Visual Design

Book Design

As Visual Designer, Riaan brings to the table a B.Tech. in Multimedia and 7 years experience, working in Advertising, Higher Education, Landscape Architecture and Publishing. Currently, he specialises in book cover design and designs academic and trade book covers for Boydell & Brewer in the UK, HSRC in the RSA, Penguin Random House in the RSA, Real African Publishers in the RSA, as well as self-publishing authors from around the world; mostly Amazon KDP self-publishing authors. Riaan also offers book interior formatting and typesetting, as well as brand design; including web design which together forms the Writers Package.

When it comes to book design, Riaan makes sure to harmonise book cover and interior. Robert Bringhurst put it so succinctly in The Elements of Typographic Style: ‘discover the outer logic of the typography in the inner logic of the text’ he wrote. Riaan follows this approach not only for typography but book design as a whole; resulting in a book with consistency of style from the cover to the interior, all of which is based on the ‘inner logic of the text’. Riaans approach is the same for academia, trade, or self-publishing. 

Book Cover Design

Academic Book Cover Design

Trade Book Cover Design

Self-publishing Book Cover Design

Self-publishing Book Cover Design Costs

Self-publishing Book Cover Design Process

1. The author sends an enquiry through the Enquiries page on this website stipulating the cover category he or she is interested in.
2. In response to the enquiry, Riaan asks a number of questions about the manuscript through email. Riaan also requests the completion of a literature analysis form; fiction, non-fiction, wherein he asks more in-depth predetermined questions.
3. Riaan sends a quote for approval.
4. On approval, Riaan sends the invoice for a 50% deposit.
5. Riaan requests the manuscript or a chapter so he can get a feel for the material.
6. Once the deposit has been paid Riaan starts by acquainting himself with the material and while doing so creates approximately five thumbnail sketches of potential front covers and sends this to the author.
7. The author makes a selection of 1 to 3 front cover options and gives a few design suggestions.
8. Riaan creates a draft design for each cover option and presents this to the author.
9. The author makes a final selection and gives design recommendations. Riaan reworks the draft design up to final cover design and presents this to the author.
10. Riaan and the author refine the final cover design until the author is satisfied.
11. Riaan sends the invoice for the remaining amount and receives the final payment.
12. Riaan sends the final files to the author.
13. After the manuscript has been typeset the cover spine can be calculated using the page count as well as paper and ink type.
14. Riaan adjusts the spine and resend the final cover.

Interior Formatting and Typesetting

Interior samples

Self-publishing Interior Formatting and Typesetting Process with the Author

1. The author sends an enquiry through the Enquiries page on this website stipulating the interior formatting and typesetting category the author is interested in.
2. In response to the enquiry, Riaan asks a number of questions about the manuscript through email.
3. Riaan also requests the completion of a book interior design questionnaire.
4. Riaan requests the final edited manuscript.
5. Riaan sends a quote for approval.
6. On approval, Riaan sends the invoice for a 50% deposit.
7. Once the deposit has been paid Riaan starts with the interior formatting as explained in the following section.
8. Riaan sends the interior file to the author to upload to Amazon KDP for review.
9. If any changes need to be made, the author informs Riaan about the necessary changes.
10. Riaan and the author work together to get the file approved by Amazon KDP.
11. On approval, Riaan sends the final invoice.
12. Riaan keeps the final files and does not share it with any third parties.

