Keep text simple and readable, without overdoing emphasis. Use changes of size, style, color, and position, including bullets, symbols and other devices to highlight and organize your text in moderation. To avoid distracting the reader, limit the number of fonts to two or three in no more than three or four readable sizes. Keep the background simple, and use c

Yet when you decide to do the graphics in-house to reduce turnaround time or cut expenses, those logos, photos, charts, graphs, pictures, timelines, illustrations, etc. can be a source of frustration, embarrassment, stress and perhaps lost business. Following ten simple tips to surefire do-it-yourself graphic design, however, will help maximize your visual punch, minimize your mistakes, and give you the professional-look your graphics deserve. Not to mention, cut down on the headaches.

1. -Take a deep breath

   Especially if you have a key presentation looming that needs charts, graphs, and visuals and all you have are loose papers and a migraine, first take a deep breath. Put on a fresh pot of coffee. Clear your workspace. Handle those last minute telephone calls. In short, you are going to need to focus your attention on your design project, so prepare yourself. You're about to solve your graphic design problem in classic, do-it-yourself fashion.

2. - Outline your project

   Make a simple list of the presentation graphics you think you'll need. Don't get into details at this point. For example, you might list: opening-- photo of young couple with product and company logo; midpoint-- new market piechart and bar graph of financial growth; close-- photo of new satisfied customer using product. You just want to create a rough outline that can help steer you through the project.

3. - Define what you're trying to say

   To keep your audience visually interested you must keep things simple and avoid clutter that will confuse your focus.

   Communicate one concept at a time with your graphics. Your message can contain various parts, but your communication as a whole must concentrate on the key concept you want to get across. To shoot for more is to court disaster. At all costs, avoid making everything important, as that's the surest way to create visual anarchy. When you attempt to give great importance to more than one message (or visual item), you introduce confusion and succeed only in dispersing the viewer?s attention instead of directing it where you want it.

4. - Keep it simple

   Visually, simple is better than complex, especially when images will only be seen a short time. Avoid the complex since it obscures your message rather than clarifies it.

   Use pictures, illustrations, graphs, etc. to punch up an important point, and to make complex ideas simple. However, avoid literally mimicking what's said in the text. The graphics must enhance and play on variations of the text to make it more interesting - but never stray from the spirit of the message. At their best, graphics add humor, emotion, reality, believability, and playfulness to help bring about understanding and agreement in viewers.

   Keep text simple and readable, without overdoing emphasis. Use changes of size, style, color, and position, including bullets, symbols and other devices to highlight and organize your text in moderation. To avoid distracting the reader, limit the number of fonts to two or three in no more than three or four readable sizes. Keep the background simple, and use co

   Adhesives and Plastics are Part of Our World
   Perhaps you may not have considered that Plastics have revolutionized the way we live. Many people take all the plastic products we have for granted. Adhesives are another similar substance we use an awful lot of in construction, preventative maintenance and in so many other industries really. Think of all the caulking compounds, glues, tape, gasket compounds and things we rely on in everyday life? And what about the moldings and coatings that we have and the adhesives used in them?Plastics have made millionaires out of people and made billions for large corporations in sales and profits and without them, well society and civilization could not do much of anything really. Good ole' Jack Welsh sure made good on it at GE. And all the research and development in adhesives is also staggering and some of the mistakes have brought us things like that sticky note in front of you right now. Ah ha, gotcha, see what I mean?For years I have subscribed to Plastics Manufacturing Magazine and Coating World and I can tell you in every issue there are new discoveries from making Solar Cells out of plastic to special one-coat adhesive paints for space satellites. The technology and innovations are truly out of this world.Such great stuff we are designing for the future. We should all be impressed with it all and I can tell you that there is more to come. In fact I have even some innovative ideas myself to further it all and I bet you could come up with ideas also, of course so
   takes, and give you the professional-look your graphics deserve. Not to mention, cut down on the headaches.

   1. -Take a deep breath

      Especially if you have a key presentation looming that needs charts, graphs, and visuals and all you have are loose papers and a migraine, first take a deep breath. Put on a fresh pot of coffee. Clear your workspace. Handle those last minute telephone calls. In short, you are going to need to focus your attention on your design project, so prepare yourself. You're about to solve your graphic design problem in classic, do-it-yourself fashion.

   2. - Outline your project

      Make a simple list of the presentation graphics you think you'll need. Don't get into details at this point. For example, you might list: opening-- photo of young couple with product and company logo; midpoint-- new market piechart and bar graph of financial growth; close-- photo of new satisfied customer using product. You just want to create a rough outline that can help steer you through the project.

   3. - Define what you're trying to say

      To keep your audience visually interested you must keep things simple and avoid clutter that will confuse your focus.

