The Process of Writing Books Directly in InDesign

This event is sponsored by the Adobe Community Experts Program.

You’d think that we’d invite the guy who was chairman of the Type Directors Club, a professor of design at Parsons, and the author of classic Editing by Design to talk about design. Well, kinda. Alex White is going to talk about how he composed those books in InDesign, simultaneously functioning as writer and designer. Here's how he describes his presentation:

"Most books are written in Microsoft Word and then poured into InDesign by a hired freelance book designer or a staff member at the publisher. Since the first two—pre-desktop computer—every one of my books has been written directly in PageMaker/InDesign because I think verbally and visually at the same time. To me, words—which represent ideas—generate images, and images lead to explanations. They are inseparable and evolve simultaneously. Consequently, my books are split about evenly 50/50 between words and images. InDesign is my partner in every step of the process. We will be using my process of writing Editing by Design, 4th Edition."

You will learn:

• How to build an idea into aspects of the idea
• How to let words and images reciprocate in the evolutionary process
• How to develop a ToC, the skeleton of a book
• How to expand the ToC into sections and chapters
• How to pace the reader through the book.

About the Presenter

Alex W. White

Alex W. White, now retired and living in Austria, is a designer, design consultant, author, and educator. He has been explaining the use of analytical thinking in visual communication for 37 years, i.e., planning not prettifying. The thrust of his work has been “What is right about a proposed business or design solution?” He has lectured widely on design and typography to professionals in the Americas and Europe.

He is the author of The Elements of Graphic Design, Editing by Design, Listening to Type, Advertising Design and Typography, and The Elements of Logo Design among others.

White has been a professor of design management and graphic design at the graduate and undergraduate levels at the University of Bridgeport, Parsons School of Design, FIT, City College of New York, and the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford. White served for a decade on the Board of Directors of the Type Directors Club in New York, retiring as Chairman.