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by Chad Neuman

While teaching layout and design, magazine design and production, and web design at the university level, I’ve noticed a few common mistakes students make while creating designs in either Adobe InDesign or Adobe Photoshop. Here are five prominent bad examples with five corrections for making better publication designs. I’ll provide better alternatives to make various designs more professional. Check these out to avoid those design faux pas, and in the process we’ll learn the design principles of repetition, contrast, alignment, and proximity.

Design No-No 1: The Careless Drop Shadow

There are not many more things that say, “Hello, I’m an amateur designer,” than the poorly-employed drop shadow. I’m not saying to never use the drop shadow. But don’t use it just for the fun of it, rather than because it enhances the aesthetics of the design. In other words, don’t do it for any reason. Here are a few examples of what I mean:

I applied this drop shadow in InDesign, by going to Object>Effects>Drop Shadow, with a Distance of 0p2 and a Size of 0p2 and the settings seen here:

In Photoshop, you go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow with the text layer selected. With a higher pica size, the effect can be made to create a hazy look for certain text effects. A subtle drop shadow can also work, but it is a difficult effect to master in order to make it look professional. Instead, try a stroke around the edges of the text.

Better Alternative 1: The Carefully Done Stroke

This look is more professional. In InDesign, go to Object>Effects>Clear Effects to get rid of the drop shadow. Highlight the text with the Text tool, and then double-click on the Stroke on the bottom of the Tools palette. For my example, I changed the font to Impact, and added a 2-point stroke. Go to Window>Stroke to adjust the thickness of the stroke. (In Photoshop, go to Layer>Layer Style>Stroke.)

Design No-No 2: Inconsistent Photo/Visual Element Size
Good design incorporates a balance between repetition and contrast. When placing images in a layout, be sure to incorporate repetition of some elements. Contrast font style, size, and colors in various parts of the layout (such as different font sizes for subheads, titles, and body copy), but without some consistency/repetition, it would look like chaos. One of the times to repeat aspects of a design element is the placing of photos in a grid. In this example, we can see the photos are not a consistent size.

Better Alternative 2: Consistent Photo/Visual Element Size
To maintain a correct size, try using the Crop tool in Photoshop and setting the preset crop size to whatever size the photos should be, before placing into InDesign. Of course we can also resize after placing the photos in InDesign, using Cmd (PC: Ctrl) and clicking-and-dragging the corner of the photos (holding Shift to maintain proportion), but if the proportion is not the same across all three photos, they will end up being different sizes unless we crop part of the photos out by clicking-and-dragging on a edge without holding any keys.

Maintaining consistency is also important whether it’s photos or shapes, such as this pull quote (the Latin is randomly generated). Not how having a repeated visual element size adds appeal to the design. This is often utilized while working with a design “grid” of three or four columns.

Strokes often work better not just on text but on photos and shapes as well. Consider the difference between the drop shadow on the left and the stroke on the right, which looks much better, in this example.

Design No-No 3: Unaligned Text
Two other design principles besides repetition and contrast are alignment and proximity. Text looks better if it’s aligned. Notice how the three columns below are not aligned; you can tell by clicking-and-dragging a ruler guide from the top ruler and drag it to the bottom of the first line, in InDesign or Photoshop.

Better Alternative 3: Aligned Text
Clicking-and-dragging either the top bounding box or moving the text box allows us to align the columns with each other. I like to draw a ruler guide below the first line and then align the columns along it. Of course in InDesign we can also go to the Paragraph palette (Windows>Type and Tables>Paragraph) and click the Align to Baseline Grid option as well.

Design No-No 4: Uncoordinated Colors
When designing for print, broadcast, or new media, it’s important to coordinate colors. This example below shows how uncoordinated colors can clash in a design.

