It’s always a good idea to Step Back from your work. Sometimes when you look at something for too long you tend to over think things. You start to fidget with stuff that might not even need it at all. Overall, sometimes just step away take a break and just come back to it. You might be inspired by something else. It may even be that you catch something that you were not seeing before. This has happened to me many times before. A good idea is just to switch screens with someone and have them take a break from what they’re doing and look at what you’re doing and vice versa.
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Learn to take some Advice. (Ironic isn’t it?) Many people think that when advice is given the other person has it out for them. This is hardly ever true. People give advice to better others. Another thing is to never take advice for granted. Once you start to shut off from taking advice is when you start to shut off as a designer. This is something you never want. Always be open as in Advice #63. It’s also good to give advice. If you see someone you think needs it there is never anything wrong with saying something to them. In return you never know when they might give you some.
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Limits are only set by none other than yourself. That’s all there really is to it. It is good to sometimes set limitations for yourself such as a strict color scheme, or style. Challenge yourself to go beyond your limitations. If you fail so what? It’s still good to have tried and learned in the process. Furthermore, who knows if you might have even set the base for a better project. It’s better to experiment and go beyond limitations than have to deal with them when they come.
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Hot Keys make your workflow fly. They allow for you to make less clicks, and overall work much faster. Once in awhile don’t go and click the button. Try and find the hot key for it. It saves so much more time. I really can’t stress the importance for hot keys! I try to remember little phrases for hot keys so I will remember them. For instance on Photoshop Command J for me (Which duplicates a layer) is Jet Copy Paste. Since it does its job fast like a jet. Elementary I know, but basic mnemonic devices is always the best when learning hot keys.
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Don’t get into Bad Habits. If you already are in a bad habit, leave it. Bad habits can ruin workflow and can really detrimental if you add on more of them as time goes on. A very big one is texting. I personally try to avoid texting while designing. I usually think about it like this. I spend about 10 seconds on each text. If the person I am texting replies back at a rate of 30 times per hour I’m wasting 5 minutes. If I’m designing for 8 hours I’ve wasted a total time of 40 minutes just texting back. Now realistically this wouldn’t happen. However just about a good hour or two is usually wasted. Thin about what would happen in a week, or month? I’m also pretty sure you can live without that one Facebook notification that is most likely an invitation to Farmville or another game. -Haha-
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You will always Learn something new every day even if you don’t do anything. Learning never stops. It’s very important to learn from others. You should always learn from your peers, teachers, mentors, and even inspirational figures. Don’t think just because you are someone else you can make the same mistakes they made and get away with it. If anything embrace their mistakes and learn from them. It will make you not only smarter, but also concentrate on other things that might be wrong.
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How do you get a better chance at the job you want? Well there are many ways to do this, but a very smart way is to Tailor what you show them. Don’t bombard them with everything in your portfolio. Let’s say you were applying for an editorial design spot. Do you think that showing them you can make business cards really helps them? Given, it is good to show off your work, however make it a bonus not a demand. If they see more of what they are looking for chances are they will view yours and see that you are interested in it.
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Color changes Meaning through different areas of the world. Not only that but even if you are in the same area the common religion can also matter. Don’t just assume that the colors you are using mean the same thing everywhere. Some mean the complete opposite of what you might believe. It’s most commonly found/used for logos. It can really set you apart if you show in your design brief that you took this into consideration. It’s important to keep this in mind especially if you have an international project.
There is so much more to cover! It takes a lot more than one month. Don’t worry children. I will sporadically throw some here and there. -Grin-
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The baseline grid is one of the most important parts to your editorial design. It creates a grid that allows for text to sit upon it. The same grid line is used throughout the whole page. Without the baseline grid your audience’s eyes would sort of detect something is off. Even though the text might have a wide column gutter they can still tell it’s a bit off. They might not put down the magazine for it. However, it just lends itself to attract the eye more instead of less.
There is so much more to cover! It takes a lot more than one month. Don’t worry children. I will sporadically throw some here and there. -Grin-
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We live in a world where color is always seen in Context. The perception of every color is always changing. It is never fixed to one thing. Any color appears brighter when there is a black background behind it. However, a color that is put behind a white background tends to be a bit duller. Since there are warm and cool colors, you can make powerful color combinations that seem to trigger a reaction to the eyes. Furthermore, when there are two colors side by side they sometimes change our perception of them. Anything will look a bit lighter when it is placed next to something dark and visa versa. It is also warmer when they are placed next to something cool and vice versa as well.
