 |
Photo by Ernie Black
|
|
June 2006 / Summer is coming!
New England's spring was wet and dreary this year but we somehow managed a dry Saturday for the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce Earthday Cleanup on April 22nd! Our volunteers, working along with the Chamber, The National Parks Services, and Keep America Beautiful, were able to clean several areas in both Millbury and Sutton. One of our volunteers even spotted a nest filled with wild turkey eggs [below right], and we were all thrilled to see that the river banks by the power plant were covered with the delicate blooms of wild bloodroot. You can see photos of the event activities by
clicking here.
Other outdoor highlights from my spring included the discovery of baby rabbits in a shallow nest in the backyard lawn, and just this week, a single robin's egg [today there are 3] in a nest behind my office.
Another Memorial Day has come and gone... but with its passing comes the promise of summer's brilliant days and long, sultry evenings... so let's get out there and enjoy them!
I hope you have a great summer, Debi
|
|
|
Summertime...
and the valley is breezy!
|
|
|
Gardiner Design's flyer design for the upcoming Blackstone Valley Celtic Festival.
The accompanying 2-sided poster will fold down to also serve as a rack card and will include the various stage schedules and musician's bios, and was featured in
istockphoto.com's "Designer Spotlight"
|
|
|
Join the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce for the 4th Annual Blackstone Valley Celtic Festival on July 22 & 23
Held for two days at King Farm in Sutton Massachusetts, this event attracts many international and local performers. On the list this year are: Enter the Haggis, Halali, Aoife Clancy, Pendragon, and more. Event highlights include not only the musical performers but also Irish Step Dancers, Birds of Prey exhibits, and Sheepherding demonstrations, just to name a few. There's also a "Men-in-Kilts" contest if any of you are up to the challenge... and notoriety!
Debi Gardiner was invited to join the Celtic Festival planning committee this year, and will be designing posters, flyers and advertisements for this great event. There is also a raffle for an all expenses paid trip for 2 to Ireland. Tickets are 10.00 apiece, and the trip is valued at $5400.00. I have tickets for sale, so if you are interested in purchasing one, let me know.
Want to help? Visit the event website at:
www.blackstonevalleycelticfestival.com for event details and volunteers opportunities...
This photo entitled "Get Out!" which I took at the Celtic Festival 2 years ago and used in the marketing materials for this year's event, is available for purchase on
www.istockphoto.com. Speaking of getting out... I hope you can get out to the festival!
|
|
|
tech tip
.:
Bleeds, trim areas & live areas
|
|
On the Internet
The Spinnaker Group website designed by Gardiner Design is live, and features staff photos taken by Debi at the company's offices in Foxboro.
On the Drawing Board...
[and easel]
The Gardiner Design website is currently undergoing a redesign. Among some other great features it will include my original oil paintings, some for sale... but more on that later!
|
|
|
More of those strange words designers utter: defined!
When asked to design a printed piece, one of my first questions is "will it bleed?" A client once looked at me horrified and answered "Of course I don't want it to bleed, what kind of printers are you using!". A Bleed isn't a problem on press, it simply means that instead of having a blank margin around the image, the colors will print right up to the edge of the paper on which the the job is printed. In reality a bleed is achieved by printing on an oversized sheet which is then cut down to it's final size. Printing presses and laser printers [excluding today's more advanced "borderless" laser printers] will not allow you to print right up to the edge, because a "gripper" must grab the edge of the paper and pull it onto the roller. So to create a bleed, a designer builds in an area which will be removed in the cutting process and which gives the illusion that the ink was printed to the edge, or Trim Area.
The trim area is the final size of the resulting printed piece. If designing a letterhead for example the trim area would be 8.5" x 11", the standard US letterhead size. If the letterhead had a bleed it would be printed on a larger sheet (say 9" 11.5") and after the ink dried it would be cut down to 8.5" x 11".
Live area, which is a common specification needed for magazine advertisements, is the largest allowable size for important information within the trim area. Magazines have to allow for some slippage when trimming down the final glued edged magazines. If you had important information (say a phone number) which as too close to the final size or trim area you run the risk of having that key "call to action" chopped right out of your advertisement. Knowing this, and the limitations of their bindery systems, magazines will include both trim and live area measurements in their specifications so that designers know to avoid placing important data where it may get trimmed off.
Tip: A piece which bleeds will generally cost more due to the larger paper required, and the final trimming costs... but generally the visual impact created by a bleed justifies any additional costs.
|
|
|
|