Posts tagged as:

design

Breathing Room: The Role of the Space In Between

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Empty space in a design is useful. Think of it in this way: If there was a room in your home where every inch of space was taken up by a piece of furniture, you would be unable to navigate through or use the room. Empty space between furniture is required for the room to [...]

The Internship Epidemic

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It is the responsibility of design professionals, teachers and school administrators to value the next generation of designers so that the profession is respected, appreciated and thrives. Unpaid internships won’t accomplish that.

Drawing The Line Between Art and Design

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Where an artist can begin with a blank canvas and pursue a serendipitous route to an end result, a designer begins with a set of criterion and remains within set boundaries from concept through completion.

From the Client’s Point of View

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From the client’s point of view, there are two crucial criteria in deciding what designer is awarded the project: 1. Does the creative understand what’s needed? 2. Is the creative capable of delivering? Understanding What’s Needed Defining the problem accurately is necessary to solving it. If a designer can do that, he in essence has [...]

A Before and After Case Study

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I was asked by a client to re-design a print ad laid out by someone else. The original layout (above, left) was cluttered and confused. The ad, for an author’s book signing events in upscale communities in Los Angeles County, was going to appear in a local cultural magazine. What was needed was a visual [...]

Elements of a Real Designer

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I teach a course at UCLA Extension called Elements of Design. It deals with the stuff design is made of. Things like balance, gestalt theory, proportion, value, color, structure and composition all go into the mix of what design is all about. Students who complete the course come away with the understanding that design is [...]

Design As Your Ambassador

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Graphic design represents ideas and values. A design is not in itself the idea, but the expression of it. Design points to something greater than itself. In most cases design serves as an ambassador, not as the self-expression of the designer, but as the expression of a business or organization to its audience. The value [...]

Design and Degree of Difficulty

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Setting up for a critique session in one of my classes at UCLA Extension. Being a designer is perceived by many as a fun job. Designers get to work with colors, shapes and amazing computer programs and be creative for a living. The design field is a natural choice for creative people. Students often enter [...]

Freelancing: In Getting New Work, Relationship Counts More Than Ever

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Businesses have a choice when seeking creative services: They can go the cheap route and buy a logo through a crowdsource/contest site where they’ll select the lowest bidder, or they can commission a designer for a custom, targeted design. This creates a dilemma for legitimate freelancers. Competition for freelance design work is not only increasing, [...]