How To Understand Colors and Their Impact Part 2

Yesterday we had a post about colors and how they can impact people emotionally, physically, and mentally. The reason for these posts is because as a graphic designer, you will be using color in your designs and sometimes, it will matter what colors you choose simply due to how they will affect your audience.

• Orange (Orange): orange gives us a feeling of stimulation since it is a combination of yellow and red and affects us in an emotional and physical way. It allows our minds to think of things that bring us comfort, physically; it makes us think of things like food, warmth, shelter, etc. This is often seen as a fun color for our minds. 
• When positive: orange gives us thoughts of comfort, food, warmth, security, passions, fun, good times etc. 
• When negative: it can give us feelings of frustration, immaturity, and deprivation. 
• Pink (Pink): Pink is a combination of red and white, however, due to the white, this color often soothes us instead of stimulating. It does often represent femininity, like a sense of feminine power. It can bring us feelings of nurturing. 
• When positive: it brings us tranquility, nurturing, love, survival
• When negative: it can make us feel inhibited, emasculated, weak
• Grey (Grey): This color actually is pretty easy on the mind, it does not bring much to the mind in terms of emotion, mentality, or anything physical. It is a neutral color, for the most part. It is sometimes seen as suppressive and create a sense of hibernation. 

• When positive: neutral. 
• When negative: it can make us feel unconfident, damp, depressed, lethargic. 
• Black (Black): Black often brings us considerable impact on our mind and body. It can make us feel protected and takes in all the energy around us. It can be negative in terms of enshrouding our personalities when there is too much of it around. However, it can help us see clearly because there are no distractions and give us a sense of sophistication. 
• When positive: sophisticated, glamorous, secure, safe, efficient. 
• When negative: oppressed, cold, menacing, heavy. 

Next time you consider the colors for a graphic design job, consider them carefully. If you have any questions about this, contact Integraphix - a Chicago graphic design studio. 

What You Need to Know as a Graphic Design Student

As a graphic design student, it can be stressful to think about all the things you need to know when entering the real world in your profession. Your job is to be creative and make creative things; the pressure to do that can make it hard to do that. So what are some things you should know if your course to become the world's next amazing graphic designer?

1. There are few "firsts" in todays time; this means that the likelihood that you are alone in doing something is minimal. This can be very uplifting because the times when something seems impossible or strange, you can remember that someone else has (most likely) gone through that same scenario. In areas like graphic design, web design, marketing, and advertising, most things are actually just adopted and altered, very few things are original anymore. 
2. You may be great at what you do but there is always someone better or knows something you don't. The lesson from this is to remain humble and not let success get to your head and make you feel invincible. If you get awesome at what you do, fantastic; however, if the "fame" gets to your head and you become difficult to work with, you will have no one to work with. 
3. Set goals for yourself so you have something to aim at. How do you know you have accomplished something if you do not know where the end is? Better yet, where the beginning is? 
4. It is hard work, it takes energy. You may have months that require you to create 15 logos, you will need to be energetic enough to get done what needs to get done and done well. 
5. Getting your foot in the door can be tricky but it can be easier if you remember to embody characteristics like a great work ethic, energy, great personality, and patience. Remember to have the great personality and patience. The personality also means having a good self-image; so be humble yet confident and not self-depreciating and insulting. 
6. Go for quality, not quantity, when curating your portfolio. It's better to have a few awesome examples instead of 20 mediocre. 
7. A great way to get your foot in the door with places is to do internships. Don't just do one and then quit, do a few. If you can get paid, then that's great, but realize the vast majority of places do not pay. Also, do not waste your internship; learn and remember and then implement!
8. When you are in the work force as a designer, get to know a printer and make them a close work-friend. Having a good relationship with a printer will be a lifesaver. 
9. Ask questions and for opportunities. If you do not know the answer to something, ask. If you want to have your work included in an exhibit, ask. 
10. Take criticism well. Some people do not do great at giving constructive criticism so don't beat yourself up if they don't. 

So go be confident in your efforts to become a real world graphic designer. As a Chicago graphic design firm, Integraphix loves the world of art and helping others get there. If you have any questions, contact us. 

4 Mistakes Graphic Designers Make

The world of graphic design is great and artistic but not every graphic designer seems to have it nailed down. Just like any industry, there are certain unwritten "rules" one must obey or risk being frowned upon by fellow graphic designers. As a Chicago graphic design firm, we know all about these rules and hope to inform you of them as well.

