Why mess with success? Because we’ve found that if we freshen up our newsletter design every 3 years, donations increase. So, mess with success when it brings even more success!
Requests for the newsletter masthead (or nameplate) redesign included presenting some versions with black type only. Also, I was to delete the sketch art that we’ve used in the background for many years (see a 2011 newsletter design sample here). I decided to include a version with a small photo of the ministry founder, as we’ve seen donations increase when the founder is featured on the newsletter cover design (sample here). I also tried one design with the slightly more creative title of “Ministry News” instead of “Newsletter.”
creating the newsletter design samples for client review
I designed the newsletter covers as a 5-page layout in Quark XPress, with the full cover design on each sample page. I just extracted the masthead design from versions 2 thru 5 above for simplicity of presentation here. I made a 5-page PDF for the client so they could compare and decide which masthead design they preferred.
newsletter masthead design, or nameplate design?
I’ve found that masthead is the more commonly used term for the title graphics on the front page of a newsletter, though the correct term is actually nameplate!
and the winning design is…
Very few changes were requested on the masthead sample designs. Version one was rejected in short order, but my idea to change the title to Ministry News was a winner. The Marketing Director decided we didn’t need the issue and volume information, cleaning up the design even more. Pictured at right is the final newsletter cover design agreed on by all the principals. They loved my suggested title, and the design is very close to my original proposal.
Could your newsletter use a new look for 2012? Contact me now, as I have limited availability to take on additional freelance graphic design work right now. Let’s see what I can do to help your newsletter design!
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From my freelance graphic design portfolio:
