Design An Advertisement With Xara!

This thread is going to be sort of like a Challenge but I'm posting this here in the Xara Graphics Chat because I am restricting this to Xara software only. The purpose here is to get more members participating in different areas of the forum and to showcase a professional use for Xara software.

I have prepared and attached a logo for a fictional client, you will find the copy in the brief below, the client has asked for a proof and once enough proofs have been submitted I may as a real client often does, throw changes at you!
Your "proof" can be a png or jpeg posted in this thread. This will be a newspaper ad and it will be in grayscale.

The Client
Our fictional client is the 5 Diamond Variety Store. It is a small local business that carries a bit of everything, owned and operated by Mr Diamond.

The Brief

The Ad will run in a local weekly newspaper. The ad will be 500 pixels by 500 pixels and will be in grayscale. Mr diamond has provided you with a logo he wants you to use (see attached .xar file) There is a tag line that needs to appear beneath the logo that should read:"Your One Stop Family Store"

Mr Diamond also wants the following copy: "Casual Clothing, Housewares, Appliances, Outdoor & Garden Supplies, Sundries
There are 3 "Deals of the Week!" to be featured in the ad : Printed Tshirts 100% Cotton assorted styles while quantities last 19.99 each, Sunglasses Many styles to choose from 14.99 each, assorted potted perennials, 1litre pots 12.99 each Mr Diamond would like some simple illustrations to go with each deal but keep in mind you are working in grayscale and this ad needs to look good for a newspaper ad (think ink on newsprint!)
Store Hours 9am to 5pm Mon to Thurs. 9am to 9pm Fri and Sat 10am to 4pm Sun
Phone number ( use x's as filler text)
Address line:Unit#1 - 1234 Anywhere Place, AnyTown, AnyState (or you can use the word Province in place of state if you wish)

Attachment 87834

Attachment 87833

Have fun and show the world what Xara can do!

excellent idea!

What is the budget?

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Originally Posted by mwenz

What is the budget?

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And has he paid a deposit ? :D

Let's take the budget out of the equation here. The idea is to show how Xara can be used in a real world professional situation.

you can never take budgets out of any real world professional situation......

I am not setting a budget. You just get to design the ad and deal with any changes that Mr Diamond may ask for.

mr diamond is very rich, assume the budget is unlimited, you have carte blanche, now design something!

Why, oh why couldn't I have met Mr. Diamond with his 'unlimited budget' when I had a retail ad agency???

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Originally Posted by angelize

Let's take the budget out of the equation here. The idea is to show how Xara can be used in a real world professional situation.

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Key words are "professional situation."

In a professional situation, budget isn't the only consideration.

My next question would have been, what size ad? 1/8, 1/4, half or full page--or other dimension of placement in the newspaper.

Take care, Mike

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angelize

The ad will be 500 pixels by 500 pixels and will be in grayscale

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can't believe the number of excuses people will give not to draw an image *sigh*

Thanks Frank, I gave a specific size in pixels to avoid confusion as not everyone here will use the same standard measurements and if I had said say a quarter of a page then the next question would have been tabloid or broad sheet?

so produce an image to the size specified following the brief and post a "proof" in this thread and "Mr Diamond" will look them over and give you feedback.

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Originally Posted by Big Frank

can't believe the number of excuses people will give not to draw an image *sigh*

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Never seen a newspaper spec given in pixels.

I cannot imagine doing anything for a client with incomplete or improperly stated specs. If I had been contacted by a potential client I would have asked these very questions (and maybe more). Wouldn't you have Frank? Wouldn't you have done so Angelize?

Pixels mean nothing.

I don't mind doing the ad. Sounds fun.

http://nytmarketing.whsites.net/medi...paper-ad-sizes

A for instance that I have done an ad for.

Here's my quick effort...

Attachment 87860

nice one tom :thx

In what pubs is Mr. D purchasing space? And do we have the technical publishing specs? What is the dot gain and screen size?

What is the deadline and can we get an extension. Also, can you ask the media buyer if she can get me tickets for the Laker's game?

:troll:

OK I narrowing in on this (ignoring you Frank).

Do we have anything from marketing re: the demographics? How does our audience fall into the VALs study group? Where do they fall income wise and education wise? What consumer insights do we have? Can we change the logo?

A great effort Tom! Thanks for taking part! the photos look good except the wicker basket does not really make one think of Perennials. Perennials are plants that grow back every year some examples would be daisies, daylilies etc. Mr Diamond would like to see some plants :)

I like the phone # being big and bold that is great.

Now, normally I wouldn't bother to do anything without actual specs if this wasn't a fantasy ad.

In reality, Mr. diamond wouldn't see anything from me as a first-time customer until his payment cleared. And small spot ads--the guys hires me or he doesn't and changes are cost +. Especially with little to no direction.

So here is my run through seeing how Mr. Diamond's check cleared. He paid for a design and got one. Changes are extra.

Take care, Mike

Not sure if these qualify as perrenials, but probably better than the empty pot in the previous one. Also bolded some of the text to make it stand out more. That's it from me, hopefully MR Diamond will be happy. :D

Attachment 87875

Nice ad, Gary.

Of course Xara products are used professionally. I was goading Angelize a bit for a reason. Many newspapers these days want PDFs, and they desire relatively high resolution PDFs--a typical requirement is images optimized for 150 lpi when images are used. That means somewhere from 225 ppi to 300 ppi, depending on the image (when images are used).

Unlike my "entry" in this thread, they also do not desire conversion in the PDFs to typical newspaper output intents but rather for CMYK (SWOP v2) specs--PDFX-1a PDFs. My JPG is based upon a TIFF I ouput from XDP, brought into PL and converted to grayscale and applied a newspaper output intent, which will knock back 100% blacks to about 84% or so to account for dot-gain. Which is why the ad of mine looks a bit washed out. It would print fine to a small, local newspaper that their art department was a bit behind the times. Better newspapers will apply their own output intents to the PDFX-1a PDFs at the rip.

