19 spot-on reader comments to “Myeloma UK newsletter design”

1. Adam_Y, on September 15th, 2007 said:

   Looks like a really nice clear design that. When I worked as a typesetter I spent a lot of time cleaning up designs for newsletters - most people forget that it’s the information that’s important.

   I still use quark, especially for my comics. Indesign is great, but Xpress (version 4) is still my favourite for getting things done right quickly. Besides, it runs on the most puny of systems, which is fortunate considering…

2. smojo, on September 15th, 2007 said:

   QuarkXpress has been the software I have used for about 6 to 7 years now. I’ve never really put any time into trying to use InDesign. I’m just so used to using Quark.
   What made you switch to InDesign?

3. Domdat, on September 15th, 2007 said:

   As i know many company do use QuarkXpress software. I used to quark and never try InDesign before. maybe i should give InDesign a try next time when i free :)

4. RT the fitness guy, on September 16th, 2007 said:

   I really dig those designs mate.

   My best friend got this cancer last year when he was 21. 6 months of chemo but he survived and is doing well. I think its fantastic that you do a good job for them - anyway to help those charities is worth while.

   Making an eye catching and classy design like that could help with donations, exposure, etc.

   Great work!

   RT

5. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on September 16th, 2007 said:
   Adam,

   Thanks for the compliment. With the target audience in mind, making the information as legible as possible is certainly a main priority. I remember using Quark 4, although I’m pretty sure that most of the printers I deal with would require a later version to work from. In saying that, I know that commercial printers can often be the last people to upgrade their processes.

   Smojo,

   I was reluctant to make the switch to InDesign, mainly because I’d been using Quark for so long (similar to you), and was able to work my way through it’s options very quickly.

   However, after a close friend recommended I give InDesign a shot, I tried it out. It took a few projects to feel comfortable with it, and learning the shortcuts was probably the only real issue. If you’re used to using any Adobe products, InDesign makes sense, and there are some extremely useful features that Quark just doesn’t have (though I’ve not used Quark 7).

   Domdat,

   I’d highly recommend giving it a try - not just taking a quick look, but setting up a document as you would in Quark, with images, text columns etc.

   RT,

   Thanks to you too for the compliments! Your best friend was diagnosed with myeloma at 21? Man that’s tough. That’d be the youngest age I’ve heard of (previously it was around 30).

   There’s certainly a greater sense of job satisfaction when working with non-profits.

6. Yong Hwee, on September 16th, 2007 said:

   The design looks amazing! Very clean and neat, well at least that’s how I see it.

7. Slevi, on September 16th, 2007 said:

   The design looks really great, I like the used colors it looks easy to read yet isn’t just boring black text on white paper.

8. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on September 16th, 2007 said:
   Yong Hwee, Slevi,

   Thanks very much for commenting, and for complimenting the design. It’s different in style to the few projects I’ve shown so far, and the guidelines were quite strict, but I do enjoy working with Myeloma UK, and have built a great relationship with them over the past few years.

9. RT the fitness guy, on September 17th, 2007 said:

   Yeah - it was tough.

   Lots of chemo and then bone marrow transplant. But, he’s studying law now at uni and is very healthy. In remission for one year coming up soon I think.

   I agree with non-profit work. I wish the blogsphere with all it’s audience and power would get into charity work more. Something creative and different as opposed to fund raising.

   Anyway, good work.

   RT

10. Balu, on September 17th, 2007 said:

    Talking of Pagemaker. Yes I have used it for bringing out a fortnightly newsletter in college. The software is good but not good enough when compared to Quark (We have version 4.1 in our office.. i work as sub-editor in a NP in Bangalore, India)
    I never got enough time to try out indesign…. (saving up to buy nw)….

11. Brian, on September 17th, 2007 said:

    I’ve been using Indesign for over 3years now.. and absolutely HATE ever having to launch Quark anymore. I have NEVER looked back… and it baffles me why so many designers and agencies cling to Quark still… when the packing of adobe CS makes so much sense!!!
    Indesign works perfectly with photoshop/Illustrator/Acrobat.

    please please.. do yourself a favour if you haven’t tried Indesign… TRY IT!!!
    and give it a real chance.. you only have to learn a few of the time saving features and ease of use, and you’ll love it!

12. LaurenMarie - Creative Curio, on September 18th, 2007 said:

    Great piece, David! Just thought I’d chime in and say that I like InDesign. I came in right when InDesign was new and my school had just switched from teaching Quark to InDesign. I like it because many of the commands and the way the menus are set up is similar to the other Adobe products so it’s more intuitive.

13. Renata, on September 18th, 2007 said:

    Oh man, Pagemaker… We used it in high school (which for me is 6 years ago, just for a time reference), and that was the end of it for me. I have used Quark, but having learned InDesign, it now annoys me tremendously. InDesign is so much more powerful, and not only because it integrates so seamlessly with the other Adobe programs. I made my current job purchase the Adobe Creative suite for me — they had previously used Photoshop 7 + Quark only. It’s so much better now… I am obviously a convert :).

