Multiple Design Options

Multiple Design Options

A client will often ask for a few options at the beginning of the design process. This can be helpful at the very start of a project when ideas are very rough and the designer’s goal is figuring out the client’s needs and preferences. Anywhere past the...
Design as architecture

Design as architecture

I often use architecture as a method for making decisions. Usually, the goal is to quickly and accurately gauge where the audiences’ eye will travel when viewing the poster, mailer, billboard, or LCD screen. Then direct their eye to where and what design elements will...
Work Fast

Work Fast

It is almost as important to be a fast designer as it is to be a talented designer. The key to speed is process. One of the key parts of my process is non-destructive design. Non-destructive design is the practice of never altering images or vectors in any manner that...
Image or Logo

Image or Logo

This envelope mailer is a good example of how and why to give priority to a picture over the logo. Art from vendors is often of poor quality or not integral to communication. When this is the case, it is enough to simply place the image in a secondary position...
Know your tools

Know your tools

A good designer needs to know the tools of the trade just like any other professional. The good news is that these are attainable skills. Time and an inquisitive nature are all that is required to gain mastery over a designer’s tools. The problems presented by...
Rebuild

Rebuild

I love rebuilds. I imagine it’s like being an 80’s movie reboot writer. I was given a musty pile of aged work and tasked with picking out the good bits and upcycling them into something functional. In this case, I was handed a stack of photocopied (and...