Bad signage is easy to come across when so many people take the cheap way out and don’t hire a professional. The first time I came across this sign I just laughed. It reminded me of the one time my grandma was trying to tell me the name of this website, she proudly said, “It was www-dot-com!” I just burst into laughter. I tried to explain to her the middle of the domain was the most important part.

With this car dealership, their hierarchy is completely off and I think they have the fear of negative space. A major flaw is the smallest part is the name of the shop. One of my pet peeves is when a telephone number has a word in it, who regularly dials a phone number with letters?! I could easily make his sign look better in under an hour, I wonder if I should contact him?

Bank of North Carolina’s sign just has one major flaw, you can’t read it! The black cast iron on the dark brick makes it really hard to read. Other than that I have nothing against the sign. But isn’t the importance of the sign legibility? A sign can be designed perfectly, but if you can’t read it, what good is it?

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My design education in primarily in print and identity design, but I have had a strong interest in web design. Having a website on your business card is almost more important than having a phone number, in my opinion. Landing my exciting new job as a web designer, I am getting to challenge myself in becoming a more creative web designer. Among my first projects, was to redesign three websites for waterfront communities. The print materials were previously outsourced to great graphic design firms in the area. So I had a lot of inspiration to pull from, I was basically transferring the identity that was created into web. I have actually surprised myself in how good things are turning out, and I’m getting great feedback.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

First, I looked in housing magazines to find development’s ads for the web addresses. As I was bookmarking my favorite developments’ websites, I started noticing some trends and items that interested me. These websites are selling expensive waterfront communities, with the general audience being well-off and over 50. So they need to look the part.

I wanted each website to be distinct, but have general similarities. My ideas were for all of the websites to have an area for large interchanging pictures, add a favicon (icon beside the web address, that shows up in your bookmarks), texture/depth/transparencies/patterns, match their print materials, show a forecast for the location, and have a more user-friendly site infrastructure.

I can’t wait to make these sites live! Here are the existing websites: Water Ridge, Summerhouse, Cutter Bay. You can be the judge if they need updated by my new designs.

Does a believable handwritten font exist? I’m on the search. The problem is when you actually write something out, no two letters are exactly the same, like they are with a font. The pressure points and thickness of the writing utensil also varies.

If it’s not that much type, I will find a font I am happy with, type out the text, print it out, trace or write over it on tracing paper, and then scan it in. Tracing the text allows me to keep a fairly uniform size, write in a straight line, and not misspell; while giving it enough inconsistency to make it believable. It makes me laugh when someone asks what font I used.

But in this particular case, there are 10,000 envelopes that need addressed, and I cannot write out all those addresses. So I am sorting through thousands of fonts to find the best handwritten font I can find.

Do you have a believable handwritten font you would like to share?

After searching for two months, I landed a perfect new job. I was starting to feel a little hopeless, and then all the sudden I had four interviews and two offers in one week. I was very excited to accept the offer from Waterfront Communities, Inc. to be their Graphic/Web Designer.

Waterfront Communities has developed and marketed 36 luxury waterfront communities in the southern United States. My primary job will be to redesign/update some of the websites for the communities that they are currently marketing, here is one: http://summerhousenc.com/. They are currently outsourcing all of their print material to design firms, but the hope is to bring it in-house, which I think is a great idea.

GMarks - Do you use more than one computer and wish you had all your bookmarks in one place? Firefox has a great add-on to sync and manage all your bookmarks.

mygazines.com - For those of you cheapskates, like myself, there is now a free place to browse, share, archive and customize unlimited magazine articles uploaded by you.

forwebdesigners.com - helpful links for web designers

jumpola.com - lists many of the sources a graphic/web designer wants easy access to

benjaminkrain.com- Inspirational photojournalist - Benjamin Krain

logolounge.com - you can quickly search through thousands of logos created by designers and firms known and unknown, as well as upload your own logos.

On the search for freelance work, I have been checking Craigslist.org. I have noticed some posts requesting finished designs and they will only pay for it if they like it, which usually gets a response warning other designers not to apply. This is called Spec work – work done in speculation that the designer may or may get paid. Any other professional that provides a service would not do work not knowing if they were going to get paid. Take a mechanic for example, you would not ask a mechanic to fix your car and only pay them if you like it.

