Some design palettes ease the reader into the subject with a combination of graceful type, muted color, and subtle imagery. The assertive palette is a bit more obvious. This combination of typefaces, colors, and illustrations is meant to strip away distractions and use visual contrast to highlight the key messages.

The typefaces

The primary typeface is Griffith Gothic—a clean, readable face with quiet strength. By that, I mean it does the job beautifully without dominating everything around it.

What makes it unique? The "G," the "r," and the "a" of Griffith Gothic Ultra show off the attributes that make this typeface so distinctive; in particular, the sharp edges and the interesting transitions of thick to thin.

The body text is set in Myriad Condensed—a simple, elegant sans serif face that, at this size and weight, remains neutral. When you're packing a lot of information into a small space, neutral is good.

Variations in the color, size, spacing, and capitalization of the type are an important part of what is happening here. Mixing it up adds emphasis where it's needed and interest to the layout.

Sources: Griffith Gothic from Font Bureau, fontbureau.com; Myriad from adobe.com/type.

To create a simple "text logo," type the words in Adobe Illustrator, convert it to outlines, then scale them to the same width. Overlay them on a square background and use colors from the palette to group the parts.

The colors

A full-color version of this piece would have an entirely different look and feel. Limiting the use of color quiets the visual noise and focuses attention on the straightforward concepts the photographs are meant to illustrate: for "community," the organization's headquarters; for "knowledge," a trainer in a classroom; and for "information," a picture of statistical data.

Color is also a great way to organize information. Squint at the layout and you'll see that what pops out is the red—the headlines, the logo, and the incentive—all the primary points we chose to emphasize.

The illustrations

Layering images and color and adjusting layer opacity so you can see one layer through another makes the images more metaphorical than literal—more like magazine illustrations than newspaper photographs.

That use of transparency combined with the sky and clouds background helps to create a sense of airiness and lightness. The horizontal stripe of images across the front and back panels keeps the eye moving.

Sources: Trainer from Conferences & Training by Stockbyte from fotosearch.com; light bulb by Comstock from fotosearch.com; statistical data, building, satellite dishes from istockphoto.com

To recreate the illustrations, follow these steps:

Step 1: In Photoshop, create the blue in the Color Picker. Choose Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, click Colorize, and increase the Saturation for a similar effect

Step 2: Duplicate that layer (above) and choose Select > All. Choose Filter > Blur > Radial Blur > and select Amount: 75, Method: Zoom, Quality: Good

Step 3: On that same layer, circle (select) the primary subject of the image with the Elliptical Marque Tool. Choose Select > Feather; set Feather Radius to 75 pixels and choose Edit > Cut

Step 4: Create a third layer (above), make it solid blue, and reduce the Layer Opacity for a similar effect

The layout

This piece folds down to 9 by 3.75 inches to fit a #10 business envelope. Mail it along with a cover letter and invite the reader to fill in the business reply card, detach it, and mail it back to you postpaid.

The details

Whether a particular palette works or not is dependent, in large part, upon attention to detail. Subtle changes in size and color, the alignment of individual elements, the choice of images, and so on, is what takes it from good to great.

Notice how the design of the book and disc incorporates a similar palette? Extracting parts and pieces of one palette to create another results in two elements that are compatible but distinctive.

Need to make your image more assertive? Find a part or portion of the photograph and bring it to the front. On side two of the mailer, the smallest dish was outlined, copied, overlaid, and set off the surface with a drop shadow.

This article originally appeared in the November/December issue of Layers Magazine.

Everything with just three typefaces! The word “SKY” in the nameplate (figure 2) is Raleigh Gothic—everything else is set in two workhorse typefaces: Century Expanded for headline AND text, Franklin Gothic Book Cond. for tiny details.

Resources: Typefaces: Century Expanded, Franklin Gothic, adobe.com; Raleigh Gothic, agfamonotype.com; Illustrations: Mars Photos from Hubble Space Telescope (credit: Material created with support to AURA/STScI from NASA contract NAS5-26555); Diagrams: Antique Science and Technology, visuallanguage.com; Planetary Photographs: CLICKART 200,000 from Broderbund, available from software retailers worldwide; Man: Faces 1, rubberball.com

Build two page grids. One for the headline pages, one for article text pages (figure 3). The headline page grid is narrower, with a wider left-hand margin that allows some breathing room around the text and emphasis for the illustration.

Use illustrations as a theme. Even a subject that lends itself to as diverse a collection of photographic subjects as this one does (figure 4) can benefit from a secondary visual element—in this case, a series of beautifully complex antique scientific diagrams and illustrations. The images offer a subtle visual connection between the pages.

Design a simple nameplate. A super-condensed typeface like Raleigh Gothic produces dramatic, interesting shapes (figure 5). To create your version (left), use Adobe Illustrator to scale the text to just beyond the edge of a rectangle, use the Divide Tool to cookie-cut the word out of the background, and apply colors. Using a longer name? Try a variation on the theme (right) using a colored box to encapsulate the subtitle.

Make it reader-friendly. One simple way of doing this is to begin the text of each article with a compelling statement (figure 6); a paragraph or two of text that is more prominent and easier to read than the running text.

Use the back door. Don't forget that many readers, by mere chance, see the back of the newsletter first (figure 7). Use the space to invite them inside with an article teaser—a few words that summarize the compelling idea to be found there.

Balance the page. You can keep running text interesting by staggering the placement of illustrations (figure 8). Stacking weighs down one side of the page, staggering distributes the load.

Notice the squares? Small square photographs and illustrations offer a nice contrast to the long, tall shape of the pages (figure 9). Squint at this page and you'll see how dominant they are on the layout. You can keep running text interesting by staggering the placement of illustrations. Stacking weighs down one side of the page, staggering distributes the load.

Organize the details. The left-hand page above displays eight critical pieces of information in one small space: the issue date and subtitle, nameplate, contents, contact information, primary staff, the masthead, and copyright.

Make it easy to get in touch. Include a Web-like connection (figure 10) including the author's name, phone number, and E-mail address, and a link to your Web site where the reader can hook up with more information on the article subject.

This project is one of those from my Design-It-Yourself: GRAPHIC WORKSHOP, A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE (ISBN 1-59253-088-5). Step through the concept, layout, and production of creating a marketing-smart designs. From the initial research to checking the quality of the final, printed product, nothing is left to chance.

