• My Design Process

    Since I’m often asked about my process, here you go. First and foremost I like to meet with the client – preferably in person, but zoom works too. This gives me an idea of who they are, what their design sensibilities are, etc. We discuss: The scope of the project Touch on things like preferred colors if any, preferred style if any, things to avoid, and so on. We discuss timeline. I ask for their logo file Do they have an image, text or other content they want to use? If it’s a custom item, the size required. Then I head to the studio where I do the following: Research…

  • All About DPI

    I am often asked about DPI, so here is a mini primer… DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. It refers to the number of dots that exist within an inch square of an image. The more dots, the clearer the image.  You can always subtract the number of dots, but not make up new ones that don’t exist which is why you can make a 300 dpi file into a 72dpi file, but not the other way around. So if you send your designer a low res file, they will not be able to make a large sign out of it because the image will not be crisp since those…

  • All About Color Systems

    I’ve been asked a lot over the years about color systems so here are the basics for if you were curious… CMYK Stands for: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (Black) AKAs: Process Color, Four Color Used for: print. If used for digital colors will be dull. How it works: Colors are created by printing dots of the 4 colors which are overlapped. How you would see it written: C92 M0 Y41 K11 or (92,0,41,11) RGB Stands for: Red, Green, Blue Used for: digital. If used for print colors will be dull (screens have a wider range of colors) How it works: Made by mixing combinations of the 3 colors. How you…

  • Balance

    Here are some thoughts on balance… Balance is one of the fundamental principles of design. You can use to make a project dynamic, calm, etc. Balance, is more than just how a project looks, however, it’s also how the content ties to the design. A lot of my presentation projects, for example, have to have a balance between business information (the items being presented – facts, data, etc.) and the design being used to convey them. Is it serious, lighthearted (but not frivolous), and so on. What is the industry? Is it mechanical, finance, education – all this plays a part. It is a case of creating balance between the…