Date post: | 17-Nov-2014 |
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Design |
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Graphic Design for Non-DesignersMarch 7, 2014
#14inspire
Presented by
Graphic Design Tips for Non-Designers
Presented by Amy Allen-Muncey
How to keep your design looking
'current'What do I mean by “current”?
Grids! Why consistent spacing and grids are
important• The grid is a series of invisible lines that makes up a
pattern of white
• Space which organizes your overall design.
• It’s important to set margins, columns and grids in order to organize your content and keep spacing consistent.
• Without first setting your grids, the overall design, (whether it be a poster, logo, letterhead, etc) could become messy and unbalanced.
• Once you know the rules, feel free to get creative and bend them!
What is continuity?The unbroken and consistent existence or operation of
somethingover a period of time.
How do we implement continuity?
• the first stage of continuity is creating a brand and brand elements.
• These elements are created with the intention that they are unchanging.
• That means that whatever you do, whether it’s your business card, your website or as seemingly simple as an email footer, everything needs to contain the same fonts, styling and logo
We’re not all Starbucks
• Ok, we don’t all have millions of dollars in our marketing budget but we can learn a lot from big brands.
• We can learn a tasteful way to reinforce continuity without going overboard
• We can learn that a great way to begin to earn trust from potential clients is to constantly display great values while linking those values with imagery (your brand and logo)
Imagery / Photography
No Clip Art!
Quality & affordable
stock photography
Stock Photography• Affordable, hi-quality photos for under
$50
• Try to find photos that are recently added and unique to your organization’s needs
• Invest in a couple hi-quality photos and use throughout your marketing materials. eg. brochure, web, posters, etc.
• istockphoto.com; shutterstock.com; stocksy.com
Take your own photos• your smartphone can snap better
quality photos than older digital cameras
• Use your phone’s filter effects & touch up tools
• Be sure to use highest resolution photos as possible
• Take a community class on smartphone photography - Cambridge Libraries
Telling stories with numbers
• Find the stories in numbers.
• Impact numbers can quickly demonstrate your organization’s successes
• Infographics can make complex numbers and ideas easier to digest
Infographics• Use Powerpoint to create
simple pie charts and graphs. Large numbers (%, $, ratios, etc)
• Use simple icons to help tell your story. Find free stock photo icon sets online.
• infographic web programs: http://infogr.am/; http://www.easel.ly/; http://create.visual.ly/
Free powerpoint templates: http://offers.hubspot.com/how-to-easily-create-five-fabulous-infographics-in-powerpoint
Typography Tips
• Only use one or two fonts. Serif for titles & headings, sans serif for paragraphs
• Move beyond system fonts installed on your computer. Many free / affordable fonts are online - just make sure they’re legible!
• Unique fonts along with colour palates will help make your brand more memorable.
Typography Tips• Use the fonts consistently across all
of your communication materials
• Be sure to adhere to fonts that have been chosen for your organization’s brand. It’s not intended to kill your creativity, it’s intent is for consistency.
• More info on typography rules: http://practicaltypography.com/
• Free / affordable fonts: http://www.myfonts.com/; http://www.dafont.com/; Google: best free fonts
graphic designfor non-designers
(A few quick tips)
efficiencies
• Marketing and design doesn’t have to be complicated
• We’re not robots, we all find unique ways to tackle problems
• Let’s go through some quick tips for efficiencies for design in your own office…
efficiency #1
POWERO
FTHE.PNG
power of the .png• Lossless compression – Save, re-save, quality
saves the same
• Colour-savvy
• Transparency options, no “jaggies”
• Various resolutions 72dpi (Web) to 300dpi (Print)
• .png files are one of the best common formats for use in Word documents, PowerPoint presentations
So, how can you use the .png?
efficiency #2
DIYTHE
LETTERHEAD
The DIY Letterhead• Letterhead is still an important
business tool
• By using a .png file you can create letterhead for inside or outside the office
• Insert, scale and position a .png into something like a Word document header
• You can set margins so text flows around the graphic
• Displays as a watermark, but prints fully opaque
SHEET
INFO
efficiency #3
THE
INTERNALIZED
the info sheet internalized
• In Guides, We Trust!
• Print margins to match your office printer
• .png files designed, inserted within those margins will result in a bordered design
• Printing in the office doesn’t need to be complicated!
the info sheet internalized
• “Bleed” is not as bad as it sounds!
• 4/0, 4/1, 4/4 is not taking you back to fractions in math
• Numbering system ensures no miscommunications and effective print re-ordering
• Lots of great local Printers to help you make you look your best!