All Posts, Graphic Design
Technology is ruling the world, that’s been evident for a long time now (if it doesn’t already). Which leave the good old pen and paper forgotten in the attic.
In this article I will address why you should turn off your computer, put away your tablet, and go back to the basics during your design process, at the same time you will be provided with some tips on how to get started in effective sketching.
Why should you sketch?
When you start a project, there’s a tendency to automatically start coming up with various ideas. These ideas may seem great, but there’s a big chance that your first ideas are pretty obvious.
Sketching lets you get all the obvious ideas out of the way, so you can start coming up with interesting, more innovative designs. Plus, you never know what will inspire you – it could be one of those obvious sketches that spark a great idea.
You can sketch where ever you are
Taking a sketchbook and a pen is even more convenient than carrying your laptop. You might end up finding yourself in more interesting areas like the beach or a park, as well as museums and subways. You will also be exposing yourself to different environments, which will inspire your designs and bring you new ideas.
Find the artist in you
There’s something about holding a pencil in your hand that activates your creativity in a much different way than holding a mouse. When you get used, the movements of your hand become much more fluid and it becomes really easy and natural. You may also start seeing some ‘artistic’ influences in your design work.
The more you practice, the better you will become at sketching.
Get in touch with your designs
For me, one of the most important benefits of sketching is that it gets you in touch with your design work on a whole new level. By spending so much time developing a solid concept, you have a stronger understanding of the elements that go into your design.
Let’s sketch!
Word lists
These come very handy when you’re starting a new project, or completely stuck with one you’ve been working on for a while. With word lists you basically list every possible word that’s related to the subject of your project. When I use these for my projects, I first come up with all the words I can think of, then circle the best ones and create sketches of them to get things going.
Draw, it doesn’t matter what, just draw something
Often, facing a blank page can be a bit intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start and what you’re supposed to sketch.
Just sketch something!
It doesn’t matter. Just let your mind and your hand wander together. As long as you’re sketching something, you’re on the right track to coming up with your next great design. Don’t forget that your sketches don’t have to be the a piece of art. You don’t need to fall into the perfection trap…every ‘mistake’ you make is really an opportunity to get better and learn.
Remember this: no one has to see your sketches, so don’t be shy!
Sketch out of the box
I try to designate specific sketchbooks for specific things. “This will be the sketchbook for these designs and that one for these other sketches” Unfortunately (well, maybe it’s not unfortunate), it doesn’t always happen that way.
Sketch anywhere and everywhere. Ideas come to us at unpredictable times, and in unpredictable places. It’s hard to keep track of which sketchbook is for what, and which one you’re supposed to be carrying around. That’s why you should use whatever’s available, even napkins.
Free time
To start falling in love with it try sketching in your free time, too. Sketch things for fun, big things, tall things, buildings, clocks, fluffy animals.
Be creative
Find what works best for you. Try using different tools like pens, pencils, watercolors, charcoal, and chalk as well as different surfaces. Use ones with which you feel you can express yourself in the best possible way and you enjoy most. The more fun you make this for yourself, the easier it will be to stick to it.
In times of where a pencil sounds like an obsolete tool, do you still make time for sketching before your designs? If so, what are your techniques? If not, would you try it?
All Posts, Graphic Design
There is a point in a designer’s career, that you will, if you haven’t already, come in contact with a client that wants to rule the entire project. They pick on the colors, the layout, and the typeface (Comic Sans anyone?). Everytime you try put in your two sense, you’re shut down. I mean, you wouldn’t hire an mechanic to fix your car and tell him that he is doing it all wrong, would you?
Before you give up and drop every curse word in the book (hopefully after the clients leaves or hangs up the phone) continue reading for ideas on how you can bring some light on a difficult, mindset client.
Education . . . when does this happens?
Before signing the contract! It’d be easy to say that education happens all the time during a design project. While that may be the case, if you haven’t set expectations properly up front, you are probably going to have problems later on. Learning how to educate your clients certainly will be the key of your success on the “battle for designs”. When a project begins, it’s important to establish that you are an expert and that your opinion is grounded in research and professional experience. Why? Because establishing your own credibility is important to getting them to understand that there is more than just a “gut feeling” behind your decisions.
