Let's talk about responsive design, and NOT responsive web design.  

To responded is to make a reply; answer.  Responsive design is creating design which requires the audience to answer.  When creating responsive design, the audience's response should be varied.  Positive, negative, questionable; all responses become just numbers of engaged people to the design you've created.  The true goal is to create something that draws an audience and requires them to have an emotional response in which the audience must respond; better yet, take action.

Stacking elements is a powerful tool in illustration and in typography.  To use stacking as a tool, you must put the emphasis on the right element and then work around it.  Identify the key word, message, letter or icon first.  Building around a central point helps bring attention to the intended element.  If too many elements are emphasized the overall message and intent can be lost in a sea of Jenga! like text or elements.

When do you breathe best? Is it when you are in a crowed subway station or when you are out on a mountain top?  The answer usually is out on a mountain top.  Graphic design elements work in similar ways.  

Letting a graphic element breathe, means to allow enough white space around the entire element to make the element stand out on it's own.  Information is interpreted best when there isn't too many alternative elements distracting from the main messaging.  Take a breath, it's okay to not fill the blank space and let the focal point breathe.

GOGO Cleanse, healthy eating made easy.  Calle Bonita Studios (CBS) had the privilege of creating the GOGO Cleanse website along with the GOGO Cleanse Chef Irina Skories.  The GOGO Cleanse website allows customers through the US to purchase 3-Day and 6-Day paleo meal cleanses. With Irina, CBS created a fully integrated commerce site to showcases Chef Irina's beautifully created meals. Visit www.gogocleanse.com for more information and to explore the website. 

Think little picture, I mean really little picture, the tiniest picture, a picture made for ants, then you have reached the size of a pixel.  Now that you have gotten that small and focused, now obsess over each pixel in a 5000 x 5000 pixel image.  With bloodshot eyes, you just start banging your head against the wall.  Then you soon out and realize you've been working in the wrong layer of the image.  You have officially now driven yourself crazy.  

Zoom out, plan, and check you layers!  Do all of these actions before you dive into the tiny world of pixel obsession. 

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Putting your best foot forward and setting the stage for your hard work.  Presenting something personal like your artwork can be very nerve wrecking.  I usually break out in a full body sweat, unfortunate but true.  I start talking fast and with my hands, when really all of my attention should be on the body of the work I'm presenting.  Setting the stage when presenting your artwork helps both you and the client walk through your creative process to the final artwork.  Don't sell you or your work short by not allowing enough time to explain your process, sometimes it leads to an easy approval.

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Go up.  The eye doesn't always have to go left to right, it can also go up.  Adding variety to the direction we expect to view characters can add the visual intrigue it takes to capture a new customer.  Upwards and onwards...

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After a few years your brand identity may be feeling a little tired.  The original ideas and concepts that you started with change over time and so should your brand identity.  Keeping your brand identity fresh reflects how your brand is changing and growing.  Viewers or customers expect to see references to your original ideas and concepts, but by keeping your brand identity updated they will know you value growth and hopefully they will want to continue to grow with you.

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Light/dark, rough/smooth, thin/fat, why are we so attracted to contrast? Contrast draws us in and makes us compare.  Contrast can bring out the best in a design or the worst depending on how it is executed.  Evaluating how contrast can pull the eye in or define the space allows contrast to be an asset to the final design.

Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with being wild.  Harnessing wildness into a cohesive thought is so tough, so embrace it and create!  Wildness gives us an outlet to express the energy that isn’t used or exercised in day-to-day life.  So create & stay wild.

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www.nelsonexcavation.com

The poppies are almost out in full bloom, the lupines are sprinkled about and color is all that I see.  Currently, I am completely in awe of the amount of vibrant colors surrounding me.  I have realized this seasonal transformation is a surprise to me because I have been in a city for the last 3 years of the flourishing spring season.  I hope the realization of spring and the new beginnings never grow old.