Spec work not only hurts the designer, but also the quality of the work. Design is meant to be a collaborative effort between the designer and the client which is essential in communicating the right message. I like HOW’s suggestion to ask the client for a paid brainstorming session instead of a free ideas and suggestions. And even if the client does not hire you, you will at least be paid for your ideas.

On my search to learn more about spec work, I found on aiga.org two insightful downloadable sample letters on how to educate clients on why spec work is dishonorable. Another website on spec work is www.no-spec.com who’s mission is to educate the public about spec work. Hopefully the all of the public will start to see why spec work is wrong and unethical.

New and existing faculty of UNC Charlotte will now have all of the important information in one convenient brochure or sheet. I worked with a committee to create a helpful guide with “if-then” situations that faculty members might come across with students.

Click to download full size

Typical “if-then” charts contain the information in a box with an arrow, making it cluttered. I wanted to make it clear and simple, since it will be a reference that faculty will refer back to on occasion. I made all of the important programs, websites, office locations and phone numbers bold; so it is easy to skim through to find the information you need. On the back I also put a list of the same information so it is easily accessible. I wanted to make it look like personal notes, and have a reference to education.

Brochures were printed and handed out at the new faculty orientation, and the sheet shown will be a PDF sent out to all of the faculty. I thought it would be a good idea to both, because it is cheaper to send out a PDF to all of the UNCC faculty, and then they can easily print it themselves.

A common question that I get asked is, “Where do you get your inspiration?” I should really start answering, “Where don’t I get inspiration from? It’s everywhere!” There are many sources of inspiration for a designer/artist. From commercials, internet, peers, to everyday life. Inspiration is everywhere, you just need to realize it and capture it.

When I am in between projects, I try to spend my time searching around the internet using StumbleUpon and bookmarking my favorite sites with GMarks, browsing around AIGA.org, learning new tutorials for the different programs I use, picking up print materials that interest me, subscribing to graphic design firms’ newsletters, visiting bookstores to flip through graphic design books, purchasing graphic design books/magazines, and many others. Some of my favorite magazines: Communication Arts, HOW, Print, I.D., Step, and GD USA. While most are costly, you can usually get the first issue free, and cancel your subscription if you are not happy with it. Some of the books that have helped me are: “Graphic Design that works” by Rockport, “Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works” by Erick Spiekermann & E.M. Giner, “Best of Brochure Design” by Jason Godfrey, and many others. If I had the funds to fill a library of my own, I would. I like going to the bookstore to look through them and then buy cheaper from amazon.com.

When I’m working on a project, I can be going for a jog, out shopping, or watching TV and all the sudden and idea will just hit me; sometimes even out of the blue, which I know usually happens to most of us designers. When the mind is free to wander it will! I have a handy little note pad that I keep with me at all times, so I write my ideas down so I don’t forget them.

Where do you get inspiration from?

Click image to download

Click image to download

I got the idea to start doing pro-bono (for the public good) work from chatting with someone at a recent AIGA event. He told me to do as much pro-bono work as you can when you’re young. And I agree, the more experience you have under your belt the better. I’ve had some free time on my hands lately, and I thought what a perfect way to volunteer and advertise for free!

I found volunteermatch.org to be a very helpful start. No one was advertising for the need of graphic design services, but I found a few that had a call for newsletter entries, help at events, and various others that I knew would appreciate my services. I picked a few that interested me including: United States Equine Rescue League, Inc. (USERL), Teens against Violence (TAV), Shepherd’s Center East, and National Multiple Sclerosis Society - Mid Atlantic Chapter.

I created this poster and bookmark for USERL, which helps rescue horses in need. If you click the images you can download the PDF’s and please feel free to print the poster and bookmark to post or hand out.

I did things a little backwards, I started journaling before I realized I wanted to add a blog to my website. That is why I have past articles and I am just now making my blog live.

My mind usually never rests, I am always thinking up some new creative project that I want to work on. I enjoy learning new things, sharing with others, and continuing to grow as an individual and a professional graphic designer. This blog will not only be about graphic design, but also art, photography and anything else that falls under creative. I am a creative thinker at heart, and I did not want to limit this to just graphic design, because there is more to me than that.

Keep up with my journey of exploring my creative ideas. Please feel free to comment on the posts. Add this blog to your RSS feed! Thanks for reading.

– Amy Lynn