August 29th, 2011

Category: Marketing

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“Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you’ve fed him for life.”

It’s kind of common-sense/basic, but it’s easy to overlook: people are more likely to do something if they already know how. It turns out that most people aren’t as adventurous as they’d like to think.

If you show me how easy it is to use your product, I’m more likely to buy it. On the other hand, if you just tell me what great features it has, I’m less likely to do something about it.

Let’s say you have a new way of purchasing things, such as by bumping two smartphones together. If you tell me how it works, I might be nervous about it. What if something breaks? What if the phone somehow transfers all my texts to their phone? Will it be hard to keep track of it?

But if you show me how it works in a way that’s fun and not condescending, it becomes easier, because I’m already familiar.

Before any of us understood what it was all about, Common Craft made a video using paper cutouts to explain Twitter in plain English.

Remember, by default we aren’t very adventurous. Show the rest of us how easy it is to do/use your new thing, and we’ll jump on board.

August 25th, 2011

Category: Design Theory and Practice

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So far, I’ve discussed creating color palettes in general and for printed materials in specific. Now let’s dive into using color on the web.

In my opinion, color on screen should be used very carefully, perhaps more carefully than in print. I say this because, until color e-Ink is widely affordable, screens will be backlit for the foreseeable future. What this means is that since screens are backlit and since colors made from light instead of pigment are more intense by default, the colors are typically more intense and bright than they would appear on paper.

You might be able to replicate 100% green with a fluorescent ink, but metallics have to be faked somehow.

It also means ultra-bright colors can be a bit garish. (Remember the color-clashing phantasmagoria of Geocities sites? Yeah, you don’t want that.

BONUS: make your website look like it was built by a 13-year old in 1996.)

Since you don’t want to hurt people’s eyes when they arrive at your website, it’s a good idea to start with a neutral palette and add color in small doses. If the color is too intense, it’ll “burn” your eyes. If you need a refresher, go see the Geocities-izer again.

Also, reversed-out type is generally hard to read on screen (unless you’re in a darkened room, and even then, 16 pixels is probably the absolute minimum smallest size you can set reversed type and not cause eye strain.) If you have areas of intensity, you want to be sure to provide plenty of relief for the eye.

That’s why when I designed this site, I set out to use a fairly neutral design, added the orange and silver from the logo sparingly. The headlines in black would be too much contrast, so they are silver to ease the tension. Furthermore the limited use of color on the site helps the portfolio pieces stand out.

August 22nd, 2011

Category: Design Theory and Practice

2 Comments

Previously, we’ve talked about building a color palette from a general perspective, but today I want to talk about creating a color palette for use in printed materials.

Of course, you should always make sure your color choices match up with your overall purpose, but once you have that established it’s time to consider how to apply that in the case of print. (more…)

August 18th, 2011

Category: Design Theory and Practice

6 Comments

If you’ve been in the design industry any length of time, you know that everyone has their own way of working. While this is OK to some degree, there should be some standardization out there when it comes to the actual practice of design in a digital environment.

Here are 11 things I have run into over the past tean years or so years as a print designer, working with other people’s files. (more…)

August 15th, 2011

Category: Marketing

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At the movies, they show 20 minutes of trailers and advertisements before the movie begins.

Most of the time, the ads are for movies that are similar to the movie you’re there to see. If you’re there to see a comedy, most of the ads will be for other comedies coming out soon. If you’re there to see an adult drama, you’ll see ads for luxury cars and adult dramas. If you’re at a kids’ movie, you’ll see ads for minivans and other kids’ movies. (more…)

August 11th, 2011

Category: Marketing

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There are lots of tools available to marketers these days: social media, direct mail, print ads, billboards, TV spots, websites, landing pages, blogs, promotional products, giveaways, coupons, “99¢,” high design, low design, hard sell, soft sell, etc.

The list goes on.

A lot of times it’s easy to get caught up in using the same tool for everything. (more…)

August 9th, 2011

Category: Design Theory and Practice, Uncategorized

10 Comments

Massimo Vignelli is famous in graphic design circles for using only half a dozen or so typefaces his entire career. While this is a bit extreme (and there’s a good counter-argument/commentary regarding it at I Love Typography’s The Vignelli Twelve: We Use Way Too Many Fonts I think the idea of restraint and minimalism is good practice.

With that in mind, here are 20 typefaces that I tend to come back to time and again. They’re good workhorse fonts that work well in many applications. (more…)

July 7th, 2011

Category: Inspiration

4 Comments

There’s a style in logo design that I’ve watched grow in popularity over the past few years (especially with online outlets like Ffffound and Dribbble) that is sort of a homey, quasi-naive take on the classic Swiss/International style of the 1960s and 1970s.

Where Swiss typography usually favors Helvetica and Univers, this newer style typically consists of sturdy American favorites such as slab serifed Clarendon and condensed sans-serifs like Trade Gothic, with a dash of Hellenic Wide, sometimes ornamented by inline strokes.

So much of it seems to be coming out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and nearby Wisconsin, so I am calling it Midwest Modern. (more…)

June 29th, 2011

Category: Business of Design, Design Theory and Practice

2 Comments

Commissioning a logo is a lot like buying a pair of shoes. You have to consider things like functionality, cost, appearance, and quality.

Like buying shoes, if you commission a logo based purely on functionality, it may work for a while, performing the bare minimum of its duties. Shoes cover your feet and keep you from stepping on sharp things. A logo is an emblem for your company. That’s enough, right? Well, maybe for a little while. (more…)

June 20th, 2011

Category: Design Theory and Practice

4 Comments

There are lots of kinds of cheeses: brie, cheddar, gouda, feta, American, Swiss, Philly, Velveeta, parmigiana, asiago, mozzarella, gruyere, and more.

They’re all good, but not always appropriate depending on the situation. If you take your girlfriend on a fancy date at a French restaurant, you’ll probably put brie on crusty bread and nibble on grapes. If you’re eating a quick meal alone, mac-and-cheese will do. If you want a midnight snack, a piece of cheddar melted on a piece of toast is perfect.

Logos are the same way: it can take lots of forms, but they’re not the same. Each has it’s own personality and is appropriate for different brands. It’s not all “just cheese.” (more…)