14. Robert, on September 19th, 2007 said:

    I agree with all the Quark haters… I use Indesign and having not used Quark for so long I don’t really want to learn it again but I see some many jobs advertised asking for Quark users! I wish companies would just stump up some cash and buy Indesign, after all as far as I know the company that makes Quark makes no other software programs right? Someone correct me if im wrong…

15. Firewalker, on September 20th, 2007 said:

    Wow, great design, David, the layout appearance can be compared to any ‘thick reference book’ from my studies in college. (I personally like the book’s layout instead of reading the content :P ). I think high quality photographs is essential in creating this newsletters.

    InDesign helps me a lot in creating company profiles or magazines layout. The features are easy to use, simple, and applicable with other Adobe programs.

16. Alex Railean, on September 26th, 2007 said:

    Can you tell us if you’ve ever tried Scribus (http://www.scribus.net/)? It is an open-source program, that aims to be an alternative for software such as InDesign.

    I would love to find out what you think about it, and see this program with the eyes of someone who is a professional in the field.

17. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on October 8th, 2007 said:
    Balau,

    I hope you manage to purchase InDesign sooner, rather than later. Its features are great in comparison to Quark (in my humble opinion).

    Lauren,

    It’s certainly an advantage having InDesign’s commands similar to Photoshop and Illustrator. They all tie together nicely.

    Renata, Robert,

    Seems you both have a similar impression of InDesign as I do. ;)

    Didik,

    Thanks for the compliment!

    Alex,

    I’ve not used, nor come across Scribus before. Is that what you’re using?

18. Pat M, on October 10th, 2007 said:

    My daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia in 06 and is still fighting it. She’s doing relatively well but she did have it come back in her spinal fluid so now she has had to restart the treatment protocol over again and this time the treatments are tougher so she has missed school and has been in the hospital more.

    I would like to do some work for cancer organizations but right now I think it would be to much to handle while we are dealing with everything. I would encourage every designer to find a worthwhile non-profit cause to do work for. I would like to help organizations that deal with childhood cancer’s. All of the people and organizations that helped and help us are VERY APPRECIATED!! The emotions that I feel for those that have helped us are so strong that it has made me cry at times. To raise a little awareness here the Ronald McDonald House is a great organization here in the U.S. Before my daughter was diagnosed I had heard of it but honestly I had never really paid attention to just what they do. They are located near hospitals and provide a “home away from home” for families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at nearby hospitals. I am divorced and my ex lives in another state so when my daughter was diagnosed in my state while with me for the summer my ex stayed there and when my daughter was transfered to a hospital in my ex’s state I was able to stay there while she went through her induction phase of treatment.

    David
    Nice designs. It is very important that these materials are easy to understand and that you can find answers to questions quickly. When my daughter was diagnosed they gave us a stack of booklets and information that would fill a book bag. It’s all so overwhelming to deal with trying to get up to speed with all of the terms and info on the cancer and dealing with the shock that it is happening to you or your family member at the same time. It is also good that they are easy to understand to raise the awareness of the public.

    I use InDesign now but started on Quark while in school. I love InDesign and it keeps getting better. It is a big plus that Adobe makes it and the rest of what I use because they keep integrating them more all the time. Also being able to purchase it bundled with the other programs is great. I know Quark is under new ownership now but they never were very great at listening to their customers because they were the almost a monopoly for layout software. For that alone I don’t really want to support them. Adobe seems to be committed to innovating and improving.

    A GREAT plugin that I found for InDesign is Zevrix’s LinkOptimizer. A HUGE timesaver!
    http://zevrix.com/linkoptimizer.html

    –From their website–
    “LinkOptimizer is a utility for Adobe InDesign that reduces the size of linked images by eliminating excessive image data.”

    How does LinkOptimizer work?
    LinkOptimizer will automatically reduce the image resolution, scale and crop the images in Photoshop according to their dimensions in the InDesign document and the target resolution specified, and reimport them to InDesign at 100%.

    LinkOptimizer lets you backup original images linked to InDesign document before the processing.

    In addition, LinkOptimizer can:
    •convert image colors to CMYK, RGB or Grayscale,
    •apply sharpening filters during processing,
    •flatten images or merge visible layers,
    •run Photoshop Actions during processing.

    By the way nice blog David. I just started mine a little while ago and just lately I have had a hard time updating it so I hope it does get more attention in the future but right now I’m just trying to keep up with everything.

19. David Airey :: Graphic Designer, on October 15th, 2007 said:
    Hi Pat,

    I wish your daughter all the very best in her fight, and I hope she’s in good spirits.

    Good of you to give your insight into Quark / InDesign, and I’m glad you like my blog. It’s certainly a commitment keeping it updated, so I know how you feel with your own.

    The LinkOptimizer plugin sounds like a great one, so thanks very much for flagging it up.

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