So you’ve been given an assignment to design your company newsletter. Maybe you’ve been asked to create a flyer or brochure. Before you start panicking, or worse, you start throwing something together without a clue, there are some basic principles you need to keep in mind.
1. What is desktop publishing?
I nearly called this “Principles of Desktop Publishing” because I’ve designed news pages for a newspaper for two and a half years. According to desktoppub.about.com/cs/beginners/f/what_dtp.htm, desktop publishing is using the computer to create specialized documents. It can be further defined to say that desktop publishing is the combination of text and graphics in the proper format for printing. By and large, you will be using desktop publishing to create your documents.
2. Organize your information
This may seem to be a given, but many people who are new to designing a document often don’t know how to do this. For starters, write down or type the main points of your document. Are you trying to tell your neighborhood your pet dog is missing? Are you trying to sell that bike you just can’t seem to get rid of? Do you want people to attend your homeowners association’s meeting? Once you’ve written an outline of what you want your audience to get from your message, decide what’s most important and emphasize that.
3. Get your audience’s attention
To do this, you’re going to have to catch your viewer’s eye. Using small font sizes won’t work. If you write a full page of text as if your document were an oversized classified ad, your message and its main points will get lost in all the text. Going back to step 2, if you try to emphasize too much, you’re going to create confusion in your viewer if she can’t decide what’s most important. Using a photo or something desktop publishers call “clip art,” or a stock image you can get from any one of several sources, put something in your document that will catch a viewer’s eye.
4. Keep your audience’s attention
Now you’ve found a great photo of that bike you’re trying to sell. Yes, one photo. If you use many photos and a small size, you’re going to risk losing the chance to get someone’s attention. If you must use two (perhaps a profile shot and one from the front of the bike), limit yourself to two.
5. Keep it simple
Remember that you’ve only got a few words to hold someone’s interest. You don’t need to provide every detail about the bike you’re selling or the dog who’s gone missing. Provide some basics (how much does the bike cost, does the dog have a collar, etc.) and provide contact information for someone to get in touch with you. Like a career counselor will tell you about a resume, your document’s job is to get your foot in the door. Once your foot is in the door, then you can close the deal.
There are many nuances to desktop publishing, but this is a brief outline about some basic principles for someone who may have never designed a flyer before. Best of luck to you in whatever you’re trying to accomplish!
Reference:
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_publishing
- desktoppub.about.com/cs/beginners/f/what_dtp.htm
- writing.colostate.edu/guides/documents/desktop_publishing/list3.cfm
