What I learned after working at a self-publication house

Have you ever felt like a learning experience was a bliss? Well, mine was. Even though the deadlines were insane and time dedicated to each project was very less, I enjoyed every bit of this experience at BlueRose Publishers Pvt Ltd.

As my first experience in a commercial setting, I got a lot of creative freedom to explore concepts through my work, have a one-on-one conversation with the respective authors, read exclusive manuscripts and work on various projects. I also got the opportunity to learn the nitty-gritty of publication design. How to design a cover, a spine, a book, a poster and other printables like business cards and magazines. I also learnt to set my documents for print settings.

Few of my files even went wrong while going for print, but I was always treated kindly and taught things.

One of the most satisfying aspects of my job role was being able to see my name under ‘Cover Designer’ on the copyrights page for the various projects I worked on.

Certain important things I learnt in my internship are as follows -

1. Importance of Time Management

2. A designer must learn to convince clients, because no matter how much effort you make if you can’t sell it to the client, chances are you would have to redo it again.

3. Creativity flourishes with hard work, in tight schedules and when you least expect it to.

4. Spine of the Book is as important as the margins and colour setup of the InDesign document.

5. Be Vocal. If you will ask for help, help shall be provided. But you gotta ask.

6. Creative blocks are real but sleep helps.

7. You always design it in your head first.

8. Pen/pencil & paper will always be your best friends; literally.

9. Don’t be scared of trying something unusual. Chances are the client would like it if you try something different. If not, at least you would have the bliss of trying something interesting.

10. Type play is important, in book covers.

11. The world hasn’t stopped amidst the lockdown, and so shouldn’t we.

Publication Industry is a very hectic industry; it’s demanding, but it’s worth it. Seeing a print or a new book that you got an opportunity to work on would always be the most satisfactory thing for me as a design student. And for experiencing that, at the back -end was quite an exciting experience for me and for that I would always be thankful.