Every printed piece produced for Nova Southeastern University by the Office of Publications reflects the sophistication, capabilities, and vision of the university. Though some pieces are more complicated than others, we realize that every project, from business cards to magazines, is a representation of the university and its programs. We help our clients?NSU's administration, faculty, and staff?to present their messages and meet their objectives by providing the highest quality and most cost-effective printed products. We strive to achieve excellence in promoting NSU and maintaining the university's corporate identity. 

Directory of Services

As a service of the university, the Office of Publications produces communication materials ranging from simple and economical (but well-designed) pieces to complex, full-color marketing packages. We provide the following services:

Design and Art Direction Copy Writing  Editing  Printing

Graphics for Web design Photography for publications  Short-run color copy flyers (up to 500)

The Office of Publications produces the following:

Advertisements  Booklets  Brochures  Business cards  Catalogs  Direct-mail pieces  Display Signage

Envelopes (all sizes) Flyers Manuals/Handbooks Forms Invitation packets Letterhead  Magazines

Name Badges Newsletters Postcards Posters Presentation folders Programs  Stationery

It also provides the following bindery and finishing services:

Collating  Drilling (hole punch)  Embossing  Foil stamping

Folding  Laminating Padding Saddle stitching (stapling)

Scoring Spiral binding

To provide design services, the Office of Publications uses the latest computer and graphic design technology. The office uses outside vendors for printing and bindery services. The staff includes graphic artists and designers, an editor, an associate editor, a copywriter, a Web graphic designer, an administrative assistant, a production coordinator, and an assistant production coordinator. Our expertise in print production enables us to select qualified vendors; ensure job quality; and produce the finest, most economical printed products for your marketing and communication needs. Ultimately, we are here to serve you, the administrators, faculty members, and staff members of Nova Southeastern University. 

The office staff takes job orders; provides writing, editing, and design services; estimates printing jobs; and supervises cost-effective printing services. All printing costs are passed on with no mark-up. Design, writing, and editing are also included at cost. The Office of Publications uses high-quality, competitively priced printers in South Florida. Our printing expertise enables us to ensure that the 350 to 400 jobs coming through our office each month are produced in keeping with the university's standards of excellence.

Requisition Forms

The Office of Publications uses two business forms for requisitioning services--the publications requisition and the print requisition. Please take a moment to look at these forms. The publications requisition is used to order specialized print materials requiring design and editing (such as brochures, booklets, advertisements, and invitations). The print requisition is used for ordering standardized printed materials such as letterhead, envelopes, business cards, and business forms.

When using either form, please be sure to check the type of product you are requesting and complete the top section, including your account number, department, and contact information. To ensure appropriate processing, work will begin only when original requisition forms are received. Please do not fax or send photocopies. If you have any questions, or need forms, please call (954) 262-8850. 

Creating Your Publication 

Once you have all your concepts and information together, bring it to the director or assistant director of Publications to discuss your requirements. After studying your job, we will provide you with a cost estimate at your request, a job schedule, and approximate delivery date. 

The First Step--Determine What You Need

A printed piece is a communication tool used to inform, identify, persuade, or elicit a response. The appearance, editorial content, photographs, graphics, and design of your piece combine to convey your message. The message can be conveyed through a variety of media, including newsletters, postcards, brochures, etc. Determine which medium is best suited for your project. If you are uncertain, discuss your objectives with our director, who can help give direction to your concepts. 

Plan Ahead

The process starts with a requisition. Completely fill out a publications requisition and return it to the Office of Publications. If design or writing services are needed, make an appointment with the director or a member of the design or editorial staff. Be prepared. Talk about what you want your printed piece to accomplish, your target audience, your budget, and the piece's useful life. The size (number and size of pages), format, and number of copies all determine the design, cost, and turnaround time.

Do not wait until the last minute to bring in your jobs. Although the office staff has produced jobs in an extraordinarily short period of time, it is the exception, not the rule. Imposing short deadlines on the Office of Publications staff means that other jobs already in process will be delayed to accommodate the rush job. For example, if a brochure is needed for an upcoming event in three months, initiate the production at least 60 days before the event. 

The Office of Publications begins jobs upon receipt of requisitions. We will not begin a job without a requisition. Each job is assigned a job number for tracking purposes. When inquiring about a job's status, provide the job number or the specific job description for a quicker response. 

Provide All Elements for a Job

Submit all the job elements--copy, photographs, illustrations (or concepts), etc.?with the requisition. The Office of Publications will not be able to start a job that doesn't have all of its elements present. If you do not have time to write copy, or need assistance developing the concepts, writing services are available through the copywriter. 

Time and money can be saved by providing your text both on paper and on a diskette or via email to publish@nsu.nova.edu. The office uses Microsoft Word. Please do not format copy. Inserting tabs or justification only adds work for the designers, and slows down the production process. Strip all tabs and justifications out of your job before bringing it to us. 

All Jobs Are Edited

Upon initial submission, your text is edited by our editor. The editor checks style, spelling, and grammar. The editor's general familiarity with the university may enable him or her to catch factual errors, but the job author is responsible for ensuring that the document is factually accurate. All copy is edited so it is consistent with the style defined in the NSU Style Manual. Copies of the manual are available for free by calling the Office of Publications at (954) 262-8850.

