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The_Catalog_Production
| The Catalog Production
After the completion of the planning process, catalog production
starts. These are the steps when producing a catalog:
First is the gathering of data. Before any design to exist you
must first gather a complete list of all the products you will
include in the catalog, as well as all non-product copy. If some
items will be grouped together as one catalog photo block such
as a shirt that comes in 4 sizes and 6 colors, check to ensure
that it is clear for the designer. Sort further the list into
categories or spreads.
Second, write the product copy. Although most every company can
pull a list of products, item numbers and prices from their
computer system, virtually no company maintains proper product
name and descriptive copy. Product names used in inventory
software typically have names like "IVY T-SHIRT RED MEDIUM." In
your catalog that same product would instead be called "Ivy
T-shirt", available in red and size medium.
Keep in mind that the descriptive copy for general customer
catalogs should range from 30 to 60 words. Business and
technical catalogs should be as brief as achievable while
getting across the information a corporate buyer needs to make
an informed purchasing decision.
The third step is to plan and design the overall look and feel
of the catalog. In the planning questions you may have
determined the catalog dimensions, catalog objective and catalog
audience. With that information you can design the master layout
for the catalog. All page design will originate from this master
layout. In the master layout, you can design all common page
elements, grids, design themes, and type specifications for all
type of occurrences. To examine the design specs, you can mock
up a couple of pages.
Fourth, design the spreads and cover. After the overall look and
feel of the catalog has been designed, product list and copy
created, you can now sketch out each spread to identify the
items on the spread and their approximate layout. You can also
indicate any product photography that needs special shots such
as with a background or model, and sketch approximately how we
envision the photograph's layout.
The fifth step is product photography. This step involves the
acquisition of all the picture and graphic files. The next thing
to do is to process the images in Photoshop. There you can
adjust the levels, add a clipping path and convert the image to
CMYK.
Finally, you can now layout the catalog. This is the most
thrilling part of designing a catalog. Here you can put all the
elements together on the page to come up with a functional and
attention grabbing catalog.
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,its more than enough.
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