It’s Simply Layout Design

“Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.”

Paul Rand

Website updates are moving along well and the Company Portfolio in particular has seen significant updates. Our graphic designer (that’s me!) has been focused on presenting examples of the types of designs we can create for you at Tali Gibson Designs LLC.

Oh, and don’t forget: To stay up-to-date with our company updates and portfolio additions, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Layout and Design Features

As the majority of our client work has thus far been proprietary, there has been little chance to share it. With that being the case, recent additions to the company portfolio have been mockups: Various new designs created in a similar manner to previous work. The work featured here has been created to showcase skills in various design programs without revealing any sensitive information. The process of re-creating work can be time-consuming, but the results have been worth it.

Especially in this case.

You’ll see.

The recent portfolio additions all follow a basic theme: layouts created in InDesign. We have a brochure, prospectus, an annual report, and a fashion lookbook. With all of these together, the layouts will emphasize a specific area of skill in the use of Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop.

Take a look for the use of masking a photograph (Photoshop) to create a text wrap (InDesign), as well as other styles and effects like the use of layer styles, blend modes, and so on.

Adobe InDesign CC is one of the best applications to be created by Adobe, and a program we use on a daily basis. All layouts featured here are designed in Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop is used to edit and mask the photographs. All photographs here are sourced from Pexels and Unsplash and edited as needed.

Brochure

We need a reason to create a brochure, with proper branding, and what better way than to create a fictional company to fill that role? Let’s say we have a garden center, called Green Acres Home & Garden Center, that just released a flyer advertisement as part of their marketing campaign. The goal for the flyer is to garner interest in the new menu options available at their cafe. Now, the company would like additional marketing materials prepared for their customers, to keep them updated and engaged. This brochure is set to be released on a quarterly basis.

The best fit for their needs is to release a brochure featuring photos from the garden center, relevant articles, event highlights, and further advertising for the garden center’s cafe. This brochure could be available as PDF download on their website and printed in a limited run to give out to customers in-store.

The layout includes a front and back cover with three spreads in between. The Spring issue features articles about growing and cooking with herbs, the best way to encourage butterflies to your own garden, and the natural locally-grown foods available in the garden center’s cafe. It’s short and to the point, and full of visuals.

Next, we have covers for the Spring and Summer issues of Green Acres Home & Garden Center‘s 2020 Edition of their brochure series. Each issue would be updated for the next season.

Which cover is your favourite? I like the Summer issue the most—It must be the butterflies!

Annual Report

Now that Green Acres Home & Garden Center has deliverables for their customers and a thriving restaurant (I hear the food is amazing!), the company has come to realize that design should be a priority for their annual reports, too.

An annual report is a publication that includes information a company’s activities over the preceding year. It is intended to give shareholders and interested parties insight and details in the company’s activities and financial performance.

The reports are incredibly useful, often necessary, and it is always worthwhile to hire a designer to put one of these together.

There’s a catch!

It’s small, though.

Annual reports, like other long-form documents, require additional consideration compared to brochures or lookbooks. This is mainly due to the length of such reports, as the page count for this type of document can reach into the hundreds.

Obviously, then, these projects are more expensive as the larger document size requires more planning to effectively incorporate the content, images, and time for both design and editing.

Prospectus

This next project moves away from the fictional companies and toward the real. This project was created for Bring Your Own Laptop, as a mockup for their Microsoft Word 2016 Essentials Training Course. The prospectus below is an optional final assignment for one of Daniel Scott’s Udemy courses.

Taking the courses on Udemy is beneficial not only to refresh skills and stay up-to-date with the upgrades to the Adobe products, but also to add to the personal and company portfolios. Win-win! This assignment was perfect: The instructions were clear, with photographs provided, and a fixed limit on the number of pages.

A prospectus is a document, often intended for print, that advertises or promotes a commercial enterprise or forthcoming event in order to attract clients, members, buyers, or investors. Such a document can be any number of pages as necessary, though it is not recommended that it run long as the intention is to be short and precise.

A magazine-style of three columns was chosen for the reports to fit in the four-page limit and to allow freedom of image placement within the layout.

Lookbook

Finally, we have previews of a trio of lookbooks.

A Lookbook is a photograph collection or compilation, created to promote a model, photographer, style or clothing line. This is different from a catalog that a company or department store may release, as lookbooks generally do not include prices, PLU codes, or order forms. (They can, of course, as all clients will have different requirements and expectations for their projects. But that was not done for these examples.)

The project samples shown here are for fashion lookbooks. A clothing company would release one of these to advertise the look and feel of their brand. This is especially relevant for new seasonal releases, to bring awareness to clients and generate interest for upcoming trends.

Book One: EPSiLON

Epsilon’s Summer 2020 Collection is fun, exciting, and full of colour. The models appear as strong, happy, independent adult women: the company’s client base. On the inside pages, text is non-existent aside from page numbers to allow the imagery to speak for itself.

This type of lookbook would likely have final pages containing information regarding preorders, social links, store phone numbers and locations.

Let the layout speak for itself and then follow up with contact information so that customers can engage. A coupon code for the website would not be misplaced here.

Book Two: The Life Collection

The Life Collection is a company that caters to young men living in the city, and appeals to those who enjoy a steady on-the-go lifestyle. Clients need clothing that is both fashionable and functional, yet can be worn casually when they’re finished with the day in the office.

You will see photographs of the city, articles of clothing in-store, and gentlemen wearing suits paired with denim. A careful blend of business casual, with clothing lines made to appeal to both executives and those just beginning their careers.

Book Three: Twinline Productions

Twinline Productions is a high-end clothing company releasing a new clothing line called the Lifestyle Collection. (Not to be confused with The Life Collection, of course. Let’s pretend I was more creative here.) Text is included in this lookbook, though only to reveal the date of release.

The company excels in providing the latest trends for all of the high-end brands their clients have come to expect. The design is simple and straightforward, taking nothing away from the photographs.

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You know that idea you have been mulling around that could use a designer’s touch? Let us know about it. We can’t wait to talk to you about how to bring it to life.