Try this next time you’re out somewhere, say lunch or dinner. Stop what you’re doing and just stare at your drink on the table. Look beyond the obvious notion that it’s a glass with liquid in it. Look at the way the light hits it. Look at how the ambient light colors the object. Look at the shape of the glass. Look at the negative space around the glass. Does the glass reflect in the tabletop? How does it reflect? Look at the condensation. Look at how the light is hitting the condensation. What about the temperature? Is there a mist because the room is warm? If there is a mist, what does it look like? How does it move? How is light refracting in the glass? How is it distorting the surface of the table when you look through it?

These are just a handful of questions to ask yourself. It’s just breaking down what you see into shapes, tones, and light. Try this whenever you see something that makes you curious. Stop and look closer. In this world, we’re so caught up in the day-to-day rush that we often forget how to see things.

The Reality of Photoshop

This open-minded way of seeing and thinking is crucial when you’re working in a program such as Photoshop. Despite the obvious advantages of illustrating in Photoshop, such as multiple undos and the fact that it’s a lot less messy than traditional methods, you’re in fact painting with light. Since the reality we look at is merely reflected light entering our eyes, it makes sense that we can come really close to mimicking reality on the computer.

Digital artists use Photoshop as their primary rendering tool for illustrations. However, like any other medium in the art realm, practice makes perfect. When painting or drawing, you fine-tune your craft with experimentation. Try different brushes and different drawing tools and over time you’ll find the right brush for the right effect. For instance, I used to utilize a toothbrush to achieve a really neat spattered look on my traditional paintings.

This is how Bert Monroy renders reality on his computer.

Working in Photoshop is a little different, however, largely due to the fact that the tools and filters available can be used in an infinite number of combinations to create really interesting effects, textures, lighting, etc. Sadly, there’s no single volume of instructions on how to achieve every effect or texture out there. We merely have the tools available to us. It’s up to us to find that magical combination. And that’s achieved through experimentation. Once you begin to familiarize yourself with what filters can do rather than just their names, you’ll look at them differently. This experimentation will expand the realm of what you can accomplish.

You may find that some combinations give results you never expected. For instance, would you believe that realistic water drops can be created with the Stained Glass filter and the Plaster filter? Because of the filter names, you may never have considered this, but it actually works.

Have you ever found yourself in pursuit of a particular effect and somewhere along the way, stumbled onto something that looked interesting but it wasn’t your original intention? This is where you should stop and examine what you’ve done. Why not save this version of the document under a different name, and then refer to it later and explore the new effect a little deeper?

The point is that you’re fueling your creative mind with the input necessary to solve any problem. Armed with that knowledge, you can look at something and know how to create it in Photoshop.

Painting reality

Let’s take this illustration as an example. It’s a piece that resulted from a recent lunch outing, where I found myself staring at my glass and studying its characteristics—the lighting, shape, patterns, color, contrast, and detail—and at the same time, considering how I could recreate these effects in Photoshop.

The crucial element here was lighting. Understanding how the light behaved around and through the object made it easier to illustrate; however, the one missing element was the smoky mist around the glass. I had a hard time coming up with a way to apply the mist realistically, but would you believe that I achieved a pretty good result using just the Smudge tool? Here’s how:

STEP 1: Start by choosing the Smudge tool in the Toolbox (you’ll find it nested under the Blur tool). Press the letter D then X to set your Foreground color to white.

STEP 2: In the Options Bar, change the brush to a small soft-edged brush (I used a 70-pt brush. Set the Strength to 60% for starters: the higher the number the more intense the smudging so staying in the 50–60% range will give the best results. (But remember to experiment.)

STEP 3: Now here’s the trick. In the Options Bar, you’ll notice a feature called Finger Painting. This is quite literally like squeezing paint on a canvas and smearing it with your finger—except you’re smearing pixels, not paint. Let’s click to turn that feature on.

