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What is PR Design?

By

On December 2, 2023

In PR Design

What is it we perceive as visually pleasing? How do those elements form to create a message that creates an action? It’s really open to interpretation.

Closeup image of woman eye with creative makeup painted different colors
Dragon_Fly

While design and art are subjective, incorporating a semblance of structure and continuity is essential to recognize. Basic design elements will help a design flow and make translating a message more accessible. That’s ultimately the solution—a visually appealing image with a strong message encouraging action.

Design Elements


Design is everywhere. From the design of the bricks of a building to the look of a mailer, you might have received in the mail today. The design attracts or entices you to read it. They are the proverbial building blocks of a well-thought-out design. Generations of designers have established standards of design. Guidelines that help guide the messenger to receive the message appropriately. The designer’s job is to harness specific elements for a comfortable and manageable design to streamline the process. Once a designer knows color, typography, symbols, use of space, form-function-message, balance, rhythm, proportion, dominance and unity, the results can be formidable. These elements intertwine with the message to create the campaign.

Collection of designer oil paintings. Decoration for the interior. Modern abstract art on canvas. Painting set. Red poppy.
By Erenai

Stakeholders & Personas

As a PR design professional, marrying your stakeholders and personas to create your campaign is your bread and butter. When you create your design, consider what makes them tick, their interests, likes and dislikes. Ultimately, you are creating for an audience, and the design is as important as the message. Capturing attention will help alleviate your hard work ending up in the trash can with all the others.

Keeping in tradition with PR as a whole, compared with advertising, where there is an exchange of money, PR is a part of earned media. Design is no different. It operates in a free environment to capture an emotion and affect influence. According to Professor Sherry Kast, PR Design and Writing at The University of Oklahoma, “PR Publications provide a free, controlled media designed for publics who share characteristics and interests.”

PR Publications provide a free, controlled media designed for publics who share characteristics and interests

Professor Sherry Kast PR Design & Writing
The University of Oklahoma

Mediums, platforms and consistency

Mediums

There are a multitude of mediums for PR design, such as folded brochures, mailers, e-newsletters, social media campaigns, branded materials, and so on. You’ll want to choose a medium or a combination for your campaign. One isn’t better than the other, but it’s important to choose yours according to the stakeholders and where they are finding their information. The formula for a successful campaign relies on many factors. Planning, acknowledging, and recording those factors is wise and prudent.

Platforms

The importance of the platforms on which these deliverables spawn cannot be understated. The Adobe Suite and Canva are potent platforms for designers. I found that there are many ways to accomplish tasks on these platforms. It’s a preference when performing the processes of the functions.

Consistency

Staying consistent with a brand throughout the design process creates a lasting impact. It is in reasonable design taste to always stay consistent with the brand and is worth protecting it at all costs.

Conclusion

Pr design takes the ideas and basics of public relations and combines them with graphic design. It takes a more scientific approach than a free-form artist, though. I could describe it as tactful artistry. When done well, it prompts the receiver to react or spend money. I think there is no surprise that money is the general basis of why we are creating designs worthy of a campaign. Most designs are persuasive ways to encourage spending dollars. However, it’s important to remember that consistent public relations design encourages earned media and influence.

A short get to know ya, in your email inbox.

By

On December 1, 2023

In PR Design

A concise and compelling e-newsletter campaign will help further your contact with your clients or customers. Unlike the traditional hard copy newsletter sent through the mail, the e-newsletter allows readers to follow links to a further website or blog. Developing a specific message that resonates and prompts readers to follow those links is imperative. Creating the e-newsletter doesn’t take an extraordinary amount of time but is a great way to automate the contact with a client list. Constant Contact and Mailchimp are two user-friendly e-marketing solutions for the e-newsletter created for Zed Farm Media, including four previous blog entries. This is a bonus blog, lucky for you right?

