It does, however, require an annual commitment that is billed monthly. The company also offers pricing levels for students and teachers, single application only, team pricing and discounts for users of CS 3 or later.

So, what are the benefits to this head in the cloud quandary?

For Adobe, this certainly works well. Subscriptions are a much more predictable source of recurring revenue.

For users, it’s handy. You can access your files across a myriad of devices from your desktop system to your laptop, tablet or your phone. Collaboration and sharing seem pretty straight-forward and easy, even if your clients don’t have Creative Cloud or know what the heck it is. Updates are built-in, if you choose to update. Creative Cloud has Behance integration and a subscription comes with the pro features of Behance, including ProSite — a fully customizable professional portfolio with your own unique URL. Adobe also offers product support and a library of video tutorials. Creative Cloud for teams also includes another level of support. Each member of a team gets two one-on-one sessions with an Adobe product expert per year.

Still, there are many concerns for a lot of people. Probably the biggest concerns are needing to be connected to the Web to use the software and working on your files in a browser. Adobe says those are common misunderstandings. The applications live on your hard drive, not in the cloud. They are installed just like any other application. And, although you do need to connect once per month to verify your subscription, being connected isn’t required to use an application. Being connected most likely isn’t an issue for many graphic designers, anyway. If you’re at all like me, and I suspect you are, you pretty much live on the ‘Net’.

Nonetheless, there will probably come a time, usually the worst time possible, when your connection goes down for this reason or that. It’s part of Murphy’s Law and akin to your hard drive spinning its last right at deadline time.

Another concern is not owning a real physical disk(s). Having something to hold in your hand or spill coffee on is reassuring. But, when it comes to Adobe products, or most software for that matter, you never really owned them. You simply licensed the right to use it on your system.

What about deciding to jump ship after working with Creative Cloud? What happens to your files and all your hard work? It’s still yours and you can open them with a previous version. The caveat is remembering to save the file down to a compatible version. As you likely know, Adobe isn’t really big on backward compatibility, but it can be done.

Then, there’re are always instability issues and bugs to deal with, such as Adobe needing to take down it’s sync feature a few days ago. The company provides system status updates where users can check on how healthy Creative Cloud is at any time.

Many new graphic designers, as well as some veterans and, of course, students aren’t known for being on the affluent list. For freelancers and others, adding yet another item to the monthly budget isn’t all that appealing. That was pretty apparent in a CNET and Jefferies & Co. survey from last year. The companies conducted a follow-up survey which showed users are getting a bit more used to the idea of digging into their pockets on a monthly basis.

For the cash-strapped and rebels out there, there are other options. Gimp, for example, is an open source (read: free) Photoshop clone of sorts. Inkscape is a lot like Illustrator and Scribus is similar to InDesign. Odds are, these aren’t perfect solutions and there are some compatibility issues. Scribus can’t open InDesign files natively, but you can save an InDesign file as postscript to get it into Scribus.

At the end of the day, it’s every Abode Creative Suite user to decide whether or not to jump onto the cloud. It’s the way things are going and it’s not likely to change. The world around us is moving and changing at break neck speed. Do your homework, learn as much as you can and make an informed decision for your particular needs and situation.

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
~ George Bernard Shaw

Kitching spoke as part of Monotype’s Pencils to Pixels series—a lecture series which talked about the history and future of graphic design, although he said in referring to his work, “Pencils to picas would be better name.”

Photographed by Phil Sayer

So back to that poster: Kitching didn’t mean that it didn’t have merit, that the design wasn’t skilled, it’s just that when describing the work of Alan Kitching, foundation is a very important word. While he’s well versed in software and speaks highly of digital printing, Kitching’s work hearkens to an older tradition—one when typesetting was a blue-collar job and the size and style of type you used was filed away, letter by letter, in boxes. He left school at age 14 to become a typesetter, after realizing that he wanted to make posters for a living—an odd career choice in his hometown where most people built bridges.

