Some IMPORTANT hints for DESIGNING A ARTWORK
So you’ve just bought yourself the latest and greatest desktop publishing or illustration program.
You start up your new program with visions of a publication
rivaling that of the New York Times. Yet
all that awaits you is the uninspiring blank white page staring you in the face.
It is then that you realize you have a lot of work to do.
Believe it or not, many new designers and desktop publishers
enter the industry thinking that
because they have the fastest computer and the most expensive software, they are an
instant
designer. Sadly, the reality is far less fairy tale-like.
The purpose of this article is not to deter new designers and
desktop publishers; rather, it is to give
you an idea of what you should steer clear of and what you can feel safe doing. After all,
we all had to
start somewhere, and some of us found out what and what not to do the hard way.
So here it is, Top five do’s and don’ts in the world of desktop publishing and graphic design.
1. Do know what you want to do.
Desktop publishing programs were not designed to act as a sketchpad. You must be aware of
what
you are going to do, whom you are going to do it for and how you plan to do it. If this
means a simple
sketch on a napkin while you’re having lunch, so be it!
For example, say you are doing the layout for a simple newspaper.
You must be aware of where your
headings, body text, page numbers and pictures are to go. If it is informal, perhaps this
doesn’t need
to be so important, but consistency is all-important.
Make sure you have an idea of who you are designing your
publication for, and design towards your
target audience. You wouldn’t design something that looks like a scientific research
paper for a child
audience.
2. Don’t use more than four fonts in any one
publication.
As a general rule, when designing a publication I never use more than four fonts.
Realistically, how
many do you need? For a newsletter layout, you could use one font for headings, one for
body text
(which could also be used in italics or bold for captions) and one for subheadings. You
may not even
need that fourth one.
Also make sure that your font choices are sensible. There is
nothing wrong with using a ‘fun’ or
‘informal’ type font for a poster for a child’s party, but choosing the
same font for a business
publication shows an amateurish touch.
3. Do remove the fonts Brush Script, Rage and Staccato
from your system.
I do not mean to be derogatory to the designers of these fonts, but they have had their
fifteen minutes
of fame (and even that was too long). Never before have I seen a collection of overused
and misused
fonts in my life, and putting them in capitals makes the text virtually unreadable.
As a general rule, script fonts tend to date very quickly and
therefore lose their impact. Unless you
want your work to be looked upon as nothing more than an amateurishly designed waste of
good
reading time, cease the use of these fonts immediately.
4. Do make sure your publication is readable.
Just because your design program has this wonderful feature that adds distortion to any
object or
blurs something to a state of complete disaster does not mean you actually need to use it.
In the
world of effective design, it is far better to design for functionality, even though you
may have to lose
some of the fancy edges.
Always remember, if your audience can’t get through your
design to the essential information, you’ve
done something wrong. This is not to say that you should make your design work completely
boring,
but you can do some great work using the KISS principle. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
5. Do experiment.
Yes, I know it’s a cliche, but it still holds true even in the design industry. You
learn from your
mistakes.
Set aside some time simply to experiment. You’ll find that
your illustration and DTP programs house
a wealth of features that you probably haven’t even thought existed. Just digging
around some of the
menus or having a bit of fun with some of the tools in the toolbox you haven’t used
before is not only
a great way to learn a new program, but you may even find something you want to use later.
A final word
If after all this you see the design industry as an endless minefield of rules and
regulations, I have
strongly misled you. Please do not think that the above guidelines must be followed for
fear of
rejection from the design community, for this is not the case.
If you are new to the design game, it may take you some time to
find your ‘design style’ yet like
everything else in life, this will come.
Above everything else, have a good time. Seek inspiration from
anything you see and you will find
graphic design and publishing a whole lot easier.
One last word of advice before I leave you with my words of
wisdom. Don’t feel as though you’ve failed
yourself if you have to resort to the user manual that is buried under the pile of dust in
the corner…