7. The gift of GAB. It’s really about talking (and listening).
8. Gather a creative team. A writer and a designer need be present at the very beginning of any project.
9. Ask questions. What is the goal? Who is the audience? What tone should it take? What is the budget, the deadline? What’s been done already and what writing or art is already available?
10. Brainstorm Be open minded and seek out fresh ideas. There are NO bad suggestions. Even seemingly dumb ideas might lead to something extraordinary.
11. Brainstorm Be open minded and seek out fresh ideas. There are NO bad suggestions. Even seemingly dumb ideas might lead to something extraordinary.
14. Design shouldn’t happen at the end of the creative process. Design is not set dressing. Get together. The sooner the better. .
15. Designers: Read every word. No skimming. The tone and often the best visuals are waiting to be discovered in the text. Even better than reading: Google to learn a bit more. Even better than reading your project: read other stuff. .
16. Pull quotes:The best visual that’s not a visual. Who chooses? (Editors, try letting the designer pick—then you’ll know they read the text.)
26. Training & tools Training: Seminars, webinars, online tutorials Bring in a consultant or coach CASE or USCD conferences Tools: Current software, computer, stock
27. Inspiration CASE or USCD conferences Award shows Field trips / retreats from the office Don’t be afraid of the “F” word
28. Fun. Take time to have fun in the office. Play a creative game. Or two.
29. Facile minds = fun workplace. Bananagrams, Boggle, Caption contest, Headline Happy Hour, Google Maps fun, Pictionary. Just keep it light.
30. Couples counseling. All relationships take effort. Say the little things that need to be heard.
31. The story meeting. Communicators must practice what they preach. Talk about ideas / story format assignments / tone.
38. White space should be used to focus the attention on the words or content. It’s a luxury. So use it carefully.
39. “There’s always way too much text for the space.” The custody battle for picture space.
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47. An actual task: Here are ten synopses of Oscar-nominated films, each with a picture. There’s a column of lead-in copy, a headline and longish subhead. The movie copy needs to be sequenced in order of likelihood of winning, with graphics for “long shot” and “most likely.” Oh, you have a single spread.
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49. Who chooses the visuals? Assigning photographers / illustrations Final photo choices
50. Fonts should be seen.Without squinting, searchingor guessing. Don’t reenact The Emperor’s New Clothes. Illegible fonts are not hip, edgy or cool. Your teenage audience can’t read them either.
51. “There is no art for this story. Plus, we have no budget.”
56. “My writers never allow me enough time to design.” Put your time and energy into the opener. Have a wish list of ideas and formats.
57. And now, we need two volunteers. It’ll be fun, we promise.
58. Know and exploityour staff’s skills and talents. Make assignments using the best people for the job, whether it’s writers, designers, photographers, videographers or web folk.
62. Flip. Check the balanceof text and pictures. The cover is your publication’s front door. Take a walk through by flipping through. Establish a flow all the way to the back cover and the reader will thank you.
*Examples Purple Carpet – led to business cards, online component, etc. need to promote our website. Dumpster spread.
*Examples Purple Carpet – led to business cards, online component, etc. need to promote our website. Dumpster spread.
*Examples Purple Carpet – led to business cards, online component, etc. need to promote our website. Dumpster spread.
How could this scenario have been avoided?
Compliments can be short and simple. “You rock.” “This looks great.” “Thank you.”
Writing staff: don’t make an on-staff designer feel like a vendor. And if you’re a designer waiting for all the words, you might want to rethink your way of working.
Giving a designer their own project gives them pride of authorship. It also gives your reader a nice break from text pages.
