Thoughts from the SYP 2009 conference

From Lucy Austin, MA Publishing '09-'10...
"Having staggered through the howling gales and incessant rain to various tube stations and bus stops across London a group of MA Publishing students emerged from the escalators onto Paddington station where they would begin their journey to the SYP 2009 conference (unless of course they were the lucky few to travel in luxury with Keith). With ‘The Impact of Publishing on Society’ as the theme, the day brought with it the ideology of literature, particularly prevalent in Robert Sharp’s talk where he alluded to the power of the spoken word over any other medium in the arts (do check out www.englishpen.org/ to be thoroughly inspired) and a general sense of well being at the thought that our industry can fulfil various important social responsibilities. A particularly humbling experience for the student was to hear the concise and inspiring delivery from Helen Fraser, Managing Director of Penguin, who broke the tough business façade of corporate publishing to articulate a deeper routed sensitivity towards literature and society, convincing the lecture theatre of the positive social impact they seek to obtain. Additionally Chris Meade and David Attwooll successfully pulled digital publishing out of the confused and sometimes dull objectivism it currently inhabits into more of a creative light with some very inspiring thoughts on the future (do have a look at www.futureofthebook.org/). Overall a very interesting and successful day."

- Jump to the SYP 2009 conference site

Design, the visual language

'Design as visual language' was the topic of a set of seminars that I gave recently at the Society of Young Publishers 2009 conference, held at Oxford Brookes university. This subject is one that deserves serious consideration wherever you're aiming in the publishing industry. Non-designers tend to think of their productions in terms of the words and literal meanings they contain, but the visual presentation of the content, in terms of the arrangement of elements in the page (or screen, we're in a cross-media world) and the handling of type provides a parallel channel of communication... a visual language that works in parallel with the textual, literal one.

By learning something of how grids and page layouts work and developing a greater understanding of how type choice can strengthen or undermine the actual message -before anyone even reads a word, too - you can improve your usefulness in the publishing industry AND enjoy it that much more.

Specialist vs Expert, a 21st century perspective

In publishing it is important to understand at least the fundamentals of the various disciplines of those around you. You don't have to be a 'jack of all trades', and this isn't about pretending to be something you're not. This is all about being more effective and more flexible, having the ability to appreciate issues and possibilities outside your core area of expertise.
This doesn't mean the end of the specialist - although that's arguably not the ideal title. 'Expert' has less of an exclusive, blinkered implication: specialists do one thing well, end of story. Experts do (at least) one thing well but not exclusively.
Become experts, not specialists, in an area of publishing. One is 20th century (even 19th C) thinking, the other is resolutely 21st century.