Design361

Being a modern graphic designer is not easy. In fact, at times it’s downright dangerous. With so many threats to your professional livelihood to deal with, it’s a wonder that there are any graphic designers left! However, when the negative aspects of the job are appropriately dealt with, graphic design is an amazing and rewarding career. To help you find your way in the industry here is our guide to staving off the common threats in every modern graphic designer’s life. Threat 1 – DIY Designers  DIY designers have been around since the advent of desktop publishing software, however, the new wave of design apps and open source software is seeing the presence of amateur enthusiasts increasing at a rapid rate. Just check out Behance, or DeviantArt for evidence of this. While some argue that the democratisation of design is a good thing, bringing the value of high quality graphic design to a wider audience, others believe the DIY trend is diluting the professionalism of t...

Whether you own a startup or established business, having a professional logo is beneficial on many levels. It builds trust, increases awareness, creates an emotional attachment – and ultimately, can deliver new customers. But how much should it cost? While the range of logo design prices covers a broad spectrum, if you’re not in the graphic design industry, it may be confusing to know what’s reasonable since the price varies by designer. Not many logo design guidebook exist, and logo designers are free to charge whatever they wish. Some may choose to charge extremely high prices while others may choose to charge rock-bottom prices just to get business. To avoid confusion, try to stay within your price range and pay a price that makes you comfortable. In the end, the price should be fair and equal to the time spent on the task. A reasonable logo design starts at $200 One should expect a simple logo design to cost approximately $200. A simple design is typically a logo with a w...

The Nike Swoosh: It is one of the most recognizable logos in the world. You might imagine that an image so iconic would have been designed by an important advertising or branding firm that was paid millions to come up with the advertising scheme. But you'd be wrong if you thought that. In reality, the Nike Swoosh was designed by graphic designer Carolyn Davidson in 1971. Her invoice total for this important piece of design history? $35. How did the Nike Swoosh come to be? In 1971, Carolyn Davidson was a graphic design student at Portland State University. In 1969, she met Phil Knight, then-assistant professor at PSU who would go on to found Blue Ribbon Sports, and, in turn, Nike. Knight knew Davidson was in search of extra funds to take oil painting classes, so he asked Davidson to help him out on some projects at a rate of $2 an hour. Once Knight came up with the idea to strike out on his own and create his own brand of athletic shoes, he asked Davidson to help him ...

So you’re fresh out of design school and looking for a professional job to show off your skills?  Or have you been tinkering with Photoshop and Corel Draw long enough to realize you can make a career out of designing things? If you’re a beginner in the big bad world of graphic design, there will be some mistakes that you’re bound to make (or are perhaps making at this very moment) that may leave you wondering why your career hasn’t kickstarted already.  And so we’re here to help you avoid some very common mistakes and improve your skills as a designer. 1. Abusing Photoshop Tools and Trying Too Many Things At Once:  So you’ve learnt all the nitty-gritties of Photoshop and can rattle off the shortcut keys with ease. But guess what: You’re absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge, and when you sit down to design a flyer or logo you experiment with all the tools … and the result looks like a child’s collage.  Quick Fix: Set challenges for yourself....

As they say, “everything old is new again,” and 2018 will be a year of modernizing graphic design trends from the past and diverging from the (literally) flat design landscape of recent years. Minimalism and simplification will stick around, but expect to see some old favorites make their return to the limelight with modern, updated looks. If you’re feeling fashionable and want to add some contemporary flair to your designs, check out these 10 graphic design trends that will wow your customers in 2018. Here are 10 graphic design trends to watch in 2018 1. Responsive logos It’s been 10 years since responsive design began to revolutionize the web, and since then it has become the industry standard. The rapid rise of mobile browsing (and an endless assortment of devices and screen sizes) has created critical usability issues for traditional websites. Designers and developers began experimenting with various ways to make designs adapt to the user’s device as a one-website-fits-all...