Presenting ideas in a Digital Production

An e-newsletter and PowerPoint presentation are similar in the regards. They both replaced a form of legacy media. No longer are designers strictly relegated to traditional print deliverables but have access to an array of features within a digital production.

e-newsletter

I’ve used MailChimp and its great features. However, for the Zed Farm Media e-newsletter, I used Constant Contact. I have never used the service and wanted to see if it was similar to MailChimp. It offers a free trial period with plans from $12-$80/month. Like Mailchimp, Constant Contact lets you see if your e-newsletter was opened and read. I always thought that it was a great way to target your audience. Both services offer a way to measure your campaigns—a minor feature offering significant upside to the marketer or PR professional.

Teachable moments in PowerPoint

Sometimes, designers must hand off a presentation to another colleague. Perhaps the designer is absent from the presentation, and another colleague must deliver the presentation without the designer. Whatever the case, Microsoft PowerPoint is another helpful arrow in a designer’s quiver. Its another option to create a digital publication. The robust platform incorporates video and other effects exclusive to PowerPoint. One of those features contains notes on the slides created within PowerPoint. Those notes are only visible to the presenter—a handy feature. Taking

Bangkok, Thailand – August 22, 2019 : Microsoft PowerPoint, a presentation program developed by Microsoft, on computer screen.
By wachiwit

Presentation example

For this example, using the mailer and brochure blogs, I created this short, concise PowerPoint presentation with notes included. Notice that most of the text is in the notes, not the slide itself. Remember as you start to pay careful attention not to overload the viewers of the presentation with too much text on the slides.

Fortunate for the 21st-century designer, digital publications have added an advantage because of their control over designs and campaigns. Designers need to present ideas that are interactive and achieve the desired goal.

Designer Spotlight (this dude)

In Microsoft PowerPoint, designers can take full advantage of the notes features for presenters. So handy. I will pass along a great PowerPoint master. Jacob is doing some fantastic things with PowerPoint—Jedi-like tricks to take your designs to the next level. While the videos move quickly, he briefly explains how the trick works. His content is usable content, for sure.

Conclusion

Requiring a printing press or company to print your collateral costs money, and there is no guarantee the piece you create and send out will ever cross the eyes of your intended target. With digital publications, the chances of a glance rewarding your hard work or a reader taking action are more achievable than ever.

Do you have a brochure I can look at?

By

On November 17, 2023

In PR Design

Designing a brochure for an organization is essential to building credible deliverables. The brochure passes on information at a trade show or event for a specific purpose. Developing the brochure is a process that relies on obtaining correct and up-to-date information and obtaining messaging that is pertinent and current from stakeholders. The design is only 50% of the effort when working with brochures.

Puzzling Efforts

By Tinnakorn

Aggregating the data and most important information to include on the brochure is the most difficult task when creating your brochure. Having a clear messaging and an overall design concept also prove important.

It can seem overwhelming when tasked with the brochure. What information do I need to include? The space is limited to two 8.5 X 11 sides, divided into six smaller panels. Does the design encompass the entire room, or do you compartmentalize each panel with its information? The information may dictate the position of images, or a logo may fit in a spot better than others.

My Example – Hand Sketch

In this blog installment, I created a brochure for the Native American departments at The University Of Oklahoma. My initial hand-drawn sketch illustrates how fluid the process is with many changes happening until the end. The collective is known as ‘Tribe Nation.’ It is a great way to envelope the native community within the student body. I wanted to demonstrate the inclusiveness of the native body here at the school. This brochure would be within a media kit or handed to a prospective native student. It could function as collateral for a school information day, etc.

For this design I wanted to reflect on the earlier mentions of space and color.

Using InDesign

It has become my new go-to software for text and images projects. InDesign and its container feel allowed me to create this brochure for Admission and Recruitment. While it could use minor tweaks and nudges, the overall design features images on black and white backgrounds, keeping the traditional Oklahoma Crimson. The University of Oklahoma, in an effort to protect their brand from misuse, issues brand guidelines (found HERE) for anyone working with their colors, logo, and fonts. It helped stay within the requirements set forth by the University.

Design Mock

Outside

Inside

Note

While creating the brochure, watching your bleed and borders setup is essential. The folded crease is also critical to note. Creative Pro offers a calculator when accounting for the folds. Some even offer free templates if you want to go that route. However, remember that someone else could have the template, too. Create your own. It will encourage self-pride and spawn creativity.

