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You’ve got the tools,now get the chops.

J O A N N E Q U I N NT E A M L E A D E R / C O M M U I C A T I O N S & S E R V I C E P R O M O T I O N

F A L V E Y M E M O R I A L L I B R A R YV I L L A N O V A U N I V E R S I T Y

L I B R A R Y C O M M U N I C A T I O N S C O N F E R E N C E 2 0 1 4

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR GRAPHIC DESIGN IN JUST 60 MINUTES

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- ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

“Do one thing everyday that scares you.”

Why I’m here…

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- KEVIN SPACEY

If you're lucky enough to do well, it's your responsibility to send the elevator back down

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WE’RE

HERE

How to Brand aLibrary

WHY

(…and how design helps.)Your company’s brand is Its most important asset. It must be cultivated, protected and reinforced.

• Builds trust, loyalty and longevity• Distinguishes your company or product from the competition• Showcases your organization's core values• Creates top of mind awareness• Delivers on the brand promise.

Why we’re all here…

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or

Or the BAND?

What Design does

… the CITY

A good example… vs.Chicago.

http://albumcovergallery.blogspot.com/2010/06/chicago-cover-gallery.html

e.g.: What do you think of first…

Chicago the band has a remarkably strong brand identity. While their sound has changed a lot, their design aesthetic has remained constant. Both their most defining feature and their curse of anonymity, their lengthy series of albums with numbered titles (like editions of a magazine) and variations on the band logo on the cover are iconic as hell.

advertising.

print.

advertising.

Internet marketing.

digital animation.

About me.C H I C A G O E X A M P L E D A T E D A N D S O A M I ! T O T A L 7 0 s C O M I C G E E K

Falvey Library

atVillanova University

There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law

students in the University’s six colleges

. The library is two buildings – one is four floors, with a newlly renovated

Learning Commons, and an ‘Old” hall, which has a Reading Room

currently hosting a public restoration of Baroque painting by Pietro daCortona. The library has 1.2+ million items, and is visitied

by 500,000 yearlly

Eight on the team.Senior copy editor

Writers, coordinators, Photogs, and a

FABULOUS INTERN(Student workers are the bomb!)

Displays

BlogsPrint NLVideos

DisplaysPublicitySignage

PRSocial media

Communication & Service Promotion Team

Communication & service promotion at Falveylibrary.villanova.edu

Event Publicity Print Newsletter

Service PromotionSupport Team

Exhibit Signage

Instagram/Tumblr

Not just Print!C O M M U N I C A T I O N & S E R V I C E P R O M O T I O N T E A M

BlogEvents

Social

media

PrintMaterials

Displays

Design’s

“VOICE” is what resonates

______Librarian

Assistance and friendly,

approachable service is our

Product

Social MediaFacebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest

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Events400 events annuually

VideoBlog, instructional vids, catalog tutorials, promotional.

DisplaysTwo large glass displays, reference area, special exhibits, promo

BlogLibrary News updated 5-7 weekly; Subject librarians and Digital Library also have blogs

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Design Education Strategy InformationGreat

Networking(Potentially!)

D.E.S.I.G.N.deconstructedW H A T G O E S I N T O I T

CHOPS

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h

Bc

1

a<

: >

h

Job 1: Call to ActionJ A C K D A V I S :

A R T O F T H E L O G O O N C R E A T I V EL I V E

Know your audience Instant engagementStorytelling –

beginning,middle and end

Fresh ideasBreaking through the clutter

Unique Selling Points

Budget Great ideas don’t need a big budget – distribution

does. Be creative!

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Job 2: Looking good. Design is like fashion…

01. Trends 02. Points of Reference 03. Audience 04.Distribution Channels

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…but, of course, fashion can be downright fugly.

Bad typography Poor art & consistency Over designing Bad production

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But really, who’s to judge?

Most can judge if something looks good, but do you know WHY one piece is more successful than another?

I will try to expose the framework or skeleton behind what is successful work.

Most successful pieces can be stripped down to adhering to certain design principles.

Of course, art is art, and can be subjective, but you’ll find most commercial pieces stick to the same rules.

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Joshua tree epiphany: Good design is as easy as…

1. Learning the principles

2. Recognizing when they’re

not being used

3. Applying themRobin Williams

(no, not that one.)

