Artwork by Shannon Palmer

 ISSUE #14 MAY 15, 2007

 
 

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:
Welcome to Issue #14 of Notes on Design. In this issue, we interview Emily Cohen, doyenne of the creative brief. Also, Web designer extraordinaire Tara MacKay makes a grand entry with her premiere post on the Top 10 new features in Adobe CS3. Nomi Altabef provides three indispensable tips for an organized freelance practice. Award winning illustrator and watercolorist, Élena Nazzaro reveals how to showcase your illustrations online.

Sit back, peruse, and enjoy.

Best,

Anjula Duggal
Editor
DesignSessions: Notes on Design 

 

In this issue:

FEATURE INTERVIEW:
Emily Cohen,
Doyenne of the Creative Brief

by Anjula Duggal

Emily is a creative consultant with an expertise in the creative development process. Emily has spoken at: How's "InHOWse" Design Conference, AIGA/Chicago, (Discussion Panel: "The Path to Profitable Growth"), Apple Store in New York City, (Presentation: "Winning Strategies for Creative Professionals." read more »

WEB DESIGN:

Top 10 New Features in Adobe CS3
Posted by Tara MacKay

Don't Forget to Test
Posted by Jonathan Nicol

Fine Tuning Web Typography
Posted by Jonathan Nicol

APIs Are Your Friend
Posted by Jonathan Nicol

ADVERTISING:

Happy Monday, the rules have changed
Posted by John Kuraoka

It may be Swiss, but it's not neutral
Posted by John Kuraoka

One more reason why non-web-based clients need websites
Posted by John Kuraoka

ILLUSTRATION:

Showcasing Your Illustrations On Your Site (Part Two)
Posted by Elena Nazzaro

Showcasing Your Illustrations On Your Site (Part One)
Posted by Elena Nazzaro

Keep it fresh!
Posted by Elena Nazzaro

DESIGN INDUSTRY CAREER WATCH:

Keep your Creative Briefs Brief
Posted by Matthew T Grant

Three Tips for an Organized Freelance Practice
Posted by Nomi Altabef

Nurturing Creativity With A Creative Brief
Posted by Matthew T Grant

COMPETITIONS:

The Create Awards 2007
Posted by Anjula Duggal

Monsters and Mayhem T-Shirt Design Competition
Posted by Anjula Duggal

Enter "Life Is Tough" Contest
Posted by Anjula Duggal

 
FREE DESIGN GUIDES & TUTORIALS
Matt Kloskowski (pictured above) is one of 20 professional designers that contribute to our guides and video tutorials covering portfolio design, branding, web site design, layouts, digital photography, and animation.

POP! Library of Design Guides

Art & Design Video Tutorial Library



designSessions
Feature Interview:


Emily Cohen, Doyenne of the Creative Brief

by Anjula Duggal

Q: What issues do creative professionals face over and over again? Can you recommend any alleviation for these issues?

Emily: While I find designers incredibly smart, many often have little or no experience running and managing a business or a creative services department. They often leap before planning in many areas of their business, from how they market their firm to their hiring strategies. This organic growth strategy ultimately has its limitations. At some point, designers realize they want more from their business: higher fees, better clients, more respect, and more staff…

Read the full interview »

 

french toast girl

The art and illustration of élena nazzaro.

http://frenchtoastgirl.com/

Web Design:

Top 10 New Features in Adobe CS3
Posted by Tara MacKay

Everyone's favorite software company Adobe recently released Creative Suite 3—a comprehensive update of nearly every industry-standard design app. I watched the launch announcement Webcast with aspirin at the ready. What were they going to do to my precious Photoshop? What programs would they axe due to their purchase of Macromedia? They surely wouldn't make me give up Dreamweaver in favor of GoLive, would they?

Read the rest of this entry »

----------------------------

Don't Forget to Test
Posted by Jonathan Nicol

Mockups, HTML templates, databasing, content management, hosting - there's a lot to consider when developing a website. In the rush to put a site live on time and under budget, one important aspect of the process is often woefully neglected: testing.

Read the rest of this entry »

----------------------------

Fine Tuning Web Typography
Posted by Jonathan Nicol

Typography is a sadly neglected aspect of the web design process, an oversight traditionally blamed on the technical limitations and unpredictability of the medium. While it is true that the web may not offer designers the same typographic freedom as print, all it takes is careful consideration and a little typographic fine tuning to bring website layouts to life.

Read the rest of this entry »

----------------------------

APIs Are Your Friend
Posted by Jonathan Nicol

Thanks to the wonderful world of"Web 2.0″ we have recently witnessed a proliferation of web applications, offering services from mapping to social bookmarking, photo sharing to user generated video. For a web developer one exciting aspect of this new breed of web apps is the ability to extract data from them by means of an API (Application Programming Interface) and reuse it on your own website.

