Producing a Catalog
Producing a Catalog
By Maricon
Williams
Before you can produce a catalog, you must undergo first the
planning
stage. In the planning stage, you envision your objective. What do
you
want to communicate? What tone or ambiance is necessary to make
the
objective apparent? Another thing that you should consider is the
audience. Knowing the potential readers may help you create and
communicate the message, tone and identity that you want. The next
thing
to ask is who will be the designer? Looking for a designer is hard
because
only few designers of design companies specialize in catalog. A
good
designer will give you the style you are looking for but an
unskilled
catalog designer will create technical difficulties resulting in
cost
overruns and delays. If you have already chosen a designer, do not
forget
to choose an expert photographer in connection to catalog. The
last thing
to consider in the planning stage is the budget. Seek help from
catalog
designers or producers so that your catalog will fit within your
budget.
After planning, decide on the initial design
considerations. This includes the kind of catalog you want to
create, the
number of products you want to appear per page, the number of
pieces you
want to be printed and other details such as envelope, index,
table of
contents, sales terms and the likes.
Now you can set the
schedule.
Producing a catalog is like taking a long road trip. Efficient
planning
will keep you on track, on time and within budget. Usually, the
creation
of a new catalog takes about two months for design and
photography.
Revised catalogs can take less time depending on the degree of
modification.
After setting the schedule, you can now
formulate
product information and have some creative copy. This will include
data
such as item name, item numbers, prices, descriptions and
groupings. Most
native data lack comprehensive product name and description copy.
Decide
whether you or your design company will write the additional copy
essential for the catalog. You must keep the data to save your
time and
expense in case it will be needed again in the future.
The
next
step is product photography and catalog imagery. To prepare for
photography collect and categorize samples of all your products.
Then
label them in a distinct location with their product code. That
way the
photographer can match the product code with the image filename
for quick
addition by the designers.
The last step is the selection
of a
printer and mail house. Printing catalogs is a fairly specialized
printing
process. You need to hand over to a printer at least 4 weeks prior
to
printing to warrant paper delivery. The printing, bindery and
mailing will
take about 2 weeks. Prepare your mailing data in advance of your
print
date. Your printer, mail house or catalog design company can
assist you
with data formats and schedule.
About the author
I love
reading. Give me
a book and I'll finish it in one sitting.Reading is the chance to
be
transported to a different world and so is writing.I'm more
enthusiastic
about writing.I can only imagine that feeling when I hear a
complete
stranger talking about my ideas which read on an article
somewhere.To
relay my message to as many people is the same as touching people
with
music. And most of the time,it's more than enough.
A9 Copyright Maricon Williams
Article Source: http://www.goarticles.com/