Embossing/Debossing – Inspiration #14

Embossing and dembossing are similar processes that create a different result. Both processes involve making a metal plate and a counter. The plate is mounted on a press and the paper is stamped between the plate and counter. This force of pressure pushes the stock into the plate, creating the impression.

Embossing produces a raised impression on your paper stock, while debossingcreates a depressed impression.

Creativity shouldn’t be measured by the learning of new technical skills. Being creative implies being able to express your original idea even drawing on a serviette. It’s not only the old school way. Being a proficient and creative designer is not based on systems but on the capacity to express coherent ideas to a desired target. What goes in realworld graphics goes well in web graphics too. Best example is what Embossing. As we see a trend in web graphics there are websites and mobile apps using debossed graphics extensively, As a graphics designer it is important to consider what kind of adjustments to be made to take print graphics to web graphics.

Flat Design and Skeuomorphism – Inspiration #13

In simple terms, flat design is a more versatile and sophisticated form of minimalism. Though you can make flat design look great even under minimalist constraints, these designs can also be much more complex with a clarity and crispness that is only possible once the 3D effects have been removed. Generally speaking, flat design is useful for making user interfaces easier to navigate, ensuring websites are faster and more functional – it is also seen as a starting point for the streamlining of designs.

What makes Flat design attractive:

• Reduces Clutter: As we are constantly creating, evaluating and filtering content and since the public has an insatiable appetite for new information, we are in danger of being the victims of information overload. This problem is exacerbated by the decreasing size of the screens we use. Flat design helps to reduce the clutter on the user interface thus making information easier to digest.
• Simplicity: We are seeing an increase in the number of apps and services online that offer basic features in a reversal of the usual trend, which involves lots of choices for high prices. Now customers can enjoy simple interfaces, fewer apps and a lower price.
• Content Focus: When new devices arrive on the market, we initially want to see how they improve interactivity but the focus always returns to the quality of content. As most Internet users consume content via video, text or audio, they want the interface to move aside and flat design allows this.
• Responsive Design: The increase in connected devices of different dimensions means that user interfaces have needed to become more fluid and the responsive design movement has come up trumps. It seems as if using flat design in user interfaces provides the best responsive design results. Another bonus is the reduction in the size of pages and subsequent reduced loading time.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_UI_Design

Power of design wire-frames – Inspiration #12

User centred design takes the main stage when it comes to creating responsive experiences, your users need to be able use your site with minimal extraneous thinking.  Responsive websites do away with frivolous design as your users goals become a priority. Mobile and tablet sites are touch driven, simple UX principles such as removing hover menus and increasing the size of buttons can make a site a lot easier to use.  This is a simplification of mobile design ideals but having a site that adapts to its environment is more than making it just stretch to a breaking point, it has to take into consideration the where, why and how it’s being used. Before a site construction even begins, its architecture and design should be planned out. Having a solid visual frame work that dictates all the different break points a site responds to can be useful. This can also be over kill and many designers prefer to outline a working style that can be adapted as the site is designed inside the browser

Motion Graphics – Inspiration #11

Motion graphics is a great way to convey and tell a story using moving images and various techniques like animation, CGI and cinematography. We’ve put together a new collection of some wonderful examples and pieces from some of you amazing mographers out there.

 Motion design is something I really want to learn. There is nothing I love more than seeing crazy cool animations, specifically because static image animations have sound and timing, which makes an incredible difference. One of my favorite types of animation are those that play with typography “The Sugary Death Machine” motion graphics. We hope you get a kick out of this visually entertaining post.

Computer generated Imagery – Inspiration #10

 

3D renders really impress me. It’s incredible how some designers recreate things from real life on a computer, creating what we may call simulated pictures. Sometimes, we can’t even tell whether an image is real or a computer graphic, and that’s freaking amazing.

I came across this amazing realistic 3D Computer Graphics that impressed me a lot for its rendering and textures, which turned this computer generated images into real pictures of another world. It involves a great deal of precision and effort to generate a simple computer graphics that looks like a real world object. Developing a human face on computer is a extremely difficult task and the technology enables us to do that is simply amazing.

