design

My Internship with Barrington Stoke

February 2nd, 2017 by evangelia_kyriazi-perri | Posted in Blog, Internships | Comments Off on My Internship with Barrington Stoke
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

2017 could not have started better for me, as I was offered an internship at Barrington Stoke. Barrington Stoke is a children’s and YA publisher, founded by Patience Thomson and Lucy Juckes, a mother and daughter-in-law team with personal experience of the way that dyslexia can lock children out of the world of books and reading. They came up with the idea of books that would open the door to more young people.  They developed a dyslexia-friendly font, pioneered the use of tinted paper and began to commission short, achievable books from an amazing range of authors.

The Perks of Being a Publishing Intern!

Over the years, the company has gained many awards, such as Children’s Publisher of the Year, and many supporters due to their collaborations with exceptional and award-winning authors and illustrators. Working for a children’s publisher for 5 weeks is an amazing experience. Currently being in the middle of my time there, I received valuable guidance, advice and the chance to develop my editorial, social media and design skills, as I’m responsible for updating the company’s blog to a great extent, using WordPress.

Working in an office is one of the best experiences I could have gained, because I always wanted to work in this environment, collaborating with other workmates and get an insight into working for a publisher. Barrington Stoke  is small but very friendly company, with many tasks and responsibilities for the staff. As an intern, I’ve undertaken various tasks so far, helping by completing office administrative tasks such as mailing the new book catalogues to booksellers such as Waterstones. My favourite task was definitely blogging, because I own my own food and lifestyle blog, so it was interesting to create blogs about book titles and mini author interviews called ‘Five Questions’.

Working on blog posts for the book titles!

 

During my internship so far, I’ve been using Indesign and Photoshop tools, to edit pictures and create banners for the blog posts I was responsible to create. This helped me very much to practise my design skills and familiasize myself with design tools, which will help me in my future career. At Barrington Stoke, I’ve also been responsible for proof-reading some of the book catalogues and stock lists, and have explored the editorial department.

I consider myself lucky to have worked at Barrington Stoke and I believe this internship strengthened my passion for social media and digital marketing, helping me pursuing a career after my postgrad.

 

By Elina Kyriazi-Perri

Vintage Books Reveal Newly Designed Russian Classics

November 17th, 2016 by therese_campbell | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Vintage Books Reveal Newly Designed Russian Classics
Tags: , , ,

With autumn slowly passing and the winter months soon upon us, curling up with an old classic, by the warmth of a roaring fire – or only-slightly-working radiator if you’re a student – is the perfect way to end a cold and dreary evening.

The Vintage Russian Collection
With these winter evenings in mind, Vintage Books have recently revealed on Facebook and Twitter, a series of newly designed Russian classics. To mark the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the series will be released in January, 2017, and will include six texts by authors such as Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Mikhail Bulgakov. Readers will be given the chance to delve into post and pre-revolutionary Russia once more with these exquisitely designed books.

In an interview with Waterstones, Suzanne Dean, Creative Director at Vintage, discussed her inspiration for the books unique covers. She explained that while republishing classical texts was tricky – there are so many editions already available – her aim was to create a series that readers would ‘cherish, collect and keep.’ She wanted to give each novel a contemporary twist whilst also conveying the era in which they were written. A mesh of different patterns can be found on each cover, with some being taken from and inspired by traditional Russian dress. The different tones of red used on each book give them all an individuality while simultaneously bringing a unity to the collection.

The intention to ‘evoke the essence of each novel’ in their design certainly comes through and each carefully considered colour and pattern breathes new life into these timeless classics. Any true book-lover would be proud to have this beautifully designed series as part of their collection.

Waterstones is currently the only bookshop to stock the series and all six books can be pre-ordered before their general release in January.

by Therese Campbell

Danny Frew, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2016-17

October 13th, 2016 by danny_frew | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Danny Frew, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2016-17
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

dpsmall

I’m sure that most can easily relate to the feeling of standing on the precipice of change, of being faced with a crucial choice and not quite being confident in taking a leap of faith.

 

That was very much my mindset in the two years that followed my graduation from the University of Strathclyde’s B.A. in English. I was sure that I wanted to continue my studies, but was not completely sure in which manner I should go about capitalizing on my academic experience while also attempting to develop new skills. I quietly pondered this problem for the next two years.

 

Thankfully this wasn’t necessarily a doom-and-gloom tale of post-graduate malaise – or at least not in its entirety. The interim between my studies afforded me some interesting professional development opportunities. I managed to gain an invaluable introduction to bookselling with Waterstones, proficiency in arts administration and content management with Playwrights’ Studio Scotland and thereafter honed my commercial acumen in a lengthy stay as sheet music buyer for Blackwell’s South Bridge store.

