Drawing shapes in Publish by Zaweba
The shapes in Publish by Zaweba, from rectangles and stars to hearts, speech bubbles and chevrons, and how to use them on real pages.
Shapes are the quiet workers of a layout. A coloured band behind a headline, a circle with a price in it, an arrow pointing to the door: none of them are pictures or words, but pages look flat without them. Publish by Zaweba has a good set to draw from.
The original shapes are rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, line, arrow, star and polygon. Version 1.1 added seven more: triangle, right triangle, diamond, heart, speech bubble, chevron and cross.
The everyday shapes
Rectangles do most of the work. A full width rectangle at the top of a newsletter becomes a masthead band; a narrow one becomes a coloured rule under a heading; a pale one behind a box of text turns it into a panel that stands out from the rest of the page. Rounded rectangles do the same jobs with a softer feel, which suits invitations, children's events and friendly menus.
Ellipses make circles and ovals: a price spot, a badge, a frame behind a logo. Lines separate sections and underline headings. Arrows point, which is more useful than it sounds on maps, signs, step by step instructions and "turn over" hints.
Stars are made for sale flyers and special offers, the classic burst with a price or "New" in the middle. Polygons cover the many sided shapes for badges and decorative panels.
The newer shapes and what they are for
Triangles and right triangles make corner decorations and bold angled panels across the corner of a poster. Diamonds give a neat marker or a framed initial. Hearts suit weddings, Valentine's events, charity appeals and thank-you cards. Speech bubbles add a voice to a photo or a cartoon style callout for a tip or a quote. Chevrons make arrow banners and progress style headings. A cross works for first aid notices and a plus sign style graphic.
None of these need to be big to be useful. A small heart beside a date, or a chevron in front of each section heading, gives a page a theme without taking over.
Making shapes fit the page
Shapes take fill and line colours with transparency, two-colour gradients at any angle and drop shadows. Using the document colours for fills and lines keeps shapes in step with the rest of the publication, and changing a document colour then updates every shape that uses it.
Shapes also work with text wrap. New shapes start with wrap set to none, so text runs over or under them, which is right for background panels and colour bands. If you want text to step around a shape, such as a star sitting in the middle of a column, turn wrap on for that shape.
Snapping, alignment and grouping help shapes line up. Put a shape and a text box together, align their centres, and group them, and you have a badge or a button that moves as one piece. Lock background shapes once they are placed so you do not drag them by accident while working on the text above.
Shapes in your workflow
A useful habit is to block out a page with shapes before adding the content. Draw rectangles where the masthead, the main story, a photo and a sidebar will go. It shows quickly whether the balance is right, and you can then replace or fill each area.
Do not overdo it. A flyer with a star, two arrows, a heart and a speech bubble looks busy. Pick a shape or two that suit the message and use them consistently.
Shapes in Publish by Zaweba are simple to draw and easy to restyle, and a few well chosen ones do a lot to make a page look designed.
