Design-it-Yourself Graphic Workshop

PART 2: DESIGN RECIPES

STYLE 6 (12 PAGES)

Lines

In architecture, a building’s inward

structure is often used as an integral

part of its outward design. The same is

true with this newsletter—the lines of

the underlying grid are used as a

primary design element. And, like a

well-designed building, a well-designed

newsletter is suited to its purpose and a

pleasure to see.

A strong design is also a strong

communicator—key information is

highlighted, images tell a story, and

everything is easy to find and read.

Design may include some decoration,

but decoration is not design.

Page flow

Three 17 by 11 inch sheets (landscape) are folded to 8.5

by 11 inches and saddle-stitched.

What you need

General layout and design requires a desktop

publishing program. Dividing and reassembling the parts

and pieces of vector clip art images and type requires a

drawing program. (See Step 7: Choose Your Tools,

page 176.)

STYLE 6: LINES

DESIGN RECIPES: LINES

245

The design grid

In this case, what you see above the surface—

the lines and boxes—is the four-column grid

below the surface. (See Step 11.2: Establish the

Page Size and Grid, page 187.)

The illustrations

Normally you would not employ such a wide

variety of drawing styles—symbols, a realistic

silhouette, dreamlike wood-cuts, and a cartoon.

Too many styles weaken visual continuity. All that

changes when you apply the same color to all the

images—a common color makes them look as

though they belong together.

The typefaces

This newsletter employs an Adobe Multiple Master

Typeface—Myriad. A multiple mast

er is a typeface

yo

u can customize by changing attributes such as

weight: thin to heavy; width: condensed to

extended; and its style and optical size. This is an

example of the thousands of versions you can

create of a single multiple master.

BASIC ELEMENTS

PART 2: DESIGN RECIPES

246

Continue the conversation

Newsletters are all about building relationships

with readers. Including a contact link at the

bottom of each article invites readers to communi-

cate with the people whose reporting and

opinions they read. What kind of information to

provide is, of course, up to you. The standard used

here and throughout Design It Yourself: Newslet-

ters demonstrates how you might provide the

name of the person who wrote the article, their

phone number, e-mail address, and a Web address.

That link might provide an extension of or update

to the article, access to online information about

the subject, and/or the writer’s bio or resume.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES

Vary the length of text

All of the text may begin at the same place at the

top of the page but the length of that text varies

significantly from column to column and page to

page. Making the text in one column shorter than

the next is a little design trick with two big

advantages—it allows writers to write a rough

versus a very specific number of words and it

allows designers more latitude with placing and

sizing artwork.

Set the rules, break the rules

The vertical grid lines establish a very uniform look

and feel to this layout. Consequently, an element

that breaks the uniformity draws attention to itself

and adds visual interest. Overlapping lines with

artwork and artwork with lines keeps the design

interesting, as do boxes of text and illustrations that

span two or more columns.

STYLE 6: LINES

247

PART 2: DESIGN RECIPES