Episode #0001

Today marks the launch of our daily creative showcase of works coming from the wild shores of the graphic design industry. We will feature 100 random inspirations from photo manipulation, illustration, digital art, photography to web design, print, interior design,  advertising, branding and other creative fields. As an added brain teaser, one out of the 100 images in this list has a phone booth incorporated in its design. Our challenge is for you to name this image by giving us its image number. Good luck! So enough with the chatter. Let’s get ourselves ready for a creative outburst! 01 02   03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 NOTE: Images on this page are not owned by YouTheDesigner and are used solely as design examples. Please click on the  images to see their original sources.

Eurovision Song Birds - Creative Concept and Print Ads Promo from Metro Sweden

Metro Sweden (newspaper) is the official sponsor of the Swedish selection for The Eurovision Song Contest 2012. To communicate this, Morris Pinewood Stockholm created a design platform and a communication concept based on the insight of song birds and the link between birdcall and music. Simply called Eurovision Song Birds. A thought seeded from a comic strip printed on the inner sleeve of the LP "Birds" by the dutch group Trace (1975).

Pairing different breeds, styles and species of birds with the characteristics of the artists brought us a wide array of visuals to be used as substratum for the whole campaign. A juxtaposition of bird aesthetics and the classic clichés of schlager music; the classic boy band, the country/schlager singer, the stiff electro pop male, the flirty euro disco, the spectacular etno band and last but not least the chorus driven anthems. The final execution shows 6 different visuals/species; Pop Bird, Etno Bird, Show Bird, Country Bird, Flirt Bird and Synth Bird as well as 6 animations to be used as TVC's for the campaign. DESIGNER: Hanna Moe, Mattias Frodlund.

 

How to Design a Simple Hang Tag for Your T-Shirt Brand

Since we're aiming to provide something useful to you guys every week, we've decided to give you another how-to tutorial. This time we're going to guide you through how to create a hang tag. Because, graphic designers create anything under the sun, why not a T-Shirt brand, right? Since this is just a simple project, we’ll only need two files — the logo of your brand and a hang tag template. First Download Mr. Monster, our tuttie mascot:

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Then download this hang tag template:

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Open it on Photoshop and this is what you'll see.




On the Layers panel, click “background” layer





Drag and drop the monster design (or instead of Mr. Monster here, you can use your own logo or design) on the white background.





Press CTRL+T and rotate the design slightly counter clockwise until you come up with this. If you’re using your own logo or design, it will depend on how you want it to look like.





Double click background layer and choose Color Overlay and color your background #e898c1 and hit ok.





Now, choose the Ellipse tool from the tool panel





and draw a circle just like this and color it #bf81b8 and youll come up with this:





Scatter the circles: hold alt then drag and drop the circle anywhere you want. Just repeat the process until you come up with a polka-dotted design just like this.





And that’s it!

You can modify the process that we made by adding other design elements. For example, if you want to include text on your hang tag’s design as part of your branding, you can simply insert the process in-between steps. Other modifications you can add to this tutorial is to change the shapes we’ve used, the overall color scheme of the design, and the shape of the hang tag prints. Once you’re done designing and are already planning to have your hang tags printed.

