April 30, 2008
The client is always king (or so they think). I've encountered all kinds in my time and have always done my best to interpret their input in a constructive manner for the benefit of the final product. I simply wouldn't be able to do good work for a client without proper communication. That said, a good portion of a graphic designers job is creating a dialogue with the client in order to better understand their goals, and the goal of the finished product.
So what is this graphic design thing? On the surface it just may be the act of making something look better. But below the surface it's a combination of things being manipulated and arranged in a way to communicate, appeal, differentiate, educate and entertain. The designer uses skill and experience to manipulate images, type, colors and more to form a visual message. There is no one perfect arrangement, no formula for coming up with the “right” design. But, there are some good best-practices as well as design trends that can be utilized to produce “better” design.
Designing/Redesigning your company logo:
It's best to use both an image and the company name. Out of all of the logos in the world today, only a handful are recognizable without a name. Don't try to be over-clever or unique as your logo should simply and clearly convey your company's image. Start out in black and white and be very selective in choosing a limited number of colors, keeping in mind their application on light and dark elements. Avoid redesigning your logo too frequently; it lowers the recognition and familiarity of your brand. And if you hire a firm to handle your logo design and branding, expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $500,000 and UP!
Typeface Choices:
First off, there are a lot of BAD typefaces available. For the majority of your material you'll want to stay far away from any typefaces deemed ornamental, script, gothic, blackletter, or otherwise kiddie fonts. Stick to one of the classic serif or sans serif (minus the articulated ends of the letters) typeface families for starters. It's quite common to mix one or more typefaces to enhance the design appeal of documents and other materials, but keep the number of typefaces used to a minimum (more than three is probably not a good idea). For certain materials (websites and Word documents for example) there are limitations to typeface choices, so it's common practice choose from the core set of standard typefaces.
Stock Photography:
It's easy to start spending some serious cash if you utilize stock art resources for photography, illustrations, or even animations. The most cost efficient type of stock photos are "Royalty-free". These images are a sold at a one-time cost for your relatively unlimited use. "Rights-managed" images are more costly and are priced per usage (each time you use a photo in a magazine ad for instance, they’ll charge you a fee based on the publication’s circulation). Do not run the risk of using art from unknown origins or without paying for use. Some good sites offering royalty-free stock collections are:
iStockPhoto
Dreamstime
Shutterstock
123RF
BigStockPhoto
Fotolia
Stockxpert
gettyimages
Website design:
The navigation should be user friendly, apparent, and easy to use. Many of these issues are discussed in depth in Steve Krug's book "Don't Make Me Think".
Avoid over designing the navigation and be sure you are consistent in the look and feel of the navigation and sub-navigation from page to page. The homepage is probably the most important part of the design of your site. It's important that you not only strike the right balance of messaging and design, but that the page also WORKS as well as it LOOKS. Take the time and effort to plan and map out the goals, audience and content for your site. You'll be happy you went the extra mile in the end.
With a little bit of luck you'll avoid being laughed at outright by following these simple tips. But, keep in mind, that's why we’re here and in the graphic arts business. Leave design to the experts and give us a jingle.
Oh, and if you use comic sans or ask me to "make the logo bigger," you're dead.
Finally, be sure to check out this classic website.