 

In each of these roles I was lucky enough to be working within literary environments in which my personal interests were considered to be useful attributes. I grew to appreciate how multifaceted the literary sector is and particularly just how demanding the business of bookselling can be.

 

Having been so exposed to the inner-workings of the bookselling industry and having been made responsible for developing relationships with publishing contacts, I suppose that it was only natural that I would begin to consider what employment in the publishing industry may be like. This thought germinated and I began to seriously consider postgraduate study.

 

In surveying my options, the MLitt at the University of Stirling became a clear front runner. The course was well marketed. There was an international reputation to take note of, an impressive body of published research, and of course a gorgeous campus to revel in. Yet, most important was that the course placed a strong focus on vocational training. Issues of employability were central to my decision making process and so after deducing this I was not only reassured about the MLitt – I was sold.

 

Now having entered the fourth week of course, I’m pleased to announce that I am more confident than ever in my decision to embark on this particular course. I consistently feel challenged and engaged and I am delighting in the chance to explore the fields of design and production. I am particularly interested in how the physical book will continue to adapt to the expansion of the digital landscape and in which ways traditional binding and printing techniques may be repurposed so as to affirm literary heritage.

 

The return to academia is already proving to be a challenge, but I’m ready for the battle. I know that I will graduate with industry savvy and find myself ready to enter the workplace.

 

Post-graduation I intend to seek permanent employment in the U.S.

 

Links: 

 

 

 

The First in Our Visiting Speakers Series, 2014-15

October 7th, 2014 by Kiley Pole | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on The First in Our Visiting Speakers Series, 2014-15
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

On Thursday October 2, we had the first in our visiting speakers series. Chani McBain, Leah McDowell and Nadia Suchdev provided us with a plethora of information on not only their specified topics but also their experiences in the publishing industry.

To start the session off Leah McDowell and Nadia Suchdev introduced us to the Society of Young Publishers Scotland (SYP). We learned how the organization is run by volunteers with the aim to help and inform those who have been in the publishing business for less than 10 years, or those like us who are attempting to break into the business. SYP Scotland offers different events and workshops available to members (to become a member it costs £24 per annum) that help put their name out there and start the all dreaded networking. Included in the membership is free entry to all events, a newsletter, job bulletins, discounted tickets to the annual SYP Conference and participation in the mentoring programme.

Some of upcoming events include, “How to network for those who hate networking” on October 23rd and the Booksellers Panel Event on November 19th.

Leah and Nadia also encouraged us to not only join, but apply to become committee members. As a member of the committee you would have a hand in putting on the events throughout the year that really help people.

You can find them on Facebook SYP Scotland and on Twitter @SYPscotland.

Chani McBain spoke to us about Floris Books and more specifically the internship available from them. She gave us some useful advice about using our time in the course to make those connections and getting a lot of different experience in the different fields of publishing. Her main tagline about internships being that we might be wrong. In our heart of hearts we may think we are meant to be editors when in reality we are best suited for production or marketing, that really we could love a field that we never thought possible.

The internship at Floris Books is one day a week (which day that is they are flexible and willing to work with us) in a “marketing focused” capacity. That does not mean that the intern (one this semester and one next) will solely be stuffing envelops, although that is part of it, but that they will be working on press releases, marketing briefs, and flyers to name a few. Since Floris Books is a small company, composing of 11 employees, the interns will have the opportunity to witness and be part of many small projects and get to see the whole publishing process.

What Floris lacks in number of employees they make up for in their plethora of teas to chose from.

These three ladies gave us lots of useful advice, stemming from their experiences as newcomers to the industry and from when they were students as well. Namely, that internships are good, if not essential in getting to know the business as well as getting to know yourself. Are you really an editor? Or, are you a literary agent? This is our industry, it pays to become involved. Take advantage of every opportunity, not just internships but events, panels, book and literary festivals. And, when it comes dissertation time, choose a topic that is useful, something that not only will inform you about the industry but something that is geared to the type of job you want.

The Mood Board Project

December 11th, 2013 by Amalia Koulakioti | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on The Mood Board Project
Tags: , ,

Definitely one of the most enjoyable activities of the course was the creation of a mood board. Our mood board had to be related to our publishing project and contain interesting things that might act as an inspiration for us.

It was a perfect opportunity to show our creativity and to think about our upcoming publishing projects.

