It is used for magazines, books, newspapers, annual reports,
posters, flyers, brand collateral, presentations and mood boards. You can also
bring in elements from illustrator.
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| A3 document set-up |
InDesign layout
To the left you can a basic new document set up for an A3 sized page.
With the “Pages” palette you can see how the double page
spread can look or you can turn “facing
pages” off, which enables you to create a range of brand collateral within one
document.
Hints and tips
Use file>place to place graphics into a document.
Make sure every file you need for the document is well
organised and stored in one place.
The "link" chain icon above an image shows that InDesign knows
where the images are, if this has a red icon instead then it has lost the link.
Set your sizing options to Millimetres, as this is usually used within the workplace in the UK.
55 Roman is another term for Roman Regular.
Always proofread your PDF before printing - this can save time and money in the long run.
Captions are generally set at 6 or 7 pt.
Use Shift + Cmd to scale the picture box and the image at the same time.
When using an A3 or A4 sizing it is a good rule to use a margin size of 10 and 15 mm or double this to 30mm for such as A1 etc.
Gutter is 3.5 to 5mm for A3 or A4 document.
W shows preview and shift + W shows presentation mode.
Importance of type setting
Leading - is two to three size bigger then point size to create space for reader to read the text easily.
Subtitles, Headings and Intro – As a general rule, you don’t particularly want any more then three point sizes happening within one page.
Choose an appropriate font - these range from sans serif fonts such as Helvetica to classic serif font Times New Roman – Those mentioned here are typically the easiest for the reader to read.
Hidden Characters – These are indicators to the software as to where your paragraphs and blocks of text begin and end. When viewing the hidden characters within your document you need to check the following: check blue paragraphs to make sure there is only the amount of hard returns you need. A Hard return usually has 10mm of space left in front of the type– Use a hashtag to dictate the end of the document.
Cmd + B = Text Frame Options – you can tell it to set the text as owning two columns even though the box is across more, such as three and this will apply automatically. If dragged across a further length but with less width it will carry the text onto the following columns.
Enter creates a hard return.
Shift + enter = Soft return so the title is kept close together rather then being treat as separate paragraphs.
Above of this text you can see an example of the first exercise I took part in. This was to get use to the basic controls of placing an image into a document and then aligning them to a grid. You can see the grid system i put in place and then how it looks when printed.
Exercise 1 - Mood Board Layout
We were shown two
methods to place imagery onto a page.
The first method
consists of selecting File then Place and choosing your image,
or you can use
the keyboard shortcut of CMD+D.
The second method
starts with creating the grid boxes before placing the images down. To do this select the Rectangle Frame tool and pull this out across the page and while the
mouse button is being pressed down use the arrow keys to add columns vertically
and horizontally. You can now select one of these using the black mouse tool
and follow the first method as before.
Exercise 2 - Text Boxes
Within this exercise
we were taught how to use hidden characters (as mentioned previously) and how the text boxes work over a number of columns.
Exercise 3
In order to make kerning more accurate go to the self-named InDesign tab on the taskbar and under your preferences go to units and increments. Once in these options you can set kerning to different movement sizings, setting this to 7 / 1000 em creates a more accurate and smaller spacing difference when altering such.
Final exercise of the workshop - Create a magazine layout
We were given the task to create a minimalist style magazine design in which we had copy and photographs provided. To start this off I created a mood board within InDesign by finding imagery which reflected that which was requested from the brief. In this instance that was to create a magazine layout which would appeal to young creatives of whom are eager to be inspired.
We were also shown a few examples of their previous designs as to give a back history to the company's design past. I decided to look at layouts which displayed minimalism and focused highly on imagery while also taking into consideration the typeface as an art within itself(image above).
Exercise 3
Within the third
exercise we were given time to experiment with the techniques learnt and see
how we can layout both imagery and type within a page.
- View – display performance – high quality
- Links – edit original opens Photoshop and anything you change will apply to the image in InDesign too.
- The amount of columns needed depending on the proposed outcome, can be anywhere between 4 and 8 as a point of reference. You can always add more columns later within page settings though the document will remember the original base column setting. You can however alter this by changing the column amount set to the master page.
- Paragraphs being broken down are fine but they shouldn’t be broken up with spacing straight from the copy. This is because if they have clicked the enter key twice (as has happened in these cases) it will result in the paragraph being a lot further down then intended once the settings are applied.
- Always work within the grid boxes, don’t just slap it down – it is important to keep your type and imagery within the alignment, the only exception to this is if you are purposely breaking the rules, in order to deconstruct the concept so to speak.
- Letter Kerning - click between the letters you want to amend and move with the arrows keys while holding down alt, do this until they have roughly equal spacing among the word. The purpose to this is to create a smoother reading experience as if these are uneven it can slow down and sometimes bemuse the viewer.
In order to make kerning more accurate go to the self-named InDesign tab on the taskbar and under your preferences go to units and increments. Once in these options you can set kerning to different movement sizings, setting this to 7 / 1000 em creates a more accurate and smaller spacing difference when altering such.
Final exercise of the workshop - Create a magazine layout
We were given the task to create a minimalist style magazine design in which we had copy and photographs provided. To start this off I created a mood board within InDesign by finding imagery which reflected that which was requested from the brief. In this instance that was to create a magazine layout which would appeal to young creatives of whom are eager to be inspired.
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| Moodboard |
We were also shown a few examples of their previous designs as to give a back history to the company's design past. I decided to look at layouts which displayed minimalism and focused highly on imagery while also taking into consideration the typeface as an art within itself(image above).
Using the mood board as a reference point I began to create the above thumbnails for the magazine spread. I then proceeded to choose from these a select few, to which I would base and develop my layout from as seen below, there are similarities between the thumbnails and my developed design though once I had started putting these together the ideas formed further.
In regards to the front cover I decided to place the brand's name within a semi-transparent circle , as inspired by the "Bliss" front cover. I find this creates a softened friendly feel to the piece against the harsh mountainous terrain, therefore creating a welcoming entrance while also inciting the viewer with excitement and adventure.
Final Indesign Layout
I kept in mind at all times to make good use of space as this is key in minimilist design though this isn't exclusive to such, as all good design needs to breathe and give the viewers eyes room to move. Above is my finished design for the task, please note that all photographs and copy used within this design are copyright to Jeffrey bowman. You can see his work here: http://jeffrey-bowman.co.uk. Kinfolk is a "slow lifestyle magazine published by Ouur" who own the copyright for their name "Kinfolk" and has been used within this design as a representative example for the purposes of learning InDesign. You can check Kinfolk out here: http://kinfolk.com
