I had a few free hours this weekend and thought I would look up a few websites. It was so interesting to see the different approaches of photographers, not only to their photography, but their websites as well. It got me thinking about design and how much I love great design and how my emotions are touched by it. It is such a monumental part of my life now; design projects are where I get inspired and have so much freedom and fulfillment when I can pull off something that looks enticing and gives great joy.

Recently, while designing several e-zines for the studio to use as informational pieces and as our newsletter, I realized a few things about design. These were principles I knew, but they were reinforced by having to structure an entire magazine, so I thought I would share them with you.

First of all, I realized every design piece must be simple, easy to read and quick to grasp. That is the “utility” part of designing. Everything must function correctly, grammar must be right, text must be laid on the page where it is easy on the eyes and the message must be clear and easy to understand. I made sure that for every text-heavy page, it was followed by a design page with a quote and image with a lot of negative space around it. I was giving the eyes a place to rest and take a breath, so to speak! I thought of these pages like an oasis in the desert.

Second, I knew I needed to make these e-zines so compelling that the reader couldn’t stop looking at it. This is where two things combine for me; beauty and emotion. By the use of unique fonts, colors and images along with creative page layouts, I knew I could make the publication beautiful. Emotion came in the stories and quotes and it really added to the mix to create pieces that were easy to read and also delightful. Don Norman, an author and engineering professor said, “Aesthetics matter. Attractive things work better.”

Daniel Pink, the author of “A Whole New Mind” says this, “Good design, now more accessible and affordable than ever, also offers us a chance to bring pleasure, meaning and beauty to our lives. But most important, cultivating a design sensibility can make our small planet a better place for us all.” I love that thought of bringing pleasure, meaning and beauty in what I can sit down and design in Photoshop and it is now so much easier that 10-15 years ago when we had to take everything to InstyPrint to have done. We have come a long way!

I am including the Walden newsletter and the Walden e-brochure here to help you grasp the concepts of utility, emotion and beauty. Enjoy!

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I thought I’d give you some tips and also some links today for design magazines and sources that give me inspiration when I sit down to design a project. First of all, I think it’s important to figure out when you feel the most creative during the day. For me, it is in the morning until lunch time. After that, I  feel my creative edge wears down.  If it is a project that is simple, I work on it later in the day, but if it is a cornerstone project, I work in the morning for the best results.

Secondly, many times, the first design is often not the best you can do. I will go back a few hours or days later and review my project and often, I make changes that greatly improve it. So, don’t despise doing something twice!

I do my best work when I have a “vision” for what I am designing. The stronger the vision, the faster and easier it is for me to be creative and come up with a great look. Tim is good at laying out the “vision” which is the big picture so to speak. When he turns to me and says, “Make it happen!” I can run with it if it is well defined. So, I think the next point is to have clarity of vision. This also applies if you are hiring a designer-he or she must understand what your vision is for your business in order to produce the correct style for you, so be good at sharing that.

Finally, just as a photographer gets better with practice, so does a graphic designer. I find myself growing every time I work on a project and it is exciting to see the progress.

OK, now for some sources of inspiration for you. The first one is absolutely FREE and is a catalog from J.Peterman, an incredible marketer.  Some of you may remember him as the man Elaine worked for on Seinfeld. Anyway, his catalog is an entire lesson on emotional marketing, storytelling and great design. Get on his mailing list today and…ok, buy a few things! They are also incredible!

The other two magazines I subscribe to and enjoy are for Graphic Design professionals, but we can take a peek at what they are up to, can’t we?  One is called HOW and I have gotten so many great ideas from it. Even the paper it is printed on is wonderful.  The second one is a sister magazine and is called I.D. and profiles the products and graphics being designed today by the world’s top designers. Both should be named WOW-ha ha!

And…finally, for the first ten of you who write a response to this blog, I will send you my special teaching “7 Thoughts on Design” absolutely FREE! We will track who you are behind the scenes. The only way to get this particular teaching is to do our Coaching Community program. It is part of our Knowledge Base. So, get those fingers flying and have a great week!

Bev

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There is no quicker way to the heart than beautiful photography mixed with either soulful music or heartfelt quotes.  In fact, collecting quotes has become an addiction for myself and my oldest daughter.  We sometimes go to the local bookstore and read cards with quotes we love for hours.  We are simply lost in those words. Personally, they mean so much to me, often describing an emotion or feeling that I would not be able to put into words.

I have found quotes to be very useful in creating emotion in many of my projects I design for our clients.  From cards to books and crib presentations (see above) to many of our marketing pieces, quotes add the emotional punch we love, especially with our “Relationship” photography, which is emotional in itself.

As I find quotes I love, I often go ahead and create word art with them, making them beautiful to use as it adds a design element to the pieces. There are many ways to create word art, but my favorite way, which is pretty easy, is to use a standard font like Arial or Times New Roman for most of the wording. Then I take one or two of the main words and use a beautiful script like Chopin Script or a font called Cezanne from P22 Fonts (www.p22.com). Then I look at the entire quote and arrange the words into a graceful design.  Easy, huh? If you find it daunting and want a few of mine, just contact us through our website and I will send you a link to them.

Many times people ask where I get quotes.  There are so many places, but my first resource is the internet.  I simply type in the words “quotes poems sayings” and then add the subject matter “child family love dads moms” etc.  If you simply type in “quotes children”, you will get insurance quotes!  Be sure to add sayings or poems. My daughter gave me a great internet source (www.quotablecards.com) which are the neat cards you see in bookstores that are done in black and white and are usually square. Another internet source which has great quotes is www.quotegarden.com.  They offer quotes by topics. If you do use a quote, ALWAYS give the credit to the author of the quote if there is one.

The other place I get quotes is from writing them myself.  I tend to write longer ones which are really short stories.  They work well on my templates for the Crib Presentations which are beautiful bedroom art for kids using Wild Sorbet frames as well as our Studio B Families and Children division which sells a similar presentation for color imagery (see above).  These templates are available for purchase at www.timandbevwalden.com under Wall Art Templates and the frames are available at www.wildsorbet.com(see link at right).

So, get busy and start your own collection of quotes for all different occasions and let the emotion of these wonderful sentiments work wonders with your beautiful photographs!

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