History Of Graphic Design

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The actual terminology surrounding graphic designers has come into being in the twentieth century. However, there are many events that led up to graphic design that could be considered a part of the history of graphic design itself.

Graphic design has its roots in the same rich cultural history of all art. Art has been a part of cultures since before the written word. The history of graphic design stems from these ancient beginnings. The history of graphic design is, in a sense, the history of art and its applications and methods, as well as a history of graphic design reproduction techniques Continue reading History Of Graphic Design →

Making Your Graphic Designs Stand Out And Shout

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The multiplicity of graphic designs and the elements that make up the designs themselves sometimes seems overwhelming. How can you make your graphic designs stand out and shout. Yes! Shout! Shout to the customers they are supposed to reach! If your graphic designs shout, then they attract attention in an already over advertised world. Today every prospective customer sees at least thousands of messages a day. Which one will they remember? The one that rises above the others, the one that has be most to say, the one that speaks the loudest to them. And once it has their attention, the one that engages them the most.

Shout it out! Use visuals that make a lot of noise! The human brain is visual, so visuals are crucial to making graphic designs that have a built-in megaphone. The best visual Continue reading Making Your Graphic Designs Stand Out And Shout →

How to Develop a Graphic Design Portfolio

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A graphic design portfolio is the best way to display and showcase your past projects, creativity, and talent. A graphic design portfolio is vital when trying to pursue opportunities as a graphic designer within a company or as a freelance graphic designer pursuing clients. The graphic design portfolio can contain any number of items, in several different formats.

The first important step in developing a graphic design portfolio is deciding what work to include. You should only include your highest quality work in your graphic design portfolio. If you include mediocre work in your graphic design portfolio simply because you are Continue reading How to Develop a Graphic Design Portfolio →

How Can I Be Sure I’m Hiring a Professional Graphic Design firm

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“I need a professional graphic design firm to do my logos, stationery, web design and brochures. I’ve met several graphic designers at networking groups. I’ve looked at a ton of web sites. How can I be sure I’m hiring a professional graphic design firm that can meet all of my needs?”

A professional graphic designer will have a full range of services available to meet your needs. These include print and web design, Flash and video work, photography and illustration, resources for quality and affordable printing, and other marketing services. The professional graphic design firm also uses professional tools, like Continue reading How Can I Be Sure I’m Hiring a Professional Graphic Design firm →

Which Of The Many Graphic Design Studios Is A Fit For My Firm

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Your goal is to find just the right graphic design studio, so here’s a plan. Do a search for graphic design studios, and even localizing it for your area, there will the tons of responses. And, in today’s internet world, it’s not necessary for the firm to the local. That only broadens the scope of what’s available to you and increases the difficulty of making a decision.

So, how do you choose? Look first at what you need and it will be much easier.

Being clear about what you want and need, and able to clearly communicate that, will make it much easier to see which of the graphic design studios is a fit. Are you looking to Continue reading Which Of The Many Graphic Design Studios Is A Fit For My Firm →

Graphic Design That Sparkles

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Sparkle! Shine! Be noticed! Attract customers! That’s what you want for your product or service. But how do you attain that?

Great graphic design is the key! Graphic design that creates sparkle and pizzaz and magnetizes your target clients to you is what you are looking for. When you begin to look for the right graphic designer, it can seem that there are way too many to choose from. Most will have a graphic design portfolio on line. This is the place to start.

What is it that sets one apart from another? How do you judge graphic design for yourself? It’s not an easy task, because it also involves personal taste, but here are some basic design elements that will help as you look at their portfolios.

Emotional Response. Take the time to look at their work and see how it affects you. Do you Continue reading Graphic Design That Sparkles →

Graphic Design Software The Battle for King of the Mountain

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Long gone are the days when a graphic designer’s tools were pen, pencil, brush, exacto knife and illustration board. Today’s designer relies almost exclusively on graphic design software which is both expensive and constantly changing. At some point or other, the designer has to decide to upgrade his or her present software or change to another brand. And, then the designer must learn all the new functions of this version of software. If the program interface changes then the learning curve for the design professional can be very steep and costly. On top of that, there’s different graphic design software for desktop publishing, web design, illustration, and photography.

For much of the last decade, the desktop publishing arena was ruled by Quark Express. (Before that Adobe’s PageMaker had been King of the Mountain.) Over the past few years, Adobe has been making a serious bid to regain its preeminence in desktop publishing with In Design. If Adobe squashes Quark it will pretty much have a monopoly in graphic design Continue reading Graphic Design Software The Battle for King of the Mountain →

Doing Pro Bono Graphic Website Design

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There are many reasons to do pro bono work as a graphic website designer. First, beginning graphic website designers or graphic website design students can get valuable experience from doing pro bono graphic website design work for non profit organizations and low budget organizations such as Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout packs, and Churches.

Another reason to do pro bono work as a graphic website designer is tax breaks. The hours you spend working on graphic website design for free can be deducted from your taxes at the end of the year as a charitable donation. Check with your accountant or tax preparer to determine the most reasonable rate, but highest rate, that you can get away with charging per hour for your tax deductible hours so that you can claim them as a charitable donation.

The other reason to do pro bono work as a graphic website designer is experience and to build your portfolio. If you are a graphic website design student or you are just starting your graphic website design career, this can be a fantastic opportunity. Build your graphic Continue reading Doing Pro Bono Graphic Website Design →

Adobe Graphic Design Website Software Lets Your Creativity Flow

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Whether you’re a web developer, a graphic designer, or an artist, you’ve undoubtedly counted on Adobe software to help you get the job done. Now, the design world is buzzing about Adobe Creative Suite, a collection of computer graphic design tools that are fully integrated to allow you to work in almost any medium.

Adobe offers six different editions of CSS, designed to fit the needs of a variety of professionals. The six editions are:

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium – Developed for the designer who works in mobile, Continue reading Adobe Graphic Design Website Software Lets Your Creativity Flow →

Popular Graphic Design Magazines

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Any serious graphic design student or graphic designer should subscribe to at least one graphic design industry magazine. Graphic design magazines give graphic designers and graphic design students the ability to keep up with current graphic design trends, learn about new or coming graphic design technology, and discover new graphic design opportunities. Graphic design magazines can also give graphic design students information about graphic design scholarships and graphic design compeitions.

One of the best graphic design magazines is HOW Magazine. This graphic design magazine allows graphic designers to find information about graphic design technology, freelancing as a graphic designer, and graphic design career opportunities. Students of graphic design will find this graphic design magazine helpful in its showcases of graphic design career Continue reading Popular Graphic Design Magazines →