This post has been translated by Mariam Osmann. Read her blog and follow her on twitter.

ترجمة مريم عثمان

زمان كان توزيع المنشورات ده بيتعمل في الاستخوبس واللي كان ماشي فيه ياما شاف. أما دلوقتي ده بقة العادي عشان تعلن عن فكر أو نشاط وتعرف الناس بيه، ويعتبر مهم لأي مجموعة سوا كانت اتحاد مستقل أو قوة سياسية أو حزب . ويعتبر أهم من المواقع الاجتماعية م الناحية العملية.

الورق ده كان موجود منه ع الأرض، هو أساسا ماكنش يشجع ع القراية. عشان كدة قررت أكتب التدوينة ديه عن الخطوات اللي لازم نعملها وإحنا بنصمم منشور يكون له قيمة ويقدر يوصل الرسالة بتاعتك. وحتى لو كانت الماديات مش قد كدة. دي كام نقطة لازم تاخد بالك منها لما تيجي تصمم وتطبع منشور ناوي توزعه في الشارع:

1. الإنجاز مش طالبة وجع دماغ

لازم تركز على شوية نقط من غير كلام كتير. محدش عنده دماغ يركز معاك كام ثانية على بعض، شوية وهيسرح في حاجة تانية. فكر في المنشور ده على إنه حاجة معبرة، إعلانية مش تفاصيل كاملة عن حركة مثلا. لو إنت قعدت تنتع في قلبك عشان تزنق كل حاجة في ورقة واحدة فده معناه في الغالب إنك حاطت معلومات أكتر م اللازم.

2. قطع أقل، جمل قصيرة أكتر

محدش عايز يدخل في كلام كتير. الجمل القصيرة أسهل في القراية عشان بتخلي اللي بيقرا يطنش نقط أو يقف عند نقط. يعني قمة التفاؤل لو إنت فاكر إن في كتير مستعدين يقعدوا يقروا كلام كتير ويحاولوا يطلعوا كام معلومة مهمة من وسط السطور. أحسن حاجة، إن المنشور يكون في صورة خمس نقط أساسية تحت كل نقطة سطرين شرح.

3. استخدم الألوان لو ممكن، بس من غير شخلعة

أكيد الطباعة الأسود والأبيض هي الأرخص، بس لو الميزانية تسمح ممكن تستخدم لون أو اتنين كمان، هيخلي المنشور يشد العين أكتر. بس ابعد عن الألوان المفرقعة اللي بالعادة بتضايق العين، ده غير تكلفتها.

4. مقاس A5 أحسن من A4

مش لازم المنشور يكون مقاس A4. إحنا قلنا قبل كدة الكلام اللي هتحتاجه عشان تملا صفحة بالمقاس ده هيكون زيادة عن اللزوم. غير إن لو واحد عايز يطبق ورقة بالمقاس ده أو يمسكها عشان يقراها هيعاني. أما مقاس A5 (وده نص مقاس A4) يناسب الجيب بعد ما يتنى مرة واحدة، ومكن تمسكه بإيدك بسهولة وقت القراية. ممكن تطبع على الناحيتين، وتخلي ناحية للنقط الأساسية ومعاه تفاصيل للتواصل للي عايز معلومات زيادة.

5. استخدم رسم توضيحي أو مخطط

ما تفكرش تطبع صورة. هتكون مكلفة غير إن جودتها نادرا ما هتساعدك توصل رسالتك. مع ذلك ممكن رسمة كارتون بسيطة أو كاريكاتر يشد جمهورك بطريقة تشجعهم يقروا باقي الرسالة. أحيانا ممكن المخطط يساعدك توضح وجهة نظرك.

6. خليه ياخد موقف، أعمل إيه دلوقتي؟

عمر ما كان الهدف من أي منشور قرايته ورميه. دايما مطلوب يتعمل حاجة. ركز ع النقطة ديه. وخليها واضحة في آخر رسالتك (عشان ف الأول ممكن يكونوا لسة مش مقتنعين). وكل ما تكون العبارة قصيرة تأثر بشكل أحسن. مثلا عبارة “قول لأ” تعمل أثر أحسن بكتير من جملة طويلة بتطلب نفس الشئ.

