Midterm Project

My project is a brochure for The Fit Christian Magazine to get the word out about this free Christian health & fitness resource on the Internet. I started with a template available in InDesign and redesigned it because I am not yet comfortable with InDesign. It has a steep learning curve, and I think I have been spoiled by PagePlus.

Layers: I did not do my layers correctly. I didn't know how to change an item to put it in a different layer. I do now, but too late.

Character and Paragraph styles: The Character and Paragraph styles were in place in the template, so I altered them and deleted ones I did not use, and added one I did use.

Color Scheme: My Color scheme swatch is "Quiet Cry" and I did get it off of Kuler. I chose it because it was the closest one I could find to the color scheme I already use for The Fit Christian in other brochures, flyers, etc. in my other design program PagePlus. I am eventually going to create my own on Kuler that is identical to the scheme I use in PagePlus.

Master Pages:I edited the Master pages by using the direct selection tool to change the vector shapes so they were more geometrical and eye-catching than the original.

Graphics: Besides the background graphics, I chose images to create a feeling of wanting to be fit and healthy, as well as covers of current and past issues of the magazine.

Audience: My intended audience is people who are interested in making healthy lifestyle choices.

Placing Text: I used placeholder text until the brochure was designed exactly as I wanted, or at least close to it. Then I replaced it with the text I wanted in the brochure. No, I did not type it in Word, I typed it into the brochure. A bad habit of mine.

I use the align command religiously so I was happy to have it available in InDesign. The only thing I found that I didn't like is it will only align objects to each other, PagePlus will also align objects to the page. I justified the text in the brochure and tweaked the tracking where needed so there were not too many "-" at the ends of sentences--that is annoying to me. I like the fitting commands okay for use with images, but it is a bit of a hassle. I would like to figure out how to have InDesign place your image in the size you make it--like it will in PagePlus.

I have different sources for my images and I used PhotoShop to edit as needed--like taking the white background out of the film reel. I used the shadow effect to help the magazine cover images and a few of the other images stand out more.

After my draft was complete, I took note of all the suggestions offered and made the appropriate changes. I really appreciated the feedback, it is so hard to be a lone designer. I think the final turned out pretty good. The final PDF is up on our discussion board.