Introduction to Editorial Design

What you’ll learn

You will learn how to conceive, design, and produce a complete artist book from concept to print, using Paris as your primary source of visual and narrative inspiration. Through daily workshops, field observations, and guided exercises, you will develop a strong understanding of sequence, rhythm, layout, hierarchy, typography, and image–text relationships. You will explore how designers transform research and impressions into editorial concepts, how format and material choices shape meaning, and how to translate a digital layout into a printed object. By the end of the course, you will have built a coherent editorial project that reflects your personal experience of Paris and demonstrates both conceptual clarity and design intention.

Places You May Explore

You may explore Paris through bookstores, museums, cultural spaces, and neighborhood walks—visiting places such as Yvon Lambert, After 8 Books, independent artist-book shops, and the city’s urban environments where you will collect visual and textual impressions that will feed your editorial project. These explorations will allow you to gather materials, observe design in context, and build a personal archive of references that will inform your book.

Supplies

While PCA provides the essential tools for the class to run, students provide their own supplies. A list of required materials will be shared on the summer student portal before the start of the program. Expenses for supplies are estimated at between €30 to €150.

Course highlight

• Field observation and material gathering in Paris

• Hands-on workshops in grids, typography, sequencing, and expressive layout

• Visits to bookstores, artist-run spaces, and zine collections

• Concept development through mood boards, sketches, and narrative exercises

• Full editorial workflow: from flat plan to layout to pre-press

• Printing, assembling, and binding your own artist book

• Final group critique and informal exhibition of completed books

Prerequisites

No prior design experience is required. An interest in image–text relationships, curiosity about Paris, openness to experimentation, and the ability to participate fully in daily workshops and fieldwork are essential. Basic English comprehension is needed, as the course is taught in English, and students must have access to a laptop with Adobe InDesign installed for the duration of the program.

When

Session 1 (June 15 – June 26), Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm

Tuition Cost

Early Bird Rate (before January 31): 3 Credit: €2,500 | Audit: €1,700
Standard Rate (after January 31): 3 Credit: €2,900 | Audit: €1,950

Bundles

2 classes = 5% off tuition fees
3 classes = 10% off tuition fees