A booklet is a miniature book—generally smaller, with fewer pages, and a paper cover. It provides some distinct advantages over a conventional, single-sheet brochure. It is more durable, more in-depth, more accessible—with a table of contents and/or an index. And though it can be used to sell, it often contains something more than selling information—it teaches, explains, offers value or utility. Let's do some booklet brainstorming:

[A] Create a shape that fits—This 8 1/4 by 3 7/8 inch, 24-page booklet is sized to fit a #10 commercial (4 1/8 by 9 1/2 inch) envelope. It is printed in two colors—yellow and black. It is the perfect size and shape to ride along with a cover letter.

[B] Make it informational—A book typically contains editorial information—to entertain or to educate—not to sell. You can do the same by mixing your selling message within the editorial coverage of your subject. If, for example, you are selling car repair services, present a collection of car care tips, if you are selling an HMO, show readers how to find the best services.

[C] Guide the reader—Use subheads and visuals to draw the reader through your booklet. Words and visual cues tell the reader where they are and help them focus on one subject at a time.

[D] Double your image—The small version of this illustration conveys the message it was designed to. The large version is a design element used to echo the idea and add interest to the page.

[E] Be stylistically consistent—Try to stick to one illustration style throughout. Using images from different sources can degenerate into a patchwork.

[F] Include some interaction—For this health maintenance organization, a checklist of questions it recommends patients ask their healthcare providers ads value to the booklet. You might create your own checklist, answer a collection of frequently asked questions, or include a glossary of trade terms.

[G] Make it personal—Including a place to jot down notes makes it more likely your booklet will be kept instead of cast. If the booklets are handed out one at a time, the provider might jot down a note that answers a prospect's question or provide their direct phone number or e-mail address so the prospect can contact them later.

[H] Ask for action—Though your booklet may have an editorial flavor it should always contain a clear call to action. In this case, they are asked to phone, fax, send e-mail, of visit a World Wide Web destination.

[I] Stay out of the ordinary—Adding an extra half-inch to the back cover provides a tab on which to feature the name of your organization, contact information, or in this case, a table of contents.

[J] Create a new shape—Not every booklet has to be a standard size and shape. This one is visually divided into two parts—the top is an advertising coupon, the bottom lays-out the marketing message.

[K] Build on a theme—This booklet uses a children's storybook theme to present the marketing message for each of the participating stores. You might base your theme on the type of products offered, the time of year, or the subject matter of the artwork.

[L] Use icons as prompts—Icons and symbols are not just for Web navigation. On paper, scissors mean to cut something out, a clock means time-sensitivity, a knife and fork means food, and so on. Think of innovative ways to spare words and prompt action with illustrations.

[M] Design around your artwork—If you find a collection of images that work well with your subject matter—design around them. This booklet was designed using these illustrations as the seeds. The typefaces match the bold simple shapes and the background color matches a color pulled from the illustration.

[N] Inside, focus your message with headlines—Let's face it—most of us don't have the time or inclination to read long stretches of advertising copy—certainly not, in this setting. Headlines help you make your point—in this case to bring to mind the activities you might pursue using products from an outdoor outfitter.

[O] Make it legal—No trouble telling what the offer is here—a 20% discount. But, beyond that, be sure your booklet includes the necessary legal details, in this case, for a coupon offer. Does your booklet need a disclaimer of some kind? A copyright notice? A bar code? Trademark credits? A bibliography?

[P] Pull out pieces—You can extend the scope of your illustration by using a draw or paint program to extract a piece of the image and repeating it elsewhere on the layout.

[Q] Plan with the cost in mind—Creating your booklet using standard sizes saves money. A booklet printed on a standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet, folded in half is almost always less expensive than a slightly smaller or larger version. Running any part of the image close to or over the edge of the paper requires a larger sheet of paper that is then trimmed back down to finished size.

[R] Bring the inside out—By now you've probably read about the underlying grid most designers use to create page layouts. How about using pieces of that grid as a part of the design?

[S] Add links to push your Web—If you have a Web site, be sure to push prospects to it. In this case, each page of the booklet includes a “link” to a page of the organization' s Web site where they can find more in-depth, current information.

[T] Find a color scheme—If you are basing your design on a series of stock illustrations or photographs, try using a different color scheme for each section of your booklet based on colors drawn from the illustration. Here, the page on the left matches the color of the grass in the illustration and the page on the right matches the streaks across the mountain.

[U] Use type as design—The typefaces you choose for a layout often have as much visual influence as the illustrations and colors. Using big, bold type elements, like this initial cap, adds the flavor of the type to the design mix.

How can you integrate these parts of a book into your booklet?

Cover and dust jacket
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
List of contributors
Chronology
Chapters
Parts
Subheads
Running heads
Page numbers
Appendix
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography or Reference list
Index
Errata

Sources: Photograph: Illustrations: Clip art from Designer's Club by Dynamic Graphics, www.dgusa.com; Headline font: Franklin Gothic Book Condensed from Adobe Systems, www.adobe.com; Subhead font: Garmond Light Condensed from ITC, www.itcfonts.com

Audience Two: The computer-challenged. If your experience is anything like mine, you know plenty of successful, intelligent people who, for one reason or another, understand only the very basics of computing and of navigating the Internet. It stands to reason that they travel a limited circle of sites and are less likely to know how or where to find us.

Audience Three: Those who are out of reach. These folks are either not responsive to conventional means of the Internet advertising or they are simply traveling paths that do not intersect with ours. As of this writing, there are over 68 million active domains: if someone isn't looking specifically for you or your product or service, the odds of them stumbling across you are poor.

Finding and attracting these audiences takes unconventional thinking. One common-sense approach is a “Webcard”—a postcard-sized printed piece with a single purpose: to push your prospect to your URL (figure 1).

Webcard: A 4 by 9 inch rack card for marketing your Web site

This prototype, a 4 by 9 inch rack card, is particularly versatile. It is easily mailed as a card or in a standard #10 business envelope along with a cover letter, stuffed into packages, handed out at trade shows, displayed in public areas, distributed by partners, and offered at every other point of contact with customers and prospects.

