Category Archives: Designing

More Than Ever Before… Type Matters

Posted on by

typeTypography has always been important as a design element in written documents. It attracts and holds the reader’s attention, indicates a hierarchy of information, creates harmony, and builds recognition without the reader being conscious of it. Good typography is part of the design structure that underlies effective communication.

Now, as the world develops a new visual culture in smart phones, tablets, notebooks and e-readers, we are beginning to realize just how influential typography is in providing information and shaping opinion. More than ever before, type matters.

More…

Ten Things You Need to Know About Typography

Posted on by

TypefacesTypography — both the design of letters and characters and the process of arranging type — is a central component of any graphic design project and is integral to communication. Good typography reinforces the meaning of the text, puts the reader at ease, allows the reader to devote less energy to the mechanics of reading, and causes the reader to pay more attention to the message.

Typeface or Font?
The terms typeface and font are used interchangeably today. However, in the days of metal type, there was a distinction. Font meant an alphabet (i.e., the upper and lower case letters, numerals, punctuation marks, and symbols) in a single size, weight, and style; while typeface meant a family of fonts in various sizes, weights, and styles.

• Size is the height of the alphabet and ismeasured in points (print) or ems (web).

• Weight; such as medium, bold, light, or black, is the thickness of the alphabet relative to its height.

• Style is the slant of the letters. Upright letters are known as roman, slanted is called italics or oblique.

When type was set by hand, all the letters and characters representing one font were separately stored in the drawer of a job case. Then technology replaced metal type, and changes in size, weight, and style were made by simple keyboard commands. The distinction between a typeface and font subsequently blurred to what it is today.

More…

The Art and Science of… Design and Color

Posted on by

ColorWheel-CMYKAIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts), the professional association for design, defines graphic design as:

“A creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. The designer works with a variety of communication tools in order to convey a message from a client to a particular audience.”

According to AIGA, design is an investment that gives a business a competitive advantage by building customer trust and loyalty. And an important element of design is innovative and effective use of color.

When starting a design project, one of the graphic designer’s first tasks is to select a color palette with attributes that represent the client and appeal to the audience. This requires an understanding of the meaning of colors and how the color spectrum is structured.

More…

The PDF Standard… Preparing Files for Print

Posted on by

Adobe_AcrobatColorOriginally developed for office communications use, the PDF file format is now the world standard for electronic document exchange. A PDF file’s unique characteristic — the ability to exist independent of the hardware, software, and operating system used to create it — allows file creators to share documents and to keep them secure from modification.

PDF version 1.0, an internal project of Adobe Systems conceived by founder Dr. John Warnock and based on the page description language PostScript, was first announced at Comdex Fall 1992 where it won the “Best of Comdex” award. After years of continuous improvement, and in recognition of the power of PDF for document exchange, Adobe relinquished control of PDF to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2008.

For printers, PDFs solve many problems associated with using customer-prepared files. Before PDF, printers had difficulty opening and preparing files that were created using many kinds of software programs and containing fonts not owned by the printer. This led to delays in getting on press, extra cost for file repair, and frustration for both customers and the printer.

By using PDF as the standard for submitting files, customers can use any platform and their favorite software program to create files. Printers can accept the files and prepare them for output to press plates or for digital printing knowing that the finished page images will be what the customer expects.

More…

Picture Perfect… Photographs for Print and Web

Posted on by

photosOur world is visual. From the images you see on screens, to the things you read every day, photographs play an important role in conveying emotion, illustrating a point, or explaining a concept. Photographs improve our comprehension and add to our enjoyment. Because of this, they are an integral part of printed material and web sites.

As camera technology has advanced, the quality of the photography we see every day has reached new levels. Couple that with the ease of using a digital camera, and we now see businesses and organizations becoming comfortable with handling their photographic image needs without the services of a professional photographer.

Our job is to reproduce those photographs in printed brochures, sell sheets, marketing material, newsletters, and direct mail pieces; on signs and banners; and even business cards. Since we want the photographs to reproduce in the best possible quality, we’re offering some technical tips on the characteristics of digital photo files to use for printing and web applications. These aren’t tips on how to take photographs, but rather what to do once the image is captured and you’re ready to submit the photo file to us.

More…

The Importance of… Design in Communications

Posted on by

SmallDesign

When was the last time you came across a really ugly document — one that caught your attention because it was such a mess? It’s probably been quite some time. That’s because desktop publishing has given people the power to create all kinds of documents, from marketing and image pieces to more utilitarian forms and documents , using tools like typography and text line justification.

