Surface Design Bookshelf from Susan Niner Janes {part 4}

Here is part four of our five part feature on some lovely Surface Design books by Susan Niner Janes.

Handmade Packaging Workshop: Tutorials & Professional Advice for Creating Handcrafted Boxes, Labels, Bags & More

By Rachel Wiles
Thames & Hudson 2012
ISBN 978 0 500 29057 6
Paperback £16.95

The handmade look is the antidote to digital overload, and this very clever book shows how to achieve it when designing packaging. This inspiration/information title is ideal for small-run craft designers – those with Etsy shops, or craft fair exhibitors, for example. As you would expect, there are lots of gorgeously-photographed product pics. These are accompanied by case studies, and a follow-up section with how-to info and tuts. Being kreative with kraft paper is the look showcased. Lots of kraft paper, jute, and letterpress printing. Lovingly handcrafted at home – in a good way.

As a packaging geek, this title is seventh heaven for me. There is a section on Packaging Elements with chapters on Labels, Tags, Boxes, and Bags, among others. Happy face.

The book is divided into four sections, Design Considerations (subdivided into Tools & Equipment, Materials and Resources, Printing and Shipping, and Sustainability), the aforementioned Packaging Elements section, Reusable Elements (Fabrics, Recycled and Upcycled materials), and the Going Pro Section which contains some very useful practical tutorials.

Truth in advertising department: the author has devised a nifty system of labelling the featured packaging to reveal whether an item is truly handmade, contains handmade elements reproduced mechanically, is hand-finished, or is “handmade aesthetic”.
There are some very handy tuts in the “Going Pro” section. If you are a packaging geek like me, you have probably un-glued a box to see just how it is made. A dieline is a flatpack pattern template for a package used by a commercial printer. It includes the design outlines, fold lines, cut lines, and finished artwork, dropped onto the packaging template. The “Creating a Dieline” tutorial shows exactly how to create such a template using Adobe Illustrator.

Other tuts include Creating a Repeating Pattern, Using Adobe Illustrator’s 3D Capabilities, and Preparing Files for Letterpress Printing (so very popular right now). Also: Screen Print and Block Printing, for small-scale D-I-Y projects.
Lots of good ideas here, even if you intend to use them for gift packaging rather than income-generating activity. Well done, Rachel Wiles.

Note: I was supplied with a review copy of this title.

The Complete Guide to Designing and Printing Fabric:
Techniques, Tutorials & Inspiration for the Innovative Designer
By Laurie Wisbrun
A & C Black 2011
ISBN 978 1 4081-4700-9
Paperback £14.99

Well, you wait a long time for a good textile design title, then they come along in groups, like the buses… Of course, the explanation for this is the availability of self-print services like Spoonflower. And the digital revolution, of course.

I keep this title handy as a reference. It really comes up with the goods when you want the nitty-gritty on how to produce a digital textile repeat. The instructions are very specific, which is just what a learner needs. Various types of repeats (block, brick, half-drop) are covered in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. There’s also a handy tut on Photoshop Pattern Mapping, which means dropping the pattern you’ve designed onto an illustration to show end use (example given: print upholstery on an armchair).

There is a good section of Colour and Digital Printing, and a tutorial on touching up a scanned image using Photoshop.
Hand printing is also covered, in this section contributors are called upon to impart their expertise. The block printing section, by Jesse Breutembach, includes tutorials on making the block, printing a simple repeat, and printing complex repeats. So, a good learning curve.

Interviews with successful designers are included. They offer practical information and encouragement. Speaking of successful designers, the author of this book, Laurie Wisbrun, is a case in point. A self-trained designer, she has become an international textile design success story following 20 years in marketing. Now that’s motivational.

This book accomplishes a lot without creating an atmosphere of information overload.

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Susan Niner Janes is a craft designer, author, and blogger.