Angela Jenkins asked:

‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ goes the old adage, and no one can question either the truth or the pertinence of the remark. Anyone is naturally more attracted to an image than he or she is to a lot of written words. Keeping all this in mind, advertising for products and services using images and graphics makes a lot of sense.

Symbols have been a part and parcel of the story of human history. All the ancient civilisations and cultures had their own set of symbols and signs that defined their belief system and their way of life. In fact, the alphabets that form the basis of our spoken and written languages have evolved from the pictorial representation of objects around us.

Coming into modern civilised society, these symbols, while changing the role they played, did not lose their pre-eminence in shaping the society. Just think about the **** swastika and the Holy Cross. Symbols have evoked in us all the possible emotions; faith, hatred and love to name just a few.

Keeping the historical and psychological significance of symbols in mind, graphic designers try to create designs that can convey the major features or discerning characteristics of the product or service they are making the designs for.

mdsDESIGN, which was formed in 2002 by Marie deFontenay Coles, is a graphic designing firm providing innovative design solutions to customers all over Australia. The areas covered by mdsDESIGN include high-end graphic design, web design and advertising. Marie deFontenay Coles, the founder of the company also works as the (hold your breath) Director, Client Manager, Art Director, Designer, Print Production, Producer and Receptionist. This is someone who believes in multi-tasking. mdsDESIGN is also a member of the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA).

The business model adopted by mdsDESIGN is unique in the field of graphic designing. The boutique style business allows this personalised service, building client relationships and providing complete attention to detail from the initial concept to the final production. With a grand total of 25 years of experience behind her, Marie is sure to provide you with the exact solution for your designing needs. The company provides designs and solutions for: logos, brand or corporate identity, brand naming and identity, brand revitalisation, brochures, leaflets and catalogues, corporate literature, environments/signage, displays, website design, point of sale, packaging, print and press advertising. So for all your design and advertising needs, just visit www.mdsdesign.com.au. On the site you can know more about Marie and mdsDESIGN and also have a look at examples of various creative solutions provided by the company over the years.

Luca Di Nicola asked:


Finding a great Graphic Designer can be about as difficult as finding your life’s calling with a million dollar paycheck. Sure they exist however finding the right one takes patience, diligence, a whole lot of time and a bit of luck, right? Not necessarily. Finding a great graphic designer is easy – when you know where to look.

Begin by asking friends, family and business associates who have great graphics. Unless they did their graphics themselves they had to have hired a graphic designer. Referrals are the best place to find a great graphic designer. However know that great graphic designers are like great babysitters in that once you’ve found one you may be reluctant to share them with others since that may mean they’ll be unavailable for you. Your friends and associates may hold out on you even if they do know a great designer.

Visit websites you like with great graphics. Many businesses will use the same graphic designer for all their design needs. That means designers that do logos may also create website graphics. Often, at the bottom of a website you’ll see the website creator and/or graphic designer listed. It’s usually a link – click on it and visit their website. View their portfolio and if everything looks good, give them a call.

Visit graphic design associations. Every vocation has a number of associations to belong to and graphic design is no different. Participation in these associations isn’t a guarantee that the designer is spectacular however it is a good place to start. Two main organizations are:

- The Graphic Artists Guild – www.gag.org – The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) – www.aiga.org

Once you have a few names to check out, it’s time to compare. While price may be at the top of your priority list, it’s important to also view their portfolio. A logo and design you, and more importantly your target audience, love is well worth twice the price of a poorly designed logo.

You’ll also want to evaluate their terms, professionalism and the systems they have in place to make sure they understand your needs and the image you’re trying to project. Some graphic designers will speak to you on the phone while others have a form they’ll have you fill out. If a designer never asks about the image you want for your material – find a different designer.

Make sure you get the terms in writing. The terms of your agreement should include payment terms, revisions, and how you’re expected to communicate. While these may seem like small details they can make all the difference between a great relationship with your graphic designer and an unsatisfactory experience.

bestweboutsourcing asked:


The graphic design outsourcing industry is booming by every passing day, providing a wide range of benefits to their clients. These companies employ a skilled fleet of graphic designers and offer their services to offshore companies. Graphic designers are like web magicians, giving life to any picture through the medium of color and special effects.

