Business Card Thumbnails:
In creating our business card thumbnails, we will focus on the design principles of EMPHASIS, CONTRAST and ALIGNMENT. You will set up an InDesign document and apply these principles to your experimenting with typography options for your identity system.
1. Create a Portrait oriented Letter sized document in InDesign, with 0.6 inch top and bottom margins and 0.5 inch inside and outside margins.
2. Create guides at the following locations.
Use the X and Y dialogue boxes at the top of your screen to enter the numbers:
X coordinates-- 0.5, 4, 4.5, 8
Y coordinates--0.6, 2.6, 3.2, 5.2, 5.8, 7.8, 8.4, 10.4
3. Label this layer "Guides". Lock the layer.
4. Start another layer. Label it "Thumbnails."
4. On the second layer, make a Rectangle (the tool without the x inside the shape) measuring 3.5 x 2 inches. Place it at x0.5/y0.6, using the X and Y dialogue boxes at the top of your screen to enter the numbers.
5. Begin experimenting with the fonts you used in your concept board. Develop eight possible typographic solutions in the business card spaces. Each solution should address the following design principles. Indicate what you have applied and where on your printed thumbnail sheet.
EMPHASIS: There should be a clear visual hierarchy in the design. (A strongest point of emphasis, backed by secondary and tertiary accents.)
CONTRAST: Apply contrast to the styles of type in your design and your color choices. Try combining a decorative or script font with a serif or sans serif font in each solution. Try combining regular and bold type, etc. Be sure that whatever choice you make, that the type retains LEGIBILITY. Experiment with contrasting colors, in the type and background colors.
ALIGNMENT: Use the Paragraph panel to try out different type alignments in your thumbnails. Experiment with each alignment style (Left, Center, Justified, Right) at least one time. Think about where your logo would fit on the card once it is developed.
6. Your business card should list the following information:
FIRST AND LAST NAME
JOB TITLE
COMPANY
1234 YOUR STREET
ANYTOWN, MN, 55555
(555) 555-5555
PROFESSIONAL_EMAIL@ANYCO.com
