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The Importance of Design

After casting my ballot this morning at the polls, I was reminded of a real life example of the importance of good design. During the 2000 election, there was a very large debate about the use of the “Butterfly Ballot” in Palm Beach County and whether the terrible ballot layout changed the course of the election that year. Aaron pointed me to an article on the Presentation Zen site, which provides some great information on this seemingly simple design problem.

At its core, graphic design is all about using a visual language to communicate information. The Palm Beach County ballot is a great example in support of the importance of quality design. Good designers are trained to find new, innovative, creative, and CLEAR ways to present information to people. They take into account the audience that they are designing for and carefully research what the needs of that audience might be. A failure to do so is a fundamental failure in the design process. This quote from David Kelley, founder of IDEO, looks at this from the product design angle:

“Bad design is where the customer thinks it’s their fault that something doesn’t work. So, if you can’t make your GPS device work in your car — I mean, there should be a riot because they’re so poorly designed! Instead, the user thinks, ‘Oh, I’m not very smart, I can’t make this GPS thing work.’ People should demand more from the things they own; they need to demand that things work.”
– David Kelley, IDEO

We can all learn a lesson from the poor ballots of 2000 and try to make sure that we use visual elements and design to help clearly communicate our message and not take away from it. Try thinking about this the next time you put a PowerPoint presentation together. In addition to the great information Aaron and Amber provide, I’ve written some thoughts on design that might give some more suggestions and I encourage you to post your ideas in the comments!

Oh, and don’t forget to vote today (and be sure and double check that ballot, just in case!)

By David Gnojek | November 4th, 2008 | View Comments

Online resources for free images

Just a quick addition to Aaron’s article on Creative Commons images. There are a couple of other great resources for finding free images online that I wanted to share. The first website is called Morguefile.com and, despite the morbid sounding name, it is a fantastic depository for high resolution images that are free for the taking.

Another good place to look for images is the U.S. government. Most of their material is in the public domain, and so you can often find photo libraries on governmental websites. For example, NASA has a large gallery of images online and there is also a big collection at the USDA Forest Service. The US National Library of Medicine also has an interesting collection of older medical images and those are just a few of many public collections available online. Because of copyright laws, anything created before about 1920 is entered into the public domain, so older images are often free to use. Check out www.fromoldbooks.org as a resource for older images.

This entry would be incomplete if I didn’t mention copyright briefly. When looking online for images, it is extremely easy (and tempting) to run a quick Google Image search and grab anything that looks useful. For children doing schoolwork or for quick small-group presentations, this is probably fine, but it is really a good practice to use ONLY images that you have permission to use. As a victim of online image theft myself, I can say firsthand that it is frustrating as an artist to put the time and energy into creating something, only to have it stolen by someone for free! It is usually clear whether an image is copyright free or not, so a little investigation is all that is needed.

Aaron has done a great job of gathering some very useful online resources together and I will continue to add things here and there and I find them. There is a wealth of free material online, just waiting to be used to make your next presentation pop!

By David Gnojek | June 3rd, 2008 | View Comments

Playing videos and DVDs

I recently ran into the problem of having people not be able to play a DVD that I had burnt for them. They were using it on their computers and it seemed to be isolated to the PC users and I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what was causing the problems. However, I think I now have a solution!

PROBLEM:
It is my understanding that when a computer company installs a DVD player in their machine, they package a player and set of video encoders/drivers with that machine. This is why the DVD seems to play on some machines and not on others. Different manufacturers use different software to interact with their DVD player and it’s not consistent across the board. Mac computers seem to have this pretty well covered and are able to process a wide range of media with no problems. Also, since it’s one company, they have standard hardware/software installations. If you’re on a PC, it’s kind of hit and miss. The standard Windows Media Player requires that you have a plugin to handle certain burnt DVDs and I believe it costs a small sum to purchase. Or it could be just a problem with older versions of the software, I’m not sure.

So what can you do about this?

SOLUTION:
A very helpful IT person at my office recommended a free, open-source program called VLC Media Player. You can download it at: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

This program is supposed to be very versatile at playing any number of video formats including DVDs which is great since video is becoming increasingly popular. Although I have not used it on a PC, the MAC version seems to work great and some internet searches reveal it to be a legitimate and popular solution. There are versions for all different types of operating systems, so all of you Linux users out there can enjoy this as well!

If you try this with (or without) any success, please leave a comment and let me know how it works!

