Oct

27

Aspenhome Catalog Won The 2011 American Graphic Design Award

Posted by : John | On : October 27, 2011

Category: Graphic Design

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Following a redesign for this year, Aspenhome Catalog won the 2011 American Graphic Design Award, which is a national award that honors outstanding new work. It was presented by Graphic Design USA. Last year in 2010, the catalog was also recognized by GD USA. They were rewarded for their outstanding corporate branding.

Since Aspenhome Catalog won the Graphic Design Award, they will appear in GD USA’s printed design Annual and on the GD USA Website so that other creative professionals and graphic designs can see their talents.

Also this year, in addition to the Graphic Design Award, Aspenhome Catalog won the Spectrum Award from the Phoenix Chapter of the American Marketing Association. The Spectrum Award recognizes and honors professionals who demonstrate and exhibit talents within the practice of research, design, marketing, and public relations. The catalog won its award in the Collateral-Annual Report/Catalogue category.

Renee Loper, director of the marketing communications from Aspenhome, Phoenix quoted that, “Our goal was to create a user-friendly innovative new catalog designed to highlight the ahhh-some characteristics and sometimes hidden features that make the Aspenhome furniture so unique. ”

Renee also stated that she was happy and quite impressed that her company had won two design awards. Their win had exceeded her goals and was a great reward for her company’s marketing team.

Oct

23

The End of PC Gaming

Posted by : John | On : October 23, 2011

Category: Graphic Design

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PC gamers have been well aware that a bleak end for PC gaming itself was drawing near, but many were not ready for it to come this soon. The future was looking bright, especially when ID software released Doom 3 onto the market and literally shook the PC gaming industry. Today things are a bit different, and it is really no surprise that so many gamers are switching over to the console alternative. Many PC gamers have found that the following are quite true when it comes to consoles:

  • Compatibility: When it comes to PC games there are always going to be clear compatibility issues that simply do not pan out. On a console, there are no compatibility issues because the game was tested and runs on your hardware — the same hardware that everyone else is using.
  • Updates: One of the biggest problems with PC games as of late is the constant attitude of ‘Release now, patch later’. As a result of this, almost all games are released in a broken state and they are barely playable.
  • Multiplayer: Unlike with PC’s, the user no longer has to jump through a ridiculous number of hoops to get the multiplayer working. One of the biggest problems with the PC was the fact that multiplayer protocols would often be rendered defunct, and eventually cease function no matter how popular the game is. With a console, multiplayer games will work indefinitely.

These are three major issues, and possibly things that John Carmack is taking into consideration when he says ‘he’s done’ with PC gaming. When Rage came out this month there was a sever issue among PC gamers, which is to say that almost none of them. This was attributed in part to a bad driver released by AMD which left the majority of ATI gamers dead in the water, and it seems that John Carmack finally recognizes the futility of designing games for the PC.

This does not mean that they have given up on the game by any means. As you read this they are scrambling to find a solution, but what exactly does this say for the future of PC gaming? To be honest, it does not bode well and any gamer should be able to recognize this. There will be even more switching to the console after this event, and many PC gamers are absolutely enraged. Some will blame Carmack and accuse him of incompetence while some will blame the hordes of PC gamers that have already made the switch to console. Either way, there are clear problems, and right now no one sees a patch coming in the future.

Oct

20

Apply Tribute Logo Moves So Many People

Posted by : John | On : October 20, 2011

Category: Graphic Design

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Credit: Jonathan Mak Long

Not long ago, Steve Jobs retired from Apple, which was a rather unexpected move. A graphic design student in Hong Kong created a design that was intended to honor the man who literally pioneered the home computer. The design was actually quite simple, it featured a cutout of the apple logo with what appeared to be a bite taken form it. The bite however, was the profile of Steve Jobs. This was a very simple design, and when it was originally posted it only got around 80 comments. When Steve Jobs died, the graphic designer, Jonathan Mak Long re-posted the image.

What happened next, no one could have predicted. The image received thousands of comments and quickly found itself on a number of other websites including Tumblr. There were some that believed it should be the new Apple logo, and there were even people who wanted to use it as a tattoo.

The designer has since received a number of job offers from different companies requiring his unique capabilities, but he has not acted on any of them as of yet. The only certainty right now is the fact that this man has singlehandedly affected the entire world in a way that few could imagine. After all, who could have predicted that the passing of Steve Jobs could have such an effect on the world? Then again, the man was the creator of the first personal computer and one of a few true innovators in this world. It could only be expected.

Oct

17

Basic Aspects of Graphic Design

Posted by : John | On : October 17, 2011

Category: Graphic Design

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Graphic design is essentially the use of graphics and text to communicate a message to other people. The design variety is used to make logos, to create newsletters, posters, brochures, and of course, websites.

The basic aspects of graphic design are to create an overall look that is easy to read and is inviting to the client or user in order to convert the website, or the brochure or other elements into a sale for the person using the design.

Graphic design deals a lot with unity, alignment, with balance, and today, more than at any other time, with white space and good use of text.

One of the most important aspects of graphic design is your preplanning and the knowledge of the audience that you are trying to impress or to convey the message to.
Knowing your audience prior to beginning may be the single most important part of designing for any group of people. Learning what kind of person you’re going to be aiming your designs toward is imperative in order to be able to reach that audience.

For example, creating a pale pink and deep purple skater posters may get the news about your product out to a group of people who fall into the 18-24 age group, but if you’re selling a product that appeals to a middle aged group, you’re not going to reach them, and you aren’t going to sell much to the teens.

The first lesson in graphic design then, is know your audience and target them appropriately using the kind of design that will appeal to them.

Oct

15

Good Graphic Design Gets the Message Across in an Eye Appealing Way

Posted by : John | On : October 15, 2011

Category: Graphic Design

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Graphic design is being utilized in just about every industry today. You see the results of graphic designing efforts each time you open up a browser and surf the Internet. Every website is created using some form of graphic design. All the signs you see in front of businesses were made possible through the imaginative efforts of a designer who took the requests of a business owner into consideration, and turned them into art work that will get the attention of those who are passing by.

The real art of graphic design is not in simply creating good looking graphics, it also lies in being able to arrange that artwork into images and text in such a was as to produce an interesting and coherent piece with the end result in mind. The graphic design process is used to enhance the layout and make it attractive to viewers by simplifying and communicating the intended message effectively. Even though all of this sounds simple, it does take a lot of work to get it right.

As designers begin to create graphic design, they analyze such factors as the targeted audience, the intention of the message, and the medium that will be used to get that message across. That could be online, in print form such as newspapers and magazines, or in books or on posters. Once all the basic requirements have been sorted out, it is time to organize graphics and text so that they fit well into this format.

Graphic design involves arrangement of graphics as well as text, but it also has to consider fonts, color and size as well. Basic elements of design also include lines and spacing, shape and texture, value, rhythm and balance. It is very important for this art form to respect the principles of color, balance, emphasis, contrast, movement, proportion, pattern, repetition, proximity, texture, unity as well as white space. Although all of these basic concepts are not new to the realm of advertising, they have taken on new forms in recent years.

With the recent innovations in printing technologies and software, the age old use of graphic design seems to have been reinvented. Using a multitude of different software packages the individual designer can create high quality and very complex graphic design. Even those designers who are highly qualified with lots of experience can benefit from using graphic designing software since just about all work in this area is now done with the use of computers. This allows access to make modifications quickly and easily which is not like having to do it by hand.

Graphic design work is in high demand today due to the multiple applications it is being used for. People all over the world are creating films, animation, printed items, and a whole lot more right from their computers. You see graphics displayed on clothing that was designed by someone somewhere. The list goes on and on as to how graphic design is used, but the key to creating great graphic design is in communicating the intended message while at the same time being pleasing to the eye. Good graphics grab the attention of viewers and help them understand what is being said.

Oct

13

Graphic Design and Search Engine Optimization-Do They Work Together?

Posted by : John | On : October 13, 2011

Category: Graphic Design

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Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is all about getting your website in front of the right people, but did you know that your graphic design has a lot to do with that too? SEO and website design work hand in hand to create that initial impression and help the people to want to see more. One thing that is sometimes forgotten by graphic designers and SEO experts alike is that both things tend to work together. They work hand in hand and make the people who are viewing your site decide to go just a step or two further when they are viewing the website. It is that first view that makes the difference in whether or not you get a customer or do not.

