October 13, 2008 – 10:36 pm
Have you ever seen a design that looks so absolutely perfect all you can do is stand in awe of its aesthetic qualities? What is it about those pieces that make them so visually stunning? And, more importantly, how can YOU create a design like this?
The answer is Proportion.
As always, as you read through this article, notice the uses of the elements and principles of design. See how proportion depends on them and helps create and support other principles.
What is Proportion? Proportion can be recognized in several ways; it is the use of the design elements size and scale, evenly distributing the viewer’s attention and the use of the golden ratio.
October 10, 2008 – 7:00 am
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to get out into the blogiversosphere. Maybe it’s been too long for you too? Jump back in with these fantastic design posts from the past few weeks, including some announcements of InDesign CS4 features! Woo!
October 6, 2008 – 7:00 am
I received an email from a reader recently. For any of you that are also new to InDesign, I thought you might benefit from my response, below, a little more organized than my response to her.
In this post I’ll cover Paste in Place, a little bit about InDesign Layers, a few InDesign shortcuts, adjusting the stacking order of objects, the Step and Repeat function, contextual menus and more beginner articles on Creative Curio.
If you have any questions about InDesign, be sure to check out this article and post a comment!
October 3, 2008 – 7:00 am
Color inspiration is something we’ve done infrequently on Creative Curio. Come take a look at color palettes from packaging, a yoga studio, and several branding images. These include a wide range of colors as well as color theories from monochromatic to a palette of six distinct colors.
September 29, 2008 – 7:00 am
Graphic design is tons of fun, but it’s also work—and it takes a lot of mental energy. Sometimes you just have to get away and play. So how do you play and relax?
As many of you know, one thing that I’m enjoying a lot at the moment is letterpress. I’ve successfully restored a Vandercook SP-15 press, and today I cleaned up the C&P (not sure the model number or size at the moment. I know there’s a chase somewhere, but I haven’t measured it yet). And again, I must say, Evapo-Rust is a wonderful product!
Check out the results of the Evapo-Rust and see what I’ll be printing as my first official project on the Vandercook!
September 26, 2008 – 7:00 am
Do you want to be an ACE? I do! And that’s why I’m studying to take the Adobe Certified Expert exam for InDesign.
There is so much to this program that I never knew! I’ve been using it fairly regularly for at least a year and I thought I had a pretty firm grasp of it. There are so many little ways that InDesign can help you out by automating layout elements. Let me share a few I’ve learned this week, specifically setting document defaults for all new documents (and what you can set as a default), working with sections, and autoflow text.
September 22, 2008 – 7:00 am
For graphic designers, there are three main job situations: an in-house art department, a studio/firm/agency, or freelance.
I remember when I was close to graduating college in 2006, the professors asked us which situation appealed to us the most and why. At the time, I wanted to be an in-house designer because I thought a situation like that would afford me the most stability without the huge time commitment that I had always heard was required of studio designers.
Now that I’ve been an in-house designer for almost 3 years (I started working before I graduated), I’m wondering what the pros and cons really are for other positions.
