top of page
Writer's pictureRaegan Benda

Direct Mail & Photoshop

Direct mail handouts are some of the essential design pieces for an organization to communicate with its essential publics. Here is my experience utilizing Photoshop to create mailers that communicate your brand effectively.


Photo from PDN Online


Beginning Photoshop


Starting to use Photoshop can be an extremely daunting task. A large number of tools and ways to create can sometimes leave you feeling unmotivated. However, it is important to use your resources to become efficient in Photoshop. To start, I watched tutorials and lessons on Youtube about the essential functions of Photoshop. As I became more proficient in the software, I focused on my second task of creating mailers: my audience.


Audiences

For this assignment, OU Recruitment Services was my client. When thinking about creating mailers, my first task was to identify the audiences these mailers will reach. I selected prospective students as the primary audience. For the secondary audience, the parents of these students were the most obvious option because in most cases they are the ones helping their child choose a college.

While researching and brainstorming with these audiences, I realized

parents and students need different information about

OU. Students are choosing colleges based on where they feel the most at home. Parents are choosing colleges based on finances and academics. Understanding this, I tailed each mailer to the specific audience need.

My Mailers

Throughout my design creation process, there were many edits I made to achieve my final designs. In the beginning, I wanted to establish the two different stakeholders through attention-grabbing elements. This started by identifying fonts and photos that would attract each audience.

I went through many different photos before I settled on the final pictures. I wanted to use photos with negative space for text and colors with crimson and cream. After this, I took some time to decide on the style of my design. For students, I wanted the design to seem trendy and fun. Thus, I created a design similar to a postcard from Norman. For parents, creating a hypothetical event they can RSVP to entice them to turn the mailer over and read more.

When finalizing my drafts, I wanted to focus on ensuring the design truly reflected the attitude and wishes of each stakeholder. To do this, I discusses my designs with my peers and took their feedback. Where it can be difficult, using a final draft as a time to collaborate and discuss helps you and everyone else on your team.

  1. STUDENTS

The front of my mailer intended for prospective students. This mailer was made to look similar to a postcard.

2. PARENTS

For parents, I wanted to host a hypothetical online information session. This information session would allow parents to learn about scholarships, academic programs and life at OU.

DESIGN TIPS

Creating designs for multiple stakeholders and audiences is challenging. Here are some tips for photoshop and working with many audiences.
1. Be consistent. Use similar branding elements, yet customize them to the specific audience.

2. Do. Your. Research. A design cannot and will not be effective if you do not research the public it is reaching.

3. Utilize layers. Where one of the more complicated parts of learning Photoshop, layers can make designing easy.

4. Be open to correction. Designing efficiently takes time and practice. Be open to learning and corrective marks from peers and leaders.


9 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page