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Marks and shapes can be created accidentally or spontaneously as the result of process. An event or action results in shapes being…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingWhy We Create
Read more about the article The 4 Seasons of Creativity

While, as a freelancer, you absolutely must focus on your business and develop killer business skills, you also need to guard and…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingThe 4 Seasons of Creativity
Read more about the article The Basics of Visual Balance

If you're a designer or artist trying to wrap your head around what balance is all about, you're not alone. Balance is…

  • Post category:art/design
Continue ReadingThe Basics of Visual Balance
Read more about the article How To Design A Drawing

An Eye Level reader wrote: What would be the forward steps to draw realistically, in correct proportions, from imagination? Especially imaginary (though…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingHow To Design A Drawing
Read more about the article How Paying Attention Helps You Draw Better

I want to preface this by saying that as you learn and apply design principles, and gain experience with organizing elements within…

  • Post category:critique/design
Continue ReadingHow Paying Attention Helps You Draw Better

Light logic is a system of using value pattern to create the illusion of real space and form. It is simply the idea…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingIntroduction to Light Logic

Whenever we create design and art we are composing. Composition is the make up, arrangement or structure of a work, whether it's…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingCreating Compositions That Communicate
Read more about the article How To Show 3D Volume in 2D Space Using Spatial Devices

  How to create space… specifically, how to create the illusion of volume in 2-dimensional art and design. In this tutorial I…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingHow To Show 3D Volume in 2D Space Using Spatial Devices
Read more about the article 5 Ways To Create A Focal Point

[themeone_drop_cap letter="T" color="accent-color2" /]here are, of course, more than 5 ways to create a focal point in an image or design. The…

  • Post category:design
Continue Reading5 Ways To Create A Focal Point

There is a phrase: ex nihilo nihil fit. It roughly translates from the Latin as from nothing, nothing comes. Generally, this is a…

  • Post category:branding/design
Continue ReadingMaking the Invisible Visible
Read more about the article Create Better Color Schemes By Using Proportions

Color schemes work best when the amounts of the colors used in the design are not equal. A variety of proportions creates…

  • Post category:design
Continue ReadingCreate Better Color Schemes By Using Proportions
Read more about the article 2 Ways To Mix Color

There are two ways in which we mix color: Additively, using direct light from an original source, and Subtractively, using light reflected from…

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue Reading2 Ways To Mix Color

To answer the question, “How much will it cost?”, the question, “What do you want to accomplish?” needs to be asked first. Clients are often…

  • Post category:client relations/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingHow To Budget For A Design Project
Read more about the article A Philosophy of Branding, Part 1
branding influence reputation typographic illustration in reds for Design and Conquer blog post

Of Influence, Time and Trust Branding is a popular discussion in my circles, and in the course of those conversations I gain…

  • Post category:branding/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/marketing
Continue ReadingA Philosophy of Branding, Part 1

Are you more concerned about aesthetics or your bottom line when contracting design services? Designers - good ones - always care about how…

  • Post category:aesthetics/design/marketing
Continue ReadingShould You Care About Aesthetics?

A significant percentage of my clients are non-profit enterprises. I have had many opportunities to design campaign materials, annual reports, and graphic…

  • Post category:branding/design strategy/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingDesigning For Non-Profits
Read more about the article Creative Freedom Through Setting Boundaries

Working with clients can be likened to a downhill race: The designer moves along in her process and picks up momentum as she heads toward the finish…

  • Post category:advice/client relations/design management/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingCreative Freedom Through Setting Boundaries

Like me, you've probably received email with a "Think of the forests before you print this." appeal in the footer. We're encouraged…

  • Post category:design/design management
Continue ReadingThe Sustainability of Paper

Identity is the facts - the indisputable reality - of who or what something is. Without getting into an existential discussion, let's…

  • Post category:branding/marketing
Continue ReadingIdentity: Why You Need More Than a Logo

Start-up businesses and organizations tend to hold themselves back in terms of establishing reputation and solidity by under-budgeting and under-investing in the…

  • Post category:aesthetics/business/design/marketing
Continue ReadingThey’ll Notice

Whether you’re a business owner, executive or staff member, business cards continue to play a leading role at events, in business and…

  • Post category:branding/design/marketing
Continue ReadingOptimizing Your Business Card

I am a full-time graphic designer/illustrator and part-time design educator, so design thinking is a familiar and routine part of my life.…

  • Post category:creativity/design/Process/students
Continue ReadingThe Value of Design is the Thought Behind It

Like any design, websites are experienced. Your goal should be to provide the best experience to the largest percentage of people who…

  • Post category:design/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/marketing/tips
Continue ReadingYour Website’s Magnificent 7

Listening is related to empathy. Empathy is valuing another's experience, and keeps the designer from creating something that is self-expressive.

  • Post category:client relations/design/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/Process
Continue ReadingListening Is A Design Skill

Before working with a designer, a client should prepare for that relationship. Often,  businesses will request a web site or a logo…

  • Post category:business/client relations/design/design management/design practice/professional practice
Continue ReadingBriefly Stated: The Advantages of Getting It In Writing

There 's a book in my library titled, 101 Things to Learn in Art School by Kit White. It's full of truths…

  • Post category:design/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingSkills You’re Not Taught In Design School

As I prepare to teach my next course in Design History at UCLA Extension, I gave some thought to why designers should study…

  • Post category:design/History/students/teaching
Continue Reading10 Good Reasons To Study Design History
Read more about the article Seeing Red

Since color is a fundamental design element, designers should have a well-rounded knowledge of color theory that addresses color perception, psychology and symbolism in order to make intelligent design decisions.

  • Post category:Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials
Continue ReadingSeeing Red

The element of beauty is assumed in any design.

  • Post category:aesthetics/design
Continue ReadingA Value-Added Proposition

Some ideas look really good in your head but when you get them down on paper and begin to develop a strategy, the flaws become apparent.

  • Post category:business/design/innovation
Continue ReadingThe Great Idea Viability Test
Read more about the article The Importance of Knowing Why

How many people set goals and never achieve them? How many creatives start a business and then watch it fizzle out Are…

  • Post category:branding/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/marketing
Continue ReadingThe Importance of Knowing Why

Does it matter if a design is good or not? Before we can deal with that question let's ask a more basic…

  • Post category:aesthetics/design/marketing
Continue ReadingDoes Good Design Matter?

Let's make the distinction between beauty and pretty.

  • Post category:aesthetics
Continue ReadingBeauty Is Not Pretty

Being effective involves doing the right thing at the right time in the right place.

  • Post category:client relations/design/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingWhen It’s Time To Let Go
Read more about the article Green Scheduling: 6 Tips for Sustaining Your Creative Time

Design your time. Time is wasted when we do the wrong thing at the wrong time. It's easier to keep your time boundaries and your well-being intact if you plan ahead.

  • Post category:creativity/design/design management/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/tips
Continue ReadingGreen Scheduling: 6 Tips for Sustaining Your Creative Time

If we approach a design solution as an opportunity for self-expression, we'll miss the point and risk not solving the problem.

  • Post category:client relations/creativity/design/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingWhy Design Is Not Self-Expression
Read more about the article 12 Rules for Freelance Success

Setting and maintaining boundaries will help you avoid relationships and circumstances that are potentially harmful.

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue Reading12 Rules for Freelance Success

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

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

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

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?
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