How is the design of printed products magazine. Polygraphic design. Selection of colors

I once asked myself a question - is there a clear definition of the concept of "print design"?

Searches on the Internet were unsuccessful and, as it turned out, even Wikipedia does not have an article about print design. And my clients often do not understand the difference between printing and the web. At first I thought about writing a short article, where I would briefly describe the features of developing a layout for printing, but then I decided to create a full-fledged material on Wikipedia. I hope this will be useful for both beginners and professionals in print design.

Print design or print product design is a type of graphic design whose task is to develop materials for printed products. Most often, the finished product is a paper carrier.

Areas of application for print design:

Multi-page products (brochures, reference books, books, newspapers, magazines)

The main steps for obtaining printed products:

Design development. Under the development of design in the printing industry is meant the graphic design of the layout according to the wishes of the customer and in accordance with the technical requirements for the implementation of these products.

Prepress (1) is the preparation of a layout for printing in accordance with the technical requirements set by the printing house.

Prepress preparation. Prepress includes the production of photoplates, printing plates, die cuts and other processes required for a specific order.

Printing is the main process in the printing house when working on an order. The result of perception of the finished product as a whole depends on high-quality printing.

post-print processing. After printing, the circulation dries up for some time and only then goes to post-printing processing, such as stitching, binding, gluing, laminating, varnishing, die-cutting, embossing, embossing (see below for a description of the four latest technologies), etc.

The task of print design is to develop a design in such a way as to ensure ease of perception on a printed medium. The print designer must know on what medium the finished layout will be presented, what processes the layout will go through before the finished product is released.

Printing technologies

Unlike web design, where the finished product cannot be touched, in printing, in addition to the paper itself, technologies that can be used to create original printed products play an important role. This is a choice of the type of lamination, continuous or selective varnishing, foil stamping, die-cutting, hot stamping. All this, in addition to expanding the field of activity for the designer, also imposes a great responsibility on him: some post-printing processes are quite expensive, and with large print runs, any mistake can bring significant losses.

Lacquering. Varnishing printed products improves both its appearance and consumer properties. When varnishing, a layer of varnish solution is applied to the surface of the printed impression, which, after drying, creates a strong, transparent, uniform film. A layer of lacquer adds shine to the image, increasing the contrast and saturation of colors. Besides, the varnish protects from moisture and pollution, interferes with attrition of a paint layer, increases durability and durability. UV varnishing technology can be continuous and selective, which makes it attractive as an addition to printing.

Die-cutting - cutting out of a sheet of rectangular paper products of complex shape by hitting the contour with a stamp. Die-cutting dies are used as standard ones, for example, for folders, and are made to order. Die-cutting is often used to make postcards, pocket calendars, labels, packaging, and much more.

Foil stamping is stamping in which foil is pulled between a heated plate and paper and pressed. Foil stamping was already known in Denmark during book production.

Relief stamping without foil is performed using a hot stamping press by extruding the image. Embossing is a popular design option that is used when designing dust jackets, labels, postcards, soft packaging, diplomas, etc. Embossing can be used as an independent type of design, or in combination with other types of stamping, for example, foil stamping.

Other technologies: modern technologies make it possible to embed video fragments in printed products.

Features of design development for printing:

A distinctive feature of print design, such as a leaflet or booklet, is that the approved or agreed design is only the beginning of the printing process. Therefore, the development of a printing layout must meet the requirements of everything that happens to it in further processes.

The main mistakes in design development:

The mistake is a simple translation of the finished layout from the RGB model to CMYK. The main problem is black text - when converted to CMYK, black text is decomposed into four colors, which leads to a "glow" of the text when printed and makes it fuzzy. All black text should be printed in one black ink. In other colors, this conversion may also cause problems.

It is also a common mistake to use one black ink when printing large areas. In this case, black is perceived as "transparent black", therefore, to give density, it is recommended to use a complex black color (2) - the addition of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow paints. Complex black color parameters are specified in the printing house and mainly depend on the thickness and type of paper. Usually the total ink of complex black does not exceed 300%.

We all read text from left to right. Therefore, with a cursory glance at the layout, first of all, a person begins to get acquainted with it. from the top left corner(that's why they often put a logo there) gradually descending to the lower right(often there are addresses and contacts). Given this feature of perception in the design of printing, the logical chain is built in this sequence.

In addition, first of all, large and dark spots attract attention, and gradually the eye moves to the study of lighter and smaller design elements.

If we consider the layout from the point of view of the text component, then there is a main text and a secondary one. They should be distinguished by font size and color tone. Often the advertiser thinks that every word in his layout is important, so he places a lot of text of the same size, such a printed layout is hard to read, and although it contains all the information about the company and the biography of all employees... the very essence is lost, such a leaflet or no one will read the booklet.

So, the text should, if possible, be separated by empty fields and diluted with photographs for a more comfortable perception. It is necessary to take into account what will primarily attract large text on a dark or bright block. Agree, one sentence written in medium print on a sheet of A4 format is much easier to read than an entire page written in small print.

So, everything is good in moderation. It is important to catch the golden mean so as not to overload the printing layout with a lot of information and at the same time use the empty space. The main thing to understand when creating a layout is what information is the main and what is secondary, what to pay attention to first of all.

Selection of colors

Color plays an important role in creating a layout. The perception of information on the layout depends on the choice of colors. It is pleasant to look at the layout with well-chosen colors, and the color itself can say without words about the field of activity of the advertised enterprise.

All colors can be divided into cold, warm and neutral shades. Cool colors are blue, green, cyan, etc. Warm - red, yellow, brown, etc. Neutrals include lilac and shades of gray (from black to white).

Each individual color evokes certain associations in a person, and a combination of several colors can carry certain information.

For example. Fast food advertisements are most often done in yellow-red-brown colors, such colors can be associated with food of the corresponding color - hot pastries, hamburgers, cakes, etc.

Color and tone contrast

Each color also has its own tone, in other words saturation. Therefore, you need to arrange colors so that light tones lie on dark ones and vice versa. If, for example, red text is placed on a purple background, it will be very difficult to read, because these two colors have the same saturation.

There is a special scale to help you choose the right color.

The main goal of print design

A common mistake novice designers make is that they forget about the main goal of print design. Being carried away by various design tricks and bringing beauty, they lose sight of the fact that the main goal of design is advertise a product or service. Various special effects and design ideas can be so distracting that the main purpose of the layout is lost behind them - to convey to consumers information about a product or service.

Of course, they are needed for a more pleasant perception, but various design bells and whistles should help, and not distract from the main point.

About text and pictures

It is often said that "it is better to see once than hear a hundred times". There is some truth in this proverb. a person thinks in images (pictures), and not in words and sentences. When a person reads a text, images associated with words are drawn in his head (none of us have a running line in front of our eyes, like a terminator)). Therefore, the text itself is quite difficult to perceive, and even now no one will waste time reading a huge piece of text, no matter how good it is. The picture is perceived instantly, and can better tell about the product than a large block of text.

Now, in almost all layouts, except for text, pictures are used. For a more interesting design, photos are placed partially or closed in curly blocks. It is important that despite the interesting design, the essence of the photo is easily perceived and important elements that carry a semantic load are not cut off.

So, text without pictures is bad, and pictures without text don't make sense. Only a competent combination of them guarantees the success of your masterpiece.

Of course, it is impossible to reduce the whole design to any rules. Design is an art, there are no rules, only tips to help avoid common mistakes. Try, experiment, don't be afraid to make a mistake and then every time your design will come out better and better.

Share your rules and tips in the comments to the article.

In contact with

Classmates

From this article you will learn

  • What is print design
  • What are the basics of print design
  • What are the forms of print design
  • What are the stages of the development of the design of printed products

Print design is a broad field of knowledge about the methods and principles of illustrating printed products. Of course, its importance is undeniable. Technologies, techniques and rules created during the existence of printing industry make it possible to present products in a favorable light, precisely influencing the emotions of the consumer. Although print design has many positive aspects, it has one serious disadvantage: this area of ​​​​knowledge is so wide that it is not entirely clear where to start in order to create any idea about it. This article aims to break down this barrier and introduce the reader to the basic principles and rules of print design.

What does print design look like?

Design of advertising and printing products- a subspecies of graphic design, whose main task is to create materials for a future product. In most cases, the finished product is presented on paper. In addition to advertising purposes, print design is widely used in print media, so there are four areas of its use:

  • mass advertising;
  • advertising printed matter;
  • multipage products;
  • periodicals.

Print design as a company style with a winning design

Every year, new companies and productions appear, which increases competition in the field of sales. Any company wants to stand out from the crowd, get a big name, popularity among customers, introduce them to their offers. For this reason, the importance of promotion, especially printed materials, in this area has recently grown so much. Printed media has become almost the most widely used method of advertising, as it has a low cost and proven effectiveness. All this makes it possible to quickly transfer the necessary information to a large number of potential consumers.

To attract the attention of a potential client, a variety of print advertising options are used: booklets, flyers, brochures, catalogs, calendars, etc. Each person has a huge number of print design products, and they all assure that it is their offer that is better and better . How not to get confused in this amount of information?

Obviously, a person who comes to an exhibition or presentation will notice, first of all, the catalog that looks attractive from the outside. And only after that he may have a desire to study in more detail what is contained inside. As the example shows, two equivalent characteristics play a key role in creating a printing product: an unusual design that can capture the attention of a person, and printing of the appropriate level.

Bright design And layout in combination with high quality printing are generally recognized as the main method of attracting the views of visitors towards the objects of advertising printing. They occupy key positions in the production of business cards, flyers, booklets, catalogs, brochures, as well as in the creation of logos and other details of corporate culture. A well-chosen design will be the key to a successful marketing campaign.

The functioning of any company cannot be imagined without printed handouts. Leaflets and other variants of it, speaking about your activities, occupy key positions in the formation of the company's image, development, sustainability of the entire business, its fame among other companies. Therefore, during the development of an advertising product project, it is impossible to do without printing designers. Believe me, competent design is capable of incredible things. An experienced, out-of-the-box thinking specialist will make a simple booklet so functional, colorful and attractive that a hand will not rise to send it to the ballot box.

For printing design, the following main tasks are envisaged: creating the appearance of an advertising printing product, forming the corporate style of the company.

An incredibly serious place is occupied by professional design in creating a corporate style for a company. Think for yourself: a letter that came in an envelope with the brand name of the organization is first examined, and only then opened. The appearance itself allows you to create such an important first impression about the whole company. The design of the image component requires the same serious approach as the creation of advertising printing. In some cases, it is he who influences the growth of popularity.

Printing design includes the development of a company sign or the entire style of the company, creative printing design with a professional selection of fonts, tones, composition, arrangement of blocks in the future product, a harmonious combination of the latter. It necessarily provides for additional operations: photography, scanning, layout, collages, color correction, retouching, etc.

Only when using a thoughtful design will your printed matter look in such a way that it will be pleasant for every possible consumer to hold it in their hands, to find out what is inside. The probability of a successful first communication with a potential buyer is largely associated with a successful, eye-catching design. The technical side of the issue is also important. Thus, the quality level of catalog production can affect the interest in the product, the desire of the client to purchase your product.

During the creation of print design, many questions come to mind: “What comes first - text or picture? In what case would advertising be more useful? Unfortunately, it is impossible to give an exact answer: different people have different opinions. But as studies by psychologists show, we receive up to 80% of the data with the help of vision. Therefore, a picture can often be more effective than a large amount of text. But we must not forget that professionally formed text advertising can be figurative, attractive and very effective.

Basics of Print Design

The concept of "print design" includes all the variety of products made on paper or its derivatives. The image of each company is strongly influenced by the level of the printed product. The booklets, leaflets, calendars, magazines offered by the printing house are able to emphasize the importance of the organization among other companies in its sector, present goods and offers from a more favorable side and convey all the necessary information to potential buyers.

It is no secret that during the creation of printed products, considerable attention is paid to design, since too restrained, nondescript, bored design will not be able to attract people at all, to gain a foothold in their minds. A printing project is a kind of synthesis of competent image creation and text presentation. Print design is currently used in a wide variety of areas: from printing advertising materials to designing books and periodicals.

Its main difference from other types is that the developed images, text messages are only the initial step in the printing process. For this reason, the creation of a design project in this situation must meet the requirements of all stages of production. Therefore, a specialist is expected to have rather specific knowledge of printing technology, the ability to correctly present information on paper. When each stage of production goes by itself, for example, the studio does the design, and the printing house transfers the finished material to the media, the customer's expectations are often not justified.

In our example, the designer works in the applied industry, that is, he is a direct link in the production process. He always has to remember about seemingly insignificant details. This includes the fact that materials prepared on different machines may have significant differences due to the specific features of the machines themselves or the selected consumables. In other words, the final result of printing and the color performance of the final product are necessarily under the control of the printing designer.

Any professional, having received an order for the development of printing design, asks the printing house where, for example, brochures will be produced, technical requirements for products. This step allows the result to be as close as possible to the plan of the specialist and the customer. Unlike the design of Internet resources, where the result cannot be touched in any way, in printing, the printing methods used in the manufacture of materials are of key importance. Masters of their craft are well aware of the different ways of applying the image, the intricacies of the printing house, they are well aware of the printing process - all this is necessary in order to ensure the planned final result.

Print Design Forms

To date, an incredible variety of print design forms. Let's name the most common:

  • forms;
  • leaflets;
  • booklets;
  • brochures;
  • calendars;
  • business cards;
  • folders;
  • notebooks;
  • envelopes;
  • labels;
  • labels;
  • books;
  • magazines;
  • newspapers;
  • posters;
  • directories;
  • postcards;
  • package;
  • stickers;
  • stickers.

Despite the fact that we have named the most popular print design services, the list does not end there. Also, customers love non-standard forms of advertising media.

Design of printing products in the photo




Stages of design development of printed products

Print design development consists in creating a visual design of the layout that can meet the individual needs of the client and is suitable for those technical standards dictated by the printing house.

Stage 1. At this step, a general idea of ​​​​the future form of the product is created.

Stage 2. Designers select colors, develop a common style and coordinate fonts, after which they prepare sketches showing how the elements will roughly be located.

Stage 3. Computer modeling is carried out with the study of even the most insignificant details and the creation of a layout of a printed publication.

Stage 4. The layout is transferred to the media selected for printing. It can be paper, modern plastic, plastic wrap. But this is not the final step.

Stage 5. Post-print processing takes place, that is, stitching, binding, gluing, laminating or other manipulations necessary to achieve the desired result. The designer can also actively participate in these processes, tracking the progress of the creation of materials until such time as they acquire a complete look.

The basis of layout in print design in most cases are techniques that are widely used in other areas of design.

  • Choice of product shape. It is a known fact that it is more pleasant for people to look at rectangular and square shapes, and preferably in a vertical rather than horizontal placement. When placing images on a large area (poster, magazine page), it is advisable for the designer to follow the rule of the "golden section". It is universal and is used in almost all types of design. In any case, the specialist must know the compositional basics of layout.
  • Selection of the optimal font for printing materials. The font, on the one hand, should make the text readable, and on the other hand, it should attract the attention of the person examining the product. In addition, the information presented in the printed publication must have a competent structure.
  • Choice of colors. The attention of viewers is better attracted by rich and colorful tones in advertising, while excesses can provoke irritation and rejection. Therefore, the selected colors, on the one hand, should be bright, and on the other hand, harmonious, so that potential customers do not feel visual strain when looking at your booklet. Of course, a variety of pictures and photographs are used in print design. They perfectly attract attention and contribute to a more trusting atmosphere, as they confirm the reality of the product or the popularity of the offer. For this reason, the status of a professional graphic designer is directly related to creativity, as readers always choose original design with catchy details and out-of-the-box solutions.

In addition to the listed techniques inherent in many subspecies of design, technologies typical for the creation of printed products are used in the formation of printing materials. This includes the lacquering of products, which improves the appearance and affects the attractiveness, which is so important in promotion. This process involves applying a special solution to the printed impression, which forms a transparent homogeneous film. It gives the pictures a well-known brilliance, and also increases the contrast and color saturation.

In addition, the varnish contributes to greater strength and increase the service life of printing materials. Another design option is foil stamping. In this case, a foil is placed between the cliche and the paper and pressing is carried out. In the production of postcards, pocket calendars and other medium-sized printed products, professionals may also prefer die-cut technology. It involves cutting out unusual shapes from a sheet of paper.

Nowadays, printing and post-printing techniques are changing rapidly, and designers are getting the most interesting tricks for additional decoration of printing materials. The main goal of the specialist is to achieve a harmonious combination of all visual elements. This is always a serious responsibility, as most postpress processes are not cheap, and with large print runs, any mistake will be followed by significant financial losses.

How color affects modern print design

We are constantly surrounded by nature with an abundance of colors and shades: green grass, blue sky, bright flowers, pink sunset, snow-white mountains. Color is everywhere. Its importance in our life is very great. It has long been no secret that color can affect the emotional state of a person. Scientists have proved that we perceive 80% of color and light with the nervous system and only 20% with the organs of vision. For this reason, the role of the right choice of color in the development of print design is so great. It is capable of both attracting, helping to perceive information, and causing negativity, repelling and unnerving.

Unfortunately, it often happens that when paying for the design of printed products, customers do not think about it at all. In the meantime, the choice of color will seriously affect the perception of your promotional products by a potential consumer. In the course of psychological experiments, scientists came to the conclusion that color can influence people's assessment of a particular subject. The so-called warm colors (red, yellow, orange) visually make the object closer, increasing its size. Cool colors (blues, blues, purples) help the subject appear smaller and more distant. Therefore, when giving preference to one or another color for creating your printing products, consider it within these indicators. Perception is also significantly affected by the mood of a person at the time of contact with the color. Depending on the emotional state, some tones can be pleasant, while others can be annoying. Since color works with feelings, not with the mind, you have to be very careful when choosing a color solution for any type of print design, and even more so for promotion.

In the middle of the last century, the questions of the influence of color on people excited the scientist Max Luscher. In his research, he proceeded from the assertion that the perception of color in humans was formed over a long period of historical development and is associated with lifestyle and contact with the outside world. The day was associated with vigorous activity: it was necessary to deal with the arrangement of housing, the search for food. The night is a time of rest and tranquility. For this reason, shades of dark blue reminded of the peace of the night, and yellow tones - of a sunny day and its chores. Red spoke of blood and fire, actions that required great concentration and speed.

Luscher came to a very important conclusion for graphic printing design that color not only evokes a certain reaction depending on the emotional state of the viewer, but also shapes his mood.

So, red sets up decisiveness, encourages you to commit one or another act, for example, to buy a promoted product. It draws eyes well to the object of advertising, but it should be used in moderation - in large quantities it can provoke a negative. One block of a catalog or brochure in this color will be appropriate and will attract attention well, while its excess can cause irritation and rejection of the proposed product in the buyer. Red for its properties is loved to be used in political and propaganda campaigns. It is also well suited for advertising products for men.

Blue color helps to focus, concentrate. The blue detail will immediately attract attention in your booklet, but, unlike the red one, it will not provoke negative emotions. This is the color of seriousness, so large firms love it very much.

Orange causes a surge of energy, uplifting, even provokes a feeling of happiness and peace. It fills you with strength and gently pushes you to make a choice. It is the color of health and creativity, so it is good to use it in print design and layout of advertisements for medicines, goods for children, services in the field of medicine and education.

Yellow- the color of sociability and openness. It helps to calm down, improves the emotional state, disposes to talkativeness. Perhaps it is because of this that yellow has become so widely used in recent years. True, it is not recommended to choose it to fill large areas, since the effect can be completely opposite. Yellow is suitable for advertising children's products, advertising and PR agencies, in the design of travel agency catalogs, as in our minds it is associated with the sun, sea and sand.

Green color reminds of nature, freshness, healthy lifestyle. It soothes, relaxes and heals, so they like to include it in the design of office space, hospitals, sanatoriums, veterinary clinics. This color is also common in advertisements and packaging for medical products, water treatment systems, detergents and cleaners, dental and pharmacies, animal clinics, health and conservation centers. But be careful - in large volumes it can cause lethargy and relaxation. Therefore, it is better to combine green with other colors: white, red, yellow and blue.

Violet- the color of inner concentration, which contributes to the solution of creative problems, inspires. Therefore, if it is important to hint at the creativity, originality of the product, a purple detail is well suited for print design. This color is usually used in the design of exclusive and original things. If your print product is produced for the creative elite, we strongly advise you not to give up purple.

Pink the color is formed by combining red and white, therefore it has the positive properties of both colors, while the negative features of red are destroyed by the influence of white. As a result, pink contributes to the creation of a romantic, upbeat mood. This color is common in the design of various women's perfumes, cosmetics, children's and family products. It makes us more attentive, gentle and caring. Pink is used everywhere, from perfume ads to dating agencies and family centers.

Blue the color echoes the sky, reminds of peace and friendship. It evokes confidence in a person, so it is often used in logos. Coolness, freshness, purity are associated with blue, which is widely used by manufacturers of perfumes, cosmetics and hygiene products.

Black is the color of isolation. It gives you the opportunity to isolate yourself from everything, focus and concentrate on a particular task. But this color is dangerous, as it can set you up for melancholy and despondency, cause a feeling of heaviness, sorrow, loneliness. Therefore, it is better not to use it in its pure form in advertising printing design (we are not talking about fonts and tables). Usually it is combined with other, warmer and brighter colors.

White- the color of complete openness to the beautiful and diverse world. It is good because it is not associated with any unpleasant sensations. In printing, it is better to use it together with other colors, since white alone can create a neutral effect, in which the consumer simply receives information about the product, without accents and advantages.

What is the best print design software

Over the past ten years, Adobe Creative Cloud has dominated the print design software market. To date, this package is a complete set of software products for working in almost any area of ​​design. In addition to this option, there are several other platforms developed for print design that remain widespread. It will not be possible to objectively name the best of them - each specialist must choose for himself, starting from what functionality he needs most.

  • Adobe Photoshop.

This graphic editor became the basis of all raster graphics standards and gained popularity in version 3.0. It provided a unique technique for working with layers at that time. Initially, Adobe Photoshop was developed for the Mac platform and was considered as a printing design program, but over time it began to receive more and more new features and moved into the fields of web design, photography, video production, and animation. Now it is a multi-platform environment, including a huge number of tools for working with raster graphics. The latest versions are equipped with tools for editing vector images, and also allow you to create videos. However, according to many experts, other software specifically designed for these purposes is more suitable for such tasks.

  • Adobe Illustrator.

This is a well-known vector graphics editor of any complexity, which has become incredibly popular due to its user-friendly intuitive interface and wide features. Designers use it as a universal tool for creating vector elements. A large set of tools makes it possible to prepare almost any print design product. Some specialists draw up entire catalogs in Adobe Illustrator. Of course, the program is not designed for this, but if necessary, it is able to cope with a similar task.

  • Adobe Design.

In this simple and at the same time complex program, both printing and interactive layout are possible. For a designer of any field - from a printer to a 3D animator - the possession of this product will be equally useful. The fact is that it has an extensive set of tools needed in all branches of computer, including printing, design. Adobe Indesign is a desktop publishing system that combines all the possibilities of printing and interactive layout. Here you can easily arrange everything - from a tiny booklet to a book. The program includes prepress preparation tools for the technical requirements of any printing house. Since e-magazines for iPad and Android became popular, Adobe Indesign has been given the opportunity to create and publish such material. Electronic presentations with interactive elements and multimedia inclusions are also within the reach of this software, as well as simple business cards and booklets.

  • Adobe Acrobat.

A software product designed to create and modify PDF files. This is a universal format that is used to securely transmit documents. It is not affected by the platform and hardware used. PDF everywhere will look the way the author intended it, regardless of the fonts, images, interactive elements in it.

