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Good Designs Stand the Test of Time

What designs excite you, and why?

As a youngster growing up in the 1960s, I can clearly remember the classic lines of the first Ford Mustangs. The design of that car excited me. As the decades rolled on, I became disappointed in later versions of the classic muscle car, until now. American motor companies are going back to their tried and tested models and coming out with winning designs again. 

Another champion of good, clean, innovative design is Apple computer. Products, accessories, packaging, website, and advertising carry a distinct look—crisp, clean, uncluttered.

So what examples of design excite you? Just look around; you're bound to find something!

Your Vote Counts!

And you thought the election was over!

In addition to regular posts to this blog, from time to time we will post cover comps for your review (thanks David C. Cook for the idea!) We want genuine feedback from you, the end user of our products. Tell us what you like and what you dislike about the offered comps. We'll use the information we glean from you to refine our designs.

What's in a Name?

Purposeful Design Publications (PDP) is the publishing division of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). Under the PDP brand, ACSI publishes text books, trade books, secondary Bible curriculum, newsletters, and magazines. PDP's mission is to equip, inspire, and serve ACSI member schools worldwide.

Each product that we publish is purposefully designed to reflect the core mission of ACSI—to enable Christian educators and schools worldwide to effectively prepare students for life.

The publishing services department at ACSI is comprised of a team of creative editors and designers (cre8ives) who are committed to applying the gifts and resources that God has blessed them with to His glory. Through the postings on this blog we hope to provide our readers with practical tips on how to improve any design project you may have been tasked with.

So what's up with the title "The Job Folder"? Well, since you asked, each project that flows through the publishing services department starts with a client submitting electronic files to our gatekeeper, Claire Williams. Claire has the client start a job folder which contains hard copies of the electronic files, contact info, printing specs, and anything else that the editor or designer might need to know about the job. Claire then enters this information into a centralized database and assigns a job number and an ISBN number for books.

From Claire the folder goes to the editorial team (Christina, Gina, Cheryl, and John) for an initial edit. The edited file then goes to the design team (Julie, Lindsey, Bethany, and Mike) for layout. Once the layout is done, the file goes back to the editorial team for a layout edit, then to design for any layout adjustments, and back to editing for a final proof edit. The final layout then goes to the client for approval, and then to the printer or web master for publishing. This work flow can take upwards of two months to complete!

But wait, that's not all!

The designer is responsible for getting quotes (at least three) from print vendors, then packages the files to send to the chosen vendor. Then the printing process begins, and that's a whole other blog post. When the printer has delivered the goods, the designer checks the shipment to make sure we got what we ordered. The job folder comes full circle to Claire for filing, thus ending the arduous journey of the job folder. The job folder has put on some weight during its long journey, picking up approval signatures, print outs, quotes, and purchase orders. Claire then tucks it safely in its proper resting place in our filing system.

What started as random thoughts in an author's mind has become a collection of purposefully designed pixels on paper. So, next time you're tempted to toss the piece of "junk mail" in the circular bin, you know just how much effort went into sending it to you.