Posted by Addy Fulmer on Thu, Feb 02, 2012
Why use style sheets in InDesign, you may ask . . .
Well, InDesign style sheets are helpful, time saving tools that make formatting text in your documents very simple. They allow you to define specific attributes once and then apply those attributes again and again to different areas of text with a single click. This is especially helpful when you have multiple page documents with a lot of text.
Okay then, how do I use them . . .?
Here's how. . .check out my InDesign Tips on how to use style sheets:
Paragraph Styles
Paragraph styles apply formatting to entire paragraphs of text. To create a paragraph style, open the paragraph styles window and select new paragraph style from the pull out menu located in the top right corner.
A window will appear that allows you to customize your paragraph style. The list on the left side of the window shows everything you have control over, including basic character formats, hyphenation, and indents and spacing.
Simply click on any of these options and define the attributes to your liking. It is recommended that you name your paragraph style sheet something specific that relates to what it will be used for in your document, such as body copy or captions. When you have finished defining the style, click ok and you will see the style added to the list in the paragraph styles window.
To apply the style you created, simply select the text box you would like it applied to and click on the style. If you have multiple paragraphs within a text box and you would only like the style to be applied to one of them, click anywhere inside that paragraph and then select the style, this should leave the other paragraphs in the text box unchanged.
If you need to change a paragraph style after it’s been created, be sure that no text boxes are selected, and double click on the style in the paragraph styles window. Make your changes and click ok. You will then see this change applied to every paragraph this style is linked to.
Character Styles
Character styles apply formatting to single words or phrases within a paragraph. They are created much in the same way that paragraph styles are, only using the character styles window. Open the character styles window and select new character style from the pull out menu located in the top right corner.
You will notice the window that appears gives you fewer options on the left than the paragraph styles window does. Because character styles are only meant to apply to single words or phrases, you don’t have control over things like hyphenation or indents and spacing.
It is recommended that you name your character style sheet something specific that relates to what it will be used for in your document, such as quotes or names. When you have finished defining the style, click ok and you will see the style added to the list in the character styles window.
To apply the style you created, simply highlight the text you would like it applied to and click on the style.
If you need to change a character style after it’s been created, be sure that no text boxes are selected, and double click on the style in the character styles window. Make your changes and click ok. You will then see this change applied to every word or phrase this style is linked to.
I hope that you have found these tips helpful and will give style sheets a try on your next large project. You never know, InDesign style sheets may save you some time and some hassle.
Do you have any InDesign tips that you would like to share? Please do! Are you using style sheets? Why or why not?
Posted by Carrie Grove on Fri, Jan 27, 2012
Earlier this week I received an email from Chris Gorman, President and Creative Director of Chris Gorman Associates, Inc. Chris had read my post Evolution of Logo Designs in the NFL on LinkedIn, enjoyed it and kindly shared an article that he had written about branding in the NFL. It's a great article and Chris has given me permission to share it with you.
Chris Gorman, Chris Gorman Associates Inc.
Effective Branding in the National Football League
The most effective branding device in football is not a logo - it's the St. Louis Rams helmet with the curved horns on either side - turning the wearers into human battering rams, an entirely appropriate image for an aggressive football team. This is not a branding device apart from the players - it's an extension of their physical presence. Rams is a great name for a football team. That's what the line does - it rams into their opponents and opens up holes for charging backs. The horned helmet is a perfect visual metaphor, unifying name, image and player. A word that is derived from the sound it describes (such as zoom, bang, or beep) is called an onomatopoeia. The Rams' helmet has visual onomatopoeia. It's an elegant and impactful solution.
It's good branding when a team's name is evocative of the sport in which the team participates. There was an National Football League team in the 1920's called the Providence Steamrollers - an appropriate name for a football team, but in the 1940's when Providence joined the National Basketball Association the team selected that name, turning a fitting metaphor into an awkward fit. Basketball teams, hopefully, don't steamroll. The Chicago Bulls is another name more appropriate to football than basketball.
