Photos

Task: Photos appear in numerous publications, including newsletters, brochures, and direct mail pieces. Take time to look at the different ways that photos are presented - are they traditional full-color square/rectangle photographs or do they sport photographic edges, painterly effects, unusual cropping, used in collages, etc.?

These tasks and examples are from "Daily Goals" posted in the DTP Classroom forum in connection with the Never Stop Learning Plan for 2003. They are presented here in a dual role as exercises for learning design and brainstorming material for developing new designs.

More Brainstorming & Analysis Exercises

Examples/Discussion: How many different ways can you find for the use of photos? Here's a sampling from a day's mail:

• A Xerox printer brochure features a colorful parrot on a stand on the front. The background has been removed and the object (bird) has been manipulated so that it appears as if a big rush of wind is about to blow him off his stand - blurred feathers appear swooshing past. Within the brochure, product photos have the background dropped out and a blurred circular patch of color appears under each object making it "pop off" the page a bit yet still keeping it anchored to the page. On the address side of the brochure a photo of a parrot in flight has been dropped onto a skyblue background with some fluffy white clouds.

• A postcard from State Farm features some stock photos of people dressed up with photographic edges that look a bit like torn paper. It's a simple way to dress up stock images.

• A lawn care direct mail package includes a small brochure with colorful photos of well-groomed yards. These photos mix photographics, text, and other illustrations. Most photos are traditional rectangular photos but one image has blurred edges with a portion of the background dropped out so the person in the image "breaks out" of the photo. Color plays an important role in these photos - especially in the comparison photos between a bright green lawn and a sickly yellow-green yard.

These are just a tiny sampling of the ways photos can be used to reinforce a message or grab attention. What interesting photographic ways have you encountered in your mailbox or in other publications that pass your way?

Task: Take a few minutes to look at the way photos are manipulated (or not) and think about why this was done.

How do you feel about photos of the person on their business cards? It seems to be a common practice in some professions, such as real estate. Most of the photos on business cards that I've encountered are your typical head shot, some in B&W, some in color. Love 'em, hate 'em, don't care one way or another? Have you ever tried to talk a client out of (or in to) using their photo on their business card?

Besides the usual mug shots, what are some more creative or interesting ways to incorporate you or your client's smiling face on to a business card?

Discuss It!

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This document is part of these Desktop Publishing learning tracks • How a Desktop Published Document is Created  ~ Images > Editing  ~ Images > Placement • Never Stop Learning Plan  ~ Daily Goals > January • Brainstorming & Analysis Exercises  ~ Graphics