I’ve closed msn and all those chat things that could bother me and put up the Kanye West album Graduation. The song Flashing lights helped me get ideas and creativity so it’s in the video to hear. I fasten the video about 10x so you wouldn’t be looking at it for an hour but just as long as the music plays.

Although i noticed i could have left the last frame up for couple of seconds. So below are also the images of the final product and a 100% zoom to view the details.

Hope you like it.

Here is the video:

Flashing lights my way, graphic design from darjanpanic on Vimeo.

And here are the images:

So after another day of hard work on my graphic design projects, i took some time for myself and did something i sketched a day before. I call it “Almost winter” and is a practice of the composition and i really like how it came out.

The thing i liked was, that i used something from the class, put it on paper at home i inked it and now it’s here. MY little inked Bézier curve monster I learned 2 things from today, that i know how the Bézier curve works(again) and a little tip on how to get your concentration back for a while Anyway here’s the inked doodle:

Nothing much or special but i liked the idea of using something from the class and it was a nice practice.

Here’s a video, that shows, how can be bend time and see how we would look like in couple of years from now. Isn’t Phogoshop great?

Time from Aaron Nace on Vimeo.

I guess i just need to keep practicing and read some books and guides. Maybe you’re a illustrator/painter and know of some good books that go from basic to advance? I’m a pretty fast learner.

Until i get some nice tips etc. i’ll just keep practicing. Here’s is a pic i did today, what do you think?

Oh and if you watch closely you can see… nah i’m not gonna tell you

We have Photoshop today and can undo or delete our mistakes in the history. But just by looking at that print matrix for a second i noticed that each cut had to be the right one from the first try. It was about A3 format and lines were one by one. But the biggest thing that stroked me also was, it had to be inverted and mirrored so the picture would be good when printed!

Anyway the composition practice was inspired by the middle age graphic art prints. We got couple of sheets of paper where there were black and white copies of the middle age style. Our goal was to cut down the elements that were on a abstract level and then using the to make a composition.

Above is a sample image of one of the sheets. I’ll post a link below so you can download all of them and work the composition practice for yourself.

Starting the composition practice

So the first step is to find interesting elements and cut them out. As you zoom in on them you can still see the unique style of each line that is only made by a middle age graphic technique, it’s hard to fake these with photoshop. Here’s a image of some of my elements i have chosen:

Now when having these little elements, you need to think in a abstract way and position them so they work well with each other, connect them and make a balance. Add or remove items and see what it does. Spots and small circles have a really big impact in a composition. Triangles are also useful and powerful. Try using the shape/anti shape effect.

You will be finished, when you’ll get to the point, when if you take a element away, or add a element, the whole composition isn’t really going to work anymore.

Here are 2 examples that i have made:

Download the middle age prints and start your own composition practice

Here is the DOWNLOAD LINK to the layered psd that contains the middle age graphics.

Wanted to try something out today but it didn’t come out as i wanted. Was playing a bit with a pattern and the image. Too bad i didn’t have more time for it so here’s something made by me in 20-30min.

The answer to that question is simple. For those who are reading this post and already have the pretty Moo cards, it’s crystal clear. They are cool, smaller in size which makes them stand out of all those boring ones, and each of them is different. Another thing is, they are really popular.

You may remember when you were a young sticker or stamp collector. Well Moo cards are so popular, that people are trading them. They just can’t have enough of them

100 cards cost about $20. They are full color and the print is high quality. On the back side, you can have 6 lines of text. Impressing a client with a different non-boring type of card could be a big plus. Oh and did i mention, they come in a recycled box and so is the paper.

As i designer having all the cards different is a big benefit for me. Since all pictures on the front side of the card are made from my work/portfolio, photographs i’ve taken etc. Now when i meet a future client i’ll show him 10 cards and say choose the one you like. That way, he will choose the business card he likes the most meaning that one will be the most memorable to him. Also he will be able to see my work right away, even before he looks at the url to my site at the back.

I’ve heard people say, that business cards should be all the same. Well i say, it may be a guideline, but it depends from the marketing ideas etc. Having a logotype on every card sure is a big benefit since it gives exposure to your brand.

But for me, my brand is my name and my work so i think it’s better to give exposure to my work than in the brand… for now

And here it is…