Adobe Acrobat is considered a very important tool for a designer. It allows you to both create and edit files. This software has wide functionality for preflight and preparation, includes all tools for creating forms, introducing interactive elements, and works with an electronic signature. The program has a built-in fairly correct OCR engine that can recognize text from both text and graphic files. In addition, Adobe Acrobat allows you to embed different levels of protection in your documents.

  • CorelDRAW.

A very convenient software product that combines a layout program and a vector image editor. It is characterized by an intuitive interface, convenient arrangement of elements. It is used both when preparing a design for the printing production of small brochures, and for drawing in a vector. In addition, there are a huge number of plug-ins for CorelDRAW.

  • Corel Photo Paint.

An analogue of Adobe Photoshop only from Corel. This is an easy-to-learn and quite functional program for designers and artists. It allows you to realize if not all, then very many ideas, limited only by the possibilities of two-dimensional graphics. In the presence of a set of tools for retouching, creating collages, color correction.

  • Corel PowerTRACE.

Professional program for tracing images. Tracing is the conversion of images from raster to vector. Unlike Adobe Illustrator, where such tools are included in the program itself, in Corel this feature is placed in a separate application with many settings and additional options.

The package also includes web design software, a screen capture tool, a content search tool, and much more.

  • Corel Painter.

A software product created specifically for artists. The program is tailored for the creation of computer drawing and painting and is recognized as the undisputed leader in this field. With powerful tools and a user-friendly interface, it remains the recommended application for use with Wacom Cintiq tablets.

Three Common Mistakes That Will Ruin Any Print Design

Mistake 1. Ignoring the shape of the product.

We must not forget that the book, catalog and brochure are designed differently, so consider the types of products when developing a print design.

Mistake 2. Incorrect use of black.

This is a popular blunder associated with a misunderstanding of the features of print design. There are many subtleties with the conversion and use of black, which any specialist must know. But it doesn’t hurt for the customer to check whether the designer took into account the nuances of black processing, and whether the technique will give a transparent picture instead of the expected result.

Mistake 3. Implementation of stages by different performers.

This situation is usually associated with the desire to save money. Some promise cheaper layout, while others have less expensive printing. But a high-quality product can only be obtained in printing houses that work with a full cycle.

What are the prices for the design of printed products

The cost of the product depends on the amount of work, its shape, selected materials and a large number of other factors. Therefore, prices for printing design are calculated individually in each case.

In contact with

In contact with

Classmates

From this article you will learn

  • What is print design
  • What are the basics of print design
  • What are the forms of print design
  • What are the stages of the development of the design of printed products

Print design is a broad field of knowledge about the methods and principles of illustrating printed products. Of course, its importance is undeniable. Technologies, techniques and rules created during the existence of printing industry make it possible to present products in a favorable light, precisely influencing the emotions of the consumer. Although print design has many positive aspects, it has one serious disadvantage: this area of ​​​​knowledge is so wide that it is not entirely clear where to start in order to create any idea about it. This article aims to break down this barrier and introduce the reader to the basic principles and rules of print design.

What does print design look like?

Design of advertising and printing products- a subspecies of graphic design, whose main task is to create materials for a future product. In most cases, the finished product is presented on paper. In addition to advertising purposes, print design is widely used in print media, so there are four areas of its use:

  • mass advertising;
  • advertising printed matter;
  • multipage products;
  • periodicals.

Print design as a company style with a winning design

Every year, new companies and productions appear, which increases competition in the field of sales. Any company wants to stand out from the crowd, get a big name, popularity among customers, introduce them to their offers. For this reason, the importance of promotion, especially printed materials, in this area has recently grown so much. Printed media has become almost the most widely used method of advertising, as it has a low cost and proven effectiveness. All this makes it possible to quickly transfer the necessary information to a large number of potential consumers.

To attract the attention of a potential client, a variety of print advertising options are used: booklets, flyers, brochures, catalogs, calendars, etc. Each person has a huge number of print design products, and they all assure that it is their offer that is better and better . How not to get confused in this amount of information?

Obviously, a person who comes to an exhibition or presentation will notice, first of all, the catalog that looks attractive from the outside. And only after that he may have a desire to study in more detail what is contained inside. As the example shows, two equivalent characteristics play a key role in creating a printing product: an unusual design that can capture the attention of a person, and printing of the appropriate level.

Bright design And layout in combination with high quality printing are generally recognized as the main method of attracting the views of visitors towards the objects of advertising printing. They occupy key positions in the production of business cards, flyers, booklets, catalogs, brochures, as well as in the creation of logos and other details of corporate culture. A well-chosen design will be the key to a successful marketing campaign.

The functioning of any company cannot be imagined without printed handouts. Leaflets and other variants of it, speaking about your activities, occupy key positions in the formation of the company's image, development, sustainability of the entire business, its fame among other companies. Therefore, during the development of an advertising product project, it is impossible to do without printing designers. Believe me, competent design is capable of incredible things. An experienced, out-of-the-box thinking specialist will make a simple booklet so functional, colorful and attractive that a hand will not rise to send it to the ballot box.

For printing design, the following main tasks are envisaged: creating the appearance of an advertising printing product, forming the corporate style of the company.

An incredibly serious place is occupied by professional design in creating a corporate style for a company. Think for yourself: a letter that came in an envelope with the brand name of the organization is first examined, and only then opened. The appearance itself allows you to create such an important first impression about the whole company. The design of the image component requires the same serious approach as the creation of advertising printing. In some cases, it is he who influences the growth of popularity.

Printing design includes the development of a company sign or the entire style of the company, creative printing design with a professional selection of fonts, tones, composition, arrangement of blocks in the future product, a harmonious combination of the latter. It necessarily provides for additional operations: photography, scanning, layout, collages, color correction, retouching, etc.

Only when using a thoughtful design will your printed matter look in such a way that it will be pleasant for every possible consumer to hold it in their hands, to find out what is inside. The probability of a successful first communication with a potential buyer is largely associated with a successful, eye-catching design. The technical side of the issue is also important. Thus, the quality level of catalog production can affect the interest in the product, the desire of the client to purchase your product.

