CommunityLink’s own Matt Price and Josh Chandler recently showed that their talents also extend to the links by making up half of the winning team at the 15th Annual Pinckneyville Chamber of Commerce Golf Scramble. The team was sponsored by Craig Williams Creative / CommunityLink, which is a proud supporter of the chamber here in our hometown of Pinckneyville and a member of every chamber that we publish with.

The victorious team – shown here with the reigning Miss Perry County, Chelsea Crough, and 2009 Mardi Gras Queen Chelsea Reardon – included (L-R) Richard Naumer, Matt Price, Josh Chandler, and Wes Chandler.

Way to go, guys!

Golf Scramble, Josh Chandler, Matt Price, Pinckneyville

“Design is so simple – that’s why it is so complicated.” – Paul Rand

For all of the time and effort that goes into producing a quality publication, the amount of time it has to attract a potential reader can actually be very short. A fleeting glance may be all that’s given before a decision is made to begin reading or walk away. Great content will keep the reader once you have them, but design plays a huge role in getting them to bite in the first place. Below, CommunityLink production manager and professional designer Matt Price shares a few thoughts on the purpose, process, and pitfalls of publication design.

Purpose

The purpose of design is to grab someone’s attention and keep it long enough to communicate the message you want them to receive. It’s about relaying a concept in just a few short seconds and visually making a sale. This can range from selling a product to selling an idea or even a destination. If you think about it, graphic design and marketing is really all around us; it’s everywhere you look. That’s why the design behind your community marketing is so important, because it makes your message stand out and get noticed.

Process

Every designer develops his or her own method for design work, but almost every design starts with research. You have to know your intended audience and your subject before you can determine how to draw that audience to the content. This is usually followed by conceptualization and working with layouts to decide how you’re going to present your information. Personally, I like to lay out my content first before applying design elements such as colors and images to it – to build the car before I paint it. With that said, the paint is just as important. Color, images, and composition all have to be carefully chosen in order to relay the correct message, because something like a poorly chosen color can easily create the wrong mood or impression.

Pitfalls

A common misconception in the graphic design world is that you have to fill up as much space as possible. This can result in “gray pages” that have too much text or designs that are simply too cluttered. Sometimes a minimalist approach can be good, and a viewer should always be able to glance at a page and identify its headers and subheads. It really pays to put some trust and faith in your designer on these types of decisions because, like the audience, they typically see the project with a fresh, outside perspective. This is an advantage, not a disadvantage, and it most often leads to a better design.

design, Matt Price