14. Printing Design and Publication

10-14 July 1995

In today's museums and libraries, the texts for readers' instructions, call slips, signs, announcements, posters, checklists, and full-dress catalogs are generally composed on microcomputers, often by staff members with little graphic design experience. This course will teach the principles of good design within the limits of readily available software programs, centering on work generated by a laser printer and reproduced on a photocopier (but without neglecting more complex projects requiring the use of a commercial printer). The course will include critiques of past examples and projected work which students bring to class.

1. How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Good background for vocabulary. And there wasn't an overwhelming amount of reading to do. 2: Very useful and manageable. 3: Extremely useful -- gave good basis for the course and will be good to use in the future. 4: Very useful, especially for someone entering the course with little background in the subject. GA's notes about the readings were very useful. 5: Yes. 6: The readings were very helpful in understanding the materials presented in class. 8: Very useful -- so glad GA mailed them to us. In the past it has been a devil gathering all the material. The equipment -- ugh -- we had so little chance to use it. Was it necessary to have us bring it?

2. Did your instructor prepare sufficiently to teach THIS course? Were the course syllabus and other materials distributed in class useful?

1: 1) Yes -- he brought a carload of materials and had a game plan for every day. 2) Yes, somewhat. What was most valuable were the examples of printing. 2: Yes, absolutely. 3: Absolutely: [handouts] were and will continue to be useful. 4: Yes. Yes. Yes. 5: YES -- appreciated having handouts of material covered in class so we didn't have to worry about furiously taking notes and missing the lectures. 6: GA was very prepared for the course. There was no real syllabus, but an oral agreement about how the course would proceed after assessing theneeds and expectations of the participants. 7: Yes, yes, yes in future. 8: Yes, yes, yes.

3. Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?

1: Yes -- just enough rare book background balanced with practical, 1995 advice about cost, purposes, &c. 2: Yes. 3: Yes -- he was able to appeal to all levels without a problem. I think it had the right amount of challenge for everyone. 4: Yes. 5: YES -- even though I was familiar with much of the course content, the instructor made it come alive. 6: Very. 7: Yes, pretty exact. 8: Yes.

4. If your course had field trips, were they effective?

1: Yes -- the printing shop field trip was interesting. It will help in my future discussions with designers and printers. It was good to see in practice the skill and dirty work involved in making printed work. 2: Yes. The trip was no longer than it needed to be. 3: It was good to give the students an option, but the instructor sold it so well that [nearly] everyone ended up going! 4: Trip to a printing press was brief and very informative (and we went during the last lunch hour). 5: Yes. 6: We went to University Printing to see the presses run, the composing room, &c. It was time very well spent. 7: Did not go. 8: Yes. The trip to the printing press was good. We should have been warned about the noise and the smell.

5. Did the actual course content correspond to its RBS brochure description and Expanded Course Description? Did the course in general meet your expectations?

1: Yes. I didn't expect to emerge as a graphic designer or learn a new computer program. This was enough to set me on a new course of action with more confidence. 2: Yes. 3: Yes -- I think overall, I would have possibly preferred more design aspects and less production aspects, but I am probably a minority. But the description was not misleading and I am leaving entirely satisfied, although I wish there was a Part II so we could apply what we have learned -- but the instructorhas generously offered to have us send him our work in the future! 4: Yes (and thanks for asking, because I have been to a number of classes and conferences where this is not the case). 5: Yes. 6: Yes, on both counts. 7: More than met ex-pectations. Raised questions to me that will clarify the purpose of my proposed project. 8: Yes.

6. What did you like best about the course?

1: Many things -- I liked acquiring a new vocabulary and a list of books that I must acquire and steal from! I liked GA's energy, taste (and sound effects). I liked seeing that even an old pro can make mistakes and decisions that he later regrets. I envy him his achievements and body of work. I liked the mix of students in the course because I learned what people do. 2: The course was unapologetically prescriptive, but GA has such a wealth of experience as a printer/designer that it is a privilege and delight to share that experience. I was never bored. 3: The fact that the instructor knew so much and was able to relay that information clearly and effectively. The fact that he handed us outlines so we weren't scribbling away trying to get it all down all the time. The fact that he was flexible and asked what we wanted to spend time discussing. I don't believe there is another course like this anywhere. He has so much practical knowledge there would be no one better to teach this course, especially since he knows both design and production. It was nice he spent time discussing each student's project. I en-joyed each day immensely and wished it were longer. Excellent teacher -- couldn't be better. 4: GA makes the course. He is a wonderful teacher and involves every student. 5: The instructor -- he made the course. He packed 48 years' worth of valuable book de-sign experience into one week. His love of book design was infectious. 6: GA's enthusiasm for his subject. His wealth of knowledge about printing and design, and his personal critiques of our samples, combined to make the week-long experience a memorable one, one I hope to repeat. I especially liked judging the ``best in show'' books at the end. 7: The enormous amount of relevant il-lustrative material and the cogency of handouts at appropriate places during the course. 8: The instructor. He was superb, an ex-cellent teacher. Presented questions, probed, encouraged, listened. He was knowledgeable, funny, and approachable. Initially, I was nervous about taking the course, but I must confess this was the BEST RBS course I have taken. Sorry, TB.

7. How could the course have been improved?

1: Only one day was a bit dragging. The clinics about our individual projects might be spread over two or three days. 2: I don't think there's any need to spend more than half a day on student projects. 3: It's difficult to keep things moving when you invite students to talk about themselves! Maybe preface the students' part by saying we don't want to hear about your board of directors' problems or your office politics -- we want to hear about graphic/production problems and solutions! GA made the class and knew 100 times more than each person, therefore it is desirable to hear more from him! (This was a very small problem and only lasted one afternoon, but was the only negative of the course.) 4: A bit more or-ganization towards the end -- but I think all the information will come together after I've gone home and organized my notes. 5: It's too bad it couldn't last longer. The instructor did a great job covering issues, yet he is so knowledgeable that I'd love to hear more of what he has to say. 7: Not sure it needs to be. Huge amount of material covered in well-organized segments with references to real-world examples of success and failure. 8: The section on the judging of the materials could have been arranged differently. Per-haps we should have selected a piece on our first day (as novices) then on Friday looked them over again and made another selection (having more information in our heads). All the other aspects were top drawer. Think of having a printed bibliography.

8. Any final thoughts?

4: GA asked how we could market the course to a broader audience (excellent idea -- museum people would definitely benefit, and they might not know about RBS). I suggest preparing a mailer for curatorial departments and marketing departments -- I know I'd be glad to send them with a note to people I know. Additional note: the Vade mecum was a terrific sourcebook! 7: Come and enjoy. GA teaches the joy of working at what you enjoy.

Number of respondents: 8

Percentages

There were three rare book librarians (38%), two book/graphic designers (25%), and a book collector, public relations officer for a museum and rare books and manuscripts library, and a publisher (12% each).