Laura Smith, Author at ocreations A Pittsburgh Design Firm

Do’s and Don’ts of Your First Trade Show: Part II

Do’s and Don’ts of Your First Trade Show: Part II

Do’s and Don’ts of Your First Trade Show: Part II – Tips for Your First Art Fair Back in last November, our Vice President, Jess Mader, and our client, Brainy Ball, attended the Chicago Toy and Game Week together to help promote the new game, and from their adventure, gave us a bunch of great Do’s and Don’ts for your first trade show. Taking that advice, our Art Director, Nina Zivkovic, recently participated in her first art fair, the 2019 Bitchcraft [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-09-27T11:30:58-04:00September 27th, 2019|

A Designer’s Guide to Dielines

A Designer’s Guide to Dielines

A Designer’s Guide to Dielines A die is a tool that cuts, scores, or makes an indentation on printed materials. And a dieline is the shape / artwork the die uses as a guide when making cuts, scores, and indentations. Dielines are crucial to the package design process, and are designed using a specific set of rules and industry standards. Are you working on a brand new package design? Curious about what it takes to make a dieline, or interested [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-09-20T13:13:01-04:00September 20th, 2019|

GIF Stickers for Instagram in 3 Easy Steps

GIF Stickers for Instagram in 3 Easy Steps

GIF Stickers for Instagram in 3 Easy Steps You go on Instagram, you post something on your story, and you want to add an animated sticker to jazz up your post. Have you ever wondered where these stickers come from, or even how to make your own for your brand? You’ve heard us talk about GIFs before, and now we’re going to delve a little deeper, only this time we’re going to tell you how to design GIFs specifically for [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-09-13T10:51:07-04:00September 13th, 2019|

Appetizing Menu Design

Appetizing Menu Design

Appetizing Menu Design You sit down at a restaurant, and your server hands you a menu. You skim the menu, pick what you’d like to order, and hand back the menu. People look at menus everyday, and it is so important for successful establishments to have menus that will catch someone’s eye and be memorable. There’s much more than meets the eye when it comes to menu design. Here are some tips on best practices for designing a restaurant or [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-09-06T18:38:39-04:00September 6th, 2019|

Google Reviews: The Basics

Google Reviews: The Basics

Google Reviews: The Basics Businesses can benefit greatly from Google Reviews. What are they? How do they work? What are the benefits? Find out in our beginner’s guide to Google Reviews. What Are Google Reviews? Google Reviews are essentially testimonials about a particular business, hosted on Google’s platform. They show up when your business shows up in a Google search on the right side of your browser window. Google Reviews provides an average star ranking, number of reviews, as [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-08-30T08:35:22-04:00August 30th, 2019|

Make Your Presentation Stand Out

Make Your Presentation Stand Out

Want to Make Your Presentation Stand Out? Are you a sales executive making a big pitch to a potential client? Presenting for your company at an industry-related conference? Whatever the case, you want to create a presentation that people will remember. That being said, the presenter's entertainment value and public speaking skills are a large factor in the entire presentation experience. Still, the visuals that pair up with the presentation are just as vital to a memorable performance. Here are [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-08-23T09:51:25-04:00August 23rd, 2019|

Tips for Great T-Shirt Design

Tips for Great T-Shirt Design

Tips for Great T-Shirt Design Designing a t-shirt for a client (or yourself)? Time to roll up your sleeves and get to work… right after you read our tips for designing shirts that you and/or your client will never want to take off! Sizing When it comes to t-shirt designs, it’s important to keep the size of your design on the shirt at an appropriate size. For starters, a design that is too large is going to be distracting and [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-08-19T14:49:24-04:00August 16th, 2019|

Dark Mode Design: Come to the Dark Side

Dark Mode Design: Come to the Dark Side

Come to the Dark Side…. Recently, digital designers have “gone to the dark side,” so to speak. A new design trend, dark mode, has become increasingly popular. What is it? Why is it used? And what are the pros and cons? We have the answers. What is Dark Mode? Dark mode is an alternative visual representation of an interface. Take Twitter for example. Users have the option to view the app in a day/light mode, or a night/dark mode. In [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-08-09T17:43:14-04:00August 9th, 2019|

16 Things That Bother Website Visitors

16 Things That Bother Website Visitors

16 THINGS THAT BOTHER WEBSITE VISITORS When creating an online presence, it’s so important to make a good impression instantly. New and constant content overwhelms the online community on a daily basis. Therefore, online community members tend to spend only moments to decide if they want to invest time reading or looking at something online. When it comes to websites, there are definitely some pet peeves that are popular among people who browse the internet on a daily basis. If [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-07-12T18:09:02-04:00July 12th, 2019|

Writing Prompts for Your Next Blog

Writing Prompts for Your Next Blog

WRITING PROMPTS FOR YOUR NEXT BLOG Writing your next blog? New to blogging and not sure where to begin? Coming up with fresh topics for content on a consistent basis definitely takes a creative mind. Depending on your industry, some topics may be more practical for you. Here are some different types of blogs, with multiple examples to get you thinking about your next blog! EDUCATIONAL Step-by-Step Is there a certain process you can explain to others in your [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-06-28T11:00:16-04:00June 28th, 2019|

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