http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/ Graphic design tutorials on how-to design logos, brochures, websites, direct mail, and other types of marketing. en Copyright 2009 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:10:28 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.2-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss BY CHUCK GREEN Think outside the box. Does a newsletter have to be 8.5 inches wide and 11 inches high? Does it have to have a nameplate at the top of the cover with an article below it? Does it have to present 2.5 articles per page?

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/tall_news.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/tall_news.html Print Design Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:10:28 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN The book is a primary fiber of the information fabric. A form and function so deep-seated, new ways of delivering ideas, no matter how revolutionary, struggle against it. Even with the advent of the computer and Internet, I know few people who prefer it to reading from the printed page.

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/publish_or_perish_create_an_ou.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/publish_or_perish_create_an_ou.html Print Design Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:48:00 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN The “word works” palette uses vivid colors and the beauty of elegant typefaces to do the job typically delegated to illustrations and photographs. And it is economical.

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/design_palettes/the_word_works_palette.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/design_palettes/the_word_works_palette.html Design Palettes Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:26:15 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN How do you generate interest in a project without committing to a design—demonstrate the idea architecture. I created this flow chart recently as part of a proposal for a Web to an expert consultant. I used the page to communicate the big picture and linked to other sites to show the client examples of how we might handle each subject.

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/web_design/idea_architecture.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/web_design/idea_architecture.html Web Design Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:27:29 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN No matter what we offer online, in many if not most cases, we have yet to reach significant segments of our audience. As I see it, there are three obvious groups who are tough to reach:

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/sell_your_site_with_a_webcard.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/sell_your_site_with_a_webcard.html Print Design Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:34:10 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN Call it the profound power of “free.” I don't know if you're like me, but I get excited about receiving unsolicited gifts in the mail—little unexpected promotional items such as pens, booklets, CD's, mouse pads, coffee cups, and such. If I encountered them in a store, they would not likely even catch my eye, but send them to my mailbox and you've got my attention.

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/object_marketing.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/object_marketing.html Print Design Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:03:10 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN Thought it would be fun to share one of the projects from my book Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop, A Step-By-Step Guide. In addition to chapters on Establishing Your Mission, Do Some Research, Choosing Paper, and so on, the book includes 25 identity projects. The second half of the book focuses on newsletters. Here is one of the identity projects:

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/logo_design/design_it_yourself_graphic_workshop.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/logo_design/design_it_yourself_graphic_workshop.html Logo Design Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:30:17 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN Some time back I was asked, “What career advice can you offer to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?” Beyond seeking the counsel of a clinical psychiatrist, here's my answer.

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/1_view/advice_for_a_new_designer.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/1_view/advice_for_a_new_designer.html 1 View Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:14:22 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN What is so cool about design is that there is no such thing as not having enough to work with—budget, space, illustrations, and so on. If there is a limit, it is my imagination. And there's certainly nothing “wrong” with these headlines (figure 1)—but they sure grab more attention after I set them in an imaginary box (figure 2).

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/typography/illustrated_headlines.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/typography/illustrated_headlines.html Typography Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:15:01 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN The printing process can produce 1,000 examples of success as easily as it can produce 1,000 examples of failure. Whether you have your newsletter reproduced 100, 1,000, or 10,000 times, you—by the way you prepare the material for the press, oversee the printing, and review the results—control the outcome.

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/the_designers_prep_print_and_p.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/the_designers_prep_print_and_p.html Print Design Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:20:00 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN Folds are as important to your brochure design as illustrations, typefaces, and color. A smart layout heightens the drama with which your message is revealed to the reader.

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/the_form_and_function_of_folds.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/print_design/the_form_and_function_of_folds.html Print Design Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:50:23 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN I don't know about you but I love to see examples of how other designers work—they reveal better (or worse) ways of doing things and allow me to gauge whether my methods are mainstream or totally whacked-out. “If anyone finds out how I obsess about this stuff,” I tell myself, “they'll stick me in a home.”

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/logo_design/stepbystep_logo.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/logo_design/stepbystep_logo.html Logo Design Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:28:00 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN Recently and yet again, I was asked for a copy of a font. Someone I thought of as a legitimate designer asked me to e-mail a font I paid for so they would not have to. Though it has happened many times, this “I'm a shoplifter so you must be one too,” attitude never ceases to amaze (and insult) me. Is my attitude extreme? I think not. In fact, I believe the pilfering of images, fonts, and software is not just benign cheating or victimless crime, I think of it as professional suicide. Here's why:

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/design_business/the_suicide_of_design.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/design_business/the_suicide_of_design.html Design Biz Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:08:23 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN Would you ask a prospect with a specific need to listen to a laundry list of all the products and services you offer? Would you insist that a new customer provide you with detailed information that obviously doesn't apply to their needs? If you wouldn't do it in person, don't do it on paper.

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/page_layout/forms_that_function.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/page_layout/forms_that_function.html Page Layout Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:16:40 -0500 BY CHUCK GREEN Do we have any responsibility for the messages we help to communicate? Everyone has run into a prospective client that wants to sell fantasy to people who are living in fact. The truth be told, many of us use the fantasy approach ourselves—I am the first to admit it. But is it possible to design without deception? You bet it is—here’s how:

]]> http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/1_view/how_to_design_without_deception.html http://www.ideabook.com/tutorials/1_view/how_to_design_without_deception.html 1 View Tue, 27 May 2008 11:53:34 -0500