How To Explain Raster vs. Vector To Your Clients

How many times have you tried to explain to your client why the logo from their website won't work on their trade show booth? If you're like me, the answer is about a bazillion. The next time you start blabbing on about the difference between raster vs. vector files (all while your client develops an über confused look on his face), just send 'em the link to this easy-to-understand article instead. Raster Graphics Overview A raster graphic is an image made of hundreds (or thousands or millions) of tiny squares of color information, referred to as either pixels or dots. (Technically pixels refer to color blocks viewed on an electronic monitor where as dots refer to the ink dots on a printed piece. But even professional designers, myself indluced, often use these two terms interchangeably.) The most common type of raster graphic? A photograph. The designer's preferred program for creating and editing raster files? You guessed it: Adobe Photoshop. Popular raster file format extensions include: jpg/jpeg, psd, png, tiff, bmp and gif. Pros of Raster Images Rich Detail: Ever wondered what the term "dpi" stands for? It means "dots per inch," a measurement of how much detailed color information a raster image contains. Say you've got a 1" x 1" square image at 300 dpi—that's 300 individual squares of color that provide precise shading and detail in your photograph. The more dpi your image contains, the more subtle details will be noticeable. Precise Editing: All of those individual pixels of color information can also be modified, one by one. So if you're a true perfectionist, the level of editing and customization available in a raster image is almost limitless. Cons of Raster Images Blurry When Enlarged: The biggest downfall to raster images is that they become pixelated (aka grainy) when enlarged. Why is this? Well, there are a finite number of pixels in all raster images; when you enlarge a photo, the computer takes its best guess as to what specific colors should fill in the gaps. This interpolation of data causes the image to appear blurry since the computer has no way of knowing the exact shade of colors that should be inserted. Large File Size: Remember how a 1" x 1" square at 300 dpi will have 300 individual points of color information for the computer to remember? Well let's say you have an 18" x 24" photo— that's 129,600 bits o' info for a computer to process which can quickly slow down even the faster machine. Vector Graphics Overview A vector graphic uses math to draw shapes using points, lines and curves. So whereas a raster image of a 1" x  1" square at 300 dpi will have 300 individuals pieces of information, a vector image will only contain four points, one for each corner; the computer will uses math to "connect the dots" and fill in all of the missing information. The most common types of vector graphics? Fonts and logos. The designer's preferred program for creating and editing vector files? Adobe Illustrator. Popular vector file format extensions include: eps, ai and pdf. Pros of Vector Images Infinitely Scalable: Through the wonders of math (which I don't claim to understand), vector files can be scaled up or down as much as you want without losing any image quality. Whereas a raster image must guess the colors of missing pixels when sizing up, a vector image simply uses the original mathematic equation to create a consistent shape every time. Smaller File Size: Using our previous 1" x 1" square example, a vector file needs only four points of data to recreate a square versus 300 individual pixels for a raster image. For simple graphics, like geometric shapes or typography, this means a much smaller file size and faster processing speed. Edibility: Unlike popular raster-based formats, such as a jpg or png, vector files are not "flattened." When you open 'em back up in a program such as Adobe Illustrator, all of the original shapes exist separately on different layers; this means you can modify individual elements without affecting other objects in the image. Cons of Vector Images Limited Details: Because of the mathematically way that a vector remembers data, they are not practical for complex images that require exact coloring. Sure, you can create basic color gradients, but you'll never be able to match the color detail available in a raster image where each individual pixel can be its own individual shade. Limited Effects: By definition, vector graphics are created from simple points and lines. This means they can't handle certain styling effects, like blurring or a drop shadow, that are available with raster images. Raster in Illustrator? Vector in Photoshop? What? Yes, you read that right. While Adobe Illustrator is primarily a vector-based program, it has some raster-only elements available, such as drop shadows or outer glows. Likewise, Adobe Photoshop now allows you to work with vector-based objects (called smart objects) within the traditionally raster-based program. Don't be confused…this added flexibility within design programs still doesn't override the traditional wisdom: Raster = photographs = great color detail, but can't enlarge without becoming blurry. Vector = fonts/logos = ability to enlarge without losing quality, but limited color detail

About the Author

Jen Lombardi is the Head Honcho & Creative Genius at Kiwi Creative, a small marketing and design studio located in the lovely 'burbs of Cleveland, Ohio. She helps small businesses and marketing departments within larger organizations with cool projects that involve graphic design and illustration, website design, online advertising and social media strategy.

Logo Design: Less is Better

You've probably heard of Dieter Rams' principles of good design – the ever reliable guide for budding and pro graphic designers. It's a classic and so helpful, we even made a previous post dedicated to Mr. Rams and his principles of good design. Looking at much of the past and classic logo designs, you'll notice that much of them are straight-up designs that require no less than five seconds to identify (regardless of your age). This means that they have lived up to their purposes since their creation – to serve as identities and brands for their respective companies and corporations. In an earlier article about Dieter Rams' principles of good design, we've mentioned three principles are especially relevant to logo design – Good design is unobtrusive and well-designed, is long-lasting, and, most importantly, is as little design as possible. These three principles are present in different classic logos that are still in use today.

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Ideal Elements of a Logo Design

When you're creating a logo for a company, there are only three things you have to focus on – the company icon, name, and color. If you're going to use more other than these three, chances are, you'll confuse the company's market with a lousy and misleading logo design. In most cases, these three elements are already provided but need refinement or a creative touch to make them more appealing to a market.

Company Icon – this not necessarily the company's logo. It's a symbol that can be easily associated with a longstanding industry, i.e., WiFi or network signals for telecom companies. An icon may also represent a philosophy or ideal that comes from the quality of service or product that a company provides, i.e., moving arrows or horizontal lines, etc.

Company Name – Most companies will want their name included within the logo. Of course, that's the brand name that people will speak of every time they are pleased or satisfied by a service or product of the company. There are companies, though, that want diversity and adaptability in their logo's design – something that all designers must incorporate in their process.

Company Colors – The colors used by a company are important identifiers for their brand. That's why logo designers always incorporate the company colors on the logo's design. Colors used in branding and identity also provide psychological effects on the consumers. In a previous article, we've pointed out how important color is in a logo design.

Setting a Limit to Design

Creating a minimalist logo allows you to explore your creative process. Just like any graphic designer, you should invest on how you approach your project. Consider limiting your project's design to a minimum as a challenge. This will allow you to focus on the minor yet relevant details on the design.









You can take examples from minimalist logos such as IBM, Apple, and Nat Geo – from these three take note of the small details on their logo – from IBM's horizontal lines, to the bite on Apple's logo, and Nat Geo's yellow window. These examples and their respective details provide a unique touch to the overall design. In most cases, they're the key identifying element on these companies' logos.

Having less elements on a logo design will help you focus your creative process on the function of the logo. This will allow you to create a more focused brand and identity for the company you’re working with, as the logo you designed will appear in their stationery, such as letterheads, and in their products.