Sketch

I knew there was a reason that my year of design fundamentals included 2 semesters of drawing and my major required another semester of developing my drawing skills. Computes are fast pace and the programs more sophisticated. Sketching is becoming less common for a starting point. It had been grilled into us at school that all projects begin with a design brief and then beginning with sketches that fit the needs outlined in the brief. I have a plethora of sketch books filled with minute sketches.

One of our early projects in Visual Communications was the task to create symbols. The first day we had to do 400 sketches and 400 more each day after that. This grilled into us that sketching was essential, because it is not always your first one that is best. As i began professional work I used to sketch more often, but as months have gone by i find I am sketching less. I am not sure why, since sketching has a lot of benefits:

• It's Fast! Faster than "computer sketching. You can quickly see if a layout will work rather than wasting time building something a computer that may not work. 

• Sketching is not biased. When you work on the computer it is to tempting to add color and make work more complicated even before the layout is realized.

• It activates a different part of the brain, and can re-inveterate your creative juices.

• Rest for your eyes. Even if you don't sketch it is a good idea to take a break from the computer screen and give your eyes rest from those little lights.

Students' Creativity

I follow quite a few design blogs, and I am constantly surprised how often student work is prsented. Often these design are more attractive than working professionals.

Why is that?

Are students just better at keeping their work updated? Perhaps it's the tough market that makes students aware that they need to get work constantly up-to-date to fight for a job. Those of us lucky enough to be employed might be willing to stay in the same firm or agency with the unsteady market. And since we aren't cramming into the market, there doesn't seem a need to keep up a website with time and money.

I think it is more likely that as a student we were given a lot of opportunities thay we didnt realize that would be so helpful to our body work. So while you're still a student:

1) Use your teacher's in class, but also in their office hours. You are paying these people to help you be the best you can be. Take advantage of it now, because your bosses our art directors don't have the time to give you that one on one advice on type, style, and tips. You are the one now who is being paid.

2) Use your time wisely. Typical project in school was due every four or five weeks. Now I occasionally get a couple weeks, other times I have to meet an immediate turn around. I hardly gave the chance to sketch out my layouts or develop a clear design idea. I just have to run with it, and hope for the best.

3) Enjoy the freedom and experiment. In the real world you are constantly beibg art directed eother by a boss or a client. In school you have the great opportunity to create whatever you want. This is a great chance to experience different mediums. They can give you a great new idea or texture to your designs.

4) Take the advantage of working with your fellow students. I work at a small agency where client work is divided between me and the other designer. There is no chance for collaboration. I never realized how important my fellow classmates were for developing my designs and pushing me to be better.
There are great things about my life now that beat school (such as: not taking my work home with me, printing and cutting at all hours of the night, and being completely broke). Even with all of that, I still miss school and wish I could go back and take another class.

Unfamiliar Territory

Graphic Design often dances together with marketing, but it is a different beast altogether. Like, design it is a skill-set that never ceases to change. Requiring one to endeavor continuously to adapt to media, market, and most importantly people! I have often thought of continuing my education at school to learn more about marketing, since it is so closely related to the work that I do. Marketing is still a part of every person who wants employment. We become our own product to market. I have never taken any class in marketing, and only have suggestions based on what I have experienced.

Being an introverted person it works against my nature to market, but every person has it within themselves skills that make them unique and there is not point hiding them. To make these skills easier to find on the webs there are few courses you can take to ensure more people are finding you, you business, or your product.

• META TAGS: You have probably heard it before about the importance of meta code: the "invisible" part of code that helps search engines pick up your important keywords and descriptions. This code goes in the <head> tag.

•  TELL GOOGLE: This will add your site to a Google crawl list. It can help google to find you more often.

• LINKS: You are socially active across the web, so make all your sites connect back to one another.

•  UNIQUE TITLES: When you name each of your webpages make sure to name each page distinctively to help search edges find you.

• SITE MAP: Most hosting companies can provide this for you. This lets search engines filter through your pages more quickly.

None of these are guaranteed top spots or success, but a way to enhance your online promotions. I also recommend that you post a favicon (the little photo next to your domain in the browser. This looks more professional, and shows that you think of all the details. If you have any pointers to please share with a comment below.

Comic Sans: Misused and Misunderstood

Comic Sans is one of those typefaces that has made its way into the Type Hall of Infamy. Its overuse and inappropriate use has given this typeface its sour reputation. Questions come up such as: when is appropriate to use? Does any anyone know the answer? Like most things this is entirely subjective. some people would tell you never to use Comic Sans ever. I would say it has that Comic Sans has its place and time: comic books and children stories. Although there are other options that are more unique and possibly more appropriate.

Big name typography, used to not be so ubiquitous, such as: Papyrus, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Arial, and more. As a typeface becomes more and more common, using that typeface looks like you just picked the easiest and cheapest type to create a design. Your typography should always be chosen with a purpose. Comic Sans was not developed with the purpose to soften a blow or to use humor in corporate, plumbing, newsletters, and (other such inappropriate places).

Comic Sans was developed by Microsoft in 1994, but this typeface has experienced hate for over ten years (1999).I don't think comic sans deserves all the hate that it gets, who deserves the hate is all the jerks designing posters with Comic Sans. Comic Sans is perfectly acceptable if you using this for comic books and children events.  Avoid using this on office notes (it just makes people mad), on bathroom notices (it will just make people puke), and avoid using it for any designs for profit.

I'm Comic Sans, Asshole from joehollier on Vimeo.

Enjoy this video, but I think I keep flopping on how I feel about this typeface. I don't hate it, but I would never use it either. (Not that I haven't used it before...dark days)

Book Design is Changing

Borders is disappearing, leaving Barnes and Nobles along with a few local shops the only book shops available. None are near where I live, and I bet this is common for other people, as well. Even if Borders had made it through, the way we buy books is changing: Amazon sells more kindle books than paper ones. The way we shop for these books has changed too.

"Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a-a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and-and-and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a - it, uh, it has no-no texture, no-no context. It's-it's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then-then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um, smelly."

We could go to a store and touch the book and flip through the illustrations and decide if a book was truly for us. I am huge on texture, and I like being able to feel a book in my hand, before I buy it. This is impossible when I order a book online. This becomes more important when I pick out a book that has several cover options: such as my Alice in Wonderland book. There were at least 7 options for this title, but I chose the one with the hardback binding, letterpressed cover, and gilded pages. If I could not feel and see this book in person, who knows what I would have purchased. Probably whatever was cheapest would have been in my shopping cart.

Not only are shoppers effected by this change of shopping but: designers, illustrators, printing companies, ink companies, paper mills, and I am sure there is more behind the scene action that has changed in the creation of a book. As operating systems become more sophisticated digital can include color, illustrations, and unique typography. A digital book will lack the texture, feel, and smell of a book. Until digital books can incorporate my loves (plus the feel of paper) I don't I will make this digital jump.

Learning from Mistakes

I often hear we learn from mistakes. Mistakes are not failures, unless we fail to learn from them. Errors become these bright red lights that at the time overwhelm me with disappointment. when I finally move on from it, I can make the further effort to make sure that NEVER happens again. To help you learn from my own mistakes here are some typical mistakes for designers (but not limited too).

• SPELL CHECK: spelling errors are probably the most common mistake. And I have seen fellow designers loose clients through lack of diligence. Sometimes I too forget to hit that little spell check button. In fact if I could convince Adobe to make it a little icon on the tool bar, instead of being hidden in the file navigation, it would be a very welcome change.

•  MIND YOUR FOLDS: a recent mistake of mine to ignore the printers folds. Made a huge problem. It has to be reprinted and refolded. It has caused a project that was already running behind (due to the client's complications), but now the project is another week behind schedule. It has taken me a few days to stomach this problem, but I need to move on and make a vow to dictate clearly my vision to the printer. Hopefully this mistake will never occur again through vigilance.

•  USING RGB (for print): Printers can only print in CMYK and particular ink (such as Pantone).  Believe me it can make a huge mess to clean up after someone who uses RGB for CMYK. RGB is for screens only. If you are doing digital work that is perfect, but for print use CMYK.

• MISUSE OF PROGRAMS: the Adobe Suite can be fairly interchangeable, but each program has its own specialty. You can create print documents in Photoshop, but I would not recommend. Doing so will create more work for yourself, and for your printer (professional not your desktop).

Constant Vigilince...

Is difficult. Lately I have been having trouble staying motivation. It seems once you start having a goal things just get thrown at you to make it more difficult to meet those goals. It was easy at first to want to draw, update my site, and look at type. It started with being active (that is always the hardest for me in my married life, I am not sure why). Then other things started falling off the list, and with the list went my motivation. I might have just gotten it back! My local AIGA had a Pecha Kucha event. The purpose of the event was to show what creative individuals do when they are not being paid to be creative.

