John McWade
About
John McWade is the publisher and creative director of Before & After magazine. A designer, teacher, and author, Mr. McWade in 1985 created PageLab, the world's first desktop publishing studio, and in 1990 he founded Before & After magazine to teach graphic design to desktop publishers. Before & After is known for its simple beauty, clarity of instruction, and especially its emphasis on design not as decoration but an essential form of communication. Mr. McWade's formative background is in printing and publication design, with a specialty in typography. He has authored three books -- Before & After Page Design, Graphics for Business, and How to Design Cool Stuff.
Articles
See all articlesBefore&After: Callout Ideas
Pull your reader into a story by using these eye-catching techniques for callouts (pullquotes).
Before&After: Picture Your Group
Have a dozen or more mug shots? A grid of squares gets that gang of yours looking good—together.
Before&After: Design a Catalog of Rectangles
This catalog motif is simple, handsome, and versatile.
Before&After: Design Like a Lazy Person
Design is easier if you segregate your page into two zones—image here, type there—to yield a handsome, super-clean layout in less time.
Before&After: How to Set a Text-Only Logotype
The key to a great logotype is to find a typeface that makes the name look good and conveys the appropriate meaning.
Before&After: Presentation Lessons from Apple
Timeless lessons from Apple on crafting a perfect presentation
Before&After: Big, Bold, Beautiful
This magazine is a quick read for the busy traveler. Here are the techniques that make it work.
Before&After: Design a Panoramic Booklet
The wide, linear format of a panoramic booklet is excellent for narrative-style presentations, histories, documentaries, catalogs, and so on.
Before&After: Design a Story-Style Brochure
Fold—and unfold—a single sheet into an appealing, narrative-like presentation.
Before&After: Evocative Business Card for a Tiny Budget
This musician’s business card gets a lot of visual atmosphere out of just a few elements.