All Deluxe All the Time, one couple’s adventures in conscious living, recently published their first product — and Deluxe Interactive Services were just the folks to produce it!
The idea was born a couple of years ago by Jean, co-owner of both Deluxe Interactive Services and All Deluxe All the Time. First, she hashed out the concept. The planner is a calendar/workbook that not only tracks daily tasks, but also guides the user into making a set of to-dos to guide him or her toward their most rewarding life. After completing the workbook section of the planner, the user tailors the required steps for his or her needs and logs them into the planner. The user moves through the year following their own inspired guidance.
We love the idea, but sorting out the details was a challenging task. The workbook requires moving all around the calendar and can be confusing, but once complete, contains a chronological logging of all the tasks, milestones and brainstorming that reads almost like a story with the inevitable happy ending!
We began by mapping out the planner on large sheets of paper. Once we had the navigation sorted out, we made mini-books from printer paper. The process took several attempts, but finally it all came together.
Next we chose the size, colors and binding based on the offerings at Lulu.com. Because we knew this would be a short production run, we chose Lulu for publication. It is a wonderful resource. The work is excellent and allows anyone to publish their own work. There are many levels of publishing services to choose from. To produce your own book you can handle the creative yourself, use a design firm like Deluxe Interactive Services, or let Lulu handle it for you. We used Adobe InDesign as our layout and design tool to create the PDF files Lulu requires. Once a purchase is made, Lulu handles the billing, production, shipping, and once a sale is made, either cuts you a check or makes a PayPal deposit into your account! It’s a dream come true for the would-be self-publisher.
The copy of the calendar was a group effort with Jean writing the initial concept and wordsmith Richard adding his flavorful slant. Next, Richard began work with InDesign to create the actual files to be uploaded to Lulu using the little “mini-books” we created as a guide.
While Richard sorted out the technical details, Jean began work on the illustration. The calendar needed to reflect positive energy and so Jean chose to use the imagery of four trees, each representing a season, surrounding a rudimentary globe. The branches form the shape of 4 hearts also surrounding the earth.
“This calendar is about helping people make a positive change in their life through accesses their inner beliefs and wishes and when we make choices that are ‘our own truth’ we are automatically making choices that are best for all,” Jean said. “I didn’t want a corporate or sterile feel. I wanted a ‘greater good, sustainability’ kind of message and so the earth, the trees and the hearts say that for me.”
We chose to use full color on the front and back covers, with a glossy finish, and one color on the interior pages to save money on production. The graphics for the front and back covers are uploaded separately. We ordered 2 calendars right away for our own review purposes. It took about 10 days to receive the calendars which gave us a bit of breathing time before proofing. Several edits were made and we promptly ordered 2 more. These were reviewed and we made our last edits.
Once we were happy, we ordered the calendars we wanted and All Deluxe All the Time posted their “2013 Deluxe Life Planner” page which has links to order the calendar as well as a three-part instructional video. These videos were also created by Deluxe Interactive Services as well as a promotional video which can be viewed from the site or YouTube or in the video window below.
This is a work in progress and we are already talking about updates for next year’s calendar. Look for it in early fall but you can still get a 2013 version! Just follow this link to order yours today!