8-step booklet design
If you’re facing booklet design for the first time and don’t know how to begin, or if you’ve done it before but found the experience a “headache,” this list is for you. The secret to booklet design is proper planning. As with everything—think before you act. After designing and producing numerous booklets of various types (magazines, journals, gazettes, annual reports, corporate responsibility reports, course newsletters, departmental newsletters, catalogs, information booklets, and many more), it’s time to organize the accumulated knowledge for your benefit. This “recipe” can make the process smoother and more enjoyable while saving you time and money. All stages (except Step 1) are accompanied by the designer.
ESG Corporate Responsibility Report for the Ayalon Group. Click the photo to view the report
Step 1: “Content is King”
First, ensure that the booklet’s content is present, written, edited, and has undergone multiple rounds of proofreading by everyone who is expected to approve it. It’s a good idea to do this before delving into design, as it will save a lot of time. Based on experience (:
Step 2: Page layout planning
At this point, the content is prepared and typed into a Word file, giving us a rough idea of the booklet’s volume. Although we don’t know the exact number of pages the final booklet will have, we do have an estimate.
For example, with a booklet design of 24 pages: take 6 pages from the printer, fold them together, and staple them in the middle. This results in a “mock booklet” of 24 pages, allowing us to use a pencil to note what content will appear on each page. It’s also time to plan the placement of any photos, graphs, charts, and so on.
If needed, we can add or remove pages and adjust the layout until we achieve the desired format. When dealing with a large number of pages, you can also sketch: on one or more A4 pages, draw pairs of pages and label each pair with the page number in small writing. This method helps plan and designate the content for each square on that page.
Corporate Responsibility Guide for BDO. Click the photo to view the report.
Step 3: Brief
The difference between a Word document and a designed booklet lies in how we present the content. This raises the question: How do we want to present the content? To answer this efficiently, we must consider the purpose of the booklet. Who is the target audience? What tone do we want to use to convey the content? What do we want the booklet to “say” beyond the content? What will it “convey”?
The answers to all the questions that will arise in the next step will come from these inquiries. For instance, what size will the booklet be? Is it a standard size or a special size? It depends on the purpose. The same considerations apply to paper selection, type of printing, the cover, and so on.
State of Nature Report for HaMaarag – Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and Tel Aviv University. Click the photo to view the report
Step 4: Format
Decision-making regarding the booklet format involves considerations such as its closed size, the type of paper used, the number of colors printed, the cover design, and more. How do I make these choices? This is where the expertise of a graphic designer with print experience is essential. Collaborating with them enables you to make decisions that align with your original goals.
Step 5: Interior grid design
Once the brief is written and understood by all parties, you can begin designing the grid for the booklet’s interior pages. At this stage, I typically spend about seven to ten working days in the studio on grid design — making decisions about margins, the number of columns, the placement of page numbers, the appearance of titles, font types, as well as the inclusion of images, graphs, charts, and more.
Step 6: Entire booklet design, repairs, and adjustments
After selecting the appropriate grid for your booklet, you can begin the design process for the entire booklet. This is also the phase when the booklet is sent to the customer for review and proofreading and then returned to the designer for revisions and adjustments. How many rounds of revisions will there be? It entirely depends on section 1—how well the content was prepared and processed before reaching the design stage.
An annual report to the public admissibility officer at the KAN Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. Click the photo to view the report
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Digital Communities Directory – Authored by Inbal Fogel, a service designer and project manager, for the National Digital Directorate and the Jerusalem Municipality. Click on the image to access the guide..
Step 7: Cover Design
Since the cover conveys information about the booklet in terms of both content and language, it’s best to save its design until the end, when we can see and feel the booklet in its nearly final state. This is the ideal time. There’s a good chance that even while working on the initial steps, ideas for the cover have already emerged, and towards the end, they are ready.
Step 8: Print
Once the booklet is approved by all relevant parties and prepared for printing, close the files, send them for printing, produce a galley proof, and create an Iris print for the customer’s final approval. Then, wait patiently for the final result.