They first discuss with their customers the nature of their business, their goals and project budget. After considering these basic facts, they utilize the most effective way of conveying the message to the target audience through media mediums like print or film. Features like color, animation, photography, layout technique, and illustration go into developing state-of-the-art graphic designs. They also accomplish the tasks of designing materials required for web graphic design, multimedia projects, and interactive media.

Firstly graphic designers gather important data from their clients, conduct research, and refer to company briefs provided by their clients. Secondly different design layouts are prepared from which the customer chooses the most appropriate one. Then, to make the graphic design attractive and complete, the elements of color, motion, animation, and sound/visual effects are incorporated into the designs. Thereafter the short listed and complete designs are shown to the client or the company’s creative director for their approval.

Various types of design software and techniques can be used for graphic design creation. Certain layout software offers good amounts of flexibility in the work, thus saving time and money for the designers, which can be passed on in savings to their clients.

These designers have professional degrees or qualifications in the field of graphic design. They are trained in problem solving skills, communication, graphic designing, creativity, and more, that mold them into talented and skilled designers. The Work quality of any outsourcing company can be marked by the quality of graphic designers they have. In the outsourcing industry, they can be hired on a part-time or full-time basis , depending upon the project requirement.

The graphic design company should understand the purpose of the client and their expectations from them. Their thorough understanding will enable them to better create a design that is from their client’s point of view. Moreover graphic design has to be complimentary to the site content and serves the purpose that has been laid out.

Graphics are widely used in different types of websites and in various formats. Plain text websites are simply a bore to the site viewer. Graphics add interest, glamour, and life to any image and eliminates the boredom factor.

Horatio Farquaar asked:


Ever wondered how some graphic designers always manage to produce beautiful looking designs for their brochures, website designs, logo designs? Talent…yes, it helps but there are a handful of more important things you can do that will have even complete beginners producing award winning design.

Forget everything you’ve ever been told about Graphic Design

There are some hard and fast things that graphic designers will insist are to be obeyed. Only use limited fonts on a design for example or never use green on a magazine or book cover as people will not buy it. Stuff and nonsense. You can pretty much do whatever you like but you must apply these STRICT GRAPHIC DESIGN RULES and you will soon be walking away with graphic design silverware.

Somewhere on the page you MUST put in a subliminal message

This can be done in a multitude of ways for example if you are producing a brochure selling wellington boots then start every paragraph spelling out ‘buy our wellington boots’ or better still ‘you have no choice but to buy our wellington boots now get out your cheque book and buy them – NOW!’ Another crafty method is to doctor images in photoshop so that on an innocent picture of a tree for example carved into the bark is a message along the lines of ‘U Luv Wellington boots’ You get the idea. just make sure it’s hidden away on a subliminal level and watch your sales go through the roof, quite literally

You MUST include a picture of a pretty girl smiling on your document or webpage

This works for 95% of products. Put simply would you rather read and look at pictures of industrial machinery or would you rather look at a pretty girl? It’s a no brainer right? Research has proven that mens brains are wired up to focus on girls smiles and of course their ******* and backsides. If you can somehow convince your client to put a ***** girl on there somewhere you can pretty much laugh yourself down to the bank. However, never ever put a muscle bound hunk on any design thinking it will work conversely for womens products. Research has shown that womens brains are only wired to think of shopping for clothes and chocolate, so putting a bare chested chippendale on the cover is going to see your business go down the dumper. Unless your product is for ********** merchandise in which case go ahead.

Shock and Awe – the guaranteed way to get your design work noticed and talked about

Perhaps the best example of this trick can be found widely used in the modern art world. Sharks in formaldahyde, unmade beds and plastic dolls melted together to sodomise each other. All these pieces of art have been much talked about and whether you find them to your taste or not are widely percieved as being breath takingly original. The same principal can and should be applied to your graphic design work or website design. Add a blood splattered severed willy in the centre of the page for example or how about using an excrement smear as a backdrop. Remember the important thing is to get people talking about your design work. Bad taste soon becomes acceptable once commonplace so be the first to do something outrageous and reap the rewards.