During the creation of print design, many questions come to mind: “What comes first - text or picture? In what case would advertising be more useful? Unfortunately, it is impossible to give an exact answer: different people have different opinions. But as studies by psychologists show, we receive up to 80% of the data with the help of vision. Therefore, a picture can often be more effective than a large amount of text. But we must not forget that professionally formed text advertising can be figurative, attractive and very effective.

Basics of Print Design

The concept of "print design" includes all the variety of products made on paper or its derivatives. The image of each company is strongly influenced by the level of the printed product. The booklets, leaflets, calendars, magazines offered by the printing house are able to emphasize the importance of the organization among other companies in its sector, present goods and offers from a more favorable side and convey all the necessary information to potential buyers.

It is no secret that during the creation of printed products, considerable attention is paid to design, since too restrained, nondescript, bored design will not be able to attract people at all, to gain a foothold in their minds. A printing project is a kind of synthesis of competent image creation and text presentation. Print design is currently used in a wide variety of areas: from printing advertising materials to designing books and periodicals.

Its main difference from other types is that the developed images, text messages are only the initial step in the printing process. For this reason, the creation of a design project in this situation must meet the requirements of all stages of production. Therefore, a specialist is expected to have rather specific knowledge of printing technology, the ability to correctly present information on paper. When each stage of production goes by itself, for example, the studio does the design, and the printing house transfers the finished material to the media, the customer's expectations are often not justified.

In our example, the designer works in the applied industry, that is, he is a direct link in the production process. He always has to remember about seemingly insignificant details. This includes the fact that materials prepared on different machines may have significant differences due to the specific features of the machines themselves or the selected consumables. In other words, the final result of printing and the color performance of the final product are necessarily under the control of the printing designer.

Any professional, having received an order for the development of printing design, asks the printing house where, for example, brochures will be produced, technical requirements for products. This step allows the result to be as close as possible to the plan of the specialist and the customer. Unlike the design of Internet resources, where the result cannot be touched in any way, in printing, the printing methods used in the manufacture of materials are of key importance. Masters of their craft are well aware of the different ways of applying the image, the intricacies of the printing house, they are well aware of the printing process - all this is necessary in order to ensure the planned final result.

Print Design Forms

To date, an incredible variety of print design forms. Let's name the most common:

  • forms;
  • leaflets;
  • booklets;
  • brochures;
  • calendars;
  • business cards;
  • folders;
  • notebooks;
  • envelopes;
  • labels;
  • labels;
  • books;
  • magazines;
  • newspapers;
  • posters;
  • directories;
  • postcards;
  • package;
  • stickers;
  • stickers.

Despite the fact that we have named the most popular print design services, the list does not end there. Also, customers love non-standard forms of advertising media.

Design of printing products in the photo




Stages of design development of printed products

Print design development consists in creating a visual design of the layout that can meet the individual needs of the client and is suitable for those technical standards dictated by the printing house.

Stage 1. At this step, a general idea of ​​​​the future form of the product is created.

Stage 2. Designers select colors, develop a common style and coordinate fonts, after which they prepare sketches showing how the elements will roughly be located.

Stage 3. Computer modeling is carried out with the study of even the most insignificant details and the creation of a layout of a printed publication.

Stage 4. The layout is transferred to the media selected for printing. It can be paper, modern plastic, plastic wrap. But this is not the final step.

Stage 5. Post-print processing takes place, that is, stitching, binding, gluing, laminating or other manipulations necessary to achieve the desired result. The designer can also actively participate in these processes, tracking the progress of the creation of materials until such time as they acquire a complete look.

The basis of layout in print design in most cases are techniques that are widely used in other areas of design.

  • Choice of product shape. It is a known fact that it is more pleasant for people to look at rectangular and square shapes, and preferably in a vertical rather than horizontal placement. When placing images on a large area (poster, magazine page), it is advisable for the designer to follow the rule of the "golden section". It is universal and is used in almost all types of design. In any case, the specialist must know the compositional basics of layout.
  • Selection of the optimal font for printing materials. The font, on the one hand, should make the text readable, and on the other hand, it should attract the attention of the person examining the product. In addition, the information presented in the printed publication must have a competent structure.
  • Choice of colors. The attention of viewers is better attracted by rich and colorful tones in advertising, while excesses can provoke irritation and rejection. Therefore, the selected colors, on the one hand, should be bright, and on the other hand, harmonious, so that potential customers do not feel visual strain when looking at your booklet. Of course, a variety of pictures and photographs are used in print design. They perfectly attract attention and contribute to a more trusting atmosphere, as they confirm the reality of the product or the popularity of the offer. For this reason, the status of a professional graphic designer is directly related to creativity, as readers always choose original design with catchy details and out-of-the-box solutions.

In addition to the listed techniques inherent in many subspecies of design, technologies typical for the creation of printed products are used in the formation of printing materials. This includes the lacquering of products, which improves the appearance and affects the attractiveness, which is so important in promotion. This process involves applying a special solution to the printed impression, which forms a transparent homogeneous film. It gives the pictures a well-known brilliance, and also increases the contrast and color saturation.

In addition, the varnish contributes to greater strength and increase the service life of printing materials. Another design option is foil stamping. In this case, a foil is placed between the cliche and the paper and pressing is carried out. In the production of postcards, pocket calendars and other medium-sized printed products, professionals may also prefer die-cut technology. It involves cutting out unusual shapes from a sheet of paper.

Nowadays, printing and post-printing techniques are changing rapidly, and designers are getting the most interesting tricks for additional decoration of printing materials. The main goal of the specialist is to achieve a harmonious combination of all visual elements. This is always a serious responsibility, as most postpress processes are not cheap, and with large print runs, any mistake will be followed by significant financial losses.

How color affects modern print design

We are constantly surrounded by nature with an abundance of colors and shades: green grass, blue sky, bright flowers, pink sunset, snow-white mountains. Color is everywhere. Its importance in our life is very great. It has long been no secret that color can affect the emotional state of a person. Scientists have proved that we perceive 80% of color and light with the nervous system and only 20% with the organs of vision. For this reason, the role of the right choice of color in the development of print design is so great. It is capable of both attracting, helping to perceive information, and causing negativity, repelling and unnerving.

