241
votes
Accepted
Is there a reason Hillary Clinton's logo has hidden notches?
To prevent possible rendering artefacts.
Without the notches you're likely to see the edges of the bottom shapes where they meet the edges of the overlaying shapes (on screen anyway, it's not really a ...
- 39.9k
64
votes
Is there a reason Hillary Clinton's logo has hidden notches?
Understanding rasterization and the painter's algorithm might help.
One way of rendering vector graphics (graphics defined by polygons, instead of pixels) to pixels is to rasterize the polygons while ...
- 741
56
votes
Why should I ever use Unicode’s special characters for Roman numerals?
In many fonts you will indeed find hardly any difference between using the Unicode characters for Roman numerals and just composing them from stardard Latin letters. For example, the following shows ...
- 14.3k
51
votes
Is there a reason Hillary Clinton's logo has hidden notches?
Cai is correct. I thought I'd add a visual answer as well.
The reason this happens is that it's an SVG. Unlike a raster image where you control each rendered pixel, the rasterization of the SVG ...
- 49.8k
35
votes
Accepted
Why would I ever NOT use percentage for sizes?
I, like you and many other people starting to learn CSS, used to think the same thing. However, as I continued to build websites I realized that using percents only leads to uglier websites. There are ...
- 12.8k
33
votes
Accepted
If a logo implies movement, should that movement be mirrored to match the movement of a vehicle it's placed on?
It depends on the logo and how it's done. You should avoid reversing the logo, but it may make sense in rare cases to reverse it. For example, Nike reverses their logo on their high socks when their ...
- 12.8k
32
votes
Accepted
Methods for improving color choice and combinations?
This might not answer your question completely, but as part of my workflow, I use this technique sometimes.
When trying to pick a colour palette (at the very beginning of the creative process), I try ...
- 8,098
28
votes
Why should I ever use Unicode’s special characters for Roman numerals?
TL;DR The Unicode consortium recommends using the latin letter where possible and not the numeral, which where included for compatibility with East-Asian typography.
The full story : (with ...
26
votes
Accepted
In a sentence ending with a bold or italicised word, does the period need to be bold/italicised too?
The older convention was that the style of punctuation matched the immediately preceding context:
That's the Chicago Manual of Style (3rd edition, 1911), but the same convention can be seen in a ...
- 553
22
votes
Accepted
Is it necessary for me to have an email address in lower case
Clients have the final say. Even if you disagree with it.
Disregarding that there maybe technical reasons why uppercase is a bad idea. And disregarding the fact that upper case lowers readability and ...
- 197k
22
votes
Just how much information should you share with a former client?
I would let it go 100%.
Answer all their questions and put a deadline date after which you are no longer taking requests. I will gladly help with this information, but you need to take over ...
- 27.4k
21
votes
When should someone use ligatures?
There are two types of ligatures.
Type 1: The reason ligatures exist is to prevent spaces between some letters which could disturb your reading flow. For example in some fonts "fi" overlap each other ...
- 1,608
18
votes
Accepted
When should someone use ligatures?
No One Rule Fits All Situations
This is all somewhat complicated, because it ties in with kerning support and font selection, and there is no one-size-fits-all answer that will serve for all ...
- 886
18
votes
Which format is better for saving images intended for websites; PNG or SVG?
The simple answer here is use both.
The fact that you've named SVG as an option, means we can rule out photo graphics as an intended use case - because SVGs are only good for line-art graphics such ...
- 8,308
18
votes
Favicon best practices regarding size and format
What to include?
The Minimum
<!-- Desktop browsers (including 16x6, 32x32 & 48x48 PNGs) -->
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico">
<!-- Modern browsers (196x196 should ...
- 39.9k
18
votes
If a logo implies movement, should that movement be mirrored to match the movement of a vehicle it's placed on?
Logo consistency is more important. Don't alter the logo for the vehicle wrap.
Having two logo variants, regarding something such as movement, on one item will dilute the branding, even if there's ...
- 197k
17
votes
Is there a reason Hillary Clinton's logo has hidden notches?
Printing in multiple colours requires accurate registration to avoid unsightly gaps and is a concern when artifacts are composed from multiple sources. Similar concerns can occur even in digital ...
- 299
17
votes
Why would I ever NOT use percentage for sizes?
Percentages are sometimes too flexible. If you define everything in percentages then the site will scale uniformly. But its very unlikely for a user of a 27-42 inch monitor wants you to scale text by ...
- 55.1k
16
votes
In a sentence ending with a bold or italicised word, does the period need to be bold/italicised too?
I think it's great that you're being so detailed. The smallest of details are noticed by the reader, even if it's just subconsciously. I'm sure there are a lot of different opinions, and I'm sure that ...
- 710
16
votes
Methods for improving color choice and combinations?
This actually sounds like a question more about creativity and getting out of a comfort-zone than about technique but I will answer the technical side.
How do you determine what colors work well ...
- 851
16
votes
Accepted
Just how much information should you share with a former client?
I wouldn't give them or any client really anything if its one of your sources.
"Thank you for your inquiry. My sources and vendors are part of the value I bring through my X years of experience. ...
- 22.9k
15
votes
Accepted
Should a designer flatten/restrict images when sending to another designer?
Professional courtesy
Whenever I work with other designers my number one priority is to make their life as easy as possible, and not just because I'm a nice guy ;)
I've already been paid for the ...
- 8,418
14
votes
Accepted
What are the best practices for dealing with desired line breaks in responsive web design?
I'm only advising this on the basis that it's used for short snippets of text and not paragraphs.
The formatting of headlines can and should be controlled as much as possible within reasonable limits....
- 8,308
13
votes
Why should I ever use Unicode’s special characters for Roman numerals?
From a perspective of how it looks there may not be much of a difference. So if you publish only printed material then no difference, except in some fonts as Wrzlprmft points out in his excellent ...
- 55.1k
13
votes
Is it necessary for me to have an email address in lower case
HAVING A EMAIL ADDRESS IN UPPER CAPS IS A REALLY BAD IDEA. USING THEM AS "EMPHASIS" IS SOMETHING FROM THE TYPEWRITER ERA WHERE YOU DID NOT HAVE OTHER OPTIONS.
Sorry for that.
As commented by others, ...
- 33.3k
12
votes
Tips and resources for beginning designers
Think critically about designed objects around you
Nearly everything in the man-made environment has some sort of design behind it, whether it’s a graphic, a website, or a fashion accessory.
Notice ...
- 1,729
12
votes
Accepted
How do big design companies share art files
At my current workplace we use a version control system. To be exact, we use Git + Bitbucket with the LFS (Large File Storage) extension. We also use a graphical diff plugin that lets us see a quick ...
- 236
12
votes
Accepted
Is Illustrator accurate for business card sizes?
I don't think any of this has anything to do with Illustrator specifically. Illustrator is a fine tool for business cards just as InDesign, QuarkXpress, etc would be.
9pt type is small. Using ...
- 197k
11
votes
If a logo implies movement, should that movement be mirrored to match the movement of a vehicle it's placed on?
In my opinion, this depends on which version is more brand consistent and less visually disconcerting in the context of a vehicle wrap. What's worse, the logo pointing the wrong way, or people ...
- 210
11
votes
Is Illustrator accurate for business card sizes?
To answer your question, yes, Illustrator is accurate for the size of a business card, or any print document.
The problem: 100% zoom is not the physical size of your document on-screen. Selecting ...
- 72.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible