Graphic Design Blog
Our Graphic Design Blog has Moved
May 19th, 2008
The eightyone design blog has moved to www.eightyonedesign.co.uk/blog.
On our brand spanking new graphic design blog you will find many new features and much more content. In an attempt to make our blog more interactive you can now leave your comments and responses to our posts so please get commenting - we would love to hear your thoughts.
The Many Hats of a Graphic Designer
April 27th, 2008
What exactly does a Graphic Designer do? The smart answer would be: "a person who designs graphics". Ok, well lets delve a little more into this one...
Let's say a client has come to you (as a graphic designer) asking you to create a brochure containing a range of design elements. Is it the graphic designers job to draw any illustrations used in the brochure or is that down to an illustrator? What about the photography? Should it be the graphic designer who takes photographs for the project or should that fall into the hands of a photographer. How about the copy? Should that be written by a copywriter? The obvious answers to all of these are no, they are not the job of a graphic designer and in each case they should be handed to the specialists. So, if that is true, what is the graphic designers job? In this case the graphic designer could be seen as overseeing the whole project ensuring that everyone involved is working towards the same goal set out by the client. However, just to put a spanner in the works, couldn't a marketeer or the client themselves manage the project if they have a clear understanding of what they are trying to achieve and what they need to do to achieve it?
Calling in specialists is great if you have the budget, but what if you don't? I think this is where the many hats of a graphic designer may come in. When the brochure needs illustration the graphic designer puts on their illustrator hat and either starts scribbling or logs onto a stock imagery site and downloads some vectors. Again, for photography the graphic designer could take some bespoke shots or again source some stock photography. So if this is the case a good graphic designer needs to be proficient in all trades and specialities. But would you be spreading yourself too thin? Is it starting to look like a graphic designer is a jack of all trades and a master of none?
Every graphic designer has their strengths and weaknesses which can clearly be seen by their portfolio. Illustration, photography, typography, magazine layout, web design are all areas that graphic designers need to cover. Therefore, it might be a case of choosing the right designer for your project. I am always wary of freelance graphic designers who are not only all of the above they are also advertise themselves as copywriters, search engine optimisation specialists, marketing planners, programmers.... the list is endless. When it comes to sourcing a graphic designer for your project whether it be designing a website, brochure or logo, you need to check out their portfolio. Do you like what they've previously done? Have they completed anything similar to your project? If you're not sure, talk it over with them on the phone or over a coffee.
So to sum up - what exactly does a graphic designer do... Which hat should they wear? To be honest, I really don't know. However I do believe that a graphic designer can wear any hat they want to wear, as long as they wear it well, it does it's purpose and looks absolutely amazing.
What do you think the definition of a Graphic Designer is?
Tee Tips!
April 20th, 2008
Every graphic designer thinks that t-shirt design is easy money - create a website, create your own t-shirt designs and before you know it the whole world and their dog will be wearing your designs on their chest. Unfortunately as most designers eventually realise this isn't often the case. Graphic design can be a very personal thing and just because you would be proud to wear your designs doesn't mean that others will.
If you are hell bent on going into t-shirt design here are a few very simple rules to keep you on track:
Theme Your Shirt
Having a theme to your t-shirt design is a good idea. However usually one theme is enough, you don't want people staring at your t-shirt like a magic eye painting trying to figure out what it is. Keep it simple!
Copyright Rules!
If you are running out of ideas to complete your collection do not be tempted to use stock designs or photography that breeches the copyright - you cannot use other peoples designs on your product and sell them - you are selling something that is not yours.
Not a Novel
Nice bold text can look great on a t-shirt, however do not be tempted to write a novel. People will not be able to read all the text and the most popular t-shirt design tends to be clear and simple.
B**?!! Naughty Words
You may think that writing a blue joke or scribbling a naughty picture on a t-shirt constitutes a great design, and a small proportion of your market may agree with you. However there is a time and a place for those types of things, and many people can be very offended by your design.
Grainy Pictures
There is no problem with putting pictures on a t-shirt (unless they fall in line with the category above!), but always ensure that they are good enough quality, no one wants to wear a t-shirt with a pixilated, blurry image on.
KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid!
As I've mentioned earlier don't go OTT - especially when it comes to special prints. Raised print, applique, metallic ink, flocking... (the list is endless) are all excellent applications and can make your designs stand out, but make sure you use them in moderation otherwise you'll be left with a frankenstein design with a mixture of themes and textures confusing the eye.
Yoke, Back and Sleeves
Don't forget that designs don't have to be limited to just the chest, work other areas of the t-shirt to create more of unique feel, this also gives the impression of added value to your piece.
Swing Tickets and Labels
Have you thought about how you are going to display key information that your t-shirt has to include ie sizes, washing instructions, bar codes etc? If you leave these till last they will look like an after thought and not part of the t-shirt. A simple t-shirt can be given a new lease of life with a funky well thought out side patch and inside label.
Creating successful t-shirt designs and seeing other people wearing your garments can feel amazing, knowing that they like your designs so much that they want to wear them is a huge compliment. However trying to sell 10,000 florecent orange t-shirts with a pornographic image on at a boot sale is not an amazing feeling. Tread carefully and follow the tips above and you should be on your way to creating a fantastic range of t-shirts!
How to write a graphic design brief
March 28th, 2008
When you are starting a new project which requires help from a graphic designer it's important that the client supplies a full and healthy brief. This brief shouldn't merely be a shopping list of requirements:
1 x logo
1 x A4 brochure
1 x business card
The brief should inform the designer about the company and its values as well as the objectives of the project. Amends to artwork take up valuable time and can incur extra costs. To ensure that projects are delivered on time and on budget check out the following tips:
Company Profile
Don't assume that the designer knows all about your business, a brief history along with company values is key to a good brief.
Competitors
A list of competitors and the company's relationship with them allows the designer to understand your spot in the market place.
Objectives
What is the aim of the project, what do you hope to achieve?
Target Market
Have you made it clear who your target markets are and what messages you want them to receive from your company?
Timescales
What are the timescales for the project. There is no point moaning that the project has over run when you haven't briefed the designer about the timeline.
Style
Everyone has varying tastes and ideas about what good design is, for this reason it's always beneficial to provide a few examples of some designs that you like ie websites, brochures, logo's.
Basically everything that you can think of should be included in the brief, hand over any current literature and scribble over it - explain what works and what doesn't. If you have a vision in your head of how you think the project should look and work you need to convey this vision as clearly as possible to the designer. This should then ensure the project runs smoothly, sticking to timescales and budgets.
What does your website say about you?
March 13th, 2008
It's no secret that the online community is growing. Searching for suppliers and services through Google is becoming a common occurrence, the days of picking up the nearest 4 inch thick directory are nearly to an end.
We are now reaching the point where companies not only require online presence, everyone needs to ensure that their website is a true representation of their business (or at least how you would like your business to be seen).
The first hurdle is getting your site viewed in the first place. This can be tricky and it often seem like getting your number picked out of a giant tombola would be easier than your site out of Google. However the rewards can certainly be great if you conquer this particularly difficult obstacle.
If you have gone to the trouble to boost your search engine rankings and are generating a great deal of traffic to your site you need to ensure that users aren't disappointed by what they find.
A good exercise is deciding upon three keywords you would use to describe your homepage (ie professional, friendly, etc) then log onto your homepage and see if these keywords actually represent what's on screen? If they are then great, if not, why not? More importantly what impression is your website giving off? It is no good saying to potential clients "check out my portfolio, but ignore the rest of my site" that simply doesn't fly anymore. If your site isn't up to scratch then it is up to you to find someone who can sort it out for you, and when writing your brief for the new website ensure that those three key words that you noted earlier are in their as that is how you want people to view your site and therefore your business.