In addition to handling the intensity of the smudging, the Strength setting now determines how many pixels of “paint” are laid down. With a higher number, more pixels are squeezed onto the canvas; with a lower number, fewer pixels are laid down and there’s more smudging of the background image.

STEP 4: At the bottom of the Layers panel, click on the Create a New Layer icon to create a new blank layer to paint on. Now just go into your canvas and click-and-drag to paint the white pixels. Don’t release the mouse—just move the cursor back over those white pixels to continue smearing them in a haphazard, swirly pattern. This will result is a smoky effect. Pretty cool, huh?

Experimentation is the key. Build on what we’ve done here and experiment with other brushes and other settings. Introduce layer styles to the layer you’re “finger-painting” on and see what you come up with. The more you know what Photoshop can do, the more you’ll be amazed at what you can do.

I leave you with this final thought. Even though this sample was something more realistic, the same “seeing” exercise can apply when you’re designing or illustrating in a less literal sense. Inspiration can be found in the strangest and most unusual places.

1. They’re Photoshop addicts and they want to learn everything this program can possibly do.
2. They want to assign certain work (such as simple animations, title slides, and lower thirds) to interns, while freeing up their main animators for more intensive work.
3. And they don’t want to invest in After Effects.

To help with these requests, I’ve created a full After Effects-like motion design animation that involves playing video inside an iPhone graphic. This includes a full motion video background and a reflection of the iPhone with video playing inside the reflection as well. Here’s how you do it in Photoshop CS3 Extended.

[If you’d like to download the project files used in this tutorial to practice these techniques, click here to download the practice files.]

STEP ONE:

Find BlueRadialSquare.mov in the project files that you downloaded from the Layers website and open it in Photoshop Extended. You can also use your own animated video backdrop (like the kind you can get from Artbeats or Digital Juice). Click the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, drag it below the movie layer, and fill it with white.

STEP TWO:

With the video layer active, press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to bring up Free Transform. Photoshop will ask you if you want to convert your video layer to a smart object. Click Convert. Drag the bottom middle control point up until the Height value in the Option Bar reads 75%. Click Return (PC: Enter) to commit the transformation.

CREDIT: ROD HARLAN

STEP THREE:

To blend the bottom of the video clip into the white background, you need to add a gradient layer mask. Click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a mask to your video layer. Grab the Gradient tool (G) and select the Foreground to Transparent gradient in the Gradient Picker in Options Bar. Make sure your Foreground color is black in the Toolbox, and then drag the Gradient tool from the bottom edge of the video layer to the top of your document. Tip: Depending on the look you’re trying to achieve, you could also try dragging the Gradient tool a shorter distance. Feel free to experiment.

STEP FOUR:

Bring in an object that has a screen where you can play your video (e.g., iPod, iPhone, PSP, etc.). Convert it to a smart object (Layer>Smart Objects>Convert to Smart Object), and then drag it to the Create a New Layer icon to duplicate the layer.
We converted the object into a smart object before we duplicated it because when we embed our video clip later in the tutorial, the embedded clip will automatically update in all copies of the smart object.

STEP FIVE:

Using the Move tool (V), hold the Shift key and drag the duplicate object down below the main object to create the reflection. Then, choose Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical to flip the duplicate object so that it mirrors the original object above it.

STEP SIX:

Add another gradient layer mask (see Step Three) to the duplicate object layer to blend the object into the white background. Drag the Gradient from the bottom of the duplicate object to just above the top edge of the object.

CREDIT: FELIX NELSON

STEP SEVEN:

Open your original smart object layer by double-clicking on its thumbnail in the Layers panel. Use the Rectangular Marquee tool (M) to select the screen area where you want your video clip to play. Then, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to put this selection on its own layer.

STEP EIGHT:

Open the video clip that you want to play inside this object (LayersTVopen.m4v in this example). Use the Move tool to drag this video into the smart object document and position it above the screen area. If you need to, use Free Transform to scale the video to fill the screen area. Option-click (PC: Alt-click) between the video layer and screen layer in the Layers panel to create a clipping mask. This will “clip” away any excess video outside the screen area. Close the smart object window and click Save when prompted.

