Monday, May 25, 2009

PressCheck : iPhone/iPod Touch Game

Here's a perfect game for print design nuts and all those press operators out there. Press Check, a game that focuses on the art of print plate alignment, challenging your speed and accuracy. You can also compete against virtual press operators worldwide with the international leaderboards.

Download to your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Thanks to GDC for the original posting and for FORMation Alliance for their creation.


Monday, May 11, 2009

Continuing Education

I've been out of school for almost 10 years now and never thought I'd ever go back. But with the advancement of technology and the general progression of graphic design, I was starting to feel like a "Classic Mac" in a world full of "Mac Pros". With that, I decided it was time to go in for some upgrades.

My first plan of action into a higher education was to see what was in demand. A graphic designer with web design experience seemed to be it so I signed up for a Flash course in January at BCIT.

Unfortunately it ended up getting canceled on me due to low registration so I had to figure out which path to pursue next.

Many established designers have told me that it's best to specialize in one area of design. Why? Well, it's really impossible to know everything the graphic design field has to offer and I agree. It's an overwhelming amount of knowledge that one person can't possibly grasp and be productive at. But if you're specialized, you're an expert and know everything there is to know about the subject matter.

This got me thinking whether web design was something I wanted to seriously pursue in my design career. My answer was, no. Print design is what I know best, and what I love to do, so why pursue something just for someone else's sake? Seemed silly to me so I went in search for some print design courses that would allow me to grow and offer me something I may not already have experienced in the design world.

After many days and many nights of research (and patience), I am now registered for the Communication Design Certificate at Emily Carr and couldn't be more ecstatic! Not only am I taking one or two courses to upgrade my skills, I'm starting on a whole new course of study that will earn me a certificate in communication design when I am finished.

The first course starts in a couple of months so I'll be blogging about my new adventures as a 28-year old student, right here once it starts. Stay tuned...

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

NO reSPECt

The GDC twittered today about a business magazine (of all things) holding a design contest for their 25th anniversary cover. Read all about it here.

Now me being an advocate for all things good and being a graphic designer trying to make it in this world, I got a little upset so I wrote them to let them know that spec work should not be supported and is an unethical business practice for many reasons.

As designers we spend years perfecting our craft, learning new technologies, and exercising our creative minds in order to find phenomenal solutions for our clients that effectively communicates a message. That’s takes a large amount of schooling, time, experience, not to mention talent and discipline. It’s not something everyone can do and by businesses supporting spec work, they are devaluing all of that.

By hiring an accredited professional graphic designer they are supporting design industry professionals and showing the world that graphic design is a great business investment and not something that can picked up off a store shelf.

If you're a business and want to learn more, please take a peek at these sites.

http://www.no-spec.com/
http://www.gdc.net/business/index/articles33.php

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Desktop Wallpapers : May

Here are May's desktop calendar wallpapers.

I chose the astronaut wallpaper this month for my own desktop as I loved the use of colour and the feeling of 'space'.

Which one did you choose?