This week's design assignment involved direct mail pieces and brochures that caught my eye.

The first I'll discuss is a direct mail piece that advertises a seminar hosted by a healthcare provider, Summa Health. This piece has a few things going for it and few drawbacks. I think the layout is pretty good: The colors are pleasing, the font sizes direct your eye to the appropriate portions of the piece and the and sans serif font selected is easy to read.

The layout is symmetrical, colored borders at top and bottom with heavier elements just inside with white space and text in the middle.

The layout is simple and clear - just right for such an event. You couldn't have sharp colors or photos that would be incongruous with the event.

What I don't like is that if you have no clue what the event will involve - you won't find the information in the flyer. This is clearly designed for those "in the know," who are familiar with the event, or at least, the host and speakers.

What is also rather odd is that this artifact probably cost some money, and the event is only two hours long. Maybe not too unusual, but I'd think that a less formal attempt would be used for such a brief event.

The next piece is a brochure from a construction company. It's is slick in appearance and paper. This probably cost a great deal to prepare, and the designers decided to pack as much information as possible.



A major drawback is that the design is incoherent. I couldn't tell if there was a particular pattern for me to follow. The design is colorful, the fonts are clear and appropriate. The company's market range covers medical and religious to industrial, therefore, maybe they should have been all-inclusive.

Two unusual aspects of this piece is the absence of a company Web site and the cover features a building that one would assume is the company's headquarters, but the name on the building isn't that of the company. Is it their headquarters or their most famous project - who knows?

Also the photos are too small to be of any help and again, don't seem to coincide with adjacent text.

My third piece is a brochure from a small family-run restaurant offering cut-out coupons for a few different menu items. In this case the design, colors and fonts are very casual and therefore appropriate. The layout is clear, symmetrical and user-friendly

Two minor problems are the following: One side of the brochure is blank, which is wasted space. Maybe a map or synopsis of the entire menu could have been included.



Also, there isn't a phone number to call, although the address is included. This actually isn't a minor problem. A phone number or Web site really must be included to make it convenient for potential customers to get more information.

Finally the ad offers discounts to the "Dyenamo Team Shop." Don't know what that is? Can't help you, neither do I and there's no information.

Another brochure was produced by the Central Ohio Chamber of Commerce. The intent is to inform chamber members of healthcare discounts the chamber offers. Because the topic is important but rather mundane, the design is subdued and informative.

The colors are cool, sage greens and soft golds. Sans Serif fonts that vary in size and sometimes bold. Small info boxes offer snippets of information that the reader could quickly determine whether the adjacent info is important to read.

There is a photo of a woman on a cell phone who is smiling and looking at some papers. Not bad, but a local or original photo instead of stock might have had more of an impact.

My final artifact is a copy of a billboard I saw a week ago. I couldn't take a picture at the time, but I found a similar design on the company's Web site.

The ad is for a funeral home in northeast Ohio. The ad includes the company's logo and photos of their three locations. With each photo is the address and other pertinent information - but that's all. In fact, two of the locations look like small homes. At first, I thought the ad was for a Realtor showing homes for sale.

It seems that the only reason they suggest you should use their services is because they have three locations. That might work for some families, but I'd prefer some sappy text about how they care for my feeling at the time I need their services, or at least how many generations of my family they may have served.

This ad offers nothing unless you've used them before. And if that's the case, maybe their complacency is apparent in their service too.