Written by:
Kirk Knoll
kknoll@gpo.gov

Help is here for the Government designer.

Digital design is as easy as nailing jello to a tree. With that in mind, the Government Printing Office has launched this on-line magazine, ePUB Illustrated!

Sometimes when working with digital design the questions you create far outweigh the answers you find. When you finally figure out one thing you realize that your answer has spawned three or four other questions.

This can be frustrating? Yes.

This can be interesting? Sure.

Is it the nature of the beast? Absolutely!

We've uncovered some quotes by some of the greatest minds in our history and although we can't prove they were referring digital design we will say that they were being prophetic to our plights. For instance, Thomas Edison once said (and we suppose he was sitting at his PC when he said it),
"I haven't failed, I've found 10,000 ways that don't work."
We hear you Mr. Edison.

And Helen Keller was probably working at a computer help desk counselling an overwhelmed designer when she said,
"Although the world is full of suffering it is also full of the overcoming of it."
A very positive position to take.

John Luther advises us to,
"Learn from the mistakes of others-you can never live long enough to make them all yourself."

And there's the Chinese Proverb which gracefully sings the praises of learning successful and effective digital design,
"Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
And you thought the Ancient Chinese were always waxing poetic about the great mysteries of life.

From these axiom's grew the idea for this magazine.
Welcome to our world…

We receive phone calls, e-mails, faxes and carrier pigeons on a daily basis from frazzle minded folks just like you and me; people who have all but thrown their Carpal Tunnel-havin' hands in the air. People trying to get good results (a finished product) from their precious time investments. Good people are having text re-flow issues, font conundrums, printer driver dilemma's, color management headaches, Metafile migraines, separation nightmares and trapping cramps. In other words, people who are just flat out digitally vexed. Just yesterday a young gentleman called complaining of Digital Chest Pains. Ouch!
Going with that consider ePUB Illustrated your Digital Nitroglycerin.

We'd like to include information in this eZine that affects you! Information that will make your project run smoother, your budgets stay in-line, and your customers hap hap happy! Every two months (or six times a year, we haven't yet decided) we will offer new, interesting and informative articles on all of this stuff. It's our hope that you will find ePUB Illustrated a useful link to your digital e-happiness.

Had we been around when W.C. Feilds cried out,

" I am free of all prejudices. I hate all computers equally."

(or something like that) we could have led him by the hand to a harmonious relationship with all things digital.

Here's to an eZine that will help guide you through the fog that is digital printing; like the Titanic, what could possibly go wrong?

-ed