Better Alternative 4: Coordinated Colors
Use a color wheel to find complementary or analogous colors. Complementary colors are opposite on the color wheel, such as in this example (not that the colors do not have to be exactly across, but close matches do look good):

In this example, the colors coordinate because they are analogous, as opposed to complementary. They are analogous because they are next to each other on the color wheel, not on the opposite side.

Design No-No 5: Bad Proximity (Inconsistent, Too Close, or Too Far Away)
Finally, proximity is also a good design principle to learn. Proximity is the space between elements on a design. Notice in this example that the spacing, or proximity, between the left and center photos is different from the space between the center and right photo. Also the text is too close to the photos, since it is not intentionally flushed but is a separate elements which needs to be at least 1 pica away from the photos.

Better Alternative 5: Good Proximity (Consistent and the Correct Distance Apart)

In this example, the space between all three photos is consistent and the text has some “breathing room” apart from the photos.

These rules may seem subtle, but trust me, they add a lot of aesthetic value and professionalism to designs, whether it is for a print advertisement, publication, or web site design.

by Chad Neuman

Step 1
Open “Brochure.indd” in Adobe InDesign from the first two tutorials. If you haven’t done so already, complete the first four tutorials in this series and download the support files.

Step 2
Navigate to page 4 and go to File>Place and select “Frequently Asked Questions.doc” from the Documents folder of the support files. Click Open to place it and then click somewhere off to the left of page 4 of the brochure.

Step 3
With a Selection tool, click-and-drag the text box onto page 4 like shown here.

Step 4
Click-and-drag a guide from the top ruler to create a guide to lock to, so both text boxes will be aligned. If the ruler isn’t visible, just go to View>Show Rulers. Align the bottom to the bottom margin. We need a guide for this spread because the top of the text boxes is a little bit lower and not flush with the top margin like it is on pages 2 and 3.

Step 5
Navigate to page 5, the right-hand side of the spread. Click-and-drag another guide that is aligned with the guide we just made on page 4.

Step 6
Next, click the red cross on the lower-right corner of the text box on page 4. Click-and-drag a new text box for the text to flow into on page 5. Align it with the top guide and the bottom margin.

Step 7
Select all the text by clicking in the text box and pressing Option-A (PC: Alt-A) and then change the font to the same font as the font used on the previous spread. For this example, I used Tw Cent MT. Trying changing the font to 14.5 pt to make it perfectly without having any extra text. Having the same font style, even though it’s a different size, lets the publication have a consistent look.

Step 8
Choose the Text tool and click-and-drag over each question and make it bold by selecting Bold from the Control Palette.

Step 9
Navigate to page 6, the back cover. Go to File>Place and select “Contact info.doc” from the Documents folders of the support files. Click Open to place it and click somewhere outside the brochure area.

Step 10
With the Selection tool, click-and-drag the text box onto the center of the back cover. Now let’s left-justify it to align it and change the font to the same font we used on the front cover, instead of the font we used for the body copy on both spreads. I used Myriad Pro, Bold. Enter a Return after the word “at” in the first line of text. Enter a line between the first line and the rest.

We’re done! By applying considerations of style, color choice, and the right balance between repetition/consistency and variation/creativity, we created a brochure with enough photos and text to grab your attention but enough white space to direct the readers’ eyes to areas of interest.

Here’s a brochure design of my example.

by Chad Neuman

Step 1
Open “Brochure.indd” in Adobe InDesign from the first two tutorials. If you haven’t done so already, complete the first three tutorials in this series and download the support files.

Step 2
Navigate to page 2. Go to File>Place and select “balloon11.jpg” and click Open to place it. Be sure to click outside of the rectangle, off to the left.

Step 3
Go to File>Place again and select “photo_border.jpg” and click Open to place it. Click somewhere off to the left of the brochure again.

Step 4
With a Selection tool, click the balloon photo we just placed and go to Object>Arrange>Bring to Front. With a Selection, click-and-drag the photo on top of the photo border image. With a Selection tool, click and drag a corner of the photo border file to make it fit the photo. Be sure to hold down Cmd (PC: Ctrl) before clicking-and-dragging so it resizes, and doesn’t crop, the photo. Click-and-drag around both objects with a Selection tool and go to Object>Group.

Step 5
Complete steps 2 through 4 with the files “balloon13.jpg” and “balloon15.jpg,” adding the “photo_border.jpg” behind each file and then grouping them.

Step 6
Next, using a Selection tool, click-and-drag the three photos with their borders onto pages 2 and 3 as shown here. When each is selected, select the Rotate tool to rotate them a little to keep with our photo theme.

Step 7
Navigate to page 4. Complete steps 2 through 4 with “balloon10.jpg” “balloon16.jpg” “balloon4.jpg,” placing them off to the side of the brochure, and then add the “photo_border.jpg” file behind each one by placing it and arranging the photos to the front. Remember to group them with the photo border. Then place them onto pages 4 and 5 spread and use the Rotate tool to rotate them when they are each selected with a Selection tool.

Step 8
Navigate to page 6, the back cover. Complete steps 2 through 4 with “balloon6.jpg” and “balloon7.jpg,” adding photo borders around them as well. Group each with a photo border and then place them onto the back cover, rotating a little bit.

Step 9
Navigate to page 2, the first spread. Go to File>Place and select “Intro.doc” from the Documents folder in the support files. Click outside the brochure, next to page 2.

Step 10
With a Selection tool, click-and-drag the text box onto the spread on page 2. Line it up flush with the margins, since well do the same on the next page for consistency.

Step 11
With the Text tool, click-and-drag over the text (or click somewhere in the text box and press Option-A (PC: Alt-A)) to select all the text. Change the text to a larger size; I chose 28 pt and changed the font to Tw Cen MT. This is just the second font I’ve used. You usually don’t want to use more than 2 or 3 fonts in a publication. Once it’s a larger text size, it won’t fit in this one text box; we want to flow it to the next page. Just click the small red cross at the bottom-right corner of the text box, then click-and-drag a text box on the next page of the same spread, page 3.

Save the file as “brochure.indd” for use in the next and final part of this series, where we’ll finish placing and formatting text and add some finishing touches.

Continue to Brochure Design with InDesign 5 of 5.

by Chad Neuman

Step 1
Open “Brochure.indd” in Adobe InDesign from the first two tutorials. If you haven’t done so already, complete the parts 1 and 2 and download the support files. Now let’s design the cover. We need to consider white space when designing a brochure. White space guides the readers’ eyes toward what we want them to look at. Using white space (which doesn’t necessarily have to be white) avoids a cluttered look with too many elements on the page. Some call it being “too busy.” We also want the brochure to use consistency, with a little variation in the elements. We need to find the right balance between repetition of elements—font size and style, color, and photo placement, for example—and variation of those same elements. Too much variation looks chaotic but not enough variation looks uncreative. By combining creative typography and a clean layout, we should be able to create a well-designed brochure with InDesign.

Step 2
With a Selection tool, click on one of the photos. Next, click the Rotate tool and click-and-drag to rotate the photos for a more creative look, as if we’re looking at a few photos laying on a floor. Click the other two photos with a Selection tool, one at a time, and rotate them one at a time with the Rotate tool. With a Selection tool, click-and-drag them so they overlap.

Step 3
Now let’s insert the logo. Go to File>Place and select the “logo.ai” file from the art folder. Click Open and be sure to click somewhere outside the rectangle and place it. Then click-and-drag it with a Selection tool and place it below the photos. If the photos are too close, just click-and-drag them up a little bit.

Step 4
Move over to the right-hand side of the cover (Hold Space and click-and-drag for a shortcut to move around the document). Let’s add a quote from the text we have, sort of like a pull-quote in a newspaper, but this is on a separate page. Select the Text tool and click outside of the rectangle so we can create a new text object. The text we’ll use is from the introduction: “Enjoy the adventure of a lifetime.” Select the Text tool and click-and-drag a text box out and type that text. Select the text and change the font to a larger size in the Control palette. I changed it to 58 pt and the font Myriad Pro, Bold. Change the justification to right justify in the Control palette.

Step 5
With a Selection too, click-and-drag the text box onto the cover and situate it so it has the same amount of space on the left and right of it, to the photos and to the border. To preview what it’ll look like without the guidelines, go to View>Screen Mode>Preview.

Step 6
Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the logo object and click-and-drag it to the second page to duplicate it.

Step 7
Move the logo to the lower-left corner of page 2. Go to File>Place and select “about_us.ai” and click Open to place it. Be sure to place it outside the rectangle background. Once you’ve placed it, with a Selection tool click-and-drag it to the top-left corner of page 2.

Step 8
With a Selection tool, click the logo on page 2 and go to Edit>Copy. Navigate to page 4, the second spread, and go to Edit>Paste in Place. This will paste the logo into the exact same spot on page 4 and it is on page 2, for consistency. Go to File>Place and select the “faq.ai” file and click Open and place it outside the rectangle background. Next, click-and-drag it with a Selection tool onto page 4.

Step 9
Go to File>Place and select “contact.ai” and click Open and click outside the rectangle background. With a Selection tool, click-and-drag the object onto the last page, the back cover. Option-click (PC: Ctrl-click) the logo on page 4 and drag it to the back cover, page 6. Instead of having it placed on the lower left side of the spread, this is the back cover so let’s center it at the bottom.

Save the file as “brochure.indd” for the next step in this series, when we’ll begin placing text and formatting it for an aesthetically pleasing look.

Continue to Brochure Design with InDesign 4 of 5.

by Chad Neuman

See Part 1 first for support files.

Step 1
Open “Brochure.indd” from the first part. If you haven’t done so already, complete the first step and download the support files. We have a six-page document. The first page is the brochure front cover and the last page is the back cover. The rest are spreads.

Step 2
Navigate to the first page by double-clicking on it in the Pages palette (Windows>Pages).

Step 3
Before designing the cover, let’s create a background color that will be used on all the pages. Click the Rectangle tool and click-and-drag a rectangle from one corner of the bleed to the other. Drawing it over the border avoids having the printer print any blank areas, in case the printed is barely off, which would look unprofessional.

Step 4
You may have just black and white available in the Color palette, so let’s fix this (if it already has color, skip this step). Click on the Color palette on the left. Click on the top-right area of the palette near the down arrow. Choose CMYK or RGB, depending on what the printer needs. Many old school printers will use only CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) while others will work with RGB (red, green, blue, traditionally meant for the computer screen). If you don’t plan on printing your project or are just using this tutorial to learn with our example, choose either one. It will turn back to CMYK once we click on the Fill color in the toolbar.

Step 5
Change the background color by changing the Fill of the rectangle. To do this, make sure the rectangle is selected (click on it with a Selection tool if it isn’t selected). Next, click on the Fill at the bottom of the toolbar.

Step 6
The Color palette should still be open. It should be set to CMYK by default; if not, just change it by clicking the top-right corner down arrow and set it to CMYK. Change the Cyan levels to 50 percent and set the rest to 0 percent. This allows for a soft tone for a background that will be complementary to our section headers.

Step 7
Set the same background to the rest of the pages. We can do this two ways. The first way that would take longer would be to draw out a few more rectangles, one for each page or spread. But here’s a shortcut: with a Selection tool, just zoom out and Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the first rectangle on page one and drag it to pages two and three. Release the mouse and then click-and-drag the side bounding box handle to lengthen it across the entire spread. Repeat this to duplicate the rectangles for all pages. Make sure the edges go up to the line of the bleeds of the borders.