If you remember to apply at least one or two and ideally all 3 of these golden graphic design rules there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be a millionaire/billionaire within one or two months. Now get creative!

spinxwebdesign asked:


Graphic design is the most sorts after website design feature making any website visually attractive and appealing. There are many skills that contribute towards making of successful graphic designs. Some of them are as follows:

1) Adobe

Adobe Illustrator software is used for vector based graphics, the designs created are also very neat in texture. It is usually used for logo formation, poster and print work. This program is a bit difficult to learn but can be very beneficial.

Adobe Photoshop is used for producing pixel based photo management. The experts also keep them updated by regular online learning. It is a little costly trick to learn but worth learning it due to excellent results produced by it.

The Adobe InDesign uses page layout program useful for print based designs. In case of magazines, newspapers, brochures, books the skills of this software can be used.

2) Flash

Flash provides motion to your presentations online and turns imagination into reality. Flash is being used extensively in the form if videos on World Wide Web. In comparison to other video players the use of flash player is more on computer devices and desktops. The websites getting hi-tech day-by-day needs to possess strong and full-fledged of flash.

3) Idea creation

Internet is a dynamic platform where everyday something new occurs in terms of technology and creativity. Graphic designers that can come up with newer and innovative ideas get most of the clients. Every customer wishes to present his website by a novel idea generation. However the ideas for graphic designing should complement your website and its business completely.

4) Sharpening business skills

In order to excel in business it is important to know and understand basics of business which includes talents like- accounting, tax strategy information, marketing, database management and so on. It applies to the business of graphic designing also, keeping you much ahead of the market competition and earn desired profits.

5) Network Construction

The graphic designers having strong and apt network are very well ahead of the competition. They get access to latest information and happenings in the field of graphic designing. As these designers spend most of the time in offices therefore network construction becomes all the more important.

6) Typography knowledge

A good graphic designer has knowledge of typography which facilitates good communication. Now-a-days it should not be overlooked.

Copyright © 2009

Lina Smith asked:

Being a graphic designer is a career that is ideal for anyone who loves to use words and pictures to communicate ideas and messages to other people. Graphic designers are used for a whole variety of different jobs in lots of different fields which can include things like:

• Advertising on posters and in magazines.

• Designing the layout of websites for companies.

• Creating CD-ROM pages.

• Designing logos, letterheads and other branded material for companies.

• Creating brochures.

• Designing leaflets and handouts.

• Designing effects and credits for movies and television.

A graphic designer can do all of these and more as it is such a wide ranging and challenging job, but many people choose to focus on one or two specific areas and make them their speciality. Being a graphic designer is also very rewarding for anyone who has a keen interest in advertising and the way that design can influence people.

So what does it take to become a graphic designer? Firstly it is a good idea to take art and design related courses whilst at school, as this will give you a good grounding as you start on the route to becoming a graphic designer. If you have not done this you might be able to get on a college course which will help you to learn more about being a graphic designer and will help you to further your education. To be really successful as a graphic designer you should really have a bachelor’s degree and this is one of the most basic requirements for many of the graphic design jobs that are advertised.

During your bachelor’s degree to become a graphic designer you will cover a great deal of difference mediums and types of design. This will help you to gain an understanding of a wide range of different areas and it will also help you to decide what you would like to specialise your bachelor’s degree in. Subsequent years will then be spent in more specific areas in which you would like to work. There are so many different disciplines that are involved in graphic design that you might want to pick two or three and then in your final year focus on just one.

If you are already a graphic designer and would like to pursue your career in a different direction you will be able to get onto an associate degree or a certificate program. These are designed to help graphic designers to branch out into different disciplines and increase their knowledge of these disciplines. However you must be aware that you must also have a bachelor’s degree in graphic design before you can start on a different graphic designer course.

