Behind the scenes look at my postcard

The process of creating this postcard helped to demonstrate how imperative it is to be able to understand and be familiar with all three of these applications, so that the visuals you create can be as effective as possible. Mandating students to use all three applications forces them to become more familiar with all of them and ultimately a better designer.

When creating my postcard I decided to use a black background that has three spotlights coming from the top, that helps to illuminate the upper third of the postcard. I chose this background because when I think of public relations I think of being in the spotlight and being the spokesperson for a company or organization. In order to succeed in public relations you need to be willing to step up and get your message out no matter what the circumstance is, so I believe the spotlights help to add a unique effect to the postcard.

I chose to use the lime green colored text for the header, sub-header, and graphic because I felt that it contrasted very well with the black background. It helped to let the text and graphic pop off the page and set the hierarchy for the postcard. At first glance, you immediately see the lime green and it communicates exactly who's postcard it is and what career path I am heading down, which I believe are the two most important components of the postcard.

I chose to you use a font titled new athletic 52. I used this because I ideally would like to work in sports PR in some capacity so I thought this added another interesting feature. I also thought making the font color white would help it make it much easier to read. The font was also larger, and bolder and made reading it a lot easier on the viewer's eyes.

In terms of the design hierarchy, I chose to have my head shot photo cover over a third of the postcard so that viewers know what I am ultimately trying to highlight. Secondly, I tried to emphasize the header, sub-header, PR graphic, and the graphics of the different sports equipment. This helps people to put a name and general idea of what I want to do without even reading the text Lastly, I decided to put the least amount of emphasis on the text in the middle. It does cover a strong portion of the postcard but I just feel as though when people take a a quick glance at it they'll be able to depict exactly who I am and what I want to do by looking at the other components.

Having the ability to use all three applications was definitely a necessity for this assignment. There were just so many different elements needed to finish the project properly, that you needed to know how to use all three. These elements including having to use Photoshop to properly crop and trace your photo, using Illustrator to edit graphics so they are ready to be placed in InDesign, and finally, use InDesign to help put it all together in one place.