Clearly explain your concept, just after taking the time of listening to the clients concept
Lack of communication and miscommunications can often destroy an entire project. When your client have a concept in mind, you should be able to take their ideas into consideration. They chose you because you are the right person for the job and you must treat it this way. Make sure to listen to their ideas and make sure they listen to yours. And hopefully come to a happy medium.
Your client have a “listening time”, use it wisely
Carefully listen to their idea, immediately after your time has come and you most use it effectively. Explain them why you will like to use certain fonts or how your color scheme would be more effective than the ones they had in mind. Explain your ideas and reasoning carefully. Use the basics; who, what, why and how. Please don’t use your fancy design jargon. Save that for the playground! Act professionally and simple on your explanations, this will increase your chances of having more say with the outcome.
Visual explanation…
You can show them a comparison of the two concepts, their idea and yours. This would require more time and effort but it would help them visually see the difference. Show them books or other examples of good, effective design which would assist helping them gain a broader, more visual idea of design. While showing these examples, follow the same procedure as above, and provide them with precise detail on why and how they work.
A big challenge for any designer is to learn how to manage clients successfully. Educating them has always been the smartest way to maintain good relationships. It is very important that you take the time to do this regularly in order to develop a pleasant experience for yourself and your client.
Graphic Design
Graphic Design Trends for 2012
While there are key classic practices that should make your designs safe every year in terms of projection and content, you will not be able to guarantee its effectiveness if it stays static. The key to continuous success with your work, is for you to always develop them with the current trends in mind. In this special guide, we will go through some of the most important trends that you will want to include in your custom designs this New Year 2012. If you can integrate this properly enough, there should be little issues and more success.
Design trends for this year are bold and aim to grab audience attention.
Logos: Create streamlined logos and graphics – For 2012, all designers are upgrading their logos and graphics to more streamlined variations.
Simplicity rules: Simple designs are in right now, and the reason for that is, well… simple.
Type can be design: In the absence of complicated visuals, typography is playing a larger role in design. Those designers who know how to put typefaces to work to their best advantage will come out on top.
As we move together into a new year, we are promised some amazing advances in the world of technology and design. Evolving your brand through web design, print design and even architectural design are ways that you can stay ahead of the competition and encounter new demographics in your market.
Graphic Design
A logo, unlike any other design element; is the face of a company. Whether it is your business card, letterhead or a brochure, the first thing that gets noticed is your logo design. That’s why I will attempt to share ideas from my experiences with branding-focused logo design for the real world.
Ask questions, and create your Design Questionnaire
Conduct a questionnaire or interview with the client to get the design brief. Ask, ask, ask! this is the key to know what your client wants. Ask about the business history, how the company differ from its competitor, specific images or icons they will like to include on the logo, color preferences, etc.
Search, research and search again
Problem-solve first, design later. Conduct research on the industry itself, its history and competitors. Research on logo designs that have been successful and on current styles and trends that may relate to the design brief. Follow trends not for their own sake but rather to be aware of them: longevity in logo design is key.
Conceptualizing, sketching…CREATING
Who sketch anymore? Actually sketching is a great way to transfer the ideas in your head into paper. Develop the logo design concept(s) around the questionnaire and your research. This is the single most important part of the design process. Get creative and be inspired. After that, it’s always easier to actually design it on the computer. Sketching helps to evolve your imagination: once you understand it, you will always start from just white paper.
Coffee break or Reflection time
Take breaks throughout the design process. This helps your ideas mature, renews your enthusiasm and allows you to solicit feedback. It also gives you a fresh perspective on your work.
Revise and improve
Every design have space for improvement, small modifications can result in a great design.
Show time or logo presentation
Present only your best logo designs to your client. You may also wish to show the logo in context, which will help the client more clearly visualize the brand identity. Preparing a high-quality presentation is the single most effective way to get your clients to approve your designs.
“Canned presentations have the ring of emptiness. The meaningful presentation is custom designed—for a particular purpose, for a particular person. How to present a new idea is, perhaps, one of the designer’s most difficult tasks. This how is not only a design problem, it also pleads for something novel.