Developing the Design 

We strongly encourage the use of our professional design staff for any publication that will be generally disseminated and/or used for marketing purposes. To help our staff members understand your needs and generate design concepts, please provide copy with the job. Our designers can work with you in selecting the look (modern, wild, classic, upscale), colors, size, and number of pages. Our professional staff will create designs that reflect your requirements. Throughout the design process, we can make modifications to help you achieve the concepts you want to convey. After you choose and approve a design, the production process begins. 

Saving Money

Remember, time is money. When corrections and changes are made early in the job (at the proofreading stage), costs will be kept lower than when the changes are made at the blueline (ready-for-press) stage. Design layout and typesetting begin after your copy has been edited and proofed. Job proofs are initially outputted on high-resolution laser or color printers. The typeset copy is returned to you for proofing and corrections. Take the time to review your piece in detail. Carefully compare the original (edited) copy with the information on the piece. The Office of Publications edits for style, not content. 

One Last Look 

A second round of proofing and a final sign-off will be made before the job is sent to the printer. It's very important to carefully read and review body text, headlines, cutlines beneath pictures, readouts, and other copy elements. Check the spelling of names. Dial telephone numbers to make sure they are correct. If you sense that something is wrong with the piece, trust your judgment and look again. It's better to take time now, rather than be embarrassed later. 

So You Want to Make More Changes

Avoid late changes. The blueline proof, which comes from the printer, is made directly from the negatives used to burn the plates that will print the job, and shows the piece directly as it will be printed. It is the last possible opportunity for changes. However, changes made at this stage are very costly and your department will be charged accordingly. 

Copywriting Tips

Here are some ideas that should be considered when preparing copy, for your printed product: 

Use an outline. It's a must before embarking on a project. Maintain a positive, consistent tone throughout the piece; e.g., serious, witty, academic, personal, informal, or lively.  Be concise. The shorter the piece, the better.  Use simple and direct language with easy-to-read words.  Support your text with strong titles and descriptive headlines and subheads.  Put the most important information at the beginning of the piece.  Make sure all the information is accurate. Write for the target audience and to its level of expertise.  Use examples to illustrate your points.  Sentences of differing lengths and construction styles help to emphasize concepts.  Use proper paragraph development (topic, details, close) and avoid one- or two-sentence paragraphs.  Avoid editorializing. Use attribution and direct quotations to convey opinions.

Basic Editing and Proofreading

When proofing copy, consider the following

Make sure the message is clear and concise.  Eliminate redundancy. If you said it once, that's enough.  Use professional diction or tone in your writing. Do not use slang unless absolutely appropriate.  Check for spelling with spell-check programs and a dictionary. If a word looks like it's spelled wrong, it probably is. Double-check hyphenation of prefixes and use correct, consistent capitalization. Look for proper rendering of numbers?nine and below are spelled out, 10 and above are not.  Watch for balanced sentence length.  Be consistent in the use of first, second, and third person.  Check information accuracy:  Is information accurate and complete?  Is quoted material verbatim?  Are paraphrases accurate?  Will future events become past events by the date of publication?  Skim the entire document to get a sense of the layout and content.  Check for format consistency in headlines, capitalization, centering, margins, and line spacing.  Check spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Pay particular attention to little details, such as NSU's boilerplate, addresses, telephone numbers, and people's names. (A spelling tip: check copy by reading the entire document, word for word, backward.)  Review number styles, cross-check mathematical equations, cross-reference page numbers with table of contents listings, and review reference numbers.  Watch for missing words.  Be consistent with the uses of singular and plural.  Read fine print or statistical copy out loud to another person.  Check all editorial changes against original hard copy.  Make sure apostrophes are all the same style.  Check your advertisement size against the publication's order form or rate guide.  Make sure the NSU logo, appropriate accreditation statement, and notice of nondiscrimination (if required) are included.  Check headlines and subheads for content, length, and consistency of typeface.  Avoid awkward hyphenations, or individual words or letters at the end of lines and paragraphs.  Provide directions in addresses. Spell out compass directions. Do not put periods in direction abbreviations such as NE, SE, etc.  Time designations are in lowercase?a.m., p.m., noon.  Titles of published matter are set in italics not quotation marks.  Spell out percent; i.e., 12 percent.  Use proper dates (day, month, year) in titles, mastheads, etc.  Phone numbers  Parentheses around area code (954) 555-1212  Extensions should be included when appropriate (954) 555-1212, ext. 1234  "800" is separated from number by a dash, do not include "1"; i.e., 800-555-1212  Mention "toll free."

Photography and Illustration

Consider the following:

Select photographs that have good contrasting tones. A dark photograph reproduces poorly in print.  Select photos that clearly show people's faces, activity, and people with an upbeat image. o  Images are available for selection on the NSU publications Web site.

Turnaround Times

Turnaround times are based on copy supplied on disk. Times may vary based on the number of proofs required and design revisions. Requisitions will only be marked "rush" when a specific time or date is indicated for completion. 

From Print to Web

Often the content of a printed piece may also need to be used on a Web site. To facilitate the process of putting publications on the Web, design application files such as those created in QuarkXPress, Adobe Illustrator, or Photoshop can be exported in HTML format or as PDF files. A PDF (portable document format) file can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free application that can be downloaded. The Office of Publications sometimes uses this format for sending design proofs to clients. If you will need your project prepared for the Web, please indicate this in the appropriate area of the publications requisition form.