G R A PH IC D E S IN G E R S U RVI VAL GU IDE

WH AT NOW?
don’t worry, this book has you covered.
 C O NT ENTS
4
typical tasks of the job

7
branding guidelines

10
four winds interactive

15
photo processing

17
important contacts

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3
ty p i c a l tasks of th e j o b
 DUTIES AS THE GRAPHIC DESIGNER ARE:
design and production of materials, such as invitations, programs, media kits, etc

follow the Texas A&M University branding guidelines

contacting and direct communication with printing businesses such as

Copy Corner (at the MSC), Alphagraphics, FastSigns, newspapers, and more.

powerpoint presentations

letterhead/powerpoint/fact sheet templates

creating and updating video displays using fourwinds

large-scale banners

event support items (nametags, table tents, etc.)

occasional website content management

occasionally creating spreadsheets and distribution lists

checking the fourwinds screens in various locations across campus

occasionally cleaning your desk (once every two or three weeks)

uploading photos into Lightroom Classic, editing, and ehxporting to flickr

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 FIRST THINGS FIRST, CREATE A FOLDER WITH YOUR NAME IN THE GROUP
DRIVE (O:) > PROVOST > COMMUNICATIONS > STUDENT WORKERS FOLDERS
to put your files in to stay organized. It also helps to put a shortcut for your file on the desktop.

make sure each project/task you complete has it’s own folder or subfolder.

when using an outsourced printing business, make sure you create outlines on all the fonts.
most of them do not have our font styles.

when sending emails, cc your supervisor when delivering projects to your client.

if you need a file that you can’t find email provostcomm@tamu.edu

coming into work, login to Workday and log your hours for the day.
at the end of the week, make sure you submit and complete your hours before you leave.

Kentico is our web management system for all PITO supported websites. when working on
Kentico you will sign in with your work username and password.

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 b ra nd i ng gu i de l i n e s

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A&M HAS A BRAND GUIDELINE TO FOLLOW.
YOU WILL NEED TO DOWNLOAD THIS AT BRANDGUIDE.TAMU.EDU
There is also a quick reference on the desk for color values and logo placement info.
Download the logos and colors. You will be using them around the clock, especially the ASE files for the
Adobe Suite.
A&M’s official fonts are Tungsten, Moriston, Minion Pro, and Open Sans font families & will already be
installed on the computer.

THERE ARE ALSO A&M PHOTOS AVAILABLE AT PHOTO.TAMU.EDU

which comes in handy when needing generic photos of people and buildings.
Always be diverse in your pictures of people on publications unless specified otherwise.
Use code tamu to download the photos

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four w i nd s i n te racti ve
 TAMU Provost
TAMU
Horizontal 1920x1080 Left
Provost
“ASC”
Vertical
1080x1920 Top
PCO
“Provost”

THE SCREENS AND THEIR NAMES IN FOURWINDS TAMU

Provost Vertical
1080x1920
Bottom PCO
“AVPA”

SAVING THE FILES

when saving the files, we put them in a shared
folder called four winds in the academic affairs
drive.

then additionally, we put them in the drive that

is shown here so PITO can have access to the
files from various locations.

save the files in the folders according to where

they are going to be uploaded.

inside each folder, we categorize them by the

month and year they are to be displayed. we
generally update them all each month to have
variety throughout the year.

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UPLOADING TO THE SCREENS
logging in, you need to login with your desktop login.

once logged in, go to the content bar located on the bottom

of the page, here you’ll open the Provost Content and scroll
down to find the PCO folder.

here you will drag the .jpg or pdf into the appropriate folder

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 the name will automatically upload, but you do need to
change the duration. we usually keep each slide at 10 sec-
onds each which you will see in the screen here.

once you click okay, the file will be in the PCO folder. you’ll
have to drag the file under one of the screen names in the
sub-folder “video”.

when you have all the files in the video folder that you want
to deploy to the screens, right click on the top folder of the
screen names that have the blue rectangle icons next to the
names.

the second line down will have the word “deploy”, you will
click this to start the process of displaying the content on the
screens.

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when it is deployed, this screen will appear
and it will say successful.

if there was an issue deploying the screens,

contact Dale Sharp and PITO will assist in
figuring out the problem.

the scheduling of the screens is indefinite

until you remove them from the folder.

all you need to do to remove the files is

to right click directly on a certain file and
choose the last tab “remove”.

it will transfer the file to the content screen

at the bottom of the page.

if you want to delete the file from four

winds permanently, right click the file in
the content screen and chose the tab titled
“delete ‘name of file’”

it will ask if you want to delete and click

yes.
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 p hoto pro ce ssi n g

15
PHOTOGRAPHY PRACTICES
The photography style should feel modern, diverse, and natural. Whenever possible, show the
subject in action and interacting with relevant props. The action should feel spontaneous and
realistic. Each photo should feel like a glimpse into the hard-working real world of Texas A&M.

COLOR CORRECTION
There are a few simple steps to creating consistent, rich photography for use across all marketing
materials. The specific values will vary depending on the original image but the idea is to create a
warm, crisp image, with clear contrast and vibrant color.

STEP 1 - Create a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer. Increase the contrast to get rich blacks and
sharp highlights.

STEP 2 - Create a Color Balance adjustment layer. Add warm tones and reduce cool tones for high-
lights, mid-tones, and shadows. Be careful not to oversaturate. The colors should still appear natural
but should have a subtle warmth.

STEP 3 - Output the image in the appropriate color mode. RGB for digital, CMYK for print.

refer to brandguide.tamu.edu/visual-style/photo-video/photo-best-practices.html

FLICKR CULLING
username: tamuprovost@yahoo.com simply the process of selecting the best images
password: Aggie_1876 from a shoot to be edited and delivered to a
client.

LIGHTROOM CLASSIC
using Lightroom Classic; upload, cull through the photos, and export to flickr. we generally create
new albums on flickr to keep it organized by date and event. refer to the flickr PPO website for more
information.

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 i m p ortan t co n tacts

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INSIDE OF A&M:
Our account number: 512508

When you have computer updates or Dale Sharp | d-sharp@tamu.edu | 979.595.8636

problems you contact Dale

Fellow PPO Partners Brian Thigpin | 979.867.6700 | bthigpin@tamu.edu

we sometimes work on projects Peggy Samson | peggys@tamu.edu
together

Sean will help you whenever there are Sean Shields | seanshields@tamu.edu
problems with kentico or you aren’t
sure how to fix something.

OUTSIDE OF A&M:
Fast Signs Kyle Brightwell | 979.764.7446 | 465@fastsigns.com

CC Creations Sarah Schlabach | O: 979.693.9664 Ext. 613 | C: 979.595.6976

s.schlabach@cccreationsusa.com

Copy Corner Use MSC Copy Corner when printing unless specified otherwise
Ashley|msc@copycorner.com|979.691.COPY (2679)

BWC Creative 972.231.0002

The Eagle Jill Borowiec |979.731.4716 | jill.borowiec@theeagle.com

The Battalion Joesph Sodolak | jsodolak@tamu.edu | 979.845.2697

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