STEP NINE:

Press the Spacebar to play the clip. The video is playing in both the main iPhone object as well as the reflection. Very cool! Now simply go to File>Export>Render Video to render to the format of your choosing.

Note: You’ll notice that the final movie also has sound with it. Even though Photoshop CS3 Extended doesn’t have direct support for an audio layer, it doesn’t strip out audio layers. So if you have a video clip with audio attached, it will both import and export through Photoshop untouched.

When my film came back, I examined each slide on a light table. If a slide, which has a narrow exposure latitude/tolerance, was overexposed, I tossed it immediately. There was no hope to save it. If it was slightly underexposed, there was hope! A company called Edwal offered a product called Correct-a-Chrome, which consisted of chemicals and trays in which you dipped a slide, held with tweezers, until the desired result was achieved.

For presentations, I used duplicate slides in glass mounts placed in carousel trays sitting atop a carousel projector. (I know I’m showing my age, but so are the programmers who develop Microsoft Word, because unlike the word Photoshop, Kodachrome isn’t showing up in Word’s dictionary.)
Today, it seems as though I have to know about 100 more things as a professional photographer if I want to keep up with my competition—and that includes my friends.

For those of you who are thinking about becoming full-time pro shooters, I thought I’d put together a list of must-know photo-pro info. (As illustrations for this article, I’ll use some of the RAW files I took during Venice Carnival 2008 in Italy with my Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III.)

Camera settings

Today, knowing how Quality settings, ISO, White Balance, Color Space (Adobe RGB vs. sRGB), and in-camera noise reduction (on-sensor and in-processor) can affect an image is key to getting a good image. For example, did you know that you get fewer pictures on a memory card when your camera is set at a high ISO than when it’s set at a lower ISO, and that as the detail in a scene increases, so does the file size? Here are some things you’ll need to know about your camera:
• You should be completely familiar with your camera’s menu, which can offer dozens and dozens of options that help you fine-tune your pictures—or ruin them if not set correctly.
• Research (on the Web) the sensor quality of different cameras—more pixels doesn’t necessarily mean a better quality image.
• You may even have to know how to print directly from your camera and shoot wirelessly, transmitting your files to a remote computer.
• Finally, research which memory cards are best for your particular needs when it comes to GB size and write speeds (maybe you need a write accelerated card, maybe you don’t).
• Hopefully, you won’t ever have to use image recovery software for any of your memory cards—but it never hurts to learn anyway. These programs were developed for a reason.

Image-processing programs

Today, photography is part image capture and part image processing—whether you use Photoshop, Camera Raw, Lightroom, Aperture, or the software that came on the CD that was packed with your digital camera. So here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to postprocessing:
• Shoot with the end result in mind, and know all the creative and corrective possibilities that are available to you in the digital darkroom with a few clicks of a mouse, or tap of a stylus on a tablet.
• Learn about Photoshop plug-ins that can help you take further advantage of Photoshop, expanding your photographic horizons and creative endeavors.
• Of course, make sure that Photoshop (or other image-processing program) can open your RAW files, which may not be the case unless you download the latest version of the Camera Raw plug-in from www.adobe.com for your brand-new camera.
• You need to know if it’s necessary to open an image in Photoshop as a 16-bit file, which limits the use of some filters and other features in Photoshop, verses an 8-bit file.
• If you publish books or magazine articles, you may have to learn about the Photoshop CMYK Color Settings (Edit>Color Settings) and how to convert your RGB files to CMYK files. You also may need to know about onscreen proofing (View>Proof Setup).