23- ROBIN WILLIAMS

“When gathering these four principles from the vast maze of design theory, I thought there must be some appropriate and memorable acronym with these conceptual ideas that would help people remember them.

Well, uh, there is a memorable – but rather inappropriate – acronym. Sorry.”

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Multiple sclerosis day care centreK U A L A L U M P U R - 1 9 9 0

1 2 3 4

Robin distilled the filter “checklist” into four basic principles:

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Multiple sclerosis day care centreK U A L A L U M P U R - 1 9 9 0

C 2 3 4

CONTRAST• Creates an organizational hierarchy for readers/viewers• Avoid elements that are merely similar (make them identical OR very different)• Adds visual interest• Don’t be a wimp

Test for:

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Multiple sclerosis day care centreK U A L A L U M P U R - 1 9 9 0

1 R 3 4

REPETITION

Test for:

• Repeat some element of design throughout the piece such as color, shape, texture, bullets• Adds consistency• Helps to unify all parts of a design• Helps to organize information

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Multiple sclerosis day care centreK U A L A L U M P U R - 1 9 9 0

1 2 A 4

ALIGNMENT• Every item should have a visual connection with something else on the page• Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily• Find a strong line and use it• Helps to indicate relationships between elements• Alignment helps to create order which generally makes us feel better about the quality of a page/document

Test for:

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Multiple sclerosis day care centreK U A L A L U M P U R - 1 9 9 0

1 2 3 P

PROXIMITY• Group related items together• Grouping implies a relationship between pieces of information• Proximity organizes information and reduces clutter

Test for:

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Multiple sclerosis day care centreK U A L A L U M P U R - 1 9 9 0C R A P

Test for:

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Word, Frames, Publisher

Microsoft Products

Mac apps/phone & ipad alternatives: Phoster, or old versions of Quark DesignPad, Pagemaker, etc.

Apps

The digital space is a challenging, constantly evolving, dynamic working environment.

Open Source

Our DesktopsL O T S O F O P T I O N S , L O T S O F T O O L S , L O T S O F A U T O M A T I O N , T E M P L A T E S A N D P R E S E T S

The digital space is a challenging, constantly evolving, dynamic working environment.

Adobe Creative Cloud

Quick Survey: What’s everyone using?

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ToolsA S G R A N D P A P P Y S A Y S , A N Y J O B I S E A S I E R W H E N Y O U H A V E T H E R I G H T T O O L S !V E Y O U R S E L F A F I G H T I N G C H A N C E !

TMaybe some folks can make this sing, but…

• Hard to break the templates • Kills the art of it• Difficult to get your vision to happen• Hackneyed clipart• Font treatments tempting/fun – but look

amateurish.

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Adobe: Photoshop, InDesign, Open Source: GIMP, Scribus

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No guarantees/not condoning, but…After about 5 minutes of looking, I found…

Deconstructing the c.r.a.p.W H A T T O L O O K F O R I N G O O D D E S I G N

w)

a

w )

INSPIRATION

GRIDAlignment,

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CONTRASTProximity – white space

COLORConsitency

TYPERepetition

ARTSensitivinty – and INSPIRATION. Where the rubber hits the road & why you get paid the big bucks!! :-)

C

R

AP

S

Philosophy

GridD E F I N I T I O N & H I S T O R Y

• Emerging from the modernist and constructivist ideals, the Swiss Style: simplicity

• Beauty in the underlines of a purpose, not beauty as a purpose in itself.

• “form follows function” battle-cry of Modernist architects after the 1930s.

• minimal elements of style such as typography and content layout VS textures and illustrations.

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El Lissitzky was an artist, designer, teacher, and theorist of the Russian avant-garde. Leading figure in Russian Suprematicism and greatly influenced Constructivism & Bauhaus movements.

• Believed artists can be agents for change and experimented with production techniques that went on to dominate graphic design in 20th c.

• Architect in Germany in the early 1910s, in the years just after the 1917 Revolution/Propaganda posters

• e turned to abstraction, which he believed was the most effective tool for pursuing a new art for a new, post-revolutionary world.

• Typographical elements are the building blocks for abstract compositions

• Language disassociated from its conventional literary context acquires new meaning.

• His books, pamphlets, and posters were made to be disseminated widely and used by the masses.

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Tschichold wrote Die Neue Typographie

• Set rules for standardization of practices relating to modern type usage.