      Communicate one concept at a time with your graphics. Your message can contain various parts, but your communication as a whole must concentrate on the key concept you want to get across. To shoot for more is to court disaster. At all costs, avoid making everything important, as that's the surest way to create visual anarchy. When you attempt to give great importance to more than one message (or visual item), you introduce confusion and succeed only in dispersing the viewer?s attention instead of directing it where you want it.

   4. - Keep it simple

      Visually, simple is better than complex, especially when images will only be seen a short time. Avoid the complex since it obscures your message rather than clarifies it.

      Use pictures, illustrations, graphs, etc. to punch up an important point, and to make complex ideas simple. However, avoid literally mimicking what's said in the text. The graphics must enhance and play on variations of the text to make it more interesting - but never stray from the spirit of the message. At their best, graphics add humor, emotion, reality, believability, and playfulness to help bring about understanding and agreement in viewers.

      Keep text simple and readable, without overdoing emphasis. Use changes of size, style, color, and position, including bullets, symbols and other devices to highlight and organize your text in moderation. To avoid distracting the reader, limit the number of fonts to two or three in no more than three or four readable sizes. Keep the background simple, and use c

      Advantages of Ebook Business
      Working from home is a dream many of us will never achieve. The advantages are many and varied. No commute to and from the office. No dealing with the annoying cubicle dweller that makes your life miserable. Never worry about the supervisor that lives for the power to crush those within his power. You can go shopping during normal business hours, while lines are small and you can get what you want quickly. Need a dental appointment during office hours? No problem. It isn’t all roses though. There isn’t somebody the next cubicle over to chat with at odd times during the day. There isn’t an IT department you can call when you need help, or a janitor to do the minor clean ups. When you need help, there isn’t a supervisor or experienced worker who can provide cogent guidance.For millions of bookworms the daydream is to work in a bookstore. Plenty of books around to read, a wide enough selection to find something really interesting, and best of all, the subject of the business is interesting enough that it doesn’t seem like work to keep track of everything going on in the field. On the other hand, it also has the normal issues of any retail business.An Ebook business is a way to combine those two dreams. You can work from home, you can seek out and write books, and once the website and software are set up, most of the effort can go to enlarging the stock, finding others who want to read what you have and dealing with the inevitable trials of life.A re
      ink you'll need. Don't get into details at this point. For example, you might list: opening-- photo of young couple with product and company logo; midpoint-- new market piechart and bar graph of financial growth; close-- photo of new satisfied customer using product. You just want to create a rough outline that can help steer you through the project.

   5. - Define what you're trying to say

      To keep your audience visually interested you must keep things simple and avoid clutter that will confuse your focus.

      Communicate one concept at a time with your graphics. Your message can contain various parts, but your communication as a whole must concentrate on the key concept you want to get across. To shoot for more is to court disaster. At all costs, avoid making everything important, as that's the surest way to create visual anarchy. When you attempt to give great importance to more than one message (or visual item), you introduce confusion and succeed only in dispersing the viewer?s attention instead of directing it where you want it.

   6. - Keep it simple

      Visually, simple is better than complex, especially when images will only be seen a short time. Avoid the complex since it obscures your message rather than clarifies it.

      Use pictures, illustrations, graphs, etc. to punch up an important point, and to make complex ideas simple. However, avoid literally mimicking what's said in the text. The graphics must enhance and play on variations of the text to make it more interesting - but never stray from the spirit of the message. At their best, graphics add humor, emotion, reality, believability, and playfulness to help bring about understanding and agreement in viewers.

      Keep text simple and readable, without overdoing emphasis. Use changes of size, style, color, and position, including bullets, symbols and other devices to highlight and organize your text in moderation. To avoid distracting the reader, limit the number of fonts to two or three in no more than three or four readable sizes. Keep the background simple, and use c

      Build & Protect Your Confidence
      I can remember the first time that I had to get new customers from a cold start. I was a sales rep at IBM. I had only been selling for a short while since graduating from college, and I didn't really know what to do. When I started working for IBM, I was given extensive sales training. My sales training period took me 9 months, which you may be surprised to learn was considered fast back in 1987! IBM wanted its salespeople to be well prepared to sell any of its products to any business that wanted them. So you'd think that I would've been well prepared for sales prospecting with all that sales training. I wasn't. Our sales training did not give me any advice on sales prospecting or lead generation. IBM's sales training was very good, but I started out being groomed for large account sales. After my first year of working on a large account, I was moved into IBM's new business group. Even though I was excited about this new challenge, it was not what I had been trained for. Fortunately, I had a great sales manager who new how to create new business. One of the things he suggested was that I get my year off to a quick start by running a seminar for the medical groups and hospitals in my territory. If he had not suggested this to me, I might have gotten intimidated or frustrated at the idea of making cold calls to generate all of my new business. I ran the seminar, and it turned out to be a big success generating many sal
      nt to get across. To shoot for more is to court disaster. At all costs, avoid making everything important, as that's the surest way to create visual anarchy. When you attempt to give great importance to more than one message (or visual item), you introduce confusion and succeed only in dispersing the viewer?s attention instead of directing it where you want it.

