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I don’t think I’m alone in having a strong dislike for manuals. As the saying goes, if all else fails, I’ll dig up the instructions and read through from page one, but ideally I believe (especially when it comes to technology) that user interfaces should be intuitive and obvious. As the title of Steve Klug’s book states, Don’t Make Me Think. From my iPhone to my television remote, if I have to read how to use the thing, I feel that I’m wasting time. Come on, hurry up, CSI is starting any minute. Why can’t I find the volume? » Read the rest of this entry «

To intend, purpose. No lottery here.

This has to be said, so I’m going to say it (yup, hang on to your cap).

There are numerous sites out there that enable business owners to throw in an RFP, get hundreds of options in return, and choose the one they want to pay for. If this doesn’t sound particularly unethical or problematic to you, allow me to talk more on the problems of spec work.

First of all, let’s talk about design. Design is not pure aesthetics. Design is not choosing your favourite colours, finding a pretty font (maybe one that hasn’t been used much because it’s SO unique), and making everything look nice.

Have you ever heard of anyone being ‘lucky’ and making a website just right? Or being lucky enough to have a good looking business card? Or even luckily finding the right can of paint to decorate their living room? (I like to include other design disciplines in the discussion).

You see, graphic design is not about making a huge number of options, throwing them against the wall and seeing which one sticks. That’s for spaghetti, dice and children’s games.

We’re talking business here. The business of graphic design and the business that you are in. If you want to gamble on your business, you may be in the wrong place. Perhaps a poker table might be more suitable, because being in business (as I know you know, whoever you are) is about calculation, planning, strategy and wisdom. Ok, perhaps a little luck, but that’s not luck is it? It’s actually your hard work that others perceive as luck.

There is a reason that building websites, print materials and multimedia productions is called DESIGN. It’s because it takes planning, experience, expertise and a skillset that involves communicating with the client to understand their needs. It’s a process, not an end result.

I’m all for business owners (and others) doing what needs to be done to get the job done. But if you are serious about your business, you need to be serious about how you market and present your brand to others.

Leave your dental work to your dentist, plumbing to a plumber and renovations to a specialist. Don’t leave it up to luck. Leave it to a professional.

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.