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Tracey Grady Design

Web design Hobart, Graphic design Hobart, Web design Tasmania, Graphic design Tasmania, branding, logo design, illustration, marketing

What is the cost of compromising on good design?Today

Image by tanakawho

Let’s face it, there are times when designers and their clients don’t see eye to eye over a project. When all else fails a designer may comply with client requests which are at odds with their own professional judgment, simply to make the client happy. But is this an ideal solution in the long run?

Collaboration can be a good thing

Some clients will have firm ideas on a design feature they want included in a project: anything from a particular colour to a complex layout. This can lead the way to a collaborative process between designer and client: a positive and constructive exchange of ideas.

However, most designers have also experienced requests for work which don’t represent good design practice. Common examples include changing the size of text or other elements of the design; filling up all of the white space; unattractive colour combinations; and copying other designs. It’s important to talk to the client about their request and provide some guidance about what will and won’t work for their design project.

What if the client disagrees?

If a disagreement brews, it can be very tempting to accede to what

Steps to choosing a successful colour schemeNovember 25

Image by woodleywonderworks

Choosing the right colour scheme takes a combination of research, design know-how and inspiration. Whether you’re creating a website or a print publication with lots of white space, your choice of colours is an critical element to the overall design. It’s important to do this early in a design project, in order not to waste time later by altering colours. In this post I’m providing a guide to the questions I address when selecting a colour pallette to work with.

Are there specific colours required for the client?

It’s common for clients to have a pre-existing logo which must be incorporated into a new design project. The logo’s original colour must be adhered to. Clients may also have specific colours due to industrial or safety requirements. They may even need certain colours in a design because of a type of product they sell e.g. oranges.

Can the nature of the design job be a guide on colour choices?

Is the design screen-based or print-based? If print, will the output be in 4 colour, 2 colour or 1 colour? What type of paper do you intend to use? What content will you be incorporating: text, illustrations, photography, diagrams, maps, patterns? What is t

Fundamentals of good design: Colour schemesNovember 19

The importance of colour in design can never be overstated. Colour choices influence mood, emotion and tone; a carefully chosen colour scheme can clearly express a specific design style.

When I begin work on a new design project, I usually work at length on creating a good colour scheme. I will be going into more detail on this side of colour selection in my next post. To begin with, I have collected several examples of interesting colour schemes online for inspiration.

Dan Trachtenberg

We Heart Stuff

Jeff Croft

Charles and Marie

Emily Forgot

Fresh ideas for creating seamless websitesNovember 3

When I wrote about seamless websites it was done with the intention to showcase designs which I thought were cleverly bridging the gap between designing for small and large resolution computer screens. It proved to be a very popular topic, one of the most popular to date on this blog.

I’m revisiting the subject now because of the launch of a new site design which stylishly demonstrates the seamless principle. Duoh is the design business run by Veerle Pieters and Geerte Leyseele.

The new Duoh site has been designed to be easily readable on a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels (which was how I first viewed it). The image above was captured at this screen size.

However, for larger screens the site takes on an entirely different feel.

Veerle has written a great post over at her blog about the creation of this design, including the id

How to adapt during an economic downturnOctober 28

Image by Foxtongue

We live in interesting times. The worldwide financial downturns have led to a great deal of uncertainty for small business owners and independent contractors (freelancers), including designers. On the plus side, small operators are in a better position than their larger counterparts to adapt to changes in business conditions, even drastic ones.

In recent months there has been a wealth of advice and discussion on how to weather the economic storms, chiefly by working smarter and keeping abreast of new opportunities which may emerge as businesses tighten their belts and seek to outsource work instead of hiring new staff. Reassurances like this are very encouraging, and I am now adding my ideas on what to consider in adapting your business to the current climate.

Seek clients locally

If you have been marketing your services online, there’s a good chance you have considered (or may already be engaged in) doing business with clients in other countries. Depending on where you live, you may now be experiencing a major shift in the amount of money you can expect for your services, because of currency fluctuations. Step up your marketing to prospective clients at home, and you can