Newsletters from the Desktop

Rating:
Summary: A classic that every newsletter designer needs
Review:

This is the classic edition of Roger C. Parker's Newsletters from the Desktop. Although Ventana has since updated the book (a good one too) with author Joe Grossmann's version -- Parker's remains my favorite. The two versions are vastly different.

Parker's Newsletters from the Desktop is an excellent start to finish tutorial especially suited to the novice publisher -- but with information that I refer to again and again even after several years of desktop publishing. It emphasizes making content and design work together (a trademark of Parker's books), explaining the parts of the newsletter as well as how and why to use them. There is an excellent gallery of designs too.

While it seems that "everyone" is moving to the Web -- there are still thousands of small publishers out there cranking out simple 1-4 page newsletters on typewriters, word processors, or with simple DTP software who would benefit from the solid, timeless design advice in this book.

The newest editon (by author Joe Grossmann) should (in my opinion) be viewed as a companion to Parker's Newsletters from the Desktop, rather than a replacement.