Becoming a graphic designer does mean a lot of hard work and a lot of determination, but it will be more than worth it when you are in your chosen profession. So even if you have not taken are or design school, you still have a chance to become a graphic designer.

Jonathon Hardcastle asked:


For many years, when a freelance graphic designer chose a new computer, Macintosh was the automatic choice. Macintosh computers provided the memory, processing speed and storage necessary for large design files. Most graphic design firms and printing companies used only Macintosh computers. Today, that trend continues but PCs are making inroads in what used to be territory exclusive to Macintosh. Therefore, the decision on what computer to purchase is not as clear cut as it once was for graphic designers.

Hardware is the first consideration of most freelance designers. While PCs have been proven to rival Macs in terms of processing speed, some people claim that Macs still process large graphic files more efficiently. Also, Macintosh computers have a better maintenance record than most PCs. However, when a hardware problem does arise a Mac can cost more to repair.

Software is where the Macintosh shines compared to the PC. All the major graphic design applications are available for both platforms and run with similar speed. However, the Macintosh operating system has historically been much more stable than the Windows operating system and much easier for the end user to troubleshoot. Additionally, Macintosh computers are far less susceptible to viruses, adware and spyware than PCs, which are notorious for their security flaws.

There are considerations beyond the hardware and software that a freelance designer needs to consider. For example, Macintosh computers typically cost more than PCs. However, once a PC is equipped with the appropriate memory, processor and graphics card to efficiently process graphic files, the cost is fairly similar. If a designer decides to switch platforms any graphic design software already owned must be repurchased under a new license which leads many designers to stick with one platform.

Aesthetics are often a consideration of many designers. Macintosh computers are designed to look sleek and creative while PCs are typically more standard looking. However, some of Macintosh’s most originally designed computers are not suitable for graphic design work, leaving a designer with the standard CPU tower, monitor and peripherals, though perhaps in interesting colors.

Finally, careful consideration must be given to interactions with outside vendors and clients. Many printing companies and graphic design firms still have a strong pro-Macintosh bias and may reject native files created with PC software. However, if you are submitting EPS, TIFF or PDF files, the difference in platform will be negligible.

Roberto Luongo asked:


Graphics are required in our everyday’s life. The strong meaning of graphic stimulates a person to reach at the same moment. All over the world, graphic are being designed by the millions of graphic designers to attract people and increase the sales of a business activity.

To make a graphic really attractive and adorable, proper arrangement of graphics needs to be done. A graphic becomes meaningful when it defines the text given below properly and images to produce a coherent and interesting piece of work, according to the end goal. The purpose of graphic designing is not limited to that only but it plays a special role in improving sales of a company.

Also, the web graphic designs help in improving the look of the layout of a website, attract the viewers, convey the message of the company and stimulate their senses effectively. As simple it may seem, it is lot of hard work.

Things to be taken in consideration while designing a graphic

Graphic designing is a difficult process. While preparing for a design, a graphic designer looks into several factors including audience status, aim of the message, and medium (such as print, online, book or poster).

Once a designer clears all his basic requirements to design a graphic, he needs to organize text and graphics on selected formats and layouts. Fonts, color, size and arrangement of text and graphics are re-looked at and sent for proofreading. Graphic designs also need to take care of the things including its balance, color, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, proportion, proximity, repetition, rhythm, texture, unity, and white space.

In this growing world, the scope of graphic designing has changed a lot. Latest technologies have created new means in this area and new developments can be seen. Now, with the usage of new software and printing technologies, graphic designing has become more flexible and practical. Graphic designs have become an essential part of any website designing.

So, if you want to design a customized website that states your needs and requirements, make sure you keep the graphics as per the demands so that it will benefit your business needs.

bestweboutsourcing asked:


 

Graphic design outsourcing helps in obtaining good graphic designs at affordable rates and in a timely manner. Companies with a strong marketing background are an added advantage for graphic designers. This fact holds true for all mediums of promotion and sales.

Firms that are among the best graphic design companies would primarily analyze details about your company, like the marketing channels, the competitors, target customers, etc. These companies offer graphic design outsourcing services for websites and also printed mediums. You can request to see their graphic design portfolio to see the range of work they have successfully completed.

Graphic design outsourcing is a far cheaper option in comparison to appointing a staff for graphic designing. The number of people preferring outsourcing for their web projects is increasing. These graphic design companies are far more specialized in their respective fields and have expertise in handling online projects.

Look out for any discount schemes or promotional offers by these companies. They typically charge a fixed amount of fees for certain time duration or for an overall project.

The reasons for outsourcing differ from company to company. Some might opt for it as they don’t have the required qualifications and resources. Some need additional time for business core issues, whereas some people might be short of time and so on. Outsourcing helps in focusing on other business goals. Think about the benefit that outsourcing would free you from the stress of creating appropriate designs and logos for your company. Apart from qualified professionals handling your graphic design project, they even give you the choice of selecting the logo from many options designed by them.

The chances of getting the maximum ROI can be expected with outsourcing. For a premium, you can even hire a graphic designer to work exclusively on your project on a part-time or full-time basis as needed. If you want to make any changes in existing designs, it becomes easy and can be done in less time.

Imagine if you have to complete all the small changes in your graphic design on your own. Firstly you have to install new software which would cost you hundreds of dollars. Then you’d have to learn how to use it, thus costing you time as well as energy. These shortcomings are overcome by graphic design outsourcing. It’s worth a try for any project, large or small.

 

Copyright © 2008

 

Sharron Nixon asked:


Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. It is the process of communicating visually using typography and images to present information, usually used whenever visual intricacy and creativity are needed to present text and imagery. It can also be applied to the layout and formatting of educational material to make the information more accessible and more easily understood.

Designing a masterpiece graphically is the art of combining text and graphics to communicate an effective message. It is primarily used in the design of logos, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, and other type of visual communication. Graphic design is the use of words and images to pass on information or to create a certain visual effect. This art form is sometimes referred to as commercial art because of its application to advertising and its vital contribution to business function.

Graphic design practice embraces a range of cognitive skills, aesthetics and crafts, including typography, visual arts and page layout. Graphic designers have a unique ability to sell a product or idea through effective visual communications, and are asked to perform the difficult task of being creative every single day.

Combining visual communication skills with the interactive communication skills of user interaction and online branding, graphic designers often work with web developers to create both the look and feel of a web site and enhance the online experience of web site visitors. Color is also another powerful way of helping users find their way around a site, and color coding sections of the site helps users identify where they are.

Graphic design adds a visual and emotional context to the purely cognitive text on the site. The primary tool for this art form is, of necessity, the creative mind. With the advent of computers and software applications, the task of the designer has become a little easier, as these have provided more effective production tools than traditional methods. It is a creative profession and things that were once only conceived in the mind are brought to life through skills and imagination.

There is a downside to the inclusion of graphic design on websites. Many designers have tried to force the Web to be what it is not, creating ineffective and sometimes unusable websites. There is a tendency to forget that words, and not images, are the building blocks for the vast majority of websites. People are strongly visually orientated, and their response to the website’s aesthetics and visual structure plays a strong part in how they interact with it as a whole.

The mid 1980s heralded the arrival of desktop publishing and the introduction of graphic art software applications. This introduced a generation of designers to computer image manipulation and 3D image creation that had previously been a tedious and intensive process. Today’s graphic designers often use desktop publishing software and techniques to achieve their goals.

Graphic design requires that the advocate must continually keep up to date with the development of new and updated software, usually either on their own or through software training programs. Contrary to popular belief, anybody with the right software can not necessarily do it, creativity is the biggest attribute that needs to be added.

Graphic design is not just a case of being fluent in some type of software, but also about communication, solving visual problems, and imagination. The tools that are now available do not detract from the need for creative imagination, rather just make the performance of the task easier, and perhaps open the floodgates to applications that may have been out of reach previously.