As Simon Sinek says: "People don't buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it."
Order two used books:
1. Pantone's Guide to Communicating with Color by Leatrice Eiseman.
2. Graphically Speaking: A Visual Lexicon for Achieving
Here's a way to see faults in a design. Check the grayscale conversion. All touching colors should have a 30%
Is A Dorf?
Nope. That's not working. Better try lowercase and make the E clearly not an "F". Legibility is more
For ideas about small ads:
Small Graphics: Design Innovation for Limited Spaces
by Cheryl Dangel Cullen © 2000
Buy it used for $4
Most starving designers (like me) would be better served to promote themselves for new work with the money they might
The few significant ways you'll get new design work is:
1) word of mouth (out-of-the-blue referrals.)
2) from your portfolio website -
I heard about a design firm that chooses one and only one pro bono project per year from candidates. They
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
The world of type is huge. From my studies, most professional designers have their favorites. And it is not necessarily
Sorry. No sugar-coating. This business name is flawed. When you must instruct someone how to pronounce your 4-syllable word, it's
Theming with type and color are several of the things I really enjoy about design. Here I share my method
I've been theming for a long time (orchestrating color combinations, type selection, symbols, etc) but I learned something new about
I worked as a designer on retainer for 14 years. I got a monthly check and worked unsupervised at home
Illustrators, photographers, and web designers have an easier time working remotely (globally) via the Internet. There is resistance to long-distance
Near and dear to my heart is the topic of "web image optimization". But the poet in me would rather
Trade shows are a low priority in the marketing budget at times for some small companies. But here are some
This is an esoteric design adventure never told until now.
I was printing a cheap but attention-getting packaging insert. One-color Pantone
Value analysis identifies and selects the best alternatives for designs, materials, processes, and systems. You repeatedly ask "can the cost
No designer wants to touch the taboo topic of selling "stock art." I have mixed feelings about "stock design". I
Christine McGavern wrote the following on The Now-defunct Grid design forum. It's good stuff so I "borrowed it" but I
Target audience vs owner ego?
Frequently, the owner (client) thinks they're the clone of their audience (potential and actual customers). Of
I self-published two books with Blurb. The first was a simple uncoated black and white piece with a gloss color
BEFORE screen 8K page weight. No purple background.
This somewhat bland webpage, above, weighs only 8K. To give you a speed-weight
If you study the work of good graphic designers, you'll find they have favorite font pairs. They may have as
My brother, Brad Teare, and I identified 12 main Photoshop action effects to build.
This sparked the idea of discovering if
I renamed a number of companies and products that would otherwise have misled or confused the potential customer. Do not
One of my favorite papers to design with is "Kraft", a strong brown paper or cardboard made from wood pulp.Not
I saw a nice web page layout in a PDF tutorial. The page was laid out in quadrants and my
Marty Neumeier always said the best team was a designer and a copywriter. I really agree with that whenever it's
On a design forum I asked, "What are iMatch Designers anxious about?" iMatch is their client who wants a rebuild
I wrote my own single-page design agreement (Terms and Conditions). I send it as a PDF email attachment. The scope of
Here is information on the reverse thematic process, let's assume you'll use Photoshop and do your Pantone conversions there to save
I only have so many nerves left. And a designer friend hit one: design abuse.
Remember, 50% of people who approach
You can spend a lot of money on Pantone color printing guides.
I really recommend buying old used ones on ebay.
My rule is choosing one pro bono project per year. But I treat them like a "real" client with the
I've solved the wild color differences between screen and print by teaching the client that reflective color (print) and emissive
You may wonder what to include in your online portfolio. Those can be hard decisions.
Your web portfolio is the second
I always ask straight-forward and bluntly, "How much do you have budgeted for this project?" I then try and find
At least blame the machine, technophobes blame themselves for every flaw. "I must have done something wrong!"
Attached is a little
Studio Hinrichs
Robert, a designer friend, asked me some entertaining web questions that are near-and-dear to my designer heart. You'll find
The above logo is by my designer friend Karen. I said to her, "The final art is beautiful. Thanks for
This Proportion200 Photoshop action will enlarge your images by 200%. I've tested it against all of the PAID competitors and
Original JPEG digital photo.
Mezzotints are a method of converting black and white continuous tone images without using hatching, cross-hatching, or
1. Good names have few syllables.
2. If you have two English words. Those are probably not very legally defensible. A
This is going to sound completely crazy but I have done it and won more work and client loyalty.
When I
Clichés actually are very "good" when it come to logos. Why? Because of fast recognition, memorability, and meaning. We know
I've worked for a lot of tech businesses. I insisted on photography and not illustrations of products. Subconsciously, engineers and
Awards from other design committees are usually pretty meaningless to most clients. Designers awarding designers certificates and trophies sounds sort of
LIKE HUMAN BODY LANGUAGE, graphic design expresses similar implied non-verbal business attitudes or values. Graphic design is a method of
The text of this webpage example is excerpted from an INFP writer's emails to me. The site was built as
It's important to understand what a theme is and why it is critical in design.
I present a quote by
Authenticity indicates whether or not some thing's "real." Low-bandwidth websites appear more authentic, and current research shows that "authentic" ads
Why are captions important in advertising?A caption writing style guide.
The graphic metaphor's advantage is carried in the captions. Here is
An adage I like when it comes to hiring a designer is: "Never speculate on a portfolio."
What that means is,
HERE ARE 53 PHRASES TO AVOID IN YOUR WEB COPYWRITINGBuzzwords, marketing tripe, and meaningless hype.
These most notoriously appear in the
Here's something I've advocated for a long time and that's building separate websites for different services.
Every good product or service
The upfront expenditure to wheedle out of a client what they really need I call "Design Therapy."
More than normal questionnaires,
The way I've handled this "delay problem" - in my fixed-bid agreement - is instead of a "penalty," I say
Positioning and differentiation are tried-and-true CREATIVE advertising strategies. I can tell you how changing positioning strategies meant making millions for
I read an article last night that "advertising" is dead. We have to use new labels to let people know
I've been an advocate of author Marty Neumeier's thinking - but his day in the sun has probably past, I
Athought provoking Wired magazine entry makes me wonder about all that link clutter from social media. Check it out >
I
I always ask, "How much do you have budgeted for this project?"
I call this "looking in their wallet" before bidding.
I actually am more diplomatic than I let on. I'm just trying to intimidate with my pretend vastness.
But, yes, I
We all have different styles. Yesterday, a potential client come over to discuss what she "needed" for a website. She
I use 4 LCD screens and none of them are calibrated. They all render color differently.
Two of them I bought
I and the client company's marketing manager had to solve a color problem. The company logo was two colors: red
25K page weight PagePipe.com -- it can be done!
Jan Tschihold
Jan Tschichold (1902–1974) is a person of interest in the world of graphic design. He worked hard perfecting -
The foundation of your brand is your logo. Your website, packaging and promotional materials - all of which should integrate
How You Are Influenced to Choose Without Really Knowing It
Think you got a good deal? Look again.
The decoy effect is
What is Technophobia?6 fears potential technology buyers have.
Size of expenditure.Scares 'em every time. The bigger the price tag the greater