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The
Christian Computer Art Quick Guide to Good Church Publicity
| General
Comments |
| Communicating
to your audience IN
any communication, you must think of your audience and pitch your
communication at them. This may seem to be an obvious statement,
but in reality it is very difficult. For example, many people
cannot get away from church jargon when talking to outsiders.
If we use an "in" language to people who are not "in",
they'll lose interest and be put off.
Use
simple words. Bob hasn't "gained profitable employment",
he's got a job. See what I mean? Sententious communication appurtenances
are preferable. Sorry; it's better to use short words. Oh, and
short sentences, too.
Spelling
is important. Get it right. This is especially important with
people's names. Any spelling or grammatical errors will draw the
focus of attention away from your message. |
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Bold text
Italic text
All in the same typeface!
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Fonts
& Typefaces A
major temptation that must be resisted is using lots of different
typefaces on a page (strictly not "fonts". "Times
italic 12pt" is a font; "Times" is a typeface,
"italic" is a style and "12pt" is a size).
No
more than two contrasting typefaces should be used. What you can
do is change the size and style, expand or condense, increase
tracking, reverse (that's white text on a black background, but
only with bold type) to maintain visual interest. |
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Graphics
It
is becoming increasingly essential to maintain visual interest
by using graphics. Unless you can afford the luxury of photographs
all the time, prepared clip art etc., such as the images in the
Christian Computer Art collections, are a must. Pictures do more
than add to the story. Even a fairly neutral image can have a
powerful effect. Graphics break up the page, make it more attractive
and easier to read. They help identify the page, too. Use graphics
to give the page "balance". This doesn't mean make it
symmetrical, but rather pleasing to the eye. This is too deep
a subject to go into here; visual balance is more easily recognised
than described! There are plenty of books available on desktop
design if you want to investigate further. |
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Here
are some tips on how to use graphics:
- People,
cars etc. should face into the centre of the page
- Experiment
with sizes
- Bleed
some graphics off the edge of a page
- If
you can't find an exact image, it is better find a caricature
than to try to match
- Pictures
of people can often support intangible subjects, e.g. depression
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| The
dreaded Apostrophe! Many
people do not know how to use the apostrophe. Here's how it should
be used. Or rather, first, how it shouldn't: An apostrophe is NOT
required before an "s" on most plurals. The majority
of English words are made plural by simply adding an "s"
and nothing else. Similarly when using a verb talking about someone
else's action, NEVER add an apostrophe. "Shirley buys"
is correct,NOT "buy's".
The
apostrophe is used to indicate a missing letter in a contraction:
"don't" is a contraction of "do not" with the
second "o" replaced by an apostrophe. It also indicates
a possession e.g. "John's book".
Watch
out for "its" and "it's". "Its" is
an exception. It is possessive, but does not have an apostrophe.
It aligns more with "his" than "John's". Only
use "it's" when you mean "it is". |
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is the relaxation area attached to our Christian Computer Graphics shop.
Feel free to enjoy what it offers and have a virtual cup of coffee on
us!