Desktop publishing has raised the bar for appearance. Today ugly documents really stand out when compared to those that are well-designed. In fact design is now so important that it is integral to document creation. A well-designed document is more likely to be read in part or entirely by the intended audience and increases reader comprehension. Good design also reflects well on the individual, business or organization presenting the document, lending credibility and a sense of professionalism.

More…

Using Color to… Appeal to Your Customers

Posted on by

Our world is rich with color – in nature, in our homes and offices, in our clothing, in the visual images on our computer screens and personal communication devices, and in the printed materials we read. Not so long ago using full color in business printing added expense and time to production.

Not anymore. Digital printing devices have dramatically changed the economics of full color printing, leading to expanded use of color in branding, advertising, and printed products. This change means that business owners and marketing executives need to understand the psychology of color and how it can be used to influence buyer behavior.

What is Color?
Color results from energy waves grouped together in a color spectrum.

More…

Printed Brochures… How to Make Them Effective

Posted on by

Consider the elegant simplicity of a printed brochure – it is a concise, attractive, and versatile compilation of information about a company, product, service, event, or location.

It can be handed out during a person-to-person sales call or distributed as direct mail; made available in a literature rack or on a table at a trade show; sent in response to an inquiry or left behind on a cold call. It can be economically printed in both small and large quantities. As a sales tool, a brochure is appropriate for almost any selling situation.

Planning a brochure
A brochure is made up of three elements: the copy; the design; and the physical specifications. All are equally important for creating an effective brochure.

More…

Typography Basics for Documents and Web Sites

Posted on by

As we move forward with adding web-based communication methods to traditional print-based ones, it becomes clear that modifications to existing standards for print are needed. This is particularly true of typography since conditions for the web are quite different than for print.

Typography today is the result of Johann Gutenberg’s use of movable type in the mid- 1400s. He was the first European to use individual letters, numbers, and spaces to assemble into words, sentences, and pages that could be disassembled and used again. Movable type, combined with Gutenberg’s invention of oil-based ink and modification of agricultural presses for printing, became the basis for printing for centuries.

The process of manufacturing movable type in metal was continually improved and eventually fostered a true art form – the creation of alphabets, numerals, and characters in a single size, weight, and style (called a font) with distinctive characteristics, artistically rendered and mathematically balanced. Movable type progressed from crafting fonts individually to cutting matrices and casting the fonts with hot metal to compositing machines with molten lead vats that created whole lines of type on-the-fly (hot type). Eventually typecasting yielded to computerization – first as phototypesetting and later as desktop publishing.

For more…
http://www.macgra.com/1107Printips.pdf 

Design Tips for… Desktop Publishers

Posted on by

re you a desktop publisher? If you own a small business, work for a small business or nonprofit organization, or volunteer at a community organization and use a computer to prepare files for print or the web, then you meet the definition. Desktop publishers prepare business stationery (business cards, letterheads, and envelopes), forms, sales and marketing materials, newsletters and similar documents and print them on the desktop, have them printed by a commercial printer such as TechneGraphics, distribute them in electronic format, or publish them to a web site.

The term desktop publishing was coined in 1985 by Paul Brainerd, founder of Aldus Corporation, to describe the capability of the computer program Aldus PageMaker. PageMaker, which was later purchased by Adobe, was a new kind of software program, distinct from a word processing machine (which was essentially a typewriter with some form of electronic editing and correction capability). PageMaker enabled one person to perform on a computer what had previously been many separate manual functions associated with getting documents ready to print: design, typesetting, and assembling all elements into a page layout.

Over time, as features were added to desktop publishing software and easier-to-use consumer versions were developed, what had once been a job (i.e., desktop publisher) evolved into a set of job skills needed for a wide range of positions: office manager, department head, administrative

or legal assistant, secretary, real estate agent, even receptionist and volunteer worker.

We, too, are part of the evolution of desktop publishing. Phototypesetting, mechanical camera work, and manual paste up gave way to desktop publishing, then evolved to a complete digital prepress process, with output to either offset press plates or our high-speed color digital printers. For us, desktop publishing means we can produce a first proof faster, make alterations quickly and easily, and significantly improve the quality of the printed image.

http://www.macgra.com/1105Printips.pdf