So on my quest to get some hands on experience in a creative agency I called a number of companies that sparked interest and inspiration in me, letting them know that I was interested in coming to do some work experience with them for a short while. I then followed each call up with an email that re-capped our discussion, what my current professional situation was and why I was interested in working along side them.
I received polite rejections from the most of the contacts, stating that they where either too busy, or not busy enough to take me on.
However another opportunity within my own company presented itself during my correspondence with these agencies. During a conversation with my Publishing Manager at Read Books ltd, where I design book covers and page layouts as their in-house graphic designer, it was mentioned that they required our publications to be converted into e-books. If I could incorporate it into my work flow it would make sense if I could create them. It was decided I was to do 2 days training with Mark Kendrick – the Senior Creative at Read Books ltd and Creative Director of KDK Media.
EPUB is the most commonly used electronic format for publication as it is termed an ‘open’ format, allowing adjustment to the file depending on the reader you use. Font styles and sizes can be manipulated based on your ebook reader parameters, and you maintain the formatting of the text.
Mark took me through step by step everything I needed to know about working with EPUBs. We started off with going through the programmes I needed to use, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Digital Editions and Miss’s Kindle Fire for PC.
I was shown how to prep my InDesign files for EPUB, how to name my image files and links, a refresher on using and installing scripts to help me quickly rename any linked files appropriately. He taught me how to set up my Indesign workspace for working on EPUBs, how to create an interactive contents page, how to make sure there are correct chapter breaks within my document using existing paragraph styles and how to correctly embed fonts.
It was a lot of information to take in and after the initial step by step sessions I put my new knowledge into practice on a few different documents. It was great to be able to watch Mark go through the process and then repeat the method myself, following him as he went, asking questions along the way. Even so it still took a fair amount of trail and error to get the final product looking the way I wanted it to. I definitely learn best from watching others and will continue to build upon my skills by taking the time to do online video tutorials.
Learning how to create EPUBs is an excellent addition to my skill set, I adore working in print mediums and love designing books for people to touch and feel, however in this wonderfully digital age we live in, its increasingly important that I expand my knowledge of digital design. According to Roy Lindemann in 2012 sales of e-books overtook the purchases of physical books, showing the shift in buying habits. There is a very large market for digital publishing so being well versed in its design application is a handy skill to have, not to mention making me a more valuable asset to my company and any other future job prospects in publishing. Im going to continue to develop my knowledge of e-book formatting and make sure I know how to manually clean up further formatting issues should they arise, by learning a bit more about the code in the ‘back end’. The books we make are relatively simple formats so when I next get the chance I shall play around with something containing more images and a more complex typographical layout.
