The Big Three

Jodi Miller - HR & Brand Identity Director

Read Time: 2 Minutes

Ever wonder how a graphic designer creates works of art that tie together seamlessly when printed on any medium? Our own Director of Print Media, Miss Jodi Miller, reveals the three base tools used by any great graphic artist in today's world.

The Big Three

November 27, 2017

Jodi Miller - HR & Brand Identity Director HR & Brand Identity Director

When it comes to print media, there are three vital tools in every graphic designer's toolbox. These allow your brand (and even ours) to be created and displayed in stunning fashion in any scenario. From the smallest flyer to the largest billboard, these programs help create flawless works of art to pump your brand in all aspects.

You thought I was going to talk about the automotive industry, didn’t you?

Nope! I am talking about the big three programs that I use most when creating a project for print media: InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop.

Adobe Cloud A dobe Creative Cloud contains many useful programs, but for people like me who mainly design print... it’s InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop all the way! And they play so nicely together!

Adobe InDesign Adobe InDesign is primarily used for the layout and design of newspapers, magazines, books, posters and flyers. Pretty much anything with large amounts of text should be created in InDesign. What part makes this so program printer-friendly? Well, when the project is designed and complete, InDesign packages everything needed for the printing of the project—all of the fonts and images, etc. It does this so that when these materials are handed off to the printer and they can make the layout work in the exact manner that was intended.

Adobe Illustrator Adobe Illustrator is for creating and editing vector (points, lines, and shapes) based illustrations such as logos, brand marks, or design elements and icons. By creating these elements in vector, it means that they are now scalable images and can be sized as small (e.g. business cards) or as large (e.g. semi truck vinyl wraps) as needed, all the while still maintaining their resolution and clarity.

Adobe Photoshop is for creating and editing photos and raster (pixel) based artwork. It uses a layer-based editing system that enables image creation and altering with multiple overlays that support transparency. Layers can also act as masks or filters, altering underlying colors. Shadows and other effects can be added to the layers. Photoshop’s ability to color correct, resize, retouch, and enhance a photo is vital to any print project.

Generally when I tell people what I do, usually their first question is “What computer program do you use?” I always tell them, “InDesign”. Why? It allows me to design a print project by merging images that I have edited in Photoshop, take elements I have created in Illustrator, and ultimately design a finished product that fits the client’s needs. Yes, I use all three programs, but InDesign brings them harmoniously together for me and the projects I work on.

So in a digital world of video editing, web development, and photography, Adobe Creative Cloud still uniquely adapts their programs to cater to the print designer. And for this, I am forever grateful!

Topics

Graphic & Print Design

Keywords

Graphic Design
Print Media
Adobe Creative Cloud
Photoshop
InDesign
Print Advertising
Illustrator

The Big Three

The Big Three

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