4 (297mm).  We can use GF Smith Colorplan for the coloured papers but these will adds £100s more to the total cost in comparison with printing the colour on our white ‘house’ sheet.

This answers some questions – I have replied:

I will need to put something together this weekend or early next week to send over as a video.
I am very happy to use A4 (I had a feeling that might be the case and, in fact, I think there absolutely must be some conventional standardised structure to contain the non-standardised erratic stuff.)
I was also certain ink rather than paper colour would be cheaper so when you give me a rough idea of costs, please go with the more affordable option.
Further answers from me:
This [the video and dummy I made] is all VERY rough indeed but it was a helpful exercise. I made this dummy with an inkjet printer, set to fastest print speed in mono – so it really is looking at the construction more than anything else.
As you might imagine, the sequence in my PDF is still totally up for reorganisation but the practical things that need to be fixed at this time should be – such as binding type, where the text pages and shadow puppets on half pages should go, and the gatefold construction. When I’ve done another edit, I will print a version at work on double-sided flyer paper in colour to get a much better idea and will send you a video of that once it’s ready. Below is a list of things that came out of making this dummy:
    • The book is probably not big enough to contain half vertical AND half horizontal pages. I will ditch the vertical half pages and stick only with the horizontal ones. (And a gatefold – see later)
    • The half pages should either all be in the middle of the text pages or should wrap the text pages which I think is my preference – the 4 text pages (2 x double-sided)  therefore interrupts the narrative of the shadow puppets. I have played with various options in the video.
    • (Does the above depend on whether its saddle stitch?  – and the text along with half pages being in the middle, which removes the possibility of a centre spread image – which may be fine.)
    • The text should be on a different textured paper if possible.
    • At the moment there is one gatefold. (Hope its all clear and evident in the video) I suspect that is sufficient in a book of this length. But when you give me a rough idea of cost, can you let me know what it would cost to include two, please.
    • (I also wonder what it might cost to have a gatefold that folds out for an additional page… so in the video, you will see when the spread opens out it contains 3 x A4 pages. What if it were four?)
    • I will stick with A4 rather than an alternative sizing – (this fits with the concept of classical and non-classical structure existing together and intermingling, setting up tensions between the two)
    • I will use ink where I want pages to be a different colour to avoid massively hiking up the price – but even that will be limited.
    • Saying that the cover pages might be best with a different paper as is usual  – although I used the same paper for the zine to keep costs down (recall the idea of the school-like maths exercise book being an inspiration for this work)
    • I want to avoid the stark white paper photobooks are usually printed on. One of the examples you sent me before had used recycled paper. I like that idea  – and wondered, is it a bit creamy in its naked state?
    • If I do use ink to change the colour of any pages it should be on the whole spread so that if its on page 5 (inc. cover in numbering) in one half of the book it should also be that colour on page 36 (think that’s right!) – especially if it’s saddle stitch.
    • I think I may have seen 40 pages as the limit for that binding- maybe only in zines? I’ll await your guidance on that.

 

2 thoughts on “BOW A5: Print queries and responses”

  1. Very clear outline of what’s needed. I know you’ve probably thought of this already but, if it’s one book, could you get the pages printed and then ask a bookbinder to put it together for you?

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Catherine Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.