Before&After
®

How to design cool stuff!

Great desktop projects | By Chuck Green

Cell pages
This pocket-sized phone book offers a simple, inexpensive
way to keep your name in front of prospects. The first and last
panels on side one are the back and front covers, and the first
panel of side two provides space for a greeting. The remaining
panels provide space for jotting down names and numbers in
alphabetical order. Repeat your contact information throughout, and enter it as one of the listings. Have a commercial
printer reproduce it in black and one color on 70-lb uncoated
text stock, and score and fold it accordion style.
DIMENSIONS Single panel: 2 x 4 inches; Overall: 16 x 4;
TYPEFACES • PHONEBOOK: RALEIGH GOTHIC; SUBHEAD: MYRIAD BOLD CONDENSED;
TEXT: MYRIAD CONDENSED | ALL ADOBE.COM
ILLUSTRATIONS: IMAGE CLUB ARTROOM TRANSPORTATION | eyewire.com

Need a quick, “custom” illustration? Layer a few simple
clip art images one over the other and apply a different
tint of the same color to each.

Message wrap
Need to make a big impression on a small budget? Send your
prospect an object wrapped in a message. The trick is to find
an item that helps you make your point. Choose a single
word that represents the idea and use it as the headline.

Then compose a paragraph of text that explains the link
between the word and the object (see the text examples
below). The ideal object is attractive, useful, affordable, and/
or edible. None of the items pictured cost more than five

dollars. Wrap it and pack the finished product in a box of shipping peanuts so that it arrives in perfect form. The ultimate goal? Create something someone will carry to the next room, show a colleague and say,
“Hey, look at this!”

TYPEFACES • DESIRE: INTERSTATE ULTRA BLACK | fontbureau.com | SCRUTINY: BASE 12 SERIF BOLD | emigre.com | SIT: MONA LISA SOLID | itcfonts.com

Tool card
A smart business card gives your contact a reason to
keep your card within reach—it adds function to form.
For example (left to right): a bike shop proprietor incorporates a metric conversion table; a guitar teacher, chord
diagrams; and a trust board member, a list of local help
line phone numbers. For your version, use information
specific to your field of interest—something that reminds
the recipient of your area of expertise each time they
use it: a list, a conversion chart, measurements, industry
terminology, and so on.
TYPEFACES: GRIFFITH GOTHIC REGULAR AND ULTRA | fontbureau.com
ILLUSTRATIONS: IMAGECLUB ARTROOM | eyewire.com

Chuck Green is a longtime contributor to Before & After. He is the host of ideabook.com
and the author of several very useful design books, including Design It Yourself: Logos, Letterheads, & Business Cards ($25, Rockport Publishers, ISBN 1-56496-768-9)
Before&After

Issue 32

www.bamagazine.com


1


Design
clips
80 years separate these two
On our left is a 1920’s ad for French skin
powder; highly crafted, richly textured, incredibly detailed. (If you’re in college today,
that’s your great grandmother admiring her
slinky young self.) Far right is the logo for a
modern dance-exercise video; it’s simple—
almost primitive—and bold. They look very
different, but they have a lot in common.

IT WORKS FOR ME!

OUT BEHIND THE MALL
ONE DAY . . .
back in the quiet where the
Dumpsters are, along the
unmarked walls, I saw glowing silently in an unmarked
window this simple sign. A
tooth on a square. That’s all.
Maybe two feet by two. Not
a word in sight. It wasn’t
even facing the crowds.
Maybe for that reason, it was
mesmerizing. I was out of the
car and back into the mall

just to learn who the dentist
was. Talk about understatement! That’s design!

Most immediately striking about
this ad is its oval shape. Similarly
unusual is its powerful black vertical. This is deliberate design; the
artist has consciously not filled
space but created a composition.

Visually, why does the sign
work? I count six factors:
1) A square is a perfect stage
that naturally pulls the eye
to its center.*
2) The tooth is in the center.
3) The square is black, the
most powerful color.
5) The white tooth on black
has the greatest contrast.
4) The tooth is the only
image; there is nothing
more to see.
6) The tooth is much bigger
than real life; huge scale is
always arresting. —jmc

What was hot in the 1920s? Coco Chanel.
Modernism. Art Deco. Futura type. Design
as a commercial art was new. Ads were
often made entirely by hand. None of our

sissy computer stuff, this type was “set”
with a fountain pen in unerasable ink. (This
would focus one’s attention, which may explain the intense detail.) There were fewer

Watch the relationships that make this work.
The thick-thin of the ad is proportionally identical to the form of the type, drawn in the classroom style of the day. Note in the ad the thin line
isn’t drawn, but is formed by the left edge of the
text. Look again, and you’ll see the same . . .

From the book, Design Connoisseur, An Eclectic Collection
of Imagery and Type, by Steven Heller and Louise Fili
ALLWORTH.COM/CATALOG/GD175.HTM

Logos and labels

Design a name

*How? The center of any visual field exerts the greatest
pull, and a square has an extremely strong center. That’s
because its corners are equidistant, and all four axes—
horizontal, vertical and two
diagonals—
cross in the
center. You can
think of axes
as meridian lines; they have
force, and in a square, all of
it converges on the center.
An object in the center,
therefore, is reinforced, while

an object slightly off center
has unusually high visual tension—a disruptive imbalance.

THE

Here’s how to create a good look out of nothing—
just a name on a shape—but there’s a secret
Who needs fancy artwork? Good design is the happy
result of words, shapes, colors and other basic elements
in harmony. Simple shapes—rectangles, ovals, polygons
—have real, expressive presence. A rectangle, sharpedged and pointy-cornered, says something that a circle, round and soft, does not. So it’s easy to create a
good look out of nothing—or at least what seems like
nothing: Set a word, add a shape behind it, then color!
Or start with the shape. Or the color. The secret is to get
all three elements saying the same thing. Here’s how:

MAPAKADOS
MEDITERRANEAN GRILL

RECTANGLES. A rectangle is the most stable shape—flat, firmly on the
ground, motionless. A rectangle is the shape of structure—the walls
of a building or monument, for example. Dark, substantial colors are
full of black, and feel solid, connected,
dependable. Uppercase type is stately. The
overlap adds a light counterpoint appropriate for a restaurant.
TYPEFACE WADE SANS LIGHT

How big? Same as the duck’s body.
Tail


Color change

Head

Layout

Design
by duck!

Headline
(ha ha)
Head

MUSEUM-QUALITY DECOYS

Neckline

Body
mass

What to do when your
grid won’t work
Here’s a common problem. Your client
sells objects—say, museum-quality
duck decoys—and has a favorite she
wants used everywhere. How do you
work with this elegant image and not
lose its shape? Instead of a straightline grid—the kind used to lay out
pages—you make a grid of your own
based on the lines and proportions

of the duck. Here’s how.

DECOY’S CALL
Hand
car ved, hand painted wood

Before&After

Issue 32

www.bamagazine.com

It is believed that decoys were the natural
result of our ancestors’ experience as they saw
immense flocks gathering in marshes, fens,
and basins. They developed many forms of
decoys as clever devices to lure the waterfowl
to where gatherers waited to capture them.
Many methods of driving and trapping ducks

Neck

EVERY IMAGE HAS NATURAL LINES. First step is to
simply have a look. It might help to draw some
lines. Pay attention mainly to shapes and edges.
Look first at the big shapes—the duck’s body, head
and neck. (Go by mass, not the absolute edge [left].)
Small shapes include tail triangles, cheek circle, and the curve of
the breast color. Edges are between colors—for example, where
the duck ends and the white page begins. They have flow; they

curve. The duck has a lot of edges. How many can you see?

CREATE VISUAL CONNECTIONS. The most pleasing
designs are made by working with the sizes, colors
and lines that are in front of you; don’t pull stuff
out of thin air. Watch. Here, the headline follows
the line of the duck’s back, and is roughly the size
of the duck’s body (left). This gives it a voice equal to the image. It’s also
the same color. These similarities create a connection between head
and body. The subhead curves beneath, and is colored lighter to match
the breast, another connection. Text block occupies the body mass;
note how similar its texture is to the duck’s breast. We also see a hierarchy of scale—big, medium, small—that makes a good design.
TYPEFACES ABOVE THE DUCK: MALSTOCK ITC, BELOW: ADOBE CASLON REGULAR

2

How far away? Try this.
Margin width equals
line spacing.


images, but look at what they have in common!
But while style and rhythm have changed,
the structure of design—the part you make—
has not. In fact, it cannot. A circle in 2003 is
a circle in 1923—or 1923 B.C. Green today is
green then. Their relationships are the same,
too, whether in a video or your great grandmother’s La Poudre C’est Moi, and relationships are what we’re interested in here:

ads, too, no TV, no CNN, no Internet; life was

slower—at least, that’s what they say—and
with less to read, readers had time to soak it
up, enjoy the nuances.
It couldn’t be more different today. Billions
of images swirl about. Clutter is everywhere.
It’s frenetic. Detail? No time. Make your point
with a circle, a stroke, in the blink of an eye.

Zumba is a dance-exercise video program based in
South Beach Miami, and advertised on infomercial
television with one of those “not available in stores”
offers. Zumba is energetic, exuberant, sexy, fun. But
who watches infomercials except channel surfers,
and how do you get their attention? By conveying
energy instantly. Aurally, this is done with its driving
Latin sound. Visually, it’s done with motion, vivid
colors and one very simple line.
Three strokes from one brush capture with real clarity the energy and
movement of Zumba. Much easier to
see than the powder ad, note the
same brush has drawn the lettering, too. Result: Image and words form a cohesive visual
message, clear, inviting, bold. This is the simplicity you want; anything more—a line of set
type, for example—would add complexity and
weaken the image. Clothing colors (inset)
complete the connection.

whose oval shape (and decorative pattern) brings us back to the original oval,
which can also be seen in the model’s
head and overhead mirror. These relationships are not random, but deliberately
connect every key focal point.


thick-thins in the model and the white highlights on her back, legs and forearm. Also, the
line of her pose is a curving S, the
same curve that can be seen in both
typefaces and the top of the tin . . .

K

I

N

P

O

W

D

E

Parts combined, resized and rotated,
the similarities are obvious.

SEMINAR

Jaselle
S


ZUMBAFITNESS.COM

R

WORKSHOP

APRIL 7–8

TRIANGLES. Party down! Angles are the most exciting lines, full of
energy, motion, and totally unstable, which is why you see them on
skateboards not on corporate stationery. Amp up the
volume with an angular typeface. Riotous colors—bright secondaries, mainly—are seen in
nature in flowers, tropical birds and fish.

B&A recommends: Our colors are from Pantone’s
Guide to Communicating with Color by Leatrice
Eiseman—two dozen palettes in 28 themes (earthy,
romantic, muted and so on) with extremely good,
real-world examples. Beautiful and quick starting,
this book will increase your color vision immediately.

TYPEFACE HELVETICA NEUE ULTRA LIGHT

TYPEFACES COGITO: ROXY, WORKSHOP AND DATE: ATLAS

PANTONE.COM

D

CIRCLES. Light, delicate pastel colors are full of white, and convey fragility and vulnerability, even infancy. Pointy-cornered

(ouch!) rectangles won’t do here; what’s needed are oval
shapes that are gentle. The type, too,
should whisper—lowercase, ultra
light, and white, which recedes.

L
L
A
C
S
’
Y
CE O
HAND CARVED, HAND PAINTED WOOD

DECOY’S CALL
Hand carved, hand painted wood

Brown

This playful variation turns the title into a visual sound. Type
follows the curve of the duck’s back, but is then rotated into
its new position relative to the throat and cheek. Mid-range
brown color allows the title to cross the black of the duck’s
head and the white of the page. Note how the words end neatly
at the color-change line. Subhead across the body starts at the
vertical neckline, and changes color when the duck changes
color, pulling title and subhead together. Type colors can all be
found in the duck. Clever.
TYPEFACES DECOY’S CALL: GILL SANS CONDENSED, DESCRIPTION: FRUTIGER 87 EXTRA BLACK CONDENSED


This treatment downplays the title, and adds
a wave of typographic whimsy! Note how
the title flows neatly between the underside
curve and the feather score. One typeface—
Goudy extra bold—appears throughout; its
thicks and thins echo the curving lines of the
duck (left). Note the blue wave isn’t
bright, but is muted like the photo.
It’s almost straight across the color
wheel from brown. Complementary
colors like these harmonize well.

DECOY’S CALL
Hand carved, hand painted wood
Although they have little in common with the
lines and shapes of the duck, they have a lot in
common with real life; here, the words pretend
to be marsh grass coyly concealing the decoy!
Visual connections matter: Words are twice as
high as the duck’s body (a rational amount), and
subhead is title length, colored to match the
duck. Because legibility is low, this technique
can be used only with an audience familiar with
your product. Fun.
TYPEFACES BIG: EMPIRE, SMALL: ADOBE CASLON REGULAR

TYPEFACE GOUDY EXTRA BOLD

Before&After


Issue 32

www.bamagazine.com

3


AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPp
db
qp

Type,
the
visible
voice
®

Frutiger Roman
at headline size

Open arms

2-story a

Flat apex

1-story g

Wide aperture

Wide crossbar

db are mirror images

Short tails
Pointed junctions

Vertical axis

Vertical sides

No spur

qp are mirro

IT’S HIGHLY VISIBLE AND PLAYFULLY SIMPLE . . .

Frutiger is
crystal clear

PLAYFUL ORGANIC FORMS
Type was not the only thin
perimented broadly with f
with the relationships bet
tive and positive spaces. H
at left is amazingly hard to
every curve is deliberately
which requires managing
tive (white) shapes at the
continuously variable curv

no radius, and no symmetr
fect circle). Yet taken as a
part—the image is balance
Its cheerful forms appea
well; not at first sight, but
we pull apart the shapes a
spaces (right). The alphabe
toon strip. Have a look:

From store receipts to computer screens to
the Olympic Games, this go-everywhere sans-serif
redefines versatile. Frutiger is airy, easy to read,
and feels like fun. Let’s see why.

Low-res Frutiger,
Apple Web site

The qualities that
make Frutiger so
readable on signage are also what
make it excellent
at low resolution.
Basically, it’s a
typeface without
fine detail in
either positive or
negative spaces.

Adrian Frutiger is one of the most influential type designers
of our time. He designed Univers in the 1950s, early in his

career. Univers has been called the most significant typeface
of the 20th century. It was upon Univers that Helvetica—one
of the most widely used of all fonts—was based.
Mr. Frutiger was interested in the forms of
nature. His drawings and type designs explore
the dynamic relationships between the interiors
and exteriors of forms, the interaction between
negative and positive spaces, blacks and whites.
He was commissioned in the 1960s to design
the signage system for the new Charles de Gaulle
airport in Paris. It was commonly thought he
would use his famous Univers typeface for the job. However,
he knew that signage must be visible under adverse conditions, at long distances, and is rarely viewed face on; it must
be legible from any angle. Univers, he felt, was too rounded
and “closed” for this (right); at a
glance, a c could be mistaken for
an o. So he designed a new typeface
that was simpler still, and open
(right). He endowed its letters with
the faintest touch of whimsy. The result became Frutiger, a
warm, sans-serif typeface with no fine detail, and unusual
clarity. Its simple qualities proved robust.
Frutiger is beautifully legible under literally every condition—at super scale, tiny
sizes, funny angles, low resolutions. And—
no surprise—it’s as readable negative as
positive. Frutiger is pleasant to read, too,
and has, over 30 years, become the world’s
most popular sans-serif typeface.

HORIZONTAL FLOWS

This stroke leads out and
across, not downward

FAST
CURVE

SLOW
CURVE
HORIZONTAL FLOWS
This slow, broad curve also tends to
make a horizontal flow—it’s not sharply
rounded and downward flowing

HORIZONT
This junctio
perpendicu
the horizon

SLOW CURVE

FAST
CURVE

ARTISTIC DETAILS
An incredibly subtle
curve adds grace to
this terminal stem

Frutiger signage at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris; light and dark on a neutral field


Superscale Frutiger at the XIX Olympic Winter Games, readable from an extreme angle

Adobe Photoshop

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHAD HOLDER, COURTESY INFINITE SCALE DESIGN GROUP

®

®

FRUTIGER EVERYWHERE! Y
almost everywhere you look, fi
and utilitarian roles. Frutiger is
utility. At left, from the Photos
an instructional booklet for a
monitor; below, a Canon came
the legibility that utility deman
cheeriness gives cold data a h

Left, a Brookstone store cash register receipt.
Right, a directional sign. Note that even
in low-contrast colors and with
the clutter of multiple
shadow lines, Frutiger
comes through.


pQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz1234567890
V
p

Horizontal
terminal

Straight leg
Flat curve
Wide apertures
Wide crossbar

Wide arms
Flat apex
Almost no crossover

Wide stance

Short tail
Wide arms

Flat

Bubbles

Wide apertures

or images

ng Adrian Frutiger drew. He exforms from nature, and played
tween curves and lines, negaHis whimsical drawing shown
o do; what makes it so is that
y different from every other,
both positive (green) and negasame time. Every edge has a

ve. There is no apparent center,
ry (except—surprise!—one perwhole—and this is the hard
ed, pleasing, at rest.
ar in Frutiger the typeface as
t they become apparent when
and start exploring the internal
et becomes as playful as a car-

CARTOONS INSIDE! Pulling apart the shapes reveals Frutiger’s internal forms; out
of context they are whimsical, lively, organic, animated. The liveliness comes from
subtle juxtapositions of fast and slow curves, resulting in plump, asymmetrical
bodies and highly sophisticated corner points.
Teardrop in the a

Nose in the s
Smile
Olive in the b

Eyelid in the e

Hourglass in the negative space. Very 50s.

Frutiger in text
Frutiger in text (below) is smooth even by sans-serif standards. That’s because it lacks the fussiness of tiny spaces.
In its lighter weights, a body of Frutiger
is full of air, or white, and what’s interesting is that it cannot be made dense.
Tight letterspacing, the normal way to
add density, merely looks fitful, in part
Tightened, the
because the tiny spaces that result bespaces between

tween letters are smaller than those in
letters become
the letters themselves. This unusual trait
smaller than
means that Frutiger, well set, looks basithose in the letters themselves.
cally the same wherever it appears.

uti aaaaa
eeeee
sssss

Frutiger Roman, 7/8.5

Concern for man himself and his fate
must always form the chief interest
of all technical endeavors, concern
for the great unsolved problems of
the organization of labor and the distribution of goods—in order that the
creations of our mind shall be a blessing and not a curse to mankind. Never
forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations. Albert Einstein

TAL FLOWS
on is nearly
lar, speeding
tal flow

Frutiger Black, 6.5/8.5
Concern for man himself and his
fate must always form the chief
interest of all technical endeavors,

concern for the great unsolved
problems of the organization of
labor and the distribution of goods
—in order that the creations of our
mind shall be a blessing and not a
curse to mankind. Never forget this
in the midst of your diagrams and
equations. —Albert Einstein

You will find Frutiger
filling both decorative
s especially good at
shop start-up screen,
Pulsar heart-rate
era CD. Frutiger has
nds, but its inherent
uman touch.

Frutiger in closeup

IT’S NARROW
Uppercase is barely
wider than lower, an
unusual attribute
that contributes to
Frutiger’s airiness.
R is one of Frutiger’s
most distinctive
uppercase letters; its
leg curves sharply

out of the crossbar,
then abruptly goes
straight. The leg has
a slight flair.

ULTRA BLACK, BLACK, BOLD, ROMAN, LIGHT

Frutiger Light, 8.5/11

Concern for man himself and his fate must
always form the chief interest of all technical
endeavors, concern for the great unsolved problems of the organization of labor and the distribution of goods—in order that the creations
of our mind shall be a blessing and not a curse
to mankind. Never forget this in the midst of
your diagrams and equations. —Albert Einstein
Frutiger Bold, 8.5/11

Frutiger in contrast
Part of Frutiger’s versatility comes from its
wide range of weights, from ultra black to
light (above). One benefit: you can create
texture and emphasis in a body of text
solely by alternating text weights. Left, a
black-weight word leading a body of light
weight text has such high contrast that you
can run subheads in, as shown here, rather
than resort to a blank line between paragraphs. Very smooth.

Concern for man himself and his fate must
always form the chief interest of all technical

endeavors, concern for the great unsolved
problems of the organization of labor and
the distribution of goods—in order that the
creations of our mind shall be a blessing and
not a curse to mankind. Never forget this in
the midst of your diagrams and equations.
—Albert Einstein

IT’S BRIEF Key to Frutiger is that there’s basically less of it. Outlined atop the c below are three
major typefaces—Helvetica (violet), Univers (black) and Futura (orange)—whose curves keep curving
after Frutiger’s stop. The continuing curves close the white space to a narrow gap, which reduces
legibility (c can be mistaken for o, or S for 8). Frutiger has many strokes that remain similarly “open.”
Note the distinctive s, whose abbreviated curves are so open the white flows freely in.

FAST
SLOW

IT’S SIMPLE Two basic shapes, a stick and a v, form the k.
Converging at a single point activates three inward-pointing white
triangles (look again) that give the k its simplicity and clarity. Like
the R, the lower diagonal is slightly flaired.

IT’S HAPPY
Like lopsided grins, the
open counters of lowercase e and g characterize the playfulness that underlies Frutiger’s
legibility. The arms, instead of curving upward,
thrust the eye outward. Note that the g’s oval
bowl is narrow on the right, wide on the left,
and likewise moves the eye outward.


Before&After

Similarly playful, the
lowercase n looks ordinary only at a glance,
but draw lines between
curve points, and its
slow-to-fast curves and
cockeyed angles become apparent.

Issue 32

www.bamagazine.com

5


Page layout

Business card design

The invisible square
Design a
handsome
card in this
surprising
space

There’s a lot riding on your business card. And what a challenge it is to design! It’s a tiny space of fixed proportions
that carries important (your company!) but uninteresting
(fax number) information that must be clearly visible (your

name!) and easily accessible (your phone!), all while making
a good visual impression, which means it must be organized simply and presented boldly. (Get that done before
lunch!) You’ll love this format. It’s so versatile! It’s built on
an invisible square; you put your text on that side in a
single, neat column, put your image on this side, and let
your image do the talking. It’s flexible and fun! Watch:

A stand-alone photo How could anyone
resist? If you have a good photo, you can’t
present yourself with more impact than
this. It’s engaging, entertaining, and clear
as a bell. A background distracts more
often than not, so as a rule just get rid of
it. Emphasize one text point by using a distinctive type size and weight. Below, if your
subject lends itself to a series, why not
have more than one card? It’s fun for you
and customers, too. Same information.

3.5”

2”

2”

The U.S. standard business card is
31⁄2” x 2”, horizontal format.

Measure in two inches, set your type,
and look at what results: a lovely
white square. This is your stage.


Sandy Williams

DOG TRAINER
757-891-5487 cell
757-624-6383 phone
2280 Hekin Terrace Way
Norfolk, VA 23504

www.sandythetrainer.com

Where do the important words go? Along
important lines in the picture; here
Sandy’s DOG TRAINER title matches her
dog’s eyes in size, weight and color.

Less obvious is the gap beneath the title,
but it’s the same as the gap between eyes
and nose. You’ll never see this consciously,
but it’s why the spacing looks right.
TYPEFACES
DOG TRAINER: FLYER BLACK CONDENSED
ALL ELSE: FRUTIGER LIGHT CONDENSED

IMAGE FROM ANIMAL ATTRACTION CD | PHOTODISC | photodisc.com

Fresh from the foto booth Hey, what
works for our pets will work for us. If you’re
comfortable in front of a camera, this is an
extremely appealing way to make an impression, leave an impression, and jog a

memory. Your smiling face is so real, so
personal, there’s no way you’ll be just
another number. To really connect, smile
straight into the camera. An above-it-all,
off-in-the-distance portrait pose will totally
defeat the effect. A common mistake is to
retain a background, which looks like an
ordinary snapshot. Pure white has unusual
clarity, and leaves all the attention on you.

LaDon Trent
System Analyst
Quexe
12 Northgate Drive
Rocklin, CA 95677
800-444-2330 phone x23
328.555.4328 cell

www.quexe.com

LaDon Trent
System Analyst

LaDon Trent
System Analyst

Quexe
12 Northgate Drive
Rocklin, CA 95677


Quexe
12 Northgate Drive
Rocklin, CA 95677

800-444-2330 phone x23
328.555.4328 cell

www.quexe.com

800-444-2330 phone x23
328.555.4328 cell

www.quexe.com

Very low key, the text is set in a single
size of a single face; his name and company name are set apart only by bold type.
The entire text block is light gray (60%).
Subtle and handsome. The quieter the
type, the more attention the photo gets.

Note that his shoulder laps across the vertical edge; this looks more natural than
artificially scissoring it off, and it keeps his
face centered in the square. It’s a detail,
but pay attention; stuff like this can mysteriously mess up an otherwise good design.
TYPEFACE: GLYPHA ROMAN AND BLACK

IMAGE FROM YOUR MESSAGE HERE CD | RUBBERBALL | rubberball.com

Full-page photo Photos with very quiet
backgrounds can be left intact; in this case,

the radiant light of the background adds an
appealing depth. This is a staged shot dramatically cropped; the idea was to find the
least amount of image that would convey
the most information. When looking for
an image like this, think theater; the visual
suggestion of person,
place, business, whatever, has dramatic
impact that is often
more appealing than
coldly seeing it.

The deep blue sea This beautiful image
is visually opposite the one above; the
background is similarly quiet, full of radiant
light, but it’s all dark. The beautiful solution:
just reverse the type. The text draws attention to both store name and manager, yet
keeps the visual hierarchy intact. To do this,
two techniques are involved: BAJA TROPICALS set in a large, stylish typeface conveys the image, while the manager’s name
is the plain text face set in bold caps. Nice.

Yasha Rubin, owner
328-555-5328

Yasha’s
On the mezzanine

Yasha Rubin, owner
328-555-5328

Yasha’s

On the mezzanine

452 Benning Avenue
La Cresta, California 90082
www.yashas.com

452 Benning Avenue
La Cresta, California 90082
www.yashas.com

TYPEFACES YASHA’S: SLOOP SCRIPT ONE, TEXT: BEMBO

328.555.4321

BAJA
TROPICALS
7471 Mariposa Street
Dalton, California 90002
328.555.4322 fax
www.bajatropicals.com

The full-page image easily masks the fact
we’re working with a square, but it’s still
here. Note the fish—almost square, too—
is framed fairly evenly in the space.

DOUG BAKER manager
328.555.4328 cell

Primary text focal point corresponds to

the primary visual focal point.

Before&After

Issue 32

www.bamagazine.com

Why is the name down here? Because
those kissy lips are pointing right toward it.
Actually, the whole fish* is pointing down
here; watch for similar lines of sight. What’s
great is that the reader never notices; your
name just silently gets attention.
*It’s a surgeonfish, not that you asked.

TYPEFACES BAJA TROPICALS: LITHOS REGULAR, TEXT: FRANKLIN GOTHIC CONDENSED AND BOOK CONDENSED
IMAGE FROM PHOTODISC | gettyimages.com

6

Yasha’s focal point is a beautiful script that
corresponds in size, position and color to
the red cherry. Picking a matching color is
easy; just eyedropper it out of the photo.
Note the orange glass is centered in the
invisible square; the swashy Y crosses the
vertical edge.



In practice, the type will be ragged,
like this. Key is to have a strong vertical edge. To do this, set one topic
per line—name on one line, title on
the next, phone on the third, so on.

You can flip the layout. If you do
this, the text must now align right—
somewhat slower to read—to maintain the edge.

TA R I N D A D R A K E

S

T

U

D

I

O

TA R I N D A D R A K E

328.555.4328 CELL

328.555.4328 CELL

328-555-4333 PHONE

STUDIODRAKE

328-555-4333 PHONE

452 BENNING

452 BENNING

L A C R E S TA

L A C R E S TA

CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA

90082

90082

STUDIODRAKE.COM

STUDIODRAKE.COM

D

R

A


K

E

L A C R E S TA
CALIFORNIA
90082

Set the type all caps, all one size, slightly
S-P-A-C-E-D, then pull the name across
the invisible square (left). Note DRAKE
remains aligned. Gray the type (here 30%)
so that the name in white stands out.

STUDIODRAKE.COM
TYPEFACES: AVENIR LIGHT AND BLACK

673 Green Street
SanFransisco, Ca. 94121
ph.(415)751-9119
fx.(415)751-3721
www.sgbooks.com

Solace-Graber
A NT I Q U E B O O K S

Center a homemade logo It looks at
a glance like illustration is involved, but
this handsome logo consists only of letters
atop a square. Its visual complexity, however—the fancy typeface, the square, the

name, title, big type, small type, uppercase,
lowercase, and so on—gave us some compositional problems to solve.

Solace-Graber
A NT I Q U E B O O K S

328-555-4333 PHONE

328.555.4328 CELL

452 BENNING

Power black White on black is severe,
powerful, and always gets attention. In
addition to its popular, high-tech look, this
minimalist design has another advantage:
It’s as cheap as ordinary black & white.

TA R I N D A D R A K E

Karen Patterson

S

T

U

D


I

O

D

R

A

K

E

Black-red-white combination is handsome,
aggressive and almost literally arresting.
With red as the middle value, black & white
words have the most contrast and depth.
More raw power for the buck than any
other two colors.

673 Green Street
SanFransisco, Ca. 94121
ph.(415)751-9119
fx.(415)751-3721
www.sgbooks.com

Solace-Graber

Solace-Graber


A NT I Q U E B O O K S

A NT I Q U E B O O K S

Center the entire logo in the square. Evident even without the dashed line, note
the square “air” framing the image.

Karen Patterson


Small adjustments in size and spacing
align the text. Large white S above the line
is okay; its visual weight is trivial.


673 Green Street
SanFransisco, Ca. 94121
ph.(415)751-9119
fx.(415)751-3721
www.sgbooks.com

Solace-Graber
A NT I Q U E B O O K S

Karen Patterson


Name and logo in a common color
connect visually, and set both

apart. Karen’s name is larger than
its adjacent text, but in recessive
white it draws attention quietly.
TYPEFACE: NUPTIAL SCRIPT

Make your own clip-art Here’s a useful
way to stretch your photo library. “Transitional living for homeless families” suggests
a family-type picture, but the
happy gang below is too,
well, not homeless. Solution?
Cast them in silhouette.

Roseville
HomeStart
A transitional living service for homeless families with children

Susanna Kent, caseworker
410 Riverside Avenue
Roseville, CA 95678
916-782-6667 phone
916-771-5146 fax
IMAGE FROM SILHOUETTES OF FAMILIES CD
RUBBERBALL | rubberball.com

Roseville
HomeStart
A transitional living service for homeless families with children

Roseville
HomeStart


Susan
410 R

A transitional living service for homeless families with children

Susanna Kent, caseworker
410 Riverside Avenue
Roseville, CA 95678
916-782-6667 phone
916-771-5146 fax

Informal typeface lightens a serious subject. As a counterpoint, note the bulk of
the text aligns with the bulk of the image,
putting the center of gravity firmly on the
bottom, and silently conveying stability.

Susan Stone, caseworker
410 Riverside Avenue
Roseville, CA 95678
916-782-6667 phone
916-771-5146 fax

Black, white and gray yield three levels
of visual depth: recessive white in back,
black in front, gray between. This is a
sophisticated way to distinguish one line
from the next without adding complexity
by changing typeface, style or size.
TYPEFACE: KHAKI TWO, SUBTITLE: CENTURY EXPANDED ITALIC


The no-longer invisible square Whimsical appointment card makes the square
visible, and in doing so, makes the white
rectangle visible, too. Because both sides
are now clearly defined, it is no longer
necessary for the text to maintain the
edge. Note that “Hair design by . . .” offsets
Ralena’s curlicue signature, a composition
not possible on the other cards.

916-721-7722
916-721-7724

Hair design by

Have a design
question?

TYPEFACES
RALENA: HAIRSPRAY BRUNETTE, TEXT: FUTURA BOOK AND BOLD

at London Hair Faire

What typeface goes with that?!
How do I get my newsletter out
of the 80s? How do I make my
logo better? We love
questions! Ask us online
at bamagazine.com


12417 Fair Oaks Blvd., #200
Fair Oaks, CA 95628
CSA IMAGES MOOD RING CD | IMAGE CAI0750219 | VEER | veer.com

Before&After

Issue 32

www.bamagazine.com

7


John McWade

Before&After

Issue 32 January 2003
www.bamagazine.com

®

How to design cool stuff!

A text edge

WHERE
DO YOU
PUT THE
WORDS?


Simplify
I have a plan—it’s more of an observation, really—to improve our designs
and save the world at the same time.
I’m not entirely kidding. The clue is in
the image above, which looks like an
ad, but that’s not why it’s here.
We were visiting recently with Tim
Poole, B&A’s printer. Dome is a stateof-the-art shop with an efficient, totally electronic workflow. It has won significant awards, in which design has
played an important role.
In the course of our chat, Tim lamented what he’s perceived in recent
years as a decline in the overall quality
of graphic design. “We’re seeing a lot of
junk,” he said, not overstating it.
That led the conversation to possible causes. The biggest two, we decided, are the Web and the economy.
Each has had a different impact.
The Web has created an expectation
of right now. Nothing waits. Its volume—billions of pages—is stupefying.

And resolution is low, for which craftsmanship is not a priority.
The economic cause is obvious.
When money is tight, corners get cut.
Result: An unprecedented number
of no-time, no-budget “designs” swirl
about us in unrelieved clutter. Work
under such stress has infiltrated print,
too. It has become normal.
Now what?
Web resolution will eventually improve. The economy will improve, too,
if this cycle is like the others.

The clutter, however, the bazillion
unrelated flashy blinky in-your-face
images that fly at us from everywhere;
the clutter is probably ours to keep.
Which gets me to saving the world.
How as designers do we make our
messages seen and heard above the
noise? We TALK LOUDER. Wetalkfaster.
We wave—yoohoo! Typically.
But there’s a better way.
Do what Apple does.

Erase the noise.
Don’t outshout it; just get rid of it.
Look again at the space above.
Wherever you encounter Apple, it’s
in a beautiful sea of white.
No song, no dance. Just a message.
It’s easy on the eyes, easy on the
nerves, and easy to grasp.
Best, it focuses on the product.
Why is so simple.
The product is the only thing there.
The surprise is how hard simple is
to do. Our tendency is to add stuff. If
one thing is good, two must be better.
Type seem plain? Add a shadow. One
line blah? Draw two.
How many weak designs have you
tried to correct by adding something?

Each addition subtracts.
Instead, distill your message to its
essence. An image. A word. A thought.
It’s true for speaking, it’s true for
writing, and it’s true for design.
Simplify.

Color matches the duck

Body width

A change of color

Time to renew
your subscription?

®

How to design cool stuff

John McWade Creative director
Gaye McWade Editor
Gwen Amos Design editor
Contributing designers
Chuck Green, Laura Lamar
JMS Publishing LLC
John McWade CEO
Michael Solomon Chairman

(Check the label above)

Editorial offices
Before & After magazine
2007 Opportunity Drive, Suite 10
Roseville, CA 95678
Telephone 916-784-3880
Fax 916 -784-3995
E-mail
www.bamagazine.com

Do business with us online! At bamagazine.com you can subscribe, cancel,
renew, order back issues, change address, whatever, quickly, conveniently and
securely. Subscription rate $60 per year (6 issues). Canadian subscribers
please add $9 and remit in U.S. funds; overseas subscribers add $21. Before
& After, How to design cool stuff (ISSN 1049-0035) is published bimonthly
(January, March, May, July, September, November) by JMS Publishing LLC, 2007
Opportunity Drive, Suite 10, Roseville, CA 95678. Periodicals-class postage paid
at Roseville and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Please send address
change to: Before & After, 2007 Opportunity Drive, Suite 10, Roseville, CA 95678.
Issue 32, January, 2003. Copyright 2003, JMS Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

Not just anywhere!
Every image has
natural lines, shapes,
colors and textures
that tell you where
things go. You’ll see.
A

PRODUCTION NOTES WILL RETURN NEXT ISSUE.


Before&After

The page’s eye level

Save 10% by renewing
online! It’s easy! Go to
bamagazine.com

Plus: Who needs
fancy artwork?
Create a logo from
ordinary squares
and circles
A business card
layout so versatile
you’ll use it again
and again
Frutiger is fresh,
light, and showing
up everywhere.
See why. More!

Colors match the logo

L I N E

O F

S I G H T