Desktop Publishing

With expertise encompassing the Adobe, Microsoft and Macromedia software suites (as well as QuarkXPress, Scribus and a number of web-based applications), I have extensive experience in desktop publishing (DTP) and document creation for both print and electronic mediums. Deadly with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), I take your content from the raw form it arrives in, to professional, polished product, ready for print or web release, with a remarkable turnaround time. Once the content has been edited (with both line editing and copyediting services also offered), I prepare your documents aesthetically for the chosen medium, whether in static print or dynamic hypermedia publishing.

Like most things, the aesthetic of publishing is a language of sorts, and one that draws deeply from the metaphoric aspects of language and representation. An entire visual shorthand already exists for expressing anything, and I view my role in DTP to be in translating the meaning of a text into its visual metaphorical equivalent. While this can be accomplished through the cover that a book is often first judged by, it is also accomplished in more subtle ways, according to the conventions of the medium. Something as understated as font selection or line spacing can also communicate such things as genre, tone, content, branding and voice, to more effectively engage your target audience.

Chosen font, colour palate, typeset and general layout all act to influence the reception of any visual metaphors or genre conventions employed. Humans are inescapably visual creatures, and arrive with pre-coded associations even with the subtleties of font selection. Employing the conventions of a genre or branding enables your message to reach your audience with precision, and I provide an intimate understanding of these conventions.

A document can be most anything, and is perhaps better conceived as a cultural artifact. Everything is indeed simply language of differing sorts, and I am experienced in the creation of documents and cultural artifacts ranging from books and short stories, websites and blogs, to CD cover art and promotional material for bands and artists. I also build wildly flamboyant computers which illustrate my understanding of, and relation to, visual aesthetics across many mediums. I offer to translate your ideas into lasting and appreciable cultural artifacts that speak clearly to your intended audience.