The Monddi book design process
One of our favourite kinds of projects to take on is book design and print; these are incredibly personal projects that we love to see to the end. We have a lot of experience ranging from children’s illustrated stories and picture books to local history books, autobiographies, poetry books, and novels. If you’re working on a book at the moment, then read on to see exactly how the design process looks once you bring your idea to us.
#1 – Initial consultation
Our first meeting regarding a book project allows us to figure out exactly what you need regarding size, quantities, ISBN details (if you don’t already have an ISBN number, then we are able to talk you through the process), and so much more. We’ll discuss whether you’d like the book to be colour throughout with supporting imagery, black and white with photos only on middle pages, and if you have a cover design already.
Depending on the type of book, we’ll ask you different questions, as children’s picture books are far different to work on than a 300-page book on the history of your home town! We’ll also ask you about your target audience and how you’re planning to distribute the book once finished, as this can have a huge impact on the design of the book, especially font choices and cover design.
Following this meeting, we’ll put a proposal together with an estimated cost and send this to you before the hard work begins.
#2 – Content transfer
Once a project has officially begun, step one requires you to supply us with all relevant content; namely copy text and imagery if required. Clients send this to us in a variety of formats, however our preferred options would be with the final edited text in a word document, and all images labelled in a folder as high quality jpegs.
If needed, we can use placeholder copy to allow us to make progress on the layout and design elements, leaving you with plenty of time to get that final edit signed off. We keep you informed of any issues or missing elements throughout, keeping the project on schedule.
#3 – Initial design
Our design team will then begin the layout design, taking the initial consultation into consideration to make decisions about fonts, cover design, chapter titles, and image placement. We conduct an edit at this stage, using our software to check for double spacing where it isn’t needed, and any other edits we may have noticed when laying out the text.
If you already have an idea for a cover, we’ll bring it to life in this stage, or use our expertise to craft one based on discussions from the consultation. We often provide you with multiple options to ensure you end up with an eye-catching book.
#4 – First proof
Once the initial design has been completed, we then send a digital proof and, if requested, print a hard copy proof of the book for you to have a thorough read over. As a certified B Corp design agency, we try to print as few items as possible, however some people find that the best way to proofread a text-heavy document is with a physical copy.
We then ask for any changes to be returned to us, where we then conduct a more thorough edit based on changes identified by you in the proofread. If you have any design tweaks such as font changes, chapter titles, page numbers etc., then this is where we make those amendments too.
#5 – Further proofs
The second proof sees us sending the new version of the book to you digitally, and providing a printed proof if requested. Again, we ask for any changes to be returned to us for further amendments if needed. This process continues until you’re completely happy with the book – we understand that it’s often a very personal project, and so we’ll happily take the time to make sure you’re 100% happy before production.
#6 – Publication requirements
At this stage, we’ll begin to replace placeholder information at the beginning of the book such as date of first printing, copyright notice, and ISBN number. If you don’t have an ISBN number, don’t worry as we can help you fill out all of the required information. ISBNs may seem scary and official, but the process is actually pretty straightforward, and gives you a lot more options when it comes to selling your book.
#7 – Printing and completing
We’ll then create a spine design and prepare the cover and inside pages for printing. We then get everything into production for you, giving you an estimated completion time. This varies drastically depending on page count and quantity. Once they are all ready, we conduct a thorough quality control check, before delivering the finished book to you, or inviting you into the office to collect if you’re local, which is always an exciting moment for our design team!
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