Your Reputation's at Stake
Your organization's newsletter is the life line of communication that keeps your members or employees aware of the latest news and upcoming events within your group. Often, a newsletter is the sole source of communication, making it an invaluable team builder. As an important member of your team, the newsletter has a specific function to perform that the rest of the team is counting on.
A Good Design gets Read
It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to produce and distribute a newsletter, so you want to be sure it's effective. An effective newsletter is one that is actually read. The goal is to entice the reader to read it, take action, and look forward to getting the next issue. As editor, it's a wise decision to entrust your newsletter to an accredited graphic designer. Graphic designers are trained to arrange text and graphic elements in a way that allow the eyes to naturally follow a carefully determined path to communicate ideas at a glance.
As an extension of your organization, your newsletter must have a consistent, professional look and it must arrive on schedule. This will not only win your readers confidence, but minimize the cost.
The Paradise Graphics Difference
Effective graphic representation is essential to the success of every business. The best graphic representation is the result of a professional's talent and training. At Paradise Graphics you work with a seasoned professional who has the success of your business in mind.
Paradise Graphics is a complete Graphic Design and Typesetting studio owned and operated by accredited Graphic Designer, Debra Mixon. A native of the Tri-Cities, Debra has been working in the design field since 1982, specializing in logo design, web page design, illustration, printing and advertising production. She is knowledgeable in all aspects of pre-press and electronic file preparation.
"I work a little differently than most designers. My client and I sit down for a one on one consultation to target their company needs, and how visual media can enhance the success of the business. I provide a service to my client that takes them from conception to completion of the camera ready mechanical. I offer an endless supply of creative and effective information presentation to help my clients project an image that makes their company successful. Although my designs encompass a wide range of applications, I specialize in Corporate Identities, Logo Design, Web Page Design, Newsletters, Illustration, Brochures, Proposals, and Business Stationery."
To insure the success of a project, it is imperative to work as a team. The alliance between client and designer is a special kind of team where time, money and deadlines play an important role. The following paragraphs contain information to enhance this relationship with your designer.
Where do I Start?
In the initial consultation, you sit down on a one-to-one basis with the designer to discuss the size, quantity, distribution, and look of your newsletter. You will see examples of design ideas and type styles, and be asked to share your creative input. If you do not have a newsletter masthead or name, Paradise Graphics will develop one for you.
Negotiating for a Budget
After review of the pertinent information, an estimate for graphic design will be put in writing for your approval, which will include job specifications, costs and deadlines. A set price can be established for each issue if you furnish the copy in a consistent manner. This will make budgeting more convenient.
What's in it for my Members?
Special features in each issue give the reader something familiar to look forward to and make your job as editor easier. These often include a calendar of events, department reports, regular columns and editorials. You may want to personalize each issue with birthdays, promotions, awards committees, and the names of current officers.
What About Labels?
Distributing Your Pride and Joy
Circulation or distribution of your newsletter should be considered next. You can mail it first class, or at a bulk rate for quantities over 200. To receive a bulk rate, you must purchase a bulk rate permit and follow specific requirements for graphic design. Paradise Graphics is certified by the United States Postal Service in automated mail preparation. This insures that your newsletter will be accepted by the USPS Distribution Center for handling.
Trust your newsletter to Paradise Graphics and rest assured that it will look great, get read, and be in the reader's hands on time.
The Printing Process
The offset printing process works on a few basic principles. Copy to be reproduced must be in black and white so that the image can be photographically or digitally transferred to the printing plate. Ink and water do not mix, therefore ink will stick only to the image (black areas) and water to the non-image (white) areas.
Working with Photographs
Since printing copy must be either black or white, a photograph as it appears, cannot be reproduced. The camera would see only the blacks and the whites, making the grays disappear. To print, a photograph must first be converted to black and white dots (halftone). This creates the illusion of gray tones.
A black and white photo is better than a color photo for reproduction. Black and white film is designed to convert colors to different values of black, white and gray. Color film is used specifically for copying the exact color as it is seen. If you try to reproduce a color photo on a camera designed only to see black and white (process camera), the results are usually disappointing. With a black and white photo, the colors have already been converted to black, white and gray using the correct film type. A good example of this theory is a color photo of a person. Since the process camera sees red as black, and skin tones consist mostly of red shades, they may be seen as dark gray or black. This makes the photo reproduce very dark, showing little detail. For best results, choose black and white photographs with good contrast for your project. For identification purposes, photographs should be marked using the page number they will appear on, plus an alphabetical designation if there's more than one photograph on a page.
Use a soft writing tool when marking the photograph to avoid a show-through impression on the face of the photograph. When using a pen, allow the ink to dry thoroughly before stacking the photographs. Show-through may be picked up as an unwanted mark by the camera.
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