Computer system

While installing Leopard on my Mac a few months ago, I was reminded of just how much a photographer has to know about his or her computer—like how important it is to choose the Archive and Install option (which preserves all hard drive data) as opposed to just choosing the Clean Install option (which erases all hard drive data).
• Be prepared to repair a hard drive (using Disk Utility on a Mac or the Error Checking utility in Vista), which could help or, if not done correctly, could erase a drive. But more importantly, find out the best methods for backing up your data (now made easier for Mac users with Time Machine in Leopard) and hooking up accessory drives, memory card readers, and so on.
• It’s also critical to calibrate your monitor, which if not done correctly could make people in your pictures look as though they came from Mars (with green skin).
• If you give presentations using your laptop and are very serious about color and image quality, know which color profile and resolution to select in your System Preferences (explained to me once by Photoshop Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Tapp).
• If you’re using a projector for your presentations, you’ll also have to calibrate the projector (using X-Rite i1 products, for example). But first, you need to start with a knockout presentation, which involves putting together an interesting show with great photographs in Keynote or PowerPoint. Be sure to use images with the correct resolution. I import 7×9″ JPEGs into Keynote and they look pretty darn good onscreen.
• If you make inkjet prints, using the correct ICC profile, as well as choosing the appropriate option for image quality and paper in the printer’s driver, is key to getting a great print. You also have to do some basic maintenance on your printer, such as cleaning the nozzles via the printer’s software.
• If you upload pictures to an online lab, find out the lab’s image-quality and color-space settings, as well as cropping recommendations.

Keep current

Of utmost importance is that you keep current with what’s happing in the world of digital imaging. Thank goodness we have the Web to keep us informed about the latest and greatest technology—hardware, software, plug-ins, and techniques.

For example, do a Web search for “Jeff Schewe on Camera Raw 4.1,” and you’ll find some totally cool (and very important) stuff about processing your RAW files, including how to use two cool powerful features: Defringe (which helps with specular sensor flooding around hot specular highlights) and Clarity (which does exactly what the name implies).

We also have events such as Photoshop World (www.photoshopworld.com), where a wealth of information can be learned onsite, as well as in the show’s telephone book-size volume that contains tons of how-to articles by the show’s presenters.

So if you’re thinking of becoming a full-time pro, keep in mind that it really is a full-time job—because you’ll spend lots and lots of time learning about today’s technology in addition to taking pictures. And as you know or have guessed, you also need a lot of money to pay for all the digital photography tools and toys.

And speaking of taking pictures, there is one thing that hasn’t changed for me or other pros in all these years—getting the very best in-camera photograph is still the most important objective.

If you don’t want your small type to look like it’s hiding something, if you really want it to be read, it takes some extra effort, because all type programs default to settings for creating full-sized text. When you start setting smaller type than this, whether it’s for footnotes, contracts, legal notices, or the front and back matter of books, you have to make adjustments.

Typeface choice

If you’ve struggled to read a drug disclosure, you know that a light, condensed face for small type is bad news. What you really want is a face with a wide set width, that is, one whose characters are relatively wide. In addition, you’ll want a face with a generous x-height: one whose lowercase letters are rather tall. Below is a selection of faces illustrating this. All of these footnotes are set in 7-point with 9 points of leading. The apparent size of the various faces varies widely, as does their relative readability. The faces, from top to bottom, are Adobe Garamond, Bookman, Baskerville, Helvetica, ITC Avant Garde Book, and Antique Olive.

Likewise, faces with a heavier stroke weight and less contrast between the thick and thin parts of their characters are more legible in small sizes. Palatino, for example, holds up better in petite formats than Garamond, and both fare better than Bodoni.

Although Helvetica Light Condensed may be a poor choice for setting small type, Helvetica itself is not, because it scores high on all the previous criteria: big x-height, good color, and a wide stance. In fact, many sans serifs fare well in small sizes for the same reasons. In general, humanist sans serifs such as Gill Sans work better than a geometric sans, such as Futura or Avant Garde, because the shapes and proportions of their letters share more of a seriffed face’s visual cues to easy character recognition. Antique Olive is a face that was specifically designed for legibility (by Roger Excoffon, in the 1960s), but it’s sadly neglected today. With its lowercase letters that are almost as big as its caps, it stands up very well in small sizes.

