Trileaf Designs » Graphic Design

Avoid dropping the ball after the ball drop: Utilizing graphic design resources to stay on task in the new year

lobrien — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:00:15 +0000

It is on the same day every year. Yet, every year on Christmas day, right when I settle down and begin to relax, it’s as if the new year has masterfully snuck up on me… like a friend jumping out of the bushes to scare me into the new year. So after the initial shock of realizing the end of the year is right around the corner, I enter into a five-day-long pity party in which I remind myself of all of the things I had wished to accomplish that year (that I hadn’t) and all of those new years resolutions I swore I would follow through with (and didn’t).

However, come New Years Day, after the ball has dropped and the hype of New Years Eve has ended, everything usually seems a bit more clear. It’s a fresh start… a new beginning… a whirlwind of possibilities. It’s time to organize and get a new perspective. Clean out a closet, throw out your old habits and get down to business. I don’t know about you guys, but this drive lasts me about a week or two until I fall back into my old patterns.

So this year, along with the obvious resolutions (to find a better balance, to enjoy life more, to be more productive, etc), I’d like to propose a sort of stepping stone resolution to make life as a designer less of a headache and minimize designers-block. I vow to make use of my resources and keep the following list on hand when working.

Color Tools: Like a little box of Crayola crayons, these color tools can help with color schemes & combinations, finding the perfect color for the aesthetic you are going for, etc.

Color Schemer Gallery

Color Psychology in Online Marketing

See Color Theory In Action

Choosing Colors for Your Website

Choosing Colors for Your Design

Choosing Color Combinations

Color Glossary

Basic HTML Colors

Color Harmony

Kuler from Adobe

Stock Image sites: And what’s worse than having the perfect image in your head and not being able to find it or afford it? Well here are a few stock photo sites that are free or fairly low in price.

Stock.Xchng – FREE stock photos!

Free Icon downloads:

31 Sources of Quality, Free Icons

FreeIcons

Font galleries: Any good designer will tell you that fonts and typefaces can completely make or break a design, so having multiple resources for fonts can be greatly beneficial. Besides, simply looking through fonts can sprout inspiration. Use these websites to browse and download fonts that match your design needs.

80 Beautiful Typefaces for Professional Design (Smashing Magazine)

dafont.com

Urban Fonts

1001 Free Fonts

Pure inspiration: Or what about when you simply need a dash of inspiration? Pump up your favorite tunes and take a few minutes to browse the sites below. They’re sure to get your creative juices flowing.

designspiration

Daily logos and Illustrations

100 Great resources

34Places for Design Inspiration

designflavr

Do you have other graphic design resources to add to the list? Let us know if you have additional suggestions for staying motivated during the new year and designing with a fresh perspective.

By Karly Poole

Adobe’s No-Code-Required Website Builder

ldaniel — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:24:32 +0000

Need a website done now but don’t know HTML, and not enough hire professionals like us? Well you’re in luck. The good people at Adobe have created yet another program to construct websites called Adobe Muse. Muse is the product’s codename, so once it’s fully released the name will probably be changed. If you use other Adobe products like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and InDesign the user interface should feel familiar to you.

This program can also be used by graphic design professionals to design the look and feel of a website, before handing it over to the web developers to do the major coding. Using Muse you can embed interactive elements, slideshows, Google Maps, and many more to make page richer and more dynamic. You can also easily import content from other Adobe products such as Fireworks, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

Muse is still in the free beta testing phase but shows some great promise in terms of making a simple to use, yet powerful product for building websites. Adobe hopes to have this program finished by early 2012, and will offer it on a month-to-month, or one year subscription. Check it out now while it still free, and let me know what you think?

By – Le-Andris Daniel

How Designers can Help the Construction/Contractor Industry

ldaniel — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:19:16 +0000

The success of your business really depends on your company’s image. In my opinion, there are two main aspects that can shape that image. The first is obviously the quality of the services you provide. If people are happy with your construction or contractor work, they are more likely to use your services again and/or spread the word. The second, however, is how you market your business. If you don’t have a set “identity” for your company, people will never be able to recognize it or remember it. After you do have a logo, corporate identity and a set mission designed for your company, you can then begin to leave behind business cards from one customer or aquaintance to another, getting the word out about your services and how they are valuable.

You don’t have to start out by doing expensive marketing campaigns that are going to cost you more than you will get out of it. The first step is to get yourself a logo. The logo needs to properly represent what your company is all about, and to achieve this successfully, you need to find a designer that is going to listen when you describe your company. They need to be able to design a logo that is going to attract the kind of clients you are targeting by listening to what you are trying to accomplish through your company and then portray that through colors and graphics all within one image. This image then needs to be taken to the next level.

A business card is a must. It is a way to leave behind your contact information after you finish working with someone or describing and selling your services to a complete stranger. If you do not have a business card, how are they supposed to follow up with you or let you know when they have found someone that they think would make a great client for you? Creating a business card sounds simple enough, and you would think almost anyone could do it, but professional designers are often underestmated. Trained designers have knowledge and creativity that specialize in getting your business positive attention.

They have to think about things like how the information on your card is organized, and make sure that none of the elements on the card are competing and that everything leads the viewers eye smoothly from one object to another. They also have to make sure the business card reflects the same identity that is present in your logo. if all of your marketing pieces do not match in style, people will get confused on if the business card they have is the same company as the website they visited. Also, if your marketing pieces match, your identity looks more professional and legit because it shows you took the time and effort to have that developed professionally.

After you have your logo and business card, you can begin getting brochures, flyers and promotional items made, such as personalized tape measures, construction hat keychains or traffic cone stess balls. Your promotional items need to reflect your services because you want people to relate the two. Whether you are just starting out your own contracting/construcion business or already have one developed, it is never too late to get yourself a professional looking brand.

by: Jen Ebenrick

Use the Environment As Your Canvas

trileafdesigns — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:00:58 +0000

Environmental advertising is one of my favorite ways to advertise. Sometimes you need to liter- ally get in people’s faces to make your point, which is exactly what I love about environmental graphic design. When done well, an environmental advertising project is clever and is supposed to make you stop and think. Projects like the one in the photo below do just that. As the person drying off their hands takes a paper towel, they are reminded that they are contributing to waste and the destruction of trees and forests.

Now when I say “environmental advertising” I don’t necessarily mean the subject has to literally be about the environment. Any advertisement that is within the environment and off of the page or computer screen falls under this category. I came across one on this website where you can find many more of a Mr. Clean advertisment where the white lines along the pedestrian crosswalk were all dirty and dingy except for the one with Mr. Clean’s picture which was a clean bright white. To come across something in public like that can be surprising and eye catching, which is the whole point and is why this type of advertising is so effective.

It’s one thing to design a great advertisement that will be featured in a magazine or catalog, because although it may be the greatest composition you’ve ever seen, the reader is expecting it, therefore lacking the shock-factor. An ad that uses the environment as a tool can be simple, and actually tend to be better when they are just clever and to the point. It is all about where the ad is placed and how the designer uses the environment in a way that people would never expect when just walking down the street or through a building. So let us know, did you ever come across an environmental ad in public like the one described above? If so, how did you react, and if not, do you think it would effect you if you did?

Written By: Jen Ebenrick

GoMedia/Arsenal

Jen Ebenrick — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:00:35 +0000

Being in Multimedia and Graphic Design for the past 5 years, I’m still a newbie in the field, so I am constantly looking for tutorials resources and other things that will help me grow in my field. I’d like to let everyone out there know about Gomediazine.com and the GoMedia arsenal.

The first is gomediazine.com, here you will find everything a designer will ever need, whether your just starting out or are a seasoned veteran, this site has everything. You can watch tutorials, read blogs about the latest technologies and techniques, and talk to other designers about your ideas, problems, or just troll… But these guys are incredible the tutorials are extremely easy to follow and teach you many techniques you may have not tried before to achieve results that look beyond professional. The site community is great all the people are very friendly and there are ALWAYS huge artists doing quest blogs and tutorials on there. They also have a page where you can pick up freebies for all your projects like textures, brushes, stock images, and vectors. If you have not already, you all should defiantly check this place out you would not be disappointed.

The next place to check out would be the GoMedia Arsenal. Here you will find all you need to become a Weapon of Mass Creation. They have everything you will ever need, whether it is vectors, brushes, textures, templates, or anything else! I am a huge customer at this site and I use most of these templates and brushes in my work, they are the absolute best resources I have personally purchased. I make a lot of artwork for bands and musicians, so the immense stock of vector images and brushes plays a gigantic part in my idea making process.

Have any of you out there been to these sites already or are you already a Weapon of Mass Creation? If you haven’t be sure to check these guys out and let me know what you think of the site and how it helped you out!

Written by: Joey Harrell

Art & Trash/Green Design: Wrapping Paper

Jen Ebenrick — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:00:05 +0000

Its Many Art Forms

With spring/summer birthdays and wedding season quickly approaching, there is bound to be plenty of trash we can turn into treasures. Personally, kids’ birthday parties come to mind, when all of that wrapping paper is covering the floor. Well, instead of throwing the wrapping paper away, I have some useful suggestions that may come in handy when you’re in the artsy mood. The first one is for my fellow graphic designers. Wrapping paper can be used for all kinds of neat patterned and/or textured backgrounds. All you have to do is scan it and apply it to your project. Another suggestion for using wrapping paper in your art pieces is with scrapbooking. Often scrapbooking involves themed pages, which makes wrapping paper absolutely perfect for this type of project. My third suggestion is using it when you feel like collaging. The patterns and shapes can add an interesting element to your piece. So, there you have it, three creative reasons on why you should keep your old wrapping paper instead of wasting it. Tell us if you have any other ideas.

Written by: Jen Ebenrick

Green Design: Go Green by Going Black

Jen Ebenrick — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 03:00:26 +0000

A Technological Tip on How to Save Energy

Having designed a few websites, I’ve come to realize that not a lot of people show love when presented with a design for a website with a black background, but the truth is, black=energy conservation. It takes more energy to power a website that is predominantly white/light colored. So graphic/web designers, I challenge you to keep the environment in mind the next time you go to design a website. A clean and sophisticated design can still be accomplished with a darker background by simply keeping space in mind. Use it to your advantage by using colors that pop. Learn more about this topic by visiting Blackle.com.

Written by: Jen Ebenrick