5 Great Myths About Logo Design

1. Cheap logo is bad logo

The quality of logo design is not dependent on the price. It is generally true, that an established company making logos for $500 will do a good job in most cases. It is clear, that with a lot of money you can pay experienced people. But at the other side you can have the same job for $50 even for $10 if you find skilled designer. Just compare portfolios of some cheap and expensive companies.

2. Do not follow trends, be original

Logo is representing your company, but it is designed for customers, not for you personally. If you look at the biggest companies, lots of them has very simple text based logo with similar font. The color and sometimes easy shape makes the difference. If you know, that your customers' group likes Web 2.0 logos, just make them happy. But remember - following trends does not mean to simply copy someone's job.

3. You have to get vector file from designer

It is important to design logo in vector-based software for quality. But for you as a customer it is not necessary to get vector file unless you are DTP specialist. For general purposes such as web site, banners, print, etc. you only need bitmap in good resolution and size. Basically 72dpi for web, 300 dpi for print and size depends.

4. Do not use stock graphics

It is nice to have 100% hand-made logo, but it is more expensive and your customers will not see the difference. You will also not recognize common pictures made by designer and pictures copied from stock database. If the stock picture is used under the law and it is composed to your logo (not simply copied as the main object), it is OK.

5. The more designers work on your project the better result you get

Every human has individual mind. As we expect designers are humans too, their opinions on the logo design will be different too and their cooperation does not guarantee better or worse result. Better to have more different drafts to choose from at the beginning.

Source : Ezinearticles

Art Mosaic Artists

We're all familiar with the mosaic tile that decorates our bathrooms and kitchens. You'll find mosaic art in the design of pools, too. Aside from these familiar spaces, there are many other unconventional uses and art forms that incorporate mosaic artistry. For instance, in Barcelona, architect Antonio Gaudi used mosaic tiles to articulate the undulating forms found in Parc Guell. Modern artists have developed mosaic techniques and patterns using unusual materials, such as pebbles and buttons.

Patricia Rockwood, a mosaic artist working in Sarasota, FL, embellishes mirror frames with glass beads and crafts fish scales from pennies. She has created a window valence from mosaic tiles, and fashioned a mosaic "runner" spilling over the edge of a mosaic tiled occasional table.

In Naples, FL, Judith Auclair collects unique shells from all over the world and then combines them into eccentric home decor such as mirror frames, lamp bases, and tables. Her shop, Maison Auclair, is so filled with furniture and accessories, that it's hard to imagine she's the creator of all those pieces. Her work is called "Shell Art", and it's much more sophisticated than much of the kitchy shell-encrusted work you'll find at arts and craft shows.

Molly B. Right paints her designs onto sheet metal. Then she applies bottle caps over the image to create Bottle Cap mosaics. The resulting images have an almost photographic realism to them, which adds to the viewer's surprise when they realize the medium is reclaimed bottle caps.

Jeffrey Bale found a use for his lifetime collection of pebbles, when he learned how to create mosaic art with them. For an article in FineGardening ezin, he made a Pebble Mosaic "rug" inspired by Persian carpet design. Once he's satisfied with his design, he sets the pebbles in mortar.

NJ Transit commissioned mosaic artist Yakov Hanansen to design mosaic illustrations for a new entrance structure at New York City's Penn Station. He made eleven panels, and each was set into the marble surface on either side of the escalator that takes commuters down to the train station below.

The New York City subway system has hired mosaic artists to create station-specific mosaic art for many years. There's even a Web site that lets you search for specific subway stations and view photos of the mosaics created for each station.

MetroNorth Commuter Railroad, which serves Westchester and Connecticut destinations, also has an environmental art program. For example, the train station at Dobbs Ferry NY, on the Hudson Line, welcomes travelers home with a large scale mosaic mural of stylized flowers in bright colors.

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Western Painting - Art Brut - Beyond Boundaries

Art Brut-History
Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985), a French painter and sculptor, invented the word Art Brut, which means 'Rough Art' or 'Raw Art.' 'Outsider Art' is the English synonym for Art Brut, devised by an art critic Roger Cardinal, in 1972. Jean was an avant-garde painter, who departed from the painting world for 17 years, from 1925 to 1942. Upon Jean's return to painting, his focus and painting style had changed into one of the simple and prehistoric images. He switched his focus towards art drawn by children, the insane, and schizophrenics.

The Details
The term Art Brut is used in a board sense. This creative Western Art form is beyond the boundaries and the rules of traditional or mainstream artistry. This art form is raw and pure. Art Brut artists have no influence of cultural complexities and art institutions. Their artwork is totally different and independent of the mainstream art form, such as drawings, paintings, sculptures, and the other outdoor creations. In effect, artists with no formal training or Naive artists create Outside Art and are categorized as a separate niche genre.

