About Graphic Design

Dazzling Drop-downs

2009-11-08T17:36:54Z

Drop-down menus have come a long way in web design. As always, they are a great way to offer the user more content while keeping your pages clean. With the current technologies available to web designers, including flash, AJAX and JavaScript, there are many ways to take this even further and offer more hidden, but easily accessible, content. Spyre Studios has a gallery of modern drop-down and sliding menu solutions that achieve just that. If you've been impressed with any drop-downs recently, please share in the comments.

Dazzling Drop-downs originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 17:36:54.

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Poll: Do You Use an iPhone?

2009-11-03T00:08:54Z

An iPhone is a great tool for your business, with tons of applications (85,000 if I remember correctly from the last Apple commercial) to perform all kinds of tasks. Apps like What the Font allow you to identify fonts on the go, while apps like Tweetie let you keep up with your Twitter accounts.

Poll: Do You Use an iPhone? originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 00:08:54.

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The Business of Creativity

2009-10-31T22:45:19Z

In the business of graphic design, it is essential to come up with creative solutions for our clients. The same applies to almost any business, whether it be music or farming, architecture or medicine. Fast Company is currently highlighting their 100 Most Creative People in Business, including people from all types of industries. From Sheila Bair, the chairman of the FDIC, to Bart Decrem, CEO of iPhone app development company Tapulous, it's an interesting list to review with short and to-the-point bios of each person.

The Business of Creativity originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 22:45:19.

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How has the economy affected your design business?

2009-10-26T12:16:54Z

Chances are, the economy has affected the way you do business. Some clients may have reduced their budgets for design work, requiring you to come up with clever solutions to keep their business, while others may have cut out their design budgets completely. You may also have come up with ways to reduce your own costs, from minimizing personal promotion to changing office spaces. There are of course many ways you may have been affected beyond the answers here, so please share your experience.

How has the economy affected your design business? originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 12:16:54.

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Poll: Do Your Client's Reveal Their Budget?

2009-10-16T22:43:33Z

Finding out your client's budget can make quoting jobs much easier. It can also help to determine what services you can provide to your client. Whether or not you can work with a client isn't always a simple "yes" or "no" based on the budget. If you know what the client can spend, you can often change the scope of work, printing costs, and other variables and land a job that you otherwise might have lost due to a high quote.

Poll: Do Your Client's Reveal Their Budget? originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 22:43:33.

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The Behance Network

2009-10-16T21:53:11Z

I recently came across The Behance Network when someone tweeted about the work of Anna Rusakova. First impressed with her beautiful illustration that I would describe as highly professional doodles, I continued on to browse The Behance Network, where her work was being displayed. The site is a free service for creatives, who may build a portfolio after requesting an invite by submitting just an email address and description of their work.

Once a member, you can create an ad-free portfolio to share with potential clients. According to the website, they also receive millions of visitors looking to hire designers and other creative professionals. While I don't yet have personal experience with the site, it's an interesting one to watch especially because it is an attractive alternative to creating your own portfolio. I would never underestimate the importance of having a truly unique and personal showcase of your work, but it's also beneficial to get your work out there in many places.

If anyone has experience with the network please share in the comments.

The Behance Network originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 21:53:11.

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"Coming Soon" Isn't What It Used To Be

2009-10-12T21:59:38Z

Back in the 90's, website "coming soon" pages did little more than to tell you that, well, a website was coming soon. Often, this was paired with some type of under construction graphic reminiscent of a construction site. Nowadays, you can do a lot more with your coming soon page, from promoting your brand to building an audience through social networking. Line25 has a great collection of tips for modern coming soon pages, as well as a gallery of 20 well-designed examples.

"Coming Soon" Isn't What It Used To Be originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 21:59:38.

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Webby Awards Call for Entries Open

2009-10-08T11:29:20Z

The call for entries is open for the 14th annual Webby Awards, which honor the best of the web in over 100 categories. The "Green" and "Media" categories are new this year, and don't forget you can take advantage of discount for both student and personal websites. The early entry deadline is October 30. Last year's winners included the website for the movie Coroline, Flickr, the Guggenheim Museum, and Mint.com. Enter now.

Webby Awards Call for Entries Open originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 11:29:20.

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Are you a Mac or a PC?

2009-10-08T11:10:39Z

I think we've all seen our fair share of Mac vs. PC commercials now... but all mudslinging aside, do you design on a Mac or a PC?

Are you a Mac or a PC? originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 11:10:39.

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Long Before Photoshop... Classic Doctored Photos

2009-10-05T20:01:31Z

Adding a family member to a photograph or removing some red-eye is pretty easy these days, with the help of Photoshop. Most magazine spreads and head shots feature touch-ups of some sort. Long before Photoshop, however, photographs were still doctored... often changing what people actually saw from significant moments in history. TIME online features the top 10 doctored photographs in history, from the addition of a Civil War general to the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road.

Inspired? Want to do some photo manipulation of your own? The Photoshop clone stamp is the perfect tool.

Long Before Photoshop... Classic Doctored Photos originally appeared on About.com Graphic Design on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 20:01:31.

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