   7. - Keep it simple

      Visually, simple is better than complex, especially when images will only be seen a short time. Avoid the complex since it obscures your message rather than clarifies it.

      Use pictures, illustrations, graphs, etc. to punch up an important point, and to make complex ideas simple. However, avoid literally mimicking what's said in the text. The graphics must enhance and play on variations of the text to make it more interesting - but never stray from the spirit of the message. At their best, graphics add humor, emotion, reality, believability, and playfulness to help bring about understanding and agreement in viewers.

      Keep text simple and readable, without overdoing emphasis. Use changes of size, style, color, and position, including bullets, symbols and other devices to highlight and organize your text in moderation. To avoid distracting the reader, limit the number of fonts to two or three in no more than three or four readable sizes. Keep the background simple, and use c

      In Direct Sales - Plant the Seed of Opportunity
      Are you planting the seeds of opportunity so you can reap the rewards of success? Your sales presentation is only one of many chances you have to share the many benefits your company has to offer. Every day conversations and interactions with others hold a goldmine of opportunity to share why you love your business. Set a goal to personalize each of these four phrases and then commit to use each one while you are out and about every day.The Friendly Stranger "You seem to be a real fun-loving person. Have you ever thought about going into business for yourself? You’d be fantastic!"The Put-together Woman "You have a knack for…(something sincere and related to your business opportunity). I would love to share how you can turn your talent for…(a skill they have that would help them be successful) into a business. I can’t believe I get paid to do what I already love to do."The Life of the Party "You are a fun person, Carol. Have you ever considered a career that pays you to have fun, party and make new friends? Is that something you could get excited about?"The Opportunity Enthusiast "I’m in the business of fun and…(the type of products you represent for example: cosmetics/beauty, jewelry/fashion, herbal supplements/health, etc.). I show women how to turn their love for people and…(type of product you represent) into a profitable business. Who do you know that might be interested in a fun and rewarding business?"
      literally mimicking what's said in the text. The graphics must enhance and play on variations of the text to make it more interesting - but never stray from the spirit of the message. At their best, graphics add humor, emotion, reality, believability, and playfulness to help bring about understanding and agreement in viewers.

      Keep text simple and readable, without overdoing emphasis. Use changes of size, style, color, and position, including bullets, symbols and other devices to highlight and organize your text in moderation. To avoid distracting the reader, limit the number of fonts to two or three in no more than three or four readable sizes. Keep the background simple, and use contrast to ensure legibility. Contrast is the noticeable difference between things, and can be as simple as bolding or underlining text in some cases. But don't fill every bit of "empty" space, as well-chosen space can serve to "frame" graphic elements you may want to emphasize.

   8. - Lay out your type, graphics, and photos

      Look at how the elements blend together. Lay out the type, graphics, photos, etc. in rough format similar to how they will be presented. If you know how, use computer formatting on programs such as MS Word or Excel to experiment with layout. Or you may want to lay out the physical materials on a desk or conference table. Similarly, you may want to tape or pin them to a wall or cubicle to see how vertical display affects their visual impact.

      Now, here's where a little strategic thinking can set your graphic design work apart from the norm:

      Visually group graphics to show similarity and build interest. Try to visually group objects using similarities of theme, color, direction, position, alignment, etc. Show what goes with what, so your viewers will draw the proper conclusions. For example, a picture of worn-out old shoes could depict a potential client's current database management system (DBS), and brand new track cleats could depict your DBS product. Of course, things that belong together must have characteristics in common, and must be similar enough to be perceived as a group or set.

      Also, make visual order part of your message. For example, decide WHEN the viewer should notice your logo: Before reading the copy? After reading the headline? Should the viewer note your company name before or after the product you're selling? These strategic distinctions can boost or detract both from your credibility and ability to persuade.

   9. - Add emphasis with a little color and contrast

      The graphics of your piece must be easily seen and attract more attention than anything around it. If not, your audience's attention will go elsewhere: to a competitor's ad, booth, flyer, banner, etc. To improve the odds of getting your audience's attention, use color and contrast in moderation to create interest. Remember to use emphasis sparingly, like spice in cooking, because a little goes a long ways but too much simply overpowers.

      That said, attention does gravitate toward the area of greatest contrast. (That's why print is usually black-on-white, which makes the letters stand out for easier viewing, instead of say, black-on-brown). For example, in a visual ad or billboard, a single sentence on an otherwise empty page demands attention. You can't help but read it. Other examples of good, eye-catching contrast: a white spotlight in a dark theater; a 3-D object jutting out of a flat wall; a mo