Dear Lulu,

Recently, I’ve sat in more than one conversation where Lulu Publishing has been a topic of discussion. More and more professionals and students alike are gravitating toward this medium as a means of production. I normally associate printing with prepress and press checks, therefore the move to self-publishing and online printing puts me out of my comfort zone when thinking of the final product. Surely, the level of quality has to be sacrificed along the way not to mention the lack of paper choices, etc. But, in a lot of ways this D-I-Y of printing makes a lot of sense both economically and environmentally.

When it comes to the art of production and self-publishing James Goggin (Practise) and a group of graphic design students from Hochschule Darmstad (Germany) have put together a print prediction book to specifically put Lulu to the test. This is a really good idea that may take a bit of the guess work out of your next self-published book.

Looks like they had a good time putting this together. Well done!

color range

color range and halftone pattern

subtle skin tones

gradient!

damn moiré