1. The Death of the Print-Only Freelance Designer

    August 30, 2010 by Jeff

    The print-only freelance designer is a dying breed. There, I said it. If you’re a freelance designer who doesn’t have web-related skills, you best add that arrow to your quiver or you’re going to be left in the dust. Now, it’s worth noting that I’m not saying “print design is dead” or “identity design is dead”. As long as there are businesses, artists, musicians and the like, graphic designers will be needed. However, freelance designers who only operate in the print realm aren’t long for this world.

    The Death of the Print-Only Freelance Designer

    The digital realm is growing and spreading, and at the expense of the print world. As the opportunities for print work shift over to digital work, so do those print jobs. The numbers show the shift: Amazon sold 143 ebooks for every 100 hardcover books in the second quarter of 2010.  In the music industry, album sales fell 12.7% in 2009 while digital singles rose 8.3% and digital albums rose 16.1% (source). These are only two industries, but two big ones – and they point towards the growing trend towards digital over print. It should be noted that overall, people still currently buy more physical albums and physical books, so it’s not like we should erase the section of our brains that holds our print design information right now. However, the numbers don’t lie: digital is growing, print is declining.

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  2. Designing Past the Logo

    August 9, 2010 by Jeff

    Like many of our readers, we end up doing quite a bit of work for smaller businesses. Personally, I love working with small businesses: you usually have one solid contact, you can relate to one another, and you can usually skip the bureaucracy and red tape that sometimes comes with working for larger companies. However, the common downside is that small businesses might not have the budget to pay for a full identity overhaul – logo, business cards, print material etc. The result is that the designer may only work on a logo, or may work on the identity system in pieces. This is fine, but one trick we’ve learned that I’d like to share is something we call “designing past the logo”.

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  3. 6 Tips for Working with Developers

    July 13, 2010 by Jeff

    Some web designers write their own code; some don’t. Even if you’re in the former category, chances are you have worked with a developer who has been hired to bring one of your web designs to life (if you haven’t, you will soon). Sometimes clients have a developer already in mind and are just looking for a designer; sometimes a developer will approach you; the list of possibilities goes on and on.

    With that in mind, us designers have to be cognizant of how we work and how best to make life for the developer easy. If you make their life easy, the project will run that much more smoothly and the client will be that much more happy. So how do we do that?

    6 Tips for Working with Developers

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  4. Logo & Branding Process for Chorus Magazine

    May 31, 2010 by Jeff

    A couple of weeks ago, I launched a side project of mine: Chorus Magazine. My regular readers know this already, as I shamelessly promoted it here on the launch date. However, today I’d like to reveal my thought processes behind Chorus the brand and showcase the various design elements that came along with that: logo, print and web.

    When my partner-in-crime, Kelvin, and I sat down to discuss what Chorus should be, we were clear on one thing: there is a need not only in our hometown of Edmonton, but everywhere, for a solid musician’s online resource. We wanted to build something that could potentially grow into the Smashing Magazine for musicians, so to speak. With that in mind, I approached the logo design as I would with any other business: I looked at competitors, I looked at my target market, and I aimed to create something that would resonate with the latter.

    Chorus is a site for independent musicians, so I wanted the logo to reflect the DIY (do-it-yourself) ethic that indie musicians possess. I also wanted to create a logo that, perhaps, could someday be used on the front of an actual print magazine. Who knows, maybe we’ll get to that point. With that in mind, I decided to go with a logotype with a hand-drawn style. This was the end result:

    Chorus Magazine Logo

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  5. 5 Photoshop & CSS Tricks for Killer Web Designs

    April 12, 2010 by Jeff

    Nowadays, the combo of Photoshop and CSS3 makes up a huge toolbox for web designers; it allows us to achieve website designs that weren’t possible back in the early days of the internet. We can add depth to our design; we can simulate paper or other textures; we can using lighting or 3D effects and more. These elements, when used properly and subtly, can add up to the difference between a so-so web design and a great web design. With that in mind, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite and most-used Photoshop and CSS tricks when it comes to web design.

    1. Gradients

    Gradients can add subtle depth and lighting effects to your web design. If you’re stuck on a flat design, all you might need to add is the most subtle of gradients. That being said, please don’t use any super harsh gradients; in my opinion, the best gradients use tints or shades of the same color (ie. no pink to yellow gradients, please). Of course, each design is unique. Gradients can be achieved two ways: in Photoshop and CSS3.

    Photoshop Gradients

    Photoshop’s gradient tool allows you complete control over your gradient – it’s easy to use and can make your designs really shine.

    To use Photoshop’s gradient tool, simply do the following:

    1. Click the icon shown in the bottom left corner of the above image.

    2. Select subtle colors in your color swatches (bottom right corner) – these will make up your gradient.

    3. At the top of the page, choose either linear or radial for your gradient, set the mode to Normal, and adjust the opacity to your liking.

    4. Click and drag the gradient tool on the layer you wish, in the direction you want the gradient to move.

    That’s it! Looking at the above image, it’s important to note that subtle colors are used (bottom right). Some examples of gradients being used in web design can be seen here & here.

    CSS3 Gradients

    CSS3 gradients are really cool – the more you can do in-browser, the better – but keep in mind that not everyone uses a CSS3-compatible browser, so not everyone will be able to see your gradients if you only use CSS3. That aside, here is a handy CSS3 gradient generator (scroll down the page bit). It allows you to use hex codes and generates the proper CSS code for you. Booya!

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