Top 8 Trends in Graphic Design
1. Handwritten fonts, especially on “Post-It Notes.” The fancy computer-generated looking font is fading and handwritten looking fonts are taking its place. These were popular in 2008 and are expected to stay in vogue for 2009. Paper clips are also making a comeback—fake ones that is.
2. Homemade. Anything too polished or too put together seems too perfect anymore. Now that people aren’t spending like they used to, and with the economy still expected to be in a slump this year, homemade gifts, crafts and the like are gaining in popularity. Many ads and Web sites are following suit, using craft-like materials to create images. This billboard goes a bit far, using actual denim, but hey, it’s for a major denim company (it’s a butterfly, by the way).
3. Large fonts. Designers are paying closer attention to the types of typefaces they can use and manipulate, and that seems to mean making the sizes bigger to draw in more detail. Using typography as graphic elements is a big trend right now. This trend is not only popular with graphic design, but in advertising design as well.
4. Green. Green is a hot color for 2009. With everyone, including President Obama, having the environment at the top of their minds, green design is blossoming everywhere. From paper towel packaging to green Web sites, green is the dominant color in many marketing campaigns for 2009.
The 12 Best Sites for Designing a Brochure Online
Designing and printing brochures from home, whether you’ve had plenty of experience or none at all, has been made very possible by helpful websites. The only problem can be knowing what tips you need and also what are the best sources for those tips. This is why the list below has been compiled - to give you the right tutorials and advice for designing a powerful brochure.
How to Create a Simple Business Brochure Using Microsoft Word
With pictures for every step, this tutorial for designing a brochure in Microsoft Word is very easy to follow.
Photoshop Corporate Brochure Design Tutorial
If you own Photoshop, you can easily design your corporate brochure using this tutorial. This design is for a half-fold brochure.
Create Brochures That Help You Sell in Publisher
For a basic brochure design, this tutorial from Microsoft Word is very helpful. It walks you through every step needed from start to finish for creating a brochure in Publisher.
Designing a Winning Brochure with Adobe Illustrator CS3
This article is great for a basic walk-through for designing a brochure in Adobe Illustrator. Although short, the tips are very helpful and point out what tools to use when creating your brochure.
The Complete Online Brochure Design Toolkit
With links for free stock photos, brochure templates, free fonts, borders, and more - this site contains all of the tools you need to design and print a professional brochure.
Top Logo Trends for 2009: 20+ Examples
Your logo is what is most memorable about your brand and your company. Your logo will go onto all your marketing materials, from printed pieces like business brochures to your letterhead and onto other media, like your Web site. Your logo will most likely be the only consistent factor in all of your communication with prospects and customers. For this reason, your logo needs to be designed so that people will remember it. If you’re designing or re-designing your logo, you should know the current trends for logo design. Culled from the best designers, here are the logo trends for 2009.
Arabesque
Arabic calligraphy is beautiful and elegant; just the thing to convey a feeling of grace and style to consumers. Many designers are pairing complex, intricate patterns with sans serif fonts.
Psychedelic Backgrounds
The use of layering in Photoshop gives way to a ’60s vibe that all is groovy in 2009.
Top 20 Best Sources To Find Free WordPress Templates
WordPress is that wonderful content management system that has made professional blog pages available to anyone, whether for personal or business use. Even better news is that you don’t have to fork over a truckload of cash for the design. There are pages of free WordPress themes/templates just waiting to be discovered. Here is a list of 20 of the best sources for your free WordPress theme.
1. WordPress.org contains a variety of fresh themes available for your blog. As expected, each theme is has a very professional look.
2. LeadCamp, Inc. has a great collection of wordpress themes organized by category, so it’s easy to find that perfect template for your blog.
The Top 7 Amusing Things You Can Find in Brochures
Many Photoshop mistakes make for an entertaining brochure.
1. Check out this poor lady’s oversized left paw from a Sears brochure. (Many photos here presented by photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com – check it out, it’s too funny!)
2. Talk about “The Ghost Whisperer”! Jennifer Love Hewitt has nothing on this brochure photo featuring a ghost hand! Many funny brochures include a floating or forgotten body part:
3. Or, body parts just seem unnatural. Does this guy have a great manicure or what? And this double- or tripled-jointed woman seems right up his alley!
4. Deep Springs College, an all male college, sent recruitment brochures to women. The college bought a mailing list that included SAT criteria among their other recruiting criteria. The one criterion they forgot to check? The “male” box!
5. A urologist’s office is a great source of funny brochures, especially when the brochures seem 20 years older than the urologist himself! Check out this oldie, but goodie: the guy looks a little too happy and pleased by his self-exam! A good reason to have other’s opinions when it comes to your brochure’s photo selection!
6. How ’bout a scratch-n-sniff brochure that smells like poo? That’s exactly what officials in Michigan mailed out to prospective residents that were thinking of moving to Ottawa County. “It’s an attention grabber,” said Mark Knudsen, director of the county’s planning and grants department. “The whole purpose is that people should not move into a rural area unless they’re willing to accept and embrace the practices that happen on a farming operation.”
7. Double check phone numbers! Honda learned this the hard way by printing an 800 number instead of an 888 number on a brochure sent to 1.2 million US owners (they’ve also misprinted another number in an Acura owner’s manual). Instead of reaching customer service, customers who called reached a phone sex line!
Illustrator Tutorial: Create a Flexible Layer Mask
Every designer has run into the problem – or maybe this is your first time: you need an easy way to make a foreground image mask a background image, but you need flexibility so you can adjust it later. Text is a great example. You may need to go back and adjust a font type, size, or even the words. But most layer mask tutorials teach destructive methods of masking which simply means you have to make a new mask when you are ready to edit. This tutorial guides you through how to use a simple technique for creating a flexible mask that allows the layers to be edited later with ease.
1. Save the above tiger image to your hard drive, open a new Illustrator document, and use the File -> Place feature to put the image onto your canvas.
2. Grab your Type Tool and type a phrase across the face of the tiger. We used the Impact font at 150 pt and typed “Visual Eyes”:
