A quick look at the basics of letterhead, business card, banner, flyer, and brochure design, from media types and sizes to preparing materials and text for layout and the proper use of grids, white space, and fonts. The workshop involves producing designs from scratch, focusing on appropriate material preparation and placement, and creating several studies from a creative brief.

Rather than creating generic designs, the professional graphic designer is expected to create a design that is different and appropriate for the company’s personality and business. This requires sympathy with the client, knowledge of the logo and its proper use, knowledge of the company’s audiences (clients, suppliers, and business affiliations), and familiarity with the vast array of design possibilities for business stationery.

Method of Teaching

This course provides live instructor-led demonstrations and discussions, student engagement, and on-the-spot hands-on exercises using Zoom, Google Classroom and Adobe Illustrator CC (or CorelDRAW), Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop. A design brief will be given to the students to accomplish and present on the last day.

What will be covered?

• What to ask the client
  • Logo usage guidelines
  • Corporate colors
  • Secondary logos
  • Departments
  • Epithet
  • Corporate fonts
  • Contact details
• Design Mechanics
  • Do’s and don’ts
  • Working with numbers
  • Number separators
  • Item separators
  • Descriptive labels, shorthand or none
  • Working with abbreviations
• Design tips
  • Establishing a focal point
  • Creating strong alignment
  • Going small
  • Going big
  • Drawing on the live area
  • Effective Flyer, Brochure, Poster, and Banner designs
    • What works, what doesn’t work
    • Designing/conceptualizing the cover or main visual
    • Text vs. visuals: Balance, impact, appropriateness
  • Document formatting
    • Size
    • Folds
    • Placement hierarchy
  • Color and white space implementation
    • Working with color
    • Working with a limited color palette (less than full color)
    • Using color effectively
  • The use of grids
    • Arrangement, alignment, hierarchy, contrast
    • Creating grids
    • Breaking out of the grid
  • Managing files, typing, and fonts
    • Vector files and bitmap files
    • Effective typography
    • Choosing and using fonts
• Letterhead mechanics
  • Letterhead size and margins
  • Bleeds
  • Working with color
  • Right and wrong font size, font choices
• Envelope mechanics
  • Envelope size
  • Envelope flaps
  • Envelope orientation
• Calling card mechanics
  • Card sizes around the world
  • Contact details
  • Job title and company epithet
  • Font size and font choices
  • Two-sided printing
  • Background color
  • Folded cards
  • Off-standard sizes
  • Die-cutting

Prerequisite:

Working knowledge in Adobe Illustrator (or CorelDraw), Photoshop, InDesign, or any free graphic design app.

Requirements:

Students must have the following: Zoom application, Gmail account (for Google Classroom) and Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator CC, or CorelDraw (lower versions are acceptable. However, they may be restricted), and a stable internet connection.

Students may also use any free graphic design app.