TABLE OF CONTENTS: An Art Book Design Studio

TABLE OF CONTENTS is a five-session studio led by designer Ciara Bird El, exploring editorial layout and independent publishing through Adobe InDesign.

Amid the flow of digital content, this studio returns to the printed page—giving physical form to images, words, and concepts so they may pass from hand to hand, carrying a record of a moment in time.

Photography, collage, stories, essays, recorded conversations, video, and the spoken word can all become starting points.

Through demonstrations, guided studio time, group discussion, and individual feedback, you’ll take your creative material from idea to layout and into print.

Series Schedule

Wednesday, November 18, 2026
Concept & Content

Wednesday, December 2, 2026
InDesign Foundations

Wednesday, December 9, 2026
Editorial Design

Wednesday, December 16, 2026
Critique & Revisions

Wednesday, January 6, 2027
Prepress & Production

What You'll Create

An 8- or 16-page publication of your own, produced as an edition of 50 copies, along with a print-ready PDF. The Gantt will retain a selection of copies for the course showcase; the rest are yours to keep and share.

What You'll Explore

• Developing a concept and organizing your creative material
• Setting up a document in Adobe InDesign
• Exploring sequence, rhythm, and nonlinear storytelling
• Working with typography, images, and page layouts
• Designing a cover and building visual consistency
• Proofreading, prepress checks, and preparing files for print

Who It's For

Artists, writers, poets, photographers, designers and makers interested in bringing their work onto the page. Basic familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite is recommended. Instruction will focus on Adobe InDesign.

What To Bring/Curate

A selection of your existing creative material, preferably in digital form: artwork, photographs, illustrations, lyrics, poetry, prose, or transcripts. You’ll continue developing your publication between sessions.

Registration

$150 covers the complete five-session series and basic production fees. Optional production upgrades are available at an additional cost. Enrollment is limited. Please plan to attend all five sessions.

Ciara Bird El (b. 1989) is an American graphic designer exploring the intersection of divinity and self-care. Her work is a continuing archive of research, expression, liminality, and collaboration, inspired by moons, timekeeping, language, lineage, divination, and rites of passage.

Raised in Georgia and shaped by stories, mythology, and daydreams, Ciara’s work lives between worlds—luxury branding and independent publishing, digital craft and sacred ritual, the commercial and the ceremonial, the intimate and the mythic.

After studying at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, she worked with international magazines, creative agencies, and independent brands, moving fluidly between roles as a designer, director, founder, and visionary. Travel became both practice and muse, infusing her work with texture, culture, and ancient-modern resonance.

Motherhood deepened her path into the feminine arts, giving rise to a body of work that weaves design, spirituality, and ritual into living tools.

She currently divides her time between North Carolina and Senegal. Connect with Ciara @ciarabird or ciarabird.com.