Self-publishing Interior Formatting and Typesetting Design Process

1. Researching the book genre and reader audience.
2. Identifying the book cover typography and general look and feel if designed by another designer.
3. Completing layout sketches to plan the book.
4. Working with the book feature in Indesign to create documents for each section and link that to the main book file.
5. Creating front matter, back matter and the main body text.
6. Setting up a baseline grid.
7. Working with master pages.
8. Setting up margins.
9. Adding folios (page numbers) and running headers (chapter and book title).
10. Using character and paragraph styles.
11. Creating chapter and part openers.
12. Inserting drop caps (large initials at the beginning of a chapter) by using Indesign’s character styles.
13. Creating a clear hierarchy of headings and subheadings by using Indesign’s paragraph styles.
14. Creating a classical, modern or characteristic look and feel depending on the nature of the text.
15. Flowing text throughout each chapter.
16. Adding images, sidebars, lists and extracts/quotes.
17. Eliminating orphans and widows.
18. Adjusting the spacing between characters (kerning)
19. Avoiding word stacks which are consecutive rows of text which start or end with the same word.
20. Eliminating double spaces.
21. Preparing the file for print.

Brand Design

Visual Identity and Brand Collateral Design

Print, Web and Emailer

Web

Web Design Process with the Client

1. The Client expresses his or her interest through the Enquiries page on this website.
2. Riaan sends a Brand Design Questionnaire which the Client complete and submit.
3. Riaan sends a Web Design Quote Questionnaire which the Client complete and submit.
4. Riaan asks a few questions based on the enquiry and the questionnaires and sends a quote for approval.
5. On approval of the quote, Riaan sends an invoice on the deposit.
6. Once the deposit has been paid Riaan starts by working on a mood board.
7. The mood board is presented to the client and a look and feel are decided upon.
8. Based on the look and feel Riaan develops a number of directions the brand can take.
9. The concepts are presented to the Client.
10. The Client decides on a design concept and gives design recommendations.
11. Riaan discusses and integrates the design recommendations and sends the design back to the Client.
12. The Client and Riaan go through a reasonable number of iterative steps to refine the brand identity until the brand visual identity material is finalised.
13. Riaan sends the invoice for the remaining amount.
14. Riaan hands over the files as well as the website.

Web Design Process

1. Does the Client have an existing domain? Are the FTP/Cpanel login details available?
2. Does the Client need Hosting?
3. Purchase or park domain if necessary.
4. Client to provide a business plan or fill a questionnaire.
5. For eCommerce websites, Client needs to subscribe to Payfast and provide merchant ID to add to Woocommerce.
6. Site ‘under maintenance’ homepage design & upload.
7. CMS installation.
   1. Install WordPress.
   2. Install theme.
8. Website redesign.
   1. Mood board/pinboard.
   2. Layout sketches.
   3. Wireframing.
   4. Navigation structure & flow.
   5. Look and feel options.
9. Banners design.
10. Icons creation.
11. Content upload.
12. Permalink structure set to post name.
13. Pages creation.
    1. Main menu pages.
    2. Terms and conditions page.
    3. Return and refund policy page.
    4. FAQ page.
    5. Blog page.
14. Pages layout implement.
15. Menu creation.
16. Footer menu creation.
17. Social media links and icons embed.
18. Search widget.
19. Google analytics and tracking code.
20. Contact form plugin install.
21. Really Simple SSL plugin install (secure connection).
22. Yoast SEO.
23. Akismet anti-spam plugin install.
24. Allow site crawling (robots.txt).
25. Troubleshoot errors + inconsistencies.
26. eCommerce integration.
    1. WooCommerce plugin install, setup.
    2. Did the client subscribe to Payfast? Insert merchant ID.
    3. Payfast plugin install, setup.
    4. Shipping zones? (which provinces, countries ship to).
    5. Shipping costs? (per province, country).
    6. Add products (pricing, categories, descriptions, meta tags, alt tags, keywords).
    7. Products availability; qty include? (show availability?).
    8. Payfast/Stripe/Paypal/Direct transfer/other.
27. Jetpack plugin (security).
28. Add and enable breadcrumbs.
29. Add social media share widget and share icons.
30. Cross-device compatibility testing.
31. Cross-browser compatibility testing.
32. Build and submit a sitemap.
33. Google site indexing with Google Search Console.
34. Training session to do maintenance.
35. Site handover.
36. Maintenance at Clients’ request or on retainer.
37. Yearly domain renewal.

Photobook Design