The range of logos and branding devices in the National Football League is fascinating. They range from the ultra-designed Cincinnati Bengals to the more basic old line teams like the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and others. The newer teams like the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks and the Jacksonville Jaguars have the most sophisticated logos and colors.
The New England Patriots are a candidate for the most-improved overall brand in the league. Their old uniforms were predominantly red, with touches of blue. This is strange when you consider that the real 18th century New England patriots were farmers and militia and their enemies were the ones who wore red. The continental army wore blue and buff. The original Patriots logo was a very literal illustration of a chunky patriot with a tri-cornered hat preparing to center a football. It had a comic book sensibility, and begged questions like "Why is that dude playing football in a tri-cornered hat, at center no less? Their new uniforms are dark blue and silver with red highlights. The new logo appears to depict a patriot with a hat that becomes a flowing star and stripes banner. The problem is that the gray face below the hat is forced into a triangular shape with an elongated head. They should lose the face and just go with the star and stripes banner. One assumes that the attempt was to simulate the blur that occurs as the helmet races past. It's not worth distorting the face to achieve this effect.
This leads to the problem of too-literal logos. Those logos with very illustrative personifications of the team name, such as the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders look dated and trite. The Raiders' logo shows a football player sporting an eye patch (talk about blind-side!) and wearing a 1960's era helmet that fits his head like a glove. This needs to be updated or changed. Somehow though, the team has tapped into Oakland's motorcycle outlaw persona and has spawned a fanatic fan base, many of whom can be seen in their black and silver Halloween costumes and face paint in the stands at every game.
By far the most ludicrous logo is the fish with the helmet for the Miami Dolphins. The leaping dolphin is OK, but whoever put the tiny helmet on his head (if you can call that portion of his anatomy a head) went too far. This drawing would be dumb even for a Saturday morning kiddie cartoon, but as the symbol for a professional football team it's just embarrassing. Leave the dolphin, lose the helmet. The Dolphins, on the other hand, have a bright and very Floridian color scheme of aqua, bright orange, and white. They are probably the most distinctive team in the league, or at least they were before the circus came to town in the personages of the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals have a very strong visual presence and integrate the tiger imagery successfully from the feline-striped helmets to the black and orange uniforms. They are a bit over the top, but certainly a strong presence in which the brand resonates.
The Baltimore Ravens may be the only football team named for a poem. Their black, purple and gold uniforms stand out and the typeface used for the numerals is a cut above the ordinary. The logo is a raven's head, a little bit too cartoonish, but not that bad. It displays the requisite angry/determined expression. The name was chosen by a poll of the readers of The Baltimore Sun. Other names considered were Colts (where have we heard that name before?), Bulldogs, Marauders, and Americans.
Overall, the newer teams have more professionally designed brand identities than the tradition-bound older teams. A strong, positive brand can play a significant part in establishing a fan base - especially among younger people. The challenge for newer teams is to forge an identity that resonates with a city or region's history and that differentiates them from their competitors in a positive way.
In sports, as more and more teams are established, this becomes difficult. There are numerous lions, panthers, cougars, jaguars, bears, colts, eagles, falcons and rams. The Bengals, Ravens, Chargers, and Dolphins are fresher and more unusual. As sports become more international, new challenges will abound. Will we eventually have the Roman Gladiators and the London Hooligans? Only time will tell.
Posted by Carrie Grove on Fri, Jan 13, 2012
Anybody ready for some FOOTBALL this weekend? We are! Here at TPI Solutions Ink, we are rooting for the New England Patriots, of course. But there are three other big games this weekend too, making all NFL fans happy campers!
So, how does football relate to printing or graphic design you ask? Well, each football team, as well as the NFL itself, has a brand, a logo. We all know this, right?
This morning the gang here at TPI thought, that in preparation for a big football weekend, it would be fun to take a look at the evolution of each playoff team's logo design. So, that is how I am relating football to graphic design and printing!