Italics suffer particularly badly when set small. Ironically, they were first developed 500 years ago by Aldus Manutius as a way to cram more type onto a page, because their narrower characters saved space and paper for his popular cheapo editions. They looked crowded then too, and when you reduce the size of italic type, it can quickly start to look like alphabet soup.

Word and letter spacing

No matter which face you use, when setting small type you should loosen the tracking. Spaces between characters always appear to change size faster than the type they’re with: Just as type appears too loosely spaced when its size grows, it appears pinched as its size is reduced.

Depending on the setting, you may have to alter your type’s hyphenation and justification (h&j) settings as well. Often, loosening tracking to open word spaces enough will cause overall slack character spacing. In such cases, consider making the h&j Optimal value for word spaces more than 100% of normal. (“Normal” being the value established in the font itself.)

Leading and line length

You can’t reduce point size much without also narrowing its measure (that is, shortening its line length). For two or three lines, you can suffer a reader to endure small type over a long measure, but in longer paragraphs, it becomes too easy to lose track of the correct baseline as the eye moves from right margin to left. Generous leading helps. In magazines with image captions set at reduced point sizes, designers often leave the leading the same as the surrounding text type. This not only makes for easier reading, but it also makes it easier to align the captions to the page’s baseline grid.

Footnotes—especially lengthy academic ones—present a particular challenge because they’re normally set to the full width of the page, matching the measure of the text type. In these cases, generous leading is a must. Often, using italics for footnotes will allow for an effective contrast with the text type while allowing you to use a slightly larger point size than you’d be obliged to use for footnotes set in a roman type.

Background checks

The visual fragility of small type makes it extra vulnerable to other forms of graphic static, such as high color contrast. In addition, when small type is printed in a blended color (that is, not pure cyan, magenta, or yellow), the screening used to create that blend is going to cause a loss of sharpness more exaggerated than that seen in larger type. Any slight misregistration multiplies the problem. The result is fuzzy text that’s hard to decipher.

Avoid reverses—white type on black—when using small type, especially small italic type or typefaces with high contrast, such as Bodoni. Inevitably, the ink that forms the black background will spread slightly into the white type areas, thinning them and possibly breaking up thin strokes and hairlines. Proofing on a desktop printer may not reveal these problems, as these printers are less prone to ink spread than a printing press, especially on absorbent, uncoated paper.

Small can be beautiful

All type is meant to be read, even the fine print—although you have to wonder if the people who write the text necessarily agree. As always in typography, it’s the little things that count, and this is nowhere more true than in little type.

OpenType Pro fonts to the rescue (again)

For the 500 years that commercial type was set using hot or cold metal, it was normal for different sizes of a typeface to have different designs. Small types were wider, slightly bolder, with taller lowercase characters. In the 1960s, phototype introduced the possibility of using a single master character design to generate type in a range of sizes. Fonts with different master sizes (8-point for classified ads, 12-point for text, 18-point and up for display) were still made, but not universally used.
Desktop digital type made the problem worse, forcing everyone to use a single-size type master—usually 12-point—for type of all sizes.

The OpenType format has broken this limitation by allowing several fonts representing the same typeface to be bundled together transparently in the same package. Adobe calls these size-specific variants “opticals.” They’re found in a handful of Adobe’s OpenType pro fonts. A good example is Adobe’s Arno Pro (shown here), which offers five size-dependent variants: caption (6–8.4 point), small text (8.5–10.9 point), regular (11–13.9 point), subhead (14–21.4 point), and display (21.5+ point). The design of each is matched to the demands of readability in various size ranges. Designs for smaller sizes feature wider, taller, bolder characters, features that become less so as point size increases.

The only one of Adobe’s recommended optical ranges that Arno lacks is poster, which would normally kick in above 72-point.

These point-size ranges aren’t normative, though, and font developers are free to use whatever ranges they choose. A font could just as easily have three ranges, for example, covering small, medium, and large sizes, applied to point-size ranges of the maker’s choosing.