Plus, it is easy and inexpensive to print—2500 cards printed on heavy, 15pt card stock, with four colors and a high gloss UV coating on one side and black on the reverse side can cost as little as $200.

The first step to producing your card is to craft the message. Note that a Webcard addresses a single topic (figure 2). Why? Having too many messages or too much detail muddies the water. If you want your reader to take a certain action, don't distract them with irrelevant details. Define the primary benefit of the site to the user and point them to it. If you have several strong points, send a series of cards over several weeks or months.

The site this Webcard promotes offers new and pre-owned paving equipment but the focus of this card is the sale of pre-owned equipment. It is not a corporate brochure—it pushes the pre-owned equipment and it does it with an economy of words, seventy-seven to be exact. The headline and text on side one clearly states the benefit and presents the URL. Side two lays out the path to follow one they get there.

The second step is to design the card so that it shows what you say. The front of the card shows the cover page of the site and highlights the tab the reader will click to get to the pre-owned equipment list (figure 3).

The back of the card shows the exact clicks the reader will use to navigate to a page that shows the product (figure 4).

It's that simple: you state the benefit and show how to access it by way of the URL. The images do nothing more and nothing less than show you what the message states. Images are literal—anything that adds visual interest, such as the magnifying lenses, serves a purpose (figure 5).

Webcards: Magnify the subject with a Photoshop lens

Direct mail may seem like a round-about way to reach online prospects but it makes common sense. If your cost per contact is in line with the cost of production and postage, it would seem a Webcard is an inexpensive way to move an absent audience to your site.

In the average office, you've got to work your way past at least one soldier to get to a captain of business. And when you use the mail to make initial contact or to secure an appointment, you need something out of the ordinary. Although most administrators have little trouble tossing a form letter, a box is a different story—boxes hold treasure and no one pitches treasure.

The idea of object marketing is to link your message to an object. The box pictured contains a magic light bulb that sells in quantity for two or three dollars.

The headline and card prompt the recipient to hold the bulb above their head to generate a brilliant idea—to buy your product or service. The attached card explains that, when you nest the bulb in a small piece of foil, it magically lights up—a trick that is impressive and easy enough for anyone to perform.

The headline reads, “You're going to have a brilliant idea in the next sixty seconds.” The card inside continues, “To light the magic bulb...Nest the foil and then the bulb in the palm of your hand. Now raise the bulb above your head and cry 'Hey, I've got it! Let's get Sampler Land Management to list our next property!' 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . . time's up. Wow, it's amazing how the really big stuff just comes to you sometimes. Call Janet Sampler at 987 654 3210.”

The bulb is held in place by a small platform that is cut in the shape of the bulb, but you could just as easily use conventional packing material.

How much is it worth?

The key to the success of object marketing is to marry your message with just the right item. If you have a very small list of very good prospects, it may be possible for you to justify an item as expensive as 25 or even 50 dollars. In fact, to attract a high-end prospect who might buy an expensive piece of equipment or sign a lucrative contract, I've seen companies invest 100 dollars or more per mailer.

Stock, standard-sized boxes can be purchased in all shapes, sizes, and colors from local or national manufacturers and imprinted with your headline locally by a silkscreen printer—the same folks who print T-shirts. The "payoff" piece, the card on the inside, is a simple job laid out using any desktop publishing program and reproduced in quantity by a local commercial printer.

Object ideas

This is a project that should be closely matched to your market. There are hundreds of well-suited promotional items available from companies that specialize in promotional products or, if you buy a large enough quantity, direct from distributors and manufacturers. A few more ideas:

A cassette recorder is an example of one of those more expensive items. But imagine the impression you'd make if your prospect was able to hear a 5 minute pitch about your consulting service or 15 minutes of your sold-out seminar. You entice them with the headline “Five minutes that will change the way you do business” and pay it off with a tag such as “Press 'play' to hear the #1 reason managers lose the respect of their employees.” (Don't forget too, that your object can be imprinted with your company name and logo.)

The “Prescription for sluggish sales?” A jar of jellybeans. The tag reads “Take two and call me in the morning. Often times, we're too close to the action to diagnose the problem. If you're having trouble finding a cure for declining sales, its time for a specialist. Call Donald Sampler, Sampler Research at 987-654-3210. We make house calls.”

You can also use object marketing to stay in touch with existing customers or to recognize milestones in large projects. In this case a swimming pool contractor uses a mailing to say thank you for a near-complete project and to ask for referrals. The cover of the box reads “Prepare for the end” which the customer opens to reveal a rubber duck and a note that reads “We're just days away from the time that you and your friends will be enjoying your new pool...”

This question, “Is cleaning a do-it-yourself project?” is answered with a practical little gift—a whisk broom. The tag details the services a professional janitorial company performs that a do-it-yourselfer might overlook.

A box in a box

The best way to mail your object box is to pack it inside another box. That way, you know that your message will arrive without the wear and tear of handling. As you decide on the object you want to send and the size and shape of the box you'll use to hold it, consider the standard sizes of boxes available to mail it. If you ship using an overnight shipper or USPS Priority Mail, the shipping box can be had, free of charge.

Object marketing is a powerful tool

Use your imagination to find the perfect object or try one of those pictured. If your mailing is clever enough, your prospect may well end up walking around the office showing it off—the ultimate dream of every marketeer.

(A) The orange plant and sliced orange are extracted from the same illustration. (B) The sliced orange is the top layer of the logo. The layer below the orange includes the shadow of the orange. (C) The next layer holds a semitransparent version of the plant illustration. (D) The bottom layer is the background. (E) For the business card, a simple white rectangle is on the layer above the illustration. The opacity of the rectangle is adjusted to reveal the illustration below. (F) The parts and pieces of illustrations are combined to create a second version of the logo for the envelope.

(G) The space between the letters in the word "ORCHARDS" is increased to allow for the descending loop of the "p"--one of the small details that make the difference between a design that works and one that doesn't.

What you need

Editing the illustration requires a paint or digital imaging program such as Adobe Photoshop or Jasc Software's Paint Shop Pro. Simple text and shapes can be produced with a desktop publishing program such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe PageMaker, QuarkXPress, or Microsoft Publisher.

