Graphic Design Books

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I just discovered two amazing books at this years D-PES sign expo in Guangzhou, China.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met with clients to discuss brochure design and they struggle to describe what style of layout they’re looking for. Well search no more! I bought a copy of the “Top World Design 300”, which is a 328 page collection of thousands of inspiring layouts your clients can go through.

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IMG_0955Not only is this book inspiring to your clients, but it has so many ideas for when your own brain dies from mental exhaustion. It also comes with a 16 DVD collection of every inspirational design in AI, EPS and PSD.

The book doesn’t come cheap, however the $498 USD price tag will be well made up over the next 12 months not second guessing what your client is after.

Equally as amazing is another book I discovered, called “World Brand Logo Design 2”. It’s a 324 page book, with 5168 logos from across the globe in it. There’s sure to be 10 designs your clients will like and give you a clear idea on what to design them.

Design Books

Vector versus Raster Images

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The sign industry has evolved over the past 10 years with the introduction of digital printers. These days you can have logos with blends, beveled edges, photos, just about any kind of image printed and used for the purpose of signs.

Most digital printers are capable of printing 1440 x 1440 dpi (dots per inch) which is superior quality. However, if you try printing a low resolution GIF or JPG, the image will more than likely print poorly. Why you ask? These files are what we class as RASTER IMAGES which are made up of pixels (dots).

Sadly when you try and enlarge a raster file, you’re simply enlarging the pixels which become blurry, and eventually, hard to make out what you’re really looking at.

Sample 1 – This is a great quality photo taken at high resolution.

Sample 2 – Enlarge the photo beyond the original size and you’ll start to notice blurring and worsening pixel size.

Sample 3 – This shows how the pixels begin to blur to an unbearable level.

How do you avoid pixelation?

  1. Start with a high resolution photo / image in the first place.
  2. You can always reduce a large file without effecting the pixels, but avoid doing the reverse.

Let’s have a look at VECTOR IMAGES.

Vector files are virtually lines as illustrated in this image.

Sadly vector artwork can’t be used all the time, but it’s ideal for text, shapes, cartoon images, clipart etc. Vector files can be enlarged or shrunk in size without effecting the quality of the image. They do not use pixels.

You can see, it doesn’t matter how close we zoom in on the file, you won’t see pixels.

Vector files can only be created using specialised programs including Adobe Illustrator, Signlab, Corel Draw and numerous other equally good programs. They’re generally programs only associated with business or industry who rely on high quality files.

Here’s some tips to consider before heading to your printer or signwriter.

  • Ensure you use high resolution images for any signage or printing.
  • Ask for the advice of your graphic designer as to whether the file will print clearly and if they say ‘no’, get a photo that will. It will be worth the effort.

 

Signage Quality – How Can You Tell If It Will Last?

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Signage is a must have for any business, but one of the biggest challenges for any business owner is “Am I getting value for money”?

For the majority of signwriters, they’re professional in their field and should be trusted to provide a product that will suit your requirements, but when customers insist on meeting a price point or budget, this can sometimes put the squeeze on quality.

Better quality materials will always cost more, and for good reason. There’s 3 main classes of self adhesive vinyls industry providers can choose from.

  • Monomeric – Short term vinyl ideal for promotional use. Average 1 – 2 years.
  • Polymeric – Average 3 – 5 years life span. Ideal for most outdoor applications.
  • Supercast – Average 5 to 9 years life span. Ideal for vehicle wraps.

What most people don’t realise is, the thinner the vinyl sticker, the better the quality. Thin vinyls have better conformability when used on curved edges. When you run your hand over them, they feel edgeless and this prevents the vinyl from lifting or getting caught on sponges when being washed.

Polymeric and Supercast vinyls last longer in our harsh Australian environment. We suffer some of the harshest UV conditions in the world and our climate differs greatly to the countries the materials were created and tested in. They also offer colour fastness in a broader range of PMS shades.

Applying vinyl stickers to new surfaces also increases the life of your signage. Signwriting over an existing sign will often result in poor longevity. It’s often cheaper to provide a new backing board than it is to clean up the old one.

On the subject of longevity , it is imperative to over laminate digital prints for colour fastness and scratch resistance. I would sooner not win a job than let a customer accept a sign without either clear over laminate or liquid laminate. I don’t want customers coming back to me in 6 months saying their signs fading. The only time it’s ok not to have a laminate is when it’s for short term, promotional use.

Armed with the facts, I’d encourage you to ask the right questions of your signwriter and understand what you’re really getting.

Car Signage – How Effective Is It?

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I was once asked by a real estate salesman to give him a quote on sign writing his car. I came back with a price for just over $1000 which included a part vehicle wrap, artwork and application. It was a fair price given he was also in my BNI (Business Networking International) group.

Immediately he said “no way, that’s too much, I can’t justify that sort of money for some stickers on a car”, so I asked him a couple of questions.

Q1. How many houses would you need to sell to get your money back on the cost of sign writing your car?

Answer: He said 1 house sale would pay for itself 5 times over.

Q2. How much do you pay for the billboard on the main road of town?

Answer: He said just over $6,000 a month

By this stage I could see the light come on inside his mind. I’d justified that if just one person called after seeing his car signage to sell or buy a house from him, it would more than pay for the cost of the signage.

He agreed to go ahead with the signs and within a week, we’d signed off on the artwork and booked the car in.

He returned by the end of the day to collect the vehicle and drove off happy. Within 20 minutes of him leaving the store, one of my staff paged me, saying the same client was on the phone and wanting to talk to me. Naturally I thought something was wrong, but instead he was calling to tell me how amazed he was with the response he’d just had because of the signage.

He had pulled up at a service station straight after leaving the office to buy fuel. While he was standing there filling up, another guy who was doing the same thing struck up a conversation. He said his car signage reminded him that his wife wanted to get a real estate agent around to value their property and he hadn’t done anything about finding someone. The guy asked if he would head over and take a look at the house and give them an appraisal before listing it with him.

The real estate agent was thrilled that in such a short time, his signage was already working for him. That client became one of my biggest ‘word of mouth’ signage advocates. It wasn’t long before we’d done 7 other agents cars from that same office.

Providing you don’t drive like a maniac, car signage is priceless for any business! Why bother spending countless dollars on roadside billboards when you have a good looking car, that acts as a mobile billboard.

Vehicle signage starts from as little as $300 and regardless of what people say – signage stickers don’t ruin your paint work. Of all things, they preserve the paint underneath like sunscreen!

If you are looking to get signs put on your car, here’s a couple of questions you should ask your sign writer.

  1. I only want a quote for POLYMERIC VINYL – It’s a long lasting vinyl (approx 5 – 7 years) that is easily removed before resale.
  2. What brand vinyls (sticker material) do you use? The better brands of vinyl include Avery and 3M. They’re trusted brands that have been used in the signage industry for a substantial period of time.
  3. Do you offer a guarantee on your work? Most quality sign writers will offer a guarantee on their workmanship, but all 3M and Avery products have a warranty which is normally 3 years.

If you’re ever concerned about the workmanship of a sign writer, ask for some of his most recent clients who’ve had their cars sign written and call them to see if they’re happy with the job.

Overall, signwriting your vehicle is a great way of cheaply and effectively promoting your business (unless you don’t want any more customers).

Good luck in your ventures and feel free to contact us anytime for a quote to sign write any size car, bus, boat or plane.