Do teens do design or desktop publishing?
Teen makes suggestions about design, and the teen artists often work on computers to create or enhance their illustrations, but the core design and the page-by-page design decisions are made by adult professionals. We do not have the time or money to train teens in design, and our experience is that teen readers prefer publications that are designed by professionals. For example, if teen writers design their own pages, they will often introduce elements that compromise readability, such as printing the story over an illustration, using text that is too small or ornate, or line lengths that are too long for easy reading. We often observe teens reading our stories in classrooms, and are painfully aware of how a confusing layout, for example, can discourage readers especially the reluctant readers who are our most important audience. After spending months developing a story, laboring over the lead, the ending, and every word and sentence in between so that it has maximum impact and clarit
