Studio Brief 3 - Printing Price Research

Looking outside my limitation of the production method of my publication. I've have so far gathered that for my publication i want to use one letter of the alphabet on one double page spread. By doing this my publication will be around 52 pages. Another aspect is that as the target audience for this publication is off a younger generation who are familiar and interested with Graphic Design or any creative industry i would want my publication to be shown in independent, arty book shops. Shops like Village Book shop, Colours May vary, Headrow house, Belgrave and universities. Also the publication could be used as a coffee table book or to be shown at art festivals.

So the obvious limitation with printing a 52 page book would be the price. For this project printing one 52 publication wouldn't be as big of an issue but if it was to be sold cheaply for book stores then the prices will become too much for a students budget.

I researched into printing companies who gave out an estimated price on A5 booklets with different binding methods. Working out the price will give me an understanding if it's possible to print a 52 page publication for a reasonable price without losing quality. Essentially a publication that can be cheaply purchased while being cheaply produced. Below are three companies with estimated prices.

Blurb.co.uk -  Prices

Bind method - Perfect Binding
Paper size - A5
Paper type - Gloss

Price - £2.99 for 20 pages.
£3.99 for Premium

Print24.com - prices
     
Bind method - Perfect Binding
Paper size - A5
Paper type - Gloss & Matt
Paper Weight - 170 gsm
Pages - 52

Price - 1x = £17.21 - 25x = £51

Bind method - Staple Bound
Paper size - A5
Paper type - Gloss & Matt
Paper Weight - 135 gsm
Pages - 52

Price - 1x = £8.68 - 25x = £12.28

Bind method - Loop Bound
Paper size - A5
Paper type - Gloss & Matt
Paper Weight - 135 gsm
Pages - 52

Price - 1x = £8.68 - 25x = £12.28

Bind method - Metal Wire spiral bound (wire o)
Paper size - A5
Paper type - Gloss & Matt
Paper Weight - 170 gsm
Pages - 52

Price - 25x = £104

Mixam.co.uk - prices

Bind method - Saddle Stitch
Paper size - A5
Paper type - Gloss & Silk
Paper Weight - 115 gsm
Pages - 52

Price - 5x = £24.10 - 25x = £44.80

Bind method - Perfect Bound
Paper size - A5
Paper type - Gloss & Matt
Paper Weight - 135 gsm
Pages - 52
Lamination - Gloss
Cover Paper - 170 coated

Price - 1x = £36.30 - 25x = £58

In Summary the prices from 3 websites are in the same price range. It's clear to see that buying in bulk is clearly the best cost efficient option then to just buy a few publication/books. It's also very obvious that perfect bound is the most expensive option with staple bound and loop bound to be the cheapest. However the only limitation is whether or not a staple bound or saddle stitch would be able to hand 52 pages as this would cause a huge problem on the cost side if i have to then go to another binding method which would mean a higher cost.