Direct mail

Direct mail is an effective method to target a specific audience. The pieces shown below are designed to accompany a personal letter and provide supporting information.

The warm gray band across the top of this two-color publication, though not required, is suggested to establish immediate recognition by creating a prominent area for the nameplate and unit name that does not compete with other elements on the page. Prominence has less to do with being large, and more to do with placement in an uncluttered location. The band is 1 1/8" deep.

The headline is set in univers black, with key words set at a larger size. Subheads are 9 point univers and the text is 10 point ITC Berkeley. The information is laid out in an easy-to-read three column format. Using carefully chosen colors from the official color palette creates an inviting look.

A contents information is set off from the rest of the text by placing it in a warm gray box, reversed out to white. Only univers type should be reversed out to avoid the problem of the letterforms filling in when the newsletter is printed.

This full-color brochure uses a strong typographic headline to identify itself. Even though "Iowa State University" is used prominently in the title block at the top of the page, the university nameplate is still used to anchor the bottom of the page as the official university identifier. The title is a combination of ITC Berkeley and univers black, with key words set in a larger size.

An introductory paragraph is set immediately beneath the title in 14 point ITC Berkeley medium. The text, set in 11 point ITC Berkeley, is broken up with key words called out in univers bold, 11 point. A quote is pulled from the copy, set in 14 point ITC Berkeley oblique.

A sidebar along the right edge is differentiated from the rest of the text by using bullet points set in 9 point univers. Additional interest is provided by using a photograph in a circular format and using a small piece of artwork.

The university nameplate with an appropriate themeline, determined by the publication's audience, should be used to anchor the back of the newsletter. To determine the correct themeline for your newsletter, see the Themeline section of the visual identity sytem.