Illustration source: Oranges from Antique Botanical Illustrations VII, From Visual Language, 888-702-8777, www.visuallanguage.com, © Visual Language, all rights reserved. Type families: Bickham Script, Minion, Myriad, Adobe Systems, Inc., 800-682-3623, www.adobe.com/type.

Letterhead

(1) "Samplerhaven" Bickham Script, 60pt; "ORCHARDS" Myriad 800bl, 700se, 18pt; (2) Defining phrase Myriad Regular, 9/10pt, align left; (3) Letter body Minion, 12/18pt, align left; (4) Address Myriad Regular, 7.5/10pt, align left

Business Card, Front

(5) "Samplerhaven" Bickham Script, 38pt; "ORCHARDS" Myriad 800bl, 700se, 8pt; (6) Name Myriad Regular, 8pt, align center; Title Myriad Regular, 7pt, align center; (7) Address Myriad Regular, 7/9pt, align center; Defining phrase Myriad Regular, 6pt, align center

Business Card, Back

(8) "ORANGES" Myriad 800bl, 700se, 6pt, align left; Text Myriad 800bl, 700se, Bold, 7/9pt, align left

Envelope

(9) "Samplerhaven" Bickham Script, 34pt; "ORCHARDS" Myriad 800bl, 700se, 7pt; Address Myriad Regular, 7/8pt, align center; (10) Defining phrase Myriad Regular, 6/7pt, align center
Color

Printed in four-color process using values of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) as defined on the color palette below. Actual color will vary.

Find the right place to learn Numero uno is this: find talented, experienced people to work with early on. It is tempting to accept a job where you run the show—where you are perhaps the top or only designer—or to become a freelancer. For most of us, I think working in that kind of vacuum is a mistake until you have five or ten years of real work experience. You miss out on all the valuable information you absorb by being around design-wise people—the day-to-day thinking and processing that turns ideas into results.

If you're serious about your career, go right to the top. Who do you think are the top designers in the world? The top copywriters? What are the top ten advertising agencies and design studios? Go to them and ask for a job—no kidding. Work cheap if you have to, while you can afford to, and take advantage of real-world, on the job learning. It is the fast track to knowledge.

Learn about the business side of creativity If I knew twenty years ago what I know now I'd have learned more about the business side of creativity. The truth is, it is tuff to make big bucks working for an hourly wage. To make money you have to franchise your knowledge—you have to employ people, markup costs, make presentations, and take financial risks.

To my way of thinking, it as just as important to get to know the account managers and media buyers (and what they do) as it is to get acquainted with the creative director.

You'll be way ahead of the game if you read—The Business Side of Creativity by Cameron Foote—a hands-on guide to running a graphic design or communications business, and if you're contemplating striking out on your own, The E Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber—a brilliant book that will help you determine whether you should or not.

Master your presentation skills The next best career advice I can give you is this: if your presentation skills are weak, you must improve them. Not should—must. Today, as you are reading this page, there are thousands of truly brilliant ideas being generated in the minds of timid people. They will never see the light of day because the artists are unable to sell them—they are too nervous, too intimidated, or simply lack the skills to communicate their ideas with clarity and enthusiasm.

If you fear talking to a group or just have trouble organizing your thoughts—make learning these skills one of your top priorities. I know it sounds hokey, but take the basic Dale Carnegie Course (dalecarnegie.com) then join your local Toastmasters Club (toastmasters.org). This combination will do more for you personally than you can imagine—I guarantee it.

Don't let your work get in the way of your life Of all these things, the most important thing I can tell you is this: don't let your work get in the way of your life. I tell you this because at its best, the job of being an art director, a designer, a copywriter, or some other type of marketeer, can be so much fun, so satisfying, that you get it confused with being important.

In reality, what really matters most, in my opinion, is how your work helps or hinders the really important stuff—how well you serve your God, your family, and those around you. This, as you might guess, is the advice I have the most trouble following myself.

The prepress process for a printing press, among other things, determines how each page is positioned on the sheet (imposition) to achieve the most economical use of space. It ensures the pages are perfectly aligned front to back. That screen values are applied to photographs and artwork. That a slight overlap, or "trap," is applied between colors that touch. And the colors are separated for making individual printing plates.

Preflight your files

In either case, your first responsibility of the prepress process is to "preflight" your files. Preflighting is the process of gathering together and reviewing all the elements necessary to translate what you create on your computer to the printer's computer. Most printers can provide you with a preflight checklist.

Some desktop publishing programs have a preflight feature that aids in the process. At minimum, the printer will require the names and descriptions of the document files and any other image files linked to them, the name and version number of the software program used to produce them, and copies of the fonts used (check your font license agreement for restrictions about sharing fonts).

Before you hand over your files, be sure you and the printer agree about who is responsible for what. One printer might prefer to work with your actual desktop publishing program file, to open it in the program you used to produce it, and prepare it themselves. Another might assume you have prepared a file complete with such settings as screen frequency, screen angles, negative orientation, and others.

Review and sign off on a proof

Once your files are prepared for a printing press, you will be asked to review and sign off on a proof of your job before it is printed. A proof is a printout that should, as closely as possible, demonstrate the final printed piece.

There are many different types of proofs. Some printers still provide a blueline (named for its monochrome blue color) made by exposing a film negative on a sheet of light-sensitive paper. It shows a highly accurate representation of what to expect from the printing process minus actual color. If you specify more than one or two colors, a color proof is sometimes required to approximate the colors you should expect.

Today, in an ever-changing print marketplace, new and more accurate ways of proofing are available. Your printing representative can explain the differences, and show you examples of the systems they use.

Your responsibility, in any case, is the same: to check and recheck the proof thoroughly. Once you sign off on it, responsibility for everything shown on the proof is yours, even if it is the printer's mistake. This is an important distinction to understand. If something as simple as an errant line break eliminated an important phone number, and that mistake undermined your entire project, your approval may still be legally binding—leaving you and your organization to bear the entire cost of reprinting.

Use a red pen or pencil to circle errors and make notes. Are pages printed at the right size? Are the photographs, artwork, and text in the right places? Are the images and text clear and focused? Are the correct typefaces used? Did special characters such as fractions and copyright marks translate correctly? Circle scratches, dust, and broken characters that might be caused by impurities in the film used to make the proof and that, in turn, will be used to make the printing plates. If there are significant changes, request a second proof so you are sure all the changes were made.

If printing will be done on a production copier, prepress primarily concerns translating the files to the printer's copier and reviewing sample copies before a complete run is produced.

Check your job in progress

Good printing is the absence of mistakes. The proofs you sign off on gave you a good idea of what your finished job should look like. Now your responsibility shifts to seeing that the results are a fair representation of what you approved. There are two stages at which to intercept problems—during the printing process, and after it is complete.

Many printers are receptive to, and in fact encourage, clients to check their jobs in progress at the beginning of the press run. This is especially true if there is some part of the process that requires an aesthetic judgment—if, for example, you are using process colors (CMYK), the press operator can often fine-tune the result by increasing or decreasing the intensity of individual colors. But remember, press time is expensive. If you choose to approve your job on press, be prepared to give clear directions and to make quick decisions. Check with your printing representative to see what their policy is and requirements are for press checks.

Whether you are looking at a job in progress or postpress, the figures show a few of the most obvious problems to look for. Though a small portion of just about every job will be spoiled by one or more of them, attentive press workers should spot and discard problem sheets. And, though quality varies from printer to printer, most would agree that problems this extreme are not considered deliverable.

Check your job in progress and, afterward, question anything that is distinctly different from the proof you approved. Watch for these potential printing problems:

Coverage Check the ink coverage—too little (A), normal (B), or too much (C).

Mottle Check solid areas for mottle—uneven, spotty areas of ink.

Registration and trapping> All colors and shapes should be aligned, or registered, with great precision. Poor registration can result in a gap between ink colors (D).

Pinholes and hickies A pinhole (E) is the result of a hole in the printing plate negative. Erratically shaped hickies (F) are caused by dirt or paper particles that adhere to the plate or rollers.

Skew A crooked or skewed image (G) could be the result of a misaligned plate.

Trimming Some of the most common problems occur after the job is printed. A page trimmed even slightly out of alignment can be drastically altered (H).

Ghosting> A doubled or blurred image, termed "ghosting," is typically caused by a misapplication of ink on the rollers.

Recheck your job after it is delivered

Repeat the process by rechecking your job when it is delivered. Look at a representative sample of pieces from the beginning, middle, and end of the run. If the middle third of the job is spoiled, you don't want to discover it through a phone call from a subscriber.

Do a rough count

Next, do a rough count to determine if you got the quantity of pieces you paid for. Count a stack of 100 pieces, measure the height of the stack, and roughly calculate if you are within ten percent of the quantity you ordered. Most printers consider ten percent over or under the amount you requested as acceptable. Therefore, if you need exactly 1000 copies, be sure to tell the printer beforehand that anything less is unacceptable. Some printers expect you to pay extra for overruns unless you agree otherwise in advance.

Oversee and approve postpress finishing

Your final responsibility is to oversee and approve postpress finishing—how sheets are folded, bound, trimmed, drilled, and packaged. At a small press, these steps may be accomplished by a team of people using a series of individual devices. At the largest printer, the same steps may be completed on a single, computerized assembly line.

A traditional 8.5 by 11 inch, eight-page newsletter is printed front and back on two sheets slightly larger than 11 by 17 inches, which are then paired together, folded in half, and saddle-stitched—stapled on the fold. It is obvious if the pages were incorrectly paired: The pages will be out of order. If the margins are not uniform, the pages may not have been registered accurately front to back or trimmed accurately.

Negotiate a price adjustment for printing errors

If the printer makes errors, it is reasonable to negotiate an adjustment in the price. If there are minor problems with your job, something even a meticulous reader would normally miss, you can request a reprint, but it may be more practical to ask for an adjustment of the price; most printers are amenable. If there are significant, obvious problems with your job, insist on a reprint. Though some readers might not notice a problem, it may cause others to judge your organization negatively.

Stay abreast of developing

A final word about printing: there is no final word. The printing business, for some time, has been in and remains in fast forward. There are all types of developing technologies that solve the inherent problems of conventional prepress, printing, and postpress processes. Direct-to-press systems, for example, circumvent much of the time, practice, and cost necessary to prepare and produce printing plates. Stay abreast of developing printing technologies. Printing representatives can introduce you to new, less costly ways of doing things; you have only to judge whether they meet or exceed the standards of cost, accuracy, and quality set by conventional methods.

For a comprehensive look at the printing process, get a copy of the Pocket Pal Graphic Arts Production Handbook from International Paper.

Before you begin writing and designing your next project, lay out your presentation by calculating the number of transitions necessary to tell the story. Then choose one of these designs or use them as a starting point to create your own variation. Some simple advance planning will help you maximize the drama with which your story unfolds.

1 > Map your message

Have lots of information to present? A map fold can reduce a large sheet to a compact size. You can recreate this 8-page version or make yours twice the size with double the number of panels. The cover (A) opens to a two-page spread (B) where you begin to develop your message. You might answer the cover headline with a subhead or splash an illustration across both pages. Spread B opens to reveal four pages—two over two.

2 > Roll out the story

If you have information that needs to be introduced a little at a time, a roll fold is the answer. The cover (A) opens to a two-page spread (B/C) where you present the first stage of your message—a subhead and text on the left page (B) and an illustration on the right (C). As the reader unrolls the sheet, the next two-page spread appears. You can add as many pages as necessary to accommodate your message.

3 > Make the transition

Many of the most interesting layouts provide a transitional spread to draw you into the story. The cover page (A) presents the headline and page B serves as a transition to the body of text on spread C. The back covers of all of these layouts are typically used for the name, address, and other details necessary for getting in touch.

4 > Open the gate

Behind the cover (A) of this layout, is a two-page "gate" (B) that opens to a four-page spread (C). An illustration or subhead and text on spread B makes a nice transition between the cover and the text beyond the gate. Desktop publishing programs are particularly good for dividing text and graphics into all the panels of a sheet.

5 > Reveal the message

The cover (A) of this layout is shortened to allow you to reveal a little of what's inside (B) on the inside back panel (C). If, for example, you place a photograph in the B position, a slice of the photograph would show through as part of the cover (A). That way, the image on the inside also sets the tone for the outside.

