COMM 362: Design for Print
Instructor: Ross Collins

Exercise Three: a two-column

(updated for InDesign CS3)

The project below will give you the opportunity to create a simple and attractive newsletter--something you can expect to do often in many communication jobs. You'll learn how to create a style sheet, how to work within a grid, measurement, outline text, drop shadow, and other useful computerized pagination skills. See illustration at right for reference.

Note: If you're a visual learner, you can work by copying the reference illustration instead of going through the instructions step by step. Refer to appropriate area of instructions for techniques you are confused about.

What you'll learn:

• general newsletter design.
  
• working with Master Pages.
  
• defining type styles.
  
• drawing and placing reversed, screened, and regular boxes.
  
• drawing and placing mask boxes.
• working with lorem ipsum type; using the Place, Copy and Paste commands.
• working with drop shadows.
• placing photos.
  

Note: p=pica; pt=points.

1. Open a New document. Page set-up: standard letter (8 1/2 by 11), vertical orientation. Pages: two. You'd expand this for more newsletter pages. Facing pages: off. We'll set up the margins and columns in the next step.

2. Set up a Master Page: In the Pages panel, choose New Master from the flyout menu on the right. In the dialogue box choose Prefix: B; Name: newsletter; Based On Master: none. OK.

3. With your master pages showing (double click on its icon in the Page palette), plan your general page geometry for the newsletter. Note: Material you add to the Master is transferred to other pages of a document. This can be really time-saving if you do something over and over, like a newsletter. You also don't have to remember your styles from week to week--if you're working on many publications, it's easy to get confused, for sure.

• From the Layout pulldown, Choose Margins and Columns. Set margins at 4p, except inside, 3p. (Note: you may have to toggle off Make all settings the same to do this.) Set columns at 2, 2p gutter between each column.
• Bring in guidelines precisely in the center of the gutters between columns. Draw a hairline rule ( Stroke panel, 0.25pt) between columns running from the top margin to the bottom margin. Remember guidelines default in front of elements. If you want to see what you've drawn, temporarily choose Hide Guides (View pulldown, Grids & Guides).

4. From the Pages flyout menu, choose Apply Master to Pages, and choose your newsletter (B) master, and pages 1-2 (see illustration at left). Note that you can set up as many master pages as you want, and apply them to pages you want. We just set up a simple master here for practice.

Leave the Master Page by double-clicking page 1 in the Pages palette. Remember: everything you put on the Master Pages is automatically transferred to every page of your document. So don't design your whole newsletter on a master page!

Text formatting: For quick placement in newsletter formats you'll use over and over, you can format text in your word processing program, then import it formatted into InDesign. For this project, though, let's practice formatting styles in InDesign. Creating a Style Sheet allows you to restyle entire stories without laboriously choosing each option, or even having to remember what you chose before. Saves huge amounts of time, and time is what graphic designers ain't never got enough of (This ain't no grammar class either, eh?).

5. Choose the Paragraph Styles panel from the dock. On the flyout menu choose New Paragraph Style; Style Name: newsletter body; Based on: none. Choose Basic Character Formats. Set the style: 10/12 Century Schoolbook, Adobe Garamond, or Didot. Under Indents and Spaces choose Alignment left; 24-pt left indent; additional 20-pt first line indent. This allows copy to be narrower than headlines, for an attractive and unusual twist on the standard all-flush left style. See PDF example. Leave other options as default, OK.

Reminder on measurement: 24-pt, as in POINTS, not Picas. What is that in Picas? (Two, of course; 12 pts in a pica) Also, what is 20 pts MORE than the first 24 pts? Need to get used to this point-pica thing....

Set up a second style for headlines: 18/18 ("set solid") helvetica or arial bf, flush left, kerning optical. Now all you have to do is apply these styles to text you place or compose.


6. Mask the vertical rule between the columns to a depth of 21p from the top of the page. To mask: draw a thin box around area to be masked. Choose 0 for stroke, and white (upper right of color palette ramp, or swatch) for white fill. Choose Hide Guides to see the effect of this. This covers the rule between columns which you drew on your Master Page, to leave space for your nameplate. Otherwise, you'll have the rule going through the nameplate, and no way to remove it from page one--because it's on the Master Page.

Note: You can temporarily hide frame edges and guides to see what your page looks like using the View menu (or keystroke shortcuts).