“I loved it, I loved setting type. But I knew there was more to it.” A discovery of Jan Tschigold lead to an early appreciation of more sophisticated approaches in typography and layout, and soon Kitching found a successful career in design, working with legends like Pentagram founder Colin Forbes and illustrator Bob Gill, becoming known for his expertise in typography.

But as he told the crowd, “I came to the end of the line, as far as I wanted to go . . . I had to go back to where I started.”

Alan Kitching
Broadside 4
1990
Letterpress print
Artist’s Proof
Sheet size 53 x 76cm

And so, Kitching returned to setting type by hand, creating an experimental series of broadsheets or posters that explored type and his connection to it. A broadsheet dedicated to the typographer Dr. Berthold Wolpe, the creator of the typeface Albertus; a broadsheet explaining where his letterpress studio was; and unusual maps that used only type and color to describe locations. He made maps using just type and color; making them look more like poems than maps.

Doing this well on a computer would be hard enough, doing it on a printing press and setting the type by hand brings a new level of difficulty. And part of what’s so impressive about these broadsheets is the sheer size of type. Kitching wasn’t using just any type, he was also using typefaces from a theatrical poster company that had gone out of business. Imagine making a poster with metal letterforms as big as cereal boxes.

Alan Kitching
A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever
2012
Letterpress print
Edition size 25
Sheet size 75.75 x 56.5cm

But just as important as the size is his use of color — Kitching doesn’t rely on high-contrast color schemes to get his point across, rather, the colors seem to blend and emerge from each other. “I’m trying to get away from this,” he said, pointing to a large elegant logo on the painted wall behind him, perfectly scaled, rendered black and white, “I’m trying to move things forward. I don’t want perfect.”

But frequently the results are perfect. They’re eye-catching and expressive, they pull you the reader in because the reader is often trying to determine how to read them while still appreciating the design—and then there’s that moment for the reader when everything comes together.

Kitching’s experiments with letterpress led to commissions for magazines, the National Theatre of London, Saatchi and Saatchi, as well as more unlikely clients like AOL, and after seeing it, I would have to say that using a centuries-old printing technique to advertise for an internet service provider has resulted in easily the only America Online advertisement that is still worth looking at today. His work has been on billboards and postage stamps — and all of this success discovered after having decided to leave graphic design behind.

Alan Kitching
Hamlet
2001
Letterpress print
Edition size 12
Sheet size 84 x 59cm

I was lucky enough to bump into Kitching in the West Village the day after his talk. He was wearing a field jacket with a few pens in the front pocket, and told me that he was walking around as research for a map of New York. I couldn’t help but smile, knowing this map would be like nothing I’d ever seen before.

Monotoype’s Pencils to Pixels talk series concluded May 9th. A more in-depth and recommended profile of Kitching from 2001 can be found here.

View more of Alan Kitching’s work and sign up for updates HERE.

Since its inception, the Foundation has served 2.5 million people affected by the disease and raised more than $500 million to support cancer survivors. One of America’s top cancer non-profit organizations, the Foundation enjoys a four-star rating from Charity Navigator and has been recognized by the National Health Council and the Better Business Bureau for its excellent governance, high standards and transparency.

Press Release

Executive Vice President of Operations, Andy Miller, today charted an assertive vision for the Foundation’s path forward on behalf of those living with a cancer diagnosis, delivering the “State of the Foundation” address at the annual LIVESTRONG Foundation Assembly. Miller delivered the remarks in place of Foundation President and CEO Doug Ulman, whose arrival in Chicago was delayed due to weather.

LIVESTRONG Foundation Executive Vice President Andy Miller delivering the the ”State of the Foundation” address at the LIVESTRONG Assembly in Chicago

In the speech, Miller outlined strong 2012 results for the Foundation, announced robust, ambitious goals for programmatic expansion in 2013 and beyond, and reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to helping those affected by cancer today to deal strongly with the practical, emotional and financial challenges they face.

