Inside Freelance Design

Issue #59
September 06, 2007

Welcome to Inside Freelance Design (IFD), your free, bi-weekly e-letter from American Writers & Artists Inc. Every other week, you can receive this special alert with secrets, tips, and insights from AWAI's graphic design pros to help you improve your skills and reach your goal of becoming a professional graphic designer in the fastest time possible.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Visually Proofing Your Designs
Quick Tip: Better Scanning
EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities

Visually Proofing Your Designs
by Kristin Schwarz

Providing your clients with clean, well-proofed packages is crucial to your success.

Some so-called marketing experts claim that it doesn’t matter if the package is riddled with misspellings, editing errors, and design gaffs. But testing proves them wrong.

Your prospects might not realize they’re doing it, but they do judge the quality of the company sending a DM package by how clean and consistent it is.

There are basically three types of initial proofing that should be done:
1. Spelling
2. Editing
3. Design and layout

Today, we’ll focus on proofing your design and layout.

Initial proofing should be done from printed copies of the project. Create proofs of each page using your ink-jet or laser printer. Never rely on proofing from your computer screen.

Here’s what to look for:

1. Simple layout
Successful direct-marketing design is simple design that does not interfere with the sale. To maintain simplicity, decide which elements you can remove without losing the message. Systematically remove visual elements from your layout, one-by-one, and evaluate after edit. Start with the less important ones like borders, rules, or drop caps. Does your design still work? In DM design, the rule is true: “Less is more!”

2. Hierarchy
You should also pay particular attention to the piece’s hierarchy and sequence. Are ideas presented in the right order and with the appropriate amount of emphasis? Are there any points where subheads should be inserted? Do visuals like photographs and tables clarify rather than confuse?

3. Consistent colors and text formatting
Subtle changes in color may occur if the colors used for text and graphic accents are individually applied instead of chosen from a palette. Some headlines or subheads may be a slightly different shade of blue or the fills behind some sidebars might be darker than others.

Likewise, unless you’ve created and used text styles for all elements of page architecture – headlines, subheads, body copy, captions, headers and footers, etc. – it’s possible that some text elements may be slightly larger or smaller than others in the same category. One paragraph might use different type size or look “different” because of different tracking or character spacing.

4. Visually balanced graphic elements
Where do graphic elements look or feel heavy? Where are they light? Is the spread top-heavy? Or does the weight fall too low? What is the item next to the heavy spot? Is that where you want your reader to look next?

5. White space
Pages cramped with text are not only unattractive but also hard to read. Adding white space to your design will assure that your reader does not feel overwhelmed by the text and will give your layout structure. You should think of white space as a design element that you use with purpose.

6. The design theme
You want to make sure that your design follows a theme. If you use call-out boxes with rounded corners, for example, all of them should have rounded corners. If you use a certain design element such as check marks or bullets, make sure you use the same style throughout your design.

7. The overall appearance
Test your layout by squinting at it. Do you perceive the layout as a single, unified whole? Are there things that just don’t feel right?

Hold the layout up to a mirror. How does it look now? What’s out of place? See any “holes” or “lumps”? Take a break from your layout. Put it aside for a couple of hours before you look at it again. You will see your design with a fresh eye.

Take these few easy steps and your design will look sharp and professional. You and your client will have more success, because of the small amount of time you invested in making sure the package is visually strong and clean.

* * * * * * * * Highly Recommended * * * * * * * *

“When you develop a reputation for being more than just a designer, or just a writer, that can mean the difference between you getting the project or someone else.” -- Mike Klassen

Find out how you can expand your business and become your client's "one-stop shop" for graphics, copy, project management and more:

http://www.awaionline.com/ifd/expandyourbusiness/

QUICK TIP: Better Scanning
by Kristin Schwarz

Scanners are great graphic design tools, allowing you to use images you might not otherwise be able to use. But results aren’t always what you hoped they would be. So here are a few quick and easy tips for getting the most out of your scanner.

1. Cleaning the scanner
Smudges and haze that you don’t usually see on the glass will still affect scan quality. Use glass cleaner and a soft cloth to clean the glass.

2. Garbage in, garbage out
Start with a good photo. Make sure there’s nothing on the photo that will affect the final image. Lightly wipe the photo with a clean, anti-static cloth first. If the subject is a pre-screened image such as that from a magazine page or book cover, use your scanner’s de-screening function.

3. Gang-scanning
If you are using several photographs that will appear together, try to scan them at the same time. Settings such as brightness, contrast, and shadows will be consistent, and you can adjust them all later with more accuracy.

4. Cropping the photo
Do not crop in the scanner. Crop later, with your image-editing software. Image previews are almost never accurate. Besides, you sometimes find you need more of an image than you expected.

5. Understanding requirements
If the image is screened, textured, damaged, or will need retouching, scan at twice the size you will ultimately need. This allows for corrections and down-sampling for greater clarity and sharpness. The larger the scan, the more detail will be retained.

If you are scanning a page with images and text, you might have better results scanning the page once in color, then again at the very same size and resolution in line or grayscale. Merge the results later with your image-editing software. (Text almost never scans well when scanned as if it were a color photo!)

* * * * * * * * Advertisement * * * * * * * *

How to Build and Grow a Successful Graphic Design Business

Get the answers to the hundreds of questions and concerns commonly asked in specific, step-by-step details:

http://www.thedesignerslife.com/bizinbox/

EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities

GRAPHIC DESIGNER –The Akron Beacon Journal based in Akron, OH has an opening for a graphic designer to join their team. It’s a full-time position, and requires knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator. Send your resume and salary requirements to sfoley@thebeaconjournal.com.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER –Muskogee Phoenix Classified Ads needs a versatile graphic designer. They provide design services to companies in both Arkansas and Oklahoma. Send your resume to dvanveen@tpok.com.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER –Cyber Coders is looking to place a talented graphic designer with a company in Vestal, NY. You’ll work on both print design and motion design. Experience with Flash, AfterEffects, and Final Cut Pro is necessary, in addition to the usual Adobe Creative Suite. You should have at least two years of experience and the samples to show for it. Send your resume and samples or links to your work to Gina Utria at Gina.Utria@cybercoders.com.

COMING NEXT ISSUE:

Designing Lift Notes for Maximum Impact
Quick Tip: Resetting Kerning and Tracking Quickly in InDesign

* ABOUT INSIDE FREELANCE DESIGN *

Inside Freelance Design is a FREE bi-weekly newsletter from American Writers & Artists Inc., available to AWAI members and friends.

ARCHIVED ISSUES of Inside Freelance Design can be found on our website at www.thedesignerslife.com/insidefreelancedesign.

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Issue #59 September 06, 2007