Don't worry if this blog sounds pretentious, this little one can do to get around that. Just buckle up and enjoy the ride, my friend.

1. The first unwritten rule is to not use Publisher. Using Adobe Creative Suite can be expensive but you know what, there is a reason they are; these programs are good and perhaps the best ones used by graphic designers. Using Publisher is not the way to go to avoid the high costs of Adobe.  With these programs, your products will come out the best. 
2. The second unwritten rule is to have widows on your products. No, we don't mean women who have lost their husbands; we mean those single words that hang out on their own. Why is this bad? It just looks tacky and shows lack of creativity as well as falling to an old fad. Give the word a few friends and post something else with it. 
3. Low resolution images. Wow, this is one of the biggest and worst unwritten rules to break. Images from the internet have a dpi of 72 while images in print have a dpi of 300. When using a 72 dpi image, the gaps that exist are filled with color and the image comes out fuzzy. 
4. Not enough color. Yes, black and white whatever can look good but to do it for every stinkin' project you do is not only overkill but shows lack of design skill. Use that color! You will see more pleased consumers by using that color. 

If you are in need of graphic design work, then contact Integraphix - a Chicago graphic design firm who has 24 years of experience in the field. In addition to graphic design, Integraphix can offer web design, internet marketing, and more. Contact us for a free evaluation. 

5 Free Applications for Graphic Designers

We are a graphic design firm in love with all sorts of programs, gadgets and apps, that is for sure.  If you are anything like our graphic designers, you must love different types of software and apps that give you, as a graphic designer, multiple virtual capabilities. Since our graphic designers are avid Mac users, we decided to share a top list of FREE Mac apps useful for all graphic designers. As a creative agency we use the Adobe Creative Suite daily, but sometimes we like to explore different options. With the Adobe Creative Suite going for nearly $2,000 you may be looking for some more cost effective options and lucky for those of you that are graphic designers, there are many free applications available to be downloaded that have similar features to the professional software like Adobe Photoshop.

Inkscpace

If you are a graphic designer looking to create logo designs, our graphic designers highly recommend that you download the free Mac application called Inkspace. Inkspace is an alternative to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw as it has the tools available to create vector graphics. The application has great capabilities for being a free software. The program allows you to do everything involved with creating vector graphics even tracing, XML editing and path operations. The software also supports standard SVG format and XML and CSS standards just like the professional software in its class.

Colorate

If you’re looking for a quick application to manipulate colors in a photo, you might want to check out Colorate. Just like the other applications we’re talking about in this blog, Colorate is a free application for graphic designers. It allows designers with creative minds to add and create a color palette to each of your photos. Whether you’re blending the existing palette, creating your own custom pallet or creating a totally randomized palette, you can definitely have fun editing your images using Colorate.

Image Tricks

The free Mac application Image Tricks has dozens of cool filters that we, as a Chicago graphic design firm, love to mess with. Not only does this application have so many different capabilities with filters, it also allows graphic designers to apply filters to over 20 different image file types!

GIMP

One of the most popular free photo editing software’s available is GIMP. The name ‘GIMP’ stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. Not only is it a very useful tool for graphic designers, but the program is highly supported and is frequently updated compared to most free software applications. GIMP is often times related and compared to Adobe Photoshop. The application can make photo retouching, color correction, image sizing, image composition, etc. a very simple task. There are also plugins, extensions and filters available for download for advanced users looking for more capabilities.

DAZ Studio

If you are a graphic designer looking to expand your knowledge on design, try DAZ studio. DAZ studio can be a lot of fun if you’re a graphic designer looking to learn about 3D models and creations. DAZ allows you to create realistic 3D models such as people, animals and objects. DAZ Studio is one of the easiest 3D animation tools and is a great program for those who would like to teach themselves how to use it. 

Have a great free app we didn't mention here that you want to tell us about?  Feel free to leave us a comment below or contact us.

