Dreaming in Colour

Beginning

The brief

A show of seven female artists needed its most-read document: the price list. Three audiences at once — visitors at the desk, collectors following an emailed link and the printers. The usual answer is a Word file per audience that drifts out of date the first time a work sells. The brief became: design one document good enough to carry the show's name, and make it impossible for the versions to disagree.

Phase 1

Designing the object

A4 portrait, twelve pages: a poster for a cover; venue and curator pages; an index; a page per artist; enquiries to close. Public Sans carries the headlines and the bios; Spline Sans Mono holds the catalogue layer — media, dimensions, prices — under hairline rules, with a single cobalt accent doing the wayfinding. Every artist gets the same grid, so fifty-one works read calmly instead of loudly.

Phase 2

Two editions, one source

Galleries need two versions of the truth: prices for the desk and collectors, none for the public page. Both editions run from one content file — the public one strips every price, and an automated leak check refuses to publish if a single figure slips through. A price change is one edit, everywhere: both editions, both PDFs.

End

The outcome

The printed edition came straight from the export — no separate artwork, no handoff. The gallery updates works, bios and prices itself and republishes in one click, so the document stays current through the 14 June–27 July run. Curated by Laura Long Contemporary; hosted by The Camm Institute for Art & Design.