By David Gnojek | May 7th, 2008 | View Comments

To serif or not to serif

“Most people think typography is about fonts.

Most designers think typography is about fonts.

Typ
ogra
phy is more than that, it’s expressing language through type.

Placement, composition, typechoice.”

-Mark Boulton

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By David Gnojek | April 29th, 2008 | View Comments

Thoughts on Color

Every now and then, I’m sent a Powerpoint presentation or poster or document and am asked to “clean it up” a bit. One of the things I often end up changing is the color that is used in the document. Color is tricky to deal with because it is hard to know where to start and how to choose colors that are effective. Color is so complex, in fact, that I was actually required to take an entire course on color theory in school!

My goal here is to try and give some basic pointers on color and how to use it to your advantage to help with your communications and not to turn people away from what you’re trying to say. I will use a Powerpoint slide to demonstrate, but I think these ideas will translate to everything from a presentation cover to a website to an invitation and even to photography.

In terms of visual communications and design, color serves a few different purposes. The first is purely aesthetic; it makes things look attractive.

The second good use of color is to establish a sense of hierarchy and to make certain elements stand out that are important.

A third use of color is to evoke meaning and emotion. What do you think of when you see the colors red and green? Maybe Christmas? What about something that is dark and neutral colors? It might be sad or sinister. Most colors have associated symbolism that is globally accepted, for example, blue is seen as calming or peaceful and red is energetic or angry. This is something to keep in mind when you’re setting up the color on a document.

By David Gnojek | April 24th, 2008 | View Comments

What’s your type?

For many people, knowing when to use a certain type of graphic or image file is a confusing matter. Most of us have heard of “JPEG files” and maybe the “GIF format”, but what about EPS and TIFF? When is it appropriate to use certain file types and not others? This is a brief guide explaining what each kind of file is and when it is appropriate to use it.

When people refer to a “file type” they are most often talking about the letters which come after the period in the name of a file. This is also known as a file extension. For example “filename.doc” has a “.doc” file extension which is most commonly associated with the Microsoft Word program. Most common file types for graphics and photos are .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif, and .eps.

JPEG files (Joint Photographic Experts Group) are most commonly seen with a file extension .jpg or .jpeg. Both refer to the JPEG (pronounced Jay-Peg) format. This is a compressed format that is best used for on-screen application, such as in PowerPoint documents and on the Internet. Its purpose is to provide a high quality image with a small file size. On the web, JPEG files have been formatted to 72dpi which means there are 72 dots-per-inch, which refers to the resolution. This resolution may be acceptable for printing documents for personal use, but is not high enough quality to use for professional printing such as on business cards, brochures, books, and any other printing for circulation.

Best used for: On-Screen PowerPoint presentations, web sites, emails, and other situations where a small file is needed.
Not ideal for: High quality printing projects like brochures, business cards, book covers, etc. unless you can verify that it is a high resolution image (200+dpi). In that case, JPGs are acceptable for print use.

GIF files (Graphics Interchange Format) are seen with a file extension .gif. The GIF format was created exclusively for use on the web and is known for its ability to animate and also retain transparency. GIF files are limited to 256 colors and are best used for graphics with a small number of colors such as a logo. They do not reproduce photos well, unlike the JPG format which handles far more colors.

Best used for: Web sites, emails, and other situations where a small file is needed with limited colors.
Not ever used for: High quality printing projects like brochures, business cards, book covers, or any printed materials using CMYK color.

PNG files (Portable Network Graphics) are seen with a file extension .png. This format has been recently created as an alternative to the GIF format. Although it does not allow for animation, it handles a wider range of transparencies and colors, often with far better compression. It is becoming widely supported in most every modern web browser.

Best used for: Web sites, emails, and other situations where a file is needed with transparency, large number of colors and a small file size.
Not ever used for: High quality printing projects like brochures, business cards, book covers, or any printed materials using CMYK color.

TIFF files (Tagged Image File Format) use the extension .tif or .tiff and is pronounced TIFF. TIFF is an uncompressed format that is suitable for high quality printing and is the most universal and widely supported format across all platforms (Mac, Windows, Unix, etc.). The only drawback is that the file sizes are much larger than JPEG files. For example, TIFF files have a resolution of 300 dpi which is more than enough resolution for most printing needs, but can be rather large (1MB+).