Writing for your Audience

By Sashkin

When anything goes to the printer, knowing who you are writing for is crucial. Not only is it essential but vital. Once the brochure prints, you can’t take it back. We aren’t printing money. The costs can get out of control when a design goes to print.

A Big, Genius Newsletter from Apple..Kind of

By

On October 31, 2023

In PR Design

I have the occasional newsletter in my inbox. Some I read and others not. The subject matter is essential, and design is just as important. I now have a newfound respect for those who created them after attempting two of them myself, and they are not easy doings. Everything has a place, and paying mind to these will help you make the perfect newsletter for your organization or business. The elements complement the stories, namely the photos. I can write about the new Apple Watch, but when I write about the Apple Watch, I can see an image of Snoopy on the watch in the article. It’s like harmony to music. The relationship is complete. The pictures bring life to the stories and give some context. I would much rather see the new features on the new iMac in a picture than read about it and no picture. Newsletters bring these elements together so the reader feels connected to the story.

My first attempt

This is an example of a newsletter I created in Media Writing and Storytelling for my current employer, Cumulus Media. I designed it in Adobe Express. If I had known what I know now, I would have started this creation in Indesign. Its not pretty. I would change so much.

What was different here from the next example, is the writing is mine. Having willing co-workers ready to lend a hand helped. If I knew what I didn’t when I made this, it would appear better. I now understand the idea of Indesign and the ‘containers in which you can place pictures and text. It’s a convenient feature. Here’s an Adobe tutorial about its functions. Pretty powerful and easy tool to use.

The Tedium will get you

Although challenging, they are fun to design and create. The biggest challenge I found while making this faux newsletter for Apple was the amount of space and work area you have to work with. When there is so much information, it is a challenge to figure out what stories to include, where to place them, what is essential and what can fall to the cutting room floor. The space and fitting everything in is the difficulty. Planning and sketching out your design helped give me an idea of where things might have a place.
Creating these newsletters demanded attention to detail and constant nudging. Keeping the errors off the page proved difficult also, but the ability of InDesign to realize there are errors is miraculous.
The elements required presented a challenge. Fitting all the elements necessary needed great attention, and I’m not sure I got them all in.
Here is the Genius Newsletter from Apple, kind of.

The Genius Newsletter

(*entirely fictional, except for the stories)

I think the spacing should be managed a little better, but overall the design works.

I found spacing and area posed a good challenge, I’m close but it still could be adjusted on page 2.

Including all the text and information of the story was difficult with this page, the story was so detailed and well written that I didn’t want to lose any of the story or pictures. The final version shows I had to move some things on page 3.

Maintaining Apple’s clean look challenged my use of negative space. The Apple brand thrives from the use of negative space but with lengthy stories and so much information to pass along to the reader, space is the issue on page 4.

The Apple Newsroom is packed full of news from the company. This is something I learned with this project. I realized that most large companies have a newsroom, where stories are propagated and distributed. Apple even allows you to download the original picture file. I still am amazed at that. With no photo credits or cut lines included though.

Knowing your personas and some design elements, you can try creating your new letters. It seems like a mammoth task, but with some planning, like sketching, you can do this. And you’ll end up with a design you’re proud of.

Bringing a Social Media Campaign to Life

By

On October 17, 2023

In PR Design

Launching your social media campaign is not as complicated or overwhelming as it may seem if the design is compelling and coherent. A simplistic design uses minimal text and imagery to convey the message in an easily digestible manner for users. Creating a consistent and concise message with a call to action is vital. The call to action spurs the user to visit a website, sign up for a trial, sign up for a newsletter, or spend money with your business or company.
Beginning with a goal is where the process starts. What goal is your social media campaign attempting to achieve? Is it selling more products? More email subscriptions? The list is endless. Here are eleven helpful trends in 2023 to keep in mind as you set out to create a successful social media campaign and here are a few of my own suggestions.

Social Media=Powerful PR Tool

The remarkable aspect of social media is that it’s mostly free, creating a powerful PR tool for the PR practitioner that is valuable to use. Most platforms monetize their ads but are far cheaper than legacy media streams. For the PR practitioner, social media also encompasses measurement and numbers to sift through. The analytics offered with social media only adds to the value of social media. These platforms are trendy and where your key demographics, regardless of age and status, most likely spend a majority of their time.