The Evolution of Logo Designs in the NFL
San Francisco 49ers vs. New Orleans Saints
NE Patriots vs. Denver Broncos
Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans
Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants
Who are you rooting for this weekend?
Posted by Carrie Grove on Fri, Jan 06, 2012
Do you love shortcuts? Well here is yet another great chart you can use, the Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcut Chart. A big thanks to Kristin Callahan of Wells & Drew, a Florida based legal/business stationery company, for sharing this chart with us.
Check it out and let us know what you think! If you are a graphic designer who uses Illustrator and found this chart to be helpful please share it with others.
Click chart for a larger view.
Posted by Carrie Grove on Fri, Dec 30, 2011
Over the past year and a half we have been working hard at TPI Solutions Ink to produce some great blog posts. Of course, some posts are more successful than others. I decided to take a look back and see which posts on our printing company blog generated the most interest since we started in June of 2010.
Here is what I found out:
Top 10 TPI Solutions Ink Blog Posts
- Mohawk Panoramic Paper & the HP Indigo Press
- Humidity the culprit? Case of Paperback Curl
- How to Pre-flight & Package InDesign file for Printer
- Infographic: HP Indigo 5500 Digital Press
- Printing with "Green" Fonts
- Christmas cards - that time of year again!
- QR Codes, what are they?
- Requesting a Printing Quote: What Your Printer Needs to Know
- InDesign Keyboard Shortcut Chart
- New HP Indigo 5500 Installed and Running
Do you have a favorite post from the top 10? What type of articles would you like to see in 2012? We are open to all suggestions!
Posted by Carrie Grove on Thu, Dec 15, 2011
In October 2011 TPI Solutions Ink upgraded our digital press to an HP Indigo 5500. We got all the options, white ink, seven colors and the ability to print on thick substrates. What's so great about that? Well, to find out, take a look at this infographic created by the newest member of our team, Addy Fulmer.
We think Addy did a fantastic job on this. What do you think?
For a better view click on the infographic
Posted by Carrie Grove on Wed, Dec 07, 2011
Does your company send out printed holiday greeting cards at this time of year? Has that card been sent out yet or are you frantically trying to put something together to be put in the mail before the end of 2011?
Who do you send these holiday greetings to? Why do you send them? Do you send a custom printed holiday greeting card or do you do something else altogether?
At TPI Solutions Ink we do send out a holiday greeting card and, of course, it is custom designed and printed as that is the business we are in, printing. At this point our holiday card is designed and ready to go to print on our HP Indigo press. We plan to send them via the USPS, “snail mail” (soon to be super slow “snail mail”), at the beginning of next week.
Our holiday greeting cards are predominantly sent to our clients and to those we do business with now or have done business with in the past. We review our mailing list each year to check for accuracy, we add, subtract and make adjustments as necessary. Why do we mail a holiday greeting card every year? Well, we do it because it is the one time of year, the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, that we are reminded to take a breath from the busyness of the daily grind to be thankful for all that we have, especially the people who touch our lives in business as well as at home.
Each year, in lieu of gifts, TPI Solutions Ink makes a monetary donation to The Salvation Army on behalf of our clients. We know that this money will be put to good use by The Salvation Army to help those who are less fortunate than we all are. Also, this year’s holiday card contains a QR code. When the recipient of our card scans the code or follows the web address that is listed they will be directed to a landing page where they can request a complimentary copy of the TPI Solutions Ink 2012 Wall Calendar. The calendar is meant as a small token of our appreciation and as a tool to help you start the New Year out right. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
Does your company traditionally send out holiday greeting cards? Does your company receive many holiday cards? How do you feel about this tradition?
Posted by Carrie Grove on Wed, Nov 23, 2011
10 Reasons we are Thankful
- We are thankful for our clients old and new.
- We are thankful for our vendors and all that they do to he lp us remain successful.
- We are thankful for the long term relationships that we have developed over the years with clients and vendors alike.
- We are thankful for new and budding client and vendor relationships that continue to develop.