• Condemned all typefaces except for sans-serif types, • advocated standardized sizes of paper

• set forth guidelines for establishing a typographic hierarchy when using type in design.

• Penguin Books and while he was there he developed a standardized practice for creating covers

• personally oversaw the development of more than 500 books between the years 1947-49.

Every period of his career has left a lasting impression on how designers think about and use typography, and it will continue to affect them into the future.

BeforeW H E R E A R E T H E E R R O R S ?

Messy, Overcomplicated Grids

Grid refers to a systematic design that is thought out in advance to create a pleasing, intuitive layout of page elements.

A well-designed grid will make the final page • easy to scan, understand, and interact with. • A lack of grid structure can have the opposite, negative effect!

Notice how in the example:• Nothing really seems to “line up” with anything else. • None of the call to action buttons are aligned.. • Slows viewer down

Think about Visual Hierarchy: gaze heatmaps

• “Visual Hierarchy” refers to how designers use design language proximity,size, color, motion, etc. communicate which elements on a page are most important.

• Directs the prospect’s gaze along an “eye path” that helps them accomplish their goals,

• Persuades them to take a desired action.

Don’t draw your prospect’s gaze away from the main point and the primary call to action

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AfterH O W T O F I X I T

EG: McDonalds:

Clean & simple visual levels

Conventionial left menu, all columns left aligned with clear spacing

Elegant use of continuation and closure

Usage of visuals address the ‘skim’

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Use faces to your advantage when creating a visual hierarchy. Humans typically prefer faces than other objects or pieces of information. Further, if we see a face that appears to be looking at an object, we tend to look at that object too.

Heatmaps

PAULA SCHER

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MASSIMO VIGNELLIhttp://www.vignelli.com/canon.pdf

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“I don’t think that type should be expressive at all. I can write the word ‘dog’ with any typeface and it doesn’t have to

look like a dog.

But there are people that [think that] when

they write ‘dog’ it should bark.”

Massimo Vignelli

http://www.vignelli.com/canon.pdf

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White Space

ContrastD E F I N I T I O N & H I S T O R Y

• Whitespace, or negative space is, the space between graphics, columns, images, text, margins and other elements.

• It creates contrast.

• Simpler designs are beautiful and that we don’t need to create a layout filled with text and graphical elements to deliver a clear and direct message.

• Does not have to be white, but free of any elements like text or images.

• Whitespace is also associated with elegance and sophistication

• Organizes text, organize elements and

• Guides users attention to certain elements.

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BeforeW H I T E S P A C E C R E A T E S C O N T R A S T W H I C H C R E A T E S D I R E C T I O N

Imagine you’re walking in beautiful, pristine woods. You’re excited about your destination. Along the way, you pass some of nature’s most beautiful sites. Trees that are hundreds of years old. A moss covered boulder – you swear it’s shaped like Abraham Lincoln’s profile.

Now imagine that well marked path changes into one overgrown with brush. A rock slide here, a fallen tree there obscures the trail. Suddenly, calm vanishes as your stomach muscles tighten. Where do you go from here?

http://www.katzanne.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/WhiteSpace_example1.jpg

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After• Open it up• Edit,edit,edit• Typographic controls

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After

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Definition

Color

Much research exists on how buying behavior is greatly influenced by color scheming of a product and its advertisement.

Vignelli: signifier/identifer – not pictorial.

And sometimes, it’s just cool.

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Before

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After

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TypeD E F I N I T I O N & H I S T O R Y

Type design is one of the most visible and widespread forms of graphic expression in daily life. It is still not noticed by all readers of newspapers, magazines or

books. Nevertheless letter forms reflect the style of a period, and cultural background.

We are surrounded by them everywhere.”

- Hermann Zapf

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Before

Type and typography are supposed to be a crystal goblet — transparent — seen and read but not heard. - Steven Heller

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After

• Buy one good font family• Sans serif• Doesn’t have to be expensive• Watch for deals - mightydeals.com, etc. • Doesn’t have to be Helvetica• Use it and only it.

