OUGD504 What Is Design For Print?

In todays session we went through the 6 categories that the design for print process falls into and defined each one, their importance, examples etc.

What is ...

Format - determines the intended size/scale/shape of the design.

eg. posters, billboards, business cards.

Colour - Have to consider the tone of voice/format/audience in relation to colour.

eg. hues/tones/shades, pantone, grey scale.

Production - the method of production is considered the preparation within a process, and the 'actual making' of the design.

eg. exposing screen, colour matching, cutting lino.

Process - relates to the method of printing itself and also to the overall operation/procedure of the design.

eg. screen printing, lithoprinting.

Finishing - the methods used in the final stages of production, influenced by variables like distribution.

eg. spot varnish, binding, foiling.

Stock - considering format, the material on which the design will be exhibited, effected by the chosen printing process.

After forming this list in groups and collecting the varied definitions of these categories, it became apparent that this list is not definitive, and that it alters depending on intention and design. In spite of this, each definition could be considered a starting point, allowing the definition to stretch further.


In preparation for todays session we each brought in at least 5 examples of design for print, and using the categories format, colour, production, process and individual cost, we divided each of the examples into different areas.


Format - We split the items into leaflets, fliers, business cards, magazines and packaging. This part was simple as the format allowed us to determine the function of the design.

Colour - We divided the examples into one colour +stock, two colours +stock, 3 colours +stock, and full colour which was easy to determine, and found that much of the items using less colour were the leaflets , with the magazines, book and most of the packaging falling under the full colour bracket.

Production - In terms of production, we split the items by those which were mass produced, bespoke produced or somewhere in between. This allowed us to split the more commercial designs from those one off or bespoke items. This was easy for the most part but there were some items that were more difficult to work out, for example the train tickets and receipts, as the design on each is the same, but the text alters for each ticket.

Process - This category was more difficult as it was not always obvious which print method was used, and the method was hugely varied. It was a bit less simple to determine the method but after each having a good look at some of the more illusive options, we divided them into laser printing, screen printing, inkjet and letter press. We had some more confusion over the receipts as the text is burned into the stock, so we didn't know what print area that would fall into.

Cost - Another area we looked at was the cost of individual production. Some parts of this were difficult to determine as we were considering the cost of stock and ink but were unsure if we should be including the cost to allow print methods to become available (eg. screen printing studios), as a result we disagreed on some items (again the train tickets and some of the more budget fliers and leaflets).

After exploring the areas within these categories, we split them further - 

Branding and Identity

Publishing and Editing

Packaging and Promotion

Information and Wayfinding

Most of the items were easy to categorise but there were a few items that were more difficult to determine, as they fell into several categories, for example, the greeting card and the printed napkin.

It became clear after this exercise that there are lots of links between much of the designs, as there were some that stayed in the same area for each category, mostly the mass produced items, such as packaging and promotional, and publishing and editorial.