Real World Print Production

Preface

True confession: I’m not a designer.

Oh, I can place type and graphics in a respectable arrangement on a page, but that’s about it. I can’t conjure up compelling concepts and award-winning designs. But that’s OK. I’m not supposed to be a designer.

I’m a printing person. I spent the first twenty years of my working life in prepress. (Oops, there seems to be a little printing problem there. But, hey—are numbers really that important?) I’m at an awkward stage in my career. I’d like to lie about my age, but I’m reluctant to abbreviate my résumé. Instead, I’ll attempt to convince you that I started in printing at a very young age (“Is that a baby with an X-Acto™ knife?”). You know you’ve been in printing a long time if:

• Your grocery list has hanging ...