Module 3: Publications (cont.)

One of the things that I really want to improve on my job is my ability to publicize events. One aspect of that involves making posters and handouts. Too often, I wait until way too close to the event to publicize it in the library. Perhaps I would make the posters sooner if I had more skills and confidence in using Publisher.

After this excercise, I am a little bit closer to my goal. I used Photoshop again, and, though I continue to struggle with it, I am learning bit by bit with each use. Also, I am becoming less frustrated and angry each time I use it, which is always a plus.

First, a little background about the event I am publicizing: For the past year, the youth of Hastings have been working on poetry with a teacher from Flagler College. The project was done through the O.U.R. Center, a non-profit organization that works under the umbrella of Communities in Schools, and the Hastings Recreation Center. Another teacher at Flagler obtained a grant to get the poetry published. The book, called Juice Up the True Say, came out last month, and I have arranged with the teacher to have the kids do a monthly reading. Our first reading was last month.

I wanted to use a dynamic graphic, and the hand holding the mic in the air seemed good. However, I didn't like the avocado green that was in the clip art. I wanted something brighter, more vibrant. I went back, with some dread, to Photoshop. After much trial and error, I remembered how to remove a background using the polygonal lasso tool. After more trial and error, I managed to get two separate layers going, one for the mic, and one for the new background I wanted to put in.

I played around with the brush tool and found one that made little stars. My first draft used yellow stars on a white background. It was okay, but I wanted to get rid of the white and put some color in. I started with a new, orange/yellow background and made the stars a little darker orange. I also made sure the color was most saturated on the edges of the hand and mic.

I chose a playful font, Jokerman, for the title of the poster, and Times New Roman for the information about when and where. Finally, I put an orange frame on the edges. One strange thing that I noticed when I was almost done was that there was one orange star in the middle of the grahic of the hand. How that got there, I don't know, but I had to get rid of it. I re-familiarized myself with the clone stamp tool and covered it with black.

One thing that I learned was quite easy was to make a flyer in Publisher and then to copy and paste to make the flyer into a poster. Now I have something that people can see, the poster, as they walk up to the library, and something that they can take with them. In the future, I know that if I am tired of the same old clip art, I can change it.

Module 3: Publications

I have worked in Publisher using trial and error, but have never taken any tutorials. I really need to do that because I have not felt very good about what I've produced so far.

Yesterday, I looked at a few video tutorials for this class and found them very helpful. I have learned how to group objects align, and center them. I have also learned about the concept of a master sheet.

Onward I go . . .

I am having trouble getting my text to wrap properly. I'll have to wait until my husband wakes up for help with that one.

I have now learned about templates.