AU Blogspot

I’d like to take this opportunity to summarize some points of extreme importance for you as a beginning designer.  I have followed these principles throughout my career and have used them to guide me in the development of your graphic design program.  I call this methodology the Michael R. Nelson “12-Point Program for Successful Designers.”

1. Be humble and ready to learn. Even after you complete your program, there is still a vast world of design out there for you to learn, experience, and absorb.

2. Always enter into a design project with clear objectives and criteria.

3. Establish a clear design process with a methodical intent of reducing possible solutions until a clear solution rises to the top.

4. Don’t be afraid to revisit parts of the design process as many times as needed to get it right.

5. Have a clear hierarchy of information in the graphics you design.

6. Respect typography.

7. Make your imagery meaningful. Don’t be overly simplistic with your imagery. Make sure it’s appropriate and communicates your core message.

8. Always push your designs for a higher level of excellence.

9. A successful designer must be willing to self-educate. Never stop learning about design and exposing yourself to creative outlets.

10. Make your own opportunities. Designers do not have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for prospective clients and employers to come to them.

11. Be discriminating in defining what good and bad design is. Whether you are critiquing yourself or work you randomly run across, or you are participating in a formal group critique, hold the work to a high standard and have the confidence to declare it successful or unsuccessful. Allow proven, high-quality work like we cover on this blog define your standards of good work.

12. Don’t let computer programs “own” your designs.

If you can excel at these 12 points, you will be well on your way to becoming a good designer.  Let me know how you are progressing through your program and please reach out to me through this blog if you need any direct assistance.  All you have to do is leave me a comment and I’ll follow up with you right away.  I’m here to do whatever I can to make this learning experience a successful one for you!

Michael R. Nelson
Graphic Design Instructor
Ashworth University

All you Graphic Artists out there give us a holler!! The upcoming Ashworth Newspaper is in need of your talents! We desperately need cartoonists. We would like a funny page! Any takers?   

If you’re interested, follow up with us on the Ashworth University Forum “Student Newspaper” thread.  Click here to view and participate in this thread.  Thanks!

David
Student
Ashworth University Criminal Justice Program

P.S.  Remember; Greatness is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. 

            Thanks to Carol Esther for permission to use this Photo. 

One of my biggest daily struggles is creating graphics using “dummy” images or filler copy, simply because a client is late in providing me with the final art work or copy.  This forces me to make blind decisions in Photoshop, because I know they will all change once I receive the real artwork and/or copy.  It’s no use coming up with the perfect way to make text fit a page, if the text is going to change in size when you receive the final draft.  Working with dummy text or art work is okay for making general decisions, but don’t waste your time with it.  If you are already working in your computer program, you are at the stage of making final decisions.  Don’t make those decisions until you can be sure that they will truly be final. 

I realize that operating efficiency isn’t the sexiest topic a designer can imagine, but let’s look down the road to your future in the industry.  Remember, that’s what this course is about: your future.  Suppose that you are working with a design team and you are in the comp stage of a project.  Let’s add to this scenario that you’re working to get a promotion or a bonus.  You’ll look like a hero to your art director if you arrive at critique sessions with twice as many comps as your peers, due to your higher proficiency with the design software.  Also, the quality of your work will be higher because you can successfully flesh out ideas and create a better end product.  Your final comps will also have more detail and therefore look better than the less-developed submissions of other designers.  This is the kind of edge every designer looks for.  It’s the kind of edge you need in the very competitive world of design.  I want you to have this edge.  

Michael R. Nelson
Graphic Design Instructor
Ashworth University

     Thanks to thinbegin for permission to use this Photo.

David Carson spent a decade building his reputation as an underground graphic designer before gaining mainstream popularity in the early 1990’s.  Some have labeled his signature style as “dirty” in the sense that it may appear unpolished, heavy, and visually dense to the common viewer.  Carson was one of the first graphic designers to mash seemingly unrelated typographical and photographic elements into one composition, a practice that is so commonplace today as to almost appear cliché, but at the time,Carson’s ability to convey what were perceived to be complex (subconscious) messages through his work was considered groundbreaking.  In the following video, Carson discusses how his design instincts have always guided his career from day one—and how important it is for young designers to develop their own intuitive style in order to consistently create substantive work.  Click on the image above to watch this video.  I think you’ll find some inspiration in the life and work of David Carson.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

               Thanks to friendlyuser for permission to use this Photo.

