Design: Before and After
Friend or Foe: The Computer
What Happened to Design?
I can’t decide what to title this post. I have many feelings about this particular subject, and I’m not sure where I want them to land.
The subject is the computer and how it has affected design. There are positive and negative effects, but I think I’ll talk about the negative ones today. I’m in that kind of mood.
I’ll start this semi-rant out with a preamble: I’m a traditionally-trained designer, and was schooled in the pre-computer aided design era. So naturally, I view the computer as a tool. Like a pencil or a ruling pen. (I’ve lost half the audience with that one). The computer is an aid to my design; it does not drive it. (more…)
Add comment May 9, 2013 Leslie Worth
Typography Detective
I went through the Oregon Heritage Rail Museum when it opened. A lot of people attended the opening and took photos. I refrained from taking any photos until I walked through the Pullman cars. Then this warning caught my eye:
Add comment April 26, 2013 Diane Kenedy
Broadsides!
Our broadside ordering process is up and running! You can now order a print of our holiday card. This is the newest broadside poster from HB Design. Supplies are limited.
Add comment April 12, 2013 admin
Presentation Tools for the C2CB Audience: The Infographic (Again)
The design system—almost always essential, but often not understood.
At HB Design, when we work with a client that asks us to create marketing materials for a new product line, company or even a campaign within an existing company, we usually first talk to them about creating a design system. Normally our contact has a marketing or advertising background, and they understand the importance (and cost) of this crucial step. But sometimes they need to get an approval from their boss. And that guy has no idea what a design system is, or why the heck he needs one.
This leads us to C2CB Communications. The Infographic (Again).
We think infographics are great tools, and they are fun to create. So I’d like to talk about another infographic as an example of C2CB communication.
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Add comment April 8, 2013 Leslie Worth
HTML5
When your client asks for HTML5, what does that mean?
Generally speaking—when a client requests HTML5, it means that they want the project to run across all devices (no Flash) and they don’t want to spend a lot of money.
And while many developers talk like HTML5 is the next best thing, possibly destined to save the world, the reality isn’t quite so simple. Here is a quick introduction to what HTML5 can and can’t do for you.
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Add comment March 12, 2013 Bob Wallace
Generic Brand Names
Many words we all use in basic conversation were once or are still a trademarked brand name of one company or another. Sharpie, post-it, wite-out, band-aid—all of these are nouns that we use to refer any number of items: permanent markers, adhesive note paper, correction fluid, and self-adhesive bandage.
Of course if you go onto a web site or read a brochure from a competing company who produces one of these products under a different name you will see the generic name and not the brand name of the other company. Avery uses the term “permanent marker” for their line of Marks-A-Lot® indelible markers, but of course if you asked someone to hand you a sharpie and they gave you a Marks-A-Lot® marker you probably wouldn’t say “no, I wanted a Sharpie® brand marker.” (more…)
Add comment February 26, 2013 Kiersten Wilbur
The Importance of Typography
I love typography. A LOT. I always have. As strange as it sounds, it’s always been an important part of me, even as a kid. I was the kid drawing logos at age six. There will be more about my type obsession later…
Anyway, a while back, I fed my type obsession and ventured over to McMenamins Kennedy School Theater to attend the Portland premier of Linotype: The Film. It was a fascinating and entertaining documentary about typography and the history of the Linotype machine, invented by Otto Mergenthaler in 1886. For those of you who are thinking “I’ve heard of that word, but I have no idea what the heck it is,” read on.
A Linotype machine
Add comment February 12, 2013 Leslie Worth
Using WordPress as a CMS
One of the key features of a corporate CMS is the ability to update pages after they have been published. Part of this update process is to send out the updated pages for review before they are pushed “live.” Out of the box, WordPress (WP) does not do this.
Using WordPress out of th
e box, once you “publish” a web page, it is live. If you then return to the page in edit mode and update the page, you are actually changing the live published version. To the left is the “Publish” panel on the WP edit page.
When a new user first looks at this, they are tempted to think the solution is to change the page’s status from “published” back to “draft” or some other status. But doing so will remove the page from the live site. Not exactly a desired outcome.
Add comment January 29, 2013 Bob Wallace
An Idea Leads to A Change
Each morning, before I go to work, I take an hour and ride my spinning bike. I love this early morning exercise time—it is an hour of the day when my mind clears and I have no interruptions or distractions, and creative thoughts flow freely.
The other day I began to think about some work things: how to energize our blog posts, how to utilize our letterpress, how to present new design to our clients, old technology, new technology—sounds random but that’s how my mind sometimes works. Anyway, I came up with an idea that I’m really excited about, and here it is. (more…)
Add comment January 15, 2013 Leslie Worth
The Power of the Infographic
In my last post, I talked about the idea of C2CB presentation tools. For those who ask “what is C2CB” and don’t want to take the time to do a little hunting, I’ll fill you in.
Client to Client’s Boss communication. Internal selling of ideas to other team members. If you didn’t read it, it’s a good one, check it out. If you did, you know what I’m talking about.
The first project I’d like to share is an infographic that was actually used to convince our client of an idea, which she passed through to her team for buy off.
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1 comment December 18, 2012 Leslie Worth
