September 16th, 2009 § Add a comment
Greetings and welcome to the weblog and online portfolio of Rowan Design, based in Ashland, Oregon. I will be posting anything and everything here, from samples of my work to marketing and design tips. A small sampling of my work is already loaded onto the site. As time goes by, I will be adding additional work, links of interest, and writing articles related to design and marketing.
Enjoy.
September 21st, 2010 § Add a comment
Graphic design is not about making things look good. This may come as a shock, but it is true. It is not about beauty. It is not about design for design’s sake. Graphic design is about clearly presenting a message through visual media. Any design that doesn’t get the message across easily and clearly is bad design.
What is the primary message? This is the first question you should ask when designing. Let’s start with a hypothetical example: a party and silent auction to support a charity. The basic information (what, where, when) will be the same regardless, but how many messages could there be?
Message 1: Party
People will be getting together for fun, networking, and socializing. Depending on the type of party, one of these could be more prominent. Is the party just to attract people to the auction, or is the auction just a small aspect of the party? The party might be held at a well-known venue or hosted by a local celebrity. Any of these could be the message.
Message 2: Silent Auction
People can buy things cheaply. The money goes to support a cause. Are any of the items expensive, well-known, or of intangible value? Is there a theme? Will the money be used locally? Is it for an urgent need, or a general fundraiser?
Message 3: Charity
Are you promoting the charity, or the event? Do people even know what the charity does? Is it local, regional, national, international? Is the message about the charity or about the people/things it supports?
Pick your message carefully and make sure that the design clearly presents it.
September 15th, 2010 § Add a comment
Graphic design is the visual presentation of information. The purpose of any design is to convey information, and it does so through the organization of text, choice and placement of images, and overall look and feel.
Decent design displays the information in such a way that people who bother to look for it can find it easily. Good design displays the information in such a way that people can’t help but notice it. Great design does this as well, but then makes them stop and look for more.
You don’t have to understand design in order to be affected by it. And just because you think it looks good doesn’t mean that it will affect people in the way you want.
If you think your information is important, shouldn’t it be displayed in the best way?
June 9th, 2010 § Comments (1)
Callahan’s Mountain Lodge is a wonderful restaurant/lodge halfway up Mount Ashland in Southern Oregon. They approached me to take over their graphic design recently, and here’s one of the first ads we designed. We kept a lot of the feel of their old ads, but cleaned up the layout, used fewer fonts, and added the AAA triple diamond logo (congratulations!) according to AAA’s guidelines.
Keep an eye out for their Father’s Day Backyard BBQ Buffet ad … and think about heading up their for some of the oak grilled chicken, tri tip, and babyback ribs..
May 20th, 2010 § Comments (1)
Hospice Unique Boutique needed a rack card, but before we could do that, they needed a logo. They already had a sign on their building, so the next step was to use that as a basis for the logo. The finished design had to be something that was both eye-catching and visually related to their sign. Looking at color psychology and visual appeal, we decided to shift the yellow and blue of the sign into yellow and purple, to denote quality and caring. The shape of the sign and the calligraphic letterforms were its other distinguishing characteristics, so a font was chosen that would retain the feel of the calligraphy, and the oval was kept, though slimmed down somewhat. The angled words create an active feel, and the fact that they are both at the same angle and in the same font allows them to be seen as a single visual unit, despite the difference in size.
Hospice Unique Boutique (the HUB), is a non-profit, high quality resale shop supporting end-of-life care in the Rogue Valley. If you haven’t visited it yet, please stop in and support them. You can shop, donate gently used goods, or ask about volunteering.
Hospice Unique Boutique
1618 Ashland Street (map)
Ashland, OR 97520
541-488-7805
May 19th, 2010 § Comments (2)
Southern Oregon Film and Television is a local non-profit trying to bring filmmakers into the area. In the past several years, over $3 million has been spent by film and media in Southern Oregon. They needed a brochure that would both explain their purpose to local businesses and attract filmmakers to the region. For more information, visit www.filmsouthernoregon.org.
March 25th, 2010 § Add a comment
Always check with the post office when designing a custom postcard, envelope, parcel box, or other mailer!
While designing a brochure for a local non-profit here in Ashland, I found myself in a swamp of postal regulations. One panel of the brochure will be perforated so that potential supporters can detatch it and mail it in. Had I not checked the postal regulations, my client would have ended up with 500 unusable brochures.
The US Postal Service has size requirements for all mail, including postcards, detailing not only the minimum width and height, but even the minimum paper thickness. Not only that, but postcard rates only apply between the minimum and maximum size, and to cards that are within specific ratios of width to height.
It can be extremely difficult to find and wade through the information, so here is the link to the USPS size regulations. Even so, if there is any question in your mind, take a sample to the post office and ask them to take a look at it. You don’t want to pay for design and printing only to find out that your cards are unusable for your purpose.
March 9th, 2010 § Comments (1)
Business cards are more than just a Rolodex entry. They are a foot in the door with potential customers. They are your most affordable piece of printed marketing. They are a reflection of your business in the eyes of the customers.
Your business card should be attention grabbing, easy to read, and something that people will want to show off … something that people will pick up several of so they can give some to their friends. A good card gets calls. A great card gets passed around.
These four business card designs were each created for maximum impact within the client’s budget. Although all the cards are art related and the layouts are relatively similar, the differences are astounding. The choices of typeface, color, and graphic elements create a unique personality for each.
Your business card shouldn’t just be a piece of paper with your contact information. It should be a design that makes people stop, look, and remember.
January 27th, 2010 § Add a comment
The hyphen, en-dash, and em-dash are often misused. Here’s a quick tutorial to give that added bit of class to your letters, forms, and flyers.
The Hyphen: Used for compound words, and to indicate that a word continues on the next line. Here’s a real-world example.
The En-Dash: About the length of the letter “n”. Used to indicate a range (distance, duration, scores). 10–20 meters, 1:00–1:30, Sat–Sun, 7–10 in favor of Player One.
The Em-Dash: About the length of the letter “M”. Used to denote a sudden shift in thought, a parenthetical comment, or an afterthought. A parenthetical comment—like this one—should be enclosed in em-dashes. However, an afterthought just has one at the beginning—like this.
A good typeface will already have a little space built in on the sides of these punctuation marks, so there is no need to add space.
January 6th, 2010 § Add a comment
Red Hibiscus will soon be packaging and selling their Kimchi. I’ll have to try it to find out if I like it, but I do like the label I designed for them. The idea is to have a simple label design that can be modified slightly for future products. Red Hibiscus closed for December and January, but I eagerly await their re-opening so I can get one of their fabulous sandwiches.