Graphic Art – the fine and applied art of representation, decoration, and writing or printing on flat surfaces together with the techniques and crafts associated with them.
Essentially, a graphic artist may create art for the sake of art. They may want to convey a certain idea or story, or they may not. Graphic artists tend to develop a personal style, and might be hired for projects when someone desires some art in that style. Some examples of graphic art might be cartoons, graphic novels, illustrations, comic books, or movie illustrations.
Graphic Design – the art or profession of using design elements (such as typography and images) to convey information or create an effect.
A graphic designer basically uses graphic art for a definitive purpose. They want the viewer to interact with the content in a certain way, and convey a specific message to them. Things like the layout, symmetry, color schemes, and typography all have a particular significance. Some examples of graphic design are infographics, marketing materials, instructional design, logo design, presentation design, and web design.
Plan it, make it, stretch it, wrap it, ink it, spin it, long print run it : Flexographic
Flexographic printing is a form of direct relief printing that is characterized by the use of flexible printing plates. In the past, these printing plates were always made of rubber, whereas today, flexible photopolymer printing plates might also be used. These plates have a slightly raised image of the content on them, they’re inked, and…
The Foundations of Branding
The foundations of your brand is your logo, your messaging, website, imagery and promotional materials. Keeping a consistent brand is critically necessary when it comes to building brand equity. Brand equity adds value to your company based on the core values you promote, and comes in the form of perceived quality. Never underestimate branding. And,…
Why You Should Care About Branding Your Business
It is safe to assume most everyone will look you up on Google prior to visiting your business, hiring you for a service, or purchasing your products and/or services. Whenever you interact with people, whether in-person or online, how you present your brand is exceedingly important. Think of all of the brands you know. While…
How Decades of Solid Branding Saved Coca-Cola from the Pepsi Challenge
The Pepsi Challenge was a marketing campaign started in 1975. It was simply a blind taste test between Pepsi and Coca-Cola, touting that even Coca-Cola fans choose Pepsi. It was a wildly successful marketing strategy that they revisited for decades. Coca-Cola even ran their own private tastes test, through which they found Pepsi was indeed…
Offset Lithography Printing
Offset Lithography is a printing technique that uses printing plates to transfer the intended image to the intended medium, usually paper. Sometimes this technique is simply called offset printing, or litho. The printing plates are often made of aluminum, but can also be plastic, rubber, paper, or even other materials. The term offset refers to…
What is Clear Space?
Clear space refers to a specific amount of are a logo is defined to have on all sides (in a brand standards manual or house style guide), no matter where the logo is applied. The reason for clear space is to ensure the logo maximizes visibility and impact. There is no set rule for defining…
A Brief Bio of Paul Rand
Even if you aren’t familiar with the name Paul Rand, you are definitely familiar with his work. Paul Rand was an American graphic designer and art director, who essentially defined the visual culture in America in the decades following World War II – and revolutionized how we think about corporate logos today. He was born…
Typefaces & Fonts Do More Than Transmit Words
Do the typefaces and fonts you choose for your brand materials matter? As long as it’s in a language the audience understands, they’ll get the intended message, right? Wrong. Typefaces and fonts are essentially the shapes of the letters. Shapes are multi-sensory, meaning they affect more than one of your senses and can easily elicit…
