December 19, 2007 – 9:00 am Having struggled recently on finding a color palette for a project, I decided to start keeping track of palettes I find that I like (you already know I collect design pieces I find attractive). I by no means claim these came from my own head.
What I present below is a collection I’ve started, particularly because sites Kuler and ColourLovers have become so overwhelming and I find that many of the palettes do not work once applied to real projects (too many are just pretty transitions from pink to blue or gradients from dark to light of a hue).
December 17, 2007 – 9:00 am Last time we talked about surrounding yourself with design (good or bad!) in order to improve your sense of design and how it’s important to notice the details that makes a design good or bad.
It seems that it would be a wise idea to have a collection of good design to study and learn from. Do you have a folder or file that you keep outstanding design in? I do! I don’t put as much into it as I would like to, but here are a few of my favorite pieces and why I like them.
December 14, 2007 – 9:00 am So how do you keep learning about graphic design?
Do you buy lots of books and magazines?
Do you subscribe to graphic design related blogs?
Have you joined a graphic design forum?
There’s really only so much you can learn about design by practicing. Teachers love to say “Practice makes perfect.” I always counter with “Perfect practice makes perfect.” How can you get better at something if you’re doing it incorrectly?
October 8, 2007 – 9:00 am Everything in your portfolio says something about you as a designer. But is there more to it than a good portfolio for getting a job or landing a new client?
Rule Number 1
Never submit something to a client you wouldn’t put in your portfolio. The first reason to do this is that the client will always, always select that horrible design over all the other excellent ones you present. And then you’re stuck producing the crummy one that you hated and you thought the client would never choose. Serves you right!
October 1, 2007 – 9:00 am Graphic designers seem to always want to develop their typography skills. I wonder, though, if they are willing to put the time and effort into it, or if all they really want is to magically be able to pick the right typeface and adjust it perfectly.
Being an expert when it comes to type is not [...]
September 14, 2007 – 9:00 am The Problem
One thing I’ve noticed designers do to make text stand out from the background is to give it a stroke. This does help, but stroking type is like giving it a faux bold in Photoshop! Please don’t!
Most type designers have worked quite hard to make the proportions of their fonts perfect. When you add [...]
August 24, 2007 – 9:30 am They say practice makes perfect, but what if you’re practicing something incorrectly? More accurately they should be saying perfect practice makes perfect.
In order to practice perfectly, you must know how. You need to define what you’re aiming for. This is where critiquing comes in handy.
Get in the habit of critiquing others’ designs (even if only [...]
