In my previous post, I began to outline a challenge from one of our ad reps to design a calendar of events that one of our clients wants to sponsor. I’ll continue with some info about some of the details, including using a CS2 script to make a task much less tedius.

In the sample ad the client provided, there’s a thin chevron graphic separating the sections. I’ve never really done a chevron before, but found this simple tutorial. I created it about four times as big as I needed just so it would be easier to work with, and followed the tut. I made the lines fit the color scheme I was using, put in a background and dropped it into InDesign, reducing it to 25% size and set a transparency of 50% on it.

Next, I started adding some detail to the top section by drawing lines. Then I went to work on the bottom. I added the chevron piece there, too, and drew a box filled with a color matching the chevrons and setting a 50% transparency on it, too.

The bottom section contains information on the locations around the community where events take place. I could have drawn each box individually, or drawn one and then copied and pasted, but there’s a faster way: using a script. (Note: In CS5, this became a built-in feature. Check out this tut).

Draw a box and while it is selected, go to window/automation/scripts. For this one, I needed to go to the Samples folder, then Applescripts. There’s one called MakeGrid.applescript. With the box selected, I double-clicked that script, entered the information, and voila! Separate boxes, evenly spaced.

In upcoming posts, I’ll discuss setting up the main portion of the ad, with the calendar. We’ll talk gradients and style sheets. Questions? Leave them in the comments or feel free to tweet me up @DesignsbyJunO.