'Endurance Training' for Electronic Publishing Specialists

Keep your career moving forward

(An excerpt from Stet Again!)

Problem: During our recent search for an art director, we were surprised to discover that, regardless of experience or portfolio, most applicants could not pass a desktop publishing test in the software package they said they knew best. They simply didn't have the range of skills we needed: a talent for creative design accompanied by an understanding of electronic execution.

We're sending most jobs to the printer on disks, not mechanicals, and the art that goes with these jobs is usually part of the electronic file. Such files must be carefully prepared for output to avoid last-minute glitches that require expensive and time-consuming "fixes," color proofs, extra bluelines, and so on.

Our scenario isn't unique; many creative or production groups are looking for graphics professionals with strong software and prepress skills. What advice can I give applicants and aspiring staff members about how to prepare for this exciting but demanding and rapidly changing field?

Solution: Now that desktop technology has spread to the smallest offices and throughout the federal government, clients everywhere expect fast-turnaround electronic design and production, as well as the freedom to make changes at any point in the process. Most production groups can't afford the mistakes that result from putting someone with borderline technical skills on a key job or in charge of the technical performance of others.

Get an idea of what publishers need

An easy place to start your career endurance training is to scan the want ads in your local paper to see what publication design and production software experience employers are looking for. If you have the good fortune to have picked up working skills in QuarkXPress or PageMaker, highlight that fact in your résumé. If not, plan to learn. More newsletters, reports, brochures, and magazines are produced using these softwares than any others.

If you've already acquired strong design skills based on years of experience, consider learning to work with Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia FreeHand, which will give you more flexibility in executing your sketches and concepts for smaller publications like brochures, CD covers, and posters. For desktop publishers, speed and flexibility are of the essence. Quark or PageMaker skills together with proficiency in a word processing software such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect will make you very marketable. Experience with all four will open most doors for you.

Target specialized skills others may lack

Some positions require familiarity with scanning photographs and using an image manipulation software such as Adobe Photoshop to crop and size or touch up digital photos. Employers may also require experience with a graphics software package — Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW!, or Macromedia Freehand, for example. More specialized desktop production software, such as FrameMaker, Interleaf, and Ventura Publisher, is used to produce large, templated publications: directories, manuals, and textbooks. Potential employers with a need for these skills may have a harder time finding available candidates. If you know these types of software, you may qualify for a small group of higher-paying jobs.

Get real: get training

The advanced technical and creative skills that publications designers have are generally acquired over time through experience and exposure to a variety of publishing projects. EEI's art director, Sharon Rogers,* recommends what she calls "active looking": always keeping an eye out for page and type designs that work. But training in the desktop software of your choice at an authorized training center is also a professional necessity. A recognized program of study leading to a certificate or degree can introduce you to the creative concerns associated with design for print. Critiques from knowledgeable instructors or art directors will help you translate your creative concepts into working options and give you problem- solving ideas. Rogers recommends that people who are thinking about undertaking formal study research the instructors first. Do they have strong backgrounds in publishing or publication design? Will they give you a good foundation in the history of typography? If in doubt, talk to former students.

To master Frame, Interleaf, or Ventura will probably require training and at least two years of professional application. If you take a class in QuarkXPress and use it in a publications environment every day for a year, you will probably be able to pass a basic software test. You'll need to understand how to execute design specifications, create a style sheet, work with templates and master pages, format tables, import graphics, and use the automated features of each program.

Look for jobs that let you learn as you work

What if through your workplace or home business you don't get exposure to the software you need to learn? This can be a particularly difficult problem when you want to move into electronic publishing from another computer-related job. Consider making a lateral move into an organization that provides opportunities to advance to projects that will challenge you, while giving you a chance to get up to speed with a greater variety of software.

Too often, I receive résumés from word processing specialists who want to be desktop publishers but who lack the professional skills needed to obtain an entry-level desktop position. If your software skills are limited to WordPerfect, Lotus, dBASE, and MS Mail, you fall into this category. Consider taking a word processing job with an organization that does a variety of publications and work into new projects slowly while learning from others. In short, figure out the kinds of projects you want to be involved with, find out what tools come with the territory, and learn them. The rewards will be worth your effort.

—Amy Lenihan

*Sharon Rogers, who died unexpectedly in December 1995, believed that every creative project gives designers a chance to put a little something of themselves into it — even bread-and-butter work.

Privacy Policy