This project was rather fun for me to work on; I've been a member of the local Boy Scout's of America troop in my town for years, and when they needed a new flyer design for a pasta night they run for the VFW that sponsors them, they asked me to see what I could do.

I started by creating two distinct variant designs, and utilizing similar elements within each; both flyers would require the same information and logos, so I mostly experimented with the type, layout, and background of each to create a few strong variants.

With the first layout, I went with a stylized border image of different types of pasta and ingredients, with the text centered within. I used a stylized font for the first variant, and a sans-serif font for the second variant; the first was more eye catching, while the second clearly conveyed information.

The second design, I created a stylized checker-board background for the imagery, and used a clip-art image of spaghetti to help grab extra attention, and help reinforce what this flyer was advertising, as it lacked an obvious image to convey this otherwise.

As with the first design variant, I experimented with both stylized and sans-serif fonts for the informative text. Ultimately, the Troop decided to go with the 4th variant / type combination, as it conveyed the information cleanly, and had a design that stood out both up close and at a distance.

 

Now with a solid design in mind, there were alterations to be made that the troop requested.

At this point, a few needed corrections were made to the design; first, a typo I'd missed initially in the location was corrected. The information was expanded to explain which particular troop was being supported by this event as well. Both logos were brought further towards the center of the page, so that they would not sit so close to the edge (and possibly risk being clipped by a printer when it came time to print). Finally, the background was faded to 50% opacity, so that it would still stand out, but would not be so vivid as to be an eye-sore, nor bleed overmuch on older inkjet printers, which comprised the bulk of what the Scouts would be using to print these flyers.

 

During this time, the Troop had received new information about these evenings as well, and as such, I had a few final revisions to make even after presenting this design to them.

The VFW had reviewed a few of the initial designs, and while many of the changes they too wanted were already being implemented, they had a few changes of their own to make as well. Rather than saying "Spaghetti Night," which would leave them with less room for variety in the future, they asked the flyers be changed to read "Pasta Night," so they could sell different pastas in the future without having to change advertising.

 

The price for 12 and older was also raised to $7, so this change was also made to the design. I also tightened up the logos a bit more as well, and added very faint drop-shadows to them; this slight alteration was much preferred over the original static design they'd had, and was kept by the Scout Troop in the end design.

 

Note: Although a "finished" project at this time, I consider this design to still be ongoing, as Troop 399 and VFW Post 2543 are both welcome to request additional changes if needed in the future. Also, this project was posted here with full permission from the client(s), so long as it is not re-used for other advertising projects of this nature without prior permission.