Design-it-Yourself Graphic Workshop

STYLE 15

Outlines

For this style, the logo is the layout. The

only element on the letterhead other

than the address is the single horizontal

line that visually separates the logo from

the letter. The business card and

envelope don’t even need that.

The layout is plain because the logo

is so visually complex. The outlines not

only spell out the name of the

organization, they pronounce the

products and services it sells. In this case,

good design is as much about restraint

as it is about excess.

PART 2: DESIGN RECIPES

SOURCE Type families:

Frutiger, Minion,

Adobe Systems, Inc.,

800-682-3623,

www.adobe.com/type.

What you need

Creating the outlines requires a draw program

such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, or Macromedia

FreeHand. Simple text and shapes can be produced with a

desktop publishing program such as Adobe InDesign,

Adobe PageMaker, QuarkXPress, or Microsoft Publisher.

A drawing program is used to remove the fill

color from the words and to thicken the

outline (stroke) of each letter.

Words that describe the organization’s

products and services are added to the

background. To increase the visual interest,

some are capitalized, some are all caps, and

some are all lowercase.

Various tones and colors are added to the

background words. In each case, the tone for

these supporting elements are significantly

lighter than the name. Some words are

enlarged, and others are reduced.

The words are assembled like a puzzle. Taking

the time to experiment with how each word

fits a particular space is what makes this

technique work.

112

STYLE 15: OUTLINES

DESIGN RECIPES: OUTLINES

113

Letterhead 8.5 W by 11 H inches

Letterhead

1 “SAMPLER” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 9pt; “Display” Frutiger 95

UltraBlack,

36pt, 1pt outline; “projection” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 15pt,

0.5pt outline;

“Sound” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 60pt, 0.5pt outline;

“VIDEO” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 18pt, 0.5pt outline; 2 Defining phrase

Frutiger 45 Light, 7/9pt, align left; 3 Line 0.5pt; 4 Letter body Minion,

12/18pt

, align left; 5 Address Frutiger 45 Light, 8/10pt, align left

Business Card

, Front

6 Name F

rutiger 45 Light, 7/10pt, align left; 7 Defining phrase Frutiger

45 Light, 7/8pt, align left; Address Frutiger 45 Light, 7/10pt, align left;

8 “SAMPLER” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 6.5pt; “Display” Frutiger 95

UltraBlack,

26pt, 0.75pt outline; “projection” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 9pt,

.36pt outline;

“Sound” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 43pt, 0.36pt outline;

“VIDEO” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 13pt, 0.36pt outline

Business Card

, Back

9 List Frutiger 55 Roman, 7/12pt, align left; 10 “Information” Frutiger 55

R

oman, 7pt, align left; Lines 0.25pt

En

velope

11 “SAMPLER” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 7.5pt; “Display” Frutiger 95

UltraBlack,

30pt, 0.85pt outline; “projection” F

rutiger 95 UltraBlack,

12.75pt, 0.43pt outline; “Sound” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 51pt, 0.43pt

outline;

“VIDEO” Frutiger 95 UltraBlack, 15pt, 0.43pt outline; 12 Address

Frutiger 45 Light, 7/10pt, align left

Co

lor

To be printed in black and a solid PANTONE Color Ink as defined on

the palette below (see Step 9.3). (Because this book is printed in

process colors (CMYK), the illustration is only a simulation of the actual

solid PANTONE Color).

Business Card, Front

3.5 W by 2 H inches

Business Card, Back 3.5 W by 2 H inches

Envelope, Commercial 9.5 W by 4.125 H inches

DESIGN RECIPES: OUTLINES