Press Release

A Livestrong Foundation Promo about the people inside the organization

“‘Will the LIVESTRONG Foundation survive? Yes. Absolutely, yes!’” Miller exclaimed to more than 500 of the Foundation’s leaders, partners, grantees and advocates gathered in Chicago from across the U.S. and around the world. “Our work is too meaningful, our role too unique, the need too great to stand for any other answer.” The LIVESTRONG Foundation also unveiled its new logo at the Assembly, a visual change designed to underscore that the LIVESTRONG ethos — the belief in fighting for people affected by cancer today — is not abstract and, in fact, drives all of the Foundation’s work.

The new logo is a natural next step in the Foundation’s evolution and is intended to provide the Foundation’s corporate and marketing partners — and the public — with an unmistakable way of communicating that buying LIVESTRONG-branded gear or supporting the Foundation equates to helping those affected by cancer right now.

LIVESTRONG Day will take place this year on May 17, 2013, the 9th anniversary of the launch of the iconic yellow LIVESTRONG wristband, announced Miller. It will represent another key milestone in the Foundation’s history, following the 2012 celebration of its 15-year anniversary and the departure from the organization last fall of its founder, Lance Armstrong.

Press Release

Tell us about yourself- when did your graphic design journey begin?

I’m a graphic/web designer and self-proclaimed design addict. I love designing all sorts of things from logos to posters but I’m particularly passionate about branding & web design. I’ve been designing for as long as I can remember but I’ve been a professional graphic designer for just 3 years.

My design journey begin as soon as I learnt to draw and I’ve been addicted since. I think it really began when I first got a computer and started to play around with manipulating images and designing my own CD covers and magazines just for fun. I’ve always loved how imaginative you can be with design and how you can make your ideas come to life as visuals.

Academic Diary Cover | Photo credit: C J Hancocks

Freshers’ Week Logo | Photo credit: C J Hancocks

Where do you find the inspiration for your work?

Generally I find the inspiration for my work on the internet. There’s so much amazing design work accessible through a few clicks of a mouse that it seems the obvious place to go to when looking for inspiration. My favorite website of the moment is pinterest and I use it to build moodboards for all my projects. It’s great for being able to easily share my moodboards with clients too.

If you could choose only one, which would be your favorite area of design?

My favorite area of design is definitely branding. I love designing logos as I find it a real challenge to come up with something original that doesn’t look the same as any other logo out there and also portrays the right image for the brand. I really enjoy branding projects as I love designing for a variety of different medias, from printed business cards to websites and graphics for facebook.

Who do you think of as your dream client, be it for a re-brand or a collaborative project?

I’ve always thought my dream client would be Coca-Cola. It’s the ultimate iconic brand that everyone in the world recognizes and I imagine designing for them means you’ve made it! I love everything about the brand too as it’s so happy and feel-good and I love working on projects with that kind of feel, where I can just have fun and be expressive with my work.

Live & Loud Logo | Photo credit: C J Hancocks

Tell us a bit more about your Live & Loud project. How did it come about?

My Live & Loud project was for the University of York Students’ Union Freshers’ festival in 2012. The inspiration behind the logo and design for the posters was 90s popular culture as I figured that most fresher’s joining the university that year would be 90s babies. 90s fashion, which is also back in, was so vibrant and busy with lots of clashing colors and patterns and I thought these things would portray a really fun and ‘loud’ feel for the event.

Live & Loud Poster | Photo credit: C J Hancocks

What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment I’m working on a couple of projects in my free time including branding and website design for a naughty gift company which is really fun and also a logo and website for a local start-up charity. In my full-time job I’m currently working on the new website for Timberland UK – the first project I’ve done proper html & css coding for which is a huge learning curve!

Mat Davis Foundation Logo | Photo credit: C J Hancocks

Charlotte’s design story showcases the journey of a multi disciplinary creative with the drive and perseverance to succeed. The bold and striking imagery displayed by Creative Juice offers an insight into the future work of this fantastic designer.

We will certainly be watching this space for upcoming projects from Creative Juice.