Some of the speakers shared hobbies that I also enjoy when I am not at work: creative desserts, photography, loved ones, and reading. More than finding common bonds. I have gotten some of wind back. Some things that have become more crucial the more I design: always a student, have passion, curiosity, and have fun. If it is not fun then I cannot do my best work.

--------- AND ---------

I did have a mini kitchen adventure: ( I don't count it as an adventure since I have made lemon bars a few times before).  this exact recipe was a first. I have a few suggestions if you make it: 1.5 sticks of butter instead of 2 will make just plenty. If you want you can just half the crust and make the same amount of filling, or you can 1.5 the recipe. I had 3 lemons so I just made extra filling. The original recipe has too much crust to filling ratio. So I suggest either the crust gets less or the filling more.

No Love for Serifs

These days the public, and designers do not seem fond of serifs. Some people even profess to hate serifs. Companies want to be modern and designers lean towards sans serif to convey modern. Serifs can have an older feel since many of the traditional serifs were first developed when letterforms were cut from word or stone or calligraphic pens. Companies, who wanted the appearance of longevity and history used serif typefaces for their logos, but have moved on for a more human aspect. Grade schools, in a similar thought, no longer teach cursive and most people print rather than any other type of writing.

Serifs are still in use. Modern serifs tend to be thicker, more like slab serifs, or ones that have a vintage feel because VINTAGE IS IN. But these are not your grandparents' serif typefaces:

Vitesse by Hoefler & Frere-Jones

Archer by Hoefler & Frere-Jones

Alda by Emigre

Technotyp

Hera by Lucas Sharp

Museo

Serifs are a great addition to any design. You just have to know how to use them.

War on Type

The war on tiny type has begun. There has long been a struggle between designers and nondesigners over small type. I have been told recently "everyone hates small type". I do not believe that at since I love small type, and my KU education was based around the ideals that body copy (for print) is 8pt, captions are 6pt, and heading and subheads were whatever you wanted. I realize that not everyone can read that small type, and I do not think it is too much to ask for 10 point, and for designs for senior citizens 12 – 14 is appropriate. Type size is not declarative of design aesthetic, but should be for the marriage of form and function. Typography is beautiful. That first type class changed my life forever. I cannot help to notice the subtle nuances that type can bring to a design or the type that surrounds our everyday life.

I came across this thread, that denounced the use of small type and that designers think only of beauty and not about the functionality of type on the web.

From Marion Bataille ABC3D

I think there is often a particular war with graphic designers and web designers. Often we have to work with one another. I know only of a couple people who can accomplish both sides of a website project. Maybe if when working with one another, we took time to explain our varying points of view, perhaps, there would not be this misunderstanding that is clearly shown in this forum.

More than type size, type variety is crucial for reading comprehension. In fact type that is too horsey can be harder to read then something small that forces you to focus. The great use for the web is that if you make your font resizable, then when it is too hard to read that person can enlarge type to make it easier to view, which is I prefer to use em’s not pixels. When you can use type not images. HTML 5 should make it easier for everyone to use a variety of typefaces as html without problem, so you can have style and readability.

As a designer, I lean towards tiny type to organize the information to the simplest terms. Type is best when it becomes the hero to my design. I could spend all day talking about the nuances of type, and how to utilize it to organize information is a way that is pleasing and readable. I won’t do that today. Remembering to balance between form and function is always a challenge on every project. I do the best I can; yet, it is sometimes beyond my control based on art direction or client’s requests. Always ask yourself “who is this for?” That should dictate point size best to use for print or web.

 [from what I understand web standard for type is 14 pt (I often use 12)] <-----small for caption purposes

Can Anyone Be a Designer?

With the advancement in software and a rebirth in craft movement it seems that everyone wants, and can be a designer. But can they? Lots of designers have the humble start of no schooling and go onto become very successful designer. Some are just crafters looking to make something trendy. Most people ARE capable of being designers. A primary function of a designer is to organize information, but also combining function and aesthetics. Designers need an aptitude for problem solving. Designers can be very talented not going to school, because you are judged by your portfolio not your school and grade.

