So we are back again. Let’s start the new year with a tutorial shall we? Today we will talk about swirls, you know those popular lines that are often used in designs. We are gonna use illustrator for this one so lets get started.
Making swirls
The first thing we need to do is create a triangle with the pen tool, there are a couple of ways of doing that. The simplest (I think) is using the star tool and setting the points to 3.
When you have your triangle set up you need rotate it and stretch it till it looks like this :
Now the next thing you want to do is select the triangle and go to brushes and create a new brush.When prompted choose New art brush.
Now on the next screen set the direction up and give it a name
Now when you click next, you have created an illustrator brush that can very simply be used to create swirls. All you now have to do is draw some lines with the pen tool, make sure they have no fill and apply the brush to the line. Have fun with it.
Lets talk about making posters today.
If you walk around you will notice a lot of posters, some will catch your eyes and some won’t. Now what makes those certain posters better then the other? What makes a good poster good? Is there a guide to follow? Well no, but there are some basic guides that can help you on your way. Now as always, you don’t have to follow these guides strictly. There are always people who get away with not completely following these, but that’s probably because there product stands out on itself. But even then, it’s better to have a sense of security.
What is important
- A clear message
- What is the audience
- Is there enough space
- Have a theme
- Is it catchy
A clear message
This one is probably the most important. The sole reason you make promotion is to get your message trough so why hide it away? You see allot of real cool arty posters but it will may take a while to really get what they are saying. So make sure you sent out a clear message; what is it, where can I get it, how much does it cost ? Also please be careful with the fonts you use, what is wrong with arial or helvetica?
What is the audience
This may sound very logical, but I’ve seen so many mistakes here. An electro promotion does not suite a drum ‘n bass campaign, you don’t make a death metal theme for a rock show. The real key here is research, know what you are making and for who you are making it. This can mean the difference between a cool campaign and a lame one.
Is there enough space
Margins, use them. Nothing looks as cheap as a design that has too much text on it. If you really need a lot of text on a design, make it smaller.
Have a theme
With that I mean: colors, referral, logo’s. let your imagination go wild here. What always works (and is almost never used) is humor. Just be sure it is really funny The cheapest trick you can pull is having an almost nude woman as theme. Come on, you are not fooling anyone. That is not a theme and the only thing that will come to your event are 14 year old boys.
Is it catchy
This one is almost the same as the theme. The main difference is here: where a theme is more graphical, this is more about slogans and titles. The only problem about this one is that you are not always at the liberty to change the text for the design.
Result
Like I said before; you don’t really need to follow these guides. The most important part of making a good posters is having a good idea. Also when you have finished it, let it rest for a day and i bet you will come up with some changes.
Today I’m gonna tell you about different types of black in print design.
Have you ever noticed how a printed black is not always as black as you wanted it to be ? Well that’s because there is a difference between the black you see on your screen and the black you print.
Let me introduce you to Rich black. Rich black is the normal black (like in cmyk) but with an added color, the result is a deeper black.
Let me show you :
Now let me explain a little bit about these, the first black (100%K) is the most used and softest. The next one is called warm black (100%K 100%M) when you use this one it probably for a design that sends out comfort or luxury. The top right is called cold black (100%K 100%C) it’s the opposite of warm black and is best used for designs that promote cleanness or high class style items. The next one is also the less used (100%K 100%Y) and is general seen as ugly so it’s best to avoid this one.
Now the next 2 are the most interesting, The blackest (100%K 100%M 100%C 100%Y) is called true rich black and is unprintable because it will drown your paper and will ruin your prints (even on a laser printer!). Now the last one is called rich black and is the best one for the job if you just want a good deep black, the rule of the thumb here is to not cross the line off 250%.
You can fiddle about with the mixtures of the inks and get very interesting results