Reflection on your experience in creating the brochure. What skills did you used in creating your brochure? What design principles did you apply to your design? What was your learning experience?
The brochure was a great assignment. I found it alittle hard to come up with a subject for a brochure, but after the decicion was made everything seem to fall into place. I created six panels worth of information, forgetting about the middle outside panel being used for the mail address area. Another weak concept in my design was the use of internet photos which are low resolution and do not print well. A few things that were reinforced by the assignment and seemed to easy to use were: columns, margins, place/import, paparagraph options, text and text box. From the peer reveiw, I learned how professional brochures could be created from InDesign CS3. Many of my classmates created exciting and professional looking brochures using the design rules. Feature that I learned from the peer review included the simple fact that wide color lines can be used to create interest and boarders in a brochure. High resolution photos and a good grade of paper can make a major difference in the appearance of any project.
I decided to make a brochure for the Instructional Technologies program, so getting information to put in was not difficult. What I did have to consider was the use of repetition and contrast over all six “pages” of the brochure. I knew that I would need elements that carried over from page to page, as well as contrasts that carried over. I decided I would keep a contrast of color that I saw as visually attractive. For this, I chose blue and yellow, yellow being our school’s color and blue being a good contrast to yellow. For repetition I decided I’d focus on font and paragraph styles and so designed a header style that carried across both sides of the brochure. The only real troubling part I had was decided on cover image and an image for the inside of the brochure. I used a blue microprocessor image because it both fit the blue vs. yellow contrast and applied to the program I was discussing. I was also worried about being able to find the right image of the school logo that could be used on a brochure like this, but, as I found out from a little looking around, that was not hard to procure.
The peer reviewed showed me that brochures do not have to be strictly three columns of text wrapped in three other columns of text. Like with Jeremy’s brochure, the inside can be arraigned with one large picture dominating and three smaller pictures below that. The cover does not need an overload of information on it either. Simply an attractive, short title and subtitle that reveals the subject of the brochure with a complimenting, eye-catching image or design is enough.
I enjoyed doing the brochure assignment. It is easy for me to see how I would use this skill in my career and personal life in a number of ways. For example, if I ever started my own business, I would like to have professional looking brochures to advertise my products or services. I could also produce brochures to inform church members of various programs offered. In the end, I decided to do a brochure about a hypothetical continuing education stained glass course offered to the public. It took some internet research to find informational content that was somewhat realistic. Finding images on the internet was rather easy. Delphi Stained Glass is one of the largest internet retailers of glasscraft supplies and materials. Their website provided all the images and much of the information I needed for the brochure.
The basic layout was straightforward. I decided to use color bars to accent the top and bottom of each section, but I carried the bar straight across the entire page. I felt this technique would bring unity to the design. I used the eyedropper tool to pick up a rich gold color for the bar from one of my images. This brochure contained a great deal of information, so an important task of this assignment was to carefully plan the arrangement and placement of information to make it easily readable. I used bullets and indentation to organize the supply list and class information. I used italics and bold text to organize the project list. I enjoyed using the drop cap feature in two places to add interest to the text. Taking a cue from one of our in-class activities, I added an ornament to mark the end of long sections of text.
The major problem I had with this assignment was printing. I wanted accurate, vivid colors, so I decided to print it on the color laser printer at work. I was very pleased with the quality of the printing; it looked very much better than ink jet. The printer was set to print on two sides of a page, but unfortunately the reverse side is upside down. I was unable to determine how to change that setting on the printer which is one of those mammoth multifunction office printer/copiers.
The brochure has been my least favorite of the projects. I chose to re-work one of the brochures used as an example from the group presentation. I find difficulty working on something I do not have knowledge about; I mean no true knowledge about the information for the brochure. I have created several desktop brochures in my past job. I made the brochures to advertise workshops, educational seminars, and similar programs. The ideas came freely with those projects, because I knew what needed to be stated. The brochure I was re-working is so confusing, I did not have a clue what information went together.
Another reason I am not so excited about this project is the importance of the measurements. This is much more intricate detailing than I care to get involved with at this point. The constraints because of the measurements are tough for a new designer. I had problems with consistency, and putting in information/graphics. White space became my enemy because I had no idea about what to put in this brochure.
