tutorial: how edit the layout of a PDF without the original DOC or INDD file

whilst keeping its text selectable.

Recently, after a corporate identity upgrade, my client realised the company had tons of technical PDFs with the previous logo. But as I wrote, the company had only the documents in pdf format and nothing else, no DOC, no INDD. What to do? Here you the tutorial with the procedure I have been using.

First thing first: do not panic and open Adobe InDesign.

1_Crop the PDF with Acrobat Professional, remove all the layout components you are willing to delete. Choose Document > Crop pages (or press Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + T). 

In the pop-up menu in the upper left corner, leave CropBox selected, and then adjust values for the Margin Controls, you'll see a black bar showing the selecion you are cutting. In the lower right area, Page Range, select All.

Click OK Your page are now cut. Save the PDF.

2_ Open Indesign and create the new layout. Keep it simple, because you will not be able to edit the text body of your PDF (shape, columns, fonts and colours...)

3_ Choose File > Insert (or press Ctrl/Cmd + D) and select your prevoiusly cropped PDF. In the pop up manu make sure to select "Show Import Options". Click Open.

4_ The "Show Preview" dialog box displays a page in the PDF before you place it. If you’re placing a page from a PDF that contains multiple pages, click the arrows, or type a page number under the preview image to preview a specific page. Specify the pages you want to place: the page displayed in the preview, all pages, or a range of pages. Choose Transparent background. Click OK.

 5_ Now you can notice a very small, low-res preview of your PDF next to the mouse arrow. Click once on each page of the new document. The PDF pages will place where you click with your mouse.

6_ Now you are able to move the old PDF pages to fit the new layout. It takes a while, expecially on long documents, but it is still way faster than retyping everything.

7_ It's time to export the document to generate a new PDF. 
Choose File > Export. In the pop up menu choose "Save as Adobe PDF". Click Save and choose your exporting options. I usually choose PDF/X-1a:2001. Export.

8_ Your new PDF file is ready. Thanks to InDesign the new PDF has selectable text and all the other previous features.

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BootB.com! Great online service for “Unlimited Creativity"

BootB.com! Great online service for “Unlimited Creativity
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Discovery History new brand identity

Wow! Discovery History gets a new look thanks to the London based duo Pete&Tom:

"The central theme of revealing the past runs through every aspect of the brand from the channel logo to ident concepts and onscreen packaging".

Check for more on Behance Network.

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monography: Barbara Kruger

I would like to start a new section of the blog dedicated to all of those artists who influenced our way to communicate. I am proud to dedicate the first post to the conceptual artist Barbara Kruger.

Barbara Kruger was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1945 and left there to study at Syracuse University and Parsons School of Design. After a year at Parsons, Kruger left school and worked at Condé Nast Publications in 1966. She was promoted to head designer a year later after she started to work at Mademoiselle magazine as an entry-level designer.

Barbara Kruger' signature is clearly infuenced by the Russian Constructivist of the begninnig of the century. Black and white photographs overlaid with red captations, announcing strong claims written in a white Futura Bold or Helvetica Condensed.

Gustav Klutsis, 1930

Barbara Kruger, 1989

The artworks, designed to be applied on any scale, has been distributed widly in the form of umbrellas, tote bags, postcards, mugs, T-shirts and posters. The broad circulation attempts to call attention to the role of the advertising in public debate an to break the boundries between art and commerce.

In recent years Barbara Kruger has extended her aesthetic project, creating public installations museums, train stations, parks, and on buses and billboards around the world.


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How to present a company to potential clients?

Which is the most effective set of rules to best structure the presentation that a company delivers to a new potential client?

I was once taught that a persuasive presentation always begins with a very simple question: what is the objective of my presentation? And I was also instructed to write down: the goal of my presentation is..."get known by new clients". I quoted in brakets what the firm usually ask to the design professional.

Whilst working on the issue last week, I understood that this aim sentence is flawed. The aim should be: to persuade my listner that I hold the right tools suiting his needs. Which immediately drives me to the next question: who are my audience?

It appears very clear to me that first answer to my blog post is to start asking what is the aim and who are the audience of the presentation. Understanding the audience is not only knowing their needs, but it represents the moment where you reflect on their level of knowledge, then the type of language to adopt during the whole presentation.

Next step is how to structure the communication? Again, I was once taught two models: 4Ps and AIDA. I find them quite similar anyway.

I tried to adopt a milestone of marketing, i.e. AIDA model.

Briefly:
A: grab people's attention quickly and directly. Use powerful words, or a picture that will catch the reader's eye and make them stop and read what you have to say next.
I: engage the audience to spend their precious time understanding your message in more detail. "Gaining the reader's interest is a deeper process than grabbing their attention. They will give you a little more time to do it, but you must stay focused on their needs. This means helping them to pick out the messages that are relevant to them quickly. So use bullets and subheadings, and break up the text to make your points stand out." by Mind Tools
D: need to help them understand how what you're offering can help them in a real way by appealing to their personal needs and wants. Use for example lists of features and benefits.
A: be very clear about what action you want your readers to take. It can simply be an invitation to send an email to you infobox.

How did you solve the question?

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Favourite logos

What are your top three favourite logos of all time?


I really like logos that use negative space, because I always get surprised when I look at them. To me a good logo must be creative and effective, not necessarily simple. The City of Melbourne's new logo, designed by Landor Associates, appears to me as a good example of complex but magnificent logo.

Next I would like to propose the logo of the Librería Internacional Bilbao designed by Zorraquino.

What are yours? Leave you comments below.

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