Design Guidance

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Latest Articles

- What are you listening to?
  May 11, 2021Askey Studio Activities / Media / MusicThe pandemic has changed a lot. Perhaps the amount and type of music you listen to. I have been through my collection fairly thoroughly, listening for lost gems and for reminders of memorable periods in life. Music has a way of conjuring those memories. However, discovering new music is a great way to establish a soundtrack for this new period. Sadly, forays into local record shops have been way down. Streaming services already had a stranglehold on recording distribution pre-pandemic. And of course, many of us are missing live concerts — badly. Discovering new musical mysteries Here, we’ve helped Isonaut Music set up a simple web site to feature tracks, mixes, and albums from their extensive catalog. If you’re into unearthing unique sounds, this is a destination for you. Isonaut Music “Central” Whether you enjoy indie pop rock, experimental beats or lush downtempo vibes, there is something to savour. The simple home page provides a good, updated sample of music to listen to right off the bat. From there you can explore further on linked music services (Soundcloud, Band Camp, and YouTube). Keep up the auditory adventures! Support the artists, and delight in those new sounds. …
- Three Short Videos To Get You Into Typography.
  March 12, 2021Education / Fonts / Graphic DesignEverybody consumes (or reads) type every day. You might also be using it every day to help get your messages out there. It’s one of those things most people take for granted. If you’re looking to look more deeply into this world, these videos are a good place to start. Typography Off Book / PBS (6m 58) Choosing fonts Flux (9m 41) Four Quick Tips To Improve Your Typography Futur Academy (6m 57)…
- Big List of Web Building Platforms
  December 3, 2020Graphic Design / Self-promo / WebFor several years, I have taught Portfolio classes and had a list of website building platforms suitable for creating portfolio sites. I went to do an update, and just decided to post it here, rather than creating a PDF. Students have had success with many of these. But, are there any I have missed? Have you had any experience with any of these? Wix – “Easy, free.”Weebly – “Easy to use + useful features.”Squarespace – “Flexible, stylish.”Voog – “Multilingual support.”Webs – “Good features.”Format – “Great for photo portfolios.”Portfolio Lounge – “User-friendly.”Dunked – “Super-easy”Portfolio Box – “Unique features”WordPress.com – “Strong blogging.”WordPress.org – “CMS: need web hosting, but extremely flexible.”Adobe Portfolio – “Build – free with Creative Cloud.” Cargo – “Put your projects on the web.”Webflow – “The modern way to build for the web.” Photo by Halacious on Unsplash…
- Self-Promotion Identity in the covid-19 Era
  August 6, 2020Askey Studio Activities / Branding / Creativity / GD-Courses-AStudio / Self-promoIt’s been a while since I have written a post here on the site. In that time, well, everything changed. I have been busy busy. A lot of teaching, remotely, of course. Today the subject of self-promotion identity came up – always a difficult activity at the best of times. I have begun thinking about how self-promo might be changing during the pandemic. In class, we looked at business cards, as best we could through the webcam. Are Business Cards Dead? Design Student Business Cards The usefulness of business cards may have been on its way down pre-COVID. Now, there are limited conferences and face-face meetings for the foreseeable future. The nails seem to be on their way into the coffin of the venerable name card. Self-Branding Process We may need alter how we deliver our brands’ identities to our contacts. Yet, the process of self-branding remains relevant, and largely unchanged. I first went through the process of designing my own identity ten to fifteen years ago. My style has evolved since then, but it was interesting to return to the origin of the process. Early Art Direction Option Process Sheet for Askey Studio. The first part of the process involves getting “introspective.” You need to look inside yourself and try to honestly synthesize “who you are.” Personality and values are important. This is because we live in a connected world and want to work with people and brands to which we can relate. From your introspection and synthesis, you develop a “theme,” which summarizes your deep self-analysis. Next, you use the theme to guide you as you gather visual components. These are options you may use in your designs. They can include colour schemes, fonts and typography, symbols / objects / inspirational images, patterns, textures, etc. All this can be difficult for many reasons. But, avoiding the tug of perfectionism is key: There is no perfect solution. Just start anywhere. Put these things on a page and see what sticks. Finally, you will have to narrow down your options. You will begin to create brand identity components and deliverables. These may include a logo, and graphic approaches to social media, your portfolio and website. Maybe even a business card for the sake of nostalgia. A Self-Promo Giveaway? So readers, I am thinking of putting together a Self-promo Template. This would get you started on your own self-branding process. Maybe you haven’t done it yet, or now is the time for a brand-refresh. Let me know if you are interested through the contact page, Facebook, or Instagram.…
