A newsletter’s design has a big impact on reader reaction. To be sure your design is successful, remember these three Cs: consistent, conservative and contrast.
Consistency addresses the format of your newsletter. If printing in black with an accent color, select a color palette and maintain it throughout each issue. Use an underlying grid to organize each page. If your newsletter is short (4 pages or less), use the same grid for each page. Use templates and style sheets to control headlines, subheads and body copy.
Be conservative in the use of fonts and graphic elements, especially in a short newsletter. A good rule of thumb is
to limit the number of photos, graphic accents or clip art to one or two per page. Select one font for body copy and another for headlines, and use these exclusively. Stylize the two fonts with italics, bold, and condensed, but do not introduce additional fonts.
Use contrast to direct the reader’s eye and to establish the hierarchy of importance. Headlines should contrast with body copy and with subheads. Drop caps, extra-large initial caps, or an illustrated capital will draw the reader’s eye and create graphic interest. Use white space in the form of gutters and margins to lighten up dense body copy.
Improving the design of your newsletter will pay dividends in reader interest and accessibility.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
How Many Images Can I Use With a Page of Text?
A good rule of thumb is to include no more than 3 or 4 images on a single page of text. When counting the images, include photographs, clip art, charts, graphics, boxes and borders and decorative special effects. One or two key images that support the text will be more effective than a lot of distracting visual noise.
To reduce the number of images, try these tricks:
To reduce the number of images, try these tricks:
- Unify decorative special effects by picking one and using it throughout the document rather than changing it on each page.
- Use font size, alignment or color for emphasis rather than clip art.
- Instead of several small photos, enlarge and crop one photo so it dominates the page.
- Collect items that require reader attention into a single box with a background screen.
- If you must include many photographs to accompany one story, arrange them to indicate priority or importance.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Five-Day Delivery: Not a Sure Thing
In late March, the USPS Board of Governors approved the USPS management proposal to drop Saturday mail delivery and to file a request for an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). The request was filed on March 30, 2010.
The USPS management proposal does not eliminate all services on Saturday. For example, retail window hours at post offices, delivery to P.O. boxes, incoming mail processing and transportation of mail between plants and network distribution centers (NDCs), and collection and processing of Express Mail would continue. What will be eliminated is collection of mail from blue boxes, delivery to street addresses, and Saturday processing of originating mail.
The postal service estimates that eliminating collection and delivery of mail on Saturdays initially will save over $3 billion annually, even after taking into consideration mail volume that will be lost because of no Saturday collection and delivery. By 2020, savings are projected to be about $5 billion annually. The savings come mainly from lower personnel costs.
To reinforce its proposal, the USPS commissioned several surveys of the public. These indicate that about two-thirds of average postal customers would accept five-day delivery if it meant avoiding postage rate increases and enabled the USPS to return to financial stability. Predictably, the postal labor unions are strongly opposed to the reduction in service.
While the PRC’s advisory opinion is important, the final decision will be made by Congress. Annually Congress makes an appropriation to the USPS and in past years the appropriation bill has included language mandating 6-day delivery. There are some legislators, including Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois who are opposed to eliminating Saturday delivery because they see Saturday delivery as a competitive advantage of the USPS.
The USPS hopes to implement 5-day delivery in FY2011, but to do so will have to overcome objections by the postal unions, Congress, and some parts of the mailing industry.
The USPS management proposal does not eliminate all services on Saturday. For example, retail window hours at post offices, delivery to P.O. boxes, incoming mail processing and transportation of mail between plants and network distribution centers (NDCs), and collection and processing of Express Mail would continue. What will be eliminated is collection of mail from blue boxes, delivery to street addresses, and Saturday processing of originating mail.
The postal service estimates that eliminating collection and delivery of mail on Saturdays initially will save over $3 billion annually, even after taking into consideration mail volume that will be lost because of no Saturday collection and delivery. By 2020, savings are projected to be about $5 billion annually. The savings come mainly from lower personnel costs.
To reinforce its proposal, the USPS commissioned several surveys of the public. These indicate that about two-thirds of average postal customers would accept five-day delivery if it meant avoiding postage rate increases and enabled the USPS to return to financial stability. Predictably, the postal labor unions are strongly opposed to the reduction in service.
While the PRC’s advisory opinion is important, the final decision will be made by Congress. Annually Congress makes an appropriation to the USPS and in past years the appropriation bill has included language mandating 6-day delivery. There are some legislators, including Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois who are opposed to eliminating Saturday delivery because they see Saturday delivery as a competitive advantage of the USPS.
The USPS hopes to implement 5-day delivery in FY2011, but to do so will have to overcome objections by the postal unions, Congress, and some parts of the mailing industry.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Is The Whiteness of Paper the Same As Brightness?
No, these terms are not interchangeable. Brightness is the amount of light reflected back to the reader’s eye, while whiteness refers to the quality (rather than the amount) of light.
A bright sheet increases the contrast between the paper and the ink, which causes colors and photographs to “pop”. Grades of paper – premium, #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5 – differ from each other in the amount of brightness, with premium grade being the brightest. Bleaching paper increases brightness and moves paper up the brightness scale (with 100 being the brightest). Select a high-brightness sheet when your document has lots of photographs or lots of color.
A white sheet evenly reflects all colors of the visual spectrum (though papers inherently have either a warm,
yellowish or cool, bluish hue). In general blue-white sheets appear brighter than yellow-white sheets (though this may change once ink or varnish is applied). If your document has a cool color palette (blues, greens, purples), a cool white sheet will make the colors appear brighter. If warm colors (reds, yellow, oranges) are dominant, they will appear clearer and more vibrant on a yellow-white sheet.
A bright sheet increases the contrast between the paper and the ink, which causes colors and photographs to “pop”. Grades of paper – premium, #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5 – differ from each other in the amount of brightness, with premium grade being the brightest. Bleaching paper increases brightness and moves paper up the brightness scale (with 100 being the brightest). Select a high-brightness sheet when your document has lots of photographs or lots of color.
A white sheet evenly reflects all colors of the visual spectrum (though papers inherently have either a warm,
yellowish or cool, bluish hue). In general blue-white sheets appear brighter than yellow-white sheets (though this may change once ink or varnish is applied). If your document has a cool color palette (blues, greens, purples), a cool white sheet will make the colors appear brighter. If warm colors (reds, yellow, oranges) are dominant, they will appear clearer and more vibrant on a yellow-white sheet.
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