design Archives - Page 2 of 3 - ocreations A Pittsburgh Design Firm

WHEN IN DOUBT – BE ABLE TO TAKE GOOD PHOTOS ON YOUR PHONE.

WHEN IN DOUBT – BE ABLE TO TAKE GOOD PHOTOS ON YOUR PHONE.

WHEN IN DOUBT – BE ABLE TO TAKE GOOD PHOTOS ON YOUR PHONE. Photos can sometimes tell a story better than words can, especially in today’s social media culture. Yes, our last blog post was about hiring professional photographers for branding, and we still stand by that. However, if your brand relies heavily on social posts and will spend a lot of time using social media on a daily basis, your budget could quickly run out using a professional [...]

By Christian Zagarskas|2019-03-15T06:11:19-04:00October 4th, 2018|

STARTING A NEW BRAND? INVEST IN GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY.

STARTING A NEW BRAND? INVEST IN GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY.

STARTING A NEW BRAND? INVEST IN GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY. Yes, logos are one of the most important elements of a brand; however, one element of branding that often gets pushed to the side is the photography that will be used to portray the brand. It is so important to get the right photography for your brand. We have a few tips for getting the right photographer, the right shots, what it may cost, and everything in between. WHY INVESTING [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-03-15T06:11:19-04:00September 20th, 2018|

WHY DESIGN FIRMS LOVE CLIENTS WITH GRANT FUNDING

WHY DESIGN FIRMS LOVE CLIENTS WITH GRANT FUNDING

WHY DESIGN FIRMS LOVE CLIENTS WITH GRANT FUNDING When a small business comes to a firm ready to get started on design material, often times the small business is just starting out and does not have a large budget. However, there are ways for start-ups to get the funding their company deserves – with grant funding. WHAT IS A GRANT? A grant is a government funded project. If your business has an idea, or needs to complete an [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-03-15T06:11:20-04:00September 13th, 2018|

CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOM FONT: PART 2

CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOM FONT: PART 2

CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOM FONT: PART 2 Now that you’ve gone through the design process of creating your font characters, it’s time to make them fully functioning fonts! There are a few different sources you can use to finalize your fonts… FONTSELF Fontself is a purchasable software that works seamlessly with Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Once you download and install the script, Fontself becomes an extension of Adobe Illustrator and/or Photoshop (depending on which package you purchase). [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-03-15T06:11:20-04:00September 7th, 2018|

CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOM FONT: PART 1

CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOM FONT: PART 1

CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOM FONT: PART 1 Ever wonder how designers make custom fonts, or ever dreamed of making your own font? You’ve come to the right place! Our tutorial is in-depth, so we’ve broken it into two separate blogs. 1.START ON PAPER Like any other creative project, it’s always best to generate ideas by starting from scratch with a pencil and a blank sheet of paper. Sketch out different variations of letters, see how letters look next [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-03-15T06:11:20-04:00August 24th, 2018|

NEWSPRINT DESIGN GUIDELINES

NEWSPRINT DESIGN GUIDELINES

NEWSPRINT DESIGN GUIDELINES As a designer, you have to be able to design for a variety of materials, one being newsprint. Though many newspapers are going digital, a lot of businesses continue to rely on ad space in printed newspapers. Newsprint paper is a tricky material to work with, and prints differently than regular copy paper. As a designer, there are certain specifications and limitations to what you should and should not do when designing for a newspaper ad. [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-03-15T06:11:20-04:00August 10th, 2018|

BRANDING: MORE THAN JUST A QUICK LOGO

BRANDING: MORE THAN JUST A QUICK LOGO

BRANDING – MORE THAN JUST A QUICK LOGO When your business is in its beginning stages, you immediately think about getting a logo ASAP. Sure, there are online sources that can make you a $20 logo, but at that price, you’re getting a single icon, not a brand. It is important to realize that there is a lot more than goes into the creation of a brand than meets the eye, and a logo is merely a stepping stone [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-03-15T06:11:20-04:00August 3rd, 2018|

TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHTS AND REGISTERED TRADEMARKS, OH MY!

TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHTS AND REGISTERED TRADEMARKS, OH MY!

Trademarks and Copyrights and Registered Trademarks, Oh My! If there’s a group of legal terms we often say as if they’re interchangeable, those words are trademark, copyright, and registered trademark. All are similar, but have very distinct meanings. It’s important to know the difference, especially since these are different legal terms that provide different legal coverages. Here are the basics of what you need to know: COPYRIGHT © Copyrights are denoted by the icon ©. Copyrights date back to the [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-03-15T06:11:21-04:00May 18th, 2018|

COMING SOON: THE IMPORTANCE OF LANDING PAGES

COMING SOON: THE IMPORTANCE OF LANDING PAGES

COMING SOON: THE IMPORTANCE OF LANDING PAGES There’s an irony to the name landing pages, because they’re usually used when a brand is taking off! Landing pages can be used for multiple purposes, but one of the more prominent uses of a landing page is for a coming soon page for a website. Here’s why it’s important to create and publish a landing page to act as a “coming soon” page while you’re building a full website. It Buys [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-03-15T06:11:21-04:00May 11th, 2018|

UX in Graphic Design

UX in Graphic Design

UX IN GRAPHIC DESIGN UX design, or user experience design, is a rapidly growing career path in the creative industry. Although UX design jobs are very different from graphic design jobs, it is important that each understands and utilizes the other’s methods during every project. It is highly important that graphic designers not only design something that is visually appealing, but something that is also functionally appealing. Here are some things that UX designers do that graphic designers should [...]

By Laura Smith|2019-03-15T06:11:21-04:00May 4th, 2018|