6 > Think outside the box

These are just a few of the fold combinations possible. Your local commercial printer can show you many more. This layout demonstrates how something as simple as cutting the unfolded sheet at a slant (A) can produce attention-getting results. Your headline goes on the cover (B)—the rest of the brochure is divided into three distinct sections—1, 2, 3—you could even print the names of three different products or services on the tabs.

It pays to know commercial printers and their equipment. You may find that the press on which your piece will be printed could accommodate a larger or differently configured sheet than you first consider—and for just a marginal increase in cost. Find out, up front, what sheet sizes you have to work with and the design process will be that much more efficient and effective.

I constantly battle my instinct to use a standard approach, a standard layout, or a standard size—the “Everyone else does it that way, why shouldn't I” syndrome. To my way of thinking, one thing that separates average from good designers is the willingness to recognize that barrier and to break it.

The good news is I rarely let normal get in my way. What follows are some of the steps I took to create a recent logo. I saved some of the graphics I created along the way and have attempted to recall a little bit about what I was thinking. There is, of course, more to a logo design process than what you see here—this exercise includes little about the typical ramp up of preliminary discussions, research, and so on—space, time, and vanity limit me to showing just a portion of the process.

I don't know about you, but I start out on paper. I find it most productive to sketch out ideas in a notebook. A Moleskine notebook is my weapon of choice—its small and sturdy enough to carry in my back pocket. (I like them so much I sell the plain and horizontal-lined flavors in the ideabook.com store— found the graph version shown here a little noisy for me.)

I'm most concerned with concepts at this stage—not designs. To my way of thinking, designs emerge from concepts, concepts do not emerge from designs. My goal in creating a logo is, at best, to demonstrate the benefit of using the product or service and at minimum to create a visual symbol of the subject matter.

I often show my clients those rough ideas. I have found that getting feedback on basic concepts is best for everyone involved. It allows us to weed out ideas that look good to me but don't work for the client. It acknowledges that the client knows the subject best, no matter how much research I do.

What may appear to me to be a great solution to the problem sometimes just doesn't work for reasons I could not be expected to know.

The logo I'll discuss here was designed for a helicopter transport company—Metro Aviation. I started by going through my sketches and choosing the concepts I thought had most merit.

Step 1 (below) > I created some slightly tighter drawings of five of the ideas—the first, something to symbolize the basic rotor and lift dynamics.

Step 2 > Second is a helicopter with bird wings. Yes it's ugly (looks like a bat-copter)—but we're just exploring concepts, not designs.

Step 3 > Next, a more realistic rendition of a copter integrated with the type—perhaps a flyover where the aircraft casts a shadow in the letter form.

Step 4 > From the outset, the client expressed an interest in using a hummingbird as a symbol for the helicopter so I began to explore that idea as well.

Step 5 > The problem with the hummingbird was that, as I began doing research, I found lots of other helicopter companies were using something similar as their mark.

Step 6 > That didn't rule it out, it just meant I would have develop the idea further to make it distinctive. To me, this version looks a bit more like its hovering.

Step 7 > But it was this design that made me think, “I'm onto something,”—the combination of the hummingbird, the implied motion of hovering, and the additional visual element of rotation added the extra something I was looking for.

My confidence was strengthened further when the client chose it from the lineup.

Step 8 > The rest, as they say, is history. The idea of the hovering bird stuck and I began to develop a design. First, I gathered together some photographs so that my actual design would reflect the correct proportions and positioning.

Step 9 > Research is crucial. If some aspect of your subject is inaccurate, you can waste amazing amounts of time pursuing a design your client will reject out of hand. In this case, you can see how different the beginning shape of the actual artwork (right) is from my original sketch (left).

Step 10 > The problem with logo design is you have to create finished art or something close to it to communicate your idea. I may tweak it after I get the client's okay, but I've got to be 95 percent finished with the art to sell it to the client. My software of choice is Adobe Illustrator. Here, I started by roughing out the body.

Step 11 > I created the feathers using a series of ovals.

Step 12 > Then I rotated the body and wing into hovering position.

Step 13 > You have to mine a lot of rocks to find the gold. This is one of many ideas I experimented with in my attempt to show “rotation.” Really awful isn't it?

Step 14 > What seemed to work best was to use some type of oval to simulate the blur of the blades.

Step 15 > Even better was a swirl. I took this clip art element...

Step 16 > and scaled it down vertically. Then I tilted the bird's body back to a vertical position so I was sure to get it centered correctly. What follows are variations of this basic design.

Step 17 > First, I added color and used the top of the swirl to define the division between the bird's body and its head. I also added a slight gap between the bottom of the swirl and the tail to accentuate the division between the swirl and the body. Finally, I added another oval below to act as a shadow.

Step 18 > Dividing the swirl into two colors helped to further accentuate the swirling motion.

Step 19 > I tried adding another shape as if the swirl were casting a shadow on the lower body. It works, but I thought it was getting a little too complex.

Step 20 > And I tried changing the black swirl to gray.

Step 21> This version includes a couple of light gray shapes I thought might give the image a little more of a sense of movement—nope.

Step 22 > I finally settled on filling in the spaces between the bird's body and the swirl. My thinking was to simplify the final version as much as possible and, for me, removing the negative space helped.

Step 23 > I was actually really happy with this basic design. I even went so far as to work it into a business card layout using the colors the client requested.

Step 24 > But here comes a reality check. The client decided the idea of hovering just wasn't convincing enough. He liked the design but thought the hovering motion would be more true to form if it was above the body as it would be on a helicopter.

Wow. Its always difficult to hear when a client isn't as excited about your solution as you are. But I can tell you the axiom “the customer is always right” is always true. At least if you want to stay in business.

I could spend the time necessary to provide the client with carefully considered, well-spoken reasons for going with what I created, but clients are no different than designers—if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you—period.

Step 25 > So back to the drawing board. How do I glue these pieces together in a way that works?

Step 26 > First, I had to re-think the wings. The swirl took the place of the wings so I had to get them back in there.

Step 27 > That worked for me, but the swirl didn't.

Step 28 > I needed something simpler. A solid shape? Nope too massive.

Step 29 > Again, I found simpler better. It worked for me and, more importantly, it was just what the client wanted.

Step 30 > Next, I adjusted the colors to match the helicopter color scheme (blue and yellow) and added the shadow.