A Graphic Designer's New Year's Resolution

Now that it’s almost the New Year, it’s time to set some new goals. Are you a graphic designer hoping to advance in the graphic design industry? If so our very own team members have been there before.  Getting your foot in the door to the business of a graphic design company may seem intimidating, but make it your 2013 resolution to make a big impression. As a Chicago graphic design company our very own graphic designers have been in your shoes before and can help guide you in the right direction.  If your New Year’s resolution is to advance in the graphic design industry, check out the following tips from our very own graphic designers:

Network

As graphic designers in Chicago we are active participants in graphic design conferences and professional events. Networking is a great way to meet new people and build professional relationships. You have the potential to meet anyone from fellow graphic designers to web developers or business owners to copywriters. Before visiting any event, always plan ahead. Be prepared to socialize. Make sure your portfolio and business cards are something you can’t wait to show off. Going to networking events can definitely be intimidating especially as a burgeoning graphic designer. Prepare yourself by keeping these tips in mind:

• When talking to others show interest in what they are talking about. Ask questions, use eye contact and be friendly. Show courtesy for others and thank them for their time.
• When talking about yourself, don’t brag or try to oversell yourself. Tell don’t sell. Keep the conversation casual, you’re all there for the same reasons. Don’t forget to share your business card with whoever you talk to.
•  Look the part. Be prepared ahead of time. Figure out ahead of time exactly where the event is located and whether you need to dress casual or formal and always dress the part.

Start a Blog

Broadcast your portfolio on the web and start a blog. Never underestimate the power of blogging. Social media and blogging can help establish your online identity and be the voice behind your name. As a socialmedia company and search engine optimization company, we take blog writing very seriously as we know the power it holds for search engine optimization factors alone. A blog is a great opportunity to advance in the graphic design industry and show what you can do as a blossoming graphic designer.

Seek Advice

Share your portfolio with someone and ask for their professional advice. Constructive criticism is a great tool. There may be errors that only another pair of eyes can spot. When asking for advice, seek criticism, not praise. The soul purpose in sharing your portfolio with someone is to help you improve it.

Find a Mentor

Someone who is experienced in the graphic design business should become your best friend. Turn to someone who has been in your shoes before that can help guide you throughout your journey. As a graphic design firm in Chicago, we love when we receive emails or phone calls from students or young professionals who ask questions or want to interview us. There is always something new to learn and we’re always willing to share what we know.

As a Chicago marketing company with over 25 years of experience, we are here to help you successfully complete your New Year’s resolution. If you ever hit a bump in the road, or just need advice, feel free to contact us. 

2012 Holiday Gift Guide for Graphic Designers

In honor of the holidays, we came up with a holiday gift guide for graphic designers, which is what we did last year. Below is a list of some of our favorite gift ideas for graphic designers for the 2012 holidays. If you are shopping for a graphic designer and are stumped on what to buy, consider some of our suggestions:

1- A Lynda subscription: We know a ton of great graphic designers with tons of knowledge in the field, but no matter how much they know they always want to know more.  A subscription to Lynda.com is a perfect gift for that graphic designer in your life. Lynda is one of the best online resources available sharing tutorials and video lessons on popular techniques for graphic and web designers. Lynda has two packages available for their monthly subscription plans.

2- Digital Arts magazine subscription: Why not purchase a magazine of Digital Arts for the graphic designer in your life. Digital Arts is a great magazine for designers covering a wide range of topics from digital creative to feature tips and inspiration to reviews. Each magazine issue comes with a CD containing free stock photos, fonts, vectors and tutorials. This is the perfect gift that keeps giving year round for graphic designers.

3- Tablets: Okay, we'll admit it!  Our graphic designers here at Integraphix have an obsession with tablets. A tablet is a computer input device that has a pen and a drawing surface for digital illustration. The tablet is used in place of a mouse and is used to create complex designs efficiently and in a timely manner. As designers in Chicago, we strongly suggest all graphic designers to at least pick up a tablet and try it out for a day! We're sure you'll see how much potential it has to enhance your design capabilities!

4- iStock credit purchase: As web and graphic designers, we are constantly scrolling through different art and stock photos for our projects. If you are looking for a good gift idea for a graphic designer, consider purchasing credits to iStock.com. IStock has the largest library of stock photos and is a very popular resource for designers. 

5- CSSEdit 2: If you are looking for different types of software for the graphic designer your shopping for, check out CSSEdit 2. This program is specifically for Mac users and gives designers the ability to easily make changes to CSS coding. This software allows graphic designers to easily make minor edits to web designs. It’s a great resource for designers that may not have web developer capabilities.

