#22708
Attractive Vectormaps: A Call for Well-Arranged Webmaps
If a user has a choice between two maps he/she will often use the map with the 'better' design. This means a map, besides being readable, should be visually attractive, comparable with other maps and eventually deliver some tools to navigate and interact with a map. A further problem is that a lot of maps are not always self-explaining by default. SVG offers some possibility to make maps well designed. The readability is dependent on several factors: e g. the chosen colors, used fonts or minimal dimensions for symbols, line-styles and fill-patterns. The article is pointing to basic principles for designing visually attractive maps.
Dahinden, Tobias. SVG Open (2002). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>Sitemaps
#24100
Attributing Meaning to Corporate Logos: A Cross Cultural Comparison 
Visual symbols are an essential part of corporate communication. The development of an appropriate corporate logo is an expensive and a time-intensive process. This study examines the meaning of visual form as perceived via corporate identity. Global economies demand that such symbols carry consistent meaning across cultures. 170 subjects from the U.S. and Hong Kong participated in a survey that identified positive business attributes associated with six logos. Another 60 subjects (30 from the U.S., 30 from Hong Kong) participated in focus groups and collectively discussed and collectively identified attributes as related to certain logos. Results indicate that there was agreement between and within groups on the perception of attributes with specific shapes. There were no significant differences between cultural groups.
Martinson, Barbara and Sauman Chu. University of Alberta (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric>International
#28057
Automating repetitive tasks in Photoshop can increase productivity as well as save time and money. Almost any command (or set of commands) in Photoshop can be recorded into an action to be applied repetitively to a single file or across multiple file. The most basic action will execute one command such as resizing an image or displaying a dialog box. More complex actions can execute multiple commands automating more elaborate tasks. When used with the Batch command and/or Droplets, these actions can be applied to multiple files at once, enabling Photoshop to do repetitive tasks more quickly than even the best-trained Photoshop user! When repetitive tasks in a more involved workflow need to be carried out between applications, then AppleScript, Visual Basic, or JavaScript can be used to create scripts which work with Photoshop. In the case of conditional logic (a fancy way of saying 'Make a decision!') when an action needs to be applied to some files but not others, JavaScript files can be written to fulfill this need. One word of caution when first trying to conquer actions - run them on duplicate files, leaving your pre- cious originals unaltered. As you become more Action savvy, you can kick off those training wheels, and batch away!
Kost, Julieanne and Daniel Brown. Adobe Evangelists (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#30868
The Awesome Power of Visualization 2: Death and Taxes 2007
Visuals that provide insights come from 1) a deep understanding of the goal / objectives 2) from thinking beyond what standard trend lines or stacked bar graphs can provide. Something non-normal to grab attention and yet communicate insights (sort of already contain recommendations and action items and not just data).
Kaushik, Avinash. Occam's Razor (2007). Articles>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Log Analysis
#27899
We call on the common man to rise up in revolt against this evil of typographical ignorance.
#29257
Basic Photoshop Painting Techniques for Technical Illustrations
In this demonstration we will be approaching the entire illustration process in much the same way as was done before Photoshop or any other computer graphics programs where created. In the non-digital world, you would start with an inked line drawing on illustration board.
Hulsey, Kevin. Kevin Hulsey Illustration (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Adobe Photoshop
#21921
Basic Principles Of Perspective Drawing
Any good technical illustration starts with well-executed line art. If you are working from any type of reference other than a CAD output in the desired angle, you will need to have a strong fundamental understanding of the principles of perspective drawing.
Hulsey, Kevin. Kevin Hulsey Illustration. Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Isometric
#13366
The Bathing Ape Has No Clothes
I do this because, well, I love design. More to the point, I crave design talk: who’s influenced who, what tools do you use, what trends do you observe, what rocks your world, and so forth. I get a lot out of this discourse. The signal-to-noise ratio of this particular subset of the Internet has always tilted strongly towards meaning. Until fairly recently, that is, when I started to notice a new feeling creeping into the sites I frequented. In what were nominally gathering places to discuss and celebrate online design, design seemed to be just about the last thing on anyone’s mind.
Greenfield, Adam. List Apart, A (2002). Design>Graphic Design>Web Design
#18648
The Battle of the Screen Capture Programs
I spent a little time exploring two screen-capture software packages and found out that on the surface, they're a lot alike. Both programs offer the garden variety of formats for saving screen captures (BMP, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, and TGA), and in both cases special tools for optimizing output are available. For example, when saving an image as a bitmap (BMP) using either program you can select a bit depth anywhere between one and 32.
Caldwell, Karla. STC Northeast Ohio (2001). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Screen Captures
#29314
Be Prepared: Fill the Gaps in Your Photoshop Know-How
It's next to impossible for one person to know the ins and outs of every single facet of Photoshop. With that in mind, we present three video tutorials to plug a variety of holes in your Photoshop knowledge.
Perkins, Chad. Creative Pro (2007). Articles>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#26376
Beatrice Santiccioli: Specializing in Color
A visual designer discusses why Swatch, watercolors and cooking can inspire the design of color. Louise Sandhaus draws out how Beatrice Santiccioli came to be the Queen of Color.
