Pathways to Success
I was recently asked to put together an easy-to-use guide for new students at Keyano College, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. This project was obviously made somewhat easier by the fact that I was the lead designer at Keyano College for seven years and was fully familiar with their branding and visual guidelines, having designed them myself!
The main theme of the document was pathways and so we decided to use a road-sign motif that would run throughout the document. As there were no specific images that were to go along with the text, I used Illustrator CS2 to re-create some common directional signage and to use them as watermarked backgrounds to each page, as well as use indivual signs to decorate where space allowed.
No real problems were encountered during the process and thanks to broadband it was a simple process to submit the final, formatted PDF to the printer for printing in time for this year's Orientation Week at the College. More proof if it is needed, that you can be a designer these days and live anywhere. Thank you Keyano for giving me the opportunity to continue to work for you!
Posted: Monday, September 3, 2007
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Everybody Fits...
For six of the past seven years I have been contracted to design the annual Fort McMurray Public Schools District's school-year calendar. This year's though, was slightly different to previous versions. First, because I am now living in the UK and second a new coordinator for the project came onboard. In previous years there wasn't really an overall theme to the calendar, except for showcasing pictures from all of the schools in the district. This year though the theme of "Everbody Fits" was decided upon and I was asked to use running theme of a jigsaw as a device to showcase grouped images.
This meant that the project was much longer this year as I had to create individual jigsaw graphics for each of the picture pages. Each jigsaw was to be comprised of 12 pieces, with one piece featuring a famous quote.
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As a starting point I went and bought an inexpensive child's wooden jigsaw set. The jigsaw itself was perfect as I was able to scan the complete puzzle in and then easily use this template to create a vector outline in Illustrator CS2.
All of the images used were created in Illustrator using black + one spot colour (the school district's green - Pantone 324). The only persistent problem came when I noticed that faint white lines were appearing on top of the image when printed. They coresponded with the drop shadow behind the picture pieces. It took about five hours to work out what was happening which was something to do with the fact that the drop shadow was made up from the 12 individual jigsaw pieces.
The solution was to duplicate the puzzle pieces in their exact positions, remove the images from the duplicates, then merge and expand all the pieces into one vector and apply the solid Pantone 324 colour and then create the drop shadow from that. It was the fact that the drop shadow was being made up of 12 separate pieces that seemed to be causing the problem. Another good lesson learned!
Everyone was delighted with the resulting document and I heard that it is the District's intent to submit it to various national competitions that feature designs for educational establishments and authorities.
Posted: Monday, September 3, 2007
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Measuring Up
In 2006 the three environmental agencies in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo decided to release a joint report to the community. The three agencies are:
- The Cumulative Environmental Management Association
- The Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program
- The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association
The task of designing the report had several criteria, including the reflection of the diversity of the region in regards to environment as well as the diversity of activities each of the three agencies represented.
The only other restrictions on the document were that it had to meet the stringent guidlines set out by Canada Post for doing a mail drop to the 50,000 or so households in the region. This meant restriction on size and weight.
The overall approach to this 24-page, full colour, 5 7/8" x 11" document was one of using colour schemes to define the relevant sections and to portray the environment of the region as beautiful and something that should be stewarded carefully and responsibly.
A necessity was also the choice of paper stock as it too had to reflect the agencies' commitment to the environment. The report was printed on Burgo’s Chorus Art paper stock. It is FSC certified, guaranteeing that in the supply of fibre raw materials the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council are met. It contains a mixture of fibres from certified forests, 50% recycled and 25% post-consumer waste fibres. It is 100% recyclable.
The client was so happy with document and the response to it, that a second print run was ordered after all of the initial copies were sent out.
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RMWB Census Report 2006
The importance of a census results report to any governing authority cannot be underestimated, therefore a great deal of importance was put on how this document was to be presented. First of all, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) makes the task of designing such things a smooth process as it has invested considerable time and money in developing a very thorough visual standards guide to how the Municipality's branding has to be applied.
The focus of the document was to downplay somewhat the unpresedented growth in the region due to the development of the oilsands industry and to focus visually on the vibrancy and excitement of the area. The RMWB is a place of growth and a place to grow. It is a young community, both in actual years its been there and in the population that chooses to live and work there. The document had to play down somewhat the construction and expansion that is the Fort McMurray today and to reflect what has already been built and what is already available.
For the project, I took some time to travel around the city of Fort McMurray and shoot a series of photographs which I think best represented the area, the people, the housing and the lifestyle. These combined with the excellent aerial shots supplied by the RMWB were used to enhance the text that headed up each section within the document. These sections are:
- Population
- Aboriginal Heritage
- Housing
- Migration
- Education
- Employment
The paper stock is Becket Expression Smooth, a stock with a beautiful look and feel. It is the stock that the Municipality adheres to according to the standards guide and is, quite simply, a wonderful paper to work with. Colours appear crisp and bright and the overall feeling is one of sophistication and class.
The layout of the document was done in Quark Xpress, with all the graphs and charts being created in Adobe Illustrator CS2. 60 pages, 8 1/2" x 11", full colour throughout. As well as the printed version, the document was also distributed as a pdf via a cd package.
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