The Infamous ‘Letterhead’

This week my PR Publications class was asked to create a draft a letterhead we could potentially use for our organization. I was a little intimidated with the task, but not as much as with the business card. Since I had already designed the business card, I knew I wanted to use a similar pattern, the same logo and the same simplistic style. Once I designed the letterhead, I was fairly happy with it on the computer, but once I printed it out, I realized the color and look was not exactly what I wanted. I was a little discouraged. I think I reacted this way because we spend so much time designing and working with a concept only to have to modify it and make some major changes. While I realize now that this is just part of design – and I’m glad to realize this early on in the course – I guess, as with most people, I just wish it would be a little easier to get exactly what I want. However, I’m excited to work with my letterhead some more and get it where I want it to be.

Canvas is great for designing simple and quick designs, especially for people to use on social media or other somewhat informal settings. It allows people who may not have the time or money to spend on expensive programs such as InDesign or Photoshop to explore graphic design. However, it does come with some technical limitations where the scope and variety in design may be less that what someone want for a final and professional product.

Based on which technology I use, my design process and thinking definitely changes. I find that if I use simple, I think simple because I don’t realize what more I can do. Seeing all the tools in InDesign pushes me to figure out how to use them. On Canvas, I would probably think, how can I make a design the fastest and get it out to my audience, but with InDesign I’d probably spend a little more time on enhancing and perfecting the design.