7. Add a hairline rule (stroke .25) for the folio number (date and page), across two columns at the top margin line of the page. Add a second hairline rule 19p from the top margin. Note: the top margin is NOT the edge of the page (trim line).

Note: to constrain the stroke tool to draw a perfectly straight line, hold down the shift key while dragging.

Reminder on measuring: Your horizontal and vertical rulers default to begin at 0 from the margin lines, top left. You can move that 0 to wherever you want, however, by dragging from the crosshair box, upper right.

8. Add the box for the folio, about 12p x 3p rectangle, solid (fill black), aligned with top left margin. Draw a text frame in pasteboard: "Issue Number One" and today's date. Font is 9 pt helvetica or arial reverse (white text) centered, aligned about 1p from the left edge of the box, on a baseline about 6 pts from the bottom of the box. Drag into black box.

Note: If style defaults to your body text, drag over type, and from the Paragraph Styles panel, choose Basic Paragraph.

Alternative: you can also make a text frame into a box.

• Draw a text frame (with the text tool) the size you need.
• Choose it with the solid arrow tool, and choose from the Stroke palette to put a border around it.
• Choose the type tool, type your text into the frame.
• Using the Paragraph palette, center, set indents, etc., so that it looks the way you want.
• Choose Text Frame Options from the Object pulldown to add padding between text and edges of box.
  

9. Draw a text frame, add the subhead, "A design class newsletter by [your name]. It's 12-pt helvetica or arial normal, on a baseline about 1p3 above the top of the newsletter title, aligned left with the right edge of the banner rectangle above it.

Note that the end of the reversed box with folio and beginning of the subhead are aligned; when you align loose elements on a page, aligning box edges helps to give structure to the design, suggesting a plan rather than helter-skelter placement of elements. This reflects the Gestalt principle of similiarity.

10. The flag or nameplate (newsletter title): "CommChat," 60 pt helvetica or arial, bf, oblique (slanted), aligned right, outlined.

Make outlined letters:

• Choose type with text tool;
• in Stroke Palette choose 2p;
• fill with white.

Make a drop shadow:

Note: Everyone seems to be doing drop shadows nowadays, maybe a reason to avoid them. But they can be an alluring effect, if not overdone, and so easy to do in Indesign.

See a YouTube tutorial on drop shadows.

Choose CommChat text with solid arrow tool (note: not highlighted).

Click on Drop Shadow icon in contextual menu at top (see illustration at left, icon circled in red). Tah-dah!

But the drop shadow may not be precisely the way you'd like it. For instance, I would like the angle a bit lower, the shadow a bit lighter, the shadow a bit shorter, and a bit of noise (3-4 percent) to soften it. Let's customize using the Drop Shadow dialogue box.

With the text still chosen with arrow tool, choose Special Effects (fx) icon from contextual menu at top, or from panel docked at right side.

Choose the Drop Shadow option from the pulldown (see illustration below right). Be sure the Preview toggle at bottom left is selected to preview your changes as you make them.

• Dial opacity to around 50 percent.
• Drag angle, if you'd like.
• Change size to 0p3.
• Add a little noise to soften.

Note: InDesign's default view is set to a lower quality so that you can work faster on screen. The disadvantage of this is that some elements look pixellated, such as drop shadows with added noise. Select a high quality view by choosing View, Display Performance, and High Quality Display.

Drag flag 1p6 above bottom horizontal hairline.

11. Place the table of contents. At the lower left of the page, draw a solid (fill with black) rectangle, column width by about 1p6 deep. Place flush left, about 12p above the bottom page margin.

Note: as an easy alternative to drawing solid boxes, simply draw a rule (stroke) and change to a thick width, in this case about 20p.

12. "In this issue" should be set in 14-pt helvetica or arial bf (boldface), on a baseline about 1p3 below the bottom of the rectangle you just drew.

13. Draw the first hairline rule about 4p3 below the bottom of the rectangle. Copy and paste it at 2-p intervals: it's better to copy and paste repeated elements, rather than drawing each one, for consistency. The last rule should be on the bottom margin.

Note: Why painstakingly measure each interval? Instead draw a spacer box or stroke to the width of the measure. Drag each element to touch the measuring placeholder on each side. Then remove the spacer. (See illustration at right.)

14. The contents lines are 10/24 helvetica or arial bold, on baselines about 9 pts above the rules, align 2p from left: Copy lines to set: "Design dilemmas; A guide to good grids; INDD does it best; Adobe and attitude."

