CMYK Design – Publishing By Degrees

Bothies and Trig Points: My Placement at CMYK Design

When it came to choosing a company for my placement, I was really lucky to get a place with CMYK Design. CMYK Design is based in Edinburgh and covers all areas within publishing including producing magazines, newsletters, design, advertising sales and distribution. I knew that a placement with this company would be a great opportunity to take on new, unfamiliar roles and experience various aspects of a publishing house.

Before starting the placement, my main objective was to get more experience in Editorial. CMYK produces a number of publications and I got the opportunity to work on their Scotland Outdoors magazine. I researched and wrote about upcoming outdoor events for the magazine’s website. (There are lots of outdoor events in Scotland!) I wrote about featured competitions, proofread a few spreads, contacted photographers for images to be used in the next issue of the magazine and contributed to their regular e-newsletter. I also got the opportunity to interview people, for articles on the website, including an Outdoor Camping feature and a feature celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the National Cycle Network.

As well as that, I gained insight into other areas of the company including learning how to use the database, researching potential advertisers and handling subscriptions. I learned about the various social media accounts of Scotland Outdoors and how a combination of different aspects can drive traffic to the website and reach new readers. I also got the chance to work on InDesign and prepare magazine spreads and received some handy tips from Neil, the owner, on how to photoshop a penguin. (It made sense in that particular spread!)

I really enjoyed my placement at CMYK and found the whole experience very positive and informative to my future career. The team are extremely welcoming and there is always an opportunity to ask questions and learn more from the company. And, thankfully, there was never a shortage of tea and cakes!

Placement at CMYK

I was excited when I was offered a placement with CMYK design and couldn’t wait to start. A small but extremely friendly office, complete with Ruby the Springer Spaniel, put my nerves at rest. My specific interest – and what I wanted to do on my placement – was advertising sales, which Neil offered me.

CMYK work on many titles, but the two I was mainly working with were Scotland Outdoors and aurora magazine (always a small initial ‘a’!). … Continue reading “Placement at CMYK”

Placement at CMYK Design

Located just off the top of Leith Walk on East London Street, CMYK Design is a small office with a team of just seven (plus Ruby, the office Springer Spaniel!). Everyone was friendly… especially Ruby! CMYK Design mainly does magazine publications, but they also offer other services, including advertising sales, relaunch/redesign, editorial, and work for brochures and newsletters.

Throughout the course of the placement I was given a variety of tasks. I had the opportunity to work on three of CMYK Design’s publications: Scotland Outdoors magazine, Aurora magazine, and the College Valley newsletter. This helped me get a good sense of all the different things that CMYK Design does, from editorial and proofreading, to marketing and design. … Continue reading “Placement at CMYK Design”

Work Placement: CMYK Design

When selecting a company for work placement there was no doubt in my mind which publishers I wanted to go to. CMYK Design was my first choice for a number of reasons.

First of all, I had met Neil Braidwood, the founder of CMYK, back in January at our Burns night networking event. His enthusiasm and genuine interest regarding the upcoming production of Buzz magazine was energising and I was intrigued to learn more about his company. Secondly, after researching the company and attending a lecture given by Neil and Don, the Editor, it became apparent that CMYK is a busy and successful contract publisher with a wide range of publications such as Scotland Outdoors, Aurora, The Keeper and Our People.

On my first day I was introduced to Neil, the rest of the team and an excitable springer spaniel named Ruby. I was provided with a desk beside Hayley, the Advertising Executive and previous Napier publishing student, who delegated many of the tasks that I undertook during my placement. She was there to offer support, answer any queries and informed me of some handy tips when contacting relevant companies.

I was assigned an assortment of tasks throughout the ten days varying from rewriting and compiling contact details from a stockist spread sheet to sourcing events for the Scotland Outdoors website. I was also given the opportunity to contact companies for an e-newsletter and to research and write up copy for a small feature intended for the summer edition of Aurora; ‛10 Things to do in Munich’.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at CMYK and not only found the tasks to be informative and useful to my future career but also satisfying as I have more than fulfilled the objectives I had initially set out to achieve.

It was a great environment to work in and everyone made me feel really welcome, especially Ruby who was there to enthusiastically greet me at the door on a morning. The team are a hard-working, friendly bunch and have a passion for chocolates, cakes and lots of tea. So not only have I accomplished the aims that I set out to achieve but my sweet tooth has also been fully satisfied.

If you want to find out more about CMYK, follow them on Twitter @WeMakeMags and visit their website http://www.cmyk-design.co.uk.

Placement at CMYK Design

Images courtesy of CMYK Design

Picking a placement company was a hard decision, but luckily for me I was placed at CMYK Design. After studying the Creative Toolkit module I found myself going in the direction of design. CMYK let me design all day long and I loved it! CMYK is an Edinburgh based company which has been making great magazines and brochures for nearly 12 years.

I worked a full week and then single days for a couple of weeks after. I enjoyed working the full week as it gave me a realistic experience of life in a publishing company.

My main task for the first week was to work on College Valley; this is a newsletter for a local community. The newsletter became bigger this year; it is now 12 pages. I enjoyed doing the newsletter as I got to see the start of the process as well as the end. I enjoyed going through various images and picking the ones that would look best in the newsletter. The most interesting images were ones from a local wedding in which the theme was rainbow colours and science; the photographs were very colourful.

During my time at CMYK I designed a couple of advertisements; this was the first time I had done this and it made me think of another direction to go into career wise. I also worked on layouts for other publications such as The Keeper and Surgeons News.

interview — Images courtesy of CMYK Design

One day I accompanied Don Currie, the Editor, on a quick photo shoot at Pollock Halls. The shoot was for the Edinburgh University Accommodation Services magazine. It was interesting to watch the photographer and Don thrive in their field. So many factors go into to getting a great photograph; you also have to be a real people person.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at CMYK. It was a great place to learn all about the magazine industry. I got to see many different aspects of making a magazine and the team were very friendly and eager to teach me new things. I mean who wouldn’t enjoy a place where Ruby the dog jumped around and cakes were high on the topic of conversation!

For more information on CMYK Design visit their website, twitter and blog.