At long last, here is my contribution to this challenge. I don't know that it's the absolute best I can do, but it's all I can muster for now (if that makes any sense.) Seems hard to believe I had all this time and THIS is all I could come up with. :(

I am donating my services for a photo restoration to a benefit silent auction next weekend. So, I want my ad to attract people to bid on my services. The benefit is for a non-profit organization, Somewhere in the World Foundation, that sends money to orphanages and other children’s service organizations around the world. I will also have a brochure available for people to read, but I want the ad to catch people’s attention and prompt them to pick up the brochure to read more about my services. I’m definitely not an ad designer and this one’s not very fancy, so I would appreciate any feedback you might have.

FWIW, here’s what I did to create it:
1. I created a new 8x10” document with white background.
2. Resized the three photos so that I could fit all of them on an 8x10” sheet of paper.
3. For each photo, I used the rectangular marquee tool to select an area about 1/8” inside the border of the photo and feathered the selection 20 pixels.
4. Used the move tool to drag each photo onto the new document and placed in a “pleasing” arrangement.
5. Added black text using the Harrington font.
6. Decided that everything looked too dull, so tried some different color schemes for the background. At first I tried filling the background layer with the wood pattern. It matched the yellowing of the original photos, but still looked much to dull for my tastes. Decided that a dusty pink might work better, so filled the background layer with that color, then added a sandstone texture. I then changed the font color to a deep burgundy.
7. I copied my logo (which I had created a while ago) to the bottom of the ad and added my contact information on a separate text layer.
8. Added the text outlining my services at the very bottom.
9. Decided that the sharpness of the border of the background did not match the softness of the photo borders, so I made a rectangular selection just inside the edges of the background layer, feathered the selection 20 pixels, inverted and deleted the outer rim of the background to give it a softer look.

One thing I’d really appreciate feedback on is the text. It doesn’t really match the sequence of the photos. I tried making the last section of text be the “bring them back to life” to match the final version of the photo, but it just doesn’t flow as well. Plus, it seems to me that the “lost forever” part is what creates a sense that the reader needs to do something now – better to have it at the end rather than “lost” in the middle. So perhaps the text doesn’t need to “match” the sequence of photos. Any other thoughts?

Jeanie

Jeanie,

Very nice composition, and the logo looks fantastic! IMHO the way it is now is not disasterous, but I understand why you might question the placement of the text. I've been looking at this for a while, and the only thing I can think of would be to switch the text on the middle and bottom images. I don't think the text matching the middle image is nearly as important as matching the final restoration, and the text can be switched and still get the message across. Just my opinion -- take it for what it's worth. You've done an admirable job on it. :bigthmb:

Ed

Have you thought about adding a title (header) to the poster? I think this would provide better balance to the overall layout.

Think of the poster as having 3 main elements.
1. A title or header (probably 'Lotus Flower' etc)
2. Content (the images and text)
3. A Footer (the same as you have now but smaller)

This I think will add a balance to the poster.

Great restoration btw! Saw the larger versions in another thread earlier :)

~Vp~

I really like it. My only comment would be maybe a lite texture for the background.

Bob

Great job!! It was worth the wait! Well composed and balanced. Tom

You've got the initial image in just the right spot to get people's attention, and the placement for the line "Bring them back to Life..." will still lead them to the finished image, so I think it works very well.

Now I see how you make great use of your Lotus blossom avatar!

Thanks everyone for your comments. I really appreciate it!!

Ed, I've tried switching the text countless times and I just don't like it. So, I guess I'll either have to live with it as it is or be somehow inspired with new text today. ;)

VP, I think you're right. I also had a nagging feeling that I needed something at the top to tie it all together. I just couldn't figure out what. I think your idea of the logo at the top is a good idea. I'll certainly give it a try!!

Bob, there actually is texture on the background, it just doesn't show up in this JPEG version. That being said, I wanted it to be subtle, so I'll go back and make sure I didn't make it too subtle.

Jeanie

OK, it's time for me to start rubbing the wrong way...

That is a really good compsition. It's direct, eye pleasing, and conveys the purpose.

I have only one edit...you're using Harrington and what appeasrs to be Larissa script...in any case, the typestyles conflict. The copperplate works just fine as it contrasts with the script in the logo, but you may want to rethink the typeface for the tags...possibly a variation of the copperplate, just bolder.

Sorry everyone, I'm a design teacher, too. This is part of my job...feel free to tell me to go screw.

Jeanie
I don't know how I missed this. I could have sworn I posted before but it doesn't seem to be there. Must have hit the wrong button. You did great and I see you used that difficult photo you did recently. Good example. It's simple and right to the point. Excellent job.

Trick
Welcome aboard and glad to have you with us. Your expertise is a great value here and your constructive criticism is how we learn. The only criticism we don't like is mean spirited and no one so far, including you, has ever done that here. We are all open and eager for someone to come and point out a few things. It's what we are all about here. As a matter of fact, you might consider starting threads on the aspects of good design. I think it would be of great value here.
DJ

Well, it's a fine art I've discovered after teaching for as long as I have. So, if I ever utter the words, "No, that's wrong it sucks," shoot whoever it is that logged in under my name, because it isn't me.

And I meant what I said, the design is really well put together...the human eye usually start in the top left corner and follows a document to the bottom right, the design takes full advantage of that.

