I went looking for some logo design so I could demonstrate what constitutes a good logo. What I found were a lot of logos gone bad! Seems there's LOTS of bad design out there. Why is that? Because people think, with computers, it's easy to create a logo.
Got MSWord? Make a logo……
Showing posts with label graphic design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graphic design. Show all posts
my school blog
This year I started teaching graphic design at the private school here at Shawnigan Lake (Shawnigan Lake School). I'm teaching two classes ~ Juniors and Seniors in the Fine Arts after school program. It's been a steep learning curve but challenging and fun. To help keep the kids in the loop I created a blog where I post their project assignments and some of their finished work.
I have found many of my class project ideas from other graphic design teachers and from reading a ton of material. I have worked to adapt the projects to make them relevant to my kids and to reflect my program but I am eternally grateful for the people who did the initial leg work!
10 ways to save your graphic designers time which will, in turn, save you money
- put only one return (not two) at the end of each paragraph
- use tabs, not spaces for tabbed copy/tables
- single space text
- leave all text formatting up to the designer
- don't put two spaces after punctuation
- Don't use all caps anywhere
- don't use fancy fonts
- send hi resolution images - 300dpi or higher or, if your image is at 72 dpi, make sure the dimensions are large
- send image/graphics files as separate (source) files (don't embed them into a Word document)
- send final/approved text
What is graphic design? and what is a good graphic designer?
A lot of people ask me what I do. When I tell them I'm a graphic designer they stare at me with a blank face, say "huh?" and then ask "but what does that mean?"
I've tried explaining it to them in words they'll understand but the explanation becomes long-winded and filled with hand gestures and they still don't really know what I mean.
So, I decided to look it up and create a 15 second "elevator" speech for when I'm asked.
These are some of the definitions I found:
Marketing moves!
My logo and 411 on the car. Walking the talk about graphic design being my silent sales person.
Look for me, my car and my logo around the Cowichan Valley and South Vancouver Island - honk if you see me!
Printed and installed by Derek Paton at Signology.
Look for me, my car and my logo around the Cowichan Valley and South Vancouver Island - honk if you see me!
Printed and installed by Derek Paton at Signology.
some philosopy
Graphic design is your "silent salesperson"...
Graphic Design helps reinforce your visual message to your current and potential clients and/or customers. It acts as your "silent salesperson" and helps keep your business, whether on-line or a physical building, at the top of people's minds - top-of-mind awareness.
It takes 7-9 impressions before a client/customer will act on the message they are receiving. Therefore, graphic design helps build and maintain people's awareness of your business with a visual "silent salesperson."
Thomas Smith of London wrote the following in l885.
1. The first time a man looks at an advertisement,
he does not see it.
2. The second time, he does not notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it before.
5. The fifth time, he reads it.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, 'Oh brother!'
8. The eighth time, he says, 'Here's that confounded thing again!'
9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
10. The tenth time, he asks his neighbor if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks perhaps it might
be worth something.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers wanting such a
thing a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot
afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it some day.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum to buy it.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys what it is offering.
Planning a graphic design strategy is extremely necessary for your business. By creating the right visual theme to carry across all media, it is easier get your message to your target market(s) and is a factor in determining if your business will succeed or fail. It used to be that a new business could throw up a sign and shout, "I'm open for business."
Today, it is more complicated and with the Internet, more competitive. Now, people ask: "What can you do for me and why are you better than someone else?" By having a strategic graphic message that incorporates appropriate images and color psychology, you have a better chance of staying at the top of people's minds and having a successful business.
Think of "Big Blue" - IBM, McDonald's red and yellow and the golden arches, Coca Cola's red & White, Pepsi's red, white & blue, Adobe's black and red and the apple....no matter the business, colors and images are an important part of their brand. Without them, they would not have built their brand and they would not be at the top of people's minds.
Combine all the elements into a comprehensive marketing design strategy and you have a successful business.
Reader friendly documents
Continuing development of computers and computer software has now made it possible for anyone to do document layout.
If you are not a graphic specialist/graphic designer but are required to “desktop” documents, there are some basics to keep in mind.
Design documents to be reader-friendly. Look at the software you’re using as a tool to help you accomplish this.
Too many people see desktop publishing (aka desktopping) and word processing packages as opportunities to go wild with fonts and multiple “creative elements” (aka clip art).
For your documents to be reader-friendly, here are some tips to help you:
Use smart (curly) quotes
instead of straight marks – which are actually the inch and foot marks – when you are using a quote.
These are smart quotes “ ”. This is not " – it’s an inch mark.
This is an apostrophe ’. This is not ' – it’s a foot mark
Learn to use “space after”
for putting space between paragraphs. Double returns add too much space and make the work look gappy.
Use only one space after all punctuation. Page layout software adds enough space after punctuation so if you double-space after a period it will look odd. And, if you do add two spaces after a period, and then send the file to a graphic designer, the designer will have to remove all the extra space and this can cost you money.
Don’t use the default 12 pt type (unless you are writing to an audience that requires larger type). Set your copy at 10.5 or 11pt.
Limit the number of fonts you use to two. Preferably san serif for heads and subheads, and serif for body copy. If you prefer to use san serif for body copy, make the line lengths shorter and add more space – leading – between the lines.
NEVER UNDERLINE TYPE! to emphasize a word or words. It's a throwback to the manual typewriter days. Use bold instead.
All caps are difficult to read. We recognize a word by its shape as well as by the letters.
Using all caps makes every word roughly the same shape so your readers have to read letter by letter.
and, ALL CAPS IMPLIES YOU’RE SHOUTING!
Reverse and outlined shadowed types are also difficult to read and don’t look good.
Avoid using screened grey boxes behind text. If you must use a grey screen, use a sans serif face for the type.
Use real bullets (•) instead of hyphens for bulleted lists.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)