S is it important to consider the printing process when designing?

@amazon_77, this sounds a lot like a homework assignment to me. What kind of help are you actually looking for?

ha ha yes an assignment question! I thought maybe the answer was well most designers think that as soon as they have designed something hand it over to the printers that is will be ready the next day… my thoughts were well the clients budget for one they might not have the budget for a full colour catalogue. I guess if you are say doing a business card and you have a varnish on it or maybe a die cut that all takes time and costs extra. Also if you are using specialty plates you want to make sure that you send the right artwork to the printer otherwise that will take up valuble time if you have to keep correcting your files and money too. I also think that if you don’t think of all these thing to begin with then you will most likely stuff up the job and probably lose your client as the trust factor is not there…..that is what I was thinking but to me it doesn’t seem like that’s right? I am studying at a design college but only have a class once a fortnight and then haven’t really told much to us about this subject. I thought we would learn about stuff then do assignments on it…the last couple of lessons have been about typography nothing to do about prepress or design processes whatsoever…anyways I am diverging

The big thing would probably be CMYK vs RGB. Google it.

yeah I know about the cmyk versus rgb I was wondering about less obvious things that an inexperienced designer might not know about.

It depends not just on printing, but the number of pages and the binding method. Google “bleed”. Is the printer a web press, how many colours are to be used?

You design for printing, you don’t just print any design.

Oh my, yes. If you want to be a good designer, you must know how the printing process works, and then create to that end.
Your clients will need to know how much things cost, so you need to to be aware of how much each and every item involved will affect the end cost.
You need to keep in mind what other processes might be used down the road, such as signage, silkscreening and TV, and then design so this can be accomplished more readily.
You need to know how different papers act when used for different inks, embossing, cutting, folding, stitching, laminating, displays and archiving. You need to be aware of how ink colors change on different colors and types of stocks. You need to understand 4 color process v.s. spot color printing, and if using high speed color printers/copiers you need to understand how colors reproduce on these, and how they differ from each other.
If your clientelle can’t afford high end printing, you need to know how to create a high end design and how to reproduce it to make the best impact using less costly methods.
There is more, but I think you get the idea. Producing good design is a complicated business if it is done correctly. Anyone can draw a logo. But not everyone can put together a company presentation and predict cost and quality, and then design to meet all the needs of presenting that logo.

The “process” applies to anything.

You should always start from the ground up.

That is why engineers make so much money.

Bleed. Trap. Knockout. Overprint.

You are probably already done with the assignment now but there is a site www.printpromotionguide.com that you will find has a number of articles and terms that may be helpful for you to read. It has printing terms such as some mentioned above and discussions like whether you should go digital printing or offset printing. We have a few articles on our site(see my profile)under the blog section but this other site is articles I and others have written that are just general info on printing. Good Luck.