Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

31 Parker Lane Austin, TX 78741 October 15th, 2012 Beth Eakman Re, PhD. Professor, St. Edwards University 3001 S. Congress Avenue Austin, TX 78704 Dear Beth: I am pleased to present to you my business communication package for our Print Production class. Enclosed you will find my business name, logo, nameplate, color scheme, typeface pairing, business card, letterhead formal report cover, and invoice, with each item on a separate page. I chose to brand myself as a modern freelance journalist.The purpose of my business communication package is to create a unique brand identity that is appealing to the audience. The audience for these documents consists of individuals, newspapers, magazines, and online publications looking to hire a freelance journalist. For my typeface pairing, I chose Myriad Pro Semibold and Helvetica Neue for the title and body typefaces, respectively. For the logo and the M and D in my name, I chose to use a downloaded font called Foobar Pro. For the other letters in my name, I selected the downloaded script font Better Heather. Myriad Pro projects and ethos of professionalism and minimalism. Minimalism is an important design element that I chose to use consistently throughout my business communication package because it implies directness; I always try to be as concise as possible without sacrificing vital details, especially in journalistic writing. Helvetica Neue is a sleek, thin font that maintains the motif of minimalism and adds to it an artistic and futuristic quality that steeps all of my documents in modernism. The artistic aspect of the font reflects my writing, which is well-crafted, and projects to the audience that I consider my writing to be an art form rather than merely an act of haphazardly stringing words together, an important quality that is intended to increase the audiences attention to my business communication package by setting me apart from other freelance journalists. The modern quality of Helvetica Neue communicates to the audience that I cover primarily current topics, which culls the audience for individuals and publications interested in the cutting edge. Foobar Pro augments the modern look of my design, as the gaps in the D in my last name make the logo and document headings look sleek and futuristic. Better Heather augments the sleek look of my other font choices and also lends a reserved and sophisticated look of my business communication package. I selected a color scheme that, like my typeface pairing, reflects modernism and minimalism. The primary colors are black and a fairly warm red, which create a very overt contrast in all of my 31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663

Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

documents, adding to professional visual appearance of my business communication package. The accent colors are 3 different shades of gray: dark, medium, and light. The dark gray is used only in my logo to improve the visibility of the ichael in my name. The medium gray is used sparingly throughout the documents to create a cool background that increases the visual weight of the red document elements. The light gray is used as a background for my invoice, and would be used very sparingly in cases when a contrast between accent colors is necessary to heighten the visual appeal of the document. My intent behind using this relatively minimalist color scheme, once again, to project that I am a professional capable of writing concise, high quality articles that are sophisticated without being overstated. The design of my logo also reflects professionalism, modernism, and minimalism. I decided to use my initials primarily because they are visually appealing together, and added the script font to prevent clients from assuming that I am a medical doctor. I decided to frame my name using 3 boxes in the upper left and bottom right corners of the logo to increase the modern look of my design. For my letterhead, I chose to maintain an ethos of minimalism and modernism by using only my name, my slogan, and my logo at the top and including my contact information at the bottom of the document. My logo also reflects a minimalist and modernist approach, as it contains 3 simple boxes at the top left and bottom right which frame my initials in the center of the logo. This design adds to the branding of myself as an artist, because the gray boxes with the red and black colors look similar to a modernist painting, increasing my appeal to an audience of individuals and publications looking for someone who covers modern topics in a concise, sophisticated manner, which is consistent with my intended brand identity. My business card has a very minimalistic design, but contains enough design elements to keep the audience interested. The placement of the text leads the eye to naturally follow the title down in a diagonal to the contact information in the bottom right corner. I balanced the red D in the title by placing a red horizontal rule above the contact information and making the contact information red, which draws the eye directly to it; this solved the issue that I had of the red D in the top left corner preventing the eye from moving down to the contact information, which was black at the time. For my invoice design, I continued the theme of modernism and minimalism by designing my own table and creating my own invoice template using InDesign. The invoice ended up looking very sleek, which is consistent with my brand identity. For my report cover, I decided to use my letterhead with the title of the report aligned flush left and centered vertically in the blank letter area of the page. I used my letterhead to provide the contact information for clients, and to maintain my brand integrity with the rest of the documents in the business communication package. The use of a simple, left-aligned title continues the theme of minimalism and clean modernism that is found throughout the rest of the documents. I provided the title, 2012 Annual Report Cover as placeholder text. 31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663

Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

In closing, I feel that I have created an effective business communication package which successfully brands me as a freelance journalist who covers modern topics and writes with a concise and artistic style through the use of minimalist colors, modern design elements, and sleek typefaces. I look forward to reading your comments on my design. Sincerely,

Michael Darling

31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663

Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

Name and Slogan

Business Name: Michael Darling Slogan: Headlines and Articles

31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663

H a le a dAt l e di s n rc s n ie

al g rn i

Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

Color Scheme
Red

R: 205, G: 33, B: 39 This is to be used sparingly on all official documents as the primary accent color.

Black

R: 0, G: 0, B: 0 This is to be used on all official documents as the primary font and outline color.

Dark Gray

R: 146, G: 146, B: 146 This is to be used on the official logo as the first name script font color.

Medium Gray

R: 146, G: 146, B: 146 This is to be used on all official documents as the primary organization element color.

Light Gray

R: 242, G: 242, B: 242 This is to be used on all official documents as the secondary organization element color.

31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663

Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

Typeface Pairing

Title text: Myriad Pro Semibold Body text: Helvetica Neue Logo text 1: Foobar Pro Logo text 2: Better Heather

31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663

Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

Business Card Front

Headlines and Articles

Back Michael Darling

Headlines and Articles

Modern Freelance Journalism

mdarlin@stedwards.edu (210) 488-2663 31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741

31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663

Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663

Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

2012 Annual Budget Report

31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663

Michael Darling Headlines and Articles

Invoice
To: National Geographic 1145 17th Street Northwest, WA 20036
Description Feature article for November issue -Research -Composition -Editing Hours

Date: 11/05/2012 Number: 111 Payment Due: Net 15 Client Ref: NGEO1
Rate Amount

12

$100

$1,200

Photo Captions for November issue -Caption titles -Caption composition -Editing

$100

$200

Table of Contents for November issue -Composition -Editing

1.5

$100

$150

Total: $1,550
Please remit payment to: Michael Darling Thank you for your business.
31 Parker Ln, Austin, TX 78741 | Email: mdarlin@stedwards.edu | Phone: (210) 488-2663