Step 31 > The final hurdle was the tail. We tried several different versions. One...

Step 32 > Two...

Step 33 > Three...

Step 34 > and four...

Step 35 > I like it when clients push. Though I may cry and moan to myself at the time, more often than not, we end up with a better solution. That said, in this case, I personally prefer the interim solution, but then I'm not paying the bill.

Logo design is legalized gambling. When I take on a project I don't know if it will take eight hours or five days. In fact what I've shown you here is the tip of the iceberg. To the right, in PDF form, is a summary of some of the many iterations of the logo.

Though it is a challenge from all sides, there is nothing quite so exciting for a designer than discovering, developing, and implementing an image that becomes the visual representation of an entire organization.

Every knowledgeable graphic designer understands that good design and development require creativity, technical knowledge, and resources. A typeface designer not only conceives of, draws, and refines every turn and corner of every letter of the alphabet; they also craft sets of numbers, symbols, ornaments, and a standard set of foreign characters. Add ligatures, alternative characters, and width and weight variations and a single typeface family can easily represent literally thousands of individual images.

So ask yourself this: “Does type design have any merit or value?” If so then, “Should a type designer be compensated for the hours they work?” And finally this, “Should type designers donate their vision and craft so we can profit from it?”

2. Voluntary compliance is the key to professional survival.

But why should we pay for software? In 2008, the retail prices of Adobe Creative Suite 3 (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.) and the Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display were both $1799. So why are virtually 100 percent of the monitors paid for while some estimates say as much as 35 percent of software is pirated?

Because of a convenient misconception. I guarantee you that most of the people who use pirated software would not pick up a $1800 monitor and walk out of a store without paying for it. The monitor has weight and form to it, it represents a value that the software does not. It is convenient to think that the monitor has some value the software does not. But walking off with the software is no less theft.

A free society is dependent on voluntary compliance with the law. If we ever get to the point that we must rely on enforcement for compliance, the game is lost.

3. Solidarity of purpose is the cost of admission.

Your adoption of the common goals and interests of our profession is the price of admission to it. If you expect to be treated ethically and fairly by your clients and colleagues you need to do the same.

The same holds true for all of the resources we employ—fonts, hardware, teaching materials, photographs, illustrations, and so on. My client hires me for the messages I craft to communicate their ideas and the imagery and technology I employ to create them. They pay, in no small part, for my knowledge about how all these pieces fit together, where to get them, and how to use them.

Every designer's work, whether they want to acknowledge it or not, is built on the work of others. A communications designer does not work alone—ever. The people and organizations that supply us with the creative elements and tools for our work depend on us to share our profits with them. Depriving them of their share is not only selfish; it will result in the death of our profession by our own hand.

I welcome your thoughts. To comment, click “Contact Chuck” button.

“If you think about it, there is time, education, and skill invested in the design of a font. The time it took to perfect this craft could have taken several years. The cost of the font designer's education could of easily been in the thousands. Then the skill it often takes is priceless. So, when you pay for a font, you are not just paying for the act of creating it or the product itself. Rather, we are paying for that person's skill, knowledge, and a lifetime of experience as well their ability to make a living. We are also making an investment in our career as designers, because the work of a font designer is inexplicably tied to what we do in many ways.”

“When we don't pay for, or value, what goes into a font, why should anyone value what goes into making any design. This is what is happening in the field of graphic design today. When someone wants a logo, most of the time they want a product. They don't care what goes into the process. They want something pretty or decorative. Many designers are insulted when their ideas are undervalued, or their skill, education, and experience are undervalued. So why undervalue those things that make our craft possible?” Kerry C.

"What to do if you are a struggling young designer or student? You want to get ahead in this crazy world of marketing, design, and creative thinking, but you can't afford the newest, latest and greatest software, so what do you do? Usually you 'borrow' the software from a friend or get a group of your colleagues together and scrape up the money to buy at least one licensed copy of the needed tools. Is this right? Probably not. As an old, grumpy former print production guy, I have seen my share of work that comes across my desk that is incomplete, missing files and not assembled correctly, all due to lack of knowledge in the workings of programs like InDesign. What do we do?"

"I realize the time and money that goes in to designing and producing programs and software and I've seen all this new technology completely change our business. Is the business better because of it? I'm not sure. All of the new technology does give designer much more flexibility. The problem is how to they pay for it when business is down and you are depending on the next job to pay the rent? Somewhere in-between lies the answer."

"Maybe it's different models of the software that can be changed when the designer can afford more than the full-tilt program with all the bells and whistles. I know of many honest young designers that would never think of pirating software. I also know an equal amount who have no problem with it. So, does the purveyor of the software only sell the top of the line programs, or does he suggest something else? How do students and young designers get the knowledge they need to take advantage of all the latest in technology? Too often, they don't and either use pirated software or lose the assignment because they don't have it. It's not like buying a new set of Prismacolor markers to change your ideas and or make them better. I understand that I didn't answer the question, but maybe this may give pause to someone who is a lot smarter than me to stop and think about it." Denny H.

Thanks for your comment Denny. I understand your concerns. What we are talking about is the "system" in which we live-the voluntary "I'll provide this for you if you'll provide this for me." Every time (or example) you use your telephone, you acknowledge your dependence on the system. By paying your phone bill you compensate the worker who mined the ore that produced the bolt used to assemble the tower on which the lines are strung that make your call possible. I assume you see the value in that.

If I only followed the laws I endorse and you only followed those you endorse the system would break. And if enough parts break the result can be catastrophic. To me, whether you steal a car or a software program makes no difference in the scheme of our voluntary system. Undermine the system and ultimately you will suffer the consequences. I can think of countless reasons I don't like follow this law or that. The only thing that I would like less is every-man-for-himself. Chuck

"Chuck: I am not an advocate the piracy of programs or software under any conditions. What I'm looking for is some way to get young designers with no budget a chance to somehow make use of this. I still get a lot of files produced on PhotoShop 4.0 and PageMaker that are difficult to put into today's electronic formats. I'm semi-retired now, but have tried to keep myself educated on whats going on around me. I still consult for a number of small and/or young designers who are not equipped with the latest in software and it makes it difficult in some cases to get what I want in raw files to a printer. I'm for some way to get these kids software that they can purchase and build on.

"My knowledge of all that goes into that isn't on a par with most younger guys. I come from the days of copper plates for color reproduction and film negatives. Further, my Dad, a small printer, hand set most of his work. I know the gains made. I just don't want to see young talent held back by their inability to be able to buy the needed programs. I know it's a licensing nightmare, but how do we get kids in high school graphics classes the tools they need? I know I can't afford them anymore and really don't need them, as I can get buy with what I have. I really enjoy reading your takes on what's going on in the business today and when I compare it to what I did 30 years ago, it's almost unimaginable. I know my Dad, who passed away at a young age wouldn't know where he was at, if I could show him a print shop today.

Last week my son purchased Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 Design Premium for $600 using his student discount. Seems like a deal considering you easily could have paid $600 to create the plates for a single print job 25 years ago. Doing a quick search, I found a release in the Adobe archive titled: "Adobe Systems Contributes $5.9 Million In Software To Educate and Empower Underprivileged Youth." Sometimes (I fear), the excuse of "it costs too much" translates to, "taking it is easier." Chuck

"These last three articles 'preach' the same messages I have been trying to get across to my twelfth-grade graphic design students. But you weren't too 'preachy,' as you originally feared. In fact, you worded your essays so well that I would like to use them as classroom handouts so that the students would have a permanent reminder of the ideals they should strive for. But, of course, I wouldn't do that without your permission! If you would rather I didn't print the pages for the students, I would at least like to require read them to read them online, and prove that they have done so by either passing a quiz or filling in one of the dreaded worksheets so universally despised."

"I have been telling them that to be a good designer requires humility, because their product must not be primarily a vehicle for their own self-expression. The job of the designer is to solve communication problems. They must understand the client and the client's target audience, and connect the two, by making sure that the audience receives the client's message. The less the audience is aware of the design, the more effectively they connect with the client."

"This principle was encapsulated neatly by the great calligrapher and type designer Rudolph Koch: "The calligrapher is the servant. The master is the text." Jonathan B.

Nicely said Jonathan. Chuck

"I own a printing company and also write a newsletter (called Printips) available by subscription for printing company owners to send to their customers. In the past I have written newsletters on copyright (because customers of printing companies sometimes copy images from Internet sites believing they are in the public domain) and stressed the importance of paying for and/or getting permission to use intellectual property. In addition, we do not provide fonts with our newsletter files as that would violate Adobe's rights."

"Your comments on 'design without deception' is very pertinent to another dilemma printers face: customers who ask us to provide a font we have used when we are designing so they can use it to produce files inhouse. I would like your permission to excerpt from your comments (with full attribution) for the Printips newsletter."

"Thanks for keeping us all ethical." Nancy D.

Thanks for that Nancy. I've gotten several requests from folks who want to re-use the three articles in this series. Here is a limited permission for reprinting these three articles only (not other material on ideabook.com): How to design without deception, Commercial graphic design is not self-expression, or The suicide of design. Terms: Please do not edit the text, include the entire text of the article, and attribute the articles as follows: Chuck Green is the author of numerous books on communications design and host of www.ideabook.com -- a popular center for the exchange of print and online communication ideas. Chuck

"As usual, really well articulated. Just like I wrote previously, commenting on an earlier installment of this series, I'm again encouraged that you and others share a moral compass for professional conduct when so often "cutting corners" is viewed as acceptable. Thanks for writing these."

"I especially appreciate the very lucid observation 'A free society is dependent on voluntary compliance with the law. If we ever get to the point that we must rely on enforcement for compliance, the game is lost.'"

I've had discussions with my son about why it's wrong to illegally copy digital music files. Since he's also is a musician (who has done a little garage recording), I used that same argument with him 'Minimizing the value of other people's work minimizes ours.' I said 'One day you may invest your time and money in recording a CD and put it out for sale, would want others to illegally copy it?'" Jerry S.

"I wanted to add a bit to the discussion specifically about students. Adobe and other software manufacturers sell student licenses at a fraction of the cost of the professional licenses (and it's exactly the same software) in order to meet those cash-strapped students halfway, not to mention encourage them to buy and use that software later in their professional careers."

"Students, especially college students, may also have access to computer lab facilities with legally licensed software (and fonts), like the ones at the university where I work. There are also freeware fonts made available on the web by their designers (though of course those may not be the same quality as a purchased font). So for students, there are some perfectly legal alternatives to piracy." Sarah K.

"I think it is the same thing we see when we ask people if downloading music, movies or TV is stealing. Dr. Steven Covey who wrote the 7 habits books has a test he uses with college kids. He asks them to think of something they have done that others would consider wrong and then to close their eyes and really ask themselves if it was wrong even though they have hundreds of reasons to justify what they did. Thankfully, most of the time they admit that their inner voice believes (deep down) that what they did was wrong. Your line 'A free society is dependent on voluntary compliance with the law. If we ever get to the point that we must rely on enforcement for compliance, the game is lost.' is OUTSTANDING." Jim B

"I have a hard time believing that any person involved in design (at any level) doesn't already know that asking someone to copy a font is stealing. An explanation about the skill necessary to develop a font etc. only gives them the excuse to say, "Gee, I didn't realize that." They know darn well they are stealing."

"It is the same in the music industry. I remember once designing a textile design and before our customer got it on their retail floor--another very large retailer saw it being woven in India - reduced the design and had it on their floor before our customer!" Lynn E.

I think there are many people who choose not to think about it. And many relativists who believe their personal circumstances justify a disregard for the systems that govern the world within which they operate. Chuck

"Oftentimes, I have no use for a font other than to match the clients' existing collateral. You get into a sticky issue wherein the client has paid for the font already. I could buy the font to use it for the client's work, and then have the client reimburse me, but then the client would be paying for the same font twice."

"I certainly wouldn't want to eat the cost myself for a font I probably won't ever use again, particularly if the font I need is only available as part of a family that costs $200 or more. How would you suggest handling this situation?" Tomas R.

Hoefler & Frere-Jones at www.typography.com puts this succinctly: "Freelancers, outside contractors, advertising agencies, and other suppliers are independent entities, and each needs its own font license. Keep in mind that when it comes to licensing, fonts are no different than any other kind of software." Agreed. Chuck