Just Say No to Microsoft Publisher
Regular readers of this blog will know that I’ve railed against this in the past. I’ve worked in agency settings before and even had a couple of stints as a freelance marketing communications consultant, and so have had exposure to a number of different industries – but never in my career have I seen an industry as universally design blind as real estate.
Graphic design in real estate generally ranges from the mediocre to the truly horrific. Especially advertising and print design.
Personally, I blame Microsoft. And not just because it’s the trendy thing to do. No, I blame them for unleashing the scourge that is Microsoft Publisher.
I hate Publisher. Not just because it’s a awful, unwieldy and cumbersome program. Which it is. If you’re serious about doing your own graphic design and desktop publishing, I would urge you to consider InDesign, PageMaker, Quark or even CorelDraw before you buy Publisher.
No, I hate Publisher because it comes loaded with some of the worst templates and clipart I’ve ever seen.
But I’m not one just to rant and not provide you with any alternatives. I’ve already pointed you to a great source of free, high quality stock photography. Today, I thought I’d share a great source of templates.
Stocklayouts.com provides a number of great templates for many industries, including real estate. Their templates are attractive and professionally designed and very affordable. Most templates cost less than $100 and you’ll find templates for newsletters, brochures, flyers letterhead and much more.
All come with all the artwork and layout complete, so all you have to do is plug in your own marketing copy, logos and contact info and you’re on your way. What could be easier? I think this is a great option for a small broker or a new realtor who wants to start out on the right foot with a smart, professional image.
Please, please, what ever you do – think about these options. Before you buy Publisher.
Finally, if you’re interested in joining my fledgling campaign, consider displaying this badge on your web site. Let’s start a movement!
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Technorati Tags: Publisher, MS Publisher, Microsoft, Office, MS Office, Design, Graphic Design, Desktop Publishing, Real Estate Marketing, Real Estate Blogging, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Blogs, Real Estate, Realty Blogging
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Teresa Boardman | Jul 18, 2006 | Reply
I use MS publisher. It is inexpensive and easy to use. I have never used the templates that are included. I have made my own templates, instead of clip art, I use photos and other graphics. Clip art looks tacky in marketing materials. Don’t blame the program, blame the end user. Real estate agents in most cases should stick to selling property and leave the graphic design to professionals. I have seen some horrific designs come from MS publisher but am sure that if those same real estate agents used one of the spendy programs the end result would be similar. I would not encourage small business owners to run out and buy quark.
Emily | Dec 18, 2006 | Reply
God, I hate publisher too. But I hate it because if you work at a, say, a newspaper like I do WE DON’T USE THAT STUPID PROGRAM. So we cannot open the crap you send us. It’s the biggest waste of everyone’s time. Grrrrr..
Heather | Jul 28, 2007 | Reply
I am a bit forced to use Publisher to create my web pages. My agents could spend the money to buy the nice programs like dreamweaver and such but there are two problems…1)I don’t know how to use them, so they would have to pay for me to take classes, in addition to the time away from work or overtime pay, 2) when they have to replace me unfortunately they will have to pay a higher wage for the person to alredy know how to use dreamweaver so they can maintain the web sites. I wish there was something eaiser to use, with more capabilities, because I hate the design work, but know my agent needs a better more reliable and easily updatable presence.
http://www.shearerlake.com — this site is a current site that was created with MS Publisher.
lazlounderhill | Jul 15, 2009 | Reply
“Real estate agents in most cases should stick to selling property and leave the graphic design to professionals. I have seen some horrific designs come from MS publisher but am sure that if those same real estate agents used one of the spendy programs the end result would be similar.”
Yes! for the love of GOD! Publisher must die. This program does not belong in the real world category, so please save it for your kid’s computer lab.
I’ve been a graphic designer for five years and seen very good advertising money flushed down the toilet because someone decided to DIY in Publisher. It’s rubbish. And to all realtors (who might actually care what your ad looks like), for mercy’s sake, when taking photos of your listings – I beg you – stop the car; get out of the car (or atleast roll the damn window down and wait for the car to stop moving); turn your camera on and set it to the highest resolution, then take your photo.
Finally, don’t expect your ad to look like anything other than a blurry mess if you ask your designer to use photos filched from your crappy corporate website.
– Oh and one more thing, we’re “designers” not “remote viewers”. The greatest graphic designer in the world can’t magically imagine and recreate a wing of a property you cropped out when you took the photo to begin with. Photoshop is a software program, not a magical oracle type device. Photoshop is bound by the same rules of the Space/Time Continuum that you and I enjoy – unfortunately. Hope this helps.
James | Aug 4, 2009 | Reply
Hate is too nice a word for this program… I work as a Graphic Designer in a print environment and Publisher is the biggest waste of time… Not only is it impossible to create print ready artwork from it give noobs the false impression that they have created a masterful work of design! All Publisher is, is Microsoft stealing work from professional designers so that they can steal a tiny market share from Adobe and Quark. Let me spell it out to all the Publisher users out there YOU ARE NOT A DESIGNER!!!