Step 8
Now let’s begin add elements to the cover. Go to File>Place and select “balloon1.jpg” and place it by clicking Open. Click somewhere outside the rectangle to place it. IMPORTANT: Be sure to click outside of the rectangle so we can move it on top of it as a separate object and not inside the rectangle.

Step 9
This brochure should be photo-intensive, but let’s be more creative than just placing photos on it. Let’s also place them in a photo frame or Polaroid-style image. Besides photos, we will use text creatively to get our message across. Go to File>Place and place “photo_border.jpg.” Be sure to click outside the rectangle background.

Step 10
Move “balloon1.jpg” to the front by selecting it with a Selection tool and going to Object>Arrange>Bring to Front. Click-and-drag the “balloon1.jpg” file on top of the photo border.

Step 11
Click on the photo border image with a Selection tool. Let’s make the photo border fit the photo by resizing it. If we just click-and-drag the side bounding box handle, it will crop the image. We want to resize it, not crop it. So be sure to hold down Cmd (PC: Ctrl) first and then click-and-drag the side bounding box handle to resize it to fit the balloon photo.

Step 12
Let’s make it one object. With a Selection tool, click-and-drag around both of the objects and go to Object>Group.

Step 13
Repeat steps 8 to 12 and place “balloon9.jpg” and “balloon5.jpg.” Once they are grouped with the photo border using the same steps, with the Selection tool, click-and-drag them onto the cover.
Make sure if something is selected when you place the photos, uncheck Replace Selected Item so it doesn’t replace another object.

Save the InDesign file as “brochure.indd.” In the next tutorial, we’ll start designing the cover, applying various design and layout considerations.

Continue to Brochure Design with InDesign 3 of 5.

When designing a brochure, it’s important to consider various design and layout principles. Often there won’t be as much text as with a newspaper or magazine. The purpose of a brochure and the target audience are different as well. Let’s go through the process of creating a “real world” brochure for a hot air balloon company, by using Adobe InDesign and applying some helpful layout and design considerations. The support files are to be used with this tutorial for educational purposes only, since they were provided by the actual company. The support files include some photos, illustrations, and Word documents to place into the brochure we’ll make. Download support files.

Step 1
Open InDesign CS3 and click on From Template in the opening welcome screen. (If you have an earlier version of InDesign, skip to step 4.)

Step 2
Choose the Brochures option from the templates.

Step 3
Choose the third from the left brochure.

Step 4
If you don’t have InDesign CS3 and possibly an earlier version, just go to File>New and enter the settings here for a new document.

Step 5
In this template, notice how the images go beyond the black outer line, the actual border of the printed document, by a few millimeters. This is called a “bleed.” The reason for having the photos go over the document edge a little bit is because it prevents any white lines being printed on the edges, in case the printing is barely off. If the photos were perfectly aligned with the borders and didn’t go over a little bit, there might be a small white line on the edges if the printer moved it barely.

Step 6
We don’t need the artwork that came with this template. Click-and-drag the Artwork in the Layers palette onto the trash can icon.

Step 7
You’ll get this question; just click Yes.

Step 8
Click-and-drag the Text layer as well onto the garbage icon to delete it. You should just have the Guides layer left.

Step 9
Click on the Create New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. This will create a new layer so we can delete the Guides layer. Click-and-drag on the Guides layer onto the garbage icon to delete it. Now we have just one layer with nothing on it so far, and a document to work with. Save the file as “Brochure.indd” so we can use it in the next part.

Now that we have our file set up, let’s consider our target audience. This brochure is for a hot air balloon company, and the audience is people in the Central Florida area that would be interested in it or tourists. Let’s create a bold, bright and colorful brochure that will sell the business. Brochures should attract attention, keep attention, and then cause action. The action in this case is to call and sign up for a weekend to purchase on a hot air balloon ride.

In the next part, we’ll being to add text and use a color scheme and begin to design our bold and colorful brochure.  

Continue to Brochure Design with InDesign 2 of 5.