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From Pinterest:

Anti-type Expressive reaction to digitalPopularity of comic books, JunoHuman handSketchally rendererd,No accuracy/finesseUntutored/raw/Doodle pad

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/graphic-content-hand-lettering/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

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Organic

Flat

Classic

Retro-vintage “general store” typography

AUTHENTIC – ORGINIAL

Trends

Art

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BeforeF R O M A T O Z

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After

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Krijn de Koning

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“…a space somewhere in the middle of calligraphy, typography, sign painting and graffiti”

HAND MADE – from the heart: raw, expressive, untutored, eccentric, lack of finesse Newer generations prefer “experience over stuff”

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S

“…why certain basic human longings for freedom, or heroes, or cleanliness attach themselves so easily to travel guides, bicycle races,

plastics, and laundry detergent. “

Marco Roth in The New Yorker on the new edition of Roland Barthes’ Mythologies, 4/18/12

SENSITIVITY

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What do you think of this cover?

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78Steve, who once spent three days in jelly bean factory to find just the right blue for the iMac.

advertising.

print.

advertising.

Internet marketing.

LIBRARIES!

I think really great products come from melding two points of view the technology point of view and the customer point of view.

I think really great products come from melding two points of view the technology point of view and the customer point of view.

I think really great products come from melding two points of view the technology point of view and the customer point of view.

01. Trends: Buzz 02. Marketing 03. Take time to playInspiration!W H E R E D O E S I T C O M E F R O M ?

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Variety of uses:People change their minds!Smart Objects Flexibility within PhotoshopNon-destructive changes

Resolution:Print vs. ScreenVector vs. Raster

Caveat: Plan ahead!

Scalability of logos: App avatars vs. large posterResponsive design considerations

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Iterations:• Consider scalability,• Printing costs and color: will it work in black &

white? • versatility – small device/flyers/tshirts, etc.

07. WikiCommons 10. Getty Images

08. Dreamstime 11. Fotolia

09. 123RF 12. iPhone filters

Creativemarket.com

01. Creative Market 04. Deposit Photo

02. Photoshop Actions 05. IngImage

03. Photoshop Styles 06. Library of Congress

RESOURCES: Photography A N A L Y S I S & S T A T I S T I C S

07. Ebay/thriftshops - CDs

10. Dreamstime

08. Wikicommons 11. Deviant Art

09. Google 12. Iphone filters

01. Vectorstock 04. IngImage

02. GraphicStock 05. DesignCuts

03. Dover 06. InkyDeals

RESOURCES: Vector Art

DafontCreative MarketDesign CutsScriptoriumMyfontsFonts.comBlambot

RESOURCES: Fonts

A N A L Y S I S & S T A T I S T I C SFont SquirrelGoogle FontsMighty DealsInkyDealsfonts101.comGoogle – caveat fontsource, etc.PinterestEbay - caveatRetailBehanceSmashing MagLost TypeThe League of Moveable type

TheNorthernBlock.com.ukManfred KleinVitaly Friedman – alvit.deFonstruct – make/share1001 Freefonts (10,000+)Abstract Fonts (14,000+)RegularBoldItalic.comNeogreyUrban FontsThe OatmealTen by Twenty

Filiz Sahin – cuteKevin & Amanda – CuteLettering DelightsPinterestFonts.artill.de – AthleticoTypedepotUltratypesFreeware Fonts ProjectGlukfonts – swashy!FontFabricHypeforType

07. Phototropdelic 10. Rhonna08. Halftone2 11. Pano

09. Fragment, PolyPic 12. Noir

01. Camera+ 04. JixiPix02. Over 05. Hipstamatic

03 Word Swag 06. Etchings

RESOURCES: iPhoneography

AppsGoneFree APP

Clockwise: Etchings • Fragment • WordSwag • Noir • Phototropedelic • Halftone2 • MokuHanga

Apps Gone Free – 10/5/14Trimaginator

07. Adobe.com 10. CreativeBloq

08. Dribbble 11. Behance

09. NextIssue/IssuInDesign/Readr

12. Blogs

01. Creative Live 04. Smashing Magazine

02. Lynda.com 05. Treehouse

03. Kelby 06. Learnable

RESOURCES: Bibliography/Mags

CONFERENCES: PepCon, InDesign

CONFERENCES: Photoshop World, City tours – Corey Barker, Scott Kelby, Dave Cross - $89

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Contact InfoPhone: 610-519-3871Email: joanne.quinn@villanova.eduWeb: library.villanova.edu/news

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library.villanova.edujoanne.quinn@villanova.edu

Questions?