My mood board included images of Greek goddesses, covers of favorite fantasy and dystopian novels, a draft sketch of how I imagine my cover to be, and a sample of different typefaces that I might use in the actual project.

Of course creating the mood board was only the first part of the fun. Bringing them with us in class and observing what everybody else had created, was the second.

The class filled with colors, pictures, even fabrics. All of the students had tried their best to create beautiful and inspiring mood boards. Liam’s mood board was full of colorful landscapes, traditional dances and Scottish monuments.

Dana’s mood board was a playful look at one of the most iconic British heroes, Sherlock Holmes. Her whole mood board looked like a children’s novelty book.

Laura (Jones) presented her favorite ampersand in a purple font, with various different pictures and images inside it, while Aija’s mood board was in a black font, with dozens of letters embracing the protagonist of her story.

Clem’s chest looked like it had come out straight from the pages of a novel, with letters, cards, and books about the Great War inside of it.

Jana’s mood board was so deliciously medieval. Arthurian legends, wonderful castles, beautiful manuscripts found their way into her project (her husky was adorable as well!).

Alexis was purely…anatomical. A ribcage, a human heart, the muscles in an arm, the eye cornea and a skull, were all part of her mood board.

Keisha presented nostalgic pictures of her academic years, combined with popular cartoons like the Simpsons, Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry.

Ana combined pictures, textures, and words to create a beautiful demonstration of her upcoming Braille project.

Vidhya showed us the sights of her hometown, the customs and traditions of a typical Indian city.

Laura (Muir) collected pictures of some of the most fascinating tattoos and Rosie’s mood board was full of flowers, lovely drawings and…bees.

Fanny’s mood board was romantic; the box that she used was like an object you can find in a Jane Austen novel, as well as the letters inside.

Lastly, Monidipa collected images from dystopian landscapes and futuristic cities, along with her logo for her publishing project.

Amalia Koulakioti

Qinyu Sun, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2012-2013

January 22nd, 2013 by Qinyu Sun | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Qinyu Sun, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2012-2013
Tags: , , , , ,

Hello, you can call me Safina, and  now I am studying on the MLitt in Publishing Studies course in the University of the Stirling.  I am from Shanghai which is located in the east of China. When I was an university student, I always invited my friends to visit the bookshops together and had a cup of tea. Now I have missed that style of life. Anyone who wants to do it with me will make me feel so excited

“Knowledge is the power.” It’s the familiar sentence for us to know during my life of studies in China. So that is one of the reason for me to further my studies here.

My undergraduate degree in Exhibition management and planning was completed in my hometown.  During that time, I took a lot of courses, such as marketing, public relation, economic, accounting, design and so on. I have to do some part time jobs with advertisement companies and some exhibitions. I like creation and design. Fashion is what I purchase now. So you can image that I want to be an editor in the fashion magazine. Design, planning and writing can make me become an editor in a fashion magazine’s company. I wish my dream will come true.

Now I have been here for several months, I have learnt a lot in the publishing major. If you want to more about my daily life, you can come to my facebook or Sina Weibo. 

Creating an app: the initial stages

July 12th, 2012 by Paula_Morris | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Creating an app: the initial stages
Tags: , , , , , ,

The months have whizzed by since our first meetings in February with Claire Squires and Padmini Ray Murray to discuss the parameters of the AHRC Book Unbound  project.

Neither Scott Russell nor I live in Stirling, so our first production meeting was a phone call one chilly Monday in late February, where we discussed everything from mission statements to page counts, Twitter feeds to job descriptions. As Scott mentioned in his blog post, we presented these job descriptions, along with a call for content, to the Publishing and Creative Writing students, and waited for their response.

In March, the full steering committee – the Gang of Four – met to discuss the applicants for the project assistant roles. We had a lot of CVs and ideas to sift through, but we soon agreed on the three most suitable candidates: Helen Lewis-McPhee as Associate Editor, and two Production Assistants, Louisa Preston and Aileen Taylor. Our aim was to create a balanced team, with a range of experience (and, hopefully, some good ideas).

Our fleshed-out production team met in April, in a typically dispiriting university conference room. We gathered around the white board and discussed practical issues – like information-sharing via Podio and Dropbox – as well as creative ones. What kind of content could we expect for the app we were developing? What kind of attributes did we want the finished product to have? How would everything work together? What could we call this thing?