- Download a Vector Maze
  November 12, 2019Downloads / Education / Graphic Design / IllustrationHere’s a tool for budding vector illustrators – or those out of practice and wanting to get back into it! Test your vector drawing capabilities. It’s a Pac Man shaped maze. You just know he has mazes on the brain! This one is more twisty than those we see in the video games. But that’s because I designed it to help students master the pen tool in vector drawing software – like Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer. The challenge is to complete the maze with as few anchor points (or nodes) as possible. Don’t go over the lines! I just did it with twelve. Can you beat that? Download the maze here ……
- Brand New: Downloads Page
  April 11, 2019Askey Studio Activities / Downloads / FontsIntroducing the new Downloads page on the site. So far we have our Tait Note font available, and more resources will be coming for you. Stay tuned!…
- Top 6 problems for new web development learners
  December 18, 2018Education / Tips & Tricks / WebIn graphic design, we are called on to perform all sorts of tasks. Some are artistic; others are technical. You may find yourself needing to learn web development basics. This falls on the “technical” end of the scale. For many students, this is a completely new way of thinking. Learning HTML, CSS, and code-editors seems pretty far removed from the end-product (websites). It is also quite different from the “What You See Is What You Get” applications you may have experienced to this point. Web development technically is not a part of Graphic Design, but designers work with developers. They do need to understand some of what goes on in that world. Here then are six ways learners go wrong when learning development. And, I’ll illustrate it with a minimum of code. Avoid these, and you might avoid a lot of the pain of learning this stuff. #6: Overlooking HTML structure basics Computers are picky. Your browser needs to understand the code you are giving it. This requires you to be precise. You will probably have to go back and check to make sure that your code follows the rules. We tend to “borrow” code here and there and paste it together into a finished page. But you need to be sure that you “close” tags and you are pasting things in the right place. Be methodical. Think about what order different elements need to be in, and what goes inside what. Use elements that make sense. You can find a very good summary semantic markup and HTML structure on HTML.com. #5: Using inline CSS Once you find out about the power of CSS, the last thing you want to do is format everything on the site locally. It is possible, but not practical. Work with an external style sheet and link it to all your pages. This will make editing so much easier. If you want to change the colour of all the main headings on the site, simply change one rule. This is much better than hunting through all your pages to make changes. It is more efficient and will result in a more consistent design. #4: Using absolute paths or links What is a site anyway? Well, it is a collection of interrelated files. When referencing those files in your code, find the shortest path to them. This will be the relative path. If you are on a page and want to put in an image located in the images folder in the same directory, write: <img src=”/images/my-image.jpg”> On the other hand, an absolute path takes you to an exact place in a network or individual computer. The problem is that you may not have control over these images. They may disappear at some point out of the blue. If you must link to external places (such as in the example below) then just know the risk. If your link is a long path within your own computer disk, something is definitely wrong. <img src=“https://i2.wp.com/pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/675021767384035329/tzxhzHS8_400x400.jpg?zoom=2&resize=400%2C400&ssl=1”> #3: Displaying distorted or pixellated images This usually results from poor planning. Plan out your layout. Know how big your images need to be. Adjust them – proportionally. Use image editing software (like Photoshop or Affinity Photo) before adding them to your layout. Learn to optimize images manually. Yes, you can adjust sizes using CSS, but be mindful if you do. #2: Not keeping your directory organized O.K., this