Bet you didn't even know you were doing it, huh? The sign of a good designer...

Trick, Thanks for your comments. I'll take all the help I can get! You're right - I had no idea what I was doing. I just know what "looks good" to my eye. Perhaps someday I'll have the time and $$ to take a design class. Until then, I'll just keep guessing (or asking you for advice. ;) )

DJ, Well I was feeling a little left out when you didn't post a response... :bawling: but now I'm all better. :D Thanks for your kind words.

Jeanie

Now how could I forget you Jeanie? :D I chalk it up to dementia in my old age. :D
DJ

um, jeanie, i find myself often not commenting on different things, be it challenge or any other submission, when someone else has already said just what i would say.

but it dawns on me just now, they can't sign my name.

so please know that i too thought you did a great job, i thought the type looked fine, so learning right along with you on that score.

you go girl

and don't forget to tell us how they were rec'd @ the silent auction

I am a design teacher, after all, and a freelance designer on the side...however the level of work that keeps me happy and sane is a little on the rarified side, and during the winter is practically non-existent. All of the holiday stuff I do is finished by mid August. Early September is the deadline.

Busy times for me in that area are between March and June...then there's Christmas in July.

When it comes to design advice, i'll offer as much as is asked for, but I'm not going to post an entire lecture. But always remember that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask. ASK! Somebody knows! (Occasionally it may be me, but not always, as I keep telling people, I don't know everything, I'm not young enough)

But feel free to ask anything, and remember, 10 years experience in the field does not mean that I'm perfect, I accept criticism as well as te next guy (or girl).

Kathleen, please don't feel bad - I do the same thing you do (i.e., not post a response to every thread.) But I think that DJ has at least one post in every thread in these forums (I don't know how you do it DJ!), so I was just giving her a hard time. I certainly didn't mean to make anyone else feel bad! :(

As for how the auction went... It was an interesting event. It was held in a big hangar that is now "Wings Over the Rockies" - and air and space museum housed in a hangar from the old Lowry Air Force base. So, there were huge planes all around the edges of the hangar and table after table of "stuff" to be bid on for the silent auction - everything from gift baskets of food or ethnic items to signed and framed boxing shorts of Mohammed Ali to gift certificates for area restaurants to masssages and hair cuts to leather jackets... I have to admit I was a little overwhelmed - I'm not a big shopper.

I donated two photos that I had printed at 16x20" and matted as well as my services for one photo restoration. I used the ad that I submitted to this challenge as the front page in a "display book" (you can find them at your local office supply store) and behind the ad I included examples of my work. I also had a brochure available explaining my restoration services. The good news is that everything was bid on - and the photos even brought in their retail value. The restoration price was equal to a "minor" restoration, but I have no idea what photo the person will bring me. I was pleased that it was bid on at all since there was so much stuff that some things didn't get many bids. There were a LOT of items that went for way less than their retail price.

One thing that I would do differently next time is have the ad either dry-mounted with an "stand" on the back or put on an easle-like flip chart that would stand up on the table rather than lie flat. I think one of the reasons my photos got so much attention is that they were big and vertical, i.e. they were hard not to notice. Anything lying flat just doesn't grab attention (and there were quite a few of those sorts of things like gift certificates at this particular auction.)

Let me know if you have any other questions about the auction or how things were displayed. It was definitely a learning experience for me!

Jeanie

Wow, Sounds like a great experience. That's was an excellent way to get your work advertised plus it must have been fun too. I think you are right about how to display your ad next time.

As to my posts, I noticed I lead the pack in posts. I even top the Castle Monster. Must be my busy body side coming out. :D Actually I had done alot of work putting in links to all the challenges when we first move here and tallied up alot of posts but being that I work from home gives me alot of flexibility also so I get to come and visit alot. And then there's the fact that you guys are all so fastinating, I just can't seem to stay away. :D
DJ

jeanie

were you physically present for much of the auction? i'm curious what kind of questions people ask, what percentage of people seemed like they'd actually buy the service.

many times wandering through a crafts fair i have wondered about the artist sitting there, particularly since i am not usually buying, wondering if they feel like their children are on display and if they would welcome kind words and no money. (my usual offering.)

and dj, i have wondered how you do it too; i think you have some human dynamo markings. have thought this of ed too.

i have periods of extreme verbosity, i'm in one now, but can't maintain if i want to get anything done

Kathleen, I was not sitting behind the table near my ad if that's what you mean. The tables were just crammed with stuff to bid on - no one who had donated was "at" the table where their donations were. My ad shared a table with at least 10 other things. That's why I think having something vertical and visible would have really helped. However, I have to admit to returning to the tables where my donations were quite often to see how the bidding was going. ;) I think if I had been there, I would have liked kind words. However, if I had to do these sorts of things all the time and all I ever got was kind words, I might be a little discouraged. Hard to say - it probably would depend on my financial situation at the time. (Kind words don't put food on the table, but you never know when those kind words are passed on to someone else who then DOES buy something.) -Jeanie

because i am so aware kind words don't put food on the table, i more often than not don't give them in that situation. i'm going to rethink that before the next event.

Great job on the flier!

Pulls you right to the point and is uncluttered.

Paul R. :wavey: