A signature is a unit of pages that are formed when a press sheet is folded down to the finished page size. Signatures are always multiples of four pages. The most common press sheet size is 23" x 35" which is why you see so many books and booklets that are 8.5" x 11". You get eight 8.5 x 11 sheets out of a 23" x 35" sheet. If your printer has a large enough press he can print sixteen page signatures-eight 8.5" x 11" s printed on two sides. This is the most e economical signature size of all. Other common signature sizes are 12 ,8 and 4 pages. Each smaller size signature costs more per page. If you are printing on a digital press you are limited to  8.5" x 11" four page signatures because digital presses are smaller than real printing presses.

A leaf is a single sheet of paper with a page on each side. A book will have one leaf for every two pages. These are the building blocks of signatures. A book can have many leaves and will have half as many pages which will form in units of four to build signatures, get it?

A block or book block is what you have when you combine several signatures by sewing or glueing them together prior to applying the soft or hardback cover.

Now maybe you know a little more about how to build a book.  When you are planning to print a booklet or book rely on you printer to explain the most economical way to print because they will understand the math, physics and geometry involved. It's not rocket science but it is more complicated that you might think-again, rely on your printer.

This time year brings one of our nations most predominant city's to life -- on the grid line!

One of the most beautiful things in nature must surely be the sun rising and setting.

When that sunset happens to align with a street grid, basking a city that never sleeps in a radiant glow of light, even busy New Yorkers would be pushed not to stop and marvel at its brilliance.

It's that time of year again known as 'Manhattanhenge' - when the sun aligns precisely with the street grid in Manhattan, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides of every cross street of the borough's grid.

I just thought this was interesting! I sure hope I never see a UPS truck in the left turn lane - it might cause me to loose faith in large corporations and mass media outlets!  Enough about me - check out the story below:

Bob Stoffel, Senior VP of UPS, revealed an unusual way to save time and money to Fortune:

Stop making left-hand turns.

Engineers map out every route, he says, and provide right-turn only directions to drivers.

This seemingly silly strategy has paid off: UPS's routing software shaved 20.4 million miles off their routes last year* while delivering 350,000 more packages.  It also diminished CO2 emissions by 20,000 metric tons.

Read more: http://pulsene.ws/16krD

The way you market your product or service is changing!

Stay tuned for more information - as we launch our "New Rules" campaign.  Information and tips will be posted on our blog and you can even order a FREE printed copy of Parks Printing's "The New Rules of Marketing" Workbook by clicking here!

If you want to contact Val, give her a call at 806.747.2881 or email: vbrown@parkscolor.com. If you find yourself saying "I really want to know more about this Val Brown person!" keep reading...

Artsy Val
Val Brown likes art books. swimming in natural waters. black coffee. one-of-a-kinds. moleskine. bulk bins. coconuts. miniatures. wes anderson films. headstands. sparkling water. quotes. the word "various". keystroke shortcuts. organization. personification. nice manners. happy accidents. the inconvenience of rain.

Business Val
Val Brown merged her own company, Brown Design, into Parks Printing in January of 2011. Prior to working at Parks Printing, she served as the Marketing Director for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra during the 2009 - 2010 season and worked at Texas Tech University Printing Services as a Senior Designer from 2007 - 2009. She was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, lived in Austin, Texas for 7 years and spent a summer interning in New York City before moving to Lubbock again. In 2007, Val received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Communication Design with an emphasis in typography from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She currently serves as a board member of the Children’s Orthopaedic Society and is an active member of the Lubbock Advertising Federation and the Young Professionals of Greater Lubbock. Val strongly supports the local arts, artists and art organizations through her participation and occasional exhibition in the First Friday Art Trail and the Downtown Art Market.

Their Mission:
Much of design critique is focused on photography and other graphics. It’s time to shed light on the most basic element of communication: the type. At Fonts In Use we’ll catalog and examine real-world typography wherever it appears — branding, advertising, signage, packaging, publications, in print and online — with an emphasis on the typefaces used.

Our effort begins here, with a regularly updated collection of case studies and trend reports.We’ve invited experts from various fields to comment on how type is used (and misused) in graphic design today. In our first few installments, magazine designer Marc Oxborrow has an emotional reaction to the redesign of Bloomberg Businessweek, the Font Bureau’s Sam Berlow notices that the type specimen has become a design genre, I point to some recent projects in which type — and especially typeface selection — plays a central role, and instructor and historian Indra Kupferschmid reminds us that the real Bauhaus wasn’t all geometric and experimental letterforms.

This blog is a prologue of more to come. Behind the scenes, we’re building a searchable, sharable archive of typographic design, all indexed by typeface, industry, and medium. And you’re invited to join us. Stay tuned.

From the really cool idea file:

The box is designed to be used multiple times, saving trees, water and energy!  Each box even features a notes area for users to write a personal message to the next recipient - eBay's site will even track it's journey from user to user.

The eBay box is made of 100% recycled content cardboard, uses water-based inks and requires minimal tape to ship - and of course it can be recycled when it reaches the end of it's life!

For more info, visit:

http://www.ebaygreenteam.com/projects/the-ebay-box 

http://ebayinkblog.com/2010/09/01/ebay-box-debuted-at-ebayol-ebaybox-ebaynews/

You can see the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZO6sNwRDWc

You can learn more about f2 at: http://f2-design.com