First Step: Collect the information
While it’s important to do the best job possible every single time, it’s also important to realize where to spend your time wisely. If you’re creating a flyer for a garage sale this Saturday, it is something you should put together rather quickly. But if on the other hand is something that’s going to be a newsletter, that’s going to be distributed to 1000s of people or even 40 people is something that should take a little longer to create. The reason for this is it’s representing the company, a garage sales representing an individual. It’s always important to know the person you’re working for, as well as the audience for the particular piece you’re working on.
There’s an old expression, “Know your audience.” It’s important to know your audience to make sure it’s simple things such as contrast, or using the right size font. If you’re working with an elderly group, you may want to make that contrast a little higher, and the font just a little larger. Never change the size of your content. from page to page, just to make the story fit. Nothing screams amateur quicker. professional writers especially in the news media arena, write their stories with the most important facts first, and then they move into the embellishments. After the major embellishments they continue down to a more granular level. Knowing full well based on space available in the newspaper, the podcast or in a magazine, their article can get cut at any point based on the amount of space allowed. You don’t want any key features at the end. In olden days, it could get cut off. But now, with the attention deficit running wild in the United States, your reader may not get that far into the story. So it’s important to include all the information as early on as possible. I find this to be especially true with font sizes and legibility. When I’m creating a flyer or poster that’s going to go on the wall it’s important to know the date and time of the event, as well as what kind of an event isn’t. If the reader would like to know more, they’ll walk forward to get a better look. Everything should not be the same size in this environment. You definitely want the who, what, where, when and how to be predominantly displayed without a cluttered background to slow the readers comprehension.
When I begin to create a flyer or a postcard, the very first thing I do is to get all the information entered into the system. Whether that is a copy and paste from other sources, or hand entered at time of creation, get everything on the page and then review the information that you have to ensure that you have everything too many times. You create a beautiful design with perfect balance. And the customer says something like How about my license number. While that is not a big change, it’s definitely something that’s going to take some time to rebalance the card. Possibly resize some of the information to make sure that it’s legible and easily located on the card, if that is the specific information they’re looking for. Photographic backgrounds are wonderful if they are faded out so the text still has a nice contrast ratio. I’ve seen many articles, flyers, postcards, and brochures. That while is displaying a beautiful photograph. The text on top of it is nearly impossible to read. It’s also important to remember the color of the text compared to the color of the background that it’s on. Obviously a pale sky would need a darker tone to make sure it’s legible.
If you’re observing, while watching television, many times a logo or text may have a white outline. So it shows up on the black backgrounds as well as showing up on the lighter backgrounds automatically. You’ll see this most often in newscasts.
When it comes to getting things done, it’s all about knowing where to focus your time. If you’re whipping up a flyer for a garage sale, you can churn it out pretty quickly. But if you’re creating a newsletter for thousands of people (or even just 40), it’s worth taking a little extra time to perfect it. After all, that newsletter represents a whole company, while a garage sale flyer represents just one person. It’s important to understand who you’re working for and who will be reading your masterpiece.
There’s an old saying that goes, “Know your audience,” and boy is that true! Simple things like contrast and font size can make all the difference. If you’re designing for an older crowd, go for higher contrast and larger fonts. And whatever you do, don’t mess with the content size just to make it fit. That’s a rookie move. Professional writers, especially in the news biz, know to put the most important facts front and center. Then they add the fun stuff and go into more detail. And they always keep in mind that their article might get cut off due to space constraints. You don’t want the juicy details at the end, because in today’s attention-deficit world, readers might not even make it that far. So spill all the beans right away, my friend! And make sure your fonts are easy on the eyes while you’re at it.
When I embark on a flyer or a postcard mission, the very first thing I do is get all the information onto the page. Copy and paste, type it all out, doesn’t matter. Just get that info in there. And then double-check to make sure you’ve got everything. Trust me, you don’t want to create a snazzy design only to find out you forgot to include something important like a license number. That kind of change can throw everything off balance and require some resizing and rearranging. If you want to use a photo as your background, make sure it’s faded enough so the text can still shine through. I’ve seen too many pieces where the photo looks stunning, but the text is impossible to read. And don’t forget to consider the contrast between your text and background colors. A light blue sky will need a darker tone to keep everything legible.
Next time you watch TV, pay attention to those news broadcasts. Notice how their logos and text have a white outline? That’s so they can pop against both black and light backgrounds. It’s a nifty trick that keeps things clear no matter what. Happy designing!
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