Designer: Deb Reynolds

Many businesses struggle with limitations in their print materials, but this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. Denise Webber, marketing assistant for communications provider Western Iowa Networks (WIN), adopted the current design of WIN’s newsletter when she started working with the company. “I’ve already cleaned up the headers a bit,” she notes, “but the overall design is still too busy.”

Sometimes limitations force you to find inventive solutions. According to Webber, WIN designers needed to keep the three-column, one-color (Pantone Uncoated Reflex Blue) layout. DG designer Deb Reynolds made these restrictions work to her benefit. “The idea is to keep it professional and informative,” says Reynolds, “but not dull.”

Reynolds began her redesign by creating a more solid feel to the cover page. “There are too many pieces of information floating around, some too small to get noticed,” she says. She gave the nameplate the solid Reflex Blue color to grab attention and relieve the heavy copy. The designer also decided that two stories for the cover page is plenty—the two cover lines at the top of the original were running together. She took one article out, and made a blue-screened box in varying shades to separate the bottom story from the top.

The table of contents and contact information are barely visible at the bottom of the cover page, so Reynolds moved them to the right side of the page and used larger typefaces—Aviator Light, Arial, and Arial Condensed Bold. “It’s more organized now,” she notes. “Before it had a scattered appearance.” Reynolds chose to use icons throughout the newsletter because they work well with the headers. She maintained the photos from the original piece, but cropped in on them to add interest and make better use of the space dedicated for imagery.