one follows on from #4. More generally, you need to keep your site files organized. Don’t just pile everything haphazardly into one folder. Don’t keep your site materials and pages all over your local drives. This will help you when linking to the various files in your code. Follow proper naming conventions for files and folders (keep them lowercase). Start as a neat-freak, and your hard work will pay off with fewer headaches later. #1: Forgetting the <title>. This is by far the most common mistake by beginners. It might not seem like a big one, but users need the title of the page to bookmark it. You want people to bookmark it, don’t you? It is also used by search engines to display your site in search results. You want people to find your site, don’t you? It is easy to forget, because it is in the <head> section of your HTML document. Everyone wants to jump into building that website and making it look great in the browser window. Just make sure things are all set up there in the <head> before you get ahead of yourself! Conclusion So there you have it. There are many ways to go wrong when learning development. Most of the solution comes down to having the patience to plan, organize and check your work. If you can think of more examples or questions, feel free to discuss.…
- Summer Workshops for Kids
  June 24, 2018Education / KidsSummer reading writing & design workshops start July 4! Call for more info or contact us here.…
- Logo Woes (part one)
  April 16, 2018Branding / Creativity / Graphic Design / Tips & TricksA graphic designer’s impulse to critique visual details can annoy friends and family. But, it is also invaluable to anyone starting up a new brand. In reviewing many students’ logo designs, I have noticed some common pitfalls. And yes, I see no shortage of real-world marks that could be fixed – or scrapped altogether. By learning from mistakes perhaps you can improve your all-important logo. Logo problems fall into four categories: Ideas Selection of design components Composition Production considerations. Many logos exhibit problems in more than one, so isolating these can be difficult. Often flaws in one area lead to weaknesses in others. By starting with a strong design process you can avert these. 1. Ideas What can go wrong? Among other things, logos can suffer from obvious, cliché or boring ideas. To avoid being obvious, you need a lot of ideas. The point of design is to try things out – especially at the beginning of the process. Let your mind run wild. Research. Brainstorm. Sketch. Later, you can assess which concepts work for the brand. If you are an entrepreneur or part of a start-up business, this can be difficult to achieve on your own. Principals of a brand tend to be too close to the problem. An outsider — Brand agency or graphic designer — can better churn through all the possibilities. At the beginning, articulate the brand. Invest in brand strategy. Make lists that cover descriptions of your brand goals, personality and attributes. Also include a summary of the brand’s typical customer. Try to use “visual” words: words that suggest imagery. With these and the brand name itself, you can create intriguing connections in the brainstorming process. Things should get crazy. I notice that design students often get attached to one or two ideas early in the process. The key is to create many ideas without assessing them. Remember what I said about a designer’s impulse to critique? Everyone has it. When brainstorming and sketching, you must muzzle your inner critic. Stay tuned as we will continue our look at the idea stage of logo development ……
- Learning to create compelling publications
  December 1, 2017Creativity / Education / Graphic Design / Publication DesignThis semester marks the end of the one-year graphic design program I helped mold over the last fourteen years. I am running what will be the last Publication Design class. The final project in the class: the Magazine Project. The students are hard at work now, putting these together. It is quite a process. It is one of the few team projects in the program. Team projects are not always popular because students need to rely on each other. Someone always feels like they are doing more work than the others. Creative differences emerge. They need to overcome technical and communication problems. In other words, it is a lot like working in the “real world.” Compelling publications continue to have a place in our world. People need stories, information and inspiration wrapped up in a well-designed package with a particular attitude. Below I have included some process images from this project taken over the years. You can peruse the entire collection of magazines here.…

Featured Work

Graphics for indie pop band

Transparent Subtitles — design for subtle indie dream pop-rock band

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Geometric Pattern Pack 1

Geometric Pattern Pack 1