Technical Illustration

Techical Illustration has its roots in drafting. A drawing is made of an object to scale, and as realistically as possible. This is usually performed with technical drawing pens, allowing the artist to vary line widths allowing a more realistic image. A technical illustration may be as simple as a chart or graph, or the drawing may be a detailed cut-a-way shematic of a nuclear power reator.
     Computer software today can perform virtually everything that an artist may do by hand or mechanically. The primary considerations are time and difficulty. (It is quicker and easier to draw a straight line on a sheet a paper with a pen, than it is on the computer. Conversly, it is quicker and easier to draw a matematical sine wave on the compter, than it is to do the same by hand.)

Print Layout

The rule of thirds says that most designs can be made more interesting by visually dividing the page into thirds vertically and/or horizontally and placing our most important elements within those thirds. Elements can be spaced more or less evenly or put the main elements in the upper third or lower third of the page. Take this concept a step further, especially in photographic composition, by dividing the page into thirds both vertically and horizontally and placing your most important elements at one or more of the four intersections of those lines.

Print Design

The majority of illustration is performed digitally on a computer today, but mechanical and illustration by hand still has its place and purpose. Computer graphics and imaging software available today allows "adaptation" in creating and manipulating images and photos. This adaptation of the image can produce the real and surreal effects within an image that truely transforms the image into another dimension of idea and thought.
    Each image or photo can be made to "tell a story" in and of itself. It is up to the individual artist to bring the thought or feeling or story out of the image. Digital imaging readily facilitates this process.

Publications Production

Publication style. Layout style. Graphic style. Type styles. Color groups. Specific colors. Standard publishing parameters. Standard language usage. Indexing and cataloging systems. Marketing systems. Software to be used. Comapibility of all of the above, with the authors, editors, vendors, printers, equiment, and personnel requirements, are considerations to be made before any production may proceed.
    The most favored professional book publishing programs are Adobe PageMaker and Quark XPress. Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, and other "also-ran" programs are best left to producing pamplets, brochures, business cards, and letters.