It’s a digital age. The worlds of advertising, branding, and art are all flooded with creative people trying to make their mark in the realm of graphic design. How can one tell whether they have what it takes to join this world? In the flowchart below by Sikich, the answer to that question becomes a little more clear. It’s the type of profession that requires many small decisions to be made before one can make an accurate big decision. Can you visually translate a concept or idea? Do you manage your time well? Do you even like people? These are just some of the questions that you should answer before making…

Adobe Systems is well known for its graphic design, video editing, and web development applications. Whether developed or acquired, all the applications are collected in the San Jose-based company’s “Creative Suite”. Since its initial release in 2003, millions of people have come to rely on the applications in Adobe Creative Suite (CS) and for many they has become an essential tool for their daily lives. Adobe has released new versions of Creative Suite every one to two years; their latest release was Adobe CS6 in 2011. Because of its popularity and importance, it came as a shock to many…

Many major companies are going flat. No, it’s not just the economy or consumer sentiment, but rather in design. Flat is in and it’s sweeping across the internet, but how long will this trend last? Facebook made headlines last week with their move to a flat logo. Apple is rumored to be flattening their interface on iOS 7. Sabina Idler at Usabilla asked the question of whether this was a trend or a revolution. We’re going to go with trend. Flat design has many advantages including speed of design, simplicity of usability, and the sheer vintage trendiness of it all, but there’s something about stunning…

I just recently blogged about the top car technologies we will most likely see in the future of cars. One of those features was the ability to fly in your car. Ironically at Hyundai’s annual Idea Festival, a flying “car” was showcased at the event. The prototype designed by Hyundai engineers is a hover-type vehicle with a driver’s seat in the middle. The term car in this sense is one that should be used lightly, considering this vehicle was controlled by an outside operator with a remote control and not from the cockpit. The design seemed so simple. A bunch of rotors, 16 to be exact, surrounds…

The ebb and flow of design trends always seems to navigate towards and away from simplicity. Today, simple is hot. Flat is hot. Depth, texture, and complex are all out and Facebook is following the trend with their new logo release. They removed the lower bar that gave it a sheen for a minor 3D effect and are now bleeding the “f” off the bottom edge. It’s also a little larger than before. It’s clean, plain, and simple. It’s very 2013. The new logo can be downloaded from the site. Reactions have been positive from around the blogosphere. While beveling and depth are often used to denote a clickable button,…

The flight of the dragonfly is unique in the animal kingdom. It’s complex four-wing mechanics give it significant advantages over traditional two-wing flyers. By moving two sets of wings independently of each other, the dragonfly is able to enjoy much more maneuverability and speed control. It’s no wonder so many robotics designers have tried to replicate this design in their flying robots. Unfortunately, the flight mechanics of the dragonfly are decidedly difficult to replicate. Although many have tried to perfect their design, few have managed to create anything more than a clumsy…

The digital devices and printing equipment of today are becoming masterful at presenting the world in full color. Retina displays make the colors pop. HD is being replaced with Super-HD (which will be replaced by Mega-HD, which will be replaced by Ultra-HD, which will…) and the magnificent presentations possible in the world of design have never been better. Even before the rise of graphic perfection, colors have played a major role in determining the way that designs are interpreted. In web design, for example, colors can transmit in a split second the mood and intention of a website before…

Every business needs graphic design. Why? Because almost everything requires it. You want to have a eye catching website for your company? Then you need a good graphic designer. You want to create eye catching advertisements? Then you need a graphic designer. I could keep on going but you get the point. Whether you have a graphic designer working for directly or indirectly for your company they are very important and good for business. This infographic presented by Invision looks a little bit deeper into the world of graphic design and how it can be great for business, especially small startups….

I did a bad thing the other day. My son showed me a video (below) of an enhanced variation of Skyrim, the popular video game that has kids and adults alike addicted to a strange fantasy world. It isn’t just the nearly-unlimited potential that the game offers to players. It’s also the amazing graphics, and the ones enhanced in the video below fooled even my Facebook friends. We took a screenshot and posted it on Facebook and Google+. I wanted to see if anyone would notice that the image (the one above) was computer generated rather than a real photograph. If anyone noticed, they didn’t call me out. In fact,…

Take a ride down any major road in America and you’re bound to find at least one of the following; a post office, a pizza place, or even a McDonald’s. Any successful business has gotten to where they are because of three major factors, product, business structure, and a solid corporate identity – in this case, a strong, easily recognizable logo. Corporate identity can make or break a business almost as easily as its product or business structure. When I’m stuck at work and want to order a pizza, I immediately think Dominos. It’s just that simple. Simple is a key term to remember here, because the more…