This project gave me the opportunity to experience the ease of moving around and working on any part of the brochure provided by ID3. ID3 is definitely the best program for working on design projects from simple to difficult. I did not set up a Master Page which is something I think will make future brochures for this group much easier to complete, and will definitely provide the consistency demanded for in a good design. I realize from this project, I am not good with colors or consistency. It is an area that will require much work for me to become proficient. I also have a little fear about the background of this project. I like color, but am not confident about what colors are most appealing. I also have difficulty with formatting a background; e.g. gradient. I have decided that I would do better printing my projects on color paper.
I need to chose a topic with which I am familiar, I need to organize the information before I try putting it into the layout, and I need to set up a Master Page once I find the project that best suits my need.
For the brochure project I decided to make a mock-up of a mailer for a 3d modeling/design service. I used renderings from projects I have worked on over the years for the images in the flyer. I wanted to use the colors grey, black, and orange as my main colors. I reused the hexagons from my Cd case project to give a feeling of consistency. I feel like the initial design was strong, but there was room for improvement. Initially I found the cover to be too dark, and the lack of an area for mailing was a mistake. In the revised version, I moved the text that explained the services offered by the company into the inside of the flyer and used that space for mailing labels and stamps. In addition, I added an extra interior image at the bottom of the inside of the fold out and reduced the area with the closing statement I enjoyed this particular assignment a lot, because it gave me a chance to make something that could potentially be used in the future to advertise myself and my skills.
Brochure Reflection I was very proud of my first brochure. I thought it looked very good, but when I got to class and saw that all my peers’ brochure was wider than mine. I thought that maybe I was the only one the followed the directions of the width that we were assigned. Then after a lot of critique I was told that maybe when I printed that my printer made it print like that. I had done it on CS2; and was told by a good friend that I could open it on CS3 and save it. So that is what I did and I reset my setting and it looked a lot better. I believe this was my best project. It is the one that I enjoyed working on. I think it was because I had gotten use to InDesign.
The brochure was a great assignment. I found it alittle hard to come up with a subject for a brochure, but after the decicion was made everything seem to fall into place. I created six panels worth of information, forgetting about the middle outside panel being used for the mail address area. Another weak concept in my design was the use of internet photos which are low resolution and do not print well. A few things that were reinforced by the assignment and seemed to easy to use were: columns, margins, place/import, paparagraph options, text and text box.
ReplyDeleteFrom the peer reveiw, I learned how professional brochures could be created from InDesign CS3. Many of my classmates created exciting and professional looking brochures using the design rules. Feature that I learned from the peer review included the simple fact that wide color lines can be used to create interest and boarders in a brochure. High resolution photos and a good grade of paper can make a major difference in the appearance of any project.
I decided to make a brochure for the Instructional Technologies program, so getting information to put in was not difficult. What I did have to consider was the use of repetition and contrast over all six “pages” of the brochure. I knew that I would need elements that carried over from page to page, as well as contrasts that carried over. I decided I would keep a contrast of color that I saw as visually attractive. For this, I chose blue and yellow, yellow being our school’s color and blue being a good contrast to yellow. For repetition I decided I’d focus on font and paragraph styles and so designed a header style that carried across both sides of the brochure. The only real troubling part I had was decided on cover image and an image for the inside of the brochure. I used a blue microprocessor image because it both fit the blue vs. yellow contrast and applied to the program I was discussing. I was also worried about being able to find the right image of the school logo that could be used on a brochure like this, but, as I found out from a little looking around, that was not hard to procure.
ReplyDeleteThe peer reviewed showed me that brochures do not have to be strictly three columns of text wrapped in three other columns of text. Like with Jeremy’s brochure, the inside can be arraigned with one large picture dominating and three smaller pictures below that. The cover does not need an overload of information on it either. Simply an attractive, short title and subtitle that reveals the subject of the brochure with a complimenting, eye-catching image or design is enough.
