HINTS AND TIPS: The Specifics.

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STAPLING This may be a little scary for the novice but angle the staple gun about 45 degrees from the wall, this means the staples will be sticking out at a slight angle which makes them easier to get out when dismantling displays. LETTERING I always prefer to cut out my own lettering as pre-cut or template letters often look boring, even computer generated banners can look unadventurous. I cut the letters purposely wobbly (you'll see examples of this in the Photo Gallery), that way slight inaccuracies in cutting, size, or even placement on the wall are not noticed. When cutting out lettering, this may sound simple but double up. For example I jot the heading down on a scrap of paper and check how many letters are repeated ie. CASTLES has two Ss- double up on the paper and cut out the letter once. This is really useful when cutting out letters in two different colours to create a shadow effect. When putting lettering up, I start from the left-hand side if I'm feeling lazy - no spacial judgement needed! If I really have to put lettering in the centre of the board I split the letters into two piles in the correct order. If there's one left over that goes in the centre (you can measure or judge this or sometimes there are screws in the dead centre to fix the board to the wall you can use these as a guide). The rest of the lettering can then be placed next to the centre, if there isn't an odd number then you take the two middle letters and place these either side of the centre. MOUNTING It's very time consuming, but mounting work or comments is still the best way of displaying it, even better is double mounting. The best colours to use are usually the simplest, black and white or silver or gold if you've got it. For other colours that go well together see the colour themes page. Get to know your guillotine/rotary trimmer. I know many people who have been using these for years and still are oblivious to the various guidelines and grids displayed on them. If you have numerous things to mount such as photographs which are all the same size it is much easier to measure one up then create multiple mounting sheets and mount them after rather than trimming around each one individually. When adding your work to the wall, unless your headteacher is a stickler for perfectly straight work on walls, staple them purposely at an angle, this will save time trying to judge the angles.