Book design and layout is one of the least-appreciated niches of graphic design.  This niche also presents some of the biggest challenges to a professional designer.  Aesthetic demands can sometimes conflict with what the client has asked for.  When this happens, a designer must exercise what I call “assertive tact” by offering a clear presentation of why his or her book design concept is best for the project at hand. 

One company that consistently produces beautiful books is Phaidon Press.  They specialize in books about art, design, and other creative fields.  Their volumes are always eye catching and uniquely different from the average book layout.  If you go to the art section of almost any large chain bookstore, you will find an array of Phaidon Press books.  What makes their books so successful from a design standpoint is that you– and all of us in the field– want to own the books and study them.  They are beautiful, edgy, and always very appropriate for the author’s content.  I encourage you to seek out some Phaidon books at your nearest large bookstore chain.  Or, you can visit their website to get glimpses of their layout mastery.

Michael R. Nelson
Graphic Design Instructor
Ashworth University  

 
             Thanks to Rick Prelinger for permission to use this Photo.

Photoshop TV is an excellent resource for online tips, tutorials, and best practices for new designers/developers/photographers.  Their database of instructional videos are easy to follow and rich with useful applications.  The video we’re featuring today covers some of Camera Raw’s features, neat ways to incorporate Smart Objects, as well as a few different cropping techniques.  Let us know when you start utilizing these methods in your work. 

P.S.  These guys have recently changed their approach to displaying videos, but they’re still easy to access.  To watch the aforementioned video, simply scroll down to the bottom of the screen linked above and click download.  If you have any issues, let me know in the comments section of this post… 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

          Thanks to Robert Marinkovic for permission to use this Photo.

Cascading Stylesheets, or CSS, can be pretty awkward at times. It allows you total control over the presentation of a webpage within a browser; but having the resulting webpage look identical in each different browser (IE, FireFox, et al) can sometimes be difficult. Here’s a selection of handy tips I’ve found - see if they help you too.

100.01% Font Size

CSS: Getting Into Good Coding Habits says:

This odd 100.01% value for the font size compensates for several browser bugs. First, setting a default body font size in percent (instead of em) eliminates an IE/Win problem with growing or shrinking fonts out of proportion if they are later set in ems in other elements. Additionally, some versions of Opera will draw a default font-size of 100% too small compared to other browsers. Safari, on the other hand, has a problem with a font-size of 101%. The current “best” suggestion is to use the 100.01% value for this property.

Link Styling: “Love/Hate

Link Specifity says:

All of them can apply to a hyperlink, and in some cases, more than one will apply. For example, an unvisited link can be hovered and active at the same time as it’s an unvisited link. Since three of the above rules apply to the hyperlink, and the selectors all have the same specificity, then the last one listed wins. Therefore, the “active” style will never appear, because it will always be overridden by the “hover” style. (more…)

Ever walked around and see a terrible designed poster on the wall? Now you can take action with the Design Police. They have up to 5 different templates of stickers that will apply to possibly any design mistake people can make. Really nice idea, and I will surely print out some of these suckers!

Frederik Samuel
Creator of adgoodness
Ashworth University Contributing Blogger

*Frederik Samuel is an art director/designer working out of Toronto, Canada. Through his blog, adgoodness, Frederik comprehensively covers the best and worst advertising and design from around the globe. We’re excited to have Frederik Samuel as a member of our contributing bloggers’ network and would like to sincerely thank him for his generosity. Thanks Frederik!

Have you ever wondered how you create a seamless pattern in Photoshop? It’s easy and it’s fun. Let me show you how…

Step 1 - Create a Color Fill

First of all create a vector illustration in Illustrator CS2. It might be just a simple dot or circle. Copy this object. Go to Photoshop and create a new document of 300 by 300 pixels. Select the Rectangle Selection Tool from the Toolbox and drag a squared selection (hold down shift) in the center of the document. Leave enough space around the square. Click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer in the Layer’s Palette and select Solid Color. Select a color you like and click OK.

Step 2 - Paste your Illustrator object

Paste your Illustrator object. Select Smart Object in the Paste options. In the View menu, make sure that Smart Guides are active (Show > Smart Guides). Snap and Snap to Layers should also be checked.

Step 3 - Place your object over the border

Drag your object over the border of the Color Fill. If you see the Smart Guide and feel the object ’snapping’, release the object.

Step 4 - Drag a 2nd object on the other side of the border

Duplicate the layer (drag the layer in the Layer’s Palette onto the Create New Layer icon). Now drag the object over the bottom border of the Color Fill holding down the shift key. Again, when you feel the Snap effect release your mouse. (more…)