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.