Reply To: Why are designers so shy?

Doc,

Designers aren't as well trained these days. In the good old days (the 80s and 90s), most print designers HAD to learn about the print production process, typesetting, and so on. Nowadays not so much. I'm a designer, and I began my career apprenticing in pre-press, press, and screenprint shops. I learned about PUTTING ink on substrate before I got very far into DESIGNING for ink on substrate. I also learned the rules about typesetting and the way people read. Many design education programs these days focus on how to use software like Photoshop and InDesign, but not on how to design properly or WHY to use Photoshop or InDesign for a particular task.

My friend Sandee Cohen told me she recently met a couple of fresh-out-of-design-college kids who had never been told anything about prepping for print, who had spent only a day learning about kerning and leading.