Archive for September, 2010

    

Illustrator Tutorial on Recoloring Artwork

Friday, September 24th, 2010

A Short Tutorial on Illustrator’s Recolor Artwork Function

Today, a short Illustrator tutorial on the recolor artwork feature. First take an image and run Object Menu > Live trace to convert yout low res image to vector artwork. Next set is to expand your traced file and then go to the Edit Menu > Edit colors > recolor artwork. In the window that pops up go to the color slider at the bottom and change the color you want to base your new art off of, I picked a brown color.

Next click on the pop down menu at the top of the same window and select your “Harmony Rule” I chose “shades” for this example.

The software then applies the new color scheme and shows a list of what original color is converting to what color in the new scheme.

One fun thing to try as seem below is the random color button, it basically takes the colors in your new palette and applies them randomly to the art.

Finally once you have your colors the way you want them click the “OK” button!

add any type or other elements and presto, you have created a nice scaleable vector poster/flyer/art!

Once you finish your artwork and are ready to print it, drop by our online printing site and sign up!

Christopher Robinson

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Color Theory in Action

Monday, September 20th, 2010

The Top 100 Web Brand Colors

I enjoy running in to interesting posts on color theory. I found this gem on the top 100 Sites at COLORlovers.com which is a site produced by Darius Monsef. His site consists of a huge variety of palettes created by individuals, blogs, forums, trending and forcasting and about anything you would wish to know about color theory.

This particular graphic he created shows the main colors used in the top 100 sites on the web, no big surprise that the Blue Hues still remain king of the color world, especially when you look at the “psychology” of color.

Studies have shown Blue to represent Trust, Security, Technology, Order and Conservative, no wonder it’s so popular. Red which comes in a close second has been shown to represent Power, Energy, Warmth and Passion. When combining colors you can also combine the “meanings” of the colors but be cautious since as all designers know, not all colors go well together!

Graphic Courtesy of COLORlovers.com - click to enlarge

Want to know more about the psychology of color? I will be posting a resource blog with more information on that later in the week, so check back soon!

Already have your logo finalized and need some printing? Click over to our printing section and check out our current promotional discounts!

Christopher Robinson

Posted in Design, Resources, Training/Tutorials | 1 Comment »

Apple App Store Changes – updated rules for iOS apps

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Apple Relaxes App Development Rules

Apple in the past has not allowed any third party tools that aid in app development. Specifically cross platform development tools (like Unity – a cross platfrom game engine) and any flash based (and converted) apps, the list went on. Apple has now backtracked and is going to allow the use of “tools” used to create iOS apps, with minor stipulations of course.

“In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.”   ~Apple Press Release

Apple has also made public the review guidelines and censorship policy, which before was just an unknown. App Developers will now have a much clearer view of the guidelines they must meet for approval. Apple will still continue in its role as “mother” as far as censorship is concerned. They have released a statement to that effect and basic guidelines that are pretty open to interpretation.

In General I think these changes are a step in the right direction for Apple, it will open up the iOS platforms to some seriously fun games and unique apps on the horizon that had been stymied by Apple’s prior rules. For more information on this update on the app rules check out Engadget’s Review, its a nice overview which is very concise on the changes. Once you have read up and produce your mac-daddy app, come over to PGprint and print up some collateral materials for sales purposes!

Christopher Robinson

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Design 101 – Justified Type

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

A short tutorial on the “why” of “Full Justification” versus “Rag Right”

The biggest question you must ask yourself is “form or function?” When setting up text heavy documents, is the look more important that the readability? Is there a best case scenario in this artistic compromise? Quite a few designers LOVE to use full justification when even if the readability suffers greatly. I have a few example screen shots which I will discuss briefly below.

First off, we have a four column layout with text set to full justification. You can clearly see the odd spacing on some lines between words. Some of this can be adjusted to look a little better with tracking and kerning but that can lead to more problems with the first revision. This type of narrow column becomes very hard to read when set to full justification.

Suggest: Wider columns or rag right text

The image below is three columns set to full justification, its better than the 4 column layout as most of the text does not have the large spaces between words that makes it difficult to read, but as you can see where the text wraps around the picture you still get the hard to read spacing.

Suggest: Moving the photo or making text rag right

Below is a better option, although beauty (in typesetting) is in the eye of the beholder, I think a “rag right” setting makes the text much easier to read and maintains an overall better look with narrow columns.

Suggest: Looks pretty good but I would still think about wider columns to add legibility

If you must have “justified text” find a column width that works well with automatic word spacing as seen below, the larger the column the better your text will automatically flow, so make adjustments to your layout as needed to achieve the best look and readability possible.

Suggest: perhaps playing around with different options for image placement, but the text readability and overall look are both good

So many designers today don;t seem to pay attention to the details like typesetting. The usage of Kerning, tracking, leading and all the other options available to todays designers should be used with fervent zest! Once you have your design completed bring it on over to PGprint and see just how economically we can print your new work of art!

Christopher Robinson

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Common Mistakes in Logo Design

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

Smashing Magazine has hit on the 10 most common mistakes made in logo design. It’s a great post that creatives and purchasers alike should read and take to heart! In a nutshell the list is comprised thusly:

1. Designed by an Amateur

2. Relies on Trends

3. Uses Raster Images

4. Contains Stock Art

5. Designing for Yourself Rather than the Client

6. Overly Complex

7. Relies on Color for Effect

8. Poor Choice of Font

9. Too Many Fonts

10. Copies Others

For screen shots, more information and a good read pop over to Smashing Magazines Blog and check out the full post.

Christopher Robinson

Upcoming soon, my own list of common errors when ordering online printing

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Apple’s Updated iTouch

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Video calling and much more comes to the iTouch!

And some said… “but it’s not even a phone…” Apple’s “Face Time” does not work over your phone line but rather over the data link, that’s the reason they (iPhone and iTouch) require WiFi. Apple has also updated the camera to the HD model with built in editing capabilities. The iTouch also cameras on both sides of the phone as well (required for Face Time). The new screen of iPod touch is some serious technology. Apple engineers packed four times the number of pixels into the same size screen as earlier iPod touch models.  326 pixels per inch will make graphics and text look smooth and sweet at any size. These new features make the iPod touch an amazing piece of technology.

The new iPod nano has some great new features as well, upgraded specs. The new nano is 46 percent smaller, 42 percent lighter, and 100 percent  Multi-Touch! 1.5-inch color display with 240-by-240 pixel resolution and uses the same standard connector as the larger models and the iphone. I’m not sure how well multi touch will work on such a small screen if you have large fingers but we shall see about the real world tests as the product flys off the shelves.

images via Apple Computer

Christopher Robinson

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