News
Art and Design: The Same or Different?
I hear many people, including designers, that say that they love being designers, because they love being artists. Is art and design one and the same? I am not so sure. Clients often say, "You're an artist, create a web site for me." Art is more or less for people to...
Adobe Launches Lightroom 3
Professional photographers and image editors alike will rejoice in knowing that Adobe has released Lightroom 3. Lightroom 3 has been given a lot of new enhancements to make cataloging your images much easier. Not only can you make quality adjustments to your images,...
Designing for the iAd: A New Design Horizon?
Starting July 1st, the iAd venture is supposed to be launched. With this in mind, companies are jumping to advertise on this new platform. Most of us are print designers, and a lot of us are web designers, and we are used to the different formats associated with them....
This Week’s Creative Inspiration #5
ADAM SIMPSON This site is really interesting because it has simple iconography, as well as a bunch of simple, but good illustrations as well. SFMOMA This site is really great because it shows off a huge amount of artwork, and the way that it is done is simple, but...
Is There a Limit to How Much We Can Do?
I was having a discussion with a colleague the other day about design and all the things that we know how to do. The topic came up where he found out that i don't know ajax, which I admittedly, don't even know exactly what that does. My response to him was that I am a...
A really quick & handy trick to edit clipping paths in Illustrator
I was playing around with Adobe Illustrator yesterday, and I had to use a clipping path on a photo. I need to be able to get it just right and show what is needed and hide what isn't needed, but sometimes you miss your mark. Here, I wanted the brand logo to show, and...
Places to For Creative Inspiration #4
DESIGNERS COUCH ILLUSION 360 KENNETH PARKER PHOTOGRAPHS KELLY VIVANCO ANDRZEJ DRAGAN OPERA 78 GHOSTCO ROMAN CORTES
Creative Contrast With a Background Blur
This tutorial is great for adding quick and simple contrast to a photo. When using this in your design, it is a good idea to choose a subject that has to do with target market. To start, find a photograph with a main figure of subject in the middle, with a lot going...
Pushing the Envelope: Design and Life
One thing that I have always vowed never to do in life is to just blend in. Blending in gets you nowhere, and it is getting noticed that gets you the things that you want out of life. Think about employment and dating for instance. If you simply blend into the...
Are Women Better Graphic Designers Than Men?
I want to start this article by saying that I am in no way biased to one gender, and I am in no way trying to insult or undermine anyone's level of skill or expertise. With that being said, this is something that hit me this morning. It takes a lot to mold a person...
Crop One Large Photo Creatively to Create Multiple photos for a Design
When we are designing a layout, sometimes it can be difficult and time consuming to find multiple images for a layout that will work together and create a sense of unity to our design. There are so many resources available, such as the stock photography web sites, or...
This Weeks set of creative inspiration
This week is filled with beautiful photography, illustration, and fantastic paintings. One of my personal favorites is the one where the alphabet is beautifully painted throughout a city. I personally love expressive and beautiful ways that people paint or illustrate...
Equipment: does it really make our designs any better?
There have been so many times where I have been talking to colleagues and other digital artists and I have heard them say "I am saving up for a new Apple Macbook Pro", or "I am saving up to build a new super PC, I will be able to design much better on a faster...
My Take on Steve Jobs and Flash
I am sure that everyone has heard the buzz going on around the internet with Steve Jobs not supporting Flash on Apple devices. I have gotten dozens of emails asking my take on this issue, which I will address. While I am not an avid animator, I certainly understand...
Quickly Remove Background Imagery in Photoshop
Remove Background I do a lot of image editing, especially since I work on a lot of catalogs. I have companies that send in all sorts of images, including ones that are shot professionally on a white background in a studio, and those that are shot in bad lighting and...
Why I Respect Professional Photographers
1. They have an eye for telling a story. They use their keen eyes to find a scene or a place in time that tells a story to their audience. Photojournalists are some of the best at this, because it captures a moment in time and history, that can't be recreated....
Places To Go For Inspiration May 16, 2010
These works are really interesting and creative. Some of them are quickies, but some of them you will want to spend some time exploring. INSPIRE ME NOW MICHAEL KENNA AIRGROOM JEAN-MARIE VIVES BRIGHTBOX CREATIONS JOSH KEYES MARK MEYER PHOTOGRAPHY RASSOULI CORO36INK...
Playing Nice with Others: What Networking Can Do For You
I have been a graphic designer for a few years now, and I will have to admit that fresh out of school, I had no idea the level of importance networking had. I didn't even understand how to go about it, and what the point was. It took a long time to find a job in the...
Does Going Green Save Green?
As Designers, especially in print, it is out responsibility to consider our impact on the world, not only visually, but environmentally. Many times we consider green printing products and think of big budget clients, but there are many options out there that are cost...