Juggling man design blog

Saul Bass on designing for money

2010-08-18T14:00:00.001-04:00

This made me think hard about design.

Another dose of awesome

2010-01-06T14:17:00.002-04:00

Artist JenStark works with paper to create awesome artwork.

Click to view Jen Stark's art.

What else is awesome?

2010-01-01T16:26:00.002-04:00

So now that you've taken a look at the Sun's activity take a look at the entire known universe!

Epic!

What's awesome?

2009-12-31T14:08:00.006-04:00

The sun is awesome! Below you can view video of raw footage of the activty on the sun's surface.

Watch the video, realize how small we are and how strange the universe is, enjoy your day!

Brilliant Noise from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

source

What's awesome?

2009-12-09T12:02:00.007-04:00

Having so little time for this blog makes me a little sad. Henceforth I will sporadically post quick entries under a new tag: "What's awesome?". Whenever I come across awesome things that I deem awesome*, I will share the awesomeness with you!

So, What's awesome? Ferrofluids are!

From wikipedia:
A ferrofluid, (portmanteau of the Latin word ferrum, meaning iron, and the word fluid) is a liquid which becomes strongly polarised in the presence of a magnetic field.

Ferrofluids are colloidal mixtures composed of nanoscale ferromagnetic, or ferrimagnetic, particles suspended in a carrier fluid, usually an organic solvent or water. The ferromagnetic nano-particles are coated with a surfactant to prevent their agglomeration (due to van der Waals forces and magnetic forces). Although the name may suggest otherwise, ferrofluids do not display ferromagnetism, since they do not retain magnetization in the absence of an externally applied field. In fact, ferrofluids display (bulk-scale) paramagnetism, and are often described as "superparamagnetic" due to their large magnetic susceptibility. Permanently magnetized fluids are difficult to create at present.

Translation, metallic particles in oil that when exposed to magnetism become awesome! Here are a few videos!

Ferrofluid from Shawn Knol on Vimeo.

ARS Electronica , LINZ, ferrofluid from Jason JAy on Vimeo.

Now if that didn't tickle your awesome bone, check out Sachiko Kodama who works with ferrofluid as an art medium! Sculptures that appear to breath and live is the result.

*awesome will be defined by my own set of unwritten, flexible and odd rules.

Client feedback

2009-12-07T14:28:00.001-04:00

View 10 famous works of art, with client feedback. Linky!

Top speed!

2009-10-01T09:57:00.018-04:00

Being employed by a local paper, I've come across some interesting challenges. First, speed is a priority. Deadlines are tight and the workload is huge. How can one increase speed while designing? Here are some Basics.

Styles: This applies mostly to layout design when working with text in tandem with images and graphical elements. Neswpapers, magazines, annual reports. You can use styles to format text and graphics. Instead of choosing fonts font parameters, formatting paragraphs and colors use styles to reduce your clicking time. Click here for a crash course in using indesign styles.

Actions: You can program your Adobe software to do a series of operations automatically. Say you have to apply the same level change, unsharp mask and a crop to 8 images. Instead of going through those three steps 8 times do it once and record it. Then playback the action for each image. Very cool!Click here for an in-depth look at actions.

Droplets: These are an extension of actions but even more powerful! They are great for handling large amounts of files and folders. Click here for a droplet tutorial.

Keyboard shortcuts: This is an underused way of saving time. If you spend time memorizing keyboard shortcuts you will gain a lot of speed! A quick search in google for shortcuts for the software you use will yield printable files. I keep sheets of keyboard shortcuts near my computer for quick reference. But I've come to know them by heart so that now it's second nature. I've saved many minutes this way!

Study: Whenever you do have downtime, google tutorials, crack open a book about the software you use, tweak your styles, take a few minutes to learn an extra thing. Knowledge turns into speed down the road.

Be creative in your slow times: If you finally get a breather, look over your designs and analyze ways to improve them. Study how others are practicing their craft for inspiration. Jot down a few ideas you'd like to try. Got a cool layout in mind? Sketch it quickly and post it on the edge of your screen. When it's hammer time a quick look at your notes will jog your memory and save you a minute or two.

Patience: You can only do one thing at a time. If you try to rush it too much you'll make mistakes that will cost you valuable minutes. If you have a snag in your software, don't ignore it. Do your best to make the time to resolve hardware and software issues. When left aside, these issues come back to haunt you and punish you.

Take a break: It may be counter intuitive to stop working when a deadline is hanging like Damocles' sword but in my opinion refreshing your mind and your body for a few minutes encourages productivity. Get some air, stretch your muscles, have a laugh!

I hope these tips help! Did you find ways of increasing your speed? Share them if you like in the comments below!

image: Francis Manapul via DC blog

Assembling a Paper Cube

2009-06-11T12:50:00.004-04:00

Origami Cube -

Hard Wired for Creativity

2009-06-08T09:29:00.006-04:00

Some visuals I've been working on.

click for larger image

It's OK to say no sometimes.

2009-05-29T06:40:00.000-04:00

Great post on Airey's blog!

Are you a font geek?

2009-03-13T01:22:00.003-04:00

Me too! Let's be friends! Check out the periodical table of font-ements. Helvetica trumps all! But I'm disappointed in Rockwell placing 43rd. I have a soft spot for that face.

Click for larger view

Source: DownloadSquad via HOWie JRD.

HOW CAN YOU DO THIS EVERY DAY, FOR 20 YEARS?

2009-02-20T06:47:00.008-04:00

"HOW CAN YOU DO THIS EVERY DAY, FOR 20 YEARS?"(by guest writer Amberlyth)

That was a question from my teenager who had yet to learn what would truly give her joy in the workplace. After all, we have to work everyday to earn a living. That's a lot to swallow for an 18yr old, then to figure out what vocation they will be working in everyday for the next 30 years, at least. So I started paying attention to her strengths in 5th grade and steered her in the right direction; she's now a junior in a BA program for International Studies and a very talented writer, now in another language: Japanese. I will put my 6th grader on the same road to joy.

As for me, my path of joy started when I was 4 and knew that being an artist was where it's at. Just loved to draw and did so all of my life. Through the last 20 years all kinds of curves were thrown my way, but regardless of the many hurdles, side tracks, and adversity you may be presented with during your vocational pursuit, concrete drive and passion will always give you joy at the end of the day - every day.

How did I know what made me happy? After embarking on a Production-Illustration degree, it took a few months of analyzing my class assignments and projects, the level of joy, frustrations or talent discovered after finishing those projects to the best of my ability, then putting them in a chart with my goals (short, long, future) up against my financial needs. Plus the reality (in 1990) of a very unrefined job market for "artists".

Along with freehand drawing and sketching, found out that I love to watercolor, but didn't have the patience of a fine artist - knew it would be tough to break in right away and make money if I couldn't stay focussed. Took some photos and thoroughly enjoyed arranging them for presentation: a designer was born. Really got into pencil and marker renderings but was graded down - but not for shoddy work, that was top notch - it was for skipping steps. Since my speed was developing, I would always jump from thumbs to final art. Had a real knack for anything computerized and gained a rep right away for being able to solve software, hardware, communication, network - and eventually, project execution problems when taking any data or desktop publishing class (back then they didn't offer specific application/software classes other than Pagemaker). Problem with that was I do not think in code like some programmers I know: so getting a job in computer science would be difficult while at the same time, canceling out the fun I had designing. Little did I know that code can be beautiful; didn't find that out for another 10 years after pursuing a tech degree ;-) When I finally got my hands on an exacto knife and some amberlyth, my natural talent for color cutting and production work was clear - and those jobs were abundant at the time. Using traditional methods, PMT/STAT cameras, chemical development, clay-coated paste-up boards, galley sheets of text spit out by typesetting equipment so large, it took up a whole room; amberlyth overlays registered by hand with registration mark tape. That's traditional graphic production without computers. Knew that I was on to something when I hung up mechanicals at our annual portfolio show.

My classmates were all jealous because I was the first one to get a job in the field within my first quarter in the program: at a direct mail firm. You know those missing children cards you get in the mail? I used to make those, and the ads that came along with it (marriage mail). It seems like a lifetime ago working part-time at $6.50 an hour. But there was insurance and 401k benefits for me and my children, so staying in-house seemed to be the righ track until my kids are grown. Since then I've read countless books, honed new skills as a volunteer in my community, attended weekend workshops, and signed up for certificate classes to build on my education, perfect my craft and stay current with trends and latest technologies. I went from drawing and painting, to traditional paste-up and pre-digital print production methods, to web programming, SEO for marketing and UI design - while being a master at anything printed; all the way back to discovering fun new mediums for hand-painted artwork and digital collage work. There is no part of the advertising and marketing industry that I haven't explored, including the management side. Thought I would like that, but it's no fun and all numbers - I missed being in the trenches creating the work and didn't mind being behind the scenes. As long as my boss liked it and my paycheck reflects that - I'm good.

Now that college is in sight for my youngest, I will become a solopreneur soon enough, with a business and patent pending that should sustain me for another 20 years or more. But while achieving later solo success remains to be proven, I can share with you what has propelled me to a dream position(and pay grade) I hope to keep until that new journey begins:

do what gives you joy
- day after day, year after year, you'll rely on that joy when the honeymoon is over
- employers change, mergers happen, and budgets shrink - but if you like what you do, it all works out

practice your passion
- with so many sectors in the industry, find a specialty and immerse yourself
- branch out only after you gain confidence in one area and your skills solid

breaking into the biz
- get to know fellow designers through networking, you never know what can come your way
- it helps to be involved with your community and get to know your neighbors

accept "nature of the beast" in this industry
- deadline pressure, heavy workloads, errors, late hours, technical issues, print problems, team woes, time-clocks
- do your best every time and if there is a mistake, make sure to own up to it right away

be who you are, not what you do
- make a decision early on what you are willing to work on as an artist, making sure that certain industries and projects will not put you in a position of conflict so you can make the decision to never work in those industries
- It is totally possible to attain fulfilling employment without compromising your beliefs or expecting an employer to bow to them.
- do not limit yourself by your trade, nurture entrepreneurial aspirations outside of your vocation, while using your skills to keep it in motion

respect your position and those who support you
- always remember that your position exists to make your boss - and the company - look good
- it is ok to help others by sharing tricks of the trade
- frequent communication between you, your co-workers, and your boss will build trust

take the hardest projects
- do not ever get comfortable in your job
- always challenge yourself and become known as the one who will take on the hardest projects; this you cannot learn in school, but can take that knowledge wherever you go

perpetual learning, stay current but remember your roots
- books, classes, seminars, workshops, credit courses, continuing education, video lessons, tutorials, trends, tactile experimentation, forums, clubs, volunteer work
- that degree 5 years ago is already outdated yes, but stay grounded with traditional trade standards and roots, no matter your profession
- I have long believed that it is up to us as designers to be aware of how our products (designs, artwork, prose, images, websites, games, movies, commercials, etc., etc.) can and will be distributed from the inside out.

ignore titles
- pay attention only to your job requirements, compensation and job duties. Do not EVER let it take the focus off your job responsibilities.
- If you agree to the terms of a prospective job without doing your share of interviewing in the process, you may end up miserable and be tempted to complain DON'T DO IT. Bide your time, do your work, and get another job.

know when to jump
- when you do look for another job, make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. Being able to forecast layoffs, bad mergers, poor management, or lack of growth opportunities will mitigate decisions based on pay, benefits, commute, and overall job satisfaction.

Most everything listed is related to action, but don't underestimate the importance of planning and thinking. Those undervalued actions dictate project success and your career success - always build it into your time.

Amberlyth is a veteran graphic designer who is still taking names. She's also a fellow HOWie. Check out her wonderful blog here -> Howie Haven

Real Life Photoshop

2008-11-07T19:36:00.008-04:00

Busy busy busy! But I've got a minute for this!

Thanks to fellow Howie Wendy Oldfield of Vekay fame for this find.

Moncton Street Signs Improved

2008-10-05T16:31:00.026-04:00

This news comes a tad late. As you can see in the image, the newer version of the sign (top) is wider and has dropped the bilingual St./Rue that are still on either side of the older versions. This allows for wider tracking*. Even for longer street names like Vaughan Harvey. It's a great improvement in my opinion as the signs appear much easier to read at all distances and at significant speeds (don't ask how I tested that). Also, the font itself -which looks a lot like ClearviewHwy and likely is Clearview- is a bit lighter and has less exaggerated thick/thin transitions creating a better balance between positive and negative space. The street names are set in title case. It is common knowledge that title, sentence and lower case text reads better due to word-shape recognition non-existent in upper case text. See below image.

The higher placement of the new signs makes it easier to view them over traffic and positions them nearer to street lamps for better visibility at night. There are a few other features like a white outline and rounded edges to the sign. As far as I can tell most of the major intersections where street lights with dual braces are present sport the improved signs. It makes sense. A single brace would make it difficult to attach a sign.

My favorite feature of the new font is it's night legibility when refracting light. This is where the design really "shines".

The change is not complete however. Currently, if you drive from northwest Mountain rd. all the way to the downtown end you will see at least 4 different typefaces on street signs set in both upper and title case. I'm guessing that the job is still under way or that the project so far applies only to major streets where driving speeds are significant and legibility is a higher priority. Hence the reason for adopting the Hwy version of the font.

I'd love to see all of Moncton's street signs undergo a typographical makeover. It would go a long way to spruce up the look of the city. Not that I'm complaining about the new signs. Easier to read signs will allow tourists more time decide wether they want to change lanes to turn on Killam or stay in the same lane. Plus it's nice to look at good typography while waiting for the green.

If you'd like to read more about what goes into a project like this, follow this link for an in-depth article**.

*Tracking is the consistent spacing between the letters of a block of text.
**Thanks to my fellow Howies for the help finding the articles.

Cheap Logos On-Line! Get Them Fast!

2008-08-08T04:34:00.004-04:00

Ever wonder if those low-priced on-line logo design services are worth it? So did Doug Bartow of id29. Read his consumer report on four of these on-line design firms. The results are enlightening! Click here to read the full article.

Top 3 Overused, Misused and Abused Software Effects

2008-06-27T01:18:00.014-04:00

Wowzas! Time flies when you're working like a maniac! Oh well, if you're reading this thanks for being a steadfast Juggling Man blog reader! On to the article!

Before I get started I'd like to point out that though this article's purpose is to point out certain design faux pas that seem common, it certainly doesn't mean that one should quickly discount an effect as being tacky right. All of the below effects have been used very effectively by skilled designers. However, wether it be because of their commonality or for some other reason, the effects listed below tend to come off as well, tacky.

#3 on the most overused software effects list: The Drop Shadow!

Let's get this out of the way. Adding a drop shadow to images of your product will not make potential customers flock to your product thinking that your loaf of bread or whatever is magic because it can levitate. Also, drop shadows generally don't belong in logos!

Drop shadows tend to work better on screen. Why? Though print technology has come a long way, there are still many circumstances where a drop shadow will not reproduce well. If the stock is of inferior quality for instance. In which case it will just look like blob of ink. When do drop shadows come in handy? Well, when the design piece calls for a real shadow. Say you cut out a photo of a person to use in a layout for an ad. Good use of a drop shadow might make the image appear more natural if a shadow is cast behind the person.

Use drop shadows sparingly and with common sense.

#2 on the list: Lens flare!

I remember the first time I used Adobe Illustrator and found the lens flare tool. I played with it for about 15 minutes! Woo! Lens flare!

That got boring quickly. But apparently many have a much wider attention span than I do because I see lens flares all over the place. What's a lens flare? It is light refracted through a lens that creates an effect that looks something like this:

It's actually a photographic error but sometimes, when the light is at just the right angle and the aperture setting is just right, you can get a very dramatic and gorgeous lens flare effect. But those are rather rare and generally a lens flare is undesirable. Software can reproduce this effect (sort of) so that you can apply lens flare to anything! Even your cat!

Lens flare has been used successfully in some good designs but more often than not the effect just looks cheap.

Flare at your own risk.

#1 Most Overused, Misused and Abused Software Effect:

Drum Roll please ...

Bevels!

My goodness! Some people love their bevels don't they? A false assumption, similar to the one associated with drop shadows is that bevels will make things "pop". The truth is a bevel will likely just look like a cheap effect. Beveling has been put to good use in combination with subtle gradients to create some truly lovely logos. But more often than not bevels are applied as an after thought to text or images and end up making things a mess. See example below *shudder*.

If you're like me and are often tempted to just use effects simply for their novelty appeal; remember, nothing beats good ol' fashioned application of design principles. Not even a bevel.

What other effects have you noticed are overused, misused and abused?

What's In A Name?

2008-05-13T12:56:00.004-04:00

Do you doubt that a logo can evoke strong feelings in others? If you do check out this site. It is an experiment in brand perception. Several different brands are listed and put up for tagging. When you tag the brand it puts your tag in a list with everyone else's tag. The more often a tag is repeated, the larger it appears in the list. Check it out! -> brandtags.net

also available: celebrity tags

Dove Denies Retouching

2008-05-09T18:20:00.001-04:00

Dove has released an official statement regarding the "real beauty" kafuffle mentioned in the previous article. Stay abreast of this story's development here.

The Real Truth About "Real Beauty"

2008-05-08T07:01:00.000-04:00

It would seem that the images Dove uses in it's "Real Beauty" campaign go through as much re-touching as a Cosmo cover. Ironic much?

Coverage here.

Six Visionary Rules of Design

2008-05-05T07:03:00.020-04:00

Well, they're not visionary, just basic common sense really. And they're not really rules more like good reminders. But I wasn't in the mood to make the title of this article "six basic common sense good reminders of design". What I did do though is translate each "rule" into latin so that they sound visionary and authoritative.

#1: Levo. Sursum. Penicullus
Pick. Up. A. Pencil

I've already elaborated on this so I'll spare you.

#2: Teneo vestri thema
Know your subject

Other wise known as research. Before even picking up your pencil it's important to know your subject. If you are designing for a restaurant, what food do they serve? What does it taste like? What sort of clientèle do they have? What is the main competitor? What are the exact coordinates? Of course, the amount of research you do will vary from project to project but there is always time to squeeze in research.

#3: Nixor intellego calx
Strive to understand the objective

Knowing the subject, what is the objective of the design? Ease of use? Promotion? Attract new clientele? Keep existing customers? Knowing the objective will help you stay on track.

#4: Vindico est melior quam "frigus"
Appropriate is better than "cool"

What message can you deliver through the design that will make the design reach it's objective? If you are designing a package for a cellular phone, you will surely not approach it the same way you would a package for a soy milk product. A design doesn't have to look cool, it has to be appropriate.

#5: Vestri intentio non super utor vel nocens utor presencia
Your design must not overuse or misuse software effects

It's so easy to fall in a rut of using drop shadows, gradients and other neat effects. They are quick, easy and fun. BUT, it's important to not use these effects as a crutch. There is no substitute for rigorous application of solid design principles.

#6: Clementia in otium strenuus
You must take a break

My favorite one! Deadlines, nervous clients, "enthusiastic" art directors, they can be great motivators. However, nothing beats a little downtime to refresh your creative batteries!

Next article will go into more detail about those software effects that are so often abused. Until then, vis exsisto vobis!*

*may the force be with you

image: public domain

Logo Smackdown!

2008-05-01T09:10:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a good ol' fashioned logo fight to determine what is the best logo ever! Check it out here.

image: marvel entertainment

It's World Graphic Design Day!

2008-04-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

Actually it was yesterday. Didn't even know there was such a thing. Read about it here.

Dali Goes Disney

2008-04-21T09:39:00.004-04:00

Did you know Dali sought out a collaboration with Disney in 1946? They did some sketches and a little animation but the project was turfed. It was released as "Destino" in 2003.

Check out a scene from the 6 minute film.

It's the NBC Disco Logo Compilation!

2008-04-16T18:53:00.002-04:00

Get up and dance!

Presenting A Logo

2008-04-14T14:48:00.002-04:00

Watch this video of the new soccer team "Seattle Sounders" introduction and crest unveiling. During the last minute the logo appears and it is a riveting presentation!

Songs From A Hat

2008-04-14T05:26:00.000-04:00

Though the subject of this post isn't about design per say, it is a great example of how the internet can be used as a powerful marketing tool.

The charismatic comedian and Musican Abby Simmons has been dedicated to a very appealing YouTube project for several months now. Each sunday she posts a video of a song she has written during the week. The catch is that YouTube viewers choose the titles of the songs prior to it being written. She now has over 4000 subscribers and averages as many comments for each video she posts. The songs range from zany absurdities to tender, endearing numbers.

If you haven't yet listened to Songs From A Hat do so right away by clicking here. I guarantee you will be entertained.

Adidas Owns Stripes

2008-04-11T07:31:00.003-04:00

This zebra might have to pay royalties to Adidas.

"Adidas could now prevent companies from using as few as two stripes on products, because consumers associate stripes with the Adidas brand." Read about it here >>>

Seoul Animation Festival

2008-04-11T06:10:00.004-04:00

Bringing together fans of animation films and an exhibition of cartoon work, the festival, which is to be held from May 21 to 25, will feature 137 animations from 30 countries, the most in the history of the annual event. Read full article >>>

Particularly of note is Studio Baestarts who have won judges over with their simple, witty animations. Check them out!

image: studio baestarts

Attracting New Talent

2008-04-10T08:13:00.006-04:00

Guest writer Shayla Perreault Newcomb: A letter to the editor, published in the April '08 of Progress magazine. While the focus is on Atlantic Canada, the issue is of an international nature.

I found your article "Here to Stay" in the December/January issue very relevant. It's encouraging to see that the Halifax group Fusion not only aims to address issues of city planning but also recognizes the sometimes forgotten role that arts and culture play in attracting new talent to the Atlantic region.

I've met many business people who are skeptical. Are the arts truly important in attracting bright minds to work in our cities? The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has stated: "Quality-of-life issues are enormously important to business throughout the provinces in order to attract and retain employees and their families to live and work in our communities. This factor is just as critical for a small mill town as it is for a big city competing for major head office reallocations. Families want to stay in communities that are rich and diverse with significant opportunities for personal development, including music, dance, drama, and visual arts."

Perhaps the arts are still seen as solely a "social responsibility." This is a mistake. As your article points out, attracting new talent "has moved beyond being simply the right thing to do." Economist Richard Florida said in his book The Rise of the Creative Class that paying attention to "quality of place" is not a form of charity. Businesses, corporations, suburbs, and cities "are doing so for hard-nosed economic reasons- to attract the talented people and thus the companies that power growth in today's economy."

Does this apply to the micro view of a business owner? Design has been shown to have a powerful impact on how employees view their company and what values they believe it stands for. Architecture, environment, original artwork, and excellent lighting help reduce the number of sick-leave days taken, increase efficiency, and sharpen problem-solving skills.

Scientist Dr. Arthur Carty, the president of the National Research Council of Canada, once said this: "The arts have a way of opening the mind. The stimulate the synapses and make one more receptive to creativity. As a scientist, I want my imagination rekindled. I want to be shown how to look at things in new ways. And I believe my capacity for innovation and creativity in my own discipline will grow as a result. At a time when Canada is racing to keep at the forefront of knowledge and innovation, I would say that this reason alone should make every policy-maker a champion of the arts." This shows that not only is the employee satisfied but the business owner is also amply rewarded.

Starbucks "Logo Mock"

2008-04-10T06:00:00.002-04:00

Check out what the ever hilarious and seriously talented Von Glitschka thinks of the new/old Starbucks logo.

While you're chuckling go check out Von's blog. He has plenty more of these "logo mocks", archived for your viewing pleasure!

Dark Roast Logo: Starbucks Redesign

2008-04-09T00:00:00.013-04:00

Starbucks is moving forward by looking back it seems. Check out the redesign of the brand giant and the motivations behind it.

I should point out that the "new" logo is actually the original one, re-visited. (see "evolution" link below)

Wall Street Journal: "Grande Logo Switch"

Associated Press: "Thousands of Posts Flood Starbucks Site"

Time: "Starbucks Looks for a Fresh Jolt"

Brand New: Starbucks, Back to the Future

Brand Autopsy: "Evolution of the Starbucks Logo"

Brand New Day: Starbucks "Everyday": Can We Afford That?

I will post updates on this story as it develops. Feel free to share your own links on this subject or voice your opinion on the new look. Also, please take a second to vote in the poll at the top left of the screen.

Visuals aid

2008-04-08T06:00:00.003-04:00

Here is an excellent example of how visual communication works great in tandem with other things. Watch as comedian Demetri Martin performs a great set using hand-drawn info-graphics and illustrations as joke enhancers. Enjoy!

And here is another famous example.

new blog feature!

2008-03-30T08:07:00.007-04:00

You can now contact me via email by filling out a simple contact form on this blog! Feel free to drop me a line!

Pick. Up. A. Pencil.

2008-03-17T12:40:00.013-04:00

The title of this article is one of my personal rules of design. It is also the modus operandi of many other designers. Lets discuss a few reasons why sketching is an important aspect of design.

First, sketching is an excellent way to visually brainstorm. It is useful to quickly jot down the ideas that go through your mind for future reference. If you rely on memory you will lose many ideas that may come in handy further into the project. Also, once you jot down an idea, the visual tends to spark many other ideas that you would not have thought had you not quickly scribbled it down. Pick. Up. A. Pencil.

Another good reason for sketching as opposed to making a bee line for your computer is that it's faster to scribble on a sketch pad than on a computer. Drawing software is great for tweaking and twooking because of the high level of precision that can be achieved but unless you are using some sort of graphics tablet nothing beats a pencil for doing chicken scratch. Sketching is practically immediate. You meet with a client, go to your car and scribble a few things on an old napkin or a pocket notebook, voila! If you wait until you get to your computer, load up the software, create a file etc. the ideas will elude you or at best will not stay fresh. Pick. Up. A. Pencil.

Sketches are not only a good tool at the beginning stages of a project but also in the late ones. Once an idea is being developed digitally the initial sketches will help you stay on track and avoid un-necessary deviations or tangents. Pick. Up. A. Pencil.

For students, getting accustomed to sketching a lot will be good preparation for the professional world of design. The image below is of a Sockeye Creative intern standing next to the bulk of the sketches done for Portland State University.

As you can see, no holds are barred when it comes to sketching!

All of the examples I'm showing in this article are of logos. However, sketching is not just for logo projects. Book covers, package design, magazine ads and all other projects benefit from the designer stepping away from his computer and using other means of ideation.

One need not be a Da Vinci to use a sketch process. The goal of sketching is not to produce clean and polished drawings but simply to scribble rough approximations of what your mind's eye sees. Of course, you can take it further and do refined pencil sketches and that's great also!

So get to it! Chicken scratch, scribble, doodle and sketch. It's fun!

P.S: Pick. Up. A. Pen, marker, crayon are also good mottos. ;)

*no macs allowed illustration by juggling man

More on the importance of the sketch process

2008-03-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

When I tell people I'm a graphic designer, by far the most common comment is "oh, you work with computers."

The truth is, yes designers work with computers. However a much more important tool that a designer uses frequently is a pencil.

Here is a great article expounding on the subject.

5 dirt cheap things you can do to jolt your creativity

2008-02-29T09:49:00.005-04:00

#1: Go for a walk with your camera and sketch pad. Sketching and taking pictures has a tendency to make you look at things from several angles. Plus it's relaxing. Go on! It'll only take a few minutes!

#2: Take a break. Even if you have a tight deadline. Nothing like turning off your computer, cellphone, blackberry for a while and just resting.

#3: Go to an art exhibit. No matter which artist, just go! Take your time and soak in the work. You'll come out of there stimulated and better able to attack your projects.

#4: Engage in an activity that you assume you would not enjoy. Think you would hate ballet? Then go to the ballet! Think scrabble is boring? Round up your scrabble freak friends and get them to teach you scrabble. You may not learn to like to like it but at least you'll have pried open your mind a little!

#5: Turn your TV off for a week. Don't think your up to the challenge? Do it with friends and make it an event! Plan substitute activities like cooking, hiking, playing cards and whatever else comes to mind. The change in routine will have a refreshing effect on the right side of your brain.

Notice that all of these suggestions involve things that take you away from the computer. Nothing is worse for your creativity than long hours in front of a screen.

These are only a few ideas and I'm sure you have plenty more. What things do you do to keep your creative amperage up?

Have your cake and create it too: A macroscopic look at the creative process

2008-02-14T13:53:00.004-04:00

In the following article we will discuss the journey through the creative process* on a macroscopic level - over the course of a lifetime as opposed to over the course of a day or a given creative project. Looking at the issue of creativity from this angle will reveal some of the inner workings of the creative process and help you determine what steps you might want to take next.

OBSERVATION AND EXPERIENCE
The creative process always starts with a piece of cake. A cheesecake in fact! Do you remember the first time you saw a cheesecake? Were you not drawn to it's alluring presentation? The velvety brown texture of the crust. The smooth as silk cream filling. The candy red cherries. Upon seeing this veritable ocular feast what was your initial reaction? Perhaps you salivated, your eyes grew bigger and your stomach rumbled. The only thing you could think to do was cut yourself a piece and eat it. Oh wow! What an experience!

And so we learn the first step of the creative process, observation and experience. As a young person perhaps you dreamed of becoming a rock guitar super-star. Why? Because you observed some musicians' performances and were attracted to the result of their creativity. Very much in the same way you are attracted to a cheesecake. Observing and experiencing the result of the baker's work is a stimulating experience. The point to note here is that observing and experiencing the product of other artists' creativity stimulates one's own creative process. This is by far the most common experience people have with creativity. But many take the next step in the process.

CURIOSITY, INITIATIVE AND IMITATION
Let's say now that after eating the cheesecake and gaining a good three extra pounds for it, you decide that eating cake isn't enough. You wonder, "how can a cake be so good?" "What ingredients make up this delectable food?" You simply must have the recipe! And not only must you have the recipe but you must learn to bake this very same cake yourself. That way you will be able make as much as you want. This is akin to another key step of the creative process. Curiosity, initiative and imitation, and in keeping with our rock guitar super-star parallel, the scenario would go something like this: You inquire, "how can they play so well?" "I have to learn to play like that!" And so you take lessons and apply yourself to learning every song just like your favorite artists play them. Your curiosity coupled with initiative leads to imitation.

TECHNICAL SKILLS AND CRAFT
Many people will stop at this step, content with peacefully wading in the safe end of the creative pool. But perhaps you will not be satisfied with this. Knowing how to bake cakes will not suffice. You will insistently plod deeper into the craft of baking and enroll in a culinary academy to learn the skills required to bake, not only cakes, but cookies and cupcakes and all manner of pastries. You will journey even further and expand your knowledge of cooking savory main courses and familiarize yourself with fine herbs and wine until you feel confident of having a solid foundation in gastronomic creation, because your goal is to earn a living by cooking.

You will go through a similar process as an aspiring rock-guitar superstar and learn many things about music itself until you have the technical skills necessary to become a session musician. This is the third step of the creative process. A difficult hurdle that sifts the truly dedicated from the meddlers since it requires concentrated hard work and determination.

Is this the end of the creative road? The ultimate goal? To make a living from your craft?

THE BIG "WHY?"
Now that you have managed to become a chef. You are earning a living doing what you love yet for some reason you are tiring of preparing the same dishes day after day. This is beginning to weigh on you to the point where you begin to question the reasons why you are doing all of this? You are facing The Big "WHY?" There is a fork in the road and you can choose to stay there, at the fork, or choose a direction. What are the two alternatives? One, is that as a chef, you decide that what you want out of this is to deliver a specific and genuine experience to your restaurant's patrons. Using your accumulated skill and knowledge you turn your craft into a personal self-expression because for you the answer to the The Big "WHY?" is: I have something to say.

The second alternative is that you may choose to create completely new dishes with ingredients that no one ever knew could be used. A brave and bold new statement about cooking and baking itself to defiantly demonstrate to the culinary world that we need not rest on our laurels but that a vast horizon of tastes exists, awaiting our discovery!

And so goes for your rock guitar super-star alter-ego where you may decide that you have learned what you need to say what you want to say. Through songs you proceed to communicate a personal message. Or, conversely, you may decide to turn the guitar world on its' ear and use the instrument in a way no one knew even impossible thus proving that all the possibilities have not been exhausted.

It is true that some manage to cater to both of these interests at the same time but those individuals are few and far between. Most tend to choose one path over the other or focus on one then the other.

A DELICIOUS CYCLE
And so because of observation and experience, which happens all the time, some become curious and take the initiative to imitate. Though many are content going this far and staying there some hardy souls take the courageous plunge to further the technical skills of their pursuit. If unsatisfied still, a select few will finally face The Big "WHY?" To which the answer might be "I have something personal to say" or "I want to illuminate the craft itself".

Contrary to the popular adage, you can have your cake and create it too.

*in the interest of brevity and efficiency I use the terms art, artist and creative loosely. I am aware of the prickly semantics involved when using those terms and hope to have the opportunity to delve into this matter at a later date.

photo: matchingfoodandwine.com

Design Principle: Closure

2008-02-06T12:33:00.001-04:00

What do you see here?

A triangle? Strange triangle if you ask me. It has no sides! This is not one shape, in fact it is three separate elements. So why do we almost instantly recognize this as a triangle? Because of CLOSURE. Closure can be defined as the tendency to perceive a set of individual elements as a single, recognizable pattern, rather than multiple, individual elements. When you look at the above image, that tendency is so strong that it is only with great effort that you can avoid seeing a triangle. The mind's tremendous power fills in the gaps, almost as if they weren't there. How does this apply to design? As an example, a logo that is composed of familiar shapes and elements can communicate an object or concept effectively and with very few lines. Take a look at this example. As you can see, with very few lines - only three - the designer effectively creates a visual pun by hinting at a familiar shape, the recycling symbol, and simultaneously, cans of paint. Very appropriate for a paint recycling company! Including closure in a design also involves the viewer to a greater degree.

Using closure helps reduce the complexity of a design and also adds interest to it. And it's just plain cool! Here are some more designs that make good use of closure.

Logomotives

Calexico Album Cover

Fedex "hidden arrow"

If you think of other examples please share them!

Who thinks up these things?!

2008-02-01T11:52:00.000-04:00

And the winner is!

2008-01-22T01:46:00.001-04:00

It's a tie!

Congratulations to Shayla Perreault Newcomb and Tanner Christensen! for winning the Juggling Man Comment Contest. They are the happy recipients of a whopping 10$ Tim Hortons gift certificate!

For those of you who know that Shayla is actually my wife, feel free to post your complaints about the contest being rigged right here on the blog ;)

A photo of Tanner and I proves rather difficult since he lives in Chicago. Next article The Fascinating Design Principle of Closure.

Casey At The Bat

2008-01-12T00:45:00.000-04:00

While perusing a used goods store I happened upon this book. I was intrigued and opened it to the first spread and quite simply was blown away! I was not sure why, other than the fact that it was gorgeous, there was something else. I had been noticing things like this in my research for my own personal re-branding of juggling man. I had found old circus and theater posters that were interesting to me. But before all of this - for the last few months - things like this would catch my eye. A vintage poster in a pub, a postcard in an antique shop, an old newspaper. I didn't know what it was about these things but it mesmerized me. How can these people break so many of what seem to me like "rules" of typography but somehow make it all work? How can they so blatantly plow over negative space (something I am fond of) yet still communicate effectively? There were so many things I could not wrap my mind around.

When I found the aforementioned Casey at the Bat wherein a modern artist uses the vernacular established over a century ago to such a stunning effect it ignited a spark into a raging fire. I began consciously and objectively analyzing what it is about this stuff that's so great. I will not go into detail on my conclusions, but suffice it to say that I can tell that this has changed the path of my creative journey a great deal. I suppose you could liken this to an epiphany of some sort. This one random occurrence - finding the book - began a chain reaction that thrust me into a level of graphic understanding I never expected to occur to me. I am seeing connections between things I could not have anticipated were there. Not to mention that I never thought typefaces could elicit such strong emotional churnings within me.

This has taught me a valuable lesson, keep your eyes open you never know what you might learn.

Have you ever experienced something like this? Tell us about it!

What is graphic design?

2008-01-10T03:57:00.000-04:00

It would seem that that there as many definitions as there are people. Watch this video and see what people are thinking.

So what does graphic design mean to you?

Can fine artists find inspiration in design?

2007-12-30T17:16:00.000-04:00

By guest writer Shayla Perreault Newcomb

In the past designers have found inspiration from fine arts. Can fine artists find inspiration in design?

Last winter I got the intense desire to collage squares of paper onto canvass. Squares, squares! There was no going around it. My work up until then had been curving lines, so perhaps I just wanted a change. I try not to argue with my sub-conscious. Perhaps if Jace hadn’t seen it, I never would have put together where the inspiration came from. By accident I realized I’d been using elements of a project he’d been working on advertising the Shediac Lobster Festival. It had the look of a yellow and white gingham tablecloth. Lots of squares of yellow and white with lettering all through it. For some reason I had to process it into my version.

My big secret is that for years I’ve intentionally used design for inspiration. Designer, Tricia Guild, has always worked with colors that “thrill me to the marrow.” They’re joyous, fearless and yet sophisticated. Tap into a talented designer’s color scheme and you have the pulse of that generation. The colors that speak to us most right now. Trends in color can be a fad, but often they reflect communal desires and needs. Of course, copying designers doesn’t work. Copying anyone doesn’t work. It only leads to frustration and constipated art work if not drawn from authentic inspiration.

Also what goes in, is what comes out. We have plenty of design magazines around the house, and I like to read them. They have a touch of edginess, they understand today’s people, and they’re outstanding in quality work. I still haven’t found a fine art magazine that I really like. Some are a touch too crafty with holiday themed collage projects, others I find depicting what I feel are cloyingly sweet and overdone subjects like realism kittens, and then you have the Canadian art selection. The landscapes from Quebec which I like, but don’t identify with. Not to mention that there seem to be plenty of people doing the same thing there. Or I could choose from putrid corpses, avant-garde (I suppose- in a way hasn’t it all been done?) images of alienation and hostility, or installment art. You can’t help but think when you see it and it feels good to think. Still, I’m sorry to say it, fellow artists, but I understand those who won’t buy it for their living room. I strongly believe there is a place for any of those kinds of art. It’s just not my path and so far the design magazines are the closest thing.

Whole movements in world art follow design principles, and make statements about design and advertising in our culture. Still, sometimes I think I see fine artists exhibiting an air of superiority towards designers. If that’s the case I have a theory to propose that some may find prickly. Could all modern fine artists be influenced by design?

More modern fine artists are influenced by design than would claim so since our society is born of it. I think we can agree that design is used in ads to sell more than products. It sells ideal values, goals, identity. Ads tell us who we should be. They shape our attitudes, which in turn affects our behavior. It can find a way into most statements whether conscious or unconscious, including the rebellion or rejection of it. An investigative journalist said that “The more we are bombarded by advertising the less we notice, and yet, almost certainly, the more we are affected.” He also reports that when people are asked how effective they feel advertising is, “most agree that it works, but not on them.” People tend to feel that everyone else is vulnerable, but they are not. “Alone, it seems, they are immune.”—The Want Makers

Given the powerful effect designers have on the art scene and society, I’d like to quote Bill Bernbach, one of Madison Avenue’s greatest innovators, “All of us who use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can elevate it.”

visit Shayla's blog by clicking here.

If you liked this article you can receive email updates of new articles by clicking here or by navigating to the subscribe form on the left hand side of this site. Your email address will remain confidential and you will receive no spam from this site. Plus if you subscribe you'll get a head start on the juggling man comment contest.

5 of the most inspirational and useful design links

2007-12-19T12:46:00.000-04:00

Here is a tiny compendium of some very inspirational, useful and mind-blowing design weblinks. No matter if you're a seasoned veteran of design or a casual observer who enjoys the occasional eye-candy this list will be enjoyable to you. So in no particular order...

#1: underconsideration.com Is a supremely interesting site! Not only are they responsible for brandnew.com who provide frequently updated critique, review and analysis of various re-designs (where readers can comment at will) they also provide us with very insightful and up to date articles about all things design and links to other incredibly useful stuff, most notably The Design Encyclopedia. Perhaps a little too specialized for the casual observer but worthy of note.

#2: If you just like to look at cool stuff, this next link is for you. The AIGA Design Archives is likely the most user-friendly source of inspiration and aesthetic enjoyment one can find on the internet. Of course AIGA itself is a giant resource providing all kinds of great materials, but I invariably find myself exploring the archives above anything else. This ever-changing panoply of concepts, ideas and creations is one of the most entertaining things one can find on the internet. You can customize your viewing experience by filtering out certain categories or browse in pre-organized collections. Make sure you have some time before you go explore this though. I guarantee, an hour is quickly eaten up in there!

#3 Von Glitschka A.K.A. Vonster is one of our generations top designers and not without reason. His sense of design is one of the most unique, matched only by his sense of humor and generosity. His website is chock full of free and fun stuff you can view and download. Podcasts, bizarre inventions and many other things make this site overwhelmingly fun. If it weren't so cliche I would say that Vonster.com* is a veritable cornucopia of awesomeness. Darn I said it didn't I?

*related to Vonster.com is illustrationclass.com which is also presented to us by Von Glitschka.

#4: Now I'm going to open a disclaimer here. I know that some of my designer friends will want to punch me in the ear for putting this next link on my list. But I'll just say that I have very good reasons for doing so and I will lay them out and please don't punch me, please! Dafont.com is an archive of free downloadable fonts. The reason many designers would gladly beat me with a stick for touting this site as inspirational is that so many of the fonts uploaded to the site are very bad! Nay horrible! So why espouse it's value? Well for one, it's free. Designers and non-designers alike can easily find crazy free fonts and just play with them! Though I much prefer the thoughtfully designed fonts one would find at a true blue type foundry such as P22 or fontshop the thing is that I am limited to viewing the typefaces. Those are more serious type resources that I would use on a professional level. But Dafont.com is more of a toy for messing around and playing with type and in my opinion this playing around is very healthy for the creative mind and thus I find it inspirational. So go ahead and play! But watch out for those crazy designer types while you're doing it.

#5: I admit it, I'm a logo-holic. That's the first step to recovery isn't it? Out of the myriad websites dedicated to logos, brands, identity design I must choose one. The task proves to be difficult. My reflex is to go for logolounge but that site only reveals it's full potential to members. Logopond is cool but has a rather overwhelming set up. To my knowledge nobody does as well balanced and stellar a job of promoting the values of identity design as Identity Works. Featuring precisely organized reviews of countless brands to enlightening articles on the issue of identity design in general Identity Works does everything with style, professionalism and grace. This site combined with the aforementioned brandnew.com spells a lethal cocktail for the logo-holic.

So there you have it! A short list of great design inspiration. Of course there are many others. We didn't even touch on web design, package design and so many other things. So help me out! Do you have websites you particularly like for design, photography, art or any other kind of inspiration? Share the wealth!

If you liked this article you can receive email updates of new articles by clicking here or by navigating to the subscribe form on the left hand side of this site. Your email address will remain confidential and you will receive no spam from this site. Plus if you subscribe you'll get a head start on the juggling man comment contest.
;)

Do you like Coffee? Well then express yourself!

2007-12-18T13:50:00.003-04:00

You could win a month's supply of free coffee (if you don't drink that much coffee) simply by posting comments on this blog! I will tell you how you can take advantage of this unbelievable offer shortly but first let me explain how this idea came about.

While looking at the stats for my site I noticed that I'm getting a healthy amount of traffic. However, when comparing that to the amount of commenting, I noticed a disparity. In fact if the figures are accurate, 90% of you, my dear readers, never comment. I can think of a few reasons for this.

1. You don't have anything to say. Maybe you just like to read.

2. You are shy.

3. You are unsure how to post a comment.

4. I haven't made it clear what sorts of comments are accepted.

5. I smell funny.

As for #1 and #2 well that's up to you, but #3 and #4 (and #5) I can do something about. In an effort to encourage more interchange on this site I will make a few things clearer (and take a bath, I promise).

All sorts of non-spam comments are welcome! Though this site is focused primarily on design issues in definitely does not wish to exclude nin-designers in any way. In fact, the only types of comments I delete are those that leave links to some sort of viagra product. You know the kind? You get them in your hotmail account all the time. Other than that you can write a short note about something you liked about a particular article or expound on the matter. Also feel free to highlight an inaccuracy or discuss something you disagree with. You can even post about something that doesn't even relate to the article if you want! Anything goes as long as you don't cuss or anything like that. ;)

Follow these easy steps to comment:

first: At the bottom of an article you will notice something that looks like this.

click images for a larger view

Notice that everything that is highlighted in blue indicates that you can click it. To comment simply click the blue "comment" link - which, incidentally, tells you how many comments have already been posted.

This will take you to a separate window that should look like this.

You might need to allow pop ups from this site for this window to appear. It is completely safe and this site allows no ads to pop up.

Just type in your comment like so,

then scroll down the comment window and type the weird looking security code in the long rectangle below it. As shown in the image below.

It's a safety feature to prevent those viagra people from automatically posting garbage, the code changes everytime.

Then you can click the circle next to "nickname" and put your name as you wish for it to appear, or just choose "anonymous" if you would rather not put your name. Finally click the orange "publish your comment".

This sends me a notification that you have commented. As soon as I see that notification your comment will appear. To view your comment and those of others just click the comment link and your comment along with those of others will appear in the comment window.

No information will be given to third parties and I can not access any private information in any way.
If you have difficulty leaving a comment you can email me at juggling[dot]jason[at]gmail[dot]com (replace the text in brackets with real dots and a real @) and I'll walk you through it or post the comment for you.

The Great Juggling Man Blog Commenting Contest!

How 'bout we make it a contest? The person to leave the most comments on this blog from now until January 18 2008 will win a prize of 10$ worth of Tim Hortons gift certificates (hey, I'm not rich)!*

Pay close attention in the next few weeks. I will do my best to write articles in such a way as to make them comment friendly. But to get you started here are a few ideas for commenting on this article.

- Explain the reasons why you like or dislike commenting on blogs
- Tell us how much you really love Tim Hortons
- State how confident you are in winning this contest
- Make a clever joke about how I smell funny

*You will of course have to put your name in your comments so I can keep track of who posts what and count the comments accurately. In the event of a tie you can split the prize and if you don't like Tim Horton's I'll get you Dunkin' Donuts or, god forbid, Starbucks.

Weekly Brain Tickle

2007-12-17T11:46:00.001-04:00

Having skipped a few weeks of brain tickles in favor of more serious subjects I am making up for this by presenting to you a few ads that as far as I know never appeared on television - in this part of the world at least - for reasons that are not clear cut.

In your opinion, should these ads have been allowed to run?

Make the most of your face

2007-12-11T17:24:00.000-04:00

What's in a face?

More than you might think.

I recently learned of a design principal known as face-ism ratio and in this article I will share with you my research on the subject and how the knowledge of this fascinating phenomenon affects the designer.

The principle of face-ism highlights how the ratio of face to body in an image influences the way the person in the image is perceived. Research on gender bias in the media shows that men tend to be portrayed with a higher face ratio than women. This appears true regardless of the cultural landscape and results don't change with gender. When asked to draw a man or a woman, two groups of college students drew women with few facial features and men with significant facial detail. What does this mean? Though there is little consensus on the reason for this phenomenon, evidence does suggest that it reflects gender stereotypical beliefs regarding the characteristics of men and women. It would seem that the face is not high on the totem pole of sensual/physical priorities because the face mainly evokes personality-centric connotations such as ambition and intellect. It would stand to reason since we express our emotions and characteristics to a large degree with our face whereas emphasis on the body calls attention to more carnal interests.

What does this mean for the designer? When faced with a choice of images to communicate any given message, consider face-ism in your overall solution. When the objective requires a more thoughtful interpretation or needs to draw attention to more cerebral attentions use images with a high face-ism ratio. Conversely when the goal is to call attention to more physical or ornamental concerns use images with a lower face-ism ratio.

Exercise: Take various pictures of yourself and of your friends with different face-ism ratios. Show other friends (preferably some that don't know the people in the images) and ask them to describe what impression they get from the different photos. What sorts of comments do people make? Do certain comments occur frequently? Do you notice patterns in relation to the face-ism ratios? What could these things mean?

Feel free to post the results of your exercise. Have fun!

Here is a link to an in-depth study on face-ism
Face-ism as a Determinant of Interpersonal Perceptions

This next article discusses the repercussions of face-ism
Female pols suffer from "face-ism"

You can also read more on the subject in this book published by Rockport.

Design principle: Ockham's Razor

2007-12-07T14:48:00.000-04:00

In reading Brian Greene's "the Fabric of the Cosmos" I came across a great Einstein quote wherein he states "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." I immediately recognized this as Ockham's Razor.

Ockham's Razor is the principle proposed by William of Ockham in the fourteenth century: "Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate", which translates as "entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily". Given a choice between 2 functionally equivalent designs/theories/systems, the simplest should be selected. That in short is Ockhams' Razor also known as the acronym K.I.S.S (keep it simple stupid). When approaching a design problem it is judicious to always apply Ockham's Razor, particularly when confronting a creative block. Begin by identifying all elements and then removing all things unnecessary. Something I did when working on a corporate identity project. I had designed a logo with a frame around it. I could tell I was getting close to an appropriate solution but something just wasn't right. Applying Ockham's clearly showed that the mark sans frame was highly superior to the one with frame. Ockham's razor cleaned up the design clutter.

This design principle also comes in handy when explaining certain design decisions to your team or clients.

Here is a little exercise. Find a less than stellar design - there's plenty out there - and see how many ways you can apply Ockham's Razor to it. How does it improve the design? Does it help communicate the message more clearly? Is it more aesthetically pleasing? Is it difficult to choose what to cut out?

A critique of the mixx.com logo

2007-12-06T15:36:00.000-04:00

So everyone's talking about Mixx. Even me! Digg clone? Innovative social media? The latest fad? But no one is mentioning that logo. For all you logoholic designers I offer a critique of the mixx.com mark.

Let's start with the name. Good concept in my opinion. The expression describes the happenings of such a site. A "mix" of news, articles, photos and assorted tidbits. However, the adding of an extra X smacks of Digg clone-ism. And my question is, "why?" What's the use of the additional x? I suppose Mix.com was already taken... Meh. I smell fad.

Name aside the graphic itself is incredibly weak it does not read well as a mixing bowl (which is horribly obvious). I asked a few people completely unfamiliar with Mixx if they could decipher what the graphic was with the name, "a microphone?" "a gas gauge?" "dunno". And they are absolutely right. The lack of contrast and depth makes for a very static and boring mark that resembles little of what the name suggests. And what's with the 53 000 different variations? None of them strong marks.
Pick one!

There are a few things right with this. The dimensions of the graphic for instance. It needs to fit in a square to come up nice at the beginning of a url and good job avoiding all the web 2.0 shiny-ness too (but lose those gradients please). I'll also applaud the consistent use of the color scheme.

The typography is half decent but is a little bland. The kerning seems right and alignment is tight. Unfortunately there was lots of potential for using those 2 Xs to create the graphic and make for a very slick and subtle mark. This doesn't look like a very well thought out mark to me.

Let's hope the obvious problems are fixed before beta ends. The competition is stiff and there are a lot of competitors with nice marks out there.

Visit Mixx.com

A conversation with Mixx.com if she were a bartender

2007-12-06T11:56:00.000-04:00

Mixx the bartender: Hi

Me: Hello there!

Mixx the bartender: I haven't seen you here before.

Me: My first time here, I get a little intimidated in places like this. There's so much selection you know?

Mixx the bartender: I could recommend something. I Mixx a mean drink.

Me: Call me pretentious but, are you flirting with me?

Mixx the bartender: A little bit.

Me: Well I'm flattered but I should let you know I don't go for your type.

Mixx the bartender: My type?

Me: The social media type. Oh don't take it personal please, you're very nice that's not what I mean.

Mixx the bartender: Oh I see, got burned huh?

Me: Hmmm, not exactly but yeah. I've always enjoyed flirting with your type I've even had some quick flings but I've never gotten "involved" much. Don't take this the wrong way but you're kind of a... a high maintenance sort aren't you? All the clicking and faving and editing and customizing and commenting. You're just too demanding. I can't ever keep up!

Mixx the bartender: Oh but I'm different from the others.

Me: Yeah that's what they all say. But gradually the truth comes out. If I'm not popular enough you start ignore me and leave me for someone with more votes or more 'friends', usually someone from the 'nouveau cool' social media marketing crowd.

Mixx the bartender: Oh c'mon I can't be all that bad.

Me: Well, you're very friendly and outgoing and I do find you rather attractive - you've got nice tabs! I'll also admit that this drink you've mixxed for me tastes great so far! Not the usual top ten lists and self absorbed articles I've encountered in the past. You're also very accessible and easy to talk to.

Mixx the bartender: So, if asked you to go home with me you would say...

Me: Ha! Well, you're not shy aren't you.

Mixx the bartender: I like you!

Me: ...

Mixx the bartender: Let's just go for coffee then?

Me: Your treat?

Mixx the bartender: My treat!

Me: Oh what can I say, I'm a sucker!

Visit Mixx.com

I'm back!

2007-12-05T12:46:00.001-04:00

My apologies for not updating the content of my blog as frequently as usual. I have had some technical difficulties (i.e. my computer was fried). I'm currently sorting this out and should be back on the road shortly.

Thank you for your patience.

Dali Sells Out?

2007-11-28T13:40:00.001-04:00

City Hall art art opening

2007-11-27T11:59:00.000-04:00

Shayla Perreault-Newcomb - my wife - will be displaying her latest works at the Moncton City Hall. The show is entitled "growing roots" and it attempts to demonstrate how the arts can stregthen the community. There will be three live performances on opening night 6:30 pm dec 12. A Dancer, an Actress, and a Singer. Come for refreshments, lively discussion and a great show!

click for a larger view

Moncton's new logo

2007-11-21T15:28:00.000-04:00

Perhaps you've already heard of Moncton's re-design project handled by hawk communications and I had promised to release news of this exciting undertaking as soon as I got it. So today when going to City Hall for unrelated business guess what I found!

Yup! Here it is!

I'm afraid all info I have about the creative brief and objectives are only hearsay so we'll have to wait for that. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, compare with the mark that will gradually be phased out.

Feel free to express your opinons and discuss the change.

City of Moncton website

Atcan re-design

2007-11-19T20:54:00.004-04:00

When ATCAN distribution services, a leader in their field, approached me to re-design them they were not "dressing the part" so to speak. But they were now ready to shed their fly-by-night image and suit up to express who they really are. Professional, competent and mature.

Here is a before image (contact info blurred out for privacy)

As you can see the logo is rather long thus making it difficult to apply to different collateral and the name of the company appears smaller than "distribution services" -due to the receding nature of the blue - creating undesired tension. Though an arrow is sometimes good in logos, in this case it is leading the eye away from the important information and the line weight is weak. An inappropriate logo for such a strong company.

Here are some after images

and the series of hand drawn conceptual sketches.

Once arrived at an appropriate solution. Some of these were taken to the computer and refined until just right (roughly 50 different digital versions).

The logo is not as wide and thus much more flexible to use. The custom drawn lettering is reminescent of a more mature typography tradition that evokes confidence. The C in ATCAN now becomes a crescent which suggests celestial navigation without resorting to gimmickry and blue is a nod to the previous mark to brings this graphic to life.

The business card itself uses a more modern font to contrast with the logo and communicate the fact that ATCAN is up to date. There is a very rigorous structure to the information to convey an impression of organization and care.

This new design has already helped galvanize employees to take pride in their brand and no doubt will continue to demonstrate its value for many years.

Yabba Dabba hack cough wheeze

2007-11-15T01:28:00.001-04:00

How to stay on track while designing, and why it's important to do so.

2007-11-09T13:00:00.000-04:00

Do you lose track of purpose during a project? Losing track of purpose while working on a project can dramatically decrease the outcome. But how do you know if you have lost track? The first step is to remember what design is all about.

So, what is design? Design is, simply put: problem solving.

Whether a company needs a new logo because they aren't being recognized, a small town business needs business cards to make their business known, a new startup needs a new website for clients who browse on their mobile phones, or anything in-between, design is creating a visual solution to a problem.

Often designers - both new and veteran - will lose sight of the problem they are trying to solve with a particular project, ultimately forgetting about the purpose of design. If you are a designer, chances are you have lost track of the purpose of one of your projects at least once before; and chances are you'll do it again.

Perhaps you got carried away with the flashy effects, or maybe you wanted to create something new and unique, but no matter how you put it: the purpose of a project got lost, the ultimate purpose of design was forgotten.

Forgetting the purpose behind a project can lead to devastating effects, including an extremely low-quality final product. To avoid this problem, remember what the purpose behind design is, and remember what problem you are trying to solve.

Remember that the best way to solve a problem is often the simplest: if a company needs a new logo because they aren't being recognized, a chaotic, effects-filled logo would not be a great solution. Instead, a simple logo that would be easy to recognize is the right way to go. Or what about a small town business that needs to make their business known with new business cards? Sure, designing a business card in a unique way would get attention, but simply printing the business logo on one side and a quirky, attention-grabbing summary of the business on the other would be a better design solution.

If you lose track or purpose during a project, don't fret. All you have to do is recall that design is about problem solving, focus on the problem you have been presented with, find the simplest and most effective way to solve that problem, and produce great results.

This has been a guest post by Tanner Christensen. Tanner is a web specialist and designer who writes helpful, inspiring, and creative internet-related articles on his blog Internet Hunger.

Weekly Brain Tickle: Ariston Aqualtis TV spot

2007-11-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

enjoy.

Making Memories

2007-11-03T14:58:00.000-04:00

Unforgettable, that's what yooOOOou aaaaaare!

Dr. Harry Cotton of the Canadian Institute of English who is a teacher and public speaker of 30 years experience in several countries once said to me that people retain roughly 30% of a speech they hear. Do you realize what that means? If you have 5 important points to bring out, your audience will remember 1, and half of an other. Well it doesn't really work that way but you get my drift. How can you make your presentations indelible? There is a panoply of methods for giving your public speaking more "stickiness" - for sticking to memory - and in this article we will discuss a few. After all, you want to be remembered for how good your talk was and not how bad.

The Importance of a Clear Outline

In the last Public Speaking 101 article we touched on using an outline and clarifying the key points of your talk for using them as way-finders to keep you from becoming overly nervous. Doing this also helps highlight the practical value of your discussion. If the points are remarkably clear, then you increase the likelihood of your audience remembering the most valuable part of your discourse. The clear outline is your foundation, if it is complex and unwieldy the whole thing becomes unstable.

Start With a Bang!

The way you introduce yourself and the subject material has a huge impact on the success of the presentation. It can pique interest or lose the listeners. Depending on the circumstance 'making an entrance' can mean different things but there is nothing more boring than 'Ladies and gentleman thank you for attending...'. Though some ceremonious occasions call for more restrained speaking methods there is always a way to pump up an intro. Modulation of your tone of voice, gesturing, a little joke. In some settings however, you can really go wild! Blare loud music and come in doing cart wheels, drive in on a bicycle - a motor cycle too would be great - throw candy at the audience.

Now that you have their attention you must introduce your subject. Many speakers use the 'I'll tell you what I'm gonna tell you' approach. Despite the fact that I do agree with the strength of such an intro I think it is used so often in a weak way that another approach is generally best. A superior and less used approach is to speak of what will be learned and of benefit during your discourse. A series of questions also works great because it increases the level of interaction (we'll expound on interaction in a few paragraphs). 'Baiting' is another good tactic if used in a friendly manner. "In the next few minutes we are going to learn how the world works!" It creates suspense and encourages curiosity. However you decide to introduce your discussion make sure that you highlight why it's important for the audience to pay attention.

Finally, be brief! Make it short, concise and then head right into the meat of your talk. If you lag, the audience's enthusiasm for your subject will wan.

Features and Benefits

While you compose your outline, keep in mind your audience. They are a mosaic of individuals and knowing where their respective centers of interest lies will have a direct impact on the quality of your discourse. Ask yourself: 'How will the ideas that I will offer be useful to the listeners? and how will I deliver the message?'. The answers to these questions will help you trim, collate and shape your ideas. For instance, suppose you must communicate something that will be foreign to some of the crowd but very familiar to others in attendance. In that case the practical value for the former part of the audience is evident and simple but the latter part is likely to be bored hearing something they know like the back of their hand. How can you highlight the practical value of your message and make it memorable? One way would be to reinforce their conviction of the veracity of the message by pointing out some facts on the issue or somehow illustrating the exactitude of what you are saying, perhaps by demonstrating how a particular principle applies in a real-life situation. Personally I find it helps to think in a feature/benefit scheme. Your key points are the features while what the audience takes away from your discussion is the 'what's in it for me?' part, the benefits.

Adding Interactivity

If we remember only 30% of what we hear, the same is not true for what we do. When allowed to participate we retain much more. For this reason I advise that you do not talk to the audience but talk with them. Ask them questions. Request their opinion. But what if you are speaking in a formal setting before a large crowd? The potential for direct interactivity is reduced but indirect interactivity can work just as well. You can still pose queries and pause to cue the listeners to think on what you just said... You can also get their opinion by a show of hands. There are many ways to get an audience to participate, no matter the setting. Make an amusing quiz, pass out objects, make them juggle and bounce balloons (a technique I found incredibly useful for teaching) or do jumping jacks. The possibilities are numerous. Be bold and creative!

Concluding

We tend to remember the first and last thing of a speech. The introduction and the conclusion. Therefore it is judicious to end with a summary. It must be short. The audience will sense that you are wrapping up and if you take too long they will not remember the excellent points you brought out, they will remember "that guy who wouldn't shut up". Citing the features and benefits in a few sentences is good and always highlight the benefit of applying what you discussed. If someone was taking notes and only caught the conclusion of your presentation they should be able to jot down a few quick words and have the gist of it to take home and tell someone else what your presentation was about. One method I've used many times, I simply read my outline to the audience, making sure it doesn't sound like a grocery list of course.

Should you end with a bang in the same way you entered? That is a valid question. I would argue against it in most cases, especially if you are part of a series of speakers or events. Listening to a good talk requires a certain degree of energy and you don't want to exhaust your listeners. If you want the audience to remember you, then I suppose it might be appropriate in some cases. Conversely, if you want the speech to be remembered it is best not to distract from it by drawing attention to yourself. If you find a way to consolidate both interests, by all means let me know.

So let me apply my own advice here

Make sure your outline is simple and clear.
Make a dramatic entrance, introduce your subject quickly, laying out the benefits of 'staying tuned'.
While highlighting your key points also highlight the benefits.
Add interactivity.
Conclude with a summary of your 'features and benefits'.

By applying these sound principles you will see that your audience, be they interviewers, employees or a large crowd, will remember what you discuss with them and apply it with increased gusto.

Social Bookmarking

lesser known but helpful

2007-11-01T16:09:00.000-04:00

Juggling man is pronounced one of the most inspiring, helpful, and incredible blogs that you have never heard of, but probably should have.

I'm going ahead and bragging about this for a few reasons.

#1: The maker of the list itself, Tanner Christensen has an incredible blog.
#2: Everyone else on this list have incredible blogs.
#3: He said I was a creative genius.

Excuse me while I bask. My head will shrink back to standard proportions eventually.

Yum

2007-10-31T13:43:00.001-04:00

Weekly Brain Tickle

2007-10-31T13:39:00.001-04:00

Mattel comes out with a product to educate young girls on the virtues of feeding your dog poop and cleaning up after him with a vacuum cleaner type thing. The TV spot for it is equally uncanny.

the power of mind mapping or creativity at the flick of a switch

2007-10-29T14:22:00.000-04:00

How can a designer find ideas? Pull them out of a hat? Rely on muse?

Introducing the revolutionary idea-o-thing-a-majigger! Instantly produce stellar ideas with little to no effort! Just plug it in and with the flick of a switch you're on your way to great design!

That's just never going to happen. Good solid concepts come through hard work. Period. Here's one of the methods used by designers for ideation.

The method is Mind Mapping (perhaps you're already familiar with this). This is one way to do it.

First let's say we're working on a logo for a restaurant. The Dancing Fiddle. Probably not a very good name but that's what we have to work with. First it's 2 words. Dancing is first so we'll work with that first.

Take a few sheets of paper or more and a pen.

Might as well include colored felt pens. They help organize things.

In the center we write "dancing" and draw a circle around it. Because it's our central idea.

Now comes the fun part. Think of the first thing that comes to mind in relation to dancing - I think of ballet - and draw a line from the circle and write "ballet".

Immediately upon thinking ballet I think of something else. Just so happens it's related to ballet, so I connect it to ballet with a line. Eventually we start to get a veritable map of ideas/concepts.

No sense stopping now! We keep going and use different colors when we branch out into other concepts. Tango. Rave. Fiddle etc...

Pretty soon we will have several ideas. I didn't even finish my mind map and it just took 3 minutes to do it and arrived at 4 different concepts with about 15 sub-concepts. It's just a start though.

If you use this tool regularly you will begin to learn to analyze the map to see reoccurring themes, patterns, contrasts and many other things that will be useful when you start your creative sketching.

And that, my friends, is good design.

Just so you don't forget this I'm giving you the assignment I started. "The Dancing Fiddle". Take 10 minutes and see how many wild ideas you can come up with.

Have fun!

Social Bookmarking

Weekly Brain Tickle

2007-10-24T09:36:00.001-04:00

For some reason the makers of this ad thought that yelling and insulting people would help sell a video game. Works for me. The giant hand is a nice touch also.

Weekly Brain Tickle

2007-10-17T09:01:00.002-04:00

Through a series of clever edits, this patiently put together ad demonstrates how you can sell a product by barely showing it. This is the concept ad at it's best!

And no CGI!

Overcoming the Fear

2007-10-10T15:11:00.001-04:00

In a poll researching the average American's fears, the fear of speaking in public was found to be the most common, ahead of the fear of death. It seems many would prefer dying than having to speak before an audience! This is unfortunate since the skill set required to be a good speaker can prove beneficial in many other areas such as job hunting, public relations, sales and life in general. I have accumulated over a decade of experience in public speech in a panoply of settings such as 1 on 1 cold calls, conferences of 50 to 1500 people, as a teacher, presenter and radio host and I have found public speech to be one of the most rewarding and enriching experiences in my life.

Designers often are faced with situations where they must present a concept or design proposal before a committee to "sell" the product so to speak. Designers are trained to creatively apply design principles and overcome communication challenges and though some of the designer's skills are interchangeable with those of the public speaker, many are not.

What are some of the things one can do to improve public speaking abilities? How can this knowledge be applied? To answer these questions and others and hopefully help those in need of insight on the art of oratorial communication, this blog will now regularly feature articles under the heading "public speaking 101". The articles will draw from various sources such as the large mass of materials I've read on the subject, advice bestowed on me by masters of this art and my own experience.

Our first of such features will deal with what is likely the most pressing matter. It bears the title:

Feel The Fear, then lean into it

You hear your name called. Your already quick heartbeat quickens still. Various body parts shake and shrivel. You can not control your posture or your breathing. You feel a cold sweat and your field of vision reduces. Your mouth is parched. You know you are not about to face a firing squad but it sure feels like it!

Once you've managed to drag your semi-paralyzed body before the audience the true torture begins. Stuttering, sweating, memory loss and despite your best efforts your mouth refuses to obey your jittery brain.

What are some steps we can take to help us begin overcoming this paralyzing fear of public speech and become successful orators?

Concentrate on the Message
“You don’t have to be brilliant or perfect to succeed,” says Dr. Morton C. Orman, an expert on stress and a professional public speaker. “The essence of public speaking is this: give your audience something of value.” In other words, concentrate on the message, not on yourself or your own anxieties. It's important to remind yourself that in most cases your audience is there to hear what you have to say not judge the way you say it. This will help allay a common reason for public speech anxiety, namely the fear of embarrassment or of being judged by your audience. Lenny Laskowski, a professional speaker and trainer, reminds us that audiences tend to approach each presentation with a positive outlook. “They want you to succeed, not fail,” Laskowski says. So whenever possible, before having to speak before an audience do something that helps you get into a positive mindset. Go for a walk, play some music, read. Whatever helps you feel comfortable. Doing this will have a direct and positive effect on your presentation.

Realize that your audience is a collective. When you approach the task of speaking in public remember that it is simply a conversation between 2 individuals, you and the audience. It's just that you will be doing most of the talking. Viewing it from this angle will greatly reduce your stress.

Preparation Makes Perfect
Another very effective weapon against nervousness prior to speaking in front of an audience is acquired a long time before the actual event. That weapon is preparation. The more familiar your are with what you have to say the less worried you'll be about not saying it correctly. This means practicing your presentation several times in front of a mirror, a camera or a friend. When practicing try to set yourself up in such way that will mimic the real event. Will you be standing up? Then practice standing up. Will you be on a stage? practice on top of the stairs.

Being prepared also means avoiding overloaded presentations. Keep it simple. Reduce everything down to it's most essential structure. For instance, a 10 minute presentation should have a maximum of 3-4 points. You may think that isn't much but that gives you 2 minutes to expound on each point with 1 minute for the intro and 1 minute for the conclusion. Time flies! It is very important to chop off all the peripherals and keep them as back up. If time permits you can draw on that supplemental information. Or if your audience has questions you'll have extra info to give them. The effort required to distill your information will help clarify things in your own mind and take some of the weight off of your shoulders.

Additionally, when you believe that what you have to say is beneficial to your audience you are much better equipped to ignore your nervousness and focus on delivering your important message. I have seen many people make the mistake of writing everything down word for word and just reading it off. It makes for a dry presentation which in turn lowers the audience comfort level and increases the nervousness of the speaker. It is far better to write down key points and practice speaking in a conversational tone.

Start Out on the Right Foot
Many great speakers will include a comment in their introduction that will get a chuckle a laugh or a smile from the audience. Just a little line to set everyone at ease. Imagine that this article was me speaking in public. In my introduction I spoke of the feelings most of us feel prior to giving a speech. Did it get a smile from you? No doubt it did. Did it make you want to read more? More than likely it did. Do not underestimate the power of of laughter.

Conclusion: Lean Into It

If you apply the advice in the article I guarantee you will experience a steadily decreasing fear of public speaking. However, being a little nervous isn't a sign of weakness. In fact, a certain degree of nervousness is good for you and your presentation. Why is that? Because a measure of nervousness reflects modesty, which will help keep you from becoming overconfident. Many athletes, musicians, and actors feel that a little nervous energy actually makes them perform better, and the same can be true of public speakers. So concentrate on the message by becoming very familiar with it, prepare yourself extensively and practice your presentation several times and finally, keep it light and have a sense of humor about the whole thing. You will still feel the fear but you will be equipped to lean into it with confidence.

Social Bookmarking

Weekly Brain Tickle

2007-10-10T09:28:00.002-04:00

Here's an old ad from 1975. Are the double entendres accidental?

And a little extra tidbit. Click here for a minute or 2 of refreshing internet interactivity.

NEWS: City of Moncton's Brand to Change

2007-10-08T15:42:00.000-04:00

The City of Moncton has hired Hawk communications to redesign their identity. Here is a quote on the subject from Hawk themselves.

In a competitive pitch with five other agencies hawk has been awarded the creative execution for the City of Moncton's new brand. The new brand has been developed through a rigorous process of community and stakeholder consultations, competitive analysis and in response to focus group results obtained throughout eastern Canada. Forerunner Creative and Tourism Strategies led the process of developing the brand position.

"We are very pleased to be working with hawk and their team on developing the creative execution of our new brand," said Paul Thomson, Director of Communications for the City of Moncton. "Their experience and passion for our city was very evident in their presentation and we are very confident they will help us develop a visual image that captures the essence of Moncton."

"We are thrilled to be given this assignment," Bill Whalen, President & CEO of hawk said. "Moncton is our home and to work with the City to develop the new creative execution of the brand is something our whole team is very excited about."

They have already unveiled, to city officials and others, at least a proposal -perhaps a final version depending on how you interpret that Hawk quote- of the new brand. I spoke with an attendee to the aforementioned unveiling but would rather not be responsible for generating unfounded rumors so I will refrain from expounding on what I've heard. I will leak this much, it seems they are going for a radically different and modernized approach then what is currently the identity, ergo this crest.

Needless to say I can not wait for more details on this project and will do my best to keep you posted as I catch whiff of more news.

AlgebrArt

2007-10-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

What is art? This grand question has been discussed, debated and pondered throughout history and there are as many answers to this question as there are people to provide answers. Today I will throw my opinion into the fray.

First let's deal with the semantics. Contrary to popular sentiment I do think semantics are important, particularly to designers who are in the field of "communications". Clear contextual definitions make for clearer communication. So let us define art shall we?

A dictionary defines art as follows:
The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.

Personally I find it quite limiting. Musicians whose expressions exist by invisible sound waves? Their work also is "appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."

And then poets? The words of a poem are perceived by the eye but given meaning only by the mind. A fact that all artists rely on. The painter hopes that the lines, shapes and colors on the canvass will not only create a sensory response but an emotional one, a response beyond that of the senses. Does not the same go for the musician?

It seems that all accepted art forms have this in common, they express messages to the senses for the mind to then interpret. An expression from the artist, an interpretation from the audience; and this strikes me as incredibly similar to another thing. Communication. Here is the theory in algebraic equation form.

E+I=A
E+I=C
A=C

E is expression
I is interpretation
A is art
C is communication

I have found this way of perceiving art to be profoundly simple and powerful. It shatters prejudice and preconceived notions and aids in separating message from medium. Marshall Mcluhan no doubt shudders in his grave at this blasphemy but allow me a moment to illustrate.

Look at this empty pitcher.

In this pitcher I can put anything. Juice, tea, beer. Doesn't even have to be liquid. Marbles, diamonds, coins. The content does not change the container. The pitcher is merely a tool for delivering what's in it.

Art is very much like this pitcher. It is a tool for communicating a message. Everyone has something different to say but everyone uses the same thing to say it, ergo art. Right now, To communicate my message I am using the art of writing. If I meet you in person I will use the art of speech and body language to express myself. Tomorrow I will use the art of design to express my client's message and whoever will receive the message will interpret it in their own unique way. Voila! Communication!

That, in a nutshell, is how I define art. It is a very broad definition and for good reason. It opens things up and impels one to view more things from an "artistic" point of view. No doubt you see how this is decidedly important to those with a career based on creative skill, namely designers.

The different ways of communicating a given message grows exponentially in relation to what we are ready to admit can possibly express that very message.

So let's challenge ourselves shall we? Today try to find as many things that fit into this "art is communication" definition. A water bottle label, what does that communicate? How do you interpret a stranger's signature? Was that person deliberately or unconsciously expressing something? The way your spouse holds a cup of coffee, is he/she trying to tell you something?

Truly, art surrounds us.

Pitcher image source: CrateandBarrel.com

New: Weekly Brain Tickle

2007-10-05T10:58:00.002-04:00

Juggling man will now have a weekly ad feature. From the unexpected to the inspiring. Humorous to shocking. Enlightening to confounding. I will share the goodies I've scoured.

So navigate to the left side of your screen and subscribe for your weekly brain tickle.

Let's start big. Scratch that, let's start frea...king HUGE!

EDIT: This feature was discontinued and is now archived under "miscellaneous" in the "browse by subject matter" link list on the left side of your screen.

Graphic Design in 43 seconds

2007-09-28T12:05:00.001-04:00

All you need to know on graphic design is contained within this video. ;)

Step Outside Your Bubble

2007-09-18T14:33:00.000-04:00

You may not know it but if you've read the "business end of design series" you've benefited from the value of on-line networking. The "business end of design" series was brought to us by a member of such an on-line networking site, the HOWforum. Through a series of message board posts and emails I invited Dagmar to guest write, being as I do enjoy her blog that I discovered by way of the forum. She mentioned forums briefly in one of her articles but I would like to elaborate a tad more on the subject.

I am a regular at HOWdesign forum and I have found it to be an incredibly useful tool for the student and professional alike. Not only can you post works for constructive criticism from fellow students and professionals, additionally you can receive pointed advice relating to business and technical issues and the fact that it is international in scope means that there is always a sizzle of activity even on those late nights while racing to make your dead-line.

The HOWforum, and ilk, are an indispensable educational supplement to any curriculum and a very practical and efficient method for reaching outside the bubble of your own classroom, school, office and stagnant mind. You can find discussion threads on any subject you can imagine. Should you not be able to find what you need you can just start a thread about it. From contrast to contracts, fibonacci to freelancing and everything in between you're sure to find an eager member off of which to bounce ideas.

If you become an active and useful member of the community your fellow members will come to be familiar with you and respect you. One particularly helpful member, without prompting, sent me a DVD of much needed tutorials in response to a request for on-line tutorials. I have received personal emails from some members giving support for work related issues I was facing. Some people have even gotten job offers directly because of the forum, I included. I hope that I also have been contributing to others in the way of constructive criticisms and providing exposure on my blog. I'm always on the lookout for new possibilities of providing benefit to the design community.

Beware of the habit-forming nature of internet networking. Forums are an amazingly useful tool but can prove to be a habit that can rob you of time. I have heard some nickname the HOWforum "the black hole". The key is balance and regularity.

Post your opinion respectfully but objectively. Be direct, for rare are those who beat around the proverbial bush at the HOWforum. Don't be sensitive. Although some critiques can be overwhelmingly harsh on occasion they result in much needed skin thickening and skill sharpening. Above all have fun and no doubt you will quickly notice the numerous professional benefits of on-line networking.

So are you a student of design? A seasoned pro? Do you teach a design class or are you in any way affiliated to the field of design? Well then get over to HOWforum right now, look for the register button at the top right, open a free account and reap the benefits.

Oh, and when you see juggling man there, don't be shy say hi.

www.howdesign.com

bubble illustration by juggling man

Taking Care of The Business End of Design, Part III: Contracts

2007-09-17T10:13:00.000-04:00

Guest contributor Dagmar Jeffrey

Every designer should know how to protect their creations. I by no means wish to imply that every prospect you come across are self-serving, mind you. There are folks who still follow the age old traditions of honoring verbal agreements. However you're a professional now and looking out for one's business interests is what professionals do. And since we're in the business of selling our design services, documenting every agreement from concept to final product is paramount and frankly, common sense.

1. Don't blindly count on a prospect/client to honor a verbal agreement, particularly when things start going wrong or they start abusing your arrangement with countless revisions and other costly, time consuming "freebies." Moreover, a verbal agreement will rarely if ever hold up in court. Even if you're doing a casual favor for Aunt Madge's bingo partner's cousin, save yourself a colossal headache and get every verbal agreement in writing. If for any other reason, just think of it as perpetuating a good habit.

2. Outline everything. That includes the number of revision, concept and redesign allotments, time limits, kill fees (if the client terminates the project prematurely for whatever reason, you can still be compensated for the time you spent until that point), documentation of credit, ownership of concept materials and working files, as well as other required itemized details.

I make it a rule not to hand a client my working files (unless it's been strictly negotiated as with the transfer of a logo's usage rights) for several reasons. For one thing, it avoids the unpleasantness of finding out that they commissioned another designer to "tweak" your work, then use that as a basis to call it "theirs." If they need revisions in the future, you also have first dibs, since the work and files are still technically your property. Outline in the contract how you will be giving them their final files (normally a hi-res pdf with a hard copy, which can be opened in virtually any program) to avoid any surprises later on. In the case of a work for hire, the working files by definition are property of the client.

3. Even if your goal is to work for a company rather than yourself, you will need to be aware that instances might require you to protect your work in writing. There are situations, as with companies who request a "test" for a project or for a situation where it feels like a verbal agreement is being used to make an important business or financial decision, that one should require that stipulations be made in writing as well. It's ultimately about protecting your assets to keep others from cashing in on your work without due compensation, which for a designer includes their intangible skill in arriving at creative solutions using the project parameters.

There are plenty of excellent resources and books on writing contracts to be found. GAG and AIGA have plenty of well drawn out sample contracts on site and in the case of GAG, they also have them available through their Pricing and Ethical Guidelines Handbook and Tad Crawford and Eva Doman Bruck's, Business and Legal Forms for Graphic Designers, a recommended buy. Getting information from reputable sites like Creative Latitude, BoDo, the Business of Design Online, and any number of design forum's (see the bottom of Part II) business section is also an excellent place to get answers to any questions one might have regarding any professional situation.

Dagmar Jeffrey has accumulated over ten years of print advertising and graphic communication arts experience through independent design contracting and pre-press production, both through her business Archetype Design Studio and via well established enterprises. She is also a member of the Brainstorming Team at no!spec and is presently collaborating on other projects pertinent to the industry.

During her down time, you can normally find Dagmar actively participating and generally hobnobbing in some of the most well regarded design forums, as well as tending to her design and news blog, ARCHE-BLogGER, a visual exploration inside the Creative Mind.

Taking Care of The Business End of Design, Part II: The Perils of SPEC

2007-09-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

Guest Contributor Dagmar Jeffrey

Another very dangerous pitfall that every designer, most especially entering professionals like graduates and self taught creatives need to avoid like the plague are businesses that utilize speculative (widely known as "spec") models. They're alluring to a young starter, however in reality they are unethical, undercutting and ultimately counter productive towards the "Business-designer."

For one, the entire purpose of earning a living in this profession is just that—you earn a living. One is a professional first, designer second. Spec models essentially require a designer to work on active design projects for only the possibility of compensation. They are often masked as contests, logo mills or "tests" (to prove one's skill) by prospective employers. Designers fall for this trap by the boatload for several reasons. Some are:

1. Exposure. Designers feel that it's well worth working for free if it means that their stuff is "out there" where it might lead to actual paying work. For the most part however, very, very few ever get exposure that leads to paying work nor proper compensation (if any at all) for what they've already done.

2. Clients. By participating in contest and logo mill sites, a Designer feels that they will somehow establish some form of client relationship that could lead to referrals and better paying work. Again, a myth. Whether they can actually afford to invest in something as important as the identity of their business is irrelevant, people who solicit these places are there for one thing—bargain basement design. Lets say that they do want to work again with the designer. They'll still expect what they had before—ridiculously inexpensive design. They don't understand that the true value of a creative lies in the intangible, conceptual work, not the final execution. As I like to say, design is two parts conceptual development and one part execution. However to them, they feel that logo design is so simple, anyone with a computer and the right software can do it—and why believe otherwise? Clients are rarely privy to the behind-the-scene hours spent researching, sketching concepts, rendering and revisions. All they ordinarily see are a set of finished looking concepts to choose from and the final design.

3. Fast money. It's a concept that doesn't logically exist in a logo or contest mill. It's basic mathematics—there is one prize and a huge mass of eager entrants, all willing to literally give away their time and talent for the mere hope of winning. As with any contest, there is obviously no guarantee of winning. Even if there is, the "prize" is so ridiculously low it's laughable. It almost certainly doesn't justify the labor involved in producing the final product.

Logo design can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) 2012 London Olympics logo cost nearly a cool million USD. The more humble creative can charge anywhere in the range of five to fifteen thousand USD. Why so pricey? Among other reasons, unlike an ad, a website, or a billboard, a logo is used over and over by the client, in a myriad of applications, from signs, business cards, stationery systems, invoices and unlimited promotional collateral for the duration of the business or until the logo has outlived it's usefulness.

Designers with an intuitive business sense include their price for the usage rights of the logo—think along the lines of "licensing fees." When a designer creates anything, by law it is automatically theirs, unless they sell or give away their ownership rights to it. So what does the savvy, business-minded mill and company do? For the designer to participate they first have to agree to give away the rights of their submission, even if they lose. The reality is that the only one who really wins in a spec situation is the spec business itself.

4. Training Grounds. One doesn't learn how to develop a proper, stable and realistic client-designer communication. They rarely if ever learn how to create informative client briefs, nor establish a healthy developmental creative process. How can they, they're too busy vying for the winning bid to foster a positive proactive relationship. It's just a poor professional training ground in nearly every sense of the word.

5. Absence of options. A business that requires as part of their recruitment process that a designer work on active projects to land a paying job is really getting free labor. Pretty obvious, isn't it? There is sometimes some form of testing to verify one's skill it's true, but not on active projects for actual clients. The simple fact is that this is not an acceptable or ethical process. Many designers in such a situation have been known to ask for a written agreement that their work will not be used without proper compensation first.

There are plenty of articles that a designer can turn to further their education. One is an article I wrote for Designorati titled, Combating The Stigma of the Overpriced Designer. Another "must bookmark" resource for every designer is the no!spec web site, which has all sorts of nifty tibits and downloads on the ills of speculative work. Or simply take a trip to any reputable design forum like HOWdesign...there are two now, About.com's GD forum, and the The GDF. Members will be more than happy to offer nuggets of wisdom for those in need.

Next Time: Part III

Dagmar Jeffrey has accumulated over ten years of print advertising and graphic communication arts experience through independent design contracting and pre-press production, both through her business Archetype Design Studio and via well established enterprises. She is also a member of the Brainstorming Team at no!spec and is presently collaborating on other projects pertinent to the industry.

During her down time, you can normally find Dagmar actively participating and generally hobnobbing in some of the most well regarded design forums, as well as tending to her design and news blog, ARCHE-BLogGER, a visual exploration inside the Creative Mind.

"speck" illustration by Dagmar Jeffrey.
No!Spec logo design by Piers Le Sueur.

Taking Care of The Business End of Design, Part I: Show Me the Money...please?

2007-09-10T00:03:00.000-04:00

Guest Contributor: Dagmar Jeffrey

Like many folks, I learned my trade from attending a university with a solid design program. One that had award winning industry professionals as part of their administrative staff. To boot, I graduated cum laude, believing that it would give me an additional leg up over the competition when I entered the job hunting market. The purpose of investing a great deal of time, all nighters and finances in my design education was to prepare me for the wonderful, lucrative world of professional design.

Well, I was sure in for a jolt of reality. Although my education did instill a strong creative foundation, what it didn't require was for me to learn the business end of design. It never occurred to me that I would need to learn how to market myself, or to avoid business models that worked on spec. It didn't teach me how to legally protect myself and my creations. The world of business and the world of academia were two completely different motivated beasts. In a way, one can say that because of the distinctions, I ended up feeling as though I were tossed to the corporate wolves with a juicy flank steak tied to my back.

Whether one wants to work for a company or break into the business as an entrepreneur, it's every designer's duty to learn how to market their services. It's not just about having a stellar looking portfolio. It's about presentation, researching the prospective employer's needs and learning how to negotiate for a competitive salary. For example, whenever the sordid topic of coin came up during an interview, more often than not I was asked how much I was looking to make. Savvy move that, putting the pressure on a professional novice. They knew that I would probably end up doing one of three things.

1. Lowball myself. I figured that so long as I got the job, my pay would eventually increase to a more commensurate range. As I painfully learned, a fair share of good businesses practiced employing a revolving door of cheap, inexperienced labor. One of their favorite "parting" shots with designers who finally wised up to this inequity was giving the "you can always be replaced" line. Regardless whether the replacement is sufficiently skilled to do the job, they usually ended up being right.

If it's a small or unknown business, walking away may be the best choice, rather than risk a dead end job scenario. But if it's a desired position in a very good company, one has to sit down and consider whether or not the return will justify the means. For example, let's say the company is a big firm that promises a raise a few months down the line (after a formal review or probation period). Is the risk of not getting what they promise after the time passes worthwhile? Some would argue yes, because if the promise wasn't met for whatever the reason, you can always look for another job, with the prestige of the firm in your resume as leverage for a better paying starting salary elsewhere. The trick here however, is to read the writing on the wall and know when you're not really going anywhere, or making what you should.

2. Put the ball back in their court and let them establish the salary. Makes sense, however the catch here is that whatever figure they toss, even if it's less than what is expected, it's almost immediately accepted. Hey, we were taught to design, not negotiate.

3. Offer a competitive rate. Sounds great eh, to actually say, "Your position's requirements should be worth *this*," expecting the interviewer to nod approvingly. Unfortunately, more often than not, you'll never hear from the prospective employer again, which makes the job hunter feel as though they made a huge miscalculation. The real mistake was lacking the proper salesmanship to engage in negotiations with a counteroffer, nor convince them why making an investment in your talent would ultimately benefit them. Taking a page from professional salesmen and agents, they learned how to turn a tentative "no" into a solid "yes." Considering we have no choice but to sell our own services, it's a vital skill that's worth developing.

I recommend picking up The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success, Ideas and Tactics for a Killer Career, by Jeff Fisher. It offers many useful tidbits and ideas, plus real accounts from successful Designers on their self marketing adventures and tactics. Another book worth perusing is The Business Side of Creativity: The Complete Guide for Running a Graphic Design of Communications Business, by Cameron S. Foote. The site, Creatively Self Employed also offers some other good reading suggestions.

Next Time: Part II

Dagmar Jeffrey has accumulated over ten years of print advertising and graphic communication arts experience through independent design contracting and pre-press production, both through her business Archetype Design Studio and via well established enterprises. She is also a member of the Brainstorming Team at no!spec and is presently collaborating on other projects pertinent to the industry.

During her down time, you can normally find Dagmar actively participating and generally hobnobbing in some of the most well regarded design forums, as well as tending to her design and news blog, ARCHE-BLogGER, a visual exploration inside the Creative Mind.

"For Sale" image source: grow-a-brain

Design myths debunked

2007-09-06T08:35:00.000-04:00

Such a great article from Roughstock. Be enlightened, read the article by clicking here.

What I learned from fine artists

2007-09-03T08:19:00.000-04:00

In speaking with some of the artists at the Shediac Arts Festival I learned that there seems to be two camps. Those who sketch and plan out their pieces and those who simply attack the canvas. As a designer I sketch a lot, however I am beginning to question my analytical methods. Of course research will always be necessary but perhaps when one has that all too elusive "spark", it should be chased down at the expense of thorough analysis.

The value of side projects

2007-08-30T07:13:00.000-04:00

Working on hobby projects can be a very refreshing experience for the creative mind. Got some project that that doesn't inspire you much? Feeling blah about being creative? Then work on something that sparks your creative battery! Do something that fires you up no matter what. Chances are, you'll find that when you do go back to your "boring" project that ideas will ricochet all over the place and you'll produce much better quality work.

Now I need to get to work on my super-hero board game I'm building.

"I" Robots

2007-08-27T05:37:00.000-04:00

Our instructor had us do an interesting exercise a few days ago. The object of the game was to speak with a classmate for a set amount of time and never use the word "I". Well, you know what? I failed miserably! Just goes to show how self-centered we can be.

Call it a challenge. Let's try it for a whole day! No doubt we will discover something about ourselves, but more importantly, about others.

abstraction in the service of clarity

2007-08-20T07:24:00.000-04:00

A certain book I read while on vacation reminded me of a subject I desire to discuss. The subject is "abstraction" and how, contrary to popular belief, it can be used to clarify things.

Allow me to demonstrate. This is a face right?.

No it isn't. It's a photo of a face. Wrong again, it is a scan of the photo of the face. Just a bunch of pixels!

There are many things that differentiate this from an actual living face. It doesn't move, it's very small and it has no color. But our eye, or rather our mind doesn't see all of that. Our mind simply sees a face. This is testament to the mind's extraordinary ability of interpretation. But it's only the beginning. Look at this image.

What do you see? A face? Aha! This time it is a scan of a drawing of a face and there are even more things that differentiate it from an actual face. It has far less detail!

Now look at this image.

There is even less detail yet you still instantly recognize it as a face! It is a far less specific but a face nonetheless.

The image below looks absolutely nothing like a face! It's a circle two dots and a line!

But you see a face. Try not to see a face. Go ahead, I dare you. You will find that it is next to impossible! This demonstrates the fascinating power of iconic abstraction. Removing detail and simplifying an image transforms it into less of an image and into more of a concept, an idea, an icon - sometimes called symbol. Amplification through simplification. The first photo I showed is quite easily recognized as a face. A stranger's face. A young white male's face. Whereas the above image is universal. It could be anyone's face! It could even be you. Incidentally, Scott McCloud theorizes that it is you. I recommend his books for all who would like to learn more about all things visual. (see link below)

Can we further abstract the face but still have the image be instantly recognizable as a face? The answer is yes.

This is as far as we can go down the line of iconic abstraction. A bunch of lines that means "face". It is not as universal because a certain amount of education is needed to decipher the symbols. But the lesson is learned: words are the ultimate iconic abstraction. So, what does this all mean? How does knowing this help the designer?

Designers should have a very solid grasp of iconic abstraction. Logos for instance need to be very simple yet instantly recognizable and memorable. Using iconic abstraction one can make very complex subjects universally clear. With just a few lines designers can convey a message that will quickly be assimilated across language and cultural barriers. Also, because iconic imagery requires a higher level of viewer participation, or more interpretation, I would argue that they are more immersive and memorable, meaningful and thus wield more power.

Iconic imagery is actually very necessary to everyday life. What does the following icon mean?

It means relief to those of us who travel in foreign lands.

Here are other examples of everyday icons or symbols.

Here's a little exercise, the next time you drive around town count how many icons you see in thirty minutes and post your count here. I've got a bet riding on it so help me out here ;)

If you who wish to learn more about the subject and about art in general I recommend picking up a copy of Scott McCloud's Understand Comics. It is a book that has fascinated me for many years and has practically changed how I see everything.

Enjoy!

Vacation!

2007-08-03T13:23:00.000-04:00

The blog will be inactive for the next few weeks as I'm going on vacation! But do return after august 19 because I have exciting new projects to reveal and also I am inviting guest writers to the blog. Stay tuned!

Mckenzie portfolio exhibit

2007-08-01T08:31:00.000-04:00

Mckenzie generally has two or more overlapping classes per year. The previous class recently graduated a few weeks ago. 4 of the 5 graduates are going off to work for the Department of National Defense in Gagetown (the fifth decided to freelance). DND is developing a new virtual training environment and require 300 interns over the next 5 years*. This is a testament to how the market is ripe for creatives and visually literate people.

The 4 of them are scheduled to start next week and I wish them success.

*to read more about the internship program you can navigate to the Mckenzie website by clicking on the following link http://mckenzie.edu/home.html

Eraserhead

2007-07-31T08:59:00.000-04:00

I don't own a TV. I see no use for it. Youtube and other means make it easy to stay current on ads so I just got rid of it. But I like watching the occasional movie. I watched eraserhead the other night. Wow, that is one strange film! A real head scratcher!

That's all I have to say.

"What am I paying you for?" part4: Proximity

2007-07-25T07:30:00.000-04:00

The design principle of proximity is a rather fascinating one. The proximity principle states that elements in close proximity tend to be associated with one another.

Look at this list*. (Click the images for a larger view)

It has many problems plaguing it. If you were to give this list to someone and expect them to understand it you would be greatly disappointed. As it is, the list is a communication mess!

Let's fix it.
We should start by applying our previously discussed principles such as alignment.

It's an improvement but all the elements still sort of all look like a gray blur.
Let's add contrast and repetition.

This is better.
But everything is extremely cramped! Let's apply the proximity principle.

This is nice!
Do you see how everything naturally looks as if it belongs to a very clear group? A sort of information architecture.

Ignoring design principles can get you in all sorts of trouble. Look at this unfortunate design accident.

tsk tsk, someone should have hired a designer.

Those are arguably the four most basic design principles. Contrast Repetition Alignment Proximity, an unfortunate yet memorable acronym. Remember, design is not "just pretty pictures", but the science of making a business' relationship with its target market a pleasant, clear and memorable experience.

*list examples robbed from author Robin Williams.

"What am I paying you for?" part3: Alignment

2007-07-22T15:07:00.000-04:00

Alignment is probably the most over-looked and misunderstood design principle. The principle of alignment states that nothing should be placed in the design arbitrarily. Every item should have a visual connection with another element.

When items are aligned the design appears cohesive, organized and professional. Alignment can give certain elements more prominence than others and guide the viewer by creating an information hierarchy.

Let's look at an example*.

The elements here were just sort of thrown on the card. Not one of the elements has any connection with anything else and your eye just bounces all over the place. It's not pleasant or professional.

Compare with this.

Moving all of the elements flush right instantly make the information more organized. All the elements have a common boundary and this boundary connects them visually. The principle of proximity is also involved here but we'll discuss that in the next post.

A designer knows how to use alignment in a variety of ways to make your marketing tools appear very organized and professional.

Next, part 4: Proximity

*(Jordan Kelly is a fellow student at McKenzie. Jordan Kelly's Gourmet Jellies was the subject of his product packaging project. I loved that catchy name so much that I wanted to pay homage to it somehow.)

"What am I paying you for?" part2: Repetition

2007-07-19T06:14:00.000-04:00

REPETITION is a deceptively simple design principle. This REPETITION principle is defined quite obviously as "some aspect of the design being repeated throughout the entire piece."

No doubt you already use REPETITION in your work, when, in a memo you make the headlines, margins and indents all the same size for instance. That is one application of the principle. REPETITION is useful for making things appear consistent, cohesive and to facilitate ease of use.

Let's look at an example. I stole this example from Robin Williams. No not that Robin Williams).

Take a look at this business card.

When you get to the end of the information, where does your eye go? Does it wander? Leave the card completely?

Now look at this one.

In this one, when you get to the end of the information notice what your eye does. Do you find that it bounces back and forth between the bold type elements? More than likely it does. The reason for this is that the designer used the principle of REPETITION to unify the whole piece.

I myself have used REPETITION in this blog post. If you were to just quickly scan this post, would it be easy to know what is it's theme? Yes, because I use the word REPETITION in a bold and repetitive way.

This is of course a very basic example of the use of this design principle. Your designer is trained to use the principle of REPETITION in tandem with others to create stunning and memorable designs for your brand.

next, part 3: Alignement

"What am I paying you for?" 4 part series on basic design principles

2007-07-15T08:53:00.000-04:00

PART:1

Design is more than making things look pretty. There are very specific and concrete principles your designer applies in order to communicate your message in the most effective way. These principles or laws are many and often are very difficult to balance. In this 4 part series I'm going to describe the four most basic principles of design and how your designer uses them to help your business.

The first of these principles is CONTRAST:

Our mind understands many things by comparing.
If I say that the above pencil big or small, how small or big do I actually mean?

It's very small if you put it next to this hippo!

but very large next to this ant.
The contrast of the hippo/ant comparison helps us understand more precisely what I really mean when I say "the pencil is small" or "big".

Here is how it works in a more practical application.

In this sentence, which WORD stands out the most?

Is it "word"? Of course it is! The striking contrast makes you notice it and remember it. I'm sure you can easily see how contrast applies in advertising to emphasize features and benefits of a product or to draw attention to something in particular.

Unfortunately contrast is sometimes in an inefficient way. A designer, in his well stocked tool box, keeps CONTRAST handy and knows how to use this tool in conjunction with others to make your advertisements and other visual business elements operate at peak efficiency.

Next: part 2, repetition

Increase your blogging power

2007-07-09T21:19:00.000-04:00

Like myself 2 months ago, many bloggers are not aware of the potential of their blogs. I'm publishing a short list of things that can easily increase your blog's potential. I myself after implementing these methods saw an increase of 500% in visitors (the minority of which are crawlers) and a substantial increase in return visitors. Also the average amount of time each visitor spends at the blog has gone up exponentially. All within 2 months.

#1 On-line networking: Become intertwined with internet to a greater degree. There are easy ways to do this. I have found delicious to be an easy starting point. It's user friendly and useful all together. Technorati is another useful net watch system. On-line forums can be a great resource. Find forums of your interest -I go to HOWdesign- and be active in that community. Occasionally refer to your blog. All this can be part of your overall networking plan. It takes time but once you've established your internet networking routine you can get things done fairly quickly. I can get all my blogging and on-line networking done in about 20 minutes a day.

#2 Content: Once you've increased your blog's visibility, the blog itself decides if those new visitors will find anything of value and return. What makes people return to your blog? Ease of use is one factor. Arrange your elements in a way that the most important things are easy to find. Additionally, try avoiding color schemes that make things difficult to read. Yellow is often a bad choice of color.

Post often and add relevant links and pictures, such as I have done in this post. Nobody likes a boring old page of text. You want your blog to be attractive and exciting! In the same breath posting only pictures doesn't have much value to a reader. Balance things out.

Embedding links in posts along with frequent posting helps google recognize you as an active site . Links will make your blog easier to find from online networks such as technorati and others.

Put some thought into your subject. Do your best to post something that will possibly enlighten the reader, entertain or otherwise be of some value.

That's my 2 cents. As stated previously this is simply a short list of things I have found increases Juggling man's blog visibility and value as a promotional and networking tool. If you want to get deeper and more specific about blogging, the internet has many resources and great articles to read. If you would like to add something or point out an error, please do so by leaving a comment.

More blogging muscle building exercises to come in the future in the meantime,
Happy blogging!

Art for art's sake

2007-07-08T09:27:00.001-04:00

Designer's mostly communicate others' ideas, while artists tend to communicate their own. That's a generalization but it'll work for now. Last week's school project allowed us creative freedom to do art for art's sake. The only criteria was that our result was to have some reference to a calendar. Not a calendar someone would buy to keep track of time but one that would be sold for its expressive qualities.

Since calendars measure time I chose to design a calendar that does not measure time but rather expresses something of its essence. The dimensions are not set in stone but I intend it to be large, a mural if at all possible or narrow and tall. I also want to experiment with different color schemes. It could also easily be wrapped around a cylinder or with some innovation become a sculpture. I hope to turn this into a series with variations on the them and exhibit it at art galleries.

click the images for a larger view

Details. Notice that the particles are actually numbers dates and other elements from a calendar.

Blog tag

2007-07-04T12:21:00.000-04:00

Neat networking thing this blog tag. Here's how it works if you wish to play.

1-post these rules
2-each person tagged must post 8 random(..hopefully interesting )facts about themselves
3-taggees should write a blog post of these facts
4- at the end of the post 8 (or less than 8) more bloggers are tagged and named (and linked of course)
5-go to their blog and leave a comment telling them they're tagged

8 random facts about juggling man

1: I'm 29 years old

2: I love superheroes

3: I'm currently re-designing a corporate identity for Atcan

4: I've hosted a radio show called "ear to the ground" at a local community station during one season. It featured underground music such as tortoise, trans am, mouse on mars and low.

5: I had a pet bull when I was a kid.

6: I play guitar and write songs.

7: I've read 16 books on the subject of poker but have never played for money. Never will.

8: I played catch during lunch.

I'm choosing to tag these blogs. Click the titles to navigate to the respective blogs

Arche-blogger
mullenweb
Crystalline moment

That's it for now.

Mock up of Repair/Exude

2007-07-02T09:47:00.001-04:00

Thursday night I went to my local late night printer to get the Repair/Exude project printed but their machine jammed on my job. At the request of my on-line cohorts at HOWdesign I returned to have some hard copies printed and took some pictures. (click on the images for a larger view)

Repair:

Inside spread:

Attention to detail evident in the spine:

Exude holds its own in the poetry section at the local magazine retailer, actually it's the only one that shows a headline!:

Thanks to the very kind and enthusiastic couple on shift that evening for taking an interest. They gave me a price tag to stick on my mock up.

This poet seems to be enjoying the content of the periodical.

Latest school project-book cover and magazine conception

2007-06-29T10:20:00.001-04:00

I'm pretty exhausted so I'm going to do this the lazy way and post the pics and just copy/paste my concept statements. Photos for the book were taken by me. For the magazine cover I used one of Ivan Suta's pieces. I highly recommend visiting his site He is a truly excellent photographer! www.ivan-suta.com

Disclaimer: This photo is not for commercial work and will not be used in any way for profit or personal gain, direct or indirect. It will not go in my portfolio. It was used purely for educational purposes.

Being a dabbler wordsmith I chose to link my 2 projects thematically with poetry not only because I enjoy the subject but also because it is a challenging one with an atypical target audience.

First the book cover, a very straightforward project in which I was to re-design the cover for an already existing book. I chose to re-work C.K Willams's collection Repair

Enter the design. Click the images for a larger view.

With the accompanying concept statement which I wrote, needless to say.

Repair, C.K. Williams's award winning ninth book of poetry is a book to be savored discovered and never rushed. The poems contained within are loosely centered around the theme of reconciliation, forgiveness, repair. The last piece of the collection, Invisible Mending, speaks of old women fixing worn garments with "shining needles fine as hair." It is a very delicate and powerful metaphor. Williams's poetry however leaves the reader some room for interpretation. It is for these reasons that the design is clean, airy and sparse by utilizing white space, wide kerning and low featured fonts to create this quiet non-distracting effect.

The needle placed on the cover visually references both the title of the book and its content, engaging the viewer. The string on the front inside flap (right-hand side in the image) reinforces the metaphor without redundancy, rather it creates even more intrigue and leads the individual to the powerful and mesmerizing poems that follow. The back flap(left-hand side in the image) text and back cover text are typed in a serifed font for increased readability. The back cover text is justified for reasons of cleanliness and solidity. The usage of a grid system gives a feeling of strength. The small format-4.25" x 6.5" closed-makes it portable, discreet and cozy.

Now for the magazine. A much more intricate project in that I had to not only design the periodical but create it at all levels. Needless to say It comes with a heavier responsibility. Again, click the images for a larger view.

and the full spread with an ad for the Arts Council of England.

Next comes the rather hefty concept statement. Thank you for indulging.

EXUDE:To display (an emotion or quality) strongly and openly

EXUDE's goal is to encourage poets to become more openly creative and expressive, to take their craft to the next level and in so doing achieve more satisfaction, success and exposure.

To reach this goal EXUDE is constructed in a triad fashion. Three sections, each very distinct from each other that readers can rely on issue after issue. The first of these is the "feature" section. It is the broadest category in that it will contain anything from in-depth interviews with masterly or emerging poets, excerpts of their collections, to compilations and discussions of classics always with a very focused emphasis on educational value to the poet reader. The second section is called "Contest". Every quarter year readers may submit pieces to the EXUDE jury for a chance to win awards and prizes. In keeping with the mission of teaching the qualified jury will expound on the reasons behind their choices for the contest finalists. Prizes will also focus on education. Weeks long workshops at prestigious schools, "poetry resort" vacations, private tutoring lessons from masters and so on. The third category is "Workshop" wherein each edition of EXUDE will bring in adept writers will discuss in great detail one or more specific poetry related subjects.

DISTRIBUTION

Distribution will not be typically retail oriented. We will position EXUDE in such a way as to reinforce it's educational value and lateral aim and seek out it's atypical clientele. It will be sold to educational facilities that offer literature curriculum and placed in libraries and book stores. EXUDE will also prominently appear at hip "underground" shops, art galleries and other off-the-beaten path establishments along with the standard magazine retailers.

EXUDE WORD MARK

The EXUDE logo appearing at the top left- for maximum visibility in a magazine rack -of each issue evokes expressiveness, creativity and assurance that are at the core of the poetry métier by the use of bold letter forms who seem to organically grow out of the equally bold and vivid squares of color that simultaneously hint at stained glass and painted canvas and in themselves remind one of artistic flair. An effective and immediate creative and expressive connotation. Here is a mark that is filled with aplomb and allows the viewer no choice but to look more than passively at whatever object it is sitting on.

LAYOUT AND FORMAT

In the layout, we balance the loudness of the word with a minimalist arrangement that is easy to navigate but nonetheless striking due to the use of the colored squares borrowed from the word mark and used as a design element that has the potential of being used within the publication. We use three colored symbols to indicate the triadic organization of the content. At the bottom right we very discreetly show whatever content may not fit in any of the three main sections. At the bottom left rests the ubiquitous bar code and price. This sparse arrangement does not over-stimulate the eye and thus is very pleasant and professional looking. Additionally it allows for the main image on the cover to occupy an appropriately predominant place and captivate the audience. An immerssive and attractive layout.

The smaller, unconventional-in the western world-format further demonstrates its demarcation from other mass market magazines that appeal to the senses with lowered emphasis on content. Nonetheless it is of standard format for periodicals of its genre and so firmly plants itself in the correct market. The reduced dimensions-5.5" x 8.25" closed-facilitates storage and this is important because EXUDE magazines are of such value that educational institutions and other readers will undoubtedly collect them.

CONCLUSION

The design considerations taken for the outer layout of this digest compels our target viewer to notice it and urges that individual to experience the product in greater depth after which the content seals the deal by being of such great value and meaning. EXUDE empowers, enriches and educates.

Before finishing the post I think I'll post one of my proudest poetic creations. Enjoy!

Swaying Beauty

She is wilder than the flowers
a swaying beauty
in a field

Half her life in guarded towers
her subtle strength
now revealed

A pause to clear your mind of thoughts
best forgotten
washed away

She is wilder than the flowers
a swaying beauty
swept away.

College life

2007-06-27T14:19:00.000-04:00

Just for a change I thought I'd post a few pics from daily life here at Mckenzie.

The graphic designer slouch. Either all the way forward or all the way back.

Our beautiful and brilliant instructor Rosalba instructing us on the virtue of C.R.A.P-Contrast Repetition Alignment Proximity.

Here she is sleeping on the job. This image netted me a fat cash prize from the director of the school.

More busy

2007-06-24T16:24:00.000-04:00

I'm stealing a precious nanosecond to tell you I don't have a precious nanosecond to spare. Gah! This is insane. A book cover and a magazine due friday. A brochure, a business card, envelope and letterhead for july 10th. A corporate identity for the end of july. It's insane! Good thing some of these are paying contracts.

Ok back to work now.

Master juggler

2007-06-20T21:33:00.000-04:00

click here to see a clip of how a master juggler does it. Enjoy!

Are you running on empty?

2007-06-19T20:17:00.000-04:00

A business is like a car. A good designer can help your car look great and perform excellently, while marketing is the fuel that makes your car go places. What is marketing, and how can one market effectively with a limited budget? Read a brief and useful article on the subject by clicking here.

Juggling man gets referred

2007-06-19T15:42:00.000-04:00

Juggling man gets mentioned and reffered by McKenzie College. Check it out at www.mckenzie.edu

What is branding?

2007-06-18T00:14:00.000-04:00

One of the most important, and often overlooked aspect of business is branding. Branding means establishing your company image. Will it wear a tux or a jogging suit? What is it's mission, ideals, reason for being? Many aspects of your company can and should reflect this concern. Starting at the company name and how that name is visually expressed through a logo to the manner in which that name and logo extend throughout your organization's communications. The whole being commonly called corporate identity.

How can a solid corporate identity help your business? Firstly, it helps draw the right clientele to your business. By clearly communicating what makes you superior to the competition you are alleviating the potential client's task of choosing where to spend money. A strong brand attracts new people and inspires increased confidence and loyalty in existing customers and shareholders. Furthermore, it galvanizes employees and executives alike and allows them be motivated towards a more united goal.

To read another short but extremely helpful article on the subject click here.

Why hire designers? #12

2007-06-17T23:50:00.001-04:00

RAPIDLY LEARNING AND "TACKING" BASED ON YOUR SUCCESSES AND FAILURES-The most effective teams are those who constantly learn. Strive. Improve. Designers can help take the team back through the journey, recounting the steps where good decisions were made and where the team could act differently next time.

And thus concludes our "why hire designers?" series. As you can clearly see designers do more than make things look pretty. They can be an integral part of a successful business strategy. If you would like to download the AIGA brochure on which this was based click here.

Why hire designers? #11

2007-06-17T19:30:00.000-04:00

SELLING THE SOLUTION-In most cases an exchange of money or time will be involved-between seller and buyer, creator and beneficiary. That process is greatly helped by design, so that people know "what they are buying," and what it's worth.

Juggling man design blog

Saul Bass on designing for money

Another dose of awesome

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What's awesome?

What's awesome?

Client feedback

Top speed!

Assembling a Paper Cube

Hard Wired for Creativity

It's OK to say no sometimes.

Are you a font geek?

HOW CAN YOU DO THIS EVERY DAY, FOR 20 YEARS?

Real Life Photoshop

Moncton Street Signs Improved

Cheap Logos On-Line! Get Them Fast!

Top 3 Overused, Misused and Abused Software Effects

What's In A Name?

Dove Denies Retouching

The Real Truth About "Real Beauty"

Six Visionary Rules of Design

Logo Smackdown!

It's World Graphic Design Day!

Dali Goes Disney

It's the NBC Disco Logo Compilation!

Presenting A Logo

Songs From A Hat

Adidas Owns Stripes

Seoul Animation Festival

Attracting New Talent

Starbucks "Logo Mock"

Dark Roast Logo: Starbucks Redesign

Visuals aid

new blog feature!

Pick. Up. A. Pencil.

More on the importance of the sketch process

5 dirt cheap things you can do to jolt your creativity

Have your cake and create it too: A macroscopic look at the creative process

Design Principle: Closure

Who thinks up these things?!

And the winner is!

Casey At The Bat

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Can fine artists find inspiration in design?

5 of the most inspirational and useful design links

Do you like Coffee? Well then express yourself!

Weekly Brain Tickle

Make the most of your face

Design principle: Ockham's Razor

A critique of the mixx.com logo

A conversation with Mixx.com if she were a bartender

I'm back!

Dali Sells Out?

City Hall art art opening

Moncton's new logo

Atcan re-design

Yabba Dabba *hack* *cough* *wheeze*

How to stay on track while designing, and why it's important to do so.

Weekly Brain Tickle: Ariston Aqualtis TV spot

Making Memories

lesser known but helpful

Yum

Weekly Brain Tickle

the power of mind mapping or creativity at the flick of a switch

Weekly Brain Tickle

Weekly Brain Tickle

Overcoming the Fear

Weekly Brain Tickle

NEWS: City of Moncton's Brand to Change

AlgebrArt

New: Weekly Brain Tickle

Graphic Design in 43 seconds

Step Outside Your Bubble

Taking Care of The Business End of Design, Part III: Contracts

Taking Care of The Business End of Design, Part II: The Perils of SPEC

Taking Care of The Business End of Design, Part I: Show Me the Money...please?

Design myths debunked

What I learned from fine artists

The value of side projects

"I" Robots

Yabba Dabba hack cough wheeze