7. أروح فين لو عايز أعرف تفاصيل أكتر؟

إوعى تنسى إن المنشور بيقول رسالة محددة، اللي هيتشد بيها هيكون محتاج إن حد يقول له فين ع الانترنت يلاقي معلومات زيادة. وأحسن مكان تبعته ليه هيكون الموقع بتاع الحركة أو المنظمة ع الانترنت أو صفحة ع الفيس بوك أو هاشتاج على موقع تويتر (مش لازم دايما حساب على موقع تويتر عشان تتابع الكلام المكتوب في الهاشتاج)

مثال

منشور كان بيتوزع أيام الكلام على التعديلات الدستورية، أنا عن نفسي أديله 8 من 10

Front side

Flip side

مميزاته:

1. مقاسه مثالي
2. فيه شوية ألوان من غير فرقعة
3. فيه دعوة قوية تحركك
4. جدول بيعرض الكلام في نقط
5. مفيش كلام كتير ملزق في بعضه

العيوب:

1. مش مكتوب ولا موقع ع الانترنت ولا صفحة فيس بوك ولا تويتر
2. كان ممكن على ضهر المنشور يكون في رسمة توضيحية أو ممكن استخدام ألوان أكثر شوية تعمل فرق بين نصين الجدول.

إتعلم من غلطك

قياس نجاح المنشور بتاعك هيكون عن طريق التعليقات بتاعت الناس اللي اتوزعت عليهم في الشارع. لما تبقى حتة ورقة حديث الشارع فأكيد إنت عامل حاجة كويسة. مش ضروري تكون دي الوصفة الوحيدة عشان تعمل أجمد منشور، بس أظن لو إنت جربت تطبق الكلام المكتوب فوق، فإنت كدة عرفت السكة.

Yesterday I was at Tahrir square in celebration (and recognition) of Labor Day. While the numbers were not on par with my optimism building up to the day-long event, the mood was uplifted, and the revolution’s happening. As always, I was offered a dozen different flyers by fellow revolutionaries, and I make the effort to go through each one and learn about the different political movements and campaigns taking place on the ground.

Flyer distribution had always been an underground activity that was rather risque. Now, it is the standard method of announcing and sharing ideologies and activities, and is vital for any group from independent unions, to lobbies and political parties. More so than social media, in fact.

Sadly though, the effectiveness of the papers that are tossed around don’t do justice to the level of enthusiasm and passion driving them. For that reason, I wanted to write a blog post with the steps to follow in order to put together an effective flyer that gets your message across, even on a tight budget. The following are what to keep in mind when designing and printing your flyers to be given out on the streets:

1. Less is more. More is ‘where’s the nearest trash can?’

   You should focus on a couple of points and not get carried away printing out an entire detailed manifesto. People literally give a few seconds’ worth of attention, and then will look elsewhere. Think of a flyer as part of a campaign, not a comprehensive movement. If you’re struggling to fit in everything you wanted to say on a piece of paper, chances are you’re trying to convey way too much.

2. Fewer paragraphs, more bullet points

   No one wants to go through endless paragraphs. Bullet points are easy to digest, and allow people to choose whether or not they want to read a particular point, or skip to the following one. You’d be overly ambitious if you thought many are willing to go through entire paragraphs in order to reach important points lost in the middle. Ideally, a flyer would have about five main points, with a couple of lines going into a bit more detail with each one.

3. Use colors, if possible, but no rainbows

   Black and white printing is obviously the cheapest option, but if your budget allows you add another color or two, than that would be more attractive. Don’t go overboard with colors from fantasy motion pictures, that would probably be repelling, not to mention costly.

4. Consider A5 over A4

   There’s no real need for an A4-sized flyer. The amount of content required to fill it up already deems it ineffective. Besides, folding it up or trying to keep hold of it is a bit of a tough task. A5 (which is half the A4) is small enough to fit in a pocket after just a single fold, yet spacey enough to carry your message comfortably. You can always print on both sides, dedicating one side to the main points, and the other to more detail, as well as where to go for more information.

5. Include any basic illustration, or a diagram

   Don’t try to print images. They’re not exactly cheap, and their quality rarely does your message any justice. However, a simple cartoon, or caricature could grab your audience’s attention long enough to generate interest in going through your message. Sometimes a basic diagram can go a long way in illustrating a point.