Reflection on brochure assignment
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed doing the brochure assignment. It is easy for me to see how I would use this skill in my career and personal life in a number of ways. For example, if I ever started my own business, I would like to have professional looking brochures to advertise my products or services. I could also produce brochures to inform church members of various programs offered. In the end, I decided to do a brochure about a hypothetical continuing education stained glass course offered to the public. It took some internet research to find informational content that was somewhat realistic. Finding images on the internet was rather easy. Delphi Stained Glass is one of the largest internet retailers of glasscraft supplies and materials. Their website provided all the images and much of the information I needed for the brochure.
The basic layout was straightforward. I decided to use color bars to accent the top and bottom of each section, but I carried the bar straight across the entire page. I felt this technique would bring unity to the design. I used the eyedropper tool to pick up a rich gold color for the bar from one of my images. This brochure contained a great deal of information, so an important task of this assignment was to carefully plan the arrangement and placement of information to make it easily readable. I used bullets and indentation to organize the supply list and class information. I used italics and bold text to organize the project list. I enjoyed using the drop cap feature in two places to add interest to the text. Taking a cue from one of our in-class activities, I added an ornament to mark the end of long sections of text.
The major problem I had with this assignment was printing. I wanted accurate, vivid colors, so I decided to print it on the color laser printer at work. I was very pleased with the quality of the printing; it looked very much better than ink jet. The printer was set to print on two sides of a page, but unfortunately the reverse side is upside down. I was unable to determine how to change that setting on the printer which is one of those mammoth multifunction office printer/copiers.
The brochure has been my least favorite of the projects. I chose to re-work one of the brochures used as an example from the group presentation. I find difficulty working on something I do not have knowledge about; I mean no true knowledge about the information for the brochure. I have created several desktop brochures in my past job. I made the brochures to advertise workshops, educational seminars, and similar programs. The ideas came freely with those projects, because I knew what needed to be stated. The brochure I was re-working is so confusing, I did not have a clue what information went together.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason I am not so excited about this project is the importance of the measurements. This is much more intricate detailing than I care to get involved with at this point. The constraints because of the measurements are tough for a new designer. I had problems with consistency, and putting in information/graphics. White space became my enemy because I had no idea about what to put in this brochure.
This project gave me the opportunity to experience the ease of moving around and working on any part of the brochure provided by ID3. ID3 is definitely the best program for working on design projects from simple to difficult. I did not set up a Master Page which is something I think will make future brochures for this group much easier to complete, and will definitely provide the consistency demanded for in a good design.
I realize from this project, I am not good with colors or consistency. It is an area that will require much work for me to become proficient. I also have a little fear about the background of this project. I like color, but am not confident about what colors are most appealing. I also have difficulty with formatting a background; e.g. gradient. I have decided that I would do better printing my projects on color paper.
I need to chose a topic with which I am familiar, I need to organize the information before I try putting it into the layout, and I need to set up a Master Page once I find the project that best suits my need.
Jeremy Wright
ReplyDeleteFor the brochure project I decided to make a mock-up of a mailer for a 3d modeling/design service. I used renderings from projects I have worked on over the years for the images in the flyer. I wanted to use the colors grey, black, and orange as my main colors. I reused the hexagons from my Cd case project to give a feeling of consistency. I feel like the initial design was strong, but there was room for improvement.
Initially I found the cover to be too dark, and the lack of an area for mailing was a mistake. In the revised version, I moved the text that explained the services offered by the company into the inside of the flyer and used that space for mailing labels and stamps. In addition, I added an extra interior image at the bottom of the inside of the fold out and reduced the area with the closing statement
I enjoyed this particular assignment a lot, because it gave me a chance to make something that could potentially be used in the future to advertise myself and my skills.
Brochure Reflection
ReplyDeleteI was very proud of my first brochure. I thought it looked very good, but when I got to class and saw
that all my peers’ brochure was wider than mine. I thought that maybe I was the only one the followed
the directions of the width that we were assigned. Then after a lot of critique I was told that maybe
when I printed that my printer made it print like that. I had done it on CS2; and was told by a good
friend that I could open it on CS3 and save it. So that is what I did and I reset my setting and it looked a
lot better. I believe this was my best project. It is the one that I enjoyed working on. I think it was
because I had gotten use to InDesign.