A publication designer is a person who designs booklets, books, magazines, reports and other publications requiring layout with visual appeal. Publication designers may work in graphic design firms, government organizations, public relations agencies, private companies or large corporations. They may also work in the freelance arena, providing services to multiple clients at any given time.
Instructions
1. Learn about typography. Typeface is a critical facet of beautiful and interesting design. A publication designer should have a firm grasp of typography principles and a good understanding of how typeface can affect a design. You can learn about this through tutorials online (see the WebMonkey tutorial in Resources below), through college courses or through learning from an established professional in the field.
2. Educate yourself on proper color principles. Poor color choices can really drag a good design down. Choosing the proper colors for a design is critical to the overall feel of the piece. As with typography, you can learn about the art of color in publication design through tutorials, college courses or from an established professional. You can also purchase a book, such as "The Principles of Color Design" by Wucius Wong (see Resources below).
3. Learn proper layout design. Layout, in and of itself, is an art form. Employing balance, white space, color blocks and visual interest requires skill and an artistic eye. While some people come by this skill naturally, it is in the the best interest of a person interested in this field to receive training through a professional forum such as a college course or from an established professional in the field.
4. Take courses to learn the various graphic design programs. The most often used in the field is the Adobe Creative Suite, which includes the primary tools of a publication designer: Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. As a publications designer, you will probably utilize InDesign most frequently.
5. Create a portfolio. Whether you are going to freelance or work for a company, a portfolio is your ticket into the world of publication design. To effectively compete with other publication designers for jobs, you should establish a Web as well as a print portfolio.
