Graphic Design Vs. Client

This is brilliant and as a Graphic Designer have encountered them all. This is a cool funny design-related video I have seen till date. Sometimes it helps to see the serious issues from a lighter angle like…..“Can you do it in Word” ha ha ha ha...

and it has a sequel too. . . worth to watch if you liked the first version.

LITERARY ORIENTALISM

The origin of Literary Orientalism is in the various military, religious, diplomatic, political and socio-cultural encounters between and Christian West and the Islamic East. Major works of Western literature and art contain references to Oriental cultures often emphasizing cultural differences in a hostile manner. Literary Orientalism: A Companion is a systematic compilation of the instances of Literary Orientalism in English literary and critical texts.

The cover I designed also has the influence of Islam in it. I used different colourful Islamic floral patterns for background and divide them with thick white straight lines. As am using different colour patterns in background I use a solid black box for all the text details to complete the cover design. The best thing is that the cover come out very well in printing and author also appreciated the design. A job well done. Let me have your comments on design.

PURPOSE OF A BOOK COVER

The purpose of a book cover (and I think it works for lots of Products)

I believe that the saying ‘Don't judge a book by its cover’ is no longer valid. In today's world of tough competition the First Impression is always the lasting one.

Just like any marketing tool, the book cover design is very Important. The design of the book cover plays a role, often a critical one in the sales of the book. It is the 1st thing what a buyer would see and catch their eye. I feel that a highly creative book cover design is more likely to be viewed by every customer rather than one without a book cover. You have less than 3 second to grab someone’s attention with a book cover in a sea of other books. That is the job of the book cover design, it needs to stand out, yet be relevant to the market, subject matter, and the content of the book. The main job of the cover is to get the customer to pick it up. It needs to present the title well and organize the other information so that it is clear to the customer if they decide to pick it up, and possibly inform the viewer of the content of the book.

Most of the time while people browsing in a bookstore mainly look at the book covers and titles. If the cover doesn’t interest them they almost never pick up the book and have a second glance at it. For example If you are a boy/girl of age 15, what grabs your attention would be very different from a man/woman who is 40. So, once the book is published, the only thing that will get it to sell, is its cover. This is because if you write a brilliant book for a 40 year old man/woman, but the cover is designed to attract a 15 year old boy/girl, there is a very slim chance that any man/woman of 40 will pick it up thinking that the book is for him/her and that is how a book cover helps in selling and marketing as well, as the cover must be designed to attract the target audience of the writer.

At the end of the day,  I feel that a cover design is a important feature of a book. The main features a book cover should have to grab the attention are:

1. Catch the book reader's eye while on the shelves or displayed and attract them to pick it up.
2. Main bold title, graphic and color are important.
3. While in hand - Provide first glance insight into the content.
4. Sub title, fly-leaf and back cover content is important.

If you got the book reader interested at this point they will probably look at the table of contents to view the chapter headings to see if the content is interesting. If that all goes well they buy it

So you can say that the purpose of a book cover is:

• Attract the reader
• To accurately describe what's in the book
• To sell book
  

I don't know about you, but I judge books by their cover every day.

Displaying here some of my designed covers. Would like to know your views on the post and my cover designs both.

How to get an idea?

There seems to be a common myth that one day you’ll just sit under a tree and get a good idea.

I read somewhere that an idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements.

Archimedes, the greet Greek mathematician got an idea in the bathtub. Sir Isaac Newton got an idea observing an apple fall from a tree. Percy Lebaron Spencer, an American engineer got the idea of Microwave Oven, when the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted while standing by a magnetron.  By his death in 1931 Thomas Edison had gathered over a 1000 patents. Sure, today we may not remember many of them but among were also a handful of world-changing ideas such as the light bulb, the phonograph and the Kinescope.

As you are involved in your work, you keep thinking how to improve your work. This often results in ideas. When you are discussing something with friends, you may have just got an idea. Your necessity may bring out an idea as Necessity is the mother of all invention and then one idea may lead to another. 

I agree that most ideas are just new combinations of old elements but you can not get an idea just because you want to get an idea. It just happens... like accidents. You don’t plan accidents.. do we? I think ideas are certainly new combinations of old elements but they're also more than that in that they take on a life of their own once created and can be enduring and influential. Big or small I believe we only generate ideas when we break old patterns and in that sense the new combination of old elements is absolutely right. To get an idea you should

