On the relief and irritation of finally figuring out a problem that had annoyed you for years

It happened every once in a while: elements in my InDesign template would refuse to align to my 1” margin. Frames would instead snap to 0.097”, resisting my attempts to nudge them over to the 1” margin until I zoomed WAY IN and forced them over. Today, I discovered why. (For the InDesign nerds out … Continue reading On the relief and irritation of finally figuring out a problem that had annoyed you for years →

On missing the big mistakes

I received a hard copy yesterday of my recently completed book, and immediately found cause for distress. Organized into 26 tidy little sections, I’d seen cause at some point to swap “SEVEN” and “EIGHT,” but apparently managed only to retitle the former. So, the book proceeds painfully—in size 26 point headers—from 5 to 6 to … Continue reading On missing the big mistakes →

On the nitpicking joy of InDesign layout

I've been a mere two weeks off from work for paternity leave, and I missed it. One thing I missed, but didn't expect to? The utter banality of InDesign layout. Many knowledge work jobs have their weeds—when you break out your finetooth comb and lose yourself in the details. The other way to consider this … Continue reading On the nitpicking joy of InDesign layout →

On the back cover of digital documents

I'll admit it: I still think in print. We all do, to some extent—the default document size in our digital world remains an 8.5x11" sheet of paper. Open up Microsoft Word or a Google Document to see what I mean. A few years ago, I realized that I was generating proposals and qualifications submissions in … Continue reading On the back cover of digital documents →