Once upon a time, the printed pieces you received from theaters and concert halls were shiny numbers on coated paper, as if the glossier the images, the higher the caliber of the entertainment. Perhaps now that so much of our entertainment comes through a monitor with mechanisms for viewing enhancement and sound augmentation and whatever-else-they’ve-dreamed-up, there is a draw for something that demands your attention in a new way. Read more…

The 2010 Spring Season Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University brochure begins its first performance the moment you touch it. The lush red and playful black leap from the pages in dramatic fashion, while the weight of the paper and the almost-porous surface connote an air of integrity and gravity. The promise seems to be of an experience worth having, less slick, more satisfying.

Designer: John Elmore

Project: 2010 Spring Season Center for the Arts Wesleyan

Paper: Finch Casa Opaque

How long have you been designing?

I have been working as a designer for 18 years.

Is designing within a university different from, say, working as a freelancer or a part of an agency?

In some ways, yes. Because I design for the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University, my clients are are primarily curators, art administrators, and teaching artists. It has been wonderful to work with this group over the years. Their knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, their disciplines is inspiring. They tend to also be very supportive and great collaborators. I also really enjoy working with students.

Are there unique challenges to designing program/calendar pieces?

The goals are similar to many design pieces—to communicate information in a clear and appealing way. The challenges for me come with organizing a lot of text and disparate material into a system that is compelling without losing touch with the purpose of an events calendar—to answer the questions where and when.

How did you determine the color scheme?

In earlier versions of the piece, I filled the background of the section pages with different bright colors. When I moved from a coated to an uncoated paper, I wanted the text to sit directly on the white paper, but also wanted to retain the vibrancy of the earlier brochure. I chose some favorite colors and used these in vertical rectangles on the page edges to help readers navigate the piece. So, for instance, the concert series became purple and the dance series orange. I thought at the time that this  scheme might not always work with the color in the images that I received, but it has worked out well.

What made you decide to use uncoated paper versus coated?

At the time I made the switch to an uncoated paper, it was a way to differentiate the piece from other calendars and brochures that were often printed on a coated paper. I also liked the tactile quality of the uncoated paper. The environmental benefit of using paper that does not go through the coating process, and one that contains recycled content,  also became increasingly important to me.

Why Finch?

Finch offers a line of uncoated papers that print very well. Images and areas of colors look solid. Finch is also very affordable in a time when budgets everywhere are tight. As I mentioned before, I am also looking for a paper with some environmental benefit and Finch offers papers containing recycled content and is also FSC and SFI certified. Finally, I would have to credit my Finch sales representative Alice Kennedy who, for many years, brought me wonderfully-designed print samples of catalogs and annual reports that showed the high-quality print potential of the Finch papers.

Do you have a design pet peeve?

Not really, but if I had to choose it would be small typographic details, such as people using a dash where an em dash is needed. Over the years, though, with the growth of desktop design and the popularity of movies like Helvetica, I find that people know more about terms and techniques that were once used only by designers and typographers.

A favorite site for inspiration?

Although nothing new, I am often inspired by the New York Times’ site. The quality of the writing and range of content is consistently strong. I have also enjoyed seeing the design blog Apartment Therapy grow over the years: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny

Anything else?

Thank you for featuring the CFA brochure in your blog*!

*Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts has a blog of its own, check it out here.