Vinteas Shop Illustration | Photo credit: C J Hancocks

Follow Charlotte on Twitter and Pinterest for further inspiration. See more from Creative Juice HERE.

In March, Adobe reached out to myself and my business partner, Nick Grant, asking if we could speak at Max about infographic design. Honored for the opportunity, we gladly accepted the assignment… and the 8:30 am Tuesday morning time-slot. We then went on to prep while unsure of what to expect since neither of us have attended Max in the past.

In fact, we haven’t had the opportunity to attend any non-Seattle based conferences since we started Killer Infographics because we’ve been heads-down in start-up mode. As such, we went blindly to LA, anxious and excited about the possibilities.

And Oh the Possibilities…

Adobe Max is a networking playground, impressive venue for emerging technology, and source of highly informative sessions and classes that can grow anyone’s skill set. Here’s some highlights:

The Networking

As a marketer, networking at conferences is very important to me. Adobe Max provided numerous opportunities for anyone to meet industry leaders and grow their rolodex. If you are a designer or developer looking for work, attending a conference like Max is a sure fire way to get your next job. If you’re a design agency hoping to grow clients, building partnerships with other agencies and conference sponsors is easy. Unlike other conferences I’ve attended, Max had numerous after-hours events to choose from, allowing my business partner and I the opportunity to pick our audience for networking. Additionally, the events planned by Max (like the Max Bash with the Black Keys and Rainn Wilson) were ones nobody wanted to miss. This ensured each event would be packed, a certainty not easily provided at other conferences I’ve attended.

The Technology

One of the most exciting aspects of Max was the technology. One person compared it to being Iron Man, saying that he felt like the technology came right out of the movie and onto the Max stage. The Monday Keynote showcased a number of improvements to Adobe’s suite of offerings that will now only live on the Creative Cloud (like the refine edge tool in AE that makes rotoscoping a breeze!). Additionally, Adobe unveiled some of their own hardware currently in the works. This included a pen that allows designers to turn an iPad into a sketch pad. The pen copies the sketch from the iPad and then sends your fully vectorized image to the cloud for use on your desktop.

While pens like this exist already (the pogo connect for instance), this easy to use prototype is currently the only one that works seamlessly with Adobe CC. Sadly, when I asked how much it cost, the response I received was “we aren’t even sure if we’re going to put it up for sale yet.” Hopefully, the pen and other great hardware that Adobe is producing will garner enough social buzz that they decide to dive deeper into the world of creative hardware for designers and developers (or the combo: “deviners” as one attendee coined while sharing a drink at the hotel bar).

The Sessions

There were so many sessions at Max that I was overwhelmed with options. Sadly, I was unable to attend the majority of them since I had to work (heads-down in start-up mode even in another state). That said, when talking with attendees, it became apparent that many sessions had made a huge impact on them. A good session should either provide new insights on a topic, empower the attendee with new skills, or inspire the audience to follow a new path and grow. There were numerous sessions at Max that accomplished all of these goals with ease.

Universal Geeking Out

My business partner and I don’t claim to be designers, instead at Killer Infographics we focus on the marketing side of things while we employ amazing designers. Nick’s background is in business development and my background is in online marketing. Because of this, it’s ironic that we could attend a conference geared towards designers and find it to be just as fulfilling as the other attendees. But that was what made Max a conference I hope to never miss again: it provided an outlet to geek out for anyone with a creative spark. From experiencing new technology to sharing insights with like-minded professionals, to gaining new knowledge about the world of design, Max was an all-inclusive event that made this marketer feel right at home!

For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward looking statements, see “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K. (Press Release)

GraphicDesign.com

Recently the organization unveiled a new corporate brand identity that emphasizes the company’s strengths as a global leader in specialty chemicals and performance materials.

“Our customers choose Cabot because they understand we provide more than just a product,” said Patrick Prevost, Cabot president and CEO. “We have an incredible team of people who are passionate about creating and delivering solutions that advance our customers’ businesses – not just for today, but into the future. Our new brand reflects the unique value we deliver to our customers.”

