what is a “print team”?
Echolalia‘s Print Team is a group of undergraduate students at UCI who work to create the look of the physical journal for the year’s volume. Starting in the 2023-2024 journal cycle, Print members work in the free program Canva to produce page spreads for every work Echolalia features in a physical volume. It is a great opportunity to develop design skills and gain more experience both as an individual and collaborative designer.
how does the process work?
While the scheduling and expectations have developed as Print Team has continued, members are generally expected to produce one to two pages, based on work length, roughly every two weeks. This also involves receiving and implementing feedback from both the Print Team Head and other Print Team members—this feedback focuses largely on the design’s interaction with printing constraints, accessibility, and the piece’s contents, as well as subjective visual appeal.
how much creative control do print team members have?
For the most part, Echolalia wants creatives to have as much creative control over their work as possible—this extends to Print Team members, who are encouraged to explore their graphic design preferences and interests. However, we also must acknowledge that visions may potentially conflict through the process of creating a deeply collaborative journal. Print Team members may come into contact with two visual directions in particular:
Print Team Head
The Print Team Head, generally, aims for the journal to have a roughly cohesive look overall. This may mean that they expect a designer to change certain elements to be in alignment with the journal’s established look, including: colour palette, spacing, and more. They may also ask for changes related to page formatting and accessibility.
Largely, Print Team members are asked to abide by Print Team Head feedback if they have a concern with the page’s accessibility, cohesiveness with the rest of the journal, or the page does not follow established formatting (i.e. margins, page numbers, etc.). However, if they give feedback based on subjective design appeal, Print Team members are welcome to follow their own preference.
Contributor of the work being designed
Once all of the pages have been designed, the Print Team Head will reach out on behalf of Print Team members to the contributors of the works involved in the page spreads. The Print Team Head will request feedback, notably limited to:
• Small colour changes
• Small spacing changes, largely for readability
• Feedback based on the design’s (mis)interpretation of the contributor’s work
Contributors are not allowed to ask for big changes, particularly based on personal visual appeal. The only situation where a redesign may be mandated by the Print Team Head is if there has been a severe misinterpretation of the Contributor’s work. The Print Head will do their best to make sure this does not happen.
In general, Echolalia wants Print Team to have as much creative control as possible: the Print Team Head, in particular, will work with members to ensure they have as much freedom as possible while still maintaining the expectations and cohesiveness of the journal.
what is print team’s schedule?
Print Team applications open late Fall quarter and close early Winter: from here, decisions will be emailed as soon as possible and the first meeting will take place once a weekly schedule has been established. Print Team will work on designs until, generally, late April. This is to ensure there is enough time to work with our chosen printing company and receive the physical journal. This final deadline may be impacted by the printing company’s schedule as well as Echolalia‘s physical journal expectations, but will be communicated clearly by the Print Team Head.
Week to week, the Print Team Head will host a mandatory meeting one week and an optional workshop every other week: the exact day, time, and location will be chosen based on the availability of accepted Print Team members.
additional questions
If you have questions about the application process or how Print Team works, check if the FAQ page can provide answers.
Otherwise, email echolalia.journal@gmail.com and we will do our best to clarify.