Again, nice ad...

Mike

I believe Frances' intent is to simply get more members to draw and post regardless of their experience level. All the comments about what is or is not included in the job description can provide insight but can also intimidate new members and non-professional members from participating.

Just my 2¢. ;)

That may be true, Soquili.

I looked at this line to showcase a professional use for Xara software and how can one showcase a professional use of the software without taking into account professional requirements?

My intent wasn't to intimidate anyone, of course. But my questions were designed to get Angelize to post professional requirements for professional output. Requirements are easy to ferret out if one simply chooses a particular newspaper and use their requirements as the considerations for the ad.

Everything I have posted in this thread is Just my 2¢

Take care, Mike

You're absolutely correct Bill. Those of us who do this for a living are just teasing Frances. (Sorry Frances--just kidding).

The important thing is that you can create professional quality ads, posters, brochures using Xara products that are every bit as good as you could create in InDesign, Quark, or Illustrator.

There's a lot of stuff to cram into that small space. But the trick, I think is to make it look airy and not all crammed together. I know from experience that Mr. Diamond will see the white space as an excuse to add one or two more specials.

Instead of my own pathetic drawings, I would recommend hiring a young art school graduate, freelance, to do some charming little drawings. Showing details in retail is very important as is making sure the prices pop.

I would also insist that Mr. Diamond seriously rethink his logo. :)

I added a website, because these days, everyone has a website.

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Originally Posted by mwenz

Everything I have posted in this thread is Just my 2¢

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Quite right Mike. I was hoping to prompt more people to make an attempt at the advertisement.

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Originally Posted by gwpriester

You're absolutely correct Bill. Those of us who do this for a living are just teasing Frances. (Sorry Frances--just kidding).

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I'm sure Frances knew that Gary.

Yes I knew that Mike and Gary have been having a bit of fun with me and yes Bill is correct I simplified the requirements here hoping to get more participation from users of all levels.

I requested a png or jpeg image as a "proof" just for the convenience of posting on the forums (you guys are quite right that in reality I would be outputting to pdf but this isn't real life ;) )

I am not seeing the attachment in Tom's post I get an invalid attachment error when I click the link

Mike and Gary you have produced excellent ads but Mr Diamond would like to see the prices bigger. "Give em more punch" :)

And Gary you have touched on something that I was waiting for :D I purposely created a logo for this that wasn't the best, I wanted to see how long it would take before someone changed the client provided logo. You are right that a discussion with Mr Diamond about improving the logo would be warranted ( In real life you could charge extra for redesigning the logo) But making changes without permission (even putting it in reverse on a rounded rectangle ;) ) could cost you a client! (I can't tell you how many times I've had to put a bad logo into an otherwise perfect layout because that's what the client insisted on)

And yep that is a lot to put into a small space but so far you all have done it well (and be thankful guys, I could have made this much harder! I have had to cram ads much tighter than this before, it is a common scenario that clients will want the sun and the moon crammed into the smallest space)

Adding in a website is fine I was actually going to throw that in soon as one of Mr Diamond's Changes Keep the Proofs coming and keep watching this thread as I am going to throw in a twist eventually...>:)

Requesting a client change their identity--the logo--isn't something I would do for a simple newspaper ad that is by nature time-sensitive. It is a separate entity in a larger scheme of work.

Besides. I like yours better, Angelize. But, another challenge at some point could be an identity change. I promise I'll behave myself...

Take care, Mike

Mr. Diamond will not like this ad, but unless things have changed in the forty years since I had a retail ad agency, this one will sell out these three items. You will have to convince him that the logo is less important than the bargains. Tell him that he has only a second or two to catch the reader's eye, and the reader might be in the market for a T-shirt, but he isn't interested in Mr. Diamond's store or logo ...UNTIL, she wants that T-shirt. then she'll look at his logo. He doesn't need the state/province, maybe not even the city, because the customer won't travel to another town for these bargains. Also tell him that the pretty ad that he would prefer, won't sell as much as this 'junky' ad. A little more copy on each item would help too.
I wish I'd had Xara back in my day. So much easier than cutting and pasting; and before that, linotype and hot metal cuts.
Bev

Excellent points Dogman.

Now that RW experience talking. Excellent advice Bev.

Well done and well said Bev! I remember my husband saying that if anyone in the back shop accidentally nicked themselves with an Xacto knife there would be a chorus of "Don't bleed on the flats!"

However: Mr Diamond gave specific lines of text that he wanted in the Ad that you left out. Part of this exercise is to fit all the text he wants into the space he wants to pay for. Clients will often be very sticky about what they want and if you want Mr Diamond's business in the future you have to please him.

Ok I said I was going to throw in a twist so here it is:

Mr Diamond has contacted you in a panic! His shipment of sunglasses arrived damaged and he had to send it back He doesn't want to advertise merchandise he will not have. So you need to pull the sunglasses special and replace it with the following: XtraGood brand 4 slice toaster 39.99 Cool touch exterior white w/chome design. And he wants plus tax added to all prices. He is sorry he forgot to tell you that earlier. (and yes Mike, he is willing to pay you whatever you want to charge for these changes! ;)) )
However the newspaper's deadline is looming! They need the ad ASAP so they can put this week's issue to bed! To simulate a deadline here what I'm going to have you do is to prepare another proof with the specified changes and time yourself while doing it. post your final proof along with your time to complete the changes and lets see how fast Xara really is!

well, let an amateur have a try too, here it is.
( I made mine look a bit like a coupon, we know how
people like coupons ;) )