By jesadaphorn
By jesadaphorn

The numbers don’t lie, most with a smart phone and connection are involved in some sort of online activity. This is where your audience is most likely.

Source: datareportal

Important Design Elements to keep in mind

Brand and design elements are essential to remember as you craft your message and campaign. Social media users are bombarded with ads and campaigns all day. It is necessary to keep your campaign consistent across all platforms. Consistency will help keep the message for the end user memorable. While appearing memorable, having a call to action is almost as crucial in creating your campaign. Without a call to action, your campaign is useless. What is the goal of the campaign? It may be time to revisit your goal for the social media campaign if you are experiencing a difficult time in the design portion of the project.
Keeping the dimensions of each platform should also be considered in your design. You can create fantastic designs, keeping dimensions and work surfaces in mind.

Facebook Post Image (1600X630 pixels)
Facebook Header Image (820X312 pixels)
Instagram Post Image (1800X1800 pixels)
X Header Image (1500X1500 pixels)

The design elements are consistent throughout this campaign I created for my photobooth business. Also, there is a call to action. *DM for Info. I feel I can better answer questions talking directly to the client through phone or email at that point.

Remember, you don’t have to fit the whole message onto the design. That can be saved for the text of the post.

*For Example*

Go to the572djs.com and secure your date now! Dates are filling for the holidays. Book your event now and save.

Brand Voice & Culture

It’s important to remember the voice of your organization or client. Writing your message in a language that suits the voice of your campaign will help relate the message more believably. Remember that the message needs to resonate with your audience and prompt them to take action.

By jesadaphorn

Adobe Express

I use Adobe Express as a tool for social media. It is very similar to Canva. It is tailor-made for brands. I can also incorporate all of my other Adobe assets to projects using Adobe Express. You can get as specific as you can in Canva. Sizes for social media posts are accessible using templates. Adobe has paid particular attention to AI and incorporates it into several paid softwares. Here is a fantastic tutorial and link on scoring Adobe Express and adding it to your arrows in the design quiver.

Lod, Israel – July 16,2023: Adobe Express – Graphic Design app play store page on smartphone on a dark marble stone background. Top view flat lay with copy space. By wavemovies

Function over form…

By

On October 7, 2023

In PR Design

..or quantity over quality. Depending on the context of the situation, we usually hear these statements in reverse. In my case, its dysfunction over form. Sometimes my glaring inability to maneuver within Photoshop (proficiently) is baffling. As I grappled with a recent Photoshop project working, my lack of ability to grasp a concept frustrated me to the point of wanting to never work in Photoshop again. Its an overreaction, I know, and it probably won’t happen because my love-hate relationship with the software. Its clear to me that InDesign might work for my brain processes better. Photoshop is pretty cool though, and its just too intriguing to walk away from.

By napat

Outside of the technology gap, The recent project focused on stakeholders and how the personas affect the design. This post will explain the importance of how the stakeholders role, views, goals, pain points and behaviors dictate what to include in your project. Combining these aspects for Photoshop users can also present challenges as you are working within the medium.

Admissions & Recruitment – American Indian Mailers

Persona 1 – Native Graduate.

Front

Persona 2 – Native Higher Education liaison.

Front

Stakeholders & their importance

Stakeholders are those that have an interest in a topic, subject or situation. In this case, the relationship between the official representing the higher education offices for tribes across the country and the student to the University are the stakeholders here. If the University of Oklahoma and The office of Admissions and Recruitment were to work specifically with the American Indian offices in a mailer campaign in an outreach effort to communicate with both student and an educational official from the tribes. Knowing who you are designing for, is imperative to the creative process. Knowing which elements to include or what language to use is a symptom of good planning and creating the persona for each of the stakeholders.

Knowing

Role: Who are you creating for and what role do they play in the organization or business.

Views: Their views are what you can directly appeal to. How do they view themselves and the community.

Goals: What are the goals of their campaign or organization. What they trying to achieve?

Pain Points: What are the issues or barriers that they may encounter or currently are experiencing.

Behaviors: What are their behaviors and how do they approach their goals?

In the case of the mailers I created for this assignment, knowing the aforementioned key points for stakeholder 1 helped define these specifics in how stakeholder 2 interacts with them, revealing an angle in how to effectively communicate the message. The students needs dictate the interactions. Ultimately, its about the student needs.

By Anna

Suggestions

However, my suggestion is working with the latest version. I have two machines I work with. An iMac at home and use a newer MacBook Pro for my traveling machine. The new features within the software are evident when working between two different generations of technology. The Object Selection Tool is amazing and worked well when approaching two mailers I created for OU’s recruiting and admissions office and the masking effect you see. I really enjoy PS. It does however, make me crazy. I found this guys blog to be helpful in establishing a better approach a session. The post included some helpful tricks that I am going to continue to use.

The biggest advice for anyone wanting to improve is to just dive in. YouTube videos are always helpful but not knowing what to even call a particular process or technique its rather difficult to relay what you are looking for. Its another one of those cliches: practice makes perfect.

Serving the Underserved

By

On September 29, 2023

In Uncategorized

Defining a stakeholder when creating a campaign is not only smart, it’s imperative. It’s like driving across the country without GPS or a map. Who are you intending to reach? It seems to me that it would take longer to process and create any visuals without a roadmap. Recognizing your public and stakeholders is a critical task. According to Larder, Understanding your stakeholder, or the stakeholder of your client stops assumptions perceived by publics and allows the targeted communication of the organization to stay on track (Larder, 2018).

“invisibility is in essence the modern form of racism used against Native Americans. It is this invisibility that leads to a college access and completion crisis among Native American students.”

The American Indian College Fund

I’m assigned to create a mailer for a stakeholder, two actually, related to the University of Oklahoma’s Admission and Recruitment office and their outreach to prospective native students looking for a college that would fit their lifestyle and values.

Stakeholder 1

  • 18-22 years old,
  • Native American (male or female)
  • test scores allow for admission to OU
  • Undecided on what institution to attend after high school
  • Eligible regardless of involvement in ceremonials or dances
Chumash Day Pow Wow and Inter-tribal Gathering. The Malibu Bluffs Park is celebrating 23 years of hosting the Annual Chumash Day Powwow. By Hanna Tor

Stakeholder 2

  • 29-34 years old
  • Native American male or female (often a same tribe as student)
  • Parent
  • Tribal community member

How to Target

These two age groups and stakeholders are both Native American. As a native, I’m aware Native Americans fondness for color and vibrancy. Incorporating color and subtle glimpses of regalia might intrigue these stakeholders. At least it would signify to me that natives are recognized. There is a fine line between demonstrating and exploiting. Careful.

native american
By Joy Fera

While design elements are one thing and share mutual interest. Age and responsibility are where the two stakeholders separate in interests and how they might respond to situations or stimulus.

Using images of youth and college life would help foster an idea of acceptance and inclusion. Offering an image of a school that recognizes its native student body.

Sources

Larder, M. (2018, May 6). The importance of stakeholders in PR . linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-stakeholders-pr-maddison-larder

We Don’t talk about Brand-O

By

On September 19, 2023

In PR Design

Next to the brand itself, the content on which its branded can be a companies most valuable asset. Branded collateral is often the first thing a potential client or customer might see. Perhaps its branded letterhead sent in a branded envelope processed through snail-mail? Or, the most likely scenarios, you are meeting a customer and they request a card to contact you for business? Do you have one?

Businesses and the executives that represent them must have a brand they can include on company stationary. That includes letterhead, envelopes and business cards. Branding these items first enables a strong footing moving forward in becoming a well-known brand that people can gravitate toward and recognize. The consistency of the brand across all of your elements is known as known as the brand touchpoints and is discussed here in depth.

Corporate identity stationery mock up isolated on modern style background. Mock up for branding identity. 3D illustration
By Salih

Operating a DJ company for decades, until recently I needed a business card completely designed by me. My company’s name is The 572 DJs LLC. (I keep telling myself the 572 area code will catch on like the 405 did). I created the logo within Illustrator and used InDesign to create a business card, letterhead and envelope for The 572 DJs.