6. Always have a call for action, what are we supposed to do?

   Never is the objective behind a flyer to read it and toss it. There’s always an action that is required. Focus on that aspect. Make it loud and clear, and at the end of your message (because you want to persuade people first). The shorter it is, the more effective. ‘VOTE NO’ yields results that a call for action two sentences long wouldn’t dream of.

7. Where do I go for more information?

   Remember a flyer carries a specific message. Those who are interested need to be directed to websites where they can learn more about the subject. Ideally, you would provide a website of the movement/organization, a Facebook page, a twitter handler (in some cases there’s a hash tag to follow without an actual account), and most importantly, a phone number.

An Example

This was a flyer that was handed out in the days leading to the constitutional referendum. I would personally rate it 8/10:

Front side

Flip side

Advantages:

1. Ideal size
2. Some color, but not too much
3. Strong call for action
4. Table organizing points
5. No paragraph text

Disadvantages:

1. No website, Facebook, nor twitter
2. The back side could use an illustration, or a bit more color to distinguish

Learn from your mistakes

The success of your flyer is directly related to the feedback you get from recipients on the ground. When a piece of paper sparks conversations with fellow citizens on the streets, then you must be doing something right. There might not be a precise winning formula to putting together an effective flyer, but I think if you stick to the points above, you should be in good shape.

This is a hilarious video that overly-exaggerates the never-ending torture that comes from dealing with many of the clients when freelancing. Regardless of whether you’re a graphic designer, web designer/developer or multimedia designer, the start of the road to independent freelancing starts off very tough indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfprIxNfCjk

Excuse the foul language, although it does make it even funnier!

When you decide to take on freelancing, even part time, with a vision of doing it exclusively and professionally down the road, you have to go through a test where only the fittest survive. The typical clients that you might start up with will always have the following characteristics:

• Stingy: They’ll splash $500 on the latest cologne, but design should be free
• Ignorant: No clue as to what the freelancer goes through, and how the process works
• Demanding: Want EVERYTHING, ASAP
• Underestimating: It’s easy, it’s just that they chose to take on real jobs, otherwise they would’ve been the best designers ever
• Unappreciative: Your job is to design, and be thankful that I’m paying you for such an easy and meaningless job
• Completely lost: No clue what they want, and cannot accept that vague idea cannot magically combine to create the perfect tangible product

As you become more and more professional, and your hourly rate rises as you gain experience, the majority of these characteristics begin to diminish. However, no matter how professional and experienced you are, you will always be dealing with client who are completely lost and have no clue as to what they want or how it could possibly be achieved.

But it’s our job, and we love it.

An interesting article by the Designer Daily revealed some of the artwork that was produced at the time of the Cold War to aid the propaganda of the US as well as the Soviet Union. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and at times of war, it is extremely important for governments to have strong visual campaigns to ensure the support of the public. The following is one of the most intruiging ones:

Jo Jo The Dove

This was a post created by Paix et Liberte (Peace and Liberty), which was a French anti-communist group from the times of the Cold War when the two schools of thought were battling it out. The idea is to depict Stalin as a fake who pretends like he is interested in peace, while he is actually looking to butcher the enemy and force his evil ways. It is safe to assume that today’s public are not as naive, and that it would be necessary to be a little more subtle about how “bad” the “baddies” are. But generally speaking, reading a pamphlet explaining the group’s manifesto would not have been anywhere as effective as a poster like this one.

On a design level, I personally think it would still compete with some of today’s products. With history repeating itself, there has been strong movements to go retro in the different areas of digital and print art. Add that to the relatively modern color scheme illustrated in the poster, and you can see how by changing the message, you can fit it right into today’s publications. It’s a true beauty and an inspiration to graphic designers, but hopefully not politicians!

I came across vintage Egyptian film posters dating back half a century and thought to share the inspiration. If you take into consideration the resources available at the time, I would personally say that the Egyptian artists back then were much more creative than the ones around nowadays. Not to take anything away from contemporary Egyptian artists, in the different fields, but no one can deny that modern film posters lack the necessary charm.

The Dreams of Spring

The People Inside

The Last of the Bunch

Looking for future trends and techniques is not always the answer. sometimes we can look back at our own history for new ideas. You can view a large collection of vintage Egyptian film posters at Kodak Agfa’s Flickr page.