You’re going to form some kind of an opinion about what the site is worth, how helpful that it might be in just a moment or two after seeing the site. That means that the graphic design has a lot to do with whether or not the website viewer goes even a step further than the front page. If that isn’t SEO, then nothing is. Graphic design, really good quality design that is created to make navigation easy, to make the site easy on the eye and a pleasure to visit is going to be the first component of quality Search engine optimization. Good graphic design will appeal to the age group and the demographic group that your site is supposed to be targeting, and it will draw them further and further into the site, making traffic driving a great deal easier.

Oct

10

Graphic Design And Your Website

Posted by : John | On : October 10, 2011

Category: Graphic Design

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A good design for your website will help you to attract both new customers as well as new website visitors. The design is the first aspect of the website that is seen. You have, according to the experts, about twelve seconds to make a first impression with your graphic design. That first impression can’t be made again, so it is in your best interests to grab the attention of the visitor and to create a real impact with your design.

The benefits of a great design can’t be overstated. It will add inherent value to your website and it will allow that information which you are presenting to be laid out in a way that is simple, easy to navigate and well organized so that your visitors need to hunt and search to find what they came for. You can make or break your business, particularly an online business, by the graphic design alone.

Content is an important aspect of the website, of course, and we would in no way underscore that part of the website that presents the information. The reality is however, that if you don’t set a positive first impression in the minds of your website visitors, quite often, you will not get the chance to present the content to them.

Your design will be the first thing that is seen. It will be what evokes that initial response in the user and offers them the reason to move further into the site. It can, if done correctly, be the one driving force behind converting your visitors into new customers.

Sep

26

What is Graphic Design

Posted by : John | On : September 26, 2011

Category: Graphic Design

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What Is Graphic Design

When you are talking about Graphic Design you are talking about an area of specialty that involves the visual arts. This is typically a special service provided to commercial enterprises for advertising or educational purposes. It involves the enhancement of products, services or information by creating a pleasing visual or a set of visuals.

The tradition in this industry has been to create and execute materials for such things as Logo Design, Brochure Design, Corporate Identity, Charts, Diagrams, and Graphs, Retouching Photo, as well as other types of print materials. 35 mm Slide Presentations, Multi-Media Presentations, Advertisements for Television and other Visual Aids are created by Graphic Design.

The Web Design market is also taking advantage of the incredible creativity of Graphic Design. Most of the time you will find designers who are knowledgeable in a variety of discipline areas even though some specialize in just one in this rapidly expanding industry. Some artists are expected to be able to design and set up entire websites, design materials for print and web applications, and edit photos to be used for web as well as print media.

The majority of us are living with views of Graphic Design artwork on a daily basis without even knowing it. Most websites involve many efforts of Graphic Designers. Along with that, advertising agencies use the services of these designers as they prepare for television advertisements. Other areas where you will see the efforts of Graphic Designers are in signage of businesses, restaurant menus, newspapers, doctor’s office brochures, and even greeting cards that can be purchased at your local store. Of course, don’t forget about the junk mail you receive every day.

The predominately right-brained tendencies of the past that accounted for most of the Graphic Designers are no longer necessary. Today’s Graphic Design specialists must have a balanced brain for success in the industry. With computers and powerful software programs are the primary requirement for accomplishing the important creative work. Creativity and logic may not have always been seen as compatible skills when it comes to Graphic Design, but with this new technology they go hand in hand for piloting the many software programs and trouble shooting issues with computing as well as lots more.

If you are looking at venturing into a highly rewarding career, Graphic Design may be what you are looking for. You will find that you will be challenged mentally, and will have the opportunity for networking with many professionals in a wide variety of fields. If you are looking for an opportunity to work from home, this is the place to be, because once you have established yourself with education and contacts as well as a lot of other areas, working from your home office is the perfect solution.

There are a variety of incomes to look forward to as well, and they depend on several factors. Those factors include your area of expertise, the years of experience you have under your belt, your contacts in a business as well as personal arena, and the list goes on. You will be working with cutting edge technology, while using your own creativity, and having fun with it all.

Individuals who love to doodle, pay close attention to detail, are creative, patient, and love to solve problems are well suited to Graphic Design.