Everything a designer does involves a presentation of some kind—not only how to explain (present) a particular design to an interested listener (client, reader, spectator), but how the design may explain itself in the marketplace… A presentation is the musical accompaniment of design. A presentation that lacks an idea cannot hide behind glamorous photos, pizzazz, or ballyhoo. If it is full of gibberish, it may fall on deaf ears; if too laid back, it may land a prospect in the arms of Morpheus.” (Paul Rand)
Delivery and support
Deliver the appropriate files to the client and give all support that is needed. Remember to under-promise and over-deliver. After you’ve finished, have a beer, eat some chocolate and then start your next project.
A logo doesn’t need to say what a company does. Restaurant logos don’t need to show food, dentist logos don’t need to show teeth, furniture store logos don’t need to show furniture. Just because it’s relevant, doesn’t mean you can’t do better. The Mercedes logo isn’t a car. The Virgin Atlantic logo isn’t an airplane. The Apple logo isn’t a computer. Etc. David Airey
These are some of the basic steps I follow when creating a logo, what are yours?
Graphic Design
Your design business 2012
2011 just flew by and you still contemplating how to start your own Graphic Design business. Now 2012 is here and you’re thinking you really want to start the year off with your skills and talents in hand with a new business venture. Aside from being a daunting situation if you’ve never started a business before, it can be a mix of emotions and aspirations that can and will change from day-to-day. I wanted to give you some of the tactics and tricks I’ve learned. Here are 5 common keys that will make the difference on your jump-start.
- Word of Mouth: It doesn’t matter in what stage of your graphic design business is, word-of-mouth is one of the most effective ways to land more jobs. First, impress your client with your design skills and business sense, you will be amazed of how word will get around. Belonging to professional organizations is another way to spread the word and meet other designers
- Have your portfolio ready: Companies will choose a designer based on his/her previous work and how this is presented. There are several choices for what type of portfolio to build, and each has their own benefits and drawbacks. Search for options and decide which apply to your case.
- Manage your projects like a pro: It’s very important that you keep in constant contact with your client and follow the project schedule so the job is finished on deadline. Staying organized is another way to keep projects running smoothly, this is a great key to be successful in your new endeavor.
- Marketing your design business: Fortunately, these days there are plenty of ways to market your business. Take full advantage of the Social Media; Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and many more are great options to position your design business on the “know”.
- Never Leave a Client Unhappy Even if it Means Losing Money: This one is hard but you just need to deal with it, finish your job, and send them on their way. Satisfied clients will tell a few friends how awesome you are – unhappy clients will tell the whole world how much you suck.
The secret to a successful long-term design business has little to do with design itself – it’s how you handle your business, how you deal with your clients. Is definite that your design skills matter, but if you don’t get your business end together, it won’t matter how good you are. People simply won’t want to work with you.
What are your plans for 2012? Are you ready to launch your design business?
Graphic Design
Graphic design is a field in constant change, both creatively and technically. It can be easy to get caught up in learning new technical skills, but it is just as important to focus improving and pushing the limits of our creativity.
As Designers we need to make a point to continue educating ourselves as much as possible and become more active in the field of design. Here are a few tips, exercises and practices that have help me continue learning, strengthen my creativity and become an all around better designer.
- Collect, collect, collect – Collect designs that inspires you. File them away and wait…they will turn into a great source of inspiration when needed. (if you cant’ take it home, use your phone and take tons of pictures)
- Read Graphic Design blogs – Take advantage of the web and search for Designer’s Blogs, they can be an easy source of information and update for every designer.
- Start a Design Blog – It makes you more aware of the Design Community and more accountable of your own work.
- Fake projects, why not? – If you find yourself with some downtime (hope is not much), create some fake projects. Develop a brand, create a logo, stationary and design marketing material for this brand. This will let your creativity run without limitations, It’s easy to get caught in a routine when clients dictate and your work is no longer “yours”.
- Do it again – What goes through your mind when you see your first designs? Exactly, that’s what I figured. Once in a while redo your old designs, analyze what you did wrong and experiment with your new knowledge.
Being a Graphic Designer is a work in process, if you are committed to your career and to develop your designing style you will be successful. It takes time, patience and lots of mistakes in order to improve your designing techniques.
What is your key to stimulate your creativity and improve your designs? Share in the comments below.
Technology is ruling the world, that’s been evident for a long time now (if it doesn’t already). Which leave the good old pen and paper forgotten in the attic.
