Life
Imitating
Design

Brush Like a Designer

While advice from a graphic designer about why you need a graphic designer might appear to be self-serving (“Brush Like a Dentist”, says the dentist), there are some things that only a graphic designer is likely to point out.

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Here is a list of things it takes to get the job done. I might not use all of these all the time, but most are used most days. Illustrations not to scale. Obviously. The chocolate would be huge otherwise.

Coffee

Nothing gets done before coffee. Honestly. Nothing.

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We have all had those discussions. Your shirt is blue and she thinks your tie clashes. You argue that it has blue in it – she says that isn’t blue, it’s green. I can’t settle all your relationship issues. For those you are on your own, but I would like to make some suggestions when it comes to talking about colour.

First, a test. I know, very unfair, because I didn’t give you time to study. Can you accurately name these colours?

Fortunately, for the sake of my illustration, your monitor, operating system and lighting conditions will make this particularly difficult. I also happened to choose colours are are in between others on the colour scale.

For some, no. 1 will be grey. Some will see green. Number 2 could be purple or blue. Some will look great on your wall, others will clash with your logo, while the others will either be soothing or sickening.

What makes colour description even more complicated is how we name colours. What colour is grape? At what angle are you looking up when you see sky blue? And is ocean blue Pacific, Atlantic or Indian?

There are a few ways around this issue. One is to ask your designer (hi!) to submit a reference colour chart. Your logo or stationery has probably been designed with a colour palette which your designer has used between various applications to maintain colour consistency. With a copy of this chart, you can both see exactly which grey/blue you might be referring to.

Another way is to download a Pantone chart and refer to colours by their code. Pantone colours are extremely accurate and essential for print colours.

You can also refer to colours by their RGB (red green blue, or on-screen) values, or CMYK (Cyan, magenta, yellow and black, or print) values. For the colours the RGB values would be 1. #E0E6D8, 2. #7523E7, 3. #076297, 4. #E32471 and 5. #E6D24B. Yes, now you know. CMYK colours are expressed as percentages. # 1 would be 12% 4% 15% 0%, or C=12, M=4, M=15, K=0. I’m sure you don’t want me to list off the other codes, so we’ll leave it at that.

When it comes to describing colours, using terms that suggest the combinations you see is also helpful. For example, blue/green is more helpful than ‘mid ocean greenish’.

I hope this helps you communicate with your designer exactly what colour you are seeing on your monitor or in your head.

Working from home (yes, the secret is out), I thought it would be OK if I never announced my hours of operation. After all, I work all the time. Literally. Ask my wife.

However, for the sake of mental health, familial stability and domesticity (I work to live, not vice versa) , I have had to make certain rules. It’s a basic tenet of life that boundaries are a necessity. So one rule I had to make was that I didn’t work on weekends.

Except maybe Saturday mornings…maybe!

The problem is that there are many people – especially clients – who do work longer hours and all days. Not everyone has the same restrictions or boundaries.

So, I have found it necessary to announce ahead of time when I am available for work, how I manage phone calls, emails,etc, and announce when to expect replies.

Business Hours are as follows:

• Monday to Friday : 9am to 5pm.
• Deliveries: as above, plus Saturday 9am to noon. Saturday mornings set aside for web updates, final project deliveries, etc.
• In-person meetings: by appointment. Evening meetings available after 7:30pm
• Skype/Web cam meetings: by appointment.
• Lunch: 1pm to 2pm (subject to change)
• Closed: Saturday noon to Monday 9am. Expect email and telephone replies Monday.
• Holidays: Christmas Eve to Boxing Day; New Years Eve to following business day 9am.

NBurman Design will be closed on all Canadian Stat Holidays:

• New Year’s Day – January 1
• Good Friday – April 2
• Easter Monday – April 5
• Victoria Day – May 24
• Canada Day – July 1
• Labour Day – September 6
• Thanksgiving – October 11
• Remembrance Day – November 11

Exceptions may be made for emergencies only, but will be billed accordingly (regular rate + 50%)

I hope this makes the question of hours of operation a little clearer. Thanks for understanding!