Unfortunately, it often happens that when paying for the design of printed products, customers do not think about it at all. In the meantime, the choice of color will seriously affect the perception of your promotional products by a potential consumer. In the course of psychological experiments, scientists came to the conclusion that color can influence people's assessment of a particular subject. The so-called warm colors (red, yellow, orange) visually make the object closer, increasing its size. Cool colors (blues, blues, purples) help the subject appear smaller and more distant. Therefore, when giving preference to one or another color for creating your printing products, consider it within these indicators. Perception is also significantly affected by the mood of a person at the time of contact with the color. Depending on the emotional state, some tones can be pleasant, while others can be annoying. Since color works with feelings, not with the mind, you have to be very careful when choosing a color solution for any type of print design, and even more so for promotion.

In the middle of the last century, the questions of the influence of color on people excited the scientist Max Luscher. In his research, he proceeded from the assertion that the perception of color in humans was formed over a long period of historical development and is associated with lifestyle and contact with the outside world. The day was associated with vigorous activity: it was necessary to deal with the arrangement of housing, the search for food. The night is a time of rest and tranquility. For this reason, shades of dark blue reminded of the peace of the night, and yellow tones - of a sunny day and its chores. Red spoke of blood and fire, actions that required great concentration and speed.

Luscher came to a very important conclusion for graphic printing design that color not only evokes a certain reaction depending on the emotional state of the viewer, but also shapes his mood.

So, red sets up decisiveness, encourages you to commit one or another act, for example, to buy a promoted product. It draws eyes well to the object of advertising, but it should be used in moderation - in large quantities it can provoke a negative. One block of a catalog or brochure in this color will be appropriate and will attract attention well, while its excess can cause irritation and rejection of the proposed product in the buyer. Red for its properties is loved to be used in political and propaganda campaigns. It is also well suited for advertising products for men.

Blue color helps to focus, concentrate. The blue detail will immediately attract attention in your booklet, but, unlike the red one, it will not provoke negative emotions. This is the color of seriousness, so large firms love it very much.

Orange causes a surge of energy, uplifting, even provokes a feeling of happiness and peace. It fills you with strength and gently pushes you to make a choice. It is the color of health and creativity, so it is good to use it in print design and layout of advertisements for medicines, goods for children, services in the field of medicine and education.

Yellow- the color of sociability and openness. It helps to calm down, improves the emotional state, disposes to talkativeness. Perhaps it is because of this that yellow has become so widely used in recent years. True, it is not recommended to choose it to fill large areas, since the effect can be completely opposite. Yellow is suitable for advertising children's products, advertising and PR agencies, in the design of travel agency catalogs, as in our minds it is associated with the sun, sea and sand.

Green color reminds of nature, freshness, healthy lifestyle. It soothes, relaxes and heals, so they like to include it in the design of office space, hospitals, sanatoriums, veterinary clinics. This color is also common in advertisements and packaging for medical products, water treatment systems, detergents and cleaners, dental and pharmacies, animal clinics, health and conservation centers. But be careful - in large volumes it can cause lethargy and relaxation. Therefore, it is better to combine green with other colors: white, red, yellow and blue.

Violet- the color of inner concentration, which contributes to the solution of creative problems, inspires. Therefore, if it is important to hint at the creativity, originality of the product, a purple detail is well suited for print design. This color is usually used in the design of exclusive and original things. If your print product is produced for the creative elite, we strongly advise you not to give up purple.

Pink the color is formed by combining red and white, therefore it has the positive properties of both colors, while the negative features of red are destroyed by the influence of white. As a result, pink contributes to the creation of a romantic, upbeat mood. This color is common in the design of various women's perfumes, cosmetics, children's and family products. It makes us more attentive, gentle and caring. Pink is used everywhere, from perfume ads to dating agencies and family centers.

Blue the color echoes the sky, reminds of peace and friendship. It evokes confidence in a person, so it is often used in logos. Coolness, freshness, purity are associated with blue, which is widely used by manufacturers of perfumes, cosmetics and hygiene products.

Black is the color of isolation. It gives you the opportunity to isolate yourself from everything, focus and concentrate on a particular task. But this color is dangerous, as it can set you up for melancholy and despondency, cause a feeling of heaviness, sorrow, loneliness. Therefore, it is better not to use it in its pure form in advertising printing design (we are not talking about fonts and tables). Usually it is combined with other, warmer and brighter colors.

White- the color of complete openness to the beautiful and diverse world. It is good because it is not associated with any unpleasant sensations. In printing, it is better to use it together with other colors, since white alone can create a neutral effect, in which the consumer simply receives information about the product, without accents and advantages.

What is the best print design software

Over the past ten years, Adobe Creative Cloud has dominated the print design software market. To date, this package is a complete set of software products for working in almost any area of ​​design. In addition to this option, there are several other platforms developed for print design that remain widespread. It will not be possible to objectively name the best of them - each specialist must choose for himself, starting from what functionality he needs most.

  • Adobe Photoshop.

This graphic editor became the basis of all raster graphics standards and gained popularity in version 3.0. It provided a unique technique for working with layers at that time. Initially, Adobe Photoshop was developed for the Mac platform and was considered as a printing design program, but over time it began to receive more and more new features and moved into the fields of web design, photography, video production, and animation. Now it is a multi-platform environment, including a huge number of tools for working with raster graphics. The latest versions are equipped with tools for editing vector images, and also allow you to create videos. However, according to many experts, other software specifically designed for these purposes is more suitable for such tasks.

  • Adobe Illustrator.

This is a well-known vector graphics editor of any complexity, which has become incredibly popular due to its user-friendly intuitive interface and wide features. Designers use it as a universal tool for creating vector elements. A large set of tools makes it possible to prepare almost any print design product. Some specialists draw up entire catalogs in Adobe Illustrator. Of course, the program is not designed for this, but if necessary, it is able to cope with a similar task.

  • Adobe Design.