At this stage, Scott said, no idea was out of bounds. (‘Out of Bounds’: one of our title ideas!) Everything went up on the white board. We agreed that none of the title ideas were quite the thing, but that was OK. Maybe something would emerge from the content, or from the process of reading and working with the content. Two-and-a-half months later, we still don’t have a title. It’s still OK. I’m confident that something will strike one – or all – of us, as the app continues to take shape and come to life.

 

The Book Unbound – a short introduction

June 26th, 2012 by Scott_Russell | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on The Book Unbound – a short introduction
Tags: , , , , , ,

The Book Unbound project aims to research the impact of new, digital technologies on the process of publishing and to create an iPad app demonstrating some of these technologies.

The idea was developed within the Centre for International Publishing Studies at University of Stirling in mid 2011. In late 2011 the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) called for research projects based around the concept of digital transformations. The Publishing Studies team, led by Professor Claire Squires, saw this as an opportunity to integrate the app idea with more formal academic research. We wrote a proposal and submitted it in November 2011.

After the AHRC approved the project this February, we assembled our project team: Claire Squires and Padmini Ray Murray from Publishing (carrying out case studies); Scott Russell (designing and developing the iPad app); and author Paula Morris, a lecturer in Stirling’s Creative Writing programme (editing and writing).

On 29 March the project was presented to postgraduate students in Publishing Studies and Creative Writing, and the students were invited to apply for several project assistant jobs. Claire introduced the project, Paula Morris described the opportunities for potential content providers, and Scott Russell demonstrated the proposed software platform, Adobe Digital Publishing Suite.

DPS was chosen for several reasons. As part of Adobe’s InDesign page layout application, Digital Publishing Suite allows iPad apps to be developed without using coding or other bespoke development services. This simplifies the production process and makes app development available to a wide variety of publishers. As the industry-leading page layout application, InDesign is already used by many publishers to create books and magazines.

Pricing for DPS is also multi-tiered with a low cost entry level, making it very competitive with traditional printing and making app development a possibility for individuals and small organisations. We chose to develop an app over an ebook as the interactive features offered by the app format offered more scope for transformation than those of an ebook.

The project has a fairly short deadline – the end of August 2012 – so the project group immediately set about creating a production plan, developing designs and creating a call for entries.

Anna Keville, MLitt Publishing Studies 2011/2012

December 5th, 2011 by Anna_Keville | Posted in Student Profiles | Comments Off on Anna Keville, MLitt Publishing Studies 2011/2012
Tags: , , , , , , ,

In my final year studying English Literature at the University of Glasgow I realised I was going to need to make a decision about what to do after graduation (and for the rest of my life). I’d done a very good job of avoiding the decision up until that point. They were innocent days.

After doing a degree in reading books and quite enjoying myself, it made sense that I should aim to work with them. Getting a job in Design and Production in a publishing house would be ideal. I love to read but I have a passion for how a book looks and feels. Feeling woefully underprepared to get such a job it seemed a publishing course was what I needed. There are a few in the UK but Stirling suited me best. It offers practical skills, which I’m very much in need of. It is in Scotland, a lovely bonus for me having lived here for four years. It also seemed very supportive, which it has turned out to be. Our lecturers actually care that we learn what is needed and that we can make our way in the world when the year is out. So far I’m enjoying learning lots of new things and gaining more and more confidence that when it’s time to face the grown-up world of too few jobs, I may be one of the lucky ones.

Publishing students win prizes

July 8th, 2010 by cs48@stir.ac.uk | Posted in Blog | Comments Off on Publishing students win prizes
Tags: , , , ,

Last week saw the graduation ceremony for out 2009-10 cohort of MLitt in Publishing Studies students.

Among the graduating students were some prize winners. Siân Jenkins won The Ruari McLean Prize for Publishing Design (named in honour of the celebrated Scots book designer who died in 2006). The Prize is awarded annually to the student in the MLitt in Publishing Studies who produces an outstanding work of publishing design. Siân was awarded the prize for her work on The Knights of Whorlton, a spread from which can be seen below.

The Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication Dissertation Prize, for the most outstanding Dissertation, was awarded to Katrina Melvin, for her dissertation ‘Chronicling Change: Representations of women in the mainstream publishing workplace 1970-2010’.

Finally, Siân Jenkins was the recipient of a second prize as the most distinguished student in the MLitt in Publishing Studies. The Routledge Prize is given annually to the most distinguished student in the MLitt in Publishing Studies, and takes the form of £200 work of books donated by Routledge, the Group Sales Director of which is a former University of Stirling graduate, now Honorary Professor and Chair of our Industry Advisory Board, Christoph Chesher.

Well done to both Siân and Kat for their hard work and excellent results!