- We are thankful for each other, the TPI Solutions Ink staff, and the support we give to one another other in this wild and crazy printing world and in our personal lives.
- We are thankful for our family and friends and the continuing good health of the TPI Solutions Ink crew.
- We are thankful for the armed forces who protect our liberties each and every day.
- We are thankful for humor and the laughs we have around here on
a regular basis.
- We are thankful for four letter words and the freedom of speech to use them.
- We are thankful that we continue to be prosperous in this ever
changing world of print.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families from all of us at TPI Solutions Ink!
Posted by Carrie Grove on Fri, Nov 04, 2011
More and more people are talking about QR codes lately because of their popularity of use in printed marketing materials and beyond. What exactly is a QR code though? QR is short for quick response. They are codes, similar to barcodes, and they are meant to be scanned by smart phones. A QR code can link to information about a company, its products, promotional information and much more. Many organizations are now including QR codes in their print marketing, but how exactly does a company conduct an effective marketing campaign utilizing these codes?
The first thing to realize when marketing with print and QR codes is that when a person scans this code with their phone, it directs the person to information. A company must thoroughly plan and choose the best information to offer the person who is scanning the code. This is really one of the most integral parts of marketing with print and QR codes. What information do you want a potential customer to see first? What information will cause the customer to investigate further into your company? If you can determine the answers to these questions, you are on your way to an effective marketing campaign.
Some examples of the types of information you may want to offer through a printed QR code are a company’s website home page, contact information for the company, information about a promotion or contest currently offered or a coupon. One promotional item that could potentially lead to sales is a discount code. If a QR code directs a person to a discount code, the person might be more likely to place an order with your company. The discount code could be for a percentage off an order or free shipping for the customer’s first order.
The next step in planning for a successful print marketing campaign, using QR codes, is to determine what you will choose to print your QR code on. There are so many options when it comes to places to print QR codes. They can be placed on signs, posters, business cards, postcards, on store fronts and more. The options are unlimited, and this method of advertising works for all types of businesses. Be sure to place your QR code where it will be seen by your target market. The smart phone user’s curiosity will be peaked when they see a poster or a sign that has a QR code printed on it. The QR code on that concert or movie poster could contain a link that takes the person scanning it directly to the site where they can purchase tickets to the show. How convenient and brilliant at the same time!
Plan your next print marketing campaign to include the use of QR codes. Marketing your company with QR codes offers numerous benefits and is an ideal way to keep up with current trends. Print marketing with QR codes is cost effective and it gets your audience exactly where you want them to be. The most important benefit, however, is that this form of marketing really works. QR codes create excitement for consumers and offer a new and unique way to gain potential customers’ interests. Including QR codes on your printed marketing materials is becoming more widespread. It is an ideal way for all companies to increase sales, consumer interest, and brand or name recognition. Consider marketing with print and QR codes today and reap the rewards.
Posted by Carrie Grove on Fri, Oct 28, 2011
Graphic designers, as all artists, have their own unique and individual ways of finding inspiration for their design. The internet can be a great resource for graphic designers today with so much information and so many images right on their desktop. As my Halloween treat to you here are some links to some pretty cool sites for a bit of Halloween graphic design inspiration. Check them out:
Who doesn't like to have a bit of fun with type? These sites have some great Halloween inspired fonts and some are free!
13 Free Halloween Fonts
Sinister Fonts
Free Fonts: Halloween Category
Spooky Halloween Fonts and Dingbats
On these sites you will find Halloween origami ideas, some easy and others hard, as well as handmade invitations and Halloween card ideas.
Origami Club - Halloween
Origami Resource Center
Halloween Origami for Kids
Handmade Halloween Invitations and Cards
While I was surfing the web I came across many different sites and blogs containing great Halloween images and artwork.
Halloween/Horror Digital Art
Vintage Halloween Inspiration
Designs Inspired by Halloween
Free Halloween Icons
Sinister Visions
I hope that you've had fun finding your Halloween graphic design inspiration. Have a fantastic weekend and . . .