• Expose your mind to others who are more creative than you. Not necessary in your own field, though that's helpful, of course. But acquainting yourself with the work of great painters, great musicians, great writers will provide fodder in your mind for your own creativity.
• Get together with another creative person and brainstorm solutions to your particular project. Often, bringing two or more people together will generate ideas that no one of them would have alone.
• Play, the creative part of the mind often works "behind the scenes". Carve out time in your schedule for fun, non-work activities and relationships and rest.
• Carry around a journal and sketchbook all the time.
• Mind mapping is a useful way to come up with new ideas or concepts. This involves writing various words that are associated with your subject and finding other words or phrases (idioms) that relate.
• Use the pen and a piece of paper try to come up with 20 ideas to improve something. This something can be you business, health, the amount of money you earn, your life in general or just another idea that you want to improve. The interesting thing about sitting down and starting to consciously generating ideas is that once you get them to start trickling into your mind they often develop into a small stream or sometimes even a river. Before you begin it may seem difficult to gather 20 or 40 new ideas but soon after you get started it seems, at least for a while, like you’re plucking them out of the air as easy as picking a basket of apples.

Everyone has his own way to create an idea but as there is a saying that "No great thing is created suddenly." and one should take time to develop and implement a good idea. Hope you like the idea of this post and would comment your views on it. 

Designing-Marketing-Branding

"Designing" play a supportive role in marketing and branding of a product or service. Granted, the marketing of a company and their brand needs to begin with a solid foundation. The marketing and branding is all about creating "differentiators", drawing a line between the competitors and you, a line which is clearly visible and is usually drawn by great designs and creative ideas. It can be normally termed as "Visual Salability" of any product or service. For example Apple ipod is "APPLE IPOD" because of its design and visual appeal.

Marketing makes the market aware of your product or service and make them want to buy it. How marketing do this is the creative part. On the other hand Branding is about making the target want to buy your product over your competitor's by giving your company a "personality" that the audience will relate to.

In these troubling times due to the economy, proper "branding" and "marketing" is critical for companies to position themselves to remain ahead once the economy rebounds. Good design can assist with establishing a unique positioning message for a company. It's important for companies to re-evaluate their message to determine which key word they want to "own" which separates them from others and describes their "brand".

Design is a process for solving or addressing a business challenge in the market. The marketing plan is the guideline that informs the design direction. Ideally, marketing (or more precisely marketing research) provides you with an idea of your target group/market, what they value and what they relate to, what's important to them. The marketer's job with maybe the help of a designer is then to create a marketing message, product design or packaging design that fits the target group so that they can relate to the product, service, or even to the whole brand. So the point is clear that designing play a supportive role in developing brands and marketing of a product or service in a better and creative way.

Sharing here few example of creative marketing. Hope you like it. Enjoy and share your views.

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Photography Album

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Photograph to Vector

This time I did experiment with my photograph and try to convert it in a vector image. I did it using Photoshop and CorelDraw both. Though you can also do it only in photoshop or corel but I used both the software. Also sharing processing steps below. hope you like it.
 

Why graphic designing is important?

First of all let's look at what graphic designing is. There are different sites explain it differently. According to Wikipedia

"The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation."

What I think that it is difficult to define the term Graphic Design as it cover a number of areas. It is used in making websites, posters, brochures, book covers, billboards, logo, business cards, product designing, branding, marketing, vector art, wallpapers, page layouts, newspapers, magazines, electronic ads, and many many more. Although each of these area in GD need specialization but most graphic designers are capable of doing almost all types of graphic design, but nearly all of them have a preference or specialty they focus on. Each specialist will no doubt have an individual answer to the question of “what is graphic design” as well, but the overall answers will be the same.

Designing is everywhere in different ways. Most of people think that a design should always be decorative but as most of people think design is not always decorative. As a form of self-expression it can convey a specific feeling, emotion, mood, or impression. A design can communicate a message when it incorporates words, symbols, or representational shapes that are readily understood by the viewer. So you see that a design is much more than just combining some photographs, illustrations and text together. It require skills, artistic attitude, a lot of practice and of course experience.

Now the technology is reached to a level where basic qualities, features, usages etc. of most of the products are like same. On the other hand most of the businesses are using same kind of strategies and modes for advertising, promotion and marketing. The competition is very tough and everyone want to gain the maximum profit. Now one thing which make the products different is their look and design. Of course the technology, price and usage does matter but that comes later. The first thing a customer notice is the design of any product. The better look means better chances of sale. That means a design play a major role in sale of any product. This is the direct approach of a design to the customer but except this any business need a design for their website, logo, business card, branding, advertisement, or many other projects also. Graphic designers are very much in demand in businesses. Almost all advertising includes graphic design, as do websites and the other items.

I think any design must start with an understanding of what is required by a given problem, and end with a valid and creative solution to the problem. When I deal with visual forms of communication, my concern includes conveying messages, explaining ideas and thoughts, providing guidance and direction, persuasion, and stimulation of emotions; all of these constitute the functional aspect of design.

Hopefully, this post has given you an idea that why a graphic designing is important. Your comments and suggestions are most invited.