6- App pillow: A silly and fun present that would make any graphic designer smile on Christmas day is the “app pillow.” App pillows are simply square, plush pillows that have different symbols that represent the products in the line of the Adobe Creative Suite. Each pillow is colorful and has abbreviations that represent an Adobe product. Not only is it a comfortable creative gift idea, but it can be purchased for under $20!

Looking for more holiday gift ideas?  Feel free to comment below or contact us.  

Choosing a Font

As a Chicago design firm, we cannot stress the importance of choosing the right font enough.  When we are working with a client on creating logos and design pieces, one of the first things we take into account is the font choice. The font chosen for your advertisement or design piece has a huge impact on the way people will view your brand. As a marketing company we rely on techniques to make viewers more interested in your products and services through advertisements and creative pieces.  Believe it or not, but there are tens of thousands of existing fonts with new ones being created on a daily basis.  With so many choices out there, what prompts graphic design companies to choose one font over all the others and why are so many generic fonts overused?  It's a tough call.

Font choice is crucial when creating an advertisement or design piece.  Typography is a great way to set a mood or compliment branding in an advertisement or design piece.  It may not be the first thing you notice, but the font you choose for your pieces can either make or break your design. The content of the material presented in your design and the purpose of the design are main factors when deciding on a specific font.  A corporate look usually falls with more traditional, clean and straight fonts while something less formal can benefit from utilizing stylized fonts.

When choosing a font, there are many aspects of design that we, as graphic designers, think about.  With so many fonts in existence its crazy how overused certain fonts are.  It is very easy to fall into the trap of using default fonts.  The fonts that are standard with software setup are not always the best choice depending on what you’re trying to achieve with your advertisement or design piece.  It is very typical to see people using common, simple fonts such as Arial, Helvetica and Times New Roman.  When working on an advertisement or design piece, use a good portion of your time to look at font to find the perfect fit.  Our Chicago design firm uses multiple font books and agents, but there are also  many different online resources with free downloadable unique fonts. If you are interested in searching for creative, unique fonts check out these sites:

Dafont.com

Fontspace.com

Addictivefonts.com

Now you’ve searched for the perfect font and have finally chosen one.  Awesome!  What’s next?  Consider the size of your font and color choice.  Size and color alone can make or break your choice.  Some fonts look totally different at a small size then they do at a large size, so make sure you check out how your font looks at various sizes. 

Font can truly become a huge focal point of any advertisement or design piece, especially when it is done creatively.  Creating headers of different colors and sizes can draw a large amount of attention to the font on your piece and help intrigue viewers to read your content and learn more.  Make sure with an ad or creative piece that you design that you balance out your images and text.  A successful ad or design will have text and images that compliment each other, not overpower one another.  

Want to know more about choosing font?  Leave us a comment below or contact us.  

Lorem Ipsum Wonders v. Blunders

Every once in a while we in the design world catch a screw-up and then plaster the internet with it. This is not only embarrassing to the designer, but the company as well. But what if the screw-up wasn't a screw up at all, but a carefully executed publicity stunt aimed at getting more business for the company? It could be! This is the case of the 'Lorem Ipsum' bag printed hundreds of thousands of times by Chipotle. Us designers cringe when we see this initially, because - by any standards - that's a HUGE screw up. Leaving your 'Greek' on the side of a well known food chain's carry out bags? Career ending stupidity, or clever design quirk?

If one looks close enough at the lettering, you can see that it is in fact, handwritten. Now who would take the time to handwrite a bunch of Lorem Ipsum? Someone who intended for it to be there of course! The next question though, is why? Do an inordinate amount of Graphic Designers and Web Developers eat at Chipotle and would find humor in the use of the common Latin phrasing? Perhaps. Another, perhaps more obvious conclusion would be that Chipotle has actually commissioned their oft-used typeface to be digitized and it was in fact a screw up. Sure it looks handwritten, but it is possible to create typography with special software, especially for a company that uses it everywhere. What do you think? Mistake or Witty Design?

Other Examples of Real Mistakes

These poor guys did actually leave this on here on accident. Edwardian isn't exactly a custom font.

Something tells us Pixar didn't mean to serve Lorem Ipsum on the menu!

This one begs the question: Who actually approved selling the same car three times in the same ad?

The point of the post? Proof-read your designs before they either A. Go to Print or B. End up on a blog!

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