Image

The new type is clean and much easier to read than the previous mark. The new icon is simple, but it’s attractive, colorful and memorable. The new brand gives more visibility to how Cabot’s products are used in major markets, including within the transportation, infrastructure, environment and consumer industries. In addition, Cabot is introducing “Cabot Labs,” the company’s new product incubator that highlights how Cabot’s technical expertise and market knowledge is applied to create new products and processes. More detail on Cabot’s markets and Cabot Labs can be found on the company’s website. (Press Release)

Cabot’s new corporate logo, developed to support the new brand, connects the company’s past with its future. To honor Cabot’s heritage, the new logo maintains the all-black, all-capital letters of “CABOT.” The new chevron, meanwhile, represents the brand theme of advancing. The red, orange and yellow color palette emphasizes Cabot’s approachable, collaborative spirit, and energetic approach to innovation and customer service. The added dimension and colors highlight the many facets of Cabot’s businesses.

“Our new brand represents an evolution of the company,” Prevost said. “We’ve been in business for more than 130 years. We take great pride in our global market-leading positions. Our customers, suppliers and partners recognize us as experts, with some of the best technical talent in the world. In addition, our focus on safety and environmental standards is among the best in the chemical industry.

The New Cabot Homepage

“We believe our new brand will help us more strongly convey why we should be a partner of choice for our customers, employees and investors,” Prevost said. Cabot has created a motion graphics video that illustrates the new brand application. The video can be watched here. Here are some screen grabs from it:

Cabot Video Promo Still | Source

Cabot Video Promo Still | Source

Cabot Video Promo Still | Source

Cabot Video Promo Still | Source

Another advantage of getting a macro lens is that it allows you to keep a proper distance between you and the object, which is helpful in taking shots of animals and insects that you do not want to disturb. Unlike normal shots, macro photography requires special points to take into consideration in order to get professional and sharp images, such as the following:

Choose Your Composition

The composition is the first thing that you should take care of when shooting macro photography, or even other type of photos. When taking macro photos, you should consider the small size of the object and what it will look like in the final photo.

Choose The Macro Lens To Use

While the focal length of macro lenses ranges between 50mm to 200 mm, even 50-60 mm lenses are suitable for taking normal macro shots, but they may not let you have enough distance between you and the object. So you can go with a higher focal length, such as 150-200mm that allows you to take macro shots of insects and butterflies from a proper distance. Thus, these higher focal length lenses are more expensive compared to lower ones.

Use A Tripod

When you are shooting macro photos, you are dealing with extreme focal length and zooming, so it is more likely to have a shaky shot because of the possible camera movement. The object can also move, especially when you are taking macro photos of flowers or insects. Therefore, you need to reduce this shaking by using a heavy tripod.

Get To The Same Level Of The Object

Due to the small size of these objects, you need to get closer to them, therefore every millimeter matters in getting a sharp shot. So, you need to get lower and put your camera lens in parallel with the object.

Control The Depth Of Field

If you would like to display the main object in the macro shot sharper than the background, you need to use a shallow aperture, such as f/2.8 or f/4. On the other hand, if you would like the whole shot to be sharp including the background, you need to choose a narrow f/16 or even f/22. Choosing the best aperture depends on your creative mind and how you really need to display the shot.

Use Fill-in Flash

In some cases, you may want to improve the composition exposure by using a fill-in flash. The flash light can help you fill in the dark areas in the shot and produce professional results. After reviewing these macro photography tips that can help you take professional shots, let us showcase some amazing macro photography examples by different photographers and see how the above tips can be applied to them.

Denean Melcher

Denean is a professional photographer in many fields of photography; her profile is full of life and appreciation for special moments. She is using her talent and Nikon to shoot nature, family, kids, and macro photography, such as the amazing examples below.