– See more at: http://abduzeedo.com/amazing-realistic-3d-computer-graphics#sthash.cBimZBlf.dpuf

 

Source : http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1y0oRv/abduzeedo.com/amazing-realistic-3d-computer-graphics/

New approach to graphics for mobile apps – Inspiration 9

 

Users demand their commerce apps be easy to use, fast, and beautiful. When you build mobile apps like that, your users spend more time in-app, share more, and have lower bounce rates, larger average cart sizes, and more frequent transaction. Graphics are key to the user experience of online content, especially now that users are accessing that content on a multitude of devices: smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. This stratup  proposes  foundational methodology for optimal use of graphics that begins with HTML and CSS, and delves into the worlds of typography, color, transparency, accessibility, imagery, and layout for optimal delivery on all the different devices people use today.

With limited real estate available on mobile screens one of the main challenge is designing appealing graphics for small screens. The inspiring approach adopted by the startup fueled is scrollable graphics. as swipe gesture is used to scroll down the page, extending the graphics multiple pages and let the user explore the hidden graphics. Another interesting tactic used is providing a shortcut to the larger content/graphics and showing a glimpse of it may look like if clicked.

Source : http://fueled.com/about/

 

 

Graphics Trend – Inspiration #8

Web design deals with the area of designing a good website and in the long run updating and maintaining. With the internet boom, every company wants to have an online footprint and a website is the best way to showcase one’s skills and business and kindle the curiosity of potential customers.
The layout of a website depends on its functionality and use and hence what applies to one industry cannot be generalized to others. But the trend in graphics design especially in the web and mobile world is the 2d vector style graphics. Keeping up with the trends in graphics design is crucial for a graphics design.

Food art – Inspiration #7

When food stylist Anna Keville Joyce’s pet bird died, she mourned for its loss in a tangible way. She utilized her professional creative skills to aid in the healing process, and the results are beautiful. A Tribute to Budgie is a series of elegant birds comprised of food and arranged on plates. Joyce came up with the images and crafted the illustrations while photographer Agustín Nieto documented the series. We see crushed-up Fruit Loops cereal in the body of a flamingo and carefully-peeled carrots that act as feathers for the other birds. Surrounding each plate are the foods that were manipulated in the production of the series. Seeing the raw materials of these intricate illustrations makes you appreciate Joyce’s handiwork even more. Food art clubbed with graphics can inspire a designer to produce a great piece of  graphics. In an interview with the website First We Feast, Joyce explains that she begins an illustration by gathering references of interesting food details. Afterwards, she creates a sketch and purchases ingredients based on what she thinks will work for a particular piece. Joyce tends to buy more than she uses, because like a painter, she needs a palette with options. From there, she starts with the longest-lasting ingredient and works backwards to the most delicate until she completes the incredible pieces we see here.

Inspiration #6 – Clever Minimal Logo Designs

 

 

 

 

A blog I came across is a compilation of highly clever minimal logo designs. The logos show a concept or an object through figure-ground principle(foreground – background) or symbolic representation of an object. Example: the picture of “Ross Poultry” has a chicken carved in white space inside “O” which looks a very well crafted creative piece. The other interesting design is “Horror Films” logo where single figure represents multiple things; the circle with three dots in it is a film roll as well as “Oh My God” expression. The logo of “Upside down productions” uses placement of serifs to cheat our brain to think like it is upside down. It is a good example showing how our brain associates things and how we look at object as a whole than looking at each part individually.

The learning from this set of great design is a lot can be done with letters and squeezing in an object in between to make a great looking still simple logos. In logo design simplicity matters a lot and it should be clear enough to be comprehended at a  glance. In these examples seamless blend of text with object to showcase a concept is a good technique to observe and learn. After seeing these designs I have more respect for background than before 🙂

Source:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/20YcOt/bluefaqs.com/2010/04/60-highly-clever-minimal-logo-designs/?_nospa=true

Inspiration 5

Tyypography Mania is a weekly post series that comes around once a week with the best of Typography design submitted by our users at typography-mania.com, from type videos to images everything is full of great design and typography inspiration. Submit your typography designs too and be part of this post. This series of hand written typefaces blended with creativity makes it unique in term of graphics design. 

As a graphics designer using the knowledge of design and typography along with creativity can produce a design masterpiece.

 

Source : http://abduzeedo.com/typography-mania-237