Designer's Diary: The Good, The Bad and The Graphic Design Blog

Graphic design blog shows us how much art has been growing these days. Art has no limit nowadays. We can now put arts everywhere in our life, that’s why art knowledge being very large.



Graphic design is one of the art’s branches where you can communicate visually to tell the others an information or message. The simplest example of graphic design can be found in symbol or logo of a company. Those logos and symbols are actually just a picture, but it tells you something. Symbols and logos let you know something from it; an information, an identity or something else. By using logo, a company or a group could tell people around them about their existence, or even a message through it. Graphic design resources shows us how art can adapt with many things around, include communication and technology.



If you are an artist that specialized yourself in graphic design, having a graphic design blog might be something good for you. Graphic design resources is actually just ordinary blog, like the others. What makes its difference is that this kind of blog consist graphic design work of art that posted by the owner. This could be a good way to promote your work of art because everyone in this world could access them easily.

The Good

Graphic design blog also could be the best way to improve your skill in working on art because you can get feedback or even advice from your visitors. Having communication with your visitor and listen to what they say about your work of art may tell you what you need to improve from your work of art. You can also visit other’s blog to get inspiration. Not to copy or plagiarize the work of art of course, but only to gain your knowledge about graphic design. Visit other’s blog might lead you to new technique, new genre or even new perspective about graphic design. This is really good especially if you are a newbie on graphic design, because by visiting other’s graphic design blog it may enrich your knowledge in a freeway.

The Bad

But it’s not only about the benefits from posting your work of art in blog. There’s also bad things you may get from posting your work of art in graphic design blog. Once you post it on blog, it means that it becomes accessible by people all over the world. This also means that somehow, your work of art might be plagiarized by someone out there. This plagiarism thing has been a serious problem in art business, but you can never run away from it. All you can do is just take a positive thinking from that. Try to think positive that your work of art must be gorgeous so that someone out there tried to be a copycat of you. Other bad thing about posting your work of art in graphic design blog is that you can turn to be an artist by order. This means that you working on art just to please your blog’s visitor. You will start to make random work of art just to fill your blog; a work of art that has no signature of yourself. You should really avoid this, because you used to working on art by heart and not just to please other people. Graphic design resources might be double sided blade for you, so you should really pay attention on how you use this way to improve your skill in graphic design.

Designer's Diary: The Relevance of Taste in Graphic Design

Graphic design is not the same as painting which can be made according to the will of the artist without considering whether the work will be accepted by the audience. The differences are: graphic design work must be accepted by others which are consumers. One important element that affects this is the 'taste' or commonly referred to as design taste.

Then What is Taste?

Every person has different taste. Many things can influence and shape one's tastes, some of which are social factors and social environment. For example someone who grew up in the 'A' class social environment will have different design tastes with a person who grew up in the 'C' class social environment , as well as in terms of society.



In simple terms we can compare it with style pattern design of a shopping center located in each class social environment. You can feel the different taste when you enter into these two places. Or when you enter two different types of social community, a community of 'A' class social status, and the rest of the 'C' class. Prove it.

So what is its relevance??

Ok, so now we go to the main points. We are not talking about the design of the mall or the mall, or how to get along, but we're talking about graphic design. What it has to do?



It is connected. Say in any mall or shopping center there are certainly elements of graphic design, they can be banners, logos, posters, color, typography, right? Well, of all these elements we can see and feel the difference of taste in designs where the two places have different social environments. So also in relationships, people design taste is different.

If I had been raised in the social environment of 'C' class, then the taste is formed in me is 'C'. To change the taste that has formed since childhood wont be easy for me, and it will need at the process and time. Maybe I should get used to engage in an environment with higher social status. I have to look and feel of how the design taste of on 'A' social status environment. Or maybe another way, by frequent reading magazines, brochures, logos, graphic design books and other materials that have the 'A' class design taste.

So if one day I got a graphic design job orders, with the target market: the 'A' class, of course I'll be able to work in accordance with the target market or with other terms in accordance with the "Tone and Manner" (because I have been familiar with the design taste of 'A' class ) . So when later I got a graphic design job orders again, but this time I had to make a brochure with a target market of 'C', or even 'D' class! I probably would feel like 'ah .. again a very trivial thing ': D (and again it's because I have been familiar with the design taste of 'A' class).

Finally, when I'm facing the design brief of any model, range from the stylish elegance to the tacky design, I'd agreed to do it. well it's pretty fun! How about you?

Designer's Diary: Thank God There's Deadline!

Whoever you are, a graphic designer, writer, music arranger or other creative fields, must have experienced moments where it seems your work will never finish. You discover a new color combinations which therefore requires changes in the composition itself. These changes require adjustments to some elements and tone, rhythm and more. What then, when you wake up from a nap, you might get new inspiration from somewhere ( maybe from this blog ;P ). Tadaa! Finally you feel have made a mistake and must do the design from scratch.



There are considerations of innovation, there is a differentiation of materials, human resources, motivation, technology, problem-structure which makes ignorance about how full we feel has been considered a problem, developing design solutions just seem like a mashing atomic activity. There is always a smaller part, which is interrelated with other parts in the constellation of multidisciplinary. Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Theology, and so forth.

And you know what? Same thing as an end to this complicated process as quickly as possible, or browse the collision as far as possible, no one can guarantee that a design solution is better. I once worked on a project that is long enough (one year), where even at the end of the project I didn'tt feel that the design solutions that I have done is the most 'optimal' in responding to problems.

No matter how fast or slow the design process you are doing, will always be there one moment where the design solution (which even collectively has been recognized as something that is 'optimal') is actually just the optimal solution within the process. Not in another time nor other projects.

Thank god for deadlines

Through this situation I learned some things. How a deadline-conscious or not, through instruction or self-intiated is never mean 'only' a deadline. This is a requirement of any design process. One that makes a process to provