2009 November Archive - Paper Leaf Design | Edmonton Graphic Design, Edmonton Web Design

Archive for November, 2009

15 Best Holiday Gifts for Designers

November 9, 2009

I was in the mall the other day, and amidst the mass hysteria of the H1N1 immunizations happening there, I saw Christmas advertisements. Yes, it’s that time of year already. Now, if you have a graphic designer in your family, you might be wondering what to get them. CS4 is too expensive. A pencil is too cheap. Well, never fear, because I am here with a list of the best holiday gifts for designers – no CS4 or pencils in sight. Or, perhaps, you’re here because you want to buy a little something for yourself for Christmas, or put something on your list. Who am I to judge?

Below are the 15 Best Holiday Gifts for Designers. Now, it’s not like these gifts are only available to members of some ultra top secret Designers Club of the Universe or anything – I picked them because they are either directly design-related, or the design of the object is something unique – a design that someone who is a design professional would most likely appreciate. If you want more, check out the 10 Cool Items for Your Design Workspace article too! Share, enjoy & subscribe to the RSS feed!

Objectified DVD

Directed by Gary Hustwit (also did the Helvetica documentary), this look into the minds of industrial designers will provide both entertainment and inspiration to any designer. BluRays are also available, but the DVD is $20.

Mimo Mini USB Monitor

I know – we would all love to rock two Apple Cinema displays in our workspace. Unfortunately, I do not sleep on a pile of cash at night and you probably don’t either (if you do, call me & let’s hang out). For those of you who are in the same boat as me, I present to you the Mimo Mini USB monitor. Tiny, USB-powered and useful, you can plug this in to your laptop or desktop computer and have another screen for items like your Photoshop tools, reminders, IM screens and such. $129-$229.

Hit the jump for more!

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Free Friday Design Wallpaper: Georgia

November 6, 2009

Welcome to what I believe to be the final installment of the typography-based series of free Friday Wallpapers. Don’t worry, I’ll still do free wallpapers, but I’m not sure entirely what kind next. I’m thinking a calendar one, once a month, come January – but as for weekly, I have no idea. Too many deadlines these days!

Anyway, this week’s is Georgia (regular). The challenge here was to take a font seen all over the place – a font that’s sort of bland – and make it interesting as the sole item in the design. I think it worked! Enjoy, share and subscribe to the RSS feed!

GeorgiaTHUMB

Click to download the Georgia Wallpaper in 1920X1200, 1680X1050, 1440X900 or 1280X800. Pass it along!

How to Work with Long-Distance Clients

November 2, 2009

Ah, the world wide web. It’s kind of like a cyber-world tour pass – we can go virtually anywhere, at anytime, with a good internet connection. Luckily for us designers, that means the amount of potential clients has increased exponentially. I’ve written about how to get local design clients before; now, I’d like to focus on how to work with long-distance clients.

The fundamental principles of good project management remain the same, whether your client is local or international – trust & communication. If you can gain one another’s trust, and if you communicate effectively with one another, then a project will run smoothly. But how can we do that if we’re working long-distance, giving up face-to-face meetings and focusing on internet and phone-based communication?

Working Long Distance with Clients

Well, let’s approach a long-distance project the same way we’d approach a local project, and I’ll point out ways to combat the small roadblocks that come up. Hit the jump to read the rest of the post!

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