Desktop Publishing
Inspiration
There are numerous places to get inspiration when you’re starting to design a new printed piece. Look around you at what draws your attention, whether it is other printed material, web pages, or television—all can provide design inspiration. Start collecting samples of good design. How can you tell it’s good? It ap-peals to you in some way. Figure out why that is so. You might also want to collect examples of bad design and figure out what went wrong. When something comes to you in the mail put it in a folder for future reference. After a while, you have a large collection to use as an “idea mill” for the pieces you design.
Content
Content is king, so it is said. You can have the greatest design in the world, but if poor content, punctuated with bad grammar, typographical errors, and incorrect punctuation, is what the reader gets, that fancy design won’t do you a bit of good. Remember that the ultimate goal is to have your document read.
Type
“What typeface should I use for my document?” you ask. The answer: “It depends.” Do you want to be funny or serious, casual or formal, friendly or businesslike, cool or warm, modern or traditional? This is where knowing your message comes in handy—simply choose a typeface that projects your message. Check out the web site at http://www.will-harris.com/esp1.htm for typefaces that work well together.
Layout
The main purpose of a good layout is to convey the message of the piece without getting in its way. The design of the piece should draw you in so that you notice the content and not the design. Before beginning to design your publication, decide what message you are trying to convey.
There are natural page “hot spots” based on how the eye moves around the page. In our western culture we usually follow a “Z” pattern—upper left, across the top, diagonally down the page right to left and then over to the lower right. Put the attention grabbing or “slowing down” elements in the upper left corner; put action-inducing elements in the lower right corner. The lower right is the best place for cutouts, prices, phone numbers, etc. Page three is one of the most important pages in a newsletter after the front and back pages. When you open a newsletter your eye automatically moves to page three, not page two. When using graphics make sure they point inward or to something important. Your eye will follow the graphic. If a person in a photograph is looking off the page, so will the reader!
Rules are made to be broken, but you must know what the rule is before you can break it. Be sure to know why you are breaking the rule.
Tools of organization
There are many ways to organize your publication. Will you use columns and if so, how far apart will you put them? What are kickers and jumplines? Will you use captions for your images?
Design elements
What are all the "extras" that go into making an interesting and inviting design? How much white space do you have? Are you using drop caps and pull quotes? All of these help to spice up your design.
Visuals
Visual elements can spruce up your document and keep it from appearing too “gray.” Position graphics so they point inward or towards something important. Don’t take the reader off the page. Try to avoid scattered clip art; make sure it is connected to the text and has purpose. Also consider using one dominant graphic per page.
Preparing for Printing
Once your piece is finished you'll want to get it printed. If you have access to in-house printing services, contact them for advice. You may be taking your work to an outside vendor. Contact them for the particulars on how they want to receive your work before you even begin. Describe what you want to do and they will be able to advise you on all the details you didn’t even think about—use of color, paper, cost, etc.
Glossary
Common terms used in the printing business.