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Live area is the place where the printer marks it safe from not being cropped. Let’s start from the inner most border. This border is your margins. This is initially your safe zone, a place where no chance of cropping can occur. They go all around your page. Margins that are usually .5 inches are a safe bet. Keep in mind to leave room for any markers you may have as well. There is one more slight area that I think needs to be mentioned. That is your gutter. Your gutter should usually be .1667 inches to avoid from words creeping into it. The next border you will face is your document size. Everything you create will be put here. This is also where the printer will cut the page. If you want something to come off the page you need what is called a bleed. That is your next border. A bleed is an image that not only goes off the document page but also extends past it by at least .125 inches. You do this in case the page moves slightly. Without it you would have a small white sliver running along where the image is not present.
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Color also has other values. You don’t just get what you see on the basic color wheel. There is Hue, Saturation/Brightness (Intensity/Value), and Contrast. Hue is referred to the pure spectrum colors that are on the color wheel. A pure hue color is one that has no saturation/brightness. It’s just the pure form of the color. Saturation/Brightness is referred to as the absence or presence of black, white, or gray within a color. A very vivid color has full saturation. A very dull color is one that’s desaturated. Ultimately, Saturation/Brightness is the measure for the richness of a color. Contrast is referred to as the difference between two colors. White and black are not really colors. However, they represent achromatic contrast. Black and white are also deemed the king and queen of the highest level of contrast possible. It also is the most sensitive to human eyes. Complementary colors also represent high chromatic contrast.
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Your Gutters and Margins are very important aspects of your editorial design. In your layout you will always have to deal with them. There are two types of gutters. The first kind of gutter is your main one. This is the center fold of any editorial design. It’s formed from simply folding or cutting. It is smart to just stay away from the gutter. It can cut off a nice sliver of a design, cut a few letters from body text, and overall be trigger for a headache. Also keep in mind that the thicker the issue the bigger the gutter is since the fold inwards is deeper. The second type of gutter is your column gutters. This is the space between your columns. It is very good to be in place due to some words being a little longer than others. Margins usually are the open space around the body text to help it feel more open and welcoming. Be sure to always stick to your margins. Not only does it help you stay more organized, but it helps you stay away from your cut off edge. (Which we will be going over later.) Furthermore, it’s okay for your page numbers and any other markers you may have to be in your margins.
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The Temperature of color is very important. Colors are divided into two groups. The first group is Cool colors. Cool colors usually seem to be receding, passive, and dark. Cool colors usually consist of greens, blues, and violets. The second group is Warm colors. Warm colors are usually bright, upbeat, and active. Warm colors usually consist of Reds, oranges, and yellows. It’s good to get the right color temperature correct if you want to enhance and set a certain mood in your composition.
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The Feature article is the reason most people pick up, read, and buy your issue. (That is if you reflect it on your cover) The first two pages of your feature will have a spread. When designing the feature spread treat it as if it was one, even if the pages do not correlate with each other. Your feature spread always had a headline. It’s usually the title of a section, story, or article. It is usually the most dominant piece of typography in the spread. Decks of a feature are like the subtitle. They provide the reader with a longer but brief description of the headline. The byline of a feature spread contains the name of the author and/or photographer. It almost always sits under the headline. The lead of an article is used to draw a reader in. It does this by having a few paragraphs of the feature article. The picture used for the spread can be an illustration, photo, graphic, etc. However, make sure it engages the reader. The picture that is used for the feature usually has a caption explaining what is going on. Overall make sure your feature color matches your pictures. It’s a very good idea to pull your color from the actual images used. Other things to include in your feature article are pull quotes. They allow for a short break in your body text without intervening too much. They can be quotes taken from an interview, special events, addresses, or simply text that you feel needs a little extra attention. Subheadlines are added in as just informational markers that indicate the beginning of new section. They can also address new paragraphs or columns. Sidebars are always placed on the side of a page and are primarily used for more detailed information.
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