A printing designer develops and implements in design layouts concepts for the design of printed products - magazines, books, postcards, newspapers, calendars, posters, labels, etc. The work is creative, but requires strict adherence to technology.

Short description

A printing designer (printed products, technical designer ) creates original layouts - these are preliminary, trial copies, samples of printed publications, according to which the printing house will produce books, newspapers, magazines, business cards, etc.

In a general sense, design is artistic construction. In printing, design development means the graphic design of a layout not only to the taste of the customer, the most important thing is to do everything in accordance with the technical requirements for printing specific products.

The original layout, which is made by the printing designer, is a technical task for the printing machine. For everything that is printed in a printing house in any edition (from an exclusive copy to mass production), and it doesn’t matter what the output will be - a miniature sticker or a large-scale billboard, you need a layout.

Features of the profession

The task of a printing designer is to develop a layout in such a way as to ensure ease of perception and quality of the image on the printed medium. A printing designer always works taking into account the technological features of the product printing process, so he must:

• understand the principles, capabilities and nuances of printing equipment;
• have a clear understanding of the post-printing processes of products;
• take into account the media on which the finished product will be released;
• know the properties of different types of paper, paints and other types of printing materials;
• understand the features of color rendering in printing.

An experienced printing designer will ask the printing house for technical requirements before developing a layout, because each printing house has its own specific printing equipment.  

In general, printing design is the layout of a layout for printing on printing equipment. One image may require the use of several types of printing, and all layers must be separated and each type of equipment must be assigned its own. The printing designer must take all this into account in his work in order to get the right layout - one that not only looks good on a computer monitor, but also ensures high-quality printing.

What does a print designer do?

• Develops design layouts:
  • printed products of all types;
  • logos (if necessary);
  • interior design and environment for various events (presswalls, posters, banners, etc.);
  • presentations;
  • magazine and book covers;
  • souvenirs.
• Processes images for printing.
• Engaged in pre-press preparation of layouts according to technical requirements.
• Collaborates with printing houses: transfers ready-made layouts to them and controls the production of products.
• Communicates with clients.

The main working tools of a printing designer: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Indesign, CorelDraw. The finished layout (this is a type of electronic graphic file) is sent to the printing house in PDF, TIFF or PostScript format, and less often in other formats.

Where to work

Places of work of a designer of printed (printing) products:

• printing houses;
• design studios;
• publishing houses;
• MASS MEDIA;
• advertising agencies;
• freelancing