In this simple and at the same time complex program, both printing and interactive layout are possible. For a designer of any field - from a printer to a 3D animator - the possession of this product will be equally useful. The fact is that it has an extensive set of tools needed in all branches of computer, including printing, design. Adobe Indesign is a desktop publishing system that combines all the possibilities of printing and interactive layout. Here you can easily arrange everything - from a tiny booklet to a book. The program includes prepress preparation tools for the technical requirements of any printing house. Since e-magazines for iPad and Android became popular, Adobe Indesign has been given the opportunity to create and publish such material. Electronic presentations with interactive elements and multimedia inclusions are also within the reach of this software, as well as simple business cards and booklets.

  • Adobe Acrobat.

A software product designed to create and modify PDF files. This is a universal format that is used to securely transmit documents. It is not affected by the platform and hardware used. PDF everywhere will look the way the author intended it, regardless of the fonts, images, interactive elements in it.

Adobe Acrobat is considered a very important tool for a designer. It allows you to both create and edit files. This software has wide functionality for preflight and preparation, includes all tools for creating forms, introducing interactive elements, and works with an electronic signature. The program has a built-in fairly correct OCR engine that can recognize text from both text and graphic files. In addition, Adobe Acrobat allows you to embed different levels of protection in your documents.

  • CorelDRAW.

A very convenient software product that combines a layout program and a vector image editor. It is characterized by an intuitive interface, convenient arrangement of elements. It is used both when preparing a design for the printing production of small brochures, and for drawing in a vector. In addition, there are a huge number of plug-ins for CorelDRAW.

  • Corel Photo Paint.

An analogue of Adobe Photoshop only from Corel. This is an easy-to-learn and quite functional program for designers and artists. It allows you to realize if not all, then very many ideas, limited only by the possibilities of two-dimensional graphics. In the presence of a set of tools for retouching, creating collages, color correction.

  • Corel PowerTRACE.

Professional program for tracing images. Tracing is the conversion of images from raster to vector. Unlike Adobe Illustrator, where such tools are included in the program itself, in Corel this feature is placed in a separate application with many settings and additional options.

The package also includes web design software, a screen capture tool, a content search tool, and much more.

  • Corel Painter.

A software product created specifically for artists. The program is tailored for the creation of computer drawing and painting and is recognized as the undisputed leader in this field. With powerful tools and a user-friendly interface, it remains the recommended application for use with Wacom Cintiq tablets.

Three Common Mistakes That Will Ruin Any Print Design

Mistake 1. Ignoring the shape of the product.

We must not forget that the book, catalog and brochure are designed differently, so consider the types of products when developing a print design.

Mistake 2. Incorrect use of black.

This is a popular blunder associated with a misunderstanding of the features of print design. There are many subtleties with the conversion and use of black, which any specialist must know. But it doesn’t hurt for the customer to check whether the designer took into account the nuances of black processing, and whether the technique will give a transparent picture instead of the expected result.

Mistake 3. Implementation of stages by different performers.

This situation is usually associated with the desire to save money. Some promise cheaper layout, while others have less expensive printing. But a high-quality product can only be obtained in printing houses that work with a full cycle.

What are the prices for the design of printed products

The cost of the product depends on the amount of work, its shape, selected materials and a large number of other factors. Therefore, prices for printing design are calculated individually in each case.

In contact with

Print design is one of the types of print design, which is necessary to create various colorful materials used in printed products. One of the main carriers of polygraphic design is paper.

Printing design is widely used in mass advertising - in outdoor advertising and the media. And also in various types of advertising printed materials: leaflets, booklets, catalogs, etc. Designer services

Printing design for promotional products is an important and responsible task that periodically appears in every organization or company. In order for advertising to become an effective tool for achieving the goals, it is necessary to fulfill two important conditions: to find the optimal design solution and to solve the problem in technical terms. If your promotional products are the result of a competent combination of professional and stylish design and the corporate identity of the company, then you can achieve really high results from the ongoing advertising campaign.

The print design market is huge today. Our company offers an integrated approach to solving your problems. If you need to develop and create certain printed products, then your order in our company will begin with the effective development of product design and end with post-print processing. By entering into a cooperation agreement with our company, you save on the cost of services performed, and we guarantee you high-quality and prompt carrying out the development of a design solution for advertising and the creation of printing products.

The creation of any product begins with the development of the design of the future edition. Here, the most original wishes of the customer are taken into account, as well as the technical possibilities of implementing this idea into a real product. At the next stage of creating printing, the layout is prepared for printing, while taking into account the technical capabilities and requirements of the printing house. Prepress is the next step. At this stage, photoforms, printing plates, die-cutting dies, and other working moments are created that are used in this particular case.

The next step is the main one. The process of printing in a printing house is the most important stage when working with an order. High-quality printing in this case is a positive moment in the perception of the finished product.

Post-print processing of the circulation begins after the printing ink dries. Post-print processing can be very different: binding, gluing, stitching, varnishing, laminating, embossing, die-cutting, stamping.

In order to create an interesting, original thing in the process of creating printed products, you can use a variety of modern technologies. Various methods of lamination, selective and continuous varnishing, foil stamping, hot stamping, die-cutting - all this is used to create a high-quality printing product. And it is necessary to take into account these technologies already at the stage of design development. The designer takes on a certain responsibility for the creation of the future circulation of printed products. And the price of a mistake here is especially high. Experienced masters of their craft - highly professional designers of our company, will develop a design layout for your order, taking into account all the technological features of production, and the result of the work of a close-knit team of our employees will be a unique, beautiful and original printing product.

In order to emphasize the design idea, varnishing is used in post-print processing. Thanks to this technological process, the finished product acquires additional strength and a beautiful, lacquered appearance. Varnishing protects printed products from moisture and various contaminants, increases strength and durability, and also protects the ink layer of the printed product from abrasion.

Another type of processing of printed products is punching. This method allows you to create original printed products, thanks to the use of various dies for cutting complex shapes into a paper product. Die-cutting is used in the production of postcards, labels, pocket calendars, various types of packaging products. Beautiful, original, stylish products are obtained using foil stamping in post-print processing. Foil of different colors can be used here, which allows you to give the product a unique look. Simultaneously with foil stamping, hot stamping can be used as a type of post-printing processing. At the same time, embossing can be an independent type of design or used in combination with other types of finishing.