Marin Jr

Marin Jr is a talented photographer from Sao Paulo, Brasil. His photography includes different areas, such as nature, commercial, and macro photography. Here are some examples of Marin’s amazing work.

Josh Beasley

For as long as 7 years, Josh has been taking different photos of various themes, such as macro photography, aviation, portrait and landscapes. His photography shows a great understanding of composition and the light around the objects in a scene.

Michael Stoop

Michael Stoop is another talented photographer from the Netherlands. While his main profession is in the IT field, his hobby and passion is photography, especially portrait and macro photography. Michael has been a macro photographer since 2006, and he describes these types of photograph, as follows: “Insects are very shy subjects similar to humans, you need to put them at ease and have the patience to allow them to show you their best side”.

David Dousa

David is a professional photographer from Prague, and his profile varies from portrait photography, black and white, flower, nature, macro, animal photography, and more.

Toky Des Bois

Alexandre is an amazing photographer with a very interesting profile marked by bright colors, light and shadows. His profile varies from animal photography, flowers, landscape, black and white, night, and macro photography.

After this showcase of macro photography, I hope you will enjoy this type of photography and share with us your opinion about it.

10. No Clashing Colors

Avoid contrasting color combinations. Who wants to read orange text over a yellow background? Look at modern web trends, the majority of backgrounds, especially behind the content are white. This is because you get literally no clash between white backgrounds and darker color.

Infographics by KISSmetrics

9. Mind The Photography

Don’t neglect the photography on the site. If all of the images are displaying neon green frogs, use dark contrasting colors to complement and highlight the products. Also photography can add an incredible layer of depth to a website, especially in a hero banner. It can set the tone for the entire site so don’t be afraid to design a site around a photograph, even if the photo ends up changing. You may get a more organic theme out of it.

Infographics by KISSmetrics

8. Desaturate

One of the most common mistakes a new designer will make is over saturating colors and thinking that “brighter is better”. This is not to say go bright, but don’t go so bright that the bold colors end up clashing and are straining to the eye. Try desaturating the colors a bit and don’t forget to avoid using over saturated and brighter colors on light backgrounds, especially for content on your site or behind logos.

7. Know Your Target Audience

If you’re selling to an older crowd, try using more pastel and warm colors. If you are selling to a younger audience try using bolder, primary colors. Also be mindful of what is being sold. If you are designing a site for a bank, use regal colors. If you are designing a site for a child, use fun colors.

6. Don’t Use Too Many Colors

Time Square is one of my favorite places to go, but I don’t go very often. The reason being is the fact that it’s so busy, with marketing as well as pedestrians. Don’t make your website visitors feel this way or they won’t want to come back to your site very often, or may feel so overwhelmed with color that they never return. Make sure you pick a base color and three to four accent colors to use as a pallet resulting in a much more unified design.

Here at GraphicDesign.com we like to showcase inspirational work and were interested to find out more about this innovative designer…

Good Intentions Bad Outcome | Photo credit: No Entry Design

It’s The Thought That Counts | Photo credit: No Entry Design

How did No Entry Design come about?

Honestly, all the web URL’s I wanted to use were all taken so it was kind of a frustrating experience coming up with a name for the designer side of me. Because of my background as a graffiti artist, I didn’t want to go by my real name so I had to come up with some kind of alias to work under. I’ve always been into exploring and painting in wacky places so I thought of all of the “No Trespassing” signs that I always blatantly ignored growing up and decided to settle for “No Entry Design”. Hopefully that makes sense, I was never big on writing “artist statements”…

Describe the inspiration behind your designs?

I grew up around Atlanta, GA and I didn’t really start feeling really inspired by design work until I made the move to NYC a few years ago. I used to tag along with a close friend who shot food photography for a few publications around town and from doing that I was exposed to a lot of independently owned restaurants and businesses with great branding work done.

At the time I was still more focused on being a cool graffiti/street artist and was pulling in work as a scenic artist on film and photo shoots. A lot of things have happened to me recently that have changed my perspectives. So as a result of that, I’ve been much more focused on pushing my design skills. I love solid typography work and have developed an obsession with hand-drawing type and flourishes. I guess my style of design has taken on a bit of a vintage whiskey label type of feel.

