Creating a Killer Color Palette
When you know what you’re trying to do, why you’re trying to do it, and who you’re trying to do it for, your colors will practically choose themselves.
Every Designer Should Love a Font & Hate a Font
Every designer should have a font that they really love and one that they truly loathe. And they should be able to explain why. For example, I love Helvetica (I know, how cliché right?). But honestly, I really do. I love that it can be sophisticated at a light and narrow or loud in a […]
Exploring Color & Its Meanings in Design
Last time we talked about why it is important to understand color and the underlying meanings associated with it. This time, I’m going to go into more detail about each specific color and talk about how those colors effect perceptions. Although color on its own can have its own connotations, the context and application of […]
Use Words First
If an idea isn’t clear [to you] in writing it will never communicate as a design.
What You Need to Know About Color & Design
Color use is a way to help people feel and understand the meaning of your design by drawing only from what they initially perceive without reading the text. Color is an impressive and influential communication tool. When used correctly it can influence mood, drive decision-making, and even cause a physical or emotional reaction in the viewer.
Be Confident in Your Skills
As a creative, you must be confident in your skills. If you expect people to value what you do and respect you as a designer you need confidence. It makes you trustworthy, it is not second guessing your [well-researched] decisions, or cringing when you send a design to a client, hoping they will like it; […]
The Relationship Between Fashion and Graphic Design?
It has always been astonishing to me how intertwined the worlds of fashion and graphic design are. As a teen and young adult I was entering the world of modeling and was very interested in advertising and fashion. In the end, I wound up being drawn to advertising design much more than I was attracted to modeling. During […]
Some Ideas are Meant to Die
Some ideas are meant to die so that better ideas can live. Don’t grieve an idea that wasn’t the absolute best creative solution. Getting stuck on ideas that didn’t work out will keep you from moving forward and will not allow you to do your best work.
Design Basics from a Hairdresser
There are artistic virtuosos in many different fields, and learning how to learn from them is crucial to growing as a designer.
Read Design Books
Today’s Tip: Read Design Books You can get stuck looking at “inspiration” all day online because it’s a never-ending well of amazing things. But reading books gives you the opportunity to really take in what you’re seeing and have a tactile experience in your search for inspiration. And I personally tend to absorb more of […]
What is Design Sense?
Unlike common sense, design sense is a sort of intuition combined with education about design. It’s knowing when and why to choose Bodoni or Goudy, and it’s very important.
Sketch
Sketch; with an actual pencil and paper. You think differently about your ideas when you aren’t constrained by digital tools. I find it freeing and I feel more creative when I just let my pencil go. Even if all the ideas aren’t good, at least they are out of my brain and on paper and […]
Designing with Photoshop & A Scalpel
Photoshop (or any software) and a scalpel are basically the same, you could butcher something if you don’t know what you are doing.
White Space and Letting Your Design Breathe
Welcome to the first ever #DesignTipTuesday Today’s tip: Let your design breathe. Embrace the negative space. Clean design forces you to to discipline your design thinking.
Why DOES Design matter?
There are infinite ways to answer this question. Even further than why does design matter, its important to clarify why good design matters. This is my first post and as such I’ve been struggling with the best way to kick this off. What can you expect from this blog? Well, unlike how I get in […]
Blog Post Zero
After many years of thoughts and discussions on the topic, I decided to start a blog. A blog about my thoughts on why design matters. I find it frustrating every time I have to “convince” someone, whether it be a client or a family member or a friend, why design matters or even what design IS […]