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Please critique, newsletter cover...

G

gangst

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 27, 2004
614
0
UK
Hi,

Just wanted some opinions on this brochure cover that I made. I couldn't be bothered to learn InDesign, so used Pages.

I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I wanted it to be clean and bold.

Critique welcome. (I know the pictures aren't high res, before everyone says!)

Thanks.
 

Attachments

  • cover_page_for newsletter.pdf
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i don't think i like the blue gradient, the photo, the serif font, the wasted empty space or the grey banner

:(

sorry
 
That looks very nice.

I would do capitalization of the first letters… :)
 
I presume that your firm's logo is a JPEG or some other raster graphics file. It should be an editable vector graphic such as PDF or EPSF. Because you appear to have access to the fonts, you should be able to reproduce it as a text box.
 
MisterMe said:
I presume that your firm's logo is a JPEG or some other raster graphics file. It should be an editable vector graphic such as PDF or EPSF. Because you appear to have access to the fonts, you should be able to reproduce it as a text box.
Click to expand...

I know, it wasn't me who created the logo, I am trying to get hold of a vector of it at the moment off the designer.

I have roughly matched the font though and used that in the design. If the worst comes I'll remake it myself.
 
It seems to have balance issues. The pictures bleeding off the side and the negative space on the right really cause the left side to be a bit heavy and unwieldy.

My suggestion would be to put some sort of dominant feature in the blue area, such as a large image or some sort of stylization of the "Customer Information Pack" text. Preferably an image.

Secondly, I'm not one to knock helvetica often, but in this case, it looks kind of bland. I see how you're attempting to match it to the 'property services' portion of the logo, but the weights and kerning are so different, it's difficult to pick up on the continuity.

Another continuity issue is the name and phone number at the bottom. They look like they're trying to replicate the logo and failing. Either make them match the logo better or completely contrast it. It sort of looks like two separate logos as it is now.

I do dig the small caps and the baseline shifted initial letters, as well as the overall color scheme.

At the very least, you should consider placing some sort of dominant image on it. I think that would be a huge improvement.

Nice work.
 
The gradient is really distracting, though I tend to not like gradients much, so maybe it's just me, but I have to agree with some above posts on that. Especially since it's still a bit light at the bottom and the white words tend to disappear at the bottom.

I would also fix the spacing with those 3 photos, the un-even spacing between them top to bottom is bothersome as well.
 
I honestly don't know where to begin.

The company's logo at the top is too large. You don't need it to be that large at the top. My advice is don't put their logo at the top, but use a catchy headline catch phrase, and put their logo at the bottom. This is standard practice and typically putting the company's logo at the top, is overused.

That being said, the gradient is hideous. I don't like the left justified font and it's basic Helvetica font. It doesn't look nice and as mentioned above, there are major balance composition issues. It just doesn't flow well. Here are some examples to what I'm referring to so you'll get a visual:

http://www.aigadesignjobs.org/publi...olio_id=813924&individual_id=88311&sort_by=1&

http://www.aigadesignjobs.org/publi...dual_id=88311&portfolio_id=1495959&sort_by=1&

This guy uses simplicity in his work but puts a lot of emphasis on important factors within the brochure, not just the company's logo. See how it's placed at the bottom of the brochure, and not prominently at the top?
 
I accept it isn't great. It is my first attempt at designing something. I have a lot to learn about fonts etc...

It isn't going to print and after using Pages, I don't think it gives me all the tools I need so I will try to move on to InDesing or something.

Thanks for the links to the good examples. Does anyone else have further links to websites which help explain good layout and similar tutorials.

This is something I would like to improve at.
 
Too much empty space. I tend to do a test print - and look at it and ask myself first if its saying what I want.

Then I ask others.
 
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