If you have noticed, there isn’t much programming on Graphic Design. Infact, there is none at all. So last night, I was browsing through the channel line up on TV and saw a program on PBS called “Helvetica“. I was really excited, but thought how are earth can someone talk for an hour about a font? Believe me, you will be surprised.

Helvetica is a Sans Serif Typeface (Font) developed in 1957 by by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. In the example above, you will notice the difference between Sans Serif and Serif Typefaces. Serif Typefaces has little feet at the ends of the strokes.

The Power of Helvetica

“Helvetica is among the most widely used sans-serif typefaces. Helvetica is also a popular choice for commercial wordmarks, including those for 3M, American Airlines, American Apparel, AT&T, BMW, Jeep, JCPenney, Lufthansa, Microsoft, Orange, and Verizon Wireless. Apple Inc. has used Helvetica widely in Mac OS X, the iPhone OS, and the iPod. Helvetica is widely used by the U.S. government; for example, federal income tax forms are set in Helvetica. New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) uses Helvetica for many of its subway signs.”
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetica

Below is a clip from the independent film, stressing the importance of Typography in ads and branding. I couldn’t agree with him more! Now if only everyone can share in his passion for type!

The Importance of Typography

Come to think of it, talking about a font for an hour is nothing. In University, my professor talked about it an entire year. The class was simply called Typography I (there was Typography II  and then Typography III – another 2 years of that!). We learned the history of typography; from Johannes Gutenberg (who created the first Printing Press) to making paper to operating a printing press.

Digging Up Some Old Treasures

I was rummaging through the basement again, and came across another project I did in University. This design was created using an actual printing press. Each member of the class was given a letter. Mine happened to be the letter “E”. We each designed the base of our design on a computer and then applied the assigned character through a printing press (below shown in colour). We then had duplicate this 30 times for each member of the class, to be added in a bound book we all created individually.

Duplicating a couple of letters 30 times through a printing press was not a walk in the park. You had to line it up perfectly, roll on the ink hoping it won’t smudge, (and if you did, you would have to redo it) and then pass a heavy roller to transfer that onto paper. Now imagine doing that in the year 1436 for a newspaper. Each letter had to be placed on the printing press, lined up and transferred.

Now

It’s hard to imagine that something as a little as a font can be so important in the world of design. But as history shows, it’s fundamental in the creation of your brand! If you are interested in Typography, you can google it and spend days if not weeks/months reading up on it.

posted by Marina

I’m not thaaaaat old…. but I was recently reminiscing about how far graphic design has come in the last 10-15 years.  Back in 1994, I applied for the opportunity to work as a co-op student with a large bank in their graphics department. For a whole year, I was shown the in’s and out’s of graphic design, “mechanical paste-up” and introduced to the world of designing on a computer. Back then, Corel 3.0 was the program of the “leading edge” graphic design companies. I’d never even heard of Adobe.

Last week, I was rummaging through some stuff in the basement and found my “portfolio”. Yes, a physical, tangible item. With strings on all 3 sides that you can tie up. Here’s an example of a project I did back in 1994.

You are probably wondering “WHAT IS THAT?”

Basically, this is a part of a branding campaign that you would show your client. This sample was a brochure that was camera ready. Those red area’s aren’t ink. It’s ruby film which was hand cut. In different layers for colour separation. Is that not insane?

Let’s rewind for a second: Now there were 2 ways of developing your artwork before you get to this stage:
1) On a computer (on a 256 colour 13 inch monitor)
2) Mechanical Paste Up – where you would literally sit there on your drafting table and paste each and every letter/word onto your artboard (by hand). Of course, there was the Letraset Transfer, where you would rub the letters onto the paper to do your layout. You would also physically cut any graphics you have and paste it with rubber cement, and roll it on! (Did I just say that!?) What will really knock your socks off, is the use of Letraset Markers, where you colour your art in!! And this was a skill because anyone who has used Letraset markers will know that the effects are almost like watercolour. You can only colour in single strokes or you will get different opacity shades all over!

Then once all your design is done, you would paste it on some expensive board, almost cut your thumb with the exacto in the process, put some onion paper over it so it doesn’t get dirty, plop it in a black portfolio, drive it over, have a meeting with everybody and their brother and present it on an easel hoping they will like it. And if there was a change? Go back and do the whole thing all over again.

