It may not be common knowledge that in-house graphic designers are often expected to concept and design projects, create apps, manage content management systems, create social media content, and even help out staff with Microsoft Word formatting issues. Working outside of a dedicated design department or  design firm presents unique challenges. One huge challenge is that of designing on a shoestring budget.

Public Domain Photography
Your project calls for images of fireworks filling the night sky, but: you don’t have the cash to hire a photographer to shoot a dozen pics, there are no fireworks scheduled in your town for months, purchasing stock licenses is a costly last resort.

You can scour the web in search of creative commons if you have the time or you can check out this public domain photography site that over a dozen fireworks photos—plus much more.

Public Domain Quotes 
You are now tasked with creating Tweets and Facebook status updates to promote Woman’s History Month but you’ve already created 15 interesting and creative ones and your mind is completely blank.

Check out this site that offers inspirational quotes ordered by categories like: Thanksgiving, Patriotism, Women, the Tooth Fairy, and Insults--to name a few.

Wow, I thought I had more time before I had to scramble to share CCs, but alas I was wrong; Creative Commons week is here.

I went to the Newseum back in February and snapped a few pics of the letterpress installation with a Kodak Easyshare (not recommended) camera.

Some shots are very nice and some are ---well, you’ll see.

Take them, use them, share them, remix them. Enjoy!

I opened my email this morning to find a request to remove cheek redness from a photo for our newsletter. As soon as I fixed the picture I realized that I should pass on a quick and dirty how-to to the community. Remove cheek redness quickly:

1. In the Layers Window: copy your background layer , then select the new layer

2. Select the Lasso tool and change the feather radius to 2 px
(or up to 4 px if you’re working with a larger file)

3. Select Image > Adjustments > Hue/ Saturation.
With preview on:

• move the Hue slider to the right between +1 and +10
• move saturation slider to the left between -2 and -10
• increase lightness by +1  to  +3

Click Preview off and on the see the results then hit “OK”.

4. Repeat until the portrait is perfect. Then delete your original background layer. Viola!

The final picture here shows only a single area of redness corrected.

Well, we ladies do, anyway. I'm in the midst of planning the March 2012 iteration of the Binge and Purge clothing swap, and working on the logo. This time around I opened Illustrator and typed out the words--using the system default typeface--and then I got back to my day job :)

In bed last night the idea came to me that the glyph should play a feature role in the type solution so I came up with an over-sized ampersand and papaki. The photo element I found via Compfight and I thankfully credit Sharyn Morrow for her excellent photography.

I'm working out the date, so I saved s swath of room at the upper right of the design for that bit.

This is awesome because my formal training ended in the previous version. I ended up buying a decent textbook and walking through tutorials for hours to get a handle on the new CS5 upgrades.

I should've done this when I was a student, but didn't. Now I've got to pay a higher application fee.

Anyway, this new job has offered me several opportunities to create--what Bert Smith knows as--elegant graphic design. I'm pretty darn happy and proud of the work I've done during my tenure.

My advice: Do you have some design work that makes you particularly proud? Submit it to a juried panel. You might win.  Application deadline for the 2011-12 Addy is January 6th, 2012

Now I’m completely convinced. The large brand name stores that we know and love are desperately trying to put themselves out of business; in a manner of speaking.

I noticed 3 weeks ago when I had to go to the Verizon store to get my phone replaced. The customer service was TERRIBLE and the in-store prices were extortionary. The phone that I originally bought for $100 cost nearly $240 in the store. Before I made my trip to the small brick-and-mortar edifice in Charles village, I did some quick checking online so that the sticker shouck wouldn’t kill me. The price was half what I was later quoted in the store. AND the price on Amazon was 1/3 the verbal price quote.

I spent over 30 minutes in the store with the salesman but walked out phoneless. The only real help that he offered is that he suggested that if I can find a cheaper price online, I should go ahead and make that purchase. I walked out in disgust ant then it dawned on me: large companies like Verizon have been outsourcing their US-Based customer care staff for years, and taking money out of the traditional storefronts; hence the closed or—just as often seen—understaffed stores in the mall.

Factors that lead me to this conclusion include:

• Declining staff training/customer service
• Increased availability of goods on retail websites, and discounts for using online services
• Increase in tele-sales and customer service forces in companies like ATT and Target
• My razor sharp intuition

This week I'm finishing up another poster project that will be a highlight of my portfolio!

This is actually three lists of funds. The goal is to showcase a couple hundred names and draw the eye. Initially, I created 3 design options: two traditional / bankerish choices then a third more modern list. This third included modern type, and huge blocks of color. I'm working on developing the colors and headings--I think I'll have the options to push the envelope a bit more. Anyway, I now have a good sketch of what the finished product will be. FYI, I took a quick tour of Compfight and found images from  local photographers with CC licenses. So this is what I'm working on:

Take a look at the "Beginning of a Poster Series" for a snapshot of the progress.

And then, I got a bit closer.  Tulle, 3-element palette, and varying photo treatments, PLUS a very cool looking faux-spot varnish when the final is printed.   This project still has a little way to go to completion, but I feel I'm on the right track.

Take a look at the "Beginning of a Poster Series" for a snapshot of the progress.