Before&After ® BAmagazine.com i U X Threedocuments, onelook How to turn letterhead, envelope and business card into a single visual presence Continued Continued Onelook 0608 Before&After BAmagazine.com ® i U X Threedocuments,onelook Howtoturnletterhead,envelopeandbusinesscardintoasinglevisualpresence Mark Corresponding size Typeface GENTX A Uniformspacing B GENTXSYSTEMS Markandtypearethesamesize Thislogoconsistsofadiamond-shaped“mark”anddistinctivetypeface. Becausealogomustlex—sometimesthetypemustbeprominent,and sometimesthemarkmustbeprominent—youmustestablishrationalsize relationships.Intheexamplesabove,A)typeistheheightofthehorizontal bands,andB)markandtypefacearethesameheight. Letterhead, envelope and business card are the three most common business documents They are always designed as a package, yet they are really quite different; they differ greatly in size and have very different proportions Despite this, these documents must look and feel the same The key is to establish rational and repetitive visual relationships between mark, type and the spaces they occupy We’ll show you what that means of 10 Onelook 0608 Before&After ® One look BAmagazine.com of 10 i U X Markandtypesharecharacteristics A close look at the logo reveals a fabric of visual relationships designed to connect the mark and type on several levels Let’s look at each thread GENTX SYSTEMS Sizeandcolor Typeandmarkhaveasizerelationship;atstationerysize,typeisthe heightofthehorizontalbands.Commoncolorscreateastrongvisual linkthatcancarryacrossspatialdistancesandfrompagetopage G Shapeandstyle Typeandmarkhaveastylerelationship;simplecirclesandstraight lineshavenothick-thinvariationor fussydetail Horizontal Vertical Divisionsofspace Squintandyou’llseethatthemarkis composedofthreeequalhorizontaland verticalsegments.Thesephantomrows andcolumnshaverealpresenceandwill beusedtogoverndistancesbetween elementsonthepage of 10 Onelook 0608 Before&After ® One look BAmagazine.com of 10 i U X Surveytheield Although we’ve come to regard them as normal, U S stationery sizes are just plain odd— one’s fat, one’s small, one’s wide, and the envelope is unnecessarily large for the letter Letterhead 1/2”x11”(1:1.3ratio) Businesscard 1/2”x2”(1.75:1ratio) Ourtaskistomakethese threeoddballformats(four, ifyouincludeamailinglabel) lookandfeelasone.Thekey willbetofocusonthelogo, notthefunnyproportions #10Businessenvelope 91/2”x41/8”(2.3:1ratio) of 10 Onelook 0608 Before&After ® One look BAmagazine.com of 10 i U X Designthebusinesscardirst The conined space of the business card makes it the most dificult to design; establish composition and spatial relationships here irst A)Place —Measurebyeye,and placethediamondmarkaphantom columnfromtheleftedge.This distanceconnectsthemarktothe page;thewhitecornerampliies themark’striangularshape GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com Third B)Repeatthemarginontop,and alignthenameandaddress C)Stepthemarkoncetotheright. Thiswilldesignatethetypeguide A D)Setthetypealignedleftto thetypeguideandthetopofthe mark.Notethattheinishedcard isadesignofrationalrelationshipsbasedontheprimaryvisual object,themark.Theserelationshipscannowberepeatedon otherdocuments B GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com Richard L Thompson ElectricalEngineer tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 mailrichardt@gentx.com C D B of 10 Onelook 0608 Before&After One look ® BAmagazine.com of 10 i U X Letterheadnext Repeat the business card composition on the letterhead To retain a proper sense of proportion, increase the distances between objects Tocompensatefortheletterhead’sgreaterdistances: B GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 www.gentx.com A)Placethemarkhalfits widthin,notathird. B)Repeattheresultingmarginonthetopasbefore C C)Stepthemarkdownward twiceandoveronce D Mr Stan Parker D)Aligntheaddresseewith thecorner. Notethatthetypeandmark sizeshavenotchanged Universal IT Services 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 A Half Dear Mr Parker: Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible.Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating en mist of it snooling of 10 Onelook 0608 Before&After ® One look BAmagazine.com of 10 i U X Finally,theenvelope Repeat again on the envelope, compensating only for its very wide proportions This repetition is the key to designing a cohesive business system Theenveloperetainsthe samespatialproportionsand placementastheletterhead withoneexception—the markstepstotherightthree times,notjustonce,toget theaddressintothemiddle oftheenvelope.Notethat thetypeandmarksizeshave notchanged GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 Mr Stan Parker Universal IT Services 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 Half 3times of 10 Onelook 0608 Before&After ® One look BAmagazine.com of 10 i U X Allthesame The three documents now look and feel the same Because they’re built on rational relationships, the look can be readily transferred to other documents like the CD GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 www.gentx.com GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com Richard L Thompson ElectricalEngineer tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 mailrichardt@gentx.com Mr Stan Parker Samenamesize Samemarksize Sametextsize Samealignment Samecolors Universal IT Services 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558www.gentx.com Dear Mr Parker: GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible.Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exat- Mr Stan Parker ing end mist of it snooling Universal IT Services Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Sincerely, Richard L Thompson of 10 Onelook 0608 Before&After One look ® BAmagazine.com of 10 i U X Articleresources Typefaces 1Avenir35Light|8pt GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com 2Avenir95Black|8pt Richard L Thompson ElectricalEngineer tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 mailrichardt@gentx.com 3HelveticaNeueLightCond|8pt Colors C25M0Y95K0 C60M20Y25K35 4HelveticaNeueHeavy|8/9.5pt 5HelveticaNeueMedCond|8/9.5pt 6UtopiaRegular|10/13pt GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 www.gentx.com Mr Stan Parker Universal IT Services 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 Dear Mr Parker: Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible.Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Sincerely, Richard L Thompson Electrical Engineer richardt@gentx.com of 10 Onelook 0608 Before&After ® One One look look BAmagazine.com 10 10 of of 10 10 SubscribetoBefore&After Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe, and become a more capable, conident designer for pennies per article To learn more, go to http://www.bamagazine.com/Subscribe i U X Before&Aftermagazine Before&Afterhasbeensharingitspracticalapproach tographicdesignsince1990.Becauseourmodernworld hasmadedesignersofusall(readyornot),Before& Afterisdedicatedtomakinggraphicdesignunderstandable,usefulandevenfunforeveryone. To pass along a free copy of this article to JohnMcWadePublisherandcreativedirector GayeMcWadeAssociatepublisher VincentPascual Staffdesigner DexterMarkAbelleraStaffdesigner others, click here Editorialboard GwenAmos,CarlWinther E-mailthisarticle Joinoure-list To be notiied by e-mail of new articles as they become available, go to http://www.bamagazine.com/email Before&Aftermagazine 323LincolnStreet,Roseville,CA95678 Telephone916-784-3880 Fax916-784-3995 E-mailmailbox@bamagazine.com wwwhttp://www.bamagazine.com Copyright©2005Before&Aftermagazine,ISSN 1049-0035.Allrightsreserved Youmaypassthisarticlearound,butyoumaynotalter it,andyoumaynotchargeforit.Youmayquotebrief sectionsforreview.Ifyoudothis,pleasecreditBefore &Aftermagazine,andletusknow.Tofeaturefree Before&AfterarticlesonyourWebsite,pleasecontact us.Forpermissiontoincludeallorpartofthisarticlein anotherwork,pleasecontactus 10 of 10 | Printing formats Onelook 0608 Before&After BAmagazine.com ® i U X Before&Afterismadetoityourbinder Before & After articles are intended for permanent reference All are titled and numbered For the current table of contents, click here To save time and paper, a paper-saver format of this article, suitable for one- or two-sided printing, is provided on the following pages Forpresentationformat Print:(Specifypages1–10) Forpaper-saverformat Print:(Specifypages12–16) Print Format:Landscape PageSize:FittoPage Save Presentationformator Paper-saverformat Back | Paper-saver format Threedocuments, onelook How to turn