Imagine that you have before you a bottle of the finest wine, its deep, shimmering crimson inviting you to savor it. You may choose your favorite vintage for this demonstration. Now, you have two vessels before you. One is a solid gold goblet, elaborately wrought with intricate patterns. The other is a crystal-clear glass, as thin as a bubble and completely transparent. Pour and drink, and by your choice of vessel, I will know whether or not you truly appreciate the essence of the wine. If the sensation of drinking from an expensive, ornate goblet appeals to you more than the wine itself, you may not be a true connoisseur. But if you are one of those rare individuals who understands the beauty of the wine, you will choose the crystal glass, designed to showcase and elevate the wine without distraction.

Stay with me through this long-winded metaphor, for nearly all the virtues of the perfect wine glass have their counterparts in graphic design. The long, slender stem of the glass prevents fingerprints from clouding your view of the wine. Why? Because nothing must obscure the vibrant heart of the liquid. Similarly, in design, clear space—margins and white areas—serves to protect the integrity of the visual elements, keeping distractions away. The crystal bowl is colorless or only faintly tinged, because the connoisseur judges wine by its hue and will not tolerate anything that distorts it. In the same way, a design overloaded with effects, colors, or unnecessary embellishments is as offensive as serving wine in a goblet of red or green glass. And just as a fragile-looking glass with a base too small to feel stable makes you nervous about it tipping over, certain design layouts, while functional, can leave users uneasy or confused, making navigation or comprehension more difficult than necessary.

Graphic design requires humility and restraint, qualities often lacking in other creative fields where self-conscious, flamboyant experiments thrive. Simplicity in design is not boring—it’s an achievement. Gaudy, ostentatious designs are twice as easy to create as disciplined, thoughtful ones. Once you understand that bad design never fades into the background, you can begin to aim for beauty by aiming for clarity. The flashy designer may attract attention from those who care more for show than substance, but true design excellence, like a fine crystal goblet, works best when it goes unnoticed, allowing the content—whether an image, a message, or an idea—to shine through. You may spend years refining your craft to create that transparent vessel, perfectly suited to hold and reveal the richness of human creativity.

Note: The above is a modern adaptation of The Crystal Goblet, or Printing Should Be Invisible by Beatrice Warde (1900 -- 1969)

Here is a great visual comparison by Stock Logos of some of the world's top brands' original logo vs. their current logo.  Many of the companies logos have evolved to be similar to their original brand, and some have decided to change direction completely.  What is missing from this  chart are the intermediate logos which in many cases show how the logos didn't jump to seemingly unrelated ideas, but actually evolved over time to become what they are today.

Two examples of this would be the Shell logo

...and the Mazda logo

Source

I normally create my website designs in Photoshop - mostly because I find the pixel based platform the most conducive to HTML conversion.  However, when the time comes to carry a client design over to print in a brochure or large format sign, I rely on Illustrator and InDesign to construct the design files to ensure a crisp and clean end result.

Today I hit a snag. I had applied a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer to a vector smart object in Photoshop, but when I went to use that vector graphic in InDesign, I no longer had the ability to use that same Hue/Saturation adjustment.  I was faced with the insurmountable task of adjusting all the individual colors through EDIT > EDIT COLORS > RECOLOR ARTWORK, which was very time intensive and about 30% of the way through I noticed it wasn't really coming out right.

With a bit of research I found the Phantasm Adobe Illustrator Plug-in.  Thanks to their FREE 7 day trial, I was able to convert the graphic over to the correct hue within a matter of seconds using the exact Hue/Saturation settings that I was using in my Photoshop adjustment layer. I also played around with the other tools that come with the plug-in like Curves, Levels, Duotone, etc.  It was very intuitive, and frankly I'm quite surprised that this feature doesn't come STANDARD with Illustrator, as it is a natural carry over for us designers who use the entire Adobe Suite and like to have similar tools across the board.

Needless to say, the moderate $49 license fee will be money well spent to ensure I have the tools I need to work effectively and efficiently on all my design projects.  KUDOS to Astute Graphics for a job well done on a well built and extremely useful Adobe Illustrator Plug-in.

A lot of people think of me as the go-to "web guy."  Maybe it's because I started typing my school papers in the 5th grade on an Apple IIe.  Maybe it's because I dream in HTML. Maybe it's because I wish life had a "refresh" button like my favorite internet browser. Or maybe it's just because that's what I'm good at.  Regardless of my my internet abilities, I LOVE working on projects that get printed on ACTUAL paper also.  (No, don't get all environmental on me! Paper has it's place even in today's world of green eco-loving-kindness)

Recently, we were working on a client project where the goal was to pull out all the stops and make a brochure that really POPS.  In our exploration of available materials we came upon a few noteworthy papers that I would like to mention:

Yupo Synthetic: This stuff is amazing. It feels like a silky-smooth latex. A single brush with your finger serenades your senses to  touch and rub the paper because of it's distinctly intriguing texture - unlike anything else. In fact, their product is so alluring that their corporate slogan is "Do it on Yupo" (Hubba Hubba). It is waterproof, tear resistant, and 100% tree-free. It is available in a variety of weights and styles from 62 lb translucent text all the way up to a 144lb cover stock. The only downside to this product is the price - it is almost cost prohibitive to use it for a "normal' project.

Touché: This is another paper that is just begging to be touched.  It's no wonder that they call it Touché. It has a soft, tactile, sensual feeling, and is very supple and durable. It is only available in thick cover stocks from .013" to .024" and comes in 6 standard colors: black white, cream, cool grey, burgundy, and slate blue. Custom colors can also be produced on request.  The color scheme is very muted and the paper itself gives a feeling of a luxurious understated elegance. When combined with other techniques such as foil stamping, embossing, or varnish coating, it can give an unparalleled texture and appearance.  Once again, not for the thrifty projects, this paper stands in a class all its own.

Kromekote Collection: Although the first two papers mentioned were noteworthy because of their tactile qualities.  The   Kromekote foil collection is a visually bold and striking paper.  Their line of high-quality metallic papers delivers a dynamic visual appeal.  The high-gloss reflective services of their foils  mimic the look of real silver, black, gold and platinum metals and they even offer a 'brushed' metal alternative for silver and gold.  If a small foil stamp isn't BLING enough for  you, then a Kromekote foil paper is just what the doctor ordered.

These are just 3 of the HUNDREDS – if not THOUSANDS – of papers available for your specialty project to make it really stand out! GO BOLD OR GO HOME!