Tips Archive - Paper Leaf Design | Edmonton Graphic Design, Edmonton Web Design

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Designing Past the Logo

August 9, 2010

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”.

Hit the jump for the full article! Read the whole article >

6 Tips for Working with Developers

July 13, 2010

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

Hit the jump to find out! Read the whole article >

When, Why & How: One Page Website Designs

June 21, 2010

Web users are bombarded with information on a daily basis, and it’s been shown that the way users read on a computer is completely different to how they read offline. Skimming content is the name of the game, and if the user doesn’t immediately see what he or she wants to see in a few seconds, off they’ll go into the internight to find what they want.

That’s right, website designers and website owners: most people who come to your site will hit & run.

This revelation can be a harsh one, and especially tough for designers to inform clients of. Clients all too frequently get caught up in the excitement of launching a new site, which can lead to major scope creep and feature bloat on a site; all of a sudden, a simple site has turned into a 75-page monolith, despite the designer/developer’s requests to keep it in the tracks.

When, Why & How: One Page Website Designs

But increasingly often, these monolithic sites aren’t required – in fact, they may prove a detriment as unless they are superbly designed, chances are it will be difficult for the user to find what they want within a few clicks, leading to a higher bounce rate than desired. It’s important to remember that a lot – I may even say “most” – viewers aren’t going to be nearly as interested in the website, or the business in general, as the website designer or the business owner. With that in mind, it’s important to embrace brevity, clear information hierarchy and structure in a web design. One (increasingly popular) way to do this is via the one page website.

One-pagers won’t work for all sites, obviously, but they can work for more than you imagine. The benefits to a well-designed one page website include

potentially lower cost to the client
high usability
information brevity
increased conversions
opportunity for unique design decisions and more.

Let’s explore these benefits a bit more deeply. Read the whole article >

5 Photoshop & CSS Tricks for Killer Web Designs

April 12, 2010

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!

Hit the jump for the whole article!

Read the whole article >

4 Tips for Effective Business Card Design

April 5, 2010

In today’s day & age, many paper products are slowly heading the way of the dinosaur. The Yellow Pages have long since been replaced by search engines; newspapers are begrudgingly focusing on their online content; eBooks are growing in popularity thanks to devices like Apple’s iPad and the Kindle. However, one item that is holding fast in the realm of paper is the business card.

I suppose one day the business card might become extinct; however, for now business cards hold fast as the main way to quickly & effectively trade information between two individuals. Because of this, business card design still remains as important as ever. But like everything, for every well-designed business card out there, there are 10 horrendous designs. In this article, I’ll touch on a few tips to help you effectively design business cards.