More Designer Wear
Friday December 31, 2004
In December I put together some fun designer apparel such as a variety of t-shirts with clever slogans or creative artwork. If you're looking for still more wearable merchandise specifically ... Read More
My Type of Snowflake
Friday December 31, 2004
I traveled north to visit relatives and my kids got to experience their first white Christmas. But personally, the type of snowflakes I prefer are the virtual ones. Previously I ... Read More
PSD XTension for QuarkXPress Users
Thursday December 30, 2004
One feature sometimes touted in the list of what makes InDesign better than QuarkXPress is it's ability to place and use native Photoshop PSD files. But now QuarkXPress users can ... Read More
The 2005 FontFont Calendar
Thursday December 30, 2004
I've put January up on my wall. Get your 2005 FontFont Calendar (each month is a PDF file), print it out, hang it where you can admire it every day. ... Read More
Marketing the New Calendar Year
Tuesday December 28, 2004
It's the start of a new year and it may be time for a new calendar too.
Create and Use a Marketing Calendar for Your Business
Create and Use a Calendar to ... Read More
The Color of 2005
Tuesday December 28, 2004
According to Colorstrolgy, the color of the year for 2005 is Violet Tulip or PANTONE 16-3823. It's part of the purple and lavendar range of colors.
Did Santa Bring a Digital Camera?
Monday December 27, 2004
If so, and it's your first venture into digital photography, get started off right with Sue's Top Digital Camera Newbie Mistakes to Avoid. And if the color you see in ... Read More
pdfFactory Pro
Monday December 27, 2004
After evaluating several software products for PDF creation, except for Adobe Acrobat, Computer Arts Magazine chose pdfFactory Pro from FinePrint Software as the best choice. Get More Info from the ... Read More
Your Choice of Business
Thursday December 23, 2004
Did you choose desktop publishing and graphic design as a career or did it choose you? Are you still trying to decide if this is the field for you? Entrepreneurs ... Read More
The Art of Estimating
Tuesday December 21, 2004
In Setting a Flat Fee and Estimating Desktop Publishing Projects I set out four items that go into coming up with a job estimate ((Hourly Rate x Labor) + Other ... Read More
Making Shiny Spots
Tuesday December 21, 2004
I've been working on some craft projects that use a combination of rough stone tiles and shiny tiles and it reminded me of this tutorial on How to Specify ... Read More
Designers Talking to Non-Designers
Monday December 20, 2004
I read with some head-nodding and some head-shaking Talking the Designer's Talk, Can You Articulate The Reason Behind Your Designs by Pariah S. Burke. The blog posting, along with the ... Read More
Big Words Are Important
Monday December 20, 2004
In page layout it's common to use size to establish importance. Bigger words, bigger pictures demand attention. Here's an interesting application of "big=important" or in this case big equals more ... Read More
Meet Mac Design Pro
Sunday December 19, 2004
Digital Media Net has just launched 5 new online publications aimed at Mac users including Mac Design Pro aimed at Web and print designers on the Macintosh platform. Additionally, 6 ... Read More
If Only...
Saturday December 18, 2004
If David Kadavy's "tutorial" on How To Draw a Still Life doesn't quite do it for you... try these How to Draw tutorials instead.
Temporary Type
Saturday December 18, 2004
At various blogs including Typographica and Foreword I read announcements about The fourth annual Friends of St Bride Library Conference taking place in October 2005. They've put out a call ... Read More
Free Holiday Templates for The Print Shop for Mac
Saturday December 18, 2004
Purchasers of The Print Shop for Mac OS X can get a newly released free collection of templates for Christmas and New Year's projects from Software MacKiev. The collection contains ... Read More
Growth in Freelance Design Expected
Friday December 17, 2004
Priced at $2,875, it's not likely that I'm going to picking up a copy of “The U.S. Graphic Design Business 2004-2009” report. However, there are some interesting findings in the ... Read More
Getting Perfect Digital Pictures
Thursday December 16, 2004
Taking digital camera photos of holiday lights is tricky business. However, by making adjustments to your camera settings and a good dose of trial and error you can still get ... Read More
Punctuation Substitution
Wednesday December 15, 2004
Have you ever wanted to tell off a clueless client or friend in an email but your more sensible side prevailed before you could hit the send button? Perhaps you ... Read More
Fast AND Cheap
Wednesday December 15, 2004
When shopping for someone to design a logo or create a brochure there are those clients who want it fast and they want it cheap. And some freelancers are willing ... Read More
Makeover Project - Humor for the Holidays
Tuesday December 14, 2004
Maybe you wouldn't want to but a makeshift toilet on your own holiday greetings, but I'm sure some folks would find it amusing. Your job in this makeover project is ... Read More
Peace
Tuesday December 14, 2004
It's such a familiar symbol yet I don't think I ever knew the actual origins of the peace symbol. While it was most often used in the US during the ... Read More
Recommend Mac and Software for a Total Novice
Tuesday December 14, 2004
In the DTP Classroom Chrissy is looking for recommendations for her computer novice brother.
I want to purchase a low end mac as well as a beginner online course for my ... Read More
Desktop Poet
Monday December 13, 2004
My refrigerator is covered with "fridge poetry" - little magnets with words and letters. Periodically one of us here will arrange these magnets into intriguing, comical, or whimsical sentences, haiku, ... Read More
Portfolios, Pro-Bono, and Planning Your Future
Monday December 13, 2004
Recently I mentioned a survey that found that 3 of 4 employees are looking for a new job. If you are one of those folks then you're probably polishing your ... Read More
Put It On a CD
Sunday December 12, 2004
Putting pictures and files on a CD isn't quite as simple as copying files to a floppy disk (remember those?). But CDs are great for holding the massive collections of ... Read More
Another Word About Using a Word Processor to Do Design
Saturday December 11, 2004
In the same vein as my Don't Do Desktop Publishing with Microsoft Word article, this Be A Design Group commentary and reader comments on Typesetting in Microsoft Word has some ... Read More
Font Lovers Love Script Fonts
Saturday December 11, 2004
It was really no surprise to me to read that "Script Fonts Always Sell Better" as discussed at Typographica. Not that I've been selling any fonts but I have a ... Read More
Creating Patterns
Friday December 10, 2004
I was reading a product announcement for PatternMaker 1.0, an Adobe InDesign plug-in for creating and modifying PostScript patterns and was reminded of my current project here at home - ... Read More
Compositionals
Friday December 10, 2004
I found this site intriguing. Basically what you do is click areas off and on, changing their color which in turn changes how the various pieces of text and graphic ... Read More
Before Takeoff, Check Off These Items
Friday December 10, 2004
You've brainstormed the design, chosen the fonts, colors, graphics. You've spent hours moving,elements around on the page and tweaking the type. Finally your document is exactly like you want it. ... Read More
It's Snowing!
Friday December 10, 2004
Still trying to get those last minute Holiday Cards designed and into the mail? Want to use a snowflake theme? Guide Sue Chastain has some snow and snowflake effects, objects, ... Read More
Not-So-Dumb Games
Thursday December 9, 2004
Anyone who thinks typography is all work and no play hasn't played the Dumb Quotes version of Crimes Against Typography. Use your mouse (red x) to "destroy the evil hatch ... Read More
Bookplates
Thursday December 9, 2004
Want to create a bookplate with a really retro look? Browse The Cyber Journal of Heraldic Bookplates for mostly black and white and some color examples of elaborate bookplates or ... Read More
Creative Workspace
Thursday December 9, 2004
One common prescription for boosting creativity is to find a place to work, to think that contributes to a creative state of mind. For those doing desktop publishing and graphic ... Read More
Out! Out! Out of that PDF!
Wednesday December 8, 2004
Perhaps one of the most requested PDF-related tasks after "how to create a PDF" is "how to get text or images out of a PDF file." Depending on your needs, ... Read More
A Pink and Brown Christmas
Wednesday December 8, 2004
Red and Green are the traditional colors of Christmas and although you'll find cards using many other colors, brown and pink aren't a color combination that you frequently find. But ... Read More
Getting It Printed
Tuesday December 7, 2004
While printing may be one of the last steps in the desktop publishing process, deciding how something will be printed should come much earlier in the process. Your design may ... Read More
Poster Art
Monday December 6, 2004
I like posters. Take a few minutes to browse this collection from the Speak Up Poster Contest . Click the thumbnail to get a nice size version to pop up ... Read More
Job Hunting for Money
Monday December 6, 2004
According to a recent U.S. Job Recovery and Retention Survey, 75% of all employees are either actively or passively looking for a new job. More money was cited as the ... Read More
Do You Need to Know Algebra to Design a Brochure?
Sunday December 5, 2004
During the course of homeschooling my children we often discuss how what we are learning - math, history, geography, etc. - applies to real world situations. It's funny how ... Read More
Countdown 2005 With a Custom Calendar
Saturday December 4, 2004
Have you started working on your 2005 Calendar Designs yet? It's less than a month away. Count down the year in style with a custom calendar you create yourself. Calendars ... Read More
FontAgent Pro for Mac OS X
Friday December 3, 2004
Having too many fonts installed not only slows down system and program performance, it can be difficult to find the font you need. But it's also nice to have any ... Read More
More Than Just a Design Magazine
Thursday December 2, 2004
The current issue of Building Letters magazine is loaded with design articles, 2 posters, and a CD full of fonts. But the unusual part of this annual publication is that ... Read More
Be Consistent, Cut the Clutter, Add Contrast
Wednesday December 1, 2004
Even if the only newsletters you write are family newsletters in lieu of Christmas cards you can still use the 3Cs to ensure your recipients look forward to your publication ... Read More