Author: steve

This is an esoteric design adventure never told until now. I was printing a cheap but attention-getting packaging insert. One-color Pantone 485 on Wausau AstroBright Solar Yellow, 24lb wt. When I picked up the job, the red ink really popped. PMS 485 was a favorite color. I knew it well. I’d never seen it so…

Trade shows are a low priority in the marketing budget at times for some small companies. But here are some pointers to help your client get the best return on their investment: 1. Adhere to a one-benefit-per-panel rule. 2. Readability: The six-by-six rule states no more than six elements per line and no more than…

Near and dear to my heart is the topic of “web image optimization”. But the poet in me would rather call it “judicious beauty”. In web jargon, all the image files (and others CSS, HTML, etc) that go into making a web page, when their file sizes are summed together, is called the “page weight”.…

Illustrators, photographers, and web designers have an easier time working remotely (globally) via the Internet. There is resistance to long-distance with graphic design projects (print, booths, etc). There is no explanation other than for some reason clients want to sit face-to-face with a graphic designer at least once. (This can be done with Skype but…

I worked as a designer on retainer for 14 years. I got a monthly check and worked unsupervised at home – except for a once-a-week, face-to-face, hour-long meeting. Meeting the goals and deadlines was the measurement, not the number of hours worked. This probably means I worked pretty hard for them! Every year we’d plan…

I‘ve been theming for a long time (orchestrating color combinations, type selection, symbols, etc) but I learned something new about “proportioned palettes”. A new perspective on color. The author of Handout (PDF) demonstrates his method for developing a consistent and large color palette for branding. Great stuff. I can also vouch his basis of predicting…

Theming with type and color are several of the things I really enjoy about design. Here I share my method for historical and vintage projects. Logo sample from someone else – not mine. The font above is a knockoff of type foundry P22Eaglefeather – available in several weights and a dingbat font. It is based…

Sorry. No sugar-coating. This business name is flawed. When you must instruct someone how to pronounce your 4-syllable word, it’s crippled from the get-go. Namers are people who love words and linguistics – like me. I invented a name for my design business once very similar to the one above. Mine was BENEXUS. Meaning blessed…

The world of type is huge. From my studies, most professional designers have their favorites. And it is not necessarily a large library. I’m a font collector and have far more than I need. Eventually, you find classics that you love. This takes time and also studying the work of others. So there isn’t necessarily…

A few links that have good content on the topic of Design by Committee: http://blog.algonquinstudios.com/2011/12/14/design-by-committee-how-to-make-it-work/ http://boagworld.com/business-strategy/design-by-committee/ http://sourcemaking.com/antipatterns/design-by-committee I’ve always thought there should be a forum called “Remote Creative.” Sort of a group-therapy-coping place for creative people lost in rural places. I relate to feeling isolated. I’ve been living in the vacuum of the Idaho panhandle…