letterhead, envelope and business card into a single visual presence Mark Typeface GENTX Corresponding size A Uniformspacing B GENTXSYSTEMS Markandtypearethesamesize Thislogoconsistsofadiamond-shaped“mark”anddistinctivetypeface. Becausealogomustlex—sometimesthetypemustbeprominent,and sometimesthemarkmustbeprominent—youmustestablishrationalsize relationships.Intheexamplesabove,A)typeistheheightofthehorizontal bands,andB)markandtypefacearethesameheight. Letterhead, envelope and business card are the three most common business documents They are always designed as a package, yet they are really quite different; they differ greatly in size and have very different proportions Despite this, these documents must look and feel the same The key is to establish rational and repetitive visual relationships between mark, type and the spaces they occupy We’ll show you what that means 0608 Threedocuments,onelook Before&After|www.bamagazine.com 1 of Threedocuments,onelook 0608 Markandtypesharecharacteristics A close look at the logo reveals a fabric of visual relationships designed to connect the mark and type on several levels Let’s look at each thread G GENTX SYSTEMS Sizeandcolor Typeandmarkhaveasizerelationship;atstationerysize,typeisthe heightofthehorizontalbands.Commoncolorscreateastrongvisual linkthatcancarryacrossspatialdistancesandfrompagetopage Shapeandstyle Typeandmarkhaveastylerelationship;simplecirclesandstraight lineshavenothick-thinvariationor fussydetail Horizontal Vertical Divisionsofspace Squintandyou’llseethatthemarkis composedofthreeequalhorizontaland verticalsegments.Thesephantomrows andcolumnshaverealpresenceandwill beusedtogoverndistancesbetween elementsonthepage Surveytheield Although we’ve come to regard them as normal, U S stationery sizes are just plain odd— one’s fat, one’s small, one’s wide, and the envelope is unnecessarily large for the letter Letterhead 1/2”x11”(1:1.3ratio) Businesscard 1/2”x2”(1.75:1ratio) Ourtaskistomakethese threeoddballformats(four, ifyouincludeamailinglabel) lookandfeelasone.Thekey willbetofocusonthelogo, notthefunnyproportions #10Businessenvelope 91/2”x41/8”(2.3:1ratio) 0608 Threedocuments,onelook Before&After|www.bamagazine.com 2 of Threedocuments,onelook 0608 Designthebusinesscardirst The conined space of the business card makes it the most dificult to design; establish composition and spatial relationships here irst A)Place —Measurebyeye,and placethediamondmarkaphantom columnfromtheleftedge.This distanceconnectsthemarktothe page;thewhitecornerampliies themark’striangularshape GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com Third B)Repeatthemarginontop,and alignthenameandaddress A C)Stepthemarkoncetotheright. Thiswilldesignatethetypeguide D)Setthetypealignedleftto thetypeguideandthetopofthe mark.Notethattheinishedcard isadesignofrationalrelationshipsbasedontheprimaryvisual object,themark.Theserelationshipscannowberepeatedon otherdocuments B GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com Richard L Thompson ElectricalEngineer tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 mailrichardt@gentx.com D C B Letterheadnext Repeat the business card composition on the letterhead To retain a proper sense of proportion, increase the distances between objects Tocompensatefortheletterhead’sgreaterdistances: B GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 www.gentx.com A)Placethemarkhalfits widthin,notathird. B)Repeattheresultingmarginonthetopasbefore C C)Stepthemarkdownward twiceandoveronce D Mr Stan Parker D)Aligntheaddresseewith thecorner. Notethatthetypeandmark sizeshavenotchanged Universal IT Services 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 A Half Dear Mr Parker: Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible.Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating en mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this 0608 Threedocuments,onelook Before&After|www.bamagazine.com 3 of Threedocuments,onelook 0608 Finally,theenvelope Repeat again on the envelope, compensating only for its very wide proportions This repetition is the key to designing a cohesive business system Theenveloperetainsthe samespatialproportionsand placementastheletterhead withoneexception—the markstepstotherightthree times,notjustonce,toget theaddressintothemiddle oftheenvelope.Notethat thetypeandmarksizes havenotchanged GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 Mr Stan Parker Universal IT Services 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 3times Half Allthesame The three documents now look and feel the same Because they’re built on rational relationships, the look can be readily transferred to other documents like the CD GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 www.gentx.com GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com Richard L Thompson ElectricalEngineer tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 mailrichardt@gentx.com Mr Stan Parker Samenamesize Samemarksize Sametextsize Samealignment Samecolors Universal IT Services 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558www.gentx.com Dear Mr Parker: GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible.Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exat- Mr Stan Parker ing end mist of it snooling Universal IT Services Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Sincerely, Richard L Thompson Electrical Engineer 0608 Threedocuments,onelook Before&After|www.bamagazine.com 4 of Threedocuments,onelook 0608 Articleresources Typefaces Colors 1Avenir35Light|8pt GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 www.gentx.com 2Avenir95Black|8pt Richard L Thompson ElectricalEngineer tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 mailrichardt@gentx.com 3HelveticaNeueLightCond|8pt C25M0Y95K0 C60M20Y25K35 4HelveticaNeueHeavy|8/9.5pt 5HelveticaNeueMedCond|8/9.5pt 6UtopiaRegular|10/13pt GENTXSYSTEMS 3756EsterWay,Napa,CA94558 tel555.689.1546 fax555.689.3486 www.gentx.com Mr Stan Parker Universal IT Services 9576 Jackson Road Napa, CA 94558 Dear Mr Parker: Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible.Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Texture and lasp net exating end mist of it snooling Spaff forl isn’t cubular but quastic, leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this luant chasible Silk, shast, lape and behast the thin chack “It has larch to say fan.” Why? Elesara and order is fay of alm A card whint not oogum or bont Pretty simple, glead and tarm Sincerely, Richard L Thompson Electrical Engineer richardt@gentx.com SubscribetoBefore&After Before&Aftermagazine Before&Afterhasbeensharingitspracticalapproach tographicdesignsince1990.Becauseourmodernworld hasmadedesignersofusall(readyornot),Before& Afterisdedicatedtomakinggraphicdesignunderstandable,usefulandevenfunforeveryone. Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe, and become a more capable, conident designer for pennies per article To learn more, go to http://www.bamagazine.com/Subscribe To pass along a free copy of this article to JohnMcWadePublisherandcreativedirector GayeMcWadeAssociatepublisher VincentPascual Staffdesigner DexterMarkAbelleraStaffdesigner others, click here Editorialboard GwenAmos,CarlWinther E-mailthisarticle Before&Aftermagazine 323LincolnStreet,Roseville,CA95678 Telephone916-784-3880 Fax916-784-3995 E-mailmailbox@bamagazine.com wwwhttp://www.bamagazine.com Joinoure-list To be notiied by e-mail of new articles as they become available, go to http://www.bamagazine.com/email Copyright©2005Before&Aftermagazine,ISSN 1049-0035.Allrightsreserved Youmaypassthisarticlearound,butyoumaynotalter it,andyoumaynotchargeforit.Youmayquotebrief sectionsforreview.Ifyoudothis,pleasecreditBefore &Aftermagazine,andletusknow.Tofeaturefree Before&AfterarticlesonyourWebsite,pleasecontact us.Forpermissiontoincludeallorpartofthisarticlein anotherwork,pleasecontactus 0608 Threedocuments,onelook Before&After|www.bamagazine.com 5 of Threedocuments,onelook 0608 ... #10Businessenvelope 91/2”x41/8”(2.3:1ratio) 0608 Three documents, one look Before&After|www.bamagazine.com 2 of Three documents, one look 0608 Designthebusinesscardirst The conined... leam restart that can’t prebast It’s tope, this 0608 Three documents, one look Before&After|www.bamagazine.com 3 of Three documents, one look 0608 Finally,theenvelope Repeat again on the... Sincerely, Richard L Thompson Electrical Engineer 0608 Three documents, one look Before&After|www.bamagazine.com 4 of Three documents, one look 0608 Articleresources Typefaces Colors 1Avenir35Light|8pt