Posted on February 10, 2011 by admin Posted in Design Blog
I read an interesting article today and thought I would share it’s contents with my readers. I won’t copy the entire article because just like any article it had it’s ups and downs. The article itself was from a magazine that sadly isn’t in print today and by far has been the most informative magazine I have ever read on the subject of design. The article was titled “Rebellion – The recipe for conceptual brilliance is research, reason and a dash of nonconformity” and the article is by Marty Neumeier. It was published in Critique – The Magazine of Graphic Design Thinking back in 1996. Now I realize that was years ago but the bulk of the article still holds true today. The article basically states, that in a world where design has been watered down by everyone thinking they are a designer because they own a computer and can run Photoshop, there is still money to be made by true designers. Why? Because the money doesn’t come from the “art”, the money comes from the creative concept. While Ma and Pa Kettle can certainly put a place a photo and a tag line on a business card and call it design they still lack the creative skill it takes to get into the mind of their customer and relate to the world around them and their business will suffer because of their lack of understanding. The article states that the more conceptual designer will be the designer who prevails and wins more clients, why, because his/her concepts are not only beautiful but also help communicate, help sell a product or even help a client have a better image. A strong concept is described as “an idea so bold, and so clear that nothing can knock it off course It not only hits the target, it obliterates it.” Einstein compares the generation of an idea to a chicken laying an egg: “Kieks! auf einmal ist es da.” or Cheep! – and all at once it’s there. The equation for a good concept is described in the article as a formula (Problem + Fresh Perspective x Intuition = Concept) In the incubation stages of a good concept the mind takes several thoughts and ideas and combines them into what we would call a concept this process can only happen after the mind has thoroughly wrapped itself around an idea. The unconscious mind can’t work its magic until the idea has “ripened”
If you are the impatient type and do not want to wait for your idea to fully “ripen” there are creative exercises to help speed up the process. Try this one out next time you are in a crunch for a great concept: Write down as many words as you can think of that describe what you are trying to conceptualize. List colors, feelings, names, places, letters, animals, geometric shapes and anything else that pops into your head. Now choose two of those words at random and mentally combine them. Try the same exercise using picture and word combinations. These exercises are called combinatory play.
Posted on February 3, 2011 by admin Posted in Design Blog
If you have never visited the site monoface.com you are in for a treat. I highly recommend that you stop buy and take a look. Monoface is one of the greatest flash websites I think I have ever stumbled over. The concept is pure fun. Take a number of different facial expressions and combine them into an image. You can switch them out one eye, one nose, one mouth at a time for a face so funny you’ll want to tell all your friends. Tired of making your own faces? Hit the shuffle button and watch monoface make faces at you all by itself. It’s hours of fun that will having falling out of your chair and the faces are seamless. Up for a challenge? See if you can figure out what the real face looks like. The facial features are named so you can test your skills. Check it out, you’ll be glad you did. It’s genius!
MonoFace
Posted on February 3, 2011 by admin Posted in Design Blog
According to www.howdesign.com these are the top 10 sites for designers.
http://absurdoverheard.com
Absurd Overheard
Designer/illustrator Karen Kurycki creates delightful typographic illustrations to capture the funny, random things people say.
http://aqua-velvet.com/
Aqua-Velvet
Aqua-Velvet is a visual language resource focused on graphic design, illustration and typography. AQ-V features notable classic and vintage modern works plus the work of contemporary designers and illustrators.
http://designstroy.tumblr.com/
Design Destroy
Chicago designer and illustrator Tom Deja rounds up vintage illustrations for fun and inspiration.
http://www.foldfactory.com/index.php
Fold Factory
Tap your inner folding fanatic with videos, dynamic folding templates, software tools, resources, ideas and inspiration.
http://hassanrahim.com
Hassan Rahim
Hassan Rahim is a Los Angeles-based art director, designer and researcher.
http://hicontrast.blogspot.com/
Hi CONTRAST
A visual study of logo marks in contrast, scale and form—for the graphic purists out there who want to see how marks appear and function when Flash effects and colors are taken away.
http://markandphil.com
Mark & Phil
Mark & Phil provides marketing and philanthropic strategy for non-profits and socially responsible companies.
http://www.thefurnace.com.au/#
The Furnace
The Furnace is an Australian ad agency with an amazing website that not only shows off their work, but totally captures their quirky personality.
http://www.theworldofdot.com
The World of Dot
DOT is a graphic design studio based in Milan specialized in editorial and book design, illustration, typography and text editing.
http://wonder-wall.com/#project/en
Wonderwall
The website for Japanese interior design firm Wonderwall sports an animated interface that captures the firm’s cutting edge style.
Posted on January 28, 2011 by admin Posted in Design Blog
If you are wanting to make it as a designer in this world there are a handful of must have software packages (in my opinion) Below is a list a several applications that a design should not go with out:
Adobe Design Suite
Photoshop
Illustrator
indesign
Dreamweaver
Acrobat Pro
Bridge
Flash
Other helpful software may include:
Quark Express
iWork
Keynote
Numbers
Pages
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Posted on January 19, 2011 by admin Posted in Design Blog
Welcome to Envisionary Images!
Well I am getting my new site set up so this is required to get it up and running. This is my first blog post and doesn’t mean much. Keep an eye out for more on-topic blogs, useful design information, design tips and more. Thanks for checking us out, we look forward to helping you meet your design and communication needs!