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www.nelsonexcavation.com

I can’t tell you how many times shadow has “messed up” one of my photos.  Shadow can be a thorn in your side given the wrong direction of the lighting.  On the opposite side of the spectrum, shadow can add life and placement to a static image.  Dealing with shadow is a true skill.  Ask any professional photographer and they will know exactly what to do to make shadow an asset and not the enemy.  Embrace and learn, know I still am.

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Presence, a sometimes painstaking task, can be the key to unlocking your creativity.  More than ever, our attention is pulled in difference directions by the multiple forms of communication and ways we receive information.  All of this clutter can make being present in your current location, work, task, exercise regimen seem almost impossible.  Isolating yourself from these distractions can open new opportunities for clear thought and creative exploration.  Go ahead, leave your cell phone at home and be present with only your thoughts for awhile.

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The opportunity of the unknown.  What can or could space do for your design?  The relationship between two objects can be defined by space, how much space between the two or how little.  Giving too much space to a focal point can leave the intended focal point looking isolated.  If there is no space between the focal point and the secondary object, it can be confusing as to which object should be the focus.  Evaluate the context of the objects to define the relationship and use space to clearly express their relationship.

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Repetition: the recurrence of an action or event.

Repetition, in design, can have a varied effect.  When large objects are repeated it can be shocking... like Stone Hendge shocking.  Small objects repeated make the eye look for a pattern, for instance in tile work.  In architecture, repetition is often present and unnoticed when the pattern created by the repetition is traditional to our culture.  When traveling to a different culture, vivid new patterns appear in every surface.  Searching for repetition when you travel to another culture can offer insight into a cultures history, religion, and people.

Have you ever gone to a large city and noticed the amount of sculptures, gardens, and murals there are?  Why is all of this great public art in large cities?  It might be that large cities have a budget for public arts, and they have a large platform that many tourists and visitors pass by and view.  Public Art is an important feature in all communities though, it can bring people together or just start conversation.  Smaller cities and towns need the effects of public art just as much a large cities, so why is there less public art in smaller communities?  Rally behind your local public arts projects and embrace the beauty and conversation that will follow.

Window: an opening in the wall or roof of a building or vehicle that is fitted with glass or other transparent material in a frame to admit light or air and allow people to see out or in.
 

Looking out of a window and looking into a window generate different feelings.  Looking out of a window provides a feeling of dominance of the interior space you are in.  Looking into a window is to look in on something personal of someone else's or your own.  You see an outer perspective through a window which leads to something personal.  A window for others to intentially look through can generate an immediate varied perspective depending on what the window in framing.  Offering a window for potential customers to view a brand or a business is essential in creating a representative design.  How and what you frame with that window dictates the presence of the brand.

Break it down.  All things are made up of elements, so is design.  Design is made up of multiple elements, some designs have more elements than others.  Look at a design that you really love.  Now identify the elements of that design.  What types of lines are being used, what colors, how are the elements organized in the space, what and where is the focal point, what elements support that point to make it the focal point?  Identify what you like about a design or what elements a client likes in design to incorporate these key elements of your next creation.

Studio Joie De V, bringing an upbeat approach to classical pilates.  Calle Bonita Studios (CBS) is excited to present Studio Joie De V's re-vamped website.  CBS created the web design in collaboration with Allison Howie, owner of Studio Joie De V.  Allison's light filled studio is an amazing space to clear your mind and get to work on the Pilates reformer.  With Allison's clear vision and clean esthetic, CBS was able to create a website that introduces the peaceful space before actually stepping foot into the studio.  Visit www.studiojoiedev.com for more information and to sign up for a class with Allison.

Word Flow Yoga, and inspired space for movers and shakers to share words, movement, and community.  Curated by the amazingly talented Cat Walker, Word Flow Yoga is la lifestyle blog that will no doubt inspire us to live a more practiced life in more ways than just yoga.  Calle Bonita Studios is so proud to have collaborated with Word Flow Yoga on their logo, and to provide a unique esthetic to convey Word Flow Yoga's fresh and encouraging voice.