As of today, the complete list of Adobe Pro fonts including opticals is Arno, Brioso, Cronos, Chaparral, Garamond Premier, Jenson, Kepler, Minion, Sanvito, Utopia, and Warnock.

BEFORE

Client: Israel Philatelist — www.israelstamps.com

[Jake Widman is a writer and editor who lives in San Francisco. He’s been covering the intersection of computers and graphic design for about 20 years now—since back when it was all called “desktop publishing.”]

The Israel Philatelist is the membership journal of the Society of Israel Philatelists, an organization of stamp collectors who have a particular interest in the Holy Land. Founded in 1949, the society, based in the U.S., has no connection with the State of Israel, though its logo is based on the logo of the Israel postal service. It’s open to anyone—the only requirement is an interest in the subject matter.

The society’s 1,500 worldwide members receive The Israel Philatelist by mail. The journal is printed on high-quality white paper in full color; a typical issue is 40 saddle-stitched pages long. According to the editor, Don Chafetz, the journal has three purposes: to educate members, to retain existing members, and to recruit new members.

But Chafetz thinks the journal could do a better job, especially at that last task, if it were redesigned. When he became editor in 2003, he also became de facto designer, and while he thinks the magazine looks a lot better than it did then (when it was black and white, and the cover just featured the name, issue number, and logo), he says, “I’m frustrated that I can’t make the covers pop more.” He usually uses several images on the cover relating to the stories inside and the background is always the same blue. He says the membership is happy with the current look, but he’s not.

“I’d like it to look lively and attractive,” he says. “I want it to make people say, ‘Boy, I want to read that.’” He particularly wants potential members between the ages of 40 and 60 to read it because that’s the ideal time to catch someone who’s thinking of starting a hobby. Chafetz also wants to make sure the journal doesn’t make stamp collecting look like an old man’s activity.

With that in mind, we gave three designers the cover and an interior page from The Israel Philatelist and asked them to make it look like it would be fun to be a member of the society.

AFTER

Designer: Ari Miller — www.perceptionarts.com

The existing cover shows the effort to produce a professional look, and the interior pages are clean and easy to follow. The editor has also done well in laying down the foundation of branding by being consistent with both the Old English font logo and the use of what I call “Hebrew blue” in the cover design. What the magazine needed was a face-lift to bring the look up to date.

The first thing I addressed was the logo, which felt dated and had no real tie to Israel or stamps. I chose Herculaneum, a font that feels more “Middle Eastern” while avoiding the cliché of mimicking Hebrew. I also brought the tag lines up from the bottom and incorporated them into the logo. The second tag line introduces the font used throughout the publication—Helvetica Neue. The clean sans serif helps to modernize the look of the publication.

In calling out the main stories on the cover, I tried to maintain a clean, professional feeling. The “wet-floor reflection” effect used on the envelope and Star of David, together with the gradient background, adds depth and softness. The sombrero/yarmulke adds a bit of light-heartedness, and the daffodil was turned so that the petals suggest a Star of David.

For the interior article page, I wanted to take the design to the next level. Each page wouldn’t have to be this heavily graphic, but you must give the reader a visual reason to stop and taste the article. The value of the content takes over from there.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER:

Ari Miller is a graphic designer and photographer operating Perception Arts in Lincolnton, North Carolina. He has been a graphic/Web designer for eight years and in business for himself for just under three. He has also been teaching digital photography classes for the past couple of years and has had more than 100 students so far. His photography has placed in numerous local and national competitions. He has 48 pieces on permanent display in the local main branch of First Charter Bank, as well as the local cultural center.

Ari says, “One of the greatest things about my job, other than having the opportunity to express myself creatively, is the freedom I have to be very closely, if not continuously, involved with raising my young girls, Karyna and Dylyn.”

APPLICATIONS USED: Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe InDesign CS3

AFTER

Designer: Alison Dovidio — www.sugarfishcreatives.com

Don Chafetz, the editor and designer, stated, “I’m frustrated that I can’t make the covers pop more.” For that reason, my main objective was to create a look with rich color and design. For the magazine cover I used graphics with a tasteful, modern edge in hopes of generating excitement and attracting people to the magazine who might not typically be drawn to the hobby.