Colour Separation:

When the artwork was finally approved, you would have to do your colour separation. This involved using Ruby Film (shown above) and an exacto knife and cutting the art pieces in different layers of CMYK. Can you imagine how long this would have taken? When I Google “Ruby Graphic Design”, all I get is “Ruby on Rails” (a current web application framework). See? Google doesn’t even recognize this ancient practice!

Typsetting:

I even learned typesetting which would rival today’s HTML. It wasn’t just typing words in a design program such as illustrator and adjusting your text, you had to code the leading (space between the lines) and kerning (space between the letters) by picas (measurements of typography). There was no such thing as rotating text, putting your text to a path, making a letter red or blue. It was straight on typing.

Stock Photos:

Stock Photos now are available for download in a split second. I also found an old stock photo book of mine in the basement. Yes BOOK. If you wanted to order stock photos, you would need to flip through the pages, call up the company, place your order, and pay for it. They would then send you the photograph in the mail.

Camera Ready Art:

Then once everything was approved, you had to put your artwork into an envelope, get a courier guy to come pick it up, have it couriered to a place where they will PHOTOGRAPH the artwork and make a plate reading for printing!

Fast forward to 2010:

Changes don’t need to be couriered or faxed or snail mailed. Artwork is approved through email. Payment is made through the web. Meetings are no longer required. Heck, phone conversations are no longer required. I’m sure that these facts can spin this into a whole argument about the aspects of the impersonal business relationship. However lets not go there. The web has opened up many new avenues of creativity and income to the graphic designer. Web Design. Blog Design. E-newsletter Campaigns, Animation, Business Partnerships with Progammers, the list is endless!

See? I even had to use Google to aid in some of this historic research. I couldn’t remember.

posted by Marina

Before I start any project, I decide on a colour palette. We generally ask the client in our questionnaire to select a colour palette that they really like. A couple of really neat websites does it all for you. They have an array of different choices, all offering complimentary colours to any chosen group.

This method can be compared to choosing paint colours for your house. I normally select a few complimentary colours and apply that to a bunch of existing rooms so I don’t end up with a fun house of mismashed colours.

When decorating a house, it’s easier to select a neutral base colour and add bold accent colours to accessorize the pillows/throws and window coverings. This allows you to swap out your accessories when you get bored. Same thing applies to a website. We suggest to stay with neutrals for the base colour of your website and add those punches of colours for accessories, like titles, buttons, banners and headers.

Here are a couple of websites that will help in deciding a colour palette for your logo/website.

• http://kuler.adobe.com
• http://www.colorschemer.com/

posted by Marina

Over the summer, I decided to do a fun little project involving my hubby and son. I just took some facts of life, my video camera and came up with this. It’s a story about the Graphic Designer vs. Client. Disclaimer: This isn’t meant to offend any clients!

Funnest part of this creation: threatening him that if he doesn’t pick his nose, he won’t get any chips.

Watch this video!

posted by Marina

I don’t profess to be an expert (because there is nothing more annoying than someone telling you what to do), however in the span of my career, I’ve picked up some tips along the way in making it a smoother process for everyone in the area of Logo Design. (Of course, they can be applied really to anything design wise, or even anything in life!)

Tips for making your logo standout

1. Hire a great designer – a no brainer

View and review their portfolio. Do you think they can capture your brand?

2. Know what you want – don’t be a flake

To be a little blunt, among the design community, the dreaded words are “I don’t know, you are the designer, do your magic.” Although it might appear that you are paying your designer a compliment or think they love to work off a blank canvas, this is quite the opposite. Designers need a little direction on such things as a preferred choice of  colour palette, design elements to incorporate, the “look” you are going for. From my past experience, I’ve done this a few times and the end result turned out tragic. If you don’t know what you want, chances are, I won’t know what you want either.

3. Don’t have too many cooks in the kitchen
When you get your initial proof, it is very exciting and you wish to share it with the world. Although it is recommended to share and get thoughts from close friends and family, too many opinions might make you doubt yourself. There’s nothing worse than a logo designed as a result from the fact that “Aunt Kiki wasn’t liking the dominance of the blue”. Bottom Line: Too many people will turn your logo into a complete nightmare. Go with your gut instinct and work with your designer. Remember, Aunt Kiki isn’t a trained Designer!

4. Revisions
Keep in mind that Designers will have revision amounts stated in their contract. Be aware of this as they generally will charge extra if you go over that amount. When it comes to logo design, although you should go with your gut instinct, take the time to sit back and think about it. It is after all, a little but very important symbol that will define and brand your company!

Visit this link to see some famous ugly logos

posted by Marina