Tips for amateur designers like us!
Here’s another thing to think about when you want to design your own custom folders at The Folder Store.
How are you aligning your text?
This is a lesson I’ve learned the hard way over the years. Let me say up front, that I’m not a pro when it comes to graphic design. But I’ve dabbled in it, and have plenty of friends and co-workers who are amazing.
One common mistake non-design people like us make is we constantly want to center our text.
Who knows why? But for some reason, ever since word processors introduced those three choices for aligning text – we always want to use center alignment when we’re creating our own fliers, invitations or report cover pages.
While centering text is a perfectly legitimate way to organize things, real graphic designers will tell you it’s also a weak way to get the job done. In fact, it’s seen as a sign of a beginner or amateur.
Using left or right alignment creates a strong invisible line that our eyes like to look at. Using right or left justified text can make the layout of your new folders stronger and more attractive. Check out these samples created from the folder design tool on The Folder Store Website:
The example of centered text probably looks familiar. It’s not that it looks terrible – but it could use some work, right?
If you pay attention to layout and design that you think is pretty sweet – I’m betting you’re going to notice that a lot of it is either left to right aligned.
Usually, you’ll want to stick with mostly one or the other (right or left text alignment). But occasionally you can combine both and make it work. Maybe you’d want to left justify your Company Name and website in the upper left, and right justify your address and phone number in the bottom right.
You can also create imaginary lines by combining right and left justified text, or use an actual line to create an even stronger look. Check out the last two examples above.
Remember – if you feel like designing your own folders is out of your league – it’s okay! Some of us have more important things to work on than making folders look pretty.
That’s why we have pre-designed folders, and design experts at The Folder Store who can do it for you! Give us a call at 1-800-480-1338. Let’s get the process started!
