Simplify Your Design
Get brutally honest and ask yourself what “really” needs to be included in your graphic design. Strip out as much as you possibly can.
Covers designed by John McLachlan for Pacific Contact Marketing Conference
Concerning text, choose only that which is essential for the message. Also, just highlight the most important text by using contrast (size or weight) and leave the rest secondary and out of the way.
With images let your message be heard with one strong image instead of many. It’s very easy to think you have to show everything when only one thing will create a bigger impact.
When I design the covers of the Pacific Contact program each year, I always try to choose one evocative image of a performing artist versus having several. It’s true, that it may not explicitly explain the entire range of artists who will showcase, but at least an overall feeling is expressed.
If you don’t make harsh decisions about images and text, you will end up with too much with simply waters down the overall message.
Sooooooooooo hard to do but the impact is sooooooooo much stronger. I love all of those covers!
Harriet: you were the best person I ever worked with for being able to ruthlessly cut down the amount of text and junk before you gave it to me to work on.