Sob Stories | Photo credit: No Entry Design

I see you focus on street art. When did your interest in street art begin?

Street art / graffiti art is the culture I grew up on. Friends find it funny that I am a designer because the ethics I grew up on as a graffiti artist are in sharp contrast to the ethics of commercial art. I started painting graffiti about 13 years ago. I’m trying to get farther away from that world to be honest, but it’s a very weird transition to make. I’ve always put so much energy into painting walls and I made it a priority over EVERYTHING else in my life. Eventually I had to come to the realization that the only thing I was really getting out of it was self-gratification.

I’ve had a pretty rough time recently in my personal life and its made me decide that I need to focus a little more energy into something I can actually earn somewhat of a living off of and keep the work I do on the streets as a separate entity. The work I do on walls is basically my way of venting about personal problems and I’m not interested in making any kind of a “career” off of that. I decided to show a small handful of my wall paintings off that show my illustration skills. I draw obsessively, but I do not have very much illustration work in my design portfolio. Reason for that is I get psyched about recreating my sloppy drawings on walls as opposed to staring at a glowing rectangle for 10+ hours rendering out my drawings.

Which project has been your favorite so far?

I would have to say the work I’ve done for Sweet Chick. Its definitely a step in the direction I want to take my branding work towards and it’s been a great opportunity for me to flex the variety of skills I possess ranging from design and branding, to hand-painted signage, to photography. I definitely hope to do more restaurant branding in the future.

Sweet Chick Menu Header | Photo credit: No Entry Design

Sweet Chick Dinner Menu | Photo credit: No Entry Design

Is there a brand that you would especially like to work with?

Not really, I like working with local and/or independent businesses. I like developing personal relationships with the people I produce work for and having the ability to take pride and ownership in the work I’m producing for them. I make a huge sacrifice in the realm of getting paid when it comes to working for smaller clients, but at the end of the day, material possessions are not what motivate me.

What are you working on at the moment? Any chance we can get a glimpse of it?

I’m currently working on branding for a grab and go ceviche restaurant concept coming soon to NYC. Right now it is in rough draft phase and my sketches aren’t known to be the most presentable. Aside from that, I’m finishing up several other branding projects that have been getting dragged out for the past several months. I am also in the process of setting up a better structure to how I conduct business, lately I have had a lot of projects pitched at me and I’ve always been more of a free-spirited artist then a business person. I’m in the process of setting up a system for a friend to be my project manager and be my guy who does most of the “consulting” with prospective clients. I am not good at acting “professional”…

Cevich Sketch | Photo credit: No Entry Design

The story of No Entry Design is an intriguing evolution, allowing us insight into the influences and style of a brilliant artist, whilst offering motivation for upcoming talent. Having explored the direction process in which they are headed we are now eagerly awaiting their next project.

Take a look at No Entry Design’s work and tell us which is YOUR favorite…

See more from No Entry Design over at Behance.

I Wish I Could Stop | Photo credit: No Entry Design

Photography In Your Design

If you are a graphic designer who works in any of the design fields or even video production, you will agree with me that you choosing images is an essential part of your daily tasks. You need to select the suitable images for your design or even recommend specific photos for your client. You can take the images by yourself, hire a photography agency, or buy it from stock photography sites, such as iStockphoto and Shutterstock.

For any of these three options, you need to spend time, effort and money to get the images integrated into your design. If the image is not good enough or does not reflect the client’s needs, it will be rejected and will cost your extra effort and money to find a replacement image.

Therefore, graphic designers need to have the good eye of photographers to be able to choose the best photos for their designs. This skill can be achieved by looking at photos, comparing them and learning the basics of photography that allow you to take useful shots or judge stock photos before you buy them from stock photo sites.