1. While editing a post, or creating a new one, type your text, and highlight the words  you want as the link. Click on the anchor button (shown highlighted in green).

2. In the pop up window, enter the web address where the link should go and change Target to Open Link in New Window.

3. This is how your link should look. To edit the link behaviours, click the chain icon again, or click the broken chain to remove the link.

It’s no good bragging about your own achievements – let other people do it for you! Here you can read what other people are saying about NBurman Design.

Find out for yourself | Visit the Website

While advice from a graphic designer about why you need a graphic designer might appear to be self-serving (“Brush Like a Dentist”, says the dentist), there are some things that only a graphic designer is likely to point out.

As a professional, your business will require a lot of you. You need to keep at the top of your game, keeping one eye on the competition and another on your customers. Just like running up a down escalator, if you stop for a moment, you are moving backwards.

Can you afford to stop and learn everything you need to know about your visual brand?

Just as there is more to your business than meets the eye, graphic design is more than a pretty picture. While many people do have good taste, it takes more than a keen eye to present your business properly and effectively on the web, in print and with motion. And with all the things you need to do, there are as many things that you need to avoid to ensure your design is received properly and communicates in the way it should, both technically and esthetically.

Bad design is like a road – full of potholes and cracks, making your journey less pleasant. You don’t enjoy the journey, and once you get there you are probably still thinking about all those problems you encountered along the way. Good design removes the problems that prevent viewers from enjoying the content and helps you get your point across more effectively.

When it comes to a program like Adobe Photoshop, there is a LOT to learn! Just take a look at the dozens of names in the splash image when it opens up. This is not a little photo touch-up app that a couple of programmers decided to throw together to make a little cash on the side. Photoshop is a major photographic editing tool used by professionals worldwide. There is a bucketful of tools to get to know and learn to use properly. Just understanding the tools can take weeks (I’m talking full time, not playing around during commercials while watching TV). Knowing these tools is how it takes a professional a few minutes instead of hours to complete a job.

But that’s just one application. Do you have time to also learn InDesign, QuarkXpress, Illustrator, Quicktime Pro, Dreamweaver, Acrobat and Flash? What about HTML, CSS, PHP and various content management systems?

Make a good impression the first time with an experienced, professional designer who will make you look your best.

Screenshot

When it comes to problem solving, particularly with websites that don’t look like they ought to, proving what your screen looks like can be a problem.
The easiest way to show what your brand new website really looks like (on your computer, that is!) is to take a picture of your screen, also called a screenshot.
To do this under Mac OS X, use the following keystrokes:

• SHIFT-COMMAND-3 This will take a shot of your entire screen (or screens) and save it to a file on your desktop. If you have two monitors, you will get two files.
• SHIFT-COMMAND-4 This turns your cursor into a crosshair which you can use to drag between opposite corners of the area you want to capture.
• SHIFT-COMMAND-CTRL-3 Takes a shot of the entire screen and copies to the clipboard.
• SHIFT-COMMAND-CTRL-4 The crosshair method, which then copies to the clipboard.
• SHIFT-COMMAND-4, then SPACE.  Turns your cursor into a camera. Click on the frame you want captured.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type pdf

Logout or restart your Mac, and when you login again, all screenshots will be in a PDF format, which you can email more happily than a PNG.

No I won't install it for you.

This is an easy one to answer.

No!

I’m sorry to hear that your PC is making scratchy noises, can’t understand a thing you type in the browser and thinks your website is grey and not green. It’s tough to deal with email that doesn’t make it or attachments that disappear in mid-air. I know how frustrating it is to have a computer that doesn’t do what it should.

But this is where I say no. There are simply way too many permutations of hardware and software, especially with Windows based computers, so there really isn’t a simple answer to your problem. It’s not my job to fix computers, and I am not qualified to handle the consequences of a failed repair job. As a graphic designer, my responsibility ends with the files uploaded for the website or the artwork produced for the print job. Frankly, you might not want me messing things up even more!

If you need your computer fixed, there are lots of resources available. Many computer stores have a technician department where you can get advice, a diagnosis and installation help. Try the Yellow Pages under Computer Repair.

Good luck!