Read the rest of this entry »

 

Pixel Acres

Adventures in Web & Graphic Design.

http://www.f6design.com/journal/

Advertising:

Happy Monday, the rules have changed
Posted by John Kuraoka

If you're doing any direct mail in the U.S. – including brochures that may be mailed – then you should look at the new postal regulations. Because it wasn't just a rate increase that went into effect, it was a change in how the Postal Service calculates rates. Odd size? Lumpy enclosure? Material that might jam the machines? Oh, that'll cost ya.

Read the rest of this entry »

----------------------------

It may be Swiss, but it's not neutral
Posted by John Kuraoka

Helvetica, the über-ubiquitous sans-serif font, is celebrating its 50th birthday. Here's a BBC story about why this font has endured despite designers' love/hate relationship with it.

Read the rest of this entry »

----------------------------

One more reason why non-web-based clients need websites
Posted by John Kuraoka

Some clients, especially those that do no business over the web, question the need for a website or an SEO effort. But they seldom question the need for local publicity.

Read the rest of this entry »

 

Aquent - The Talent Blog

Great jobs for talent designers.

http://thetalentblog.net/

Illustration:

Showcasing your illustrations on your site (Part Two)
Posted by Elena Nazzaro

So now that you've rethought your homepage, it's time to think about your gallery. Call it what you want, a gallery, a portfolio; this is where you provide examples of your work with a few pertinent details.

Read the rest of this entry »

----------------------------

Showcasing Your Illustrations On Your Site (Part One)
Posted by Elena Nazzaro

My website started out around 1999 as a personal site. I was learning HTML at work and wanted to try out new ideas on my own terms. I had redesigned the site a few times, but always kept the content intact.

Read the rest of this entry »

----------------------------

Keep it fresh!
Posted by Elena Nazzaro

... I'm a great believer in keeping your creativity alive by always trying something new to spark your interest. That could range from painting with unusual materials, like wine, or coffee...

Read the rest of this entry »

 

The official blog from Marketing Mix

Sign up for free marketing tips!

www.marketingmixblog.com/blog/

Design Industry Career Watch:

Keep your Creative Briefs Brief
Posted by Matthew T Grant

When deciding on a creative brief format that best meets the needs of your team or organization, remember that the final document should be specific and, ideally, brief.

Read the rest of this entry »

----------------------------

Three Tips for an Organized Freelance Practice
Posted by Nomi Altabef

When you consider the decision of whether to be a freelance designer or take a full-time position at a firm or agency, freelance can seem to present plenty of freedoms alluring to the creative mind: the chance to make your own hours, select only the clients and projects that interest you, be your own boss, create your own office culture made up of no one but you.

Read the rest of this entry »

----------------------------

Nurturing Creativity With A Creative Brief
Posted by Matthew T Grant

Although well-intentioned, marketers new to the creative development process will frequently provide the creative team with an overly directive brief, one which leaves little room for actual creativity. Successful creative briefs however,...

Read the rest of this entry »

 

The professional designers and artists of Sessions faculty share their secrets to producing beautiful work.

The Art and Design Video Tutorial Library

Competitions:

The Create Awards 2007
Posted by Anjula Duggal

The Create Awards is open to all creative professionals and students.

All accepted work must have first appeared in the marketplace between April 1, 2006, and June 1, 2007. Excluding Student, Self Promotion and "Just ‘Cuz Its Cool" entries, all work must have been produced for commercial purposes and be the result of paid creative services.

details »

----------------------------

Monsters and Mayhem T-Shirt Design Competition
Posted by Anjula Duggal

A New T-Shirt Design Competition has just been launched by Allmightys.com.

details »

----------------------------

Enter "Life Is Tough" Contest
Posted by Anjula Duggal

Have a tough life, want something to show for it? Jupiterimages is giving away a 2007 Volkswagen Eos convertible in its "Life Is Tough" contest. To enter,...

details »

POP! Library of Visual Design Guides
What makes Web sites POP? It used to be a flaming logo, but (thankfully) things change fast with new technologies and new tastes. Our four experts advise using emotion, consistency, balance and color for a killer Web design.

POP! Library of Design Guides

Art & Design Video Tutorial Library


 
 

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Art & Design Video Tutorial Library

The professional designers and artists of Sessions faculty share their secrets to producing beautiful work.  Each video delivers either a desktop or in-studio view of the designer at work as they walk you through a technique that will improve your skills and enhance your portfolio. see library »

 

 

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A community and resource for freelancers.

http://freelanceswitch.com

 
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