All Questions
80
votes
11answers
3k views
Tips and sources for beginning designers
Thanks to the internet, graphic design and programming are becoming increasingly overlapping fields.
As a programmer, I constantly find myself needing basic knowledge of Graphic Design, but have ...
60
votes
23answers
7k views
New generation of Save icon that is not a “disk”?
Currently, the save icon in almost all applications represents a 3.5-inch disk from the 20th century. An example from Microsoft Office 2010 is shown below:
As we move towards more advanced ...
52
votes
10answers
5k views
How do I learn to be creative?
I've been a programmer my whole life, and now I've found that I really need to start designing my own stuff. I know how to use Photoshop in and out, but I just can't create anything nice. I often ...
41
votes
6answers
2k views
Why do some logos look.. old? How does design age?
This drives me crazy.
What makes design look old? How subjective is this? Who decides?
Look at this Bell logo:
It's from 1969. And boy, does it look that way. It's simple and minimal, but.. it ...
37
votes
14answers
1k views
What is the single most influential book every designer should read?
What is the single most influential book every designer should read?
36
votes
10answers
107k views
Is there a way to copy layers from one Photoshop document to another?
Is there a way to copy layers from one Photoshop document to another? I was working on a project earlier on that required this but I didn't know how this could have been done. (Procedure not as simple ...
36
votes
5answers
2k views
Are “web-safe” colors still important?
Years ago, it was always strongly recommended that web designers should only use web-safe colors.
Have studies been done to see if this is still the case? If so, what's the answer?
Edited to add…
...
31
votes
8answers
5k views
What kind of black should I use when designing for CMYK print?
my question is what kind of black should I use when printing.
At the moment I use this black (split into CMYK) :
C:0%
M:0%
Y:0%
K:100%
It looks fine in InDesign or Illustrator but if I save a PDF ...
30
votes
6answers
1k views
What are best practices for choosing and pairing fonts?
I've always found font selection to be a little bit of a mystery. What factors should be considered when choosing a font? How does one successfully incorporate two fonts into a design?
I realize that ...
29
votes
8answers
1k views
Where are some good places to find free stock images? [closed]
I'm always on the hunt for free stock images to use while I design, what are some good resources?
27
votes
8answers
975 views
Is there a good resource or tool to help build a palette/color scheme around colors I select?
No matter how nice the composition, flow, and lines of my design are, if I am not copying directly from nature, I have a very difficult time picking a decent color scheme. It either looks too drab, ...
27
votes
5answers
2k views
How often is the Golden Ratio actually used in modern design?
The Golden Ratio is the stuff of legend (and I believe some derision if Pepsi's latest logo change is of any indication) and is purported to have been used in many famous projects. My question is ...
26
votes
16answers
89k views
Web Safe Alternative to Myriad Pro Font?
Is there any font that I can use in my font stack that is more or less similar to Myriad Pro and web safe?
25
votes
7answers
931 views
Should web designers make a free mockup?
I have some potential clients that ask to see something before accept the work.
Now, should I make, for example, a free mockup or It's better to find another client?
24
votes
7answers
1k views
What are good sources for Open-Source fonts?
What are good sources for Open-Source fonts?
Note that by "Open-Source" I don't mean only free, but truly "open, free to modify and published under an Open Source license" fonts. These are still very ...
23
votes
8answers
5k views
What is the difference between CMYK and RGB? Are there other color spaces I should know?
I'm a photographer, who dabbles in graphic design from time to time as well. What are the differences between the various color spaces?
23
votes
6answers
4k views
Designing around an awful logo
I'm looking for some opinions on how to approach an interesting problem I've encounted.
I dabble in UX/graphic design, specifically for the web. Mostly static sites. I do this all on my own time as ...
23
votes
4answers
24k views
23
votes
4answers
1k views
What technical/objective qualities do good logos have?
What objective (that is, not aesthetic) qualities should (almost) every logo have, that should you take into account when designing a logo or ask for when hiring someone to create a logo for you and ...
22
votes
6answers
956 views
Sources for Color Theory or Psychology of Color
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good book/blog/forum that focuses on design principles such as psychology of color, specifically where it relates to picking a color palette for a communication ...
21
votes
5answers
12k views
How can I automatically determine fonts used in an image or PDF?
How is it possible to determine the fonts used by text in PDF and TIFF files?
20
votes
10answers
576 views
What web graphics formats to use?
Web sites can contain JPEG, GIF, and PNG format graphics. Which ones should be used, and when?
20
votes
7answers
7k views
Are graphics tablets worth it?
I've always felt curious about graphics tables, but I've never even used one. Most people I know either give up or love them.
I'm not a big illustrator myself, but I do the occasional doodle and ...
19
votes
5answers
680 views
What is meant by “busy”?
What do web developers mean when they think something will make their site look "busy"?
What gives this feel of busy-ness?
19
votes
4answers
341 views
Should in-house clients receive native files to make their own changes?
I am the in-house designer for a company that employs 8 marketing managers. These marketing managers are the ones that supply me with the lion-share of my projects.
However, more and more, the ...
19
votes
3answers
47k views
Export photoshop layers to individual PNG files - batch process?
I am a web dev and competent in Fireworks but not so much in Photoshop.
I have just received a layered PSD file to turn into a web page. Can anyone tell me the easiest way to export all layers to ...
