Re: [Fsfe-uk] Documentation

[Rogue M . Vox]

> Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 10:28:09 +0000
> From: Nick Veitch <address@hidden>
> To: "address@hidden" <address@hidden>
> Subject: Re: [Fsfe-uk] Documentation
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> 
Hi Nick and Marc,
>
>  >Maybe it would be good to have some kind of a brainstorming session: What
>  >about a few drafts simply in gimp as PNGs? Doesn't need to be perfect, just
>  >to check out a few different ideas on how such a page could look like. Or
>  >maybe a scanned PNG from some sketch on paper?
>> 
> the easiest way to do this is to
> a) sketch out a rough idea(s) and decide on the content
> b) work out what formats it will be required for (page dimensions, half
> pages too maybe?)
> c) create resonable sized graphics or whetever specifically needed
> d) Get an art guy on one of the magazines to actually lay it out, with
> different uses/dimensions in mind. Then they can provide it as a pdf,
> JPEG, or whatever
> 
Out of the options suggested over the last few days, PDF is probably the most 
advisable of all if you want any of the 'art monkey' to take the fsfe seriously 
and give your ad an extra edge (pun intended). Contrary to common belief (and 
it's probably best for the myth to remain so) PDF IS indeed editable, barring 
some considerations (which applies to all other formats anyway)... any bitmap 
format should be avoided especially if the goal is to amend layout on the fly.
>
> Although I often thing the skills of these art monkeys are overrated,
> this is the sort of thing they do every day, and they will take into
> account all the design considerations of different sizes etc. They also
> know what will make things easier for the other art guys.
>
hum would it not be more accurate to deem the monkeys themselves (some of them) 
overrated as opposed to their skills... daily scenario for a lot of these guys: 
 'OK so you want a full page ad from a flat jpg of 40k that I can grab at 
http://www.wertakingthepis.net???'. I do agree though that a few do lack the 
skills but there's nothing trivial in doing the job sometimes, trust me.
>
> I'm sure I could prevail on someone here to do the final layout if you
> want to come up with the basic idea and materials.
> 
I certainly volunteer for that part of the job. Now Nick if you want to offer 
me a job at Linux Format I'd be happy to take it as I'm a huge fan of Rich and 
Jono (and a good friend of the later)  ;-))))
> 
> I guess the real question is, what function do you want the ad to
> perform? Is it to simply promote awareness of the AFFS, promote some of
> the individual campaigns, encourage more membership, etc?
> Doing all of these at once might be possible, but with so many messages,
> the ad would be a bit conflicting.
> 
space restriction is the key factor in my experience, not mentioning that an ad 
that looks like an article will unlikely achieve its goal of being visually 
punchy and instantaneously understandable.
>
>  >I think at this stage, we
>  >only want to discuss simple low quality drafts. We can then select the 
> ones
>  >we like most and do them properly as vector graphics. Anyone any bright
>  >idea?
> 
definitely the way, png or (the infamous) jpeg should be accessible enough for 
all to comment on before committing to flexible renditions. I would recommend a 
separate plain text file alongside the bitmap, or perhaps a centrally 
accessible version with the infos (html?) to mimic a cvs - just a couple of 
thoughts.
>
> That's the best idea. They don't have to take too long, just sketch
> something out, and generate as many ideas as possible.
> I may even come up with some myself...
>
oups totally different set of skills. Let's see how overrated you lot of editor 
geeks can be ;-) 
-RMV-
>
> -- 
> Regards,
> 
> Nick Veitch
> Editor,
> Linux Format
> The UK's best selling Linux magazine
> www.linuxformat.co.uk
> 
-- 
'To give birth to a dancing star, one must have chaos within oneself' Nietzsche
visit http://www.chaosgenesis.com for details...

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