Re: latest version of Debian LJ ad is ready
On Thu, 2 Jul 1998 treacy@debian.org wrote:
> Fredrik Ax wrote:
> > > http://lyrical.cland.net/~wlashell/debianad23.jpg
> >
> > The one with textured background is not good for printing.
> >
> Why? Look at some of the ads in LJ. they use CMYK and the quality
> of the print is quite high (by lay standards. I know professionals
> have different criteria).
>
I've done some page layout so I'll throw in my .02.
The newspaper I worked on would usually use a 10% gray for backdrops like
that; this gray looks a little bit too dark, it makes the text harder to
read. If you up the brightness of that layer a touch it will probably come
out better. The penguin logo could also benefit from slight fading, but
it doesn't have to be as light since it's in color.
I'm looking at it on a gray Netscape background, so that may make it look
darker than it would on white paper though.
Also, I agree with other posters that the box around the bulleted text is
too obtrusive - I'd suggest picking either the "tube" look or the "black
line" look, instead of a tube with a black line around it. The box is much
more prominent than the already-small text, and that's not good.
A related issue is that there are two almost equally-sized halves to the
ad; this is bad because it makes the eye waver between them. It would be
better to have a clear progression of element dominance. Making the box
less flamboyant will help; maybe shrinking the box a little and increasing
the size of the "Debian GNU/Linux" title would also be good. The title
could even slightly overlap the logo.
This might require reducing the amount of text in the box, which would be
a good thing anyway. I would consider eliminating either the two
introductory sentences or the bullet points. Probably the two
sentences, or at least one of them; they don't add much IMO.
In general the ad could be more asymmetrical; possibly you could shrink
one of the halves, and/or make "Debian GNU/Linux" or "Debian 2.0: Get it
today!" span 2/3 or more of the width.
Finally (as someone else said) the spacing is mangled between the lines of
text in the box; in Quark, you need to make sure snap to baseline grid is
enabled, and it would help to stick all the bulletpoints in a single text
box. I suspect the problem is trying to fit all that text in a too-small
space. Assuming the ad was produced with a DTP program, if it was done
with a drawing program I guess the text has to be lined up with guides and
rulers.
All IMHO of course. I'm sure others have more graphic design experience
than me, but hopefully the above is constructive.
I'm excited to see the wonderful new web site, and advertising. Debian
deserves publicity!
Havoc Pennington ==== http://pobox.com/~hp
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