More new things

Today I'm working on something I've never done before. I'm designing a booth and accompanying banners for my company. Up until now, the largest thing I've designed for work has been an 11x17 poster. The booth is 10ft wide, and about 7ft tall. The banners are 3ftx8ft. This has been a challenge, to say the least, for several reasons.

My first challenge is that I'm very used to InDesign, and these should be set up in Photoshop. I actually set them up first in InDesign, because I couldn't figure it out in Pshop. My mind just wouldn't switch over to the different program. However, the printer wants it in a Pshop file, so I've spent the entire day re-setting it up in Pshop. Yet, somehow I still think I saved time by doing it in InDesign first.

I've also done more math than I've done in a long time. First, the file in ID was 1"=1' to keep the file from being huge. And because I figured I would have to redo it, I wanted a small file that would be easy to work with. In Photoshop, I'm setting the file at half the size it needs to be, with twice the resolution. That way, the file is smaller (at least relative to the full size), and all the printer has to do is blow it up times two, and it's the right size at the right resolution. So, the dilemma is that I have to convert my ID measurements to actual size (1"=1'), then divide by two (1'=1/2'), then convert to inches, because Pshop doesn't deal in feet (1/2'=6"). That works fine when dealing with a simple measurement like 1 inch, but when it's 3.125 inches, it gets difficult and my eyes start to cross. I was an Art Major, people!

My final challenge is trying to visualize it at full size. Will the logo look too large at 2ft wide? I've never seen it 2ft wide. Will the people pictures be overwhelming as large as they are? How large are they in relation to real people? Is this a design that people will want to look at? This challenge is the hardest, because I won't know for sure until it's done, and that's a mighty big risk (because it's a mighty big check to pay for it). But there's no other way. I've actually tried, by cutting the banners out and holding them up in front of doors or other things to give me the illusion of the right size. And it looked okay, but I'm not sure if that really gives me an accurate picture.

So, this new assignment has been quite a challenge, but I'm almost finished, and nothing's blown up, yet. Here's a picture of what it looked like last week. It's changed quite a bit since then, but I had to mock it up to show my boss. It took way too long for me to do it again, unless I have to. If I have to, I'll post the latest version some other time. :)