Creative Update #176: Creative tips, tricks and inspiration

It's been a busy summer, but we still have time to search for creative inspiration! Creativity comes when you least expect it, be ready. Follow along with our July Creative Tidbits with these and other creative starting points for all designers and creative visual communicators ... here we go:

  • Got a Presentation to Give? Here are the 10 Most Common Concerns
  • Using InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop Together
  • Find the Right Imagery for Social Media Branding
  • How a Publication Redesign Impacts Advertising
  • How to Take an Infographic from Good to Great
  • A Typographic Makeover Of Email
  • ... and more !
July 22, 2014

Creative Tidbits #175: summer creative inspiration is everywhere

Fred Showker's Creative Update

Are we having fun yet? I ran across some of these just accidentally on the web, which goes to show: creative inspiration can turn up in some unusual places. Take a drive, have lunch -- I guarantee you'll see something inspiring. Follow along with our June Creative Tidbits with these and other creative starting points for all designers and creative visual communicators ... here we go:
[+] 10 Crucial Lessons From History's Greatest Graphic Designers
[+] Meet an Artist: James Williams, multimedia artist of Greensboro
[+] Zimbabwe: Meaning of Colour in Graphic Design (opinion)
[+] Graphic design student uses Lego to reinvent resume
[+] Why Graphic Design Is A Booming Career
[+] Typewriter Art: A Modern Anthology
... and more ! June 4, 2014

Creative Tidbits #174: Going to the Summer like a visual feast of graphic design

Fred Showker's Creative Update

All over America, graphic designers will be taking to the roads, waterways and airways on vacation in a quest for rest, relaxation and creative revival. It's a great time to look around and let your mind go free, taking in all the creative inspiration you can! Follow along with our June Creative Tidbits with these and other starting points for all designers and creative visual communicators ... here we go:
[+] Graphic Designers Use Icons To Tell Marathon Bombing Story
[+] The Design Deck: a Playing-Card Guide to Graphic Design
[+] 4 Ways to Create Online Video Ads That Work
[+] Technology growth pushes passion
[+] Knitting away the scenery
[+] Shape: Designs for life
... and more ! May 27, 2014

Why Black & White? Commentary by Robert Bruce Duncan

We are fortunate to bring back Robert Bruce Duncan in his commentary about black and white photography -- originally printed by permission in 2004. We're bringing it back today because the new generation of photographers need Robert's pep talk about the subtle beauty of black and white photography. May 16, 2014

Creative Tidbits #169: Proper punctuation, testing fonts in ID, and Global Design Trends

If you are a designer or visual communicator in business, then you need to keep up. In this issue we hope to help with creative 2013 a brilliant infographic which illustrates Shutterstock’s 2014 Global Design Trends, creative 2013 our friend David Blatner's quick and easy way to test font choices quickly in InDesign CC, and creative 2013 some musings on the proper punctuation marks from Kathryn Schulz
It's all fun, and you're invited to join us! April 10, 2014

Creative Tidbits #168: Direct Mail Brilliance, Ellen's Selfies and Jon Sueda

We're enjoying jumping into April, and with it comes some fresh creative inspiration. This edition has creative 2013 6 Attention-Grabbing Direct Mail Designs for those who thought that direct mail was dead creative 2013 A wonderful interview with Jon Sueda -- not to be missed, and creative 2013 revisiting the "selfie" and Ellen's now famous Oscar selfie!
It's all fun, and you're invited to join us! April 7, 2014

Creative Update #167: design, illustration, and graphics around the world

Fred Showker's Creative Update

March is almost over, our Women's History Month is coming to an end and we're focusing on spring colors .... these and other starting points for all designers and creative visual communicators ... here we go:
creative inspiration #167 Gift Card Impressions Wins Two Graphic Design USA Awards for Innovative Packaging
creative inspiration #167 Colborne graphic artist wins ParaSport Games medal design contest
creative inspiration #167 Getting a job in digital marketing (A graduate’s perspective)
creative inspiration #167 Graphic designer Peter Saville still rocks the fashion world
creative inspiration #167 Icons that talk : telling a graphic story with icons
creative inspiration #167 Stumbled into the profession of graphic design
creative inspiration #167 Call for Entries: Graphis Design Annual 2015
creative inspiration #167 TypeTalk: Know Your Figures
... and more ! March 31, 2014

Creative Graphic Design: March, Women's History, almost spring

It's March, and our Women's History Month looks at creativity in many different ways ... Designing Woman Kerry Butters sets the creative pace with her insightful piece on common logo mistakes - then Amanda Clark points the desingers' finger at fonts .... these and other starting points for all designers and creative visual communicators ... here we go:
* Award-Winning Mobile Video Coaching App Dartfish Express for iOS7
* 5 motion graphic design trends for every video editor
* Typography cheat sheet: The big mistakes to avoid
* The simple science to good storytelling
* Typing type: The font war for bloggers
* 6 Common Mistakes in Logo Design
* Global design trends
... and more ! March 4, 2014

Noteboom Productions introduces Tutor for iMovie

iMovie, once a unique, easy interface for editing and producing movies has turned into a nightmare. Apple's over-stimulated developers have munged the concepts and interface until the program is all but unusable without a doctorate degree in media production. But Noteboom Productions has come to everyone's aid with Tutor for iMovie, their latest video tutorial. February 28, 2014

Creative Graphic Design: video of a yolk, a designer's view, and skinhead culture

The creative inspiration quest continues and edition features two videos along with some extraordinary illustration and a conversation with a designer about the new iPhone interface ... here we go:
* PaperSpecs Reveals the Trials and Triumphs of Designing Print Projects
* Brobesity? 3-D Avatars Of The Average Joe Are A Hefty Dose Of Reality
* Several iOS 7 Design Choices Criticized By Experienced Designer
* Christoph Niemann: Illustrator, Graphic Designer
* Skinhead culture in graphic design
* Back to the drawing board
... and more ! October 28, 2013