Sandhaus, Louise. AIGA (2005). Articles>Graphic Design>Interviewing
#29757
Beautiful Evidence is Edward Tufte's fourth and latest book and both follows and diverges from the directions established with The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (Tufte, 1983), Envisioning Information (Tufte, 1990), and Visual Explanations (Tufte, 1997). Visual Display examined pictures of numbers, Envisioning explored pictures of nouns, and Visual Explanations addressed pictures of verbs. Beautiful Evidence foregoes the 'pictures of' approach and instead establishes the role of evidence as the foundation of reasoning. In some ways, this latest book might have been better positioned as the first book because of its efforts to explain interplays of understanding and reasoning.
Penrose, John M. JBC (2007). Articles>Reviews>Graphic Design>Usability
#22510
Why you should be designing pieces to be printed in color.
Output Links (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Prepress>Color
#31232
Being Good for Goodness' Sake: Corporate Social Responsibility Imagery
It sees you when you’re sleeping. It knows if you’re awake. 'It' is the world, and it knows if your company has been naughty or nice. The digital revolution has put a photographic device, be it a camera or camera-phone, in the hands of virtually everybody everywhere—so you can be sure someone besides Santa is constantly watching your company’s behavior. For that and other good reasons, corporate photography is looking very green this season.
Salvo, Suzanne. Communication World Bulletin (2007). Design>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
#25156
The Benefits of a Buddy for the Solo Designer
Are you a home-based studio or freelancer? The benefits are many for the solo designer, but feeling isolated can spell trouble.
Bertucci, Janet and Julianne Nardone. Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Careers>Graphic Design>Collaboration
#13992
De Beroepsorganisatie Nederlandse Ontwerpers
De Beroepsorganisatie Nederlandse Ontwerpers (BNO) is de branchevereniging van ontwerpers en ontwerpbureaus in Nederland. Deze zijn actief binnen diverse disciplines: grafisch ontwerpen, interactief ontwerpen, industrieel ontwerpen, verpakkingsontwerpen, ruimtelijk ontwerpen, mode en styling, en illustratie. De BNO is de meest representatieve gesprekspartner op het gebied van het ontwerpen in Nederland en is gericht op de voortdurende ontwikkeling van de discipline en het vergroten van haar betekenis. De BNO vertegenwoordigt ruim 2300 individuele ontwerpers en 200 ontwerpbureaus.
BNO. (Dutch) Organizations>Graphic Design>Regional>Netherlands
#24836
About a year ago, I wrote an article, introducing a method for displaying a random image every time someone visits a web page. Administration was simple: just add or remove images from a folder on the server, and they would appear (or disappear, respectively) from the pool of random images being displayed on that page.
Benjamin, Dan. List Apart, A (2004). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>DHTML
#10869
Most tech writers have their favorite software for capturing and processing static screen shots. I won’t compare these applications or try to tell you how to use them. Instead, I’ll give you techniques that help you produce the best possible screen shots, no matter what application you choose. This article assumes that you’ve taken screen shots before. It uses terms like “hot keys” and “time delay” and “capture cursor.” If you don’t know what these terms mean, look them up in the help for your screen capture software. They represent standard features that are found in most screen capture applications.
Rice, William H. IV. Williamrice.com. Design>Graphic Design>Online>Screen Captures
#29311
Better Than Ginzu Knives: InDesign's Pathfinder Commands 
Every avid chef has little gizmos and gadgets, designed for specific tasks, that find their way to the back of a drawer and are then forgotten. Like those special tools, the Pathfinder commands in InDesign are often forgotten or considered too sophisticated for non-artistic types. Yet they can slice and dice and combine paths in unique ways that add vastly to the repertoire of the InDesign chef. Added to InDesign's other ways to mix up text and graphics, Pathfinder can help you further push the creative edge.
Burns, Diane. Creative Pro (2007). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe InDesign
#27437
Brushed metal is always a cool effect to pull off in Photoshop. And after you’ve created your steel texture, what better place to use it than to produce beveled steel type?
Harris, Rich. Planet Photoshop (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Typography>Adobe Photoshop
#26272
Today's graphic designer has moved beyond graphic. The term 'graphic' fails to accurately describe our profession to the business community and the public. We should consider replacing it with a more relevant, accurate description of what we do today. Why?
Saldanha, Errol. Creative Latitude (2004). Articles>Graphic Design
#21444
Computer graphics programs offer you a variety of different tools and functions for your work as illustrators. One function that is provided by all graphics programs is the so-called Bézier curve.
ITEDO Software (2002). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
#22700
The analog format of the CRT is challenged by the digital capabilities of the LCD monitor.
Hawver, Mark. Digital Output (2003). Articles>Graphic Design>Prepress>Color
#26008
Line art and stencils from a bitmap? Tough question. If it's line art you're looking for, convert the bitmaps to grayscale, then use the Brightness / Contrast adjustment layers to 'homogenize' your image and clean up edges.
Photoshop 911 (2005). Design>Graphic Design>Software>Adobe Photoshop
#23602
Bits and PCs: Designing Icons for Software Interfaces
When creating icons for internationally-marketed software products there are many factors that the icon designer should consider. Whilst the users' needs are paramount, other considerations will influence the final designs. These include the technical requirements and established visual design style of the operating system, legal issues and the avoidance of culturally sensitive images. The process for gathering information, designing, and building icons is also important. To assist the icon designer there are many valuable resources available, these range from reference books, to web resources maintained by the major platform providers, and published International Standards addressing software icons and symbols.
Hodgkinson, Richard N.P. STC Proceedings (2003). Design>Graphic Design>International
