make art that sells illustrating children s books art director cheat sheet the lingo Week 1 This document will save your life! Well, not really, but it will definitely make the next five weeks (and beyond) easier. I ve gathered together lots of the terminology that you will hear when working in publishing (and in most print based industries). It s not an exhaustive list, but it should be enough to get started. Keep it handy and try to become familiar with the terms. If you find yourself in a meeting and unfamiliar with the terminology being used, don t be afraid to ask for an explanation. After nearly 20 years I still hear new words or abbreviations and discover new ways of working particularly when it comes to new finishes and production styles. Lilla says: Thank you, Zöe! I wish I had had this years ago! Books of all shapes and sizes. Look at the colophons on the spine. Each company has a different logo. Art Director Cheat Sheet Lingo :: 1
Blad or f&g When a picture book is proofed, we often make them up into a blad (folded and gathered) or f&g. Both are the same thing, just different names. The proofs are assembled into the book format, and stapled together. It has a limp cover on the front (no cover board). Blads and f&gs are used by the sales team at trade shows and when they are out visiting customers. It allows a client to feel the size of the book and read through turning the pages. Books are a tactile object, and being able to hold the book in your hand is a key part of the experience, particularly if you are a buyer, seeing hundreds of books a year. Binding This is the term to describe how a book is held/bound together. Options include perfect bound, saddle stitched and staple bound. Board Book Every page is made of cardboard. Usually smaller in size and fewer pages, and for a younger audience. Often with rounded corners or a novelty addition. Stick Man s First Words, by Axel Scheffler. This board book has rounded corners and shaped tabs along one edge. Character sheets A sheet of drawings showing the character in a number of poses and expressions. This is also known as character development work. Can be black & white or colour, or both. CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) This is refers to the colours used in the main printing process used for book printing. If you work digitally, it s important to set your files using CMYK rather than RGB as it will affect your finished print enormously. Art Director Cheat Sheet Lingo :: 2
Die-cut This is when you cut through the page or cover. For example, you might die-cut a hole into the front cover to reveal a character peeking through. We also use this term in novelty pop up books to explain where pages are cut and chopped. (Die lines are supplied on a layer over the artwork or on a piece of trace. All lines to be cut are shown with a solid line.) Die-cut hole to the cover of Tove Jansson s The Book of Moomin DPS (Double Page Spread) This is a full colour image, that stretches across the entire spread of your book, from the left hand page right across the right hand page Double Page Spread, taken from The Snorgh and the Sailor by Thomas Docherty Art Director Cheat Sheet Lingo :: 3
Dust jacket Most commonly used on hardback books, but occasionally seen on paperbacks. This is a separate loose cover that wraps around the book, and the flaps tuck into the front and back cover. Endpapers These are at the front and back of every hardback book, and are stuck to the actual cover board. Usually decorated in a pretty pattern! Extent The number of pages in your book Finish This is the term to describe the effects used on the cover, but occasionally on the interior too. Finishes include: gloss laminate, matt laminate, spot UV, flock, foil, glitter, super matt, embossed, de-bossed, flouro, cloth or wibalin. Debossing on the title lettering gives a tactile finish. Finished artwork Final print ready artwork. Usually you work at 100% size, but occasionally artists choose to work at a slightly reduced or enlarged size. Working smaller means that when your work is enlarged to match the trim size, the line work will appear looser, and softer. So, if you are a bit uptight doing artwork, this might help. Equally working bigger and then reducing the art to fit your page will tighten everything up. It s important to be consistent throughout the book, otherwise your line weight will vary and look odd. Fold Line Usually shown as a dashed line to indicate how and where the paper folds. Supplied on a separate layer or trace. Fonts Typefaces set on the computer Art Director Cheat Sheet Lingo :: 4
