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Being a long-term breedables enthusiast (Nearly three years and counting! wink ), I've seen a lot of pets and a lot of tags. Since we're focusing on the tags, I'll continue along that path. I've seen sleek tags that look professional, cute tags that look fun, simple tags that get to the point... and I've also seen some real eyesores.

Now, this guide isn't here to tell you that your tags suck and that you have to do it my way. Instead, it's here to say why certain designs work, why others don't work, and what to keep in mind while designing tags for your pets.

This guide does, however, assume that you've never taken a design class. If you have taken a design class, stick around. You might learn something new, though you'll probably find a lot of this to be second-nature. And if you have a degree in Graphic Design like me, then you probably know all this already. You're excused. wink

Now, let us proceed!

I'm glad you asked. The first and by far the most important thing to keep in mind while designing anything is the Rule of Thirds. It's so important, I'm going to say it again.



The rule of thirds states that for the most interesting composition, the main focus should be on the intersection of two lines that divide the piece into thirds. This wording is a little confusing, which is why I've edited the image a little, while adding a few more design principles.

One of the most basic design principles is that there must be one dominant subject. Believe it or not, there is a dominant subject in that example I've shown you. The six squares that have been colored blue. The two blue dots placed on the intersections of the lines IN the blue rectangle is where the focus SHOULD be-- on EITHER dot.

This isn't to say that you can't put anything in the white rectangle. The main focus should be in the BLUE one. And everything you want people to look at should be THERE. And it doesn't even have to be those particular squares, either. The top six squares in the grid. The bottom six. The right six. Or, if you're going to get advanced, the top right, the right two squares in the middle, and all three bottom squares. eek



Oh, good heavens, no. The grid is just there as an example. If you just put your subject in the general area, it will work just as well. Which means that you don't have to meticulously divide your tag in nine. It means you can eyeball it. Just remember the following:

• One dominant area.
  
• Do not divide the tag in half.
  
• Rule of Thirds.
  

Because when you divide your composition in two equal sizes, the two subjects are going to compete for dominance! gonk Then attention will be taken away from the most important part of the tag:

Text! The hard part may be behind you. You've maybe got a tag background now. You've done the hard part of getting the pet ready. Now all you need to do is slop on some text and ship it out, right?



Text is the second most important part of the tag, a close second to the pet itself.

The text must be legible. Period.

Now, what kind of fonts are there?



Here, we have a nice variety of fonts. First, we have different types, and even how they look when different anti-aliasing is applied to them in photoshop. And then, at the very bottom, there's a great example of a pixel font. which should NEVER be anti-aliased, and is great for tiny tags.

The first font shown is serif (Which many of you recognize as Times.) Serif fonts are the most legible fonts on paper. See the little feet (serifs) on each letter? They create the illusion of a line that your eye follows. On paper, this is great. Onscreen, it tends to look a little cluttered.

Underneath it is sans-serif. (This font is Helvetica.) On paper, it's slightly more difficult to read because there's no line for your eye to follow. But on screen, it's ideal. It looks clean and simple. This is the best font to use for the INFORMATION in your tags.

Then comes the novelty font. (Curlz.) These fonts are fun, interesting, and contain flares that take parts of serif and sans serif, and jumble them together to sacrifice readability for, well, novelty. These are great fonts to spice up tags in the form of Headers and titles. Be very careful when using these for tag information. Some novelty fonts are doubly blessed with being readable, but many AREN'T. And because you're the one making the tags, you're going to have an easier time reading the text. Ask a friend to check for you.

The final font represented is script. (Beth's Hand.) These fonts are designed to mimic handwriting. Some are easy to read, and others are extremely ornate and difficult. Great for titles, but not quite as great for information.

The anti-aliasing is something to keep in mind when sizing your text. Are the letters too fuzzy when shrunk? Consider taking off the anti-aliasing. Are the letters too jagged when blown up? Put some anti-aliasing on.



Use sans-serif or serif fonts for information. Use novelty or script fonts for headers or titles. And feel free to bend the rules if you find one font works better for another purpose.

And always, always, always have someone else look at your sample text to see how readable it is.

All right, so you're finished. You've made a tag that looks great, you've everything arranged like you like it, and all you need to do now is start saving these pets to upload.

But wait! What should you save them as?

I don't know. It's 7am. I'll finish this post tomorrow. gonk