Training design classes for the marketing executive
The full-day executive session.
Learn six things.
Then apply those lessons to an in-class assignment.
1. Concept development class
How to collaborate.
How to get an idea.
How to judge an idea.
How to sell an idea.
How to protect an idea.

2. Layout and design class
Margins, columns, the grid.
White space, contrast.
Symmetry bad / imbalance good.
Eye of the reader.

3. Typography class
How to select typefaces.
How to mix typefaces, families, italics, weights.
Building a type library.
Typography and copywriting.
How to set your address and phone.
The Secret Word you should never use in a headline.

4. Professional resources to find:
Photographers and stock photos.
Illustrators and clip art.
Charts and graphs.
Pricing guidelines and
Graphic Artists Guild.

5. Samples from the greats
Copywriters.
Designers and art directors.
Illustrators.
Photographers.

6. Developing your own style
Politics ain't design.
Figure your available time.
Do it all?
Hire talent?
Write your own copy?
Tough and pointed copy?
Or a gentle nudge?
Creative or conforming?
Branding or selling?
The five-lesson plan.
Five consecutive Saturdays. Or:
Five alternating Saturdays.
DayOne:
Basic design

Design history, examples, great ads. Discussion that focuses on your own taste level, your own value system.

Brief review of relevant software and hardware.

Page layout basics including:
Margins, columns, the grid.
White space or no space, contrast.
Symmetry bad / imbalance good.
Focusing the reader's eye.

In-class hands-on assignment.

DayTwo:
Typography, words

Styles of typography including:
Swiss design, Helvetica, the grid.
American editorial typography: Look, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Wired, Men's Health. Ad typography: Volkswagen, CBS. Reid Miles and Blue Note Records. Herb Lubalin. Medieval illuminations. Classic and circus posters. Decorative typography. Anti-typography.

How to convert a typeface into a logotype.

How to mix and space typefaces.

In-class hands–on exercise modifying letterforms by hand. Review.

Great typography, examples, discussion.

Principles of copywriting.

The word everyone wants to use and should never use in a headline.

Style <<tags>> from word processor to page layout application.

In–class hands–on exercise writing headlines.

In–class hands–on exercise writing body copy.

Spell-checking, proof reading [sic] your copy.

Review hands-on assignment.

Homework if you wish.

DayThree:
Design management

Working in creative teams.

Collaboration vs. Consensus. (Creativity versus status quo.)

How to remain objective and discussion. Ego versus overnight judgment. And the profound advantage of not caring too much (from a book on principles of negotiation).

How to buy art, illustration, photography. Usage, ownership, work-for-hire.

How to work with a freelancer.

How to buy printing.
Claudia McCue's superb book.

Review homework assignment.

DayFour:
Advanced design

Marketing and design.

Positioning.
Bottom-up marketing.
Guerrilla marketing.
Branding.

Art direction vs. design.

New wave and freeform design.

Review homework assignement. More demanding homework if you wish.

DayFive:
Thinking like a designer,
or, Prepress

Optional: A guest printing and production specialist if available, if you wish, for additional cost. Or perhaps a Web techie.

Possible visit to a printer today or during the week.

Claudia McCue's superb book.

As a management person, you may be asked to supervise or even produce desktop-published visual material for your company.

It can be a far cry from giving an assignment to a professional and critiquing their work,

to having a hands-on involvement with projects you write or design yourself.

When thclasses are over, the busy executive will be well on the way to being able to efficiently supervise creativity, feel more comfortable with the artistic personality, or to write, design, and produce effective in-house desktop publishing projects.

(But he or she may not always decide that that's the best course of action.)