This is the company’s current logo

Business Card

Utilizing negative space and proportion I enlarged the logo and positioned it to one side of the card. Using the white space as negative space because of the nature of the logo. A lot going on there.

Letterhead

The logo reveals enough of the company and what we do, I felt it was necessary to leave the white open. I also created an alternate with a text border, of sorts. I feel either could work, what do you think?

Envelope

The envelope presents a challenge. Staying within the Post Offices recommended guidelines. Parts of the envelope aren’t allowed to be covered or marked. It is where the designer and Post Master resistance meets. I never paid much attention to envelopes with a large logo offset to the upper left corner. There isn’t much room to mess with here. Post Grid offers guidance on these issues, check this page out for those.

Check out our Brand-O!

Branding can really become the preoccupation of any company. Almost obsessive but what else do you have other than your brand? You can brand just about anything!

Corporate Branding identity template design. Modern Realistic colorful Business Stationery mockup. Stationery and uniform, paper pack, Coffee, package for your brand. Vector illustration
By sergey985

However, you must maintain brand consistency. It is as crucial as the brand itself. Consumers and the public rely on what they know and how they will spend their hard earned dollar.

I Mean What You See

By

On September 7, 2023

In PR Design

When a customer picks up your product because of its look or appearance, a designer somewhere beams with pride, but the researcher sips wine on a beach. The researchers job involves more than being a talented artist, its only a small bit of their job.

Knowing what appeals to your customer base or clientele is essential to the 4Ps (Product, price, promotion and place).
If the design is essential, then the research into that design is crucial. Creating a well thought out communication strategy involves managing design elements actively.

Colo®

Relaying color is a part of visual language. It involuntarily coerces the human eye into perceiving an idea or emotion. Humans are weird creatures.

For shoppers and retailers, it is apparent that the color red is everywhere during the Christmas holiday. In the early 1900s, according to Fabrik Brands, Coca-Cola ingrained the color red into the minds of Americans with their version of Santa Claus.

POTSDAM, GERMANY – DECEMBER 10, 2013: Coca-Cola iconic Santa Claus. Christmas Tour
By Sergey Kohl

Research into the relevant colors is vital to a brand, especially when targeting a specific demographic.

  • What works for men might not work for women.
  • What color appeals to children over adults?
  • Do warmer tones appeal to specific demographic during a particular season?
  • Are certain tones more expressive than others?
  • What tone creates revenue?

These are all valid questions to consider when creating a communications strategy and essential enough to incorporate into the brand’s design.
In reality, revenue is what it is all about. It’s the ultimate measuring stick for most employers and clients. In most cases, choosing color is a commitment to the bottom line. So choose wisely.

Psychologie des Couleurs – Diagramme – Signification des Couleurs – Outil
By Artellia

Imagery

What images are being used are also an important element of design and its communication strategy. Take for instance these images of a stick figure in different actions. Without the heart illustration we’re left with a stick figure(s) doing uninteresting actions. You could place any image in the heart’s place and it could convey a completely different message.

  • the heart imagery conveys love
  • the heart imagery conveys care
  • the heart imagery conveys compassion
By Polina Tomtosova

There’s a reason Southwest Airlines chooses to use a heart in its logo. Amongst an airport of varying airlines for customers to choose from, Southwest uses the’ heart’ imagery to sway customers to fly with them. The heart helps convey “Heart & Hospitality”.

November 10, 2021, Brazil. In this photo illustration the Southwest Airlines logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen and in the background.
By Rafael Henrique

Space & Composition

Space is at a premium in any design. The area of the paper, screen or banner limits you. Good strategic planners utilize space to create the size and the enormity of the message, which can take the message to heights that far supersede the size of the medium—saving a few dollars in printing costs.

When a design scales back to a basic shape (familiar) without text, we see a minimalist design with a powerful message. Here are some others mentioned by Jami Oetting at Hubspot that are clever. Call it coincidence or fate. Some would call it brilliant.

michael-mtv.jpg

Logo

Here is the logo I created for my DJ company. I felt that the circular nature of the logo represented a turntable platter. This is the design I have worked with for a few years now. I had stickers printed of them and the printer really hated the ‘saw blades’ around the sticker. The bubble look conveyed fun. However, there are many elements to choose from to incorporate into other visuals for the brand (letterhead, stationary, etc.).

