Looking Good In Print

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Title:	Looking Good In Print
Author:	Roger C. Parker
Publisher:	Ventana Press; USA
ISBN:	0-940087-05-7
First Published:	1988
Rating:	8 out of 10

Desktop publishing was a new industry in the late eighties, and this book has since been referred to as the grandfather of desktop publishing references.

Mr Parker has built a reputation since he wrote this book as being a desktop publishing industry "guru".

He has written several books on the topic of good design principles for desktop publishing including specialist tools such as Aldus PageMaker, Quark Express, Harvard Graphics, WordPerfect, Microsoft Office 2000, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft PowerPoint.

His general design topics include design for the web, laptop presentations, marketing, sales, newsletters, and this book about looking good in print.

I confess I bought this book way back in 1989 to assist me in my voluntary role as editor of the NSW Gem Review trade magazine newsletter. It was my first introduction to desktop publishing, and I browsed through it at the time, but never took the time to read it thoroughly until now (some 17 years later!).

You might expect that a subject matter such as desktop publishing has changed a lot over that timespan, and I too had my reservations before now. However, I am happy to report that this book does not venture into product specific details, instead covering the basics of good design principles which can be applied to desktop publishing. They are just as relevent today, as they were in the past.

Good design principles have stood the test of time, and this book is a testiment to good document design. I can attest that the advice within this book is exactly correct with my opinion and experience.

'Looking Good In Print' consists of twelve chapters in three sections. Section one covers "The elements of graphic design" including some introductory discussion and observations of desktop publishing principles, detailed listings of page design elements, and a top ten discussion of design pitfalls to avoid.

Section two "Putting your knowledge to work" demonstrates before-and-after examples of design makeovers for advertisements, brochures, catalogs, correspondence, flyers, manuals, newsletters, and reports. Each example has detailed descriptions and reasoning for the design changes made.

Section three "Getting down to business" provides details on developing your own format and style, by exploring practical design for desktop publishing using examples of various types of projects you're likely to produce. This section addresses design and page layout with illustrated example projects.

'Looking Good In Print' is a design book for users with little or no graphic design background who want to produce professional-looking effective graphic-designed documentation. This design resource guide outlines the design skills necessary to create attractive, effective printed materials, such as newsletters, advertisements, brochures, manuals, and other documents.

Although it was written before the advent of the internet, portable computers and digital presentations, the design principles it describes are just as applicable to these newer concepts as well.
This book has stood the test of time, and is just as relevant and applicable today as it was in 1988.
I give it a score of 8 out of 10.

Looking Good In Print

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