Desktop Publishing

A few months back we had a discussion about how long it should take to design a logo. Generally the best logos take some time to develop. Maybe not months but certainly more than a few hours. Unless, perhaps, you're Google. Ran across this last month: The Gmail logo was designed the night before the service launched. Turned out alright, I suppose.

No matter how long it takes, here's help for your logo design efforts: Logo Design Tools and Tutorials

Going right along with some of my recent blog posts and articles on copywriting and why designers need to know why to write my daily news reading delivered up this: 10 Tips on Writing by David Ogilvy. May need to print that and stick it on the wall as a reminder to myself.

For more, see the 5 Step Ad Layout Formula Based on the Work of David Ogilvy.

A copywriter can copy the copy he writes by making a carbon copy using carbon paper.  You can also send a carbon copy by email, sort of.  You may think you know what a copywriter does and what copy means but dig deeper to find their connection with desktop publishing. And carbon paper? Some of you may never have actually used it but it's still in use even in these post-typewriter days.

We often spend a lot of time choosing fonts, colors, and the perfect pictures for our desktop publishing projects. But we all have our own preferences and biases. Even our choice of text alignment or how we crop a photo can say one thing in our mind but come across in a totally different way to someone else.  So what can we do if we can't please everyone?

"It's not always easy knowing how any one person will see your designs so we have to think in broader, more typical terms."

Read about using image editing and layout to control perception.

On a semi-related note. Whether or not you run your font, color, image, or layout choices by another person please try to get another set of eyes to check for glaring errors such as typos in your important projects. I was reading a self-published book this week on a subject that interested me greatly. It would have been a lot more enjoyable if the author had taken just a little more time with the proofreading. I find myself bringing up this topic over and over again. The occasional error slips by all of us but when every page of a not-so-lengthy book has one, two, or three typos, missing words, and incomplete photo captions it says to the reader "I don't care about you." Makes me less enthusiastic about reading their blog or any future books. I'll step off my soapbox now. Feel free to jump on yours and sound off in the comments on any related topics.

Did you make any desktop publishing resolutions for 2012? If I may make a suggestion (resolutions work any time of year) how about brushing up on your writing skills, creating some cool new personal projects with QR codes, and expanding your desktop publishing vocabulary. The topics we covered this month will get you off to a good start.

Desktop Publishing Glossary Terms Added or Expanded This Month:
Some of these terms, such as brochure or contrast aren't necessarily unfamiliar words but you may pick up some new ideas from the mini-tutorials that make up most of these glossary pages.

• Book Jacket
• Brochure
• Collaterals
• Contrast
• Desktop Printer
• Hypho

Our readers continued to sound off about PrintMaster and The Print Shop and how the newest versions don't live up to their expectations for Broderbund products. "User Unfriendly," "Childlike," and "Little to Like" are some of the descriptions used. The only thing keeping the average ratings above 1 star (out of 5) are the better ratings from the older versions of each program (before 2.0 or 2011).

• Reader Reviews: PrintMaster (average rating stands at 1.5 stars)
• Reader Reviews: The Print Shop (average rating stands at 2 stars)

What's Happening In the Forum this Month:
I've written before about printing the color white but reader mykstor poses a question about an Epson printer model that offers a white ink cartridge and wonders if there might be a way to make that cartridge work in other older Epson models. Boomwater needs some font id help. I ran it through WhatTheFont using my iPhone app and it appears to be Klavika Basic-Bold. Do you agree? PrincessSacl has a chicken or the egg question asking "What comes first, the creative brief or the contract?" Ladychrisie has posted her makeover of our business brochure for critique. There are several replies. Do you agree or have something to add?

More Things I Blogged About in January:

• Orange You Glad It's 2012? (Pantone Color of the Year is a sassy shade of orange)
• Biblical Quotes and Italics (Readers address scripture quotes)
• Reader Question: Color for Representing Iron? (What colors goes well with black iron?)
• Typography Sketchbooks (A book review)
• Pictures of Money (Interesting artwork using paper money)
• Reinventing the Keyboard (Touchscreens are changing the way we input)
• Star Wars Snowflakes (Some sci-fi inspired paper cutting)

Although we sometimes get a bit of snow where I live, I prefer it when we don't. But I do like the kind of snow made of paper. Take a look at these Star Wars Snowflakes. Darth Vader never looked lovelier.

For more fun with snowflakes: Make Snowflakes Out of Words

Now, if you're considering incorporating snowflakes into your desktop publishing projects you may run into the problem of printing the color white but snowflakes don't necessarily have to be snow white. Try icy pale blue, shimmery silver, or warm up those flakes with glittery gold.

Is it just me or do you find yourself sometime poking your finger at the monitor on your desktop or laptop? As an iPhone and iPad user I've grown so accustomed to swiping my finger across the screen or tapping an icon or the on-screen keyboard that it took me several minutes to figure out why my lately underutilized netbook wasn't responding. Oops!

I was trying to help my daughter find some elusive setting on her phone the other day and kept poking the screen wondering why it wouldn't do anything -- it wasn't a touchscreen kind of phone. I've even grown somewhat accustomed to using the on-screen keyboards (especially if I'm using my stylus) although I do pull out my bluetooth keyboard if I plan to do a lot of typing on my iPad.

All Things D takes us on a tour of some of the new ways that we may find ourselves interacting with all our digital devices before long in How Touchscreens Are Forcing the Reinvention of Keyboards. From an alternative to QWERTY (that's not Dvorak) to touchscreens that feel more like regular keyboards to keyboards that aren't really there (or, they're everywhere).

What kind of keyboard advancements would you like to see for any reason or specifically for doing design & publishing? Are you excited about any of the technologies in the All Things D article or do you prefer to continue kicking it (and clicking it) old school? Use your keyboard to give me a shout about it in the comments.

Related (more or less):

• History of the Computer Keyboard (About.com Inventors)
• History of Typing and QWERTY Keyboards (About.com Inventors)
• Who Invented Touchscreen Technology (About.com Inventors)
• Common Keyboard Symbols
• Keyboard Shortcuts for Desktop Publishing Software
• iPad Keyboard Shortcuts (About.com iPad)
• Why Would a Designer Want an iPad?

^{Photo © J. Bear; Manual Royal Typewriter}

As designers we may sometimes have to deal with the legalities of using pictures of paper money in ads or other print projects. But here's another artistic endeavor that features money portraits. If you've got money to burn, I suppose this a more creative way to do it. Check out Creative Agency Creates Detailed Money Portraits at Oddity Central.

Also see: The Money Sculptures of Justine Smith and Woven Newspaper Portraits by Gugger Petter (both also linked in the Money Portraits article).

Do you keep a sketchbook of ideas? Do you like the idea of peeking over the shoulder of famous designers to see what they put into their sketchbooks?

Brain Pickings takes you Inside the Sketchbooks of the World's Greatest Type Designers with a peek into the pages of Typography Sketchbooks by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico (compare prices) that includes mini-profiles of 100+ type designers alongside samples of their work, their sketches.

How would you choose colors for a company that deals in a product that is pretty much just black? A reader poses just such a question, asking in part:

"I recently read your article about color symbolism to represent your business. ... I was interested in your opinion as to what color combinations go well for a company that deals with welding a lot of black iron! "

The company does decorative iron fabrication for gates, fences, etc. The product is black but our reader is looking for a more colorful way to promote the product and company. What would you suggest? Offer your ideas in the comments.

And related to the business, he's also looking for a new name. Obviously you have limited information to go on here but based just on the type of business, do you have any ideas to throw out there?

Related:

• Color Meanings
• Business Names