2017 Calendar designed in Adobe InDesign CC

Next year, 2017, will mark my tenth year of designing a calendar. It started out as a Christmas gift that I could give to grandparents, using my InDesign skills, creativity, and love of nature photography. Now, friends and family want them too and I have given them to my clients.

This is designed in InDesign CC from scratch. Over the years, I have reworked the design to have larger boxes, a secondary photo, and to use tables instead of linked text boxes for the main calendar dates. I still use linked text boxes for the mini calendars on the sides. I find that's the best way to work with that kind of text in InDesign.

© 2016 Design and photography by Melanie Gardiner, Magnesium Studio. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Autumn

One of my favourite photos: taken beside the Welcome to Elora sign. I have it framed, used it in my calendar, and on greeting cards.

Netmechanics logo design

Newsletter design for Realtor

Artwork for approval text to give a client

As part of the project work flow, getting approvals on artwork is essential. 

 

For the client, it triggers that the stage of concepts and revisions is finished, and the piece will go into production -- whether that be going to press for a print job, or publishing live for a web job. I find that it also encourages the client to proof the content to ensure all the content is what they need/want.

 

For the agency/designer, it documents that the client is happy and ready to move the project along. It's that most important word: "approved". It might even mean that the project can invoiced or closed-out. It also offers some protection if the client comes back and says they didn't approve it.

The following is the text that I use. 

 TIP: save this as a draft in your email, and copy/paste it when you need it.

WEB PROJECTS

 

For your approval:

While care is taken in the preparation of final files, it is essential that the web page/site be checked thoroughly by you or someone within your organization. [Your company Name] shall not be held responsible for any error or omittance not identified by the person providing final authorization.

 

Please choose one of the following and email your choice to [Your company Name]:

1. Approved. I understand that this is the last time I'll see the page/site before it is published. I have checked all functionality, content, information, including any numbers, addresses, spelling, illustrations, and have found them to be correct.
   
2. Approved with changes. Please make a correction to the page/site, and publish it. I do not need to see it again before it is published.
3. Not approved. Please make some revisions to the page/site.

PRINT

For your approval:

While care is taken in the preparation of final files, it is essential that the artwork be checked thoroughly by you or someone within your organization. [Your company Name] shall not be held responsible for any error or omittance not identified by the person providing final authorization.

 

Please choose one of the following and email your choice to [Your company Name]:

1. Approved. I understand that this is the last time I'll see the artwork before it is published. I have checked all functionality, content, information, including any numbers, addresses, spelling, illustrations, and have found them to be correct.
   
2. Approved with changes. Please make a correction to the artwork, and release the final files for the trade printer. I do not need to see it again before files are prepared and transferred.
3. Not approved. Please make some revisions to the artwork.

Career Advisors ad

Career Advisors - NERHA summer 2016 quarter-page ad

Custom Mailchimp Email

Here's a screenshot of a custom Mailchimp email that I did for Product Marketing Community.

View it in a browser to see all of it: http://eepurl.com/bUrDyH

Reflections of Elora

Did you survive St. Patrick's Day? Here's a photo from the vault: in the reflection of this sign is downtown Elora. This is the Guinness sign which hung on The Dalby House, Elora. I have this photo hanging in my office. I took it on a warm March day, while taking a stroll downtown.

Red Barn, Salem, Bruce County

Here's my submission to a local photography group. This week's topic is 'framing'. A red barn being framed by the one-room school that my dad attended, partnered with the United Church. Salem, Bruce County.

Happy Family Day!

Thinking of family, here's a shot I took during the South Bruce Tractor Tour which South Bruce Tourism organizes every Father's Day. Even though we're a John Deere family, my Dad has a love for Allis-Chalmers and is rebuilding one. During the tour, we met a person with a large collection of Allis-Chalmers' which he had lovingly restored. Maybe someday, my Dad's Allis will be rebuilt and ready for display too!