Most of the world uses A4 size (21 x 21.7 cm) and a few countries, including our neighbors USA and Canada, use letter size (21.5 x 28 cm). Being our trading partners, it is natural that we have adopted the same size in Mexico. It is evident that this small size is the size in which the double letter, tabloid, oversize tabloid, and printing paper sheets will later be deployed.
It is also true that it is necessary to check before printing on what paper we will have our printed material. Does the paper we want come in sheets or in reels? In large volume printing, we do not want to pay and throw away kilos and kilos of paper waste.
That is why we choose line papers, because there is already some security in supply and measures, a problem arises when we want to use exceptional papers, for example, the Forest Stewardship Council FSC certified papers come from Europe and that means that we must adapt our formats to avoid shrinkage. Here the rule of «I study graphic design because I am not good at mathematics» is broken.
The graphic designer or visual communicator who overlooks this and designs annual reports, art books, brochures or even complete campaigns without thinking about extended measurements and final measurements based on the paper supplier or the many papers they have chosen, is in serious trouble. At the end of the day, our client trusts us to be the experts and we must be careful, not only in the creation and conception of a logo, or a corporate image, we must think about the final prints, even if we are not the ones who will print. Let’s not leave this problem to someone else.
So, to measure, add and subtract, before designing.