The experiment shows that designers who are familiar with the basic concepts of photography are more able to choose the best images for their design than designers who do not have this background.

Complemented Knowledge

Both graphic design and photography are visual arts that are based on similar rules to create a final design or a photograph. Both build the artwork inside a frame, but with different tools. While a graphic designer uses a computer and design elements to build the final artwork, a photographer uses a camera and objects to build the final image.

Graphic design and photography are linked to each other

For example, photography teaches you viewpoint and using different angles to reflect a specific meaning. A lower angle that shows a person or product from the bottom view reflects the meaning of high value and greatness. Additionally, photography will help graphic designers to learn about other related concepts, such as the rule of thirds that helps you choose the best place for the main object or person in the shot or design.

Understanding Composition

The term composition refers to the arrangement of elements and objects in your design or photography frame. While many designers have trouble arranging the elements in a design, their knowledge of photography can help them build a good composition and think of their designs as if they were building a photography scene.

The rule of thirds in photography and design

Designers who have learned composition from photography are paying attention to the objects and how our eyes move through a design to explore it. So, they position the important elements in the point of focus and start to arrange the other objects as a second priority.

Photography can also teach designers how to better judge the space and the ratio of elements in a design, as photographers arrange elements in the image frame based on their knowledge of using the space to serve the overall composition in the shot.

Taste The Colors

Although colors are one of the basic elements that graphic designers should understand and learn about, many designers who have not had art education find it hard to select the best combination of colors and choose the colors in their design.

The color wheel is very important for designers and photographers

In art schools, you learn about color theory and the relationship between colors. This knowledge helps you to choose the colors in your design in addition to other information, such as the clients’ needs or the characteristics of the audience. For example, if you are designing a children’s book, you need to choose bright and attractive colors.

If you did not get the chance to have art education, photography can teach you how to taste colors, because looking at the world through your camera lens can help you learn about the nature of colors and how they fit together. Furthermore, it can give you ideas about new color combinations that you do not find in color applications.

Understanding Light Directions

In the field of digital design and art, I have noticed that many designers make a deadly mistake when choosing the light directions in their digital art design or scene design. They usually mix the light directions and wrongly apply the shadows in the scene, which turns the design or digital artwork into a full visual mess.

Light meters measure the light in your scene

When you learn photography, you also learn about the lights in your shot. The light reflects on the objects and returns to your camera lens to produce the image. Photography teaches you – the hard way – how to use the light and analyze lights and shadows before pressing the shutter button.

Keep Your Eye On Image Quality

I have noticed that many designers, especially juniors, do not pay much attention to the image quality that they are using in their designs. They usually scale the images with wrong proportions or crop the images without caring too much about the elements in the picture. Some other junior designers add low quality or pixilated images to their designs.

Camera Raw plugin in Adobe Photoshop

On the other hand, photographers seek very high quality and high resolution images with a careful attention to each artistic and technical detail in the final image, such as the resolution, sharpness, colors, and exposure. Most photographers shoot their images using the Camera Raw format technology that preserves the image properties and camera information. Later, they can use this technology to edit the images in Adobe Photoshop without quality loss.

Photography Copyrights

If you are a photographer, or at least have a photography background, you will learn about the effort and time other photographers take to shoot their images so they can sell it on stock photo sites, such as iStockphoto and ShutterStock. As you start taking photos and build your photography profile, you will feel it is like karma, and you need to respect other photographers’ work so others will respect yours.

Both designers and photographers should respect the copyrights of photographs

You can also start taking the photos required for your design projects yourself if you cannot afford buying them from stock photography sites. There are many resources that can help you learn photography online such as:

• Photographytuts.com
• Digital Photography School
• Exposure Guide
• Cambridge in Color
• Phototut+

In conclusion, graphic design and photography are closely linked to each other in both the learning process and career life. Learning photography can add value to your work and your resume. In this article, we have explored why designers should learn photography basics and how this affects their design work and life. Share with us your opinion about this idea and if photography really helped you, or you think it would help you in your work.