School has the advantages of teachers being more knowledgeable in the field than you, and they can impart knowledge and skills that would take you much longer to figure out on your own. Fellow students are great assets to your education. Learning along with others creates a common bond, easy networking, and you would be amazed the magnitude of what you can learn from your peers. In our projects we each learned tricks to the different tools, and we able to help each other out. Being a student gives you the foundation to begin learning on your own. School also will provide you the history of graphic design, and knowing the history can help you understand the conventions in design today and better understand your tools.

With motivation you don’t require the aid that teachers and your fellow students can provide, but if you find you need that form of encouragement and supports there are plenty of blogs around that you that can give you the help of your peers in a non-intimidating way. It can be hard to keep the motivation up to learn on your own. I know that I continually endeavor to learn on my own new tips and tricks, but I always become lazy. I have considered taking short classes for support of teachers and the forced commitment of attending class.

Scheduling time, set apart from the rest of your day, can help ensure you take time to learn a new skill. Keeping a clean and distraction free workspace also helps ensure success. My TV and Netflix often distract me from achieving my goal. Put up design inspiration. Engage in alternative activities. Diversity can be a great asset to a designer. Graphic Design is not solely for computers, in decades past they did not have computers to accelerate the design process, so get practice drawing, painting, and if you can I strongly suggest screenprint and letterpress. Letterpress gives you a new appreciation for the simplified way we are able to layout type on a computer, as well as be having more detailed attention toward kerning and leading.

Even after school a designer is not done learning, so it is important to continue growth in your craft with: books, tutorials, lectures, and perhaps more classes! Design, software, and society are continually changing, so always look for an opportunity to learn. It is never too late to begin learning. --Wow how many more clichés can I fit here!? Many people can be successful without school, now she focuses more on her photography and blogging. Check out Heather Armstrong on dooce.com or her interview with Debbie Millman

Inspired vs Stealing

It is difficult to be creative every day, particularly on-demand, as a graphic designer’s job requires. We all look at other people’s work and the environment around us to inspire us, or even just to see what our peers are doing. It is one thing to be inspired by our peers work, and it is a completely different thing to steal. We have to sometimes walk a fine balance, but it is often best to avoid it completely.

SKETCH Imitation can happen by accident. In many cases, everything has been done before. The importance of sketching can help avoid imitation. Often imitation can occur when you use an initial approach and do looking beyond this. Our initial feeling on a project is often the simplest approach, which is why this can lead to imitation.

WATCH & AVOID Seeing what our peers in the field are doing can be a great way to avoid fads. Avoiding what you see others doing is not only a great way to avoid fads, and dating your design; but it is a great way to prevent theft. We respect our own work, so we should respect the work of others in our fields.

DO ONE, NOT ALL It would be difficult to look at work, love it, desire to make something just as inspiration, and to not be able to try to reproduce something in a similar affect. One way to let inspiration work through is to take ONE trick that you noticed in their work, learn it, and incorporate it into your design. You can be inspired by the mood of a person’s work, and try to create a similar feeling in your own design.

THINK, THEREFORE IT PROBABLY IS If you think it is stealing or you are concerned that it might be, it would be best to not do it at all. Graphic Designers have to trust their instinct in this line of work, and of course you must put it to use in the case of design infringement. If you are going to use images (ex. Google images) you should site where you got this inspiration from, and if you are going to use this work in final art you should contact the creator for permission to use their work.

In the creative field it can be murky waters trying to protect your designs, and to protect yourself from theft. It is best to respect others work, as you would want them to respect yours. Imitation can be the best kind of flattery, unless you are stealing art. If you have concerns about a work, or want to develop ways to protect your own work: use watermarks and speak to a lawyer who is knowledgeable on intellectual property.

TRENDS cont...

Another trend that keeps popping up is rounded corners. This can probably be attributed to modern computer programs that make this as simple and creating any other basic shape, such as a rectangle. Also with html working its way into the market. It is not accepted in all browsers, but once it does it will be much easier to have rounded corners on the web. We won't have to mess with as much cds to get the same, or better results.

Perhaps this trend has several initation points, as well as inspiration points. An increased use of social media is being used by corporations to help them connect with their clients. Maybe this appeal to be more personal and friendly has inspired designers to incorporate curves into their designs to make shapes seem softer, therefore, more friendly. With the ease of rounded, and its slight addition to detail. I think this is a trend that is not going anywhere soon.

Of course there are those who work against popular just because they fads. Such as the designers working with very clean and sharp, boxy designs, but that is a blog for another day.