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Subject:Who's Job is it to Layout a Book? From:David Hickey <DHICKEY -at- ALIS -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 15 Jul 1999 13:50:37 -0400
Greetings!
When I work on a project, I've got a few templates I like to use to lay the
book out in a format that suits the audience. These templates control the
physical layout of the text on the page (fonts, margins, indents, bullets,
etc).
Out in the real world (any place where I'm not, it seems), who's job is it
to design the layout of the documentation? Does the technical writer design
this or is it the Graphic Design department's job?
Usually, I've handled the format as well as the writing, but I just want to
get my finger on the pulse of the nation on what's happening. You never
know, I may have missed an important meeting somewhere and something big was
decided while I was away.
CONTEXT: I've just had my wings clipped at my new client to reformat their
books in a layout that, in my professional opinion, would be better. One of
the arguments I was given was "You are a writer, so focus on the writing.
Layout, fonts, font styles, and the like are a questions of graphics and are
to be handled by the Graphics department. You are not a Graphic Artist."
--
Be seeing you,
Dave
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John David Hickey
Montreal, Quebec, Canada eh?
No trees were harmed in the writing of this email.
My emails are made from elephant tusks and dolphin meat.
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Don't confuse my opinion with my employer's.
Each exists in blissful ignorance of the other.