The magazine has been around for many years, so the redesign needed to incorporate some of the old elements to allow users to easily form a connection between the old and new designs. I included the cyan color that was originally used in excess and applied it as an accent color. Additionally, I used an Old English-style font—Anglo-Saxon Caps—but with a slightly modern twist, and I kept the original logo. I turned the logo white, put it against the dark gradient background, and added a reflection to give it that pop that Chafetz was striving for. The other cover font is the clean, modern Trebuchet MS, also used for the folios inside.

I also thought about the magazine’s subscribers and decided that like most avid hobbyists, they probably kept their past issues. So I added the bright blue slice of color in the top-left corner of the magazine displaying the issue’s date, volume, and issue number. This will allow the members to easily search through stacks of archived magazines and find the specific issue they desire.

On the inside page, I organized the Sharon article so it was more inviting. I divided the article into three columns so each line would be short and easy to read, and I added a little bit of variety to the grid by inserting images at an angle. I feel this added a bit of interest in the design to draw the attention of the reader. The text font is good old Times New Roman.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER:

Alison grew up in Hubbardsville, New York, and now lives just north of Boston in Stoneham, Massachusetts. From a young girl who loved to draw, paint, and create arts and crafts, she now finds herself in a corporate environment at Osram Sylvania where she works as an e-marketing specialist responsible for maintaining the company’s 10,000+ webpages, managing the content, and having full creative responsibility.

Alison graduated in 2006 from Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, with a degree in marketing and a minor in digital media. She’ll also receive a master’s certification in graphic design and Web development from Clark University in Woburn in May 2008. Alison continues to take on freelance work; expand her knowledge within the creative industry; and embrace any experience, adventure, or opportunity that comes her way.

APPLICATIONS USED: Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe Illustrator CS2, and Adobe InDesign CS2

AFTER

Designer: Josh Jackson — www.906graphics.com

My redesign is meant to be easy and functional, allowing the editor to produce a crisp, consistent-looking edition on short time or notice. I used three standard Adobe fonts throughout: Felix Titling (nameplate), Myriad Pro (all sans-serif text), and Adobe Garamond Pro (all serif text).

I started by replacing the nameplate font with something more modern and increased its size to give it more prominence. I also took the original circular logo and fashioned it to look like a stamp. Not only is the logo now a part of the nameplate, but it also can be used in company collateral.

To get that “pop” the editor is looking for, it’s key to pick one thing that rules the cover and make everything else secondary. Here, I bumped up the cover story headline, making it the dominant text on the page. I framed the text and aerogrammes on a giant postage stamp, complete with vector postmark created in Illustrator, and reduced the opacity in InDesign. The contrast of using such a normally small item so large is sure to catch the reader’s eye. The secondary stories on the cover were each given equal weight and color, and I added an extra element by using the byline for each story.

For the inside page, the redesign was a bit trickier. The approach focuses on a typographical hierarchy that I would carry throughout the rest of the magazine: byline above headline, spaced intro text, and color subheads. I used a stock photo of the area described in the story and paired it with the Hebrew text to further draw the reader into the story.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER:

Josh received a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Alabama and has worked for newspapers as a reporter, copyeditor, and designer. He and his wife, Sarah, live in Savannah, Georgia, where he works at the Savannah Morning News.

He has twice won an award from the Society of News Design for outstanding page design, and for consecutive years has been awarded first place for page design among all papers in the Morris Communications chain.

When he’s not designing news pages, Josh is busy reading up on the latest design trends, studying various design texts, and teaching himself CSS and HTML using Dreamweaver—everything he has learned about design has been self-taught.

Josh is looking to take on freelance print design and logo opportunities, and is always looking for new projects to sharpen his skills and diversify his portfolio.

APPLICATIONS USED: Adobe Illustrator CS2 and Adobe InDesign CS2