It Probably Looks Better Printed on Coated Stock

In this piece the use of yellow ink allows the difference of environmental lighting in which the advertisement is viewed to have great importance. If the light setting is shadowed it is difficult to read or see the words printed in yellow. The fact that it is printed on newsprint doesn't help. I think if it were printed on coated paper stock it may not matter as much.

The logo for Adoption Expo is a good use of type as image.The "t" and "it" look like an adult and a child in a hugging pose.

Finest Feature of Photoshop

For me one of the best features of Photoshop is the Magic Wand. There have been multiple times when I want to use a portion of an image and leave out the background or change the background. In the images below I have replaced the background. I used the following steps.

1. Cropped the original image to include a portion of the canvas.
2. Added text to the canvas portion using the Vertical Type Tool
3. Double clicked the Background layer to create a new layer
4. Selected the MagicWand, Contiguous and made the Tolerance 50
5. Placed the Magic Wand over a portion of the sky and using the Shift key, highlighted all of the sky portions of the image
6. Clicked Delete to remove the sky
7. Added a new color background (using inDesign--I'm sure there is probably a way to do this in Photoshop).

Folded Invitation

Again this was an assignment that I struggled with; no folded self-mailers in my house. [Yeah! Trashing mail as it comes is paying off—or is it now stopping me from easily doing my homework? I digress.] Then I stumbled across this invitation at work.

This is a bit more complicated than our homework is. It has a die cut and an inside pocket. Of course, a lovely ribbon adds class to it. The complimentary colors of this piece keep it unified. The outer flaps, invitation, response card and sealing sticker all are printed on the same paper. There is also continuity with the scroll design printing in brown on the beige piece and printing beige on the brown piece.

Folded Envelope with Sealer

Flaps Unfolded

Invitation in Ribbon; Response Card in Pocket

The Invitation and Response Card

Cooking Uses a Recipe, Layout Uses a Grid

This example of a 4-column, 3-row grid comes from one of my favorite magazines, Cook's Illustrated. (I love the illustrations!) This particular page puts the grid to fantastic use. There is a great deal of subdivision that flows well. Your eye is easily led from left to right and then top to bottom.

Reminds Me of Our First Two Assignments

Massanutten Resort is having a Halloween party. Their invitation is quite inviting. The font used for Thrill on the Hill is glowing and looks slightly thrilling.

Time Saving Lessons from InDesign CS5

Though I have used InDesign for at least three years now, the skills learned for CS5 in PBDS 501 are already paying off. Each fall I am responsible for the layout of a program book (I look forward to going electronic with this next year) and an additional 120+-page book. I am enjoying the ability to visualize the speakers' pictures in the frames without having to resize them. Another thing I learned that is a time saver is the Character Style feature. I was always identifying the font family for each time I applied a character style--what an aha moment it was to learn that I was defeating the purpose of this feature by doing so.

Classic Clean Lines

The use of color and non-justified text draw this particular layout to my eye. The font used, point size and leading make it easy to read. Pull quotes are used nicely to entice the reader. And of course, because the subject matter is designing rooms in a house, there are ample photographs.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words—Can a Few Words Create a Picture?

As my experience with our typography assignment has shown me, designing with typography alone is not an easy task. Thus it would explain why I couldn’t find what I believe are true examples. Nonetheless I submit the following:

WTOP

There is one graphic used in this advertisement but the remainder of it is simply words repeated over and over. Just the same as the radio station repeats its format over and over during the day. The bold font used for Traffic & Weather reinforces the fact the traffic and weather is repeated every ten minutes during the day. Without a picture, they are able to get their point across.

Not Your Daughter’s JeansThough this advertisement is a two-page spread (with words fully depicting what is being sold), if you look at the letters of NYDJ you can see a figure that is lean in shape. The figures arms are uplifted in the Y with a thin bottom envisioned in the J (jeans). One is lead to believe from the typography that wearing these jeans will alter your true shape (if necessary).

Look Good for Your Age

This article title uses a typeface that exudes beauty. The delicate lines moving from the arm of the K, ascender of the D, the descender of the G and Y and other locations around the words draw your eye to the page. I believe that anyone (woman) over the age of 30 concerned about his or her looks would read this article.