My Experience
Creating the Typesetting Assignment was extremely challenging for me. I had never used Adobe InDesign and it was a bit of a struggle for me when learning the tips and tricks to make my life easier! I still have a lot to learn on InDesign, but the Typesetting Assignment allowed me to dip my toes in the water! Another program that I am still learning and getting the hang of is Canva. Both programs have so many useful features that make creating media easier and more appealing to the eye.
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is a professional publishing software that is used for making high-quality digital publications. Whether designing multi-page documents such as newsletters and magazines, InDesign is largely thought of as the industry standard. The program allows designers to have more accurate control over all aspects of the graphics and page structure. InDesign is perfect for very complex projects that require an extremely specific look.
What is unique about Adobe InDesign?
- Alignment and Grid Tools: Creators are able to maintain consistency in their projects and layouts, no matter how complex, with the alignment features on InDesign.
- Paragraph Styles: Extremely helpful for larger documents. You are able to have consistency throughout your headings, subheadings, and body text.
- Integration With Other Adobe Programs: InDesign works perfectly with multiple other Adobe programs. Some programs being Photoshop and Illustrator. This allows you to incorporate different images and content easily.
Canva
Canva is personally one of my favorite design tools. Canva allows designers to create a bunch of different types of content for any type of situation. Whether it’s an invitation for a birthday party or a logo for your new business, Canva makes it easy to create something new and exciting. Canva is extremely user-friendly and offers a ton of fonts, stock photos, templates and more to be easily used by everyone.
What is unique about Canva?
- Easy Use: Canva is programmed to be used by everyone. Regardless of skill level and experience, Canva makes it extremely easy to create whatever visual element you need and even provides guides for certain settings.
- Mobile App: Canva is not only for desktop use. You can download Canva on your mobile device and have easier access to it when you’re on the go. This makes it easier for people to create and finish their work when they’re on the go, or wherever they are.
- Collaboration Tools: Canva has extremely useful collaboration features. The collaboration tools offered by Canva make it easier to work on group or team projects. Multiple designers are able to edit the project at the same time, which makes it significantly easier to work in groups or with a partner on a graphic.
How Does This Help PR Professionals?
PR Professionals need to be particular when choosing which design tool they want to use for their projects. Choosing the right program can make a world of difference when creating publications that actually attract the public. Adobe InDesign and Canva are both extremely useful programs. Both offer amazing different features for different projects. Using these programs effectively is extremely beneficial for PR professionals. There are plenty available resources to maximize the use of both of these programs. Adobe InDesign offers online tutorials through Adobe Help Center and Adobe Creative Cloud Tutorials that offer guides on how to use specific tools. Since Canva is more user-friendly and offers a Design School with courses for many topics, it is a little easir to navigate. YouTube also offers a lot of free tutorials.
What Makes A Good Design?
What makes a good design? A good design has visual appeal. A good design is also consistent and clear. No matter what design tools you use, there are always going to be key elements that actually make a design effective and a hit with it’s target audience. Consistency and typography are two of the most important. Having set colors, fonts and logos maintains a consistency throughout designs that is more effective and visually appealing. Typography is more important than a lot of people realize. The right fonts, alignments, and other typography elements can be the deciding factor on if a design registered with the audience or not. Having strong consistency and typography is essential to a good design.
My Takeaways
If I am being completely transparent, I did not enjoy this assignment. I am not good with these programs whatsoever and get easily frustrated. That being said, I did learn a lot through this assignment and was actually proud of myself for being able to finish it all the way through. The project took me absolutely FOREVER, but I definitely learned a lot and I’m excited to see how my skills can progress from here.