The main advantage of raw art is that it is ahead of the hierarchical and the historical horizons of mainstream art. It is attractive, appealing, and fascinating. These artists are original and have unconventional, innovative, and creative ideas, as they do not modify, alter, and mediate the unique creative expressions. These artists select enigmatic topics, and are least concerned about the good opinion of others. In addition, Art Brut artists live and work forthright. They do not even believe in keeping their work a secret.

The Correlations
Art Brut includes nearly all the art forms, such as Folk Art, Tramp Art, and Primitive Art. In fact, Raw Art, Folk Art, Intuitive/Visionary Art, Marginal/Singuiler Art, Naive Art, Neue Invention, and Visionary Environments are interchangeable terms in Outsider Art.

Scope
Fame comes with smart marketing, publicity, and a good platform. Art Brut lacks all this, as the artists are creating things for their own, personal pleasure. Therefore, art connoisseurs and art collectors have always been skeptical about raw art, due to its limitless scope. There is often a prevalent intrigue about the uniqueness and the worth of Art Burt. Art lovers are also left wondering regarding the levels of creativity an untrained mind can have. Despite all these arguments and question marks raw art grew, and is widely practiced today.

Art Brut Examples
There are numerous notable raw art or Outsider Artists, who have contributed towards this art form, such as Adolf Wolfli - a Swiss artist; Nek Chand - an Indian, who achieved high reputation for his sculpture garden called 'Rock Garden;' Ferdinand Cheval - a postal worker in Hauterives, was motivated by his dream, and spent around 33 years in constructing 'Palais Ideal.'

Ownership
Raw art is the visual formation at its best. It is an impulsive spiritual flow from brain to paper. In 1991, 'Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art' was formed in Chicago. The organization is dedicated to Art Brut. Its non-profit museum that helps the Outsider Artists research, exhibit, and promote their art. Henry Darger, Joseph Yoakum, Lee Godie, William Dawson, David Philpot, and Wesley Willis are some of the key Brut Artists associated with Intuit.

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What You Need to Become a Graphic Designer

Graphic designing is the art of creating ocular messages and or solutions for communicating purposes. This vocation heavily relies on creative thinking, technology, and time management. The customers differ from magazines and news papers to publicizing and public relations. Ultimately, the specificity and specialization of a person and the type of clients they have will be the basis for their pays.

Job description. Graphic designers create for magazines, web, newspapers, leaflets, and the like to advertize spectacular visuals to intercommunicate with and convey information to the public utilizing words and images.

People who engage in graphic designing are known as graphic designers. They can function with or in a company or go freelancing. At times, working on their own can establish more income than those in organizations. To become a graphic designer, one has to be technologically willing and able, since almost all of the work heavily depends on computers and intricate software programs.

What are the prerequisites?

To be a dependable candidate for graphic designing, a person should have the following characteristics :

An eye for design
Technical and computer potentialities
Power to work for prolonged hours on the computer
Keenness for particulars
Ability to work utilizing words and images

What are the job alternatives in graphic designing?

There is a wide range of specialty in graphic designing, among which are the following:

Photo editor
3D graphic designer
Multi-media designer
Website designer
Illustrator
Logo designer
Layout artist
Brand identity designer
Advertising account executive
Art director

What is the primary training for graphic designers?

Education can set out from Associates degree, for technical preparation to Bachelors degree, which is usual for entry level positions. There are two- to four- year degrees and masteral programs available in many colleges and universities, and even online degrees.

How much can a graphic designer have in a year?

The salary for graphic designers may vary depending on the employer, industry, his experience and education, and job particulars. Approximately, from an entry level position one can gain roughly $32,000 to $53,000, maximizing to $70,000 per year.

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The Crisis of Fine Arts Education

In these days of budget cuts and limited resources, it's often the case that fine arts classes are the first to be cut. This is unfortunate, since a well-rounded education must include the arts. Studying the arts, whether in the academic study of art appreciation, or learning how to actually do art, is crucial to teach young people how to think creatively and independently. Some studies have shown that students that participate in a strong art education program demonstrate higher performance in other academic areas. Expert conjecture this is due to the fact that when people do art, they exercise the right hemisphere of the brain, where higher reasoning functioning occurs.

Art education is an area of learning based upon the visual, tangible arts, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, and fabrics. These days, it includes photography, video, film, design, and computer art.

The first art schools were mentioned by Plato in 400 B.C. Art was taught in Europe through the Method system for centuries. Artists, like most guilds, took on apprentices who learned their trade. During the Renaissance, more formal training took place in art studios. Design was emphasized more than the fine arts, so schools of design were founded throughout Europe during the 18th century. In modern times, art education takes place across the generations in community-based institutions and organizations like museums, local arts agencies, recreation centers, places of worship, social service agencies, prisons, and schools.

There are thousands of art education curricular models, or ways to teach art appreciation and how to do art. Some experts insist that drawing is the basis of all Western art education, at least since the Renaissance. Once you teach someone how to draw, they say, you can teach them all other forms of art because drawing is an empirical activity that involves seeing, interpreting, and discovering the appropriate marks to reproduce an observed phenomena.

Many state that an important part of a well-rounded education is at least a basic understanding of art history, including the numerous movements in art throughout the ages. A good understanding of art history, however, includes more than memorizing artists, their works, and when they were created. It involves an understanding of the trends in the art world. Even artists should have a good comprehension of the history of art, if they are to find out how they wish to express themselves to the world.

A good artist needs both an in-depth education in the history and appreciation of art and lots of studio time. Most art schools devote thirty percent of their coursework to academic fields of study, like art appreciation and art history. How can you develop your artistic vision if you don't know what's gone before?

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Designing Your Own Zed Card

Building your own Zed card takes time, and specific skills. To create a high quality Zed card layout, you -the designer, must have proficient skills in one of the following programs: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign or Quark Express. If you are not familiar with these programs, it is best that you leave the designing to a professional. If you do have the skills and the programs, then read on for advice on designing your own Zed.

The first thing you must know is that you need digital images to design your Zed. If you don't already have digital images, then you are going to have to digitize your film or prints. Assuming that your images were taken with film, you will want to take your negatives to a photo lab and have them put them on a disk. Most photo labs should be able to do this for $5 - $10 per image if not less. Some labs may require that you either print your images first, or put your images on slides before they can put them on disk. Make sure that when they have your pictures printed they are large enough to retain the highest quality.

Once all of your images are digitized, you need to check for quality. Your images should be at least 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the actual print size. For instance, the image that is going to be on the front of an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Zed card should be at least 300 dpi at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2." Any size larger than this is fine, but you do not want your images to be smaller, as that will result in reduced printing quality. You should end up with a relatively large file - if the image is a JPEG (.jpg) file then it should be anywhere from 1 - 4 MBs. Tiff (.tif) files are much larger - they can be anywhere from 15 - 75 MB per image.

After you have checked for quality, you will want to make any color corrections and photo touch such as bags under the eyes, stains on clothing etc. Do this before you resize the image. (This is where all of the headaches come in and the professionals take over. ) Keep in mind most monitors are not calibrated to the printer they will print from, so the colors you see on your computer are not necessarily the colors that will print. This can be fixed but it requires software and hardware that can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars.

Once you have completed all of your image touch-ups, you will resize the images appropriately and then insert them into your layout. To build a layout, you will want to use a program like QUARK, Adobe InDesign or Adobe Photoshop. Be sure to build the layout the actual print size you desire at 300 dpi.

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Cotton Canvas Pictures - Making Great Designs

If you love to design, then you already know how much you can do with cotton canvas. You can make anything from prints, to clothes, to bags, to tarps, all with canvas. If you're just getting started with arts and crafts, then you probably have some questions to ask. After all, there are many different kinds of canvas and different uses for each variety. There are also different looks and different prices. In this article, you will learn how to get started with cotton canvas pictures. You will find out which questions are important and how to get started.

First, decide which kind of canvas work you want to do. If you want to make bags, then you will want to make sure the canvas you choose is sturdy so that it makes a well-functioning product. You will also want to choose canvas that is easy on the eye and not too rough on the skin. Some canvas is has industrial uses. Other kinds are made for accessories and clothes. You will also want to consider what materials you want to use for printing on your canvas. Cotton canvas pictures will turn out best when you use the best material for the particular process and ink you choose.

Next, think about what you will do with the cotton canvas pictures. If you are just making a few bags for your friends, then you can probably get just a small amount of material that is of a better quality. This is a great way to make gifts. If you want to make a lot of bags and give them away or sell them to hundreds of people then you should probably consider buying a cheaper cotton canvas in a greater quantity. This is a great way to get your design ideas out to as many different people as possible.

What you have to keep in mind when choosing the best material for cotton canvas pictures is what you want the final product to look like. After all, making art is all about having a good time and expressing yourself. Make sure the canvas you choose helps to bring out the look you like the best. If you find that the material you like is too expensive, you can probably find a similar cotton canvas for a more affordable price. Knowing about all of the different options is important. The name of the game is to be practical about your craft.

Source : Ezinearticles