Best used for: High quality printing of brochures, business cards, book covers, published articles and other print materials.
Not ideal for: Web sites, PowerPoint presentations, files that need to be emailed

EPS files (Encapsulated PostScript) use the extension .eps and is pronounced as an acronym (E.P.S.). This format is unique in that it is a PostScript file that is resolution independent. Since it is based on vector points and not pixels, it can be scaled to any size with out any loss of quality. This makes the EPS format one of the most versatile formats for graphic designers and desktop publishers to use. It is commonly used with graphic programs like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and other vector-based programs.

Best used for: High quality printing of brochures, business cards, book covers, published articles and other print materials.
Not ideal for: Web sites, PowerPoint presentations, Word Documents

By David Gnojek | April 23rd, 2008 | View Comments

Creating a PDF file

One of the easiest ways to transfer documents from person to person or from your desktop to a printer is through the use of PDF files. From Adobe, the creator of the PDF format:

“Invented by Adobe Systems and perfected over 15 years, Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) lets you capture and view robust information—from any application, on any computer system—and share it with anyone around the world. Individuals, businesses, and government agencies everywhere trust and rely on Adobe® PDF to communicate their ideas and vision.”

There are many benefits to using this type of file. PDFs are multi-platform which means that they’re viewable on Mac, PC, UNIX, mobile and many other formats. This is really handy if you use a Mac and need to send a file to a PC user! Another key benefit is that they maintain the document’s integrity. All of the fonts, images, and graphics will remain exactly how you created them, regardless of what application you used to make the file. This has been a huge benefit to the printing community because you can submit a file without worrying about font problems or embedded images. PDF files are also searchable and can even be made secure, requiring a password to view them. One thing to be aware of is that the contents (text, etc.) of a PDF cannot be edited once it is made, so you cannot send a rough draft as a PDF file and have others edit it and send it back.

Another great benefit of PDF files is that they can be compressed easily to make a large file more manageable. For example, say that you have a Powerpoint presentation that has a number of photos that you’ve taken. Files like this can often be 10+MB large and this is often large enough to shut down some email boxes! By saving to a PDF file, you can shrink the file down to 1-2MB which is a much more reasonable size.

How to make a PDF file:

This process is slightly different between Mac and PC computers. I am definitely more familiar with the Mac platform, so I encourage the PC users out there to post suggestions in the comments below!

On a Mac, PDF creation is built into the operating system. If you are in Microsoft Word or Powerpoint, go to the File menu and select “print”. In the print dialogue box, there is a button that says PDF. Click on it, select “save to PDF” and you’ll be asked to give the file a name. Type in whatever you want to call it and press “save” and you’re all done! Apple has also included a great PDF application call Preview in with the operating system that allows you to read these files.

creating a PDF on a Mac

On a PC, there isn’t a native way to create a PDF file straight out of Word or Powerpoint. The best way to allow easy PDF creation on a PC is to purchase Adobe Acrobat Professional. It can be a bit pricey, but it will give you all of the features that you could ever want.

There is also a program that has come highly recommended to me called CutePDF Writer. This will allow you to set up a PDF printer on your machine and print PDF files out of most print applications. If you have any experience with this, be sure and share your thoughts in the comments below!

So, that’s a brief overview of PDF files. Here at the Center for Research on Learning, we post almost all of our document online as PDF files to make them available for people to download. Even if you’re not planning on ever creating a PDF file, it is easy to read them from any machine. Adobe has provided a FREE PDF reader called Adobe Acrobat Reader and it is available for download at their website www.adobe.com.

By David Gnojek | April 15th, 2008 | View Comments

A Word About Printers: Part 2

When taking a file to be printed (at either type of printer), you might find yourself trying to understand a different language when asked about what kind of options or “specs” that you’d like. To make the process easier for you and the printer and to help reduce costly mistakes, I’ve listed a few things below that you need to know before taking a job to a printer.
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By David Gnojek | April 11th, 2008 | View Comments

A Word About Printers: Part 1

Hello! This is Dave Gnojek and I’m the Graphic Designer for the KU Center for Research on Learning. I’ve been talking with Aaron Sumner for a while about getting together so that I can share some of my thoughts on design and how it fits into the work we do here at the CRL. The Stratepedia blog seemed like the perfect venue for this and so, from time to time, I’ll be posting about things related to design that everyone can benefit from! For this post, I’d like to start discussing printing and how to understand some of the issues that might arise when you contact a printer.
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By David Gnojek | April 9th, 2008 | View Comments
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