Format This refers to the overall size and shape of the book Here s an example: Hardback book Trim: 250mm X 275mm Extent: 32 pages plus ends Finish: Matt with spot UV, foil to the front Paper: Wood-free interior Galley text A galley text is the initial setting of the story, set in a suitable font size for the book. Sometimes the galley is just set in a word document and sent to the artist so they can roughly cut and paste blocks of text as they rough the pages. I like to set my galley on the actual page size of the book so the artist can easily see how much space to leave. Did you know, German text is a third longer than English? It s important to leave enough room for translations. Gatefold This is an additional page that folds outwards, from your trimmed edge, essentially doubling your page size. Half Bleed This is a colour image that extends across one half of your spread, i.e. the right hand page, or the left hand page Half bleed image on the left, vignettes on the right. Artwork from The Scarecrows Wedding by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler Hand lettering Usually supplied by the artist or the designer, as a piece of artwork, sometimes on trace. Art Director Cheat Sheet Lingo :: 5
Hardback Refers to a book with a hard cover, abbreviated to hb (also called hard cover ) Oliver Jeffers Stuck. Image shows the inside jacket flap and one colour endpapers Novelty book Non-standard book formats such as board books, sound books, touchand-feel books, cloth books, pop-up books, sticker books, etc. Overprinting We instruct out text inside a book to overprint 100% black. This means it is not part of the main CMYK colour artwork and can be easily swapped out for other editions, e.g., English text can easily be replaced with French text. Beautiful cloth spine, with matt foil stamping. German edition of The Seasons by Blexbolex Art Director Cheat Sheet Lingo :: 6
Ozalid This is the final FINAL check before the book goes on press. They are sent once we have approved proofs, as a last check for the editor that all the text is in the right place and nothing has moved. We would not expect to make any significant changes at this stage. Pantone Occasionally we use Pantone inks or special inks. The Pantone colour system allows for a greater range of colours, many of which are not achievable in CMYK, such as fluorescents. Most commercial print presses are set up to work in CMYK, so the printer can just move from one print job to the next. When a special ink is used, the press has to be cleaned down and the inks replaced. It s can be costly, but the effects can be beautiful! This is a close up detail from a Pantone proof. The printer adds the colour bar to the edge of every proofed page. Paperback Refers to a book with a soft cover (also called soft cover ) PLC (Paper Laminated Case) On a hardback book, the printed cover that you see is actually printed on regular lightweight paper. This paper case is then wrapped onto cardboard to make a hardback book. It is then finished with a laminate coating to make it more hard wearing. PPC (Printed Paper Case) This and a PLC are the same deal, just a different way of saying it. POB (Paper Over Board) Same as PLC / PPC Art Director Cheat Sheet Lingo :: 7
Proof When we send a book to the printers we receive proofs. Proofs are the printer s first attempts at printing the product and they are sent back to us for checking. They are printed on big sheets and then roughly trimmed down and collated. Normally I would expect to go through two rounds of proofing on a picture book before we approve for print. Proofs and a sales blad for Hello Mr Dodo, by Nicholas John Frith. Published by Alison Green Books. Registration/fit This term refers to the alignment of printing plates. When something is out of register, you can sometimes see a little edge of colour alongside your image. The colour is usually cyan, magenta or yellow. This little adjustment can greatly affect the overall look and feel of the printed image. Roughs Roughs come after thumbnails. They are worked at full size, to allow the artist to add in all the little details and the designer to make sure the text fits. Roughs are very important. They are your opportunity to make sure your ideas work. They don t have to be perfect as they are working documents. Section Books are bound together in 16 page sections. If you look at the spine of the book, end on you will see these sections together. A picture book is commonly two sections = 32 pages. Spread This is the right and left hand pages of your book combined Thumbnails This is a storyboard of your book, usually done at a much smaller size and used largely to plot the action and pacing out. Art Director Cheat Sheet Lingo :: 8
TPS (Trim Page Size) The actual page size in inches, or cm and mm Vignettes Smaller spot illustrations Art Director Cheat Sheet Lingo :: 9