Below, I started with a circle and worked my way into what you see above.

Sources

Color & Consumer Behavior Infographic. Insights In Marketing. (n.d.). https://insightsinmarketing.com/how-does-color-affect-consumer-behavior/

Hodgson, S. (2023, February 13). The history of Christmas colors and what they mean. Fabrik Brands. https://fabrikbrands.com/the-history-of-christmas-colors-and-what-they-mean/

Oetting, J. (2016, January 6). 24 Minimalist Print Ads to Inspire Your Creativity. Hubspot. September 9, 2023, https://blog.hubspot.com/agency/minimalist-print-ads

Pure heart: The evolution of the southwest corporate logo. Southwest 50 Years. One Heart. (n.d.). https://southwest50.com/our-stories/pure-heart-the-evolution-of-the-southwest-corporate-logo/

I’m Designer-InDesign & Photoshop

By

On August 31, 2023

In PR Design

As a media industry professional, I’m presented with tasks that heavily involve Adobe Suite. From Audition for radio production to Photoshop and InDesign for print and publication purposes. Occasionally, I’ll visit Illustrator for any vector artwork. It makes for quick work manipulating vectored art. The Adobe Suite offers nothing but complete creative control over art or projects from a multitude of mediums. I have always likened the different programs to building blocks for another program within the Suite. One program creates a building block that you can use in another. While the Suite and Creative Cloud give unparalleled access to tools that designers seek, two of the practical and robust programs for PR Design are Photoshop and InDesign.

Photoshop (handy dandy)

For instance, you can create a beautiful logo in Illustrator from the ground up. Then, use the logo in a flyer or on pictures. It is possible with Photoshop. This program offers creative control over most elements, including fonts, picture adjustments, and removing subjects from photos. Photoshop isn’t Lightroom, but it has some of the same attributes. For those who edit photos and like the ability to manipulate those images, Photoshop is in your best interest. Resizing images is an easy chore inside Photoshop. I recently had time to adjust and clean up photos of my great-great-grandfather William Joseph Cizek. My father is currently tracing our roots and came across this photo. Photoshop allowed me to remove some of the blemishes in the original photograph taken in 1926.

Before

Original 1926

After

Photoshop fixes-cropped, removed noise and anomalies. The spot healer tool is genius.

Photoshop has an arsenal of tools at the user’s disposal. Correcting photos to use within PS so they are usable within InDesign is the logical step to creating quality. Say I am creating a design for a family reunion. Of course, I could use the original photo as it scanned. Photoshop is unique in its ability to remove the background of an image and replace it with something else with the content-aware feature—a remarkable feature in PS.

InDesign

The interfaces appear identical, but they are not the same design programs. First, there are no layers within ID. I found myself looking for the eyeball next to a layer that was never there. My lack of use in InDesign constrains my abilities and proficiency with the program. However, I have found that creating publication pieces like flyers and brochures will be much easier than making them in PS. I tried creating a brochure from scratch in Photoshop, and it did not go well.

While it looks the part of a brochure, it took me days to create it because of the text and inability to keep it consistent. It would have been an easier putt if I would have started in InDesign first.

InDesign allowed me to create a better-structured flyer with containers to insert text and pictures. Simple.

Both programs are best discovered by jumping right in. They answer with solutions to many of a designer’s needs. Many video resources are available online, and answers are in the forums as part of Adobe’s Web Community. Chances are, someone else has had the same issue as you, and they figured out a solution.

Some online places often give many tips to help sharpen your skills within these programs. Here are 32 Indesign Tutorials to help you improve your overall abilities. If you are looking to hone your Photoshop abilities here are a bunch of tutorials, 600, for you.

Knowing when to use what program is necessary in becoming a professional designer.

Utilizing one program for another will also become routine.

However, nothing overrules a well designed piece that encompasses proportion, color, typography, and all the other characteristics that define quality.

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