Top 5 Tips for Graphic Designers

Hey Everyone,

How is 2009 going for you all so far, I really can’t believe we are a month in already! Jeez.

I really hope you are all doing OK out there during this crazy “credit crunch” time, today we are going to look at my top five tips for being a successful graphic designer.

These tips are designed to help you to prove both your ability and worth as a designer. If you already have a portfolio it’s worth going over these tips at the side of what you have, if you are yet to develop one then keep them in mind for when you plan the project.

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Web design trends for 2009

Over the past few months we have looked at a number of web site designs. But which of the developments and trends that we’ve seen will continue, which will go mainstream and become a classic approach? Here are some of the web design trends that DDA think designers are beginning to accept as standard approaches.

Single Page Layouts

We visited single page portfolio designs in a previous DDA post on showcase and showreel sites but I felt it was important enough to include as a prediction for 2009 too, as I believe we will be seeing a lot more of these types of designs – not just restricted to portfolio sites.

Pikaboo.be


Paolo Boccardi – Photographer

Modal Boxes / Lightboxes

This method of displaying media or capturing data is fast becoming the norm for web sites. Modal Boxes enable the user to input information, make selections or view images and videos without having to navigate away from the page they are viewing.

The Typographic Desk Reference

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Light Graffiti

Hi, I know its been a while since my last post (sorry), after new year I took a few days off and have been really busy catching up and all the latest but I have had time to take a quick look around the internet and came across some inspirational photography.   I like to find designs that inspire me and I have always really appreciated the kind of design that incorporates both photography and design.  I recently came across some light graffiti – for those of you who are not sure what that is it is a mixture of photography enhanced by light graffiti.

Although a fairly simple concept graffiti art really works to enhance and sometime even transform images into so much more – almost bringing them to life.   This design by Eric Castro is a really good example of how simple but effective light graffiti is.

To create light graffiti you need a good camera with faster shutter speed, with the exposure setting around 10-30 seconds.  Knowing your lighting will help with the end effect of light.  I gave it a go once I do think it takes a little practice to understand how the light will work in the photograph but it is great fun.

I have found some other great light graffiti:

I think light graffiti can be used to create good design online.  I have seen WordPress themes based around this design concept recently that really work to enhance the design and bring it to life.

For more information on light graffiti visit Awesome Light Graffiti or search the web.

Amazing Interactive Design Portfolios

Hello everybody. Well we’ve all had a week now to recover from the New Year celebrations and here at DDA we are back into the swing of things with a renewed vigour. As you may have noticed we have the addition of a design resources page which will be updated on a regular basis bringing you the best in free and paid design resources from around the web.

For this weeks posts I’ve found a few unique design portfolios from talented web designers. Both of which are not only beautifully designed in each individuals style, but also highly interactive showcasing not only their artistic and creative skills but also their design usability. With the ever increasing use of widgets, and rising client expectations, designers are going to have to become much more flexible in their approach, not only having to show how it will look but also, and more importantly, how their designs work to fulfill their clients brief.

Firstly we have Miki Mottes a self taught Israli artist who works creating custom animations and illustrations.

Subscribe to Miki Mottes Picture feed on Flickr

Secondly I discovered the hilarious, if not slightly mental, portfolio of Dutch artist Coen Grift. It’s fully interactive and packed with bits of animations, sound effects and puzzles. I spent at least half and hour at home when I found it playing around and fully enjoyed every minute of it.

I hope you enjoy playing around with these sites and take away some inspiration for any redesigns you were planning for your own portfolio. And don’t forget to check out the Resources page for any updates.

Hypnoteis Graphic Design

Hello everyone and welcome to 2009! Hope you New Years Eve went with a bang, we were all at a friends fancy dress party! The theme was music stars and I dressed up as Cher, gave myself big crimped hair and everything, it was loads of fun and some people had really cool fancy dress outfits, we had a very good Elvis and Amy Winehouse!

Anyway on to today’s post, here is some more excellent graphic design from a great designer based in the Netherlands. His name is Teis and his website is called Hypnoteis.

Here’s a few of my favorite examples of his work.

Bold by Hypnoteis

I liked this one for the colour scheme and the kitty! Seriously though its a very attractive blend, nothing ground breaking but still extremely well done, especially the blend of graphics and photos at the side of such a vivid colour scheme.

Invicta by Hypnoteis

As you have no doubt have guessed from previous examples I have a thing for shiny black work, this is a really pretty example of this. I love the theme of the piece and all the dial detials, colour choices are fantastic.

I will definitely be keeping an eye on this portfolio for future work and hoping to see more like this.

Also thought I would share this with you, an awesome little lamp design from a designer called Jamie Wieck.

Dunno why I love it so much I just do!

Fight the Sofa by Jamie Wieck

Hope you have set a whole bunch of fun new years resolutions to stick to, mine is to try to post a little more on here, I am thinking of starting some tutorials this year!

Good luck in 2009 from DDA xxxx