The goal is simple: with as little (or as much) as you know, design a greetingcard in InDesign. The aim of this exercise is to introduce you to the different software programs and their role in the design process.
Time: 60 min
- Your design must contain a Haiku, written by you yourself.
- Also, put your full name somewhere in the design.
- Work from InDesign and use either Photoshop or Illustrator to create (an) element(s) for your design. You can decide anything you like in terms of the design, just keep the basic template intact.
Some pointers to get you started:
- Continue (or restart) from the design you’ve created in the classroom exercise. Alternatively, download this greetingcard template for InDesign.
- Choose whether you’ll want to use Photoshop or Illustrator, or both.
- When working with Illustrator: create a vector graphic (shapes or text)
- When working with Photoshop: edit a photograph (downloaded or personal)
- Use CMD-D in Indesign to place your AI or PSD file in the greetingcard.
- Add the haiku text if you haven’t already and make it look nice.
Zero experience and no idea where to start?
If you have no experience at all, just start experimenting and keep it really simple. In Illustrator: use basic shapes, like circles and lines, and maybe a little bit of Paintbrush Tool. In photoshop, use the Brush tool and try different layer Blend Modes for it. In Indesign, play around with the Type Tool like you would in Word.
If you’re unfamiliar with these terms, just ask me what they mean or alternatively, use Google to find an answer. Also, invest no more than one hour in this if you are struggling.
Handing in
Save your work in Indesign by choosing File > Package. This is going to create a folder that contains all your source material. Ignore warnings about fonts or other things for now. Go through the options and choose a location for your package folder.
Now here is the important part: copy the Indesign package folder to your OneDrive. You need to save this folder to your online (cloud) storage in order to ever retrieve it, for the school laptops are periodically wiped.
Print requirements
Printing is not a part of the exercise. However, your design can be professionally printed, for instance at Reclameland (an online printservice). In this case you would use the following settings:
- Size: A6 (105*148 mm)
- Orientation: standing or portrait
- Bleed: 3 mm all around
- Do not use trim marks
- Minimum raster-image effective resolution: 300 ppi
- PDF-Preset: Digital Preset (reclameland) if you can manage to install it (otherwise choose PDF/X-1a)
- Color Profile: ISO coated v2 300% eci if you can manage to install it (otherwise choose FOGRA39)
- Filename: postcard_print.pdf
Note: These settings and their functions will be explained throughout this course. For now, just take note of them.