Jul

30

Branding is all about impressions

Filed Under Branding, Marketing | Leave a Comment

Truth be told, I never made the connection between branding and designing when I first started out. I just thought you designed to make nice, appropriate layouts.
Then, one day, I wanted to create a sort of “catalog” for all the designs I had done for Roger C. Parker in relation to the launch of his [...]

Jul

26

Creating contrast ensures your design success

Filed Under Design Refresher, Print Design | Leave a Comment

Using contrast in your layouts is vitally important. It’s what differentiates the various elements in your design and helps to create hierarchy.
Contrast is making one element very different from another. To quote design author Robin Williams “don’t be a wimp” when it comes to contrast.
Contrast is not merely making elements similar but making them radically [...]

Jul

24

Create impact in your designs with emphasis

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The goal of any good design is to attract your reader’s attention and engage them in your piece.
The best way to do this is to establish a clear focal point in your design and then use accents to build the rest of the layout around that.
Top reasons you should build designs using emphasis:

The design [...]

Jul

18

Make it relevant!

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WARNING: I hope I’m not going to sound like those actors that talk about their “method” of acting…
I’ve seen so many designs that created solely for their “visual appeal.” Sort of like eye candy.
Design is more than just designing pretty layouts and eye-pleasing designs. The purpose of design is to either inform, entertain, or sell. [...]

Jul

16

It’s all a balancing act

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Balance is synonomous with equilibrium, harmony and equal distribution of weight. I once heard design described as “visual weight”. How true: everything we put to a paper affects it — it’s either heavy or light.
THE 3 TYPES OF BALANCE:

Symmetry
Easiest way of achieving balance is with symmetry. Everything is centered either vertically and horizontally along an [...]

Jul

12

All designs unite! Unity in Graphic Design

Filed Under Branding, Design Refresher, Print Design, Web Design | Leave a Comment

Everything from design flows from unity. Unity is the most important goal in a piece and everything is based on achieving it.
A design needs to be considered as a whole, rather than the sum of its parts. You should first notice the design in its entirety. Then view it as a collection of various elements [...]

Jul

10

Backup a blog? Say what?

Filed Under Management, Production | Leave a Comment

It was the equivalent of the blue screen of death for me (except that it was white). I had a blog on my other site that had amassed over 100 entries (www.mygraphicsnotebook.com). Then, one day, I saw the words “Can’t select database” when I went to update my blog.
I was proud of that blog. I’d [...]