News in Letters

Over the past month of working on our newsletters, I feel like I have learned a lot about InDesign and just the overall process of creating a piece of publication from start to finish. In the beginning, I found it hard to get started on the project, because I was just staring at a blank art board with little to no inspiration. With such broad, open-ended instructions, I wasn't sure where to begin. I looked through some of the old newsletter released by The Big Event to gain so inspiration and I finally came up with an idea for a way to move forward.

Most of the old Big Event newsletters had a bit of a cartoon vibe to them, and that was something I knew I wanted to try to avoid for this more professional style newsletter. I just didn't think that would fit the vibe I was personally trying to go for. The main thing I did like about the old Big Event newsletters was the use of color that made it interesting for people to look at. I knew I wanted incorporate that same use of color into my newsletter.

Once I sat down and really got started making my newsletter, I actually found the design aspect a lot easier than I initially thought I would. Through a lot of trial and error, I really just messed with different shapes and layouts until I found what I wanted. Remembering to incorporate the key elements of a newsletter into my design was one of the most challenging parts, because I would get an area of the newsletter to look how I wanted it to and suddenly I would remember that I was missing a table of contents or a byline and I would have to rearrange it again.

Another challenging part of making this newsletter was the writing itself. Obviously in most publications, there is only a set amount of room for your written piece to fit, so making sure it all fit in the space I had allowed for it while also giving a complete story was a challenge I think I managed to overcome. Overall, I really enjoyed the process of making this newsletter and it is something I could see myself doing again in the future!