17
votes
12answers
1k views
Do web designers need to know how to code?
As a front end web developer I work with many different designers and sometimes find it frustrating working with design comps where no thought was put into how to accomplish the design in basic CSS ...
17
votes
7answers
924 views
How to convince a stubborn client that white space is absolutely neccessary?
We have all been there: you show a client your design and they say "look at all that unused space, we can go ahead and make the text bigger, in fact let me give you more copy. We need to make use of ...
17
votes
8answers
849 views
What are common mistakes that you see in “professional” designs? [closed]
This might be too subjective but I'm curious about other peoples' experiences. Mods, please close if this is too far into "not a real question" territory.
I see many questions on this site about ...
17
votes
9answers
22k views
How do you make a font in illustrator?
I have recently created my own font/typeface in adobe illustrator and I would like to use it as a REAL font (e.g I would like to use it as I type something). Is this possible in adobe illustrator or ...
17
votes
2answers
531 views
How can I improve my color selection skill?
I'm a web developer, started to become a web designer. However, I think my understanding of colors is not practical yet. There are tools out there that can give you color harmonies, and more stuff, ...
17
votes
11answers
7k views
What DPI should be used for what situations?
I've been seeing the word 'DPI' pop up quite a lot when I export my work out in Photoshop and Illustrator. While I know that DPI stands for 'dots per inch', and that if you have too low of a DPI on an ...
17
votes
6answers
1k views
“Serifs improve fast, easy readability for long text” - myth or truth?
It's an old question, but an important one. Let's see if we can get a good, nuanced, ideally evidence-based answer.
So, old-school wisdom (certainly, how I was taught back in the day) says that serif ...
16
votes
12answers
800 views
Overcoming creative blocks: how to break out of current mindsets
Every designer hits a roadblock at one time or another. Few designers get those "dream" projects where they are allowed to create anything and everything they want. In most cases we all have to adhere ...
16
votes
8answers
12k views
Is there a standard width for designing web page mockups?
Is there a standard size for the width of a website in a mockup? What is that size? Why?
16
votes
6answers
14k views
What font types are good for a technical document?
What are some good fonts to use for a highly technical document? Is there any specific type that should be used/avoided?
16
votes
5answers
498 views
What are some good resource for programmers to design icons?
I'm a computer programmer, and find myself needing to draw icons frequency. Does anyone out there have any good resources for both the tools and how to design icons?
16
votes
1answer
636 views
Why do some fonts make I, l, 1 look the same?
Why do some fonts make the I,l,1 characters look identical?
There are fonts where they don't just look similar - they are the same exact pixel locations.
Why were they ever created?
I'm guessing ...
16
votes
5answers
834 views
Learning Logo Design
What are the good logo design learning resources (books, sites)?
How can I learn logo design more in depth? What are some good instructional resources for learning logo design?
This question is not ...
16
votes
2answers
225 views
How to protect against third-party claims when using free stock images?
Today's royalty-free Stock image sites are relatively open, meaning that theoretically, anybody can submit any kind of content, including copyright-protected content created by others.
It's even ...
15
votes
2answers
5k views
Difference between kerning vs letter spacing?
What is the difference between kerning vs. letter spacing?
15
votes
4answers
3k views
What's the difference between CMYK Black and RGB Black
I know this sounds a stupid question, black is black right?
Wrong:
It's black right? so why are the CMYK Values so far away from black?
15
votes
3answers
954 views
How do I make screenshots look good when printed in CMYK?
Whn printing screenshots alongside black text, black areas of the screenshot look a washed out muddy dark grey - what causes this and can I improve matters?
15
votes
1answer
161 views
What's the term used when the first word of one page is repeated at the end of the previous page?
There's a common feature in old typography where the first word of a page is repeated at the end of the previous page, usually right-aligned on a line by itself. This book from 1759 shows this ...
15
votes
4answers
460 views
How to direct users eyes on a website
There is a common principle in photography that a photo should lead the viewer's eyes. This is frequently accomplished with a line that runs across the photo. Recognizing how the observer will scan ...
15
votes
6answers
21k views
Font-face loaded on Windows look really bad. Which fonts are you using that render better?
EDIT: The problem was that I did not have "Cleartype" turned on in my settings on Vista. This question may not have much meaning if you have Cleartype is installed/enabled on Windows OS.
A new ...
14
votes
7answers
3k views
Learning to draw: start in the pen and paper realm or the digital space?
My question is should I start with paper to learn to draw or learn to digitally draw with Photoshop or Illustrator or any image manipulation application.
I am thinking of using a book or some other ...
14
votes
8answers
557 views
Fireworks for website design - why?
I've used Photoshop to design (more or less) every website I've made in the past 9 or 10 years. I hear people going on about Fireworks saying that it's excellent for web design and prototyping.
When ...
14
votes
1answer
2k views
How do I create Mexican hat potential figure in Illustrator using 3D Map Art?
This is what I'm trying to create in Illustrator. (for those interested, it's a graph of a Mexican hat potential function)
Here's what I've done so far, using Illustrator's 3D->Revolve and Map ...
14
votes
3answers
3k views
Do I need to license fonts included with my OS?
I've noticed that most custom fonts include a license.txt file that requests some amount of money for a commercial license.
I am interested in whether it is also necessary to license OS (Mac/Windows) ...