15. Make banners for story headlines. The hairline rule is column width. The banner (rectangle) is a solid box (or stroke) 12 p by about 1p3 wide, flush at the top and left with the hairline rule.

Note: Consistency in these boxes helps emphasize the Gestalt principle of similiarity, and so pull our design together.

The space between the hairline rule and the baseline of the first line of the headline below it is 3p. To make placement easier and more accurate, again, you can draw a 3-p box in the pasteboard, leave it there, and bring it in as necessary to place headlines.

16. Banners: Instructor's Message and [your name(s)'] Observations (or ruminations, or comments, or whatever you think matches your mood at this particular moment....) Type should be 9 pt helvetica or arial bold reverse, small caps, aligned left 1 p from left edge of the banner. Choose the small caps from the Character paneal flyout menu.

Note: Make sure you are using a typopgrapher's apostrophe (curly-cue, not straight). If it defaults straight, Go to Preferences from the InDesign pulldown (Macintosh) and Type. Toggle typographer's quotes on, and retype the apostrophe.

17. Add headlines under banners, using the paragaraph style you defined above. Each headline should be two lines long, and begin 2 p under the banner, but may be whatever imaginative text you wish.

18. Copy type using lorem ipsum file (a sample file used by designers for dummy pages) from the class web site. Place type 6 pts under each headline's baseline. Alternatively paste the lorem ipsum file into an MS Word document, clean up spaces and other problems, and save to from to your own disk, for use now and later. Choose Select All from Edit pulldown (or Command + a) and click on your body text paragraph style.

Note: if this does not override the original placed text style, try again while holding down the Option key.

Still anther note: The lorem ipsum file is a handy way to show clients the style of type without distracting them with "for placement only" actual stories. People who can actually read latin say the file means nothing.

19. Move to page two by double-clicking on the Page palette, scrolling, or choosing the page from bottom left.

20. Bring in another banner, the rectangle and hairline as on page one. In this case, however, do not add type to the rectangle. Instead, 2p underneath the banner, type the headline: Collins keeps his hard-working students happy. Size as you think looks balanced. Draw another masking box and place at top of page so rule in gutter does not go over headline text.

Note: If your mask box goes over part of your headline, choose Arrange from the Object pull-down, and send to back. Keep in mind InDesign places elements in layers. This is a way to change the layer order.

21.Place more lorem ipsum text to fill the page around the photo, or Copy and Paste the text you placed above. Begin about 1p below the headline.

22. Download this photo, save to the desktop. Place the photo.

Note: To download from the net on a Macintosh, hold down the Control key while clicking on the photo. Choose from the menu.

23. Using the scale tool (see illustration at left), reduce the photo to reach across about a column and a half of text.

Note: For best quality, photos should be scaled in Photoshop before Placing into InDesign. But reducing usually doesn't damage the quality as much as enlarging.

24. Wrap the text around the photo. With the photo chosen arrow tool, bring up the Text Wrap panel from the Window pulldown. Choose the third wrap option, and standoff of about 3pts.

25. Write (or copy and paste) this cutline: "Design for print students hold a midterm party after a grueling round of exams." Style: helvetica oblique or arial oblique 9/9 (9pt set solid). Drag text frame to same width as photo.

26. Choose cutline frame with arrow tool to choose, and choose Text Wrap from the palette, third option, set-off about 2pts. Drag under photo.

27. Add a screened box: Draw a box across the bottom of the page, choose Color palette, black (reverse), and slide down to 10 percent. Border (stroke) 1pt.

Note: A handy way to add interest to the page, screened boxes should be no more than 10 or 15 percent, for readability, unless you are using a light color. A box separates text from the rest of the page, so can be set at a different width, and even a different typeface. Boxes are often used for short features.

28. Write a headline: "Coming soon! Scholarships for communication students." Style as you think fits, in helvetica or arial bf oblique.

29. Paste more lorem ipsum text, same typeface/leading as above. Drag to reach across page, but do not let text touch borders. With this text chosen (highlighted), turn off indents that you set for the rest of the newsletter. This lets the text reach to the end of the box.

30. Add a drop cap to the beginning of this story.

31. Print proof copy. Check for typos and design flaws.

Important: Proofread carefully before handing in. Small flaws or typos are very noticable, and can ruin the quality of your work.

30. Print final copy, SIGN YOUR OWN NAME/NAMES to it, submit for grading.