My Painting: Dawn Time Bird

Another painting using tube colours. I named it "Dawn time bird" There are few things which you can directly associate with dawn time and one of them is chirping of birds. Birds are nature's alarm to tell us that its morning and the Sun is rising so get up and start your day. Your comments on the painting are most invited.

Warrior Mickey

Mickey Mouse is one of my favourite cartoon character. Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and still making everybody smile and laugh. I create it long time back in my teenage. Mickey's image I copied from a stamp of Republic of Bhutan. The background is my imagination. Your comments are most invited on Warrior Mickey.

 

More Wallpapers for LG KP 500

Just click the image to enlarge it and save.

Flying Books

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.

Books are knowledge and knowlege should spread as much as possible without any boundaries or restrication.

Brand Failure

The Truth About the 100 Biggest Branding Mistakes of All Time

This book provides an insight into the biggest brand failures of all time and inevitably provokes a few chuckles. This book provides very useful and serious advice to any business worried about preserving its brand. Unlike the typical boring how to style business book this makes very refreshing reading.

I changed the cover design of this book for Indian market. though I liked the original design and idea but we changed it to give it a new look with some more colours as well as a direct and more clear message. I am sharing here both the original and changed Indian design. Let me know your view which one you like more.

Original design

Changed design

Alone and rich

I call it Alone and rich. I used paint tube colour and spread and mix it using paint roller.  I did the tree painting first, applied dark and light shades of green paint and mixed them. I think it turned out very good. After that I did the bark, grass, sky and shadow using the same method. 

This is the first time I am using paint tube colours and wanted to make a simple painting with limited shades and effects. Do let me know your comments on my effort.

FRESH

Lemon is the most valuable of all fruits for preserving health.

Though am more comfortable with working in CorelDRAW but I also want to polish my skills in Adobe Illustrator and thats why I create this one in AI. I must say that AI has many very good options. I think I should practice it more. Comments Invited.

Unity in Diversity

Again a vector in CorelDraw
 I join differnt color dots to make it and named it Unity in Diversity. 
I know making this is not difficult but the concept is new and thats what i like about it.

Crazzy about coffee

Have a cup of coffee...
and do let me know if you liked it.

Another vector in CorelDraw

I liked it...

Illustration

I have just started learning cartooning from a book. Also trying my hands in sketching realistic object drawing. Sharing here is a line drawing of my office phone coloured in phothoshop. Though it is not a serious effort and just a scribble but let me know your views on it.

Here are some interesting quotes related to telephone followed by my drawing:

If the Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me

A girl phoned me the other day and said "Come on over, there's nobody home." I went over. Nobody was home.

The telephone is a good way to talk to people without having to offer them a drink.

Choose the Perfect Wine

Whether you want to stock your own personal wine cellar or know how to select the perfect wine for social situations, this book teaches you everything you need to know.

Displaying here the original cover printed by Adams Media and one I changed for Indian Market. Though the original cover is good but I find it very dark so I designed a cover with more colours and more elements. Hope you like it.

Original

Changed

MICKEY MOUSE

When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it's because he's so human; and that is the secret of his popularity

Vector Tips

Some readers asked me about procedure of making realistic vector images. How I made it? Which software I’ve used? Which tool I used most? etc. It is difficult to describe the procedure in tutorial way as I made them for developing my skill and not for tutorial purpose. But here I am trying to describe them with some tips.

Many visitors asked about the software I use. I think that you can use any software as creativity is not there in software but in your mind. If you think that you can do it then you can do it in any software. I prefer using CorelDRAW, Photoshop and Illustrator.

For mixing colors properly and in natural way I use INTERACTIVE MESH FILL tool. You can add as many nodes you want for mixing different color shades effectively. Eg.


Your tracing skills should be good if you are tracing an object image. Trace each and every part separately with close path. So that you can fill them with different shades to make your vector more realistic. Eg.


For showing depth and highlight use drop shadow with different color shades and transparency. Break drop shadow from object and place it separately for indicating depth or highlights. Eg.

Have patience – sometime realistic vector art take long time to complete.

Whatever software you use for your vector, tools must be clear to you so that you can use them effectively. Any tool can be used in many ways.

Also decorate the surrounding of your vector to make it more attractive. For decorating surrounding you can place your vector on colorful background or you can draw some curved line drawings around it. Eg.

Most powerful tools you can use in CorelDraw are: Bezier Tool, Freehand Tool, Shape Tool, Interactive Transparency Tool, Interactive Drop Shadow Tool, Interactive Mesh Fill Tool, Fountain Fill Dialog Tool.

In menus most useful options are:
Effects > Powerclip option
Arrange > Shaping Option

You can use above mentioned tools and menus in different ways to make any vector look realistic. Hope this post will be helpful for you in developing your skills. Your comments are most invited.