Stationery Layout Standards

These days many illustrators not only do the work of an illustrator, they must also do the work of a designer. Particularly when it comes to creating their business stationery and promotional mailers. Becoming familiar with the functional aspects of print materials, which would include basic postal regulations and limitations, can greatly benefit an illustrator who must design their own stationery.

Printers will usually provide resources and design tools to help with the preparation of files for printing. And each respective company has their own standards and resources, such as templates. There are subtle variances of size, file resolution, and even acceptable file formats between one provider and another. For example, one vendor’s postcard may be 4.25” x 6”, while another’s is 3.85” x 5.85”, and a third’s may be 4” x 6”. And one vendor may accept jpeg and tiff files, while another only accepts PDF files. So, to receive the highest quality print materials always follow the directions provided by the vendors.

Business stationery dimensions for the most part are standardized. US dimensions are 8 ½” x 11” for letterhead, 4 1/8” x 9 ½” for a #10 standard business envelope, and 2” x 3 ½” for a standard business card. However, many businesses have begun to adopt the European size of 2.165” x 3.346”, which is like that of a credit card.

Mailing

First and foremost, the most important consideration when designing a postcard or an envelope is that it has to work, and to do this it must conform to USPS guidelines. The USPS categorizes all mail by its ease or difficulty when it comes to processing. And accordingly postal rates vary accordingly. At the time prices begin at 34¢ and extend upward.

Standard Postcards

$.56 First-Class Mail®

Minimum size: 5 inches long by 3-1/2 inches high by .016 inch thick.

Maximum size: 6 inches long by 4-1/4 inches high by .016 inch thick.

$.73 First-Class Mail®

Minimum size: 6 1/16 inches long by 4-5/16 inches high by .017 inch thick.

Maximum size: 11 ½ inches long by 6-1/8 inches high by .25 inch thick.

Any item smaller than the minimum dimensions is not mailable. For postcards, length is the dimension parallel to the address. Postcards must be rectangular and be made of unfolded and uncreased paper or card stock. Large cards that exceed the maximum dimensions of a postcard pay the First-Class Mail letter, large envelope, or package price depending on their shape.

© 2014 Don Arday.

Standard Letters

$.73 First-Class Mail®

Minimum size: 5 inches long by 3-1/2 inches high by .007 inch thick.

Maximum size: 11 1/2 inches long by 6-1/8 inches high by .25 inch thick.

Any item smaller than the minimum dimensions is not mailable. Letters larger in length, width, or thickness will be subject to large envelopes or package rate.
For envelopes, length is the dimension parallel to the address. For letter-sized items over 3.5 ounces (0.099 kg), large envelope prices will be applied.

© 2014 Don Arday.

Odd Shaped Letters

$1.19 First-Class Mail®*

Non-standard letters that fall between the standard minimum and maximum sizes that meet one or more of the nonmachinable characteristics below.

It is a square envelope.

It is too rigid – does not bend easily.

It has clasps, string, buttons, or similar closure devices.

It has an address parallel to the shorter dimension of the letter.

It contains items such as pens that cause the surface to be uneven.

The length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5.

The minimum size for a square envelope is 5 inches x 5 inches (12.700 cm x 12.700 cm). Square letters are subject to the nonmachinable surcharge.

*The surcharge may exceed this cost depending on the letter's characteristics.

© 2014 Don Arday.

Letterhead

Although there is no government agency dictating restrictions like on an envelope or a postcard, a letterhead also has design constraints in order to function properly to convey information well. A properly designed letterhead starts by determining the length, width, height, and placement of an average letter it will contain. Once that is established design elements can be arranged to correlate to the page margins and even align with information in the word-processed letter itself.

When designing a letterhead it’s important to coordinate the layout, typography, and size of elements with the other parts of a stationery set, and with other marketing materials such as postcards, ads, a website, and even a portfolio.

© 2014 Don Arday.

Business Card

The good news about business cards is that they have no specialized space designations or restrictions. The bad news is that they are very small, and that they often contain more information than either a letterhead or an envelope. It all starts with the business card. Due to its size constraint, many designers begin designing a stationery set, by laying out the business card first. Then based on that layout, they design the letterhead and envelope to coordinate with it. Presently, both US and Euro standard card sizes are used in the US.

© 2014 Don Arday.

© 2014 Don Arday.

Ways to Improve Digital Color Quality

Whether you illustrate using traditional media or digital media, high quality accurate or pleasing digitally output prints of the utmost importance. Output has been a challenge for illustrators from the very outset of digitally created or digitally processed imagery. The number of variables that can occur in the imaging process causes the difficulty. However, there are several methods and techniques that can be applied to digital working methods to improve digital print quality.

© 2015 Don Arday.

Multi-User Open Environments VS Single User Closed Environments

The easiest situation to deal with is that of a closed (single-user) environment. In a closed environment all variables can be systematically eliminated. When identical conditions are applied to both the creation of illustrations, and the way they are output, in other words under ideal circumstances. An example of this would be an illustrator who creates their own art and outputs prints she or he wish to sell by using the same equipment in the same environment and the same paper stock.

Unfortunately, many of us have to produce prints in an open (multi-user) environment that contains many variables. The variables not only occur at the output stage but also on the front end or input stage. This is especially true for students that use community computer lab facilities. These labs may present a variety of working conditions, as well as operator created variables. These might include someone changing the monitor’s brightness or even color preferences.

Regarding back end output, the truth is, most freelance illustrators produce work for a number of clients, and each one uses a different output system. There may even be times where an illustrator may be unaware of output preparations or even who will be printing their illustration.

Ways To Improve Image Output

Calibration

Most output professionals would agree that monitor calibration is the most effective way to optimize print output. There are two categories of calibration that can be used. One involves the exclusive use of a software program while the other requires the use of a hardware device in combination with software. Although software calibration can improve the relationship of input to output color in some situations it is not as effective as a hardware colorimeter or color spectrophotometer. A colorimeter is used to calibrate a monitor’s brightness, contrast, and color temperature while a spectrophotometer is used to calibrate reflective light from prints. Using a colorimeter will greatly increase the potential for all forms of color print or display output to be accurate. There are a number of good commercially available colorimeters.

Color Management

Color management is a method of controlling the color characteristics for every device in the imaging chain. All devises rely on color management in the form of a color profile to control their color space. The color space on an input device requires a translator or converter to impart its color characteristics to an output device, which has a separate set of color characteristics. Users by default can allow the input software to manage color or alternate parameters can be chosen. Although occurring behind the scenes color management is something illustrators should be aware of. Alternative color monitor settings can be selected in Adobe software under Edit > Color Settings.

Print Profiles

A digital profile is a descriptive index that is used to define of properties and limitations of a color space. A profile registry is a set of finite values that create meaning for digital display media or physical output media. Profiles exist for hardware devices, within software programs, and for physically displayed media. The best visual results and intended color consistency is achieved by using profiles that were created for their respective destination environments. Imbedding the correct print profile in an image file can greatly improve print quality. Profiles can be selected in Adobe software under Edit > Assign Profile.

Monitor Brightness

Users, to suit their own personal preferences in a multiuser environment, frequently alter monitor brightness. Although a simple adjustment, this alteration can have a significant impact on color accuracy. An overly bright monitor will result in darker print output while a darkened monitor will result in lighter prints. It is always advisable to check the status of the monitor when working in a non-calibrated multi-user environment.

Color Sampling

When dealing with darker tones in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and other like programs it is advisable to sample the colors to see what there CMYK or RGB color percentages are, especially when painting or blending colors. Sampling dark colors can inform an artist about how much black is contained in a color, how saturated it may be, or whether it is warm or cool toned. This can indicate if there will be any gain or over saturation that will occur when printing. Even subtle warm and cool colors can be hard to judge. This may sometimes appear to cause a shift when printing, but it may actually be a misperception of a color’s content to begin with. The link below is to a perceptual color test provided by X-Rite. The online color challenge, based on the Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Test.

http://www.xrite.com/online-color-test-challenge

Work Environment

It’s time to think outside of the box. All the conditions referred to above occur inside hardware devices, but there is one factor that influences color perception that does not--the users environment. The amount of light in the workstation environment, whether it varies, and the quality of the light will all influence the colors used in an illustration. Both natural and artificial light varies in amount and in color temperature. Color temperatures over 5,000 Kelvin are cooler in color--bluish white, while lower color temperatures, 2,700–3,000 Kelvin are called warm colors--yellowish white through red. Color temperature and brightness can alter an illustrator’s use of a particular color scheme. Working in an environment with a stable lighting situation can improve output results. Professional colorimeters include ambient light testing.

Conclusion

All or any of the above suggestions can greatly enhance color display and output quality and accuracy. Even in difficult to control multi-user open environments certain color management procedures can be applied to improve the color environment.

Fan Art Explained

© 2015 Don Arday.

Fan art represents one of the fastest growing categories of illustration. Even so, it is a form of illustration that is besieged with many issues and conflicts. The problems that occur run the gamut from die hard cast in stone legal ones to problems involving the appropriateness of the art, and a bias against the art form itself.

Derivative Art

Fan art is a form of derivative art. Simply put, it is when an artist other than the originator uses imagery, characters, or settings created by an originating artist. For instance, when an illustrator uses Spiderman as a straightforward character in a promotional illustration. This kind of use requires the permission of Marvel Comics.

0% Inspiration, 100% Imitation

In 1820 the author, Charles Caleb Colton wrote, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, which has perhaps, become a statement of justification that can be used to validate fan art. But before Colton wrote his famous statement, the English writer Eustace Budgell in 1714 wrote, “Imitation is a kind of artless flattery”. Although written earlier, Budgell’s phrase presents a much more modern-day appropriate sentiment. Many professionals in the visual communication field have the opinion that if not exactly ‘artless’, fan art is an unoriginal form of art at the very least.

100% Motivation, 0% Distraction

Many illustrators, as novices, long before they even thought about a career in illustration, drew their favorite characters from comic books, cartoons, animated movies, and video games. It was this sincere admiration for a character that motivated people to pick up a pencil and draw. And draw with a focused attention they hadn’t applied before. In many cases, this rudimentary form of fan art became the initial inspiration behind the career of illustrators, artists, and designers.

Fan Art In Education

So, is there a place for fan art in education? Well, the answer is yes, but it is probably not the type of fan art anyone would expect. When we think of fan art today, we think of subjects that originate in mass media such as comic books, cartoons, animated movies, and video games. However, by definition there is a form of fan art that has been a part of art curriculums for decades -- copying master works of art. In color theory class, I recall being required to select an existing masterwork for the purpose of interpreting the work monochromatically, with analogous colors, and opposite values using gouache. I chose a work by Robert Motherwell, other students chose works by Van Gogh, Mucha, Picasso, etc. Additionally, students in art classes can be seen in Museums copying works of art. An accepted practice, artists often learn specific techniques evident in an existing work of art by attempting to copy them.

Is Fan Art Okay?

This is important to know. According to US copyright law, fan art using settings and characters from a previously created work could be considered a derivative work, which means the copyright would be owned by the character/settings originator.

The originator retains all rights over his or her creation. So, if I did an illustration that included Spiderman, I would not own the copyright of my own work! And technically, any display of my fan art Spiderman would be an unlawful distribution of a derivative work.

Practice, Don’t Publish

So, is fan art okay? Taking a cue from ‘Fan Art In Education’ above, fan art may have a place as a learning exercise. Just as musicians learn by practicing established music compositions, so fan artists can learn and practice their craft by imitating the works of others. Copyright restrictions exist for art and music when it comes to publication and commercialization. In both cases a fan artist or a musician is bound by copyright law not to abuse the rights of the creator/originator. Any abuse is both illegal and unethical.

A Loophole

The parodying or making fun of a copyrighted character or situation does not require permission of the copyright owner. This falls into the category of “fair use”, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t end up in court.

Fair Use

Fair use is the use of a copyrighted work, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research. If the reason for use of a copyrighted work falls under this description it is not an infringement of copyright. However, the following factors go into determining whether the use would be considered fair use: The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; the nature of the copyrighted work; the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

No Place For Fan Art

Showing derivative fan art is risky business, especially as work samples or in a portfolio. Doing so raises several issues. A bias does exist against the art form. Many feel it does not promote original problem solving or thinking, even in parody form. It is not considered intellectual property (IP). It is looked at as a practice exercise. Most believe it is not original work, so it is either dismissed by reviewers, or triggers a negative impression. It is scrutinized for its craftsmanship. If an employer considers or desires fan art, then exceptional quality is expected.