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Practically every business, organization and government has a banner. These are raised in the form of logos, motifs, icons and flags. We wear them and put them on our car bumpers and on signs and travel mugs. Every banner represents something—an identity, a set of values, a reputation, a history.

  • Post category:branding/design/History/ideas/inspiration
Continue ReadingHow We’re Remembered: Memorial Day 2011

To be promoted in our design-driven culture, a product must be packaged in such a way that it becomes meaningful to the person using it, so that they become an evangelist for it. This requires thoughtful planning and execution of a design strategy

  • Post category:aesthetics/branding/design/design strategy/marketing
Continue ReadingLoving It: Seduction, Satisfaction and Graphic Culture

Empty space in a design is useful. Think of it in this way: If there was a room in your home where…

  • Post category:aesthetics/design
Continue ReadingBreathing Room: The Role of the Space In Between
Read more about the article The Internship Epidemic

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.

  • Post category:design/design practice/ethics/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/students/teaching
Continue ReadingThe Internship Epidemic

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.

  • Post category:aesthetics/art/creativity/design/ideas
Continue ReadingDrawing The Line Between Art and Design

Creative thinking requires us to cease from thinking as we always have. This is neither automatic nor easy because we automatically default to doing that which requires the least amount of effort.

  • Post category:creativity/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/ideas
Continue ReadingCreativity and Change

Design for the audience and not the client.

  • Post category:client relations/design/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingDon’t Design For The Client
Read more about the article Email Scams Target Web Designers

Scammers are highly creative in who and how they target. No one is exempt. This design project scam targeting independent creatives has…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/professional practice/tips
Continue ReadingEmail Scams Target Web Designers

From the client's point of view, there are two crucial criteria in deciding what designer is awarded the project: 1. Does the…

  • Post category:client relations/design/design practice/ethics/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/professional practice
Continue ReadingFrom the Client’s Point of View

How can you invest your product or service with “lovability” and create devotion in your customers? Here are some options: Love it…

  • Post category:branding/design/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/marketing
Continue ReadingCreating Lovability

Graphic design represents ideas and values. A design is not in itself the idea, but the expression of it. Design points to…

  • Post category:business/design/ideas/marketing
Continue ReadingDesign As Your Ambassador

Being a designer is perceived by many as a fun job. Designers get to work with colors, shapes and amazing computer programs…

  • Post category:design/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/students/success
Continue ReadingDesign and Degree of Difficulty

Clients have a choice when selecting creative services: They can go the cheap route and buy a logo through a crowdsource or contest…

  • Post category:business/client relations/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/success
Continue ReadingFreelancing: In Getting Work, Relationship Counts More Than Ever

I am currently working with a playwright to develop graphics to promote his inaugural work. We have had several discussions about the…

  • Post category:design/Process/success
Continue ReadingThe Importance Of The Big Picture

The strength of a design lies as much in the steps taken to create it as in the final result. The process — the…

  • Post category:client relations/creativity/design/success
Continue ReadingWhy the Design Process Is Important

October 7 is the anniversary of the barcode. That is, it's the day the first barcode patent was granted. I remember discussions…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingBarcodes, Design Theory, and Business
Read more about the article The Importance of Critique To Your Creative Work

Critique is a critical part of your creative process. Okay, I intended the pun there.If you've taken a drawing or design class,…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingThe Importance of Critique To Your Creative Work

On the evening before during the meeting of a creative team I'm leading, one team member made the statement that orange is…

  • Post category:branding/students
Continue ReadingColor Trends: Orange Is the New Pink

Toward the end of my design fundamentals course I generally ask my students how they, having gone through the process of learning…

  • Post category:creativity/design/ideas/students
Continue ReadingHow Do You Define Design?
Read more about the article Technologically Incorrect: Why I Still Use a Paper Planner

It’s red. It’s can get up to 2 inches thick. It's an almost constant companion. I am describing my paper planner: my planning/project/time…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/ideas/technology
Continue ReadingTechnologically Incorrect: Why I Still Use a Paper Planner

If you want to improve at anything, you must decide to do it. You need to make a commitment and even schedule regular time in your week or your day to pursue drawing.

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue Reading8 Tips For Improving Your Drawing Skills

Why is spec work so prevalent in the design profession when it's not in other professions? Increasingly, companies - creative businesses included…

  • Post category:client relations/design/ethics/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/students
Continue ReadingUnpaid Internships Are A Form of Spec Work

I am currently in the concept stages of a logo development project. I always begin in my sketchbook, doodling forms and symbols,…

  • Post category:art/inspiration
Continue ReadingSketchy Memories

Those who track and analyze cultural trends generally agree that our culture has become design-driven. It's no longer based on business or…

  • Post category:art/branding/design/ethics/ideas/innovation
Continue ReadingTrue Lies

Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is the laziest form of creativity.

  • Post category:art/creativity/design/ideas/students
Continue ReadingDrawing the Line Between Imitation and Creation

Aesthetics and style are not the same, despite opinions that claim otherwise. It’s popular to think that both aesthetics and style are…

  • Post category:aesthetics/art/design
Continue ReadingAesthetics: In Support of Style

Without the aesthetic, the computer is but a mindless speed machine, producing effects without substance, form without relevant content, or content without meaningful…

  • Post category:Designers and Clients/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingAdvice For Clients: A Designer’s Value
Read more about the article How To Get Repeat Business

Client retention is tied more to character than to talent.

  • Post category:business/client relations/design/ethics/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingHow To Get Repeat Business
Read more about the article The 7 Basic Elements of Your Brand Strategy

Simply creating graphic assets and promotional materials is not enough to manage your brand. You need a strategy — a plan, method, or series of actions for obtaining a specific goal or result. Here are 7 basic elements to get started.

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingThe 7 Basic Elements of Your Brand Strategy

My friend, Mary, was in a community theatre production of The Mikado, and was asked to write her bio for the printed program. This being…

  • Post category:branding/creativity/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/inspiration/marketing
Continue ReadingBeing Remarkable

Once you have made the investment in the creation of a company identity – a logo – how should you utilize that…

  • Post category:branding/client relations/design/marketing
Continue ReadingUsing Design to Build Awareness

Since I established my design studio over thirteen years ago, I have worked with clients large and small, designed for sole proprietors…

  • Post category:branding/client relations/design/ethics/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingWhy You Can’t Be My Client
Read more about the article Advice for Design Students

The computer is a tool. Use a pencil instead and you’re still a designer. Having a computer, even if it’s a Macintosh, does not make you a designer.

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingAdvice for Design Students
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