As an in-house designer, you will create a design, convert it into a layout, and eventually print a publication. Prior chapters discussed the terminology, processes, and philosophies of publication design. Now, we are going to explain how it all comes together to result in a publication. Determine Your Message You…
Tag: typography
Infographics Infographics, by definition, are informational. Charts, technical diagrams, and maps may be clear to the designer or author, but readers often have difficulty discerning a meaning. Without making a lengthy social comment, most Americans have poor map and chart reading skills. Charts and Graphs Graphs are used to express…
Color is not, contrary to popular belief, a guarantee that a document will be appealing. In fact, some documents look better without color. As a general rule, color should be used on no more than one-third of a page – and almost never for text. Color works best as a…
Commercial Printing printing for distribution After completing a layout, most in-house designers send large jobs out to a commercial printer. While laser printers and affordable color printers are suitable to smaller tasks, professional quality reproductions require hardware that most companies do not own. It is impractical to print 1000 copies…
Page Layout Elements The elements of a design There are basic design elements we will discuss throughout this book. You need to know their names, since all in-house designs use some of these elements. There are dozens of other objects familiar to professional designers, but most are related directly to…
A Designer’s Lexicon The jargon of designers and print shops This lexicon lists terms used in layout and design. Most writers want to see a printed edition of their works; these are the words used by print designers, graphic artists, and typographers. [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H]…
A basic image program is the use of your logo on business cards, letterheads, and envelopes. The idea is to have your name and logo in front of potential and existing clients – any time you can. Place your logo in every document you design. The Basics Image programs are…
Unless the most important information you have for readers is visual – such as a picture of a new product – graphical elements detract from everything else on the page. If you find a layout lacks visual impact, try textual effects. Do not overuse graphic elements in designs. Good alternatives…
In-house designers spend most of their time dealing with text. However, few beginning designers understand how to use text effectively. The documents produced by first-time designers use too many fonts, include odd gaps in text, and break headlines in awkward places. We still communicate with words. Until icons once again…
Page Layout Design Concepts think like a page designer Printed elements compose a layout, but they are governed by invisible elements and concepts. It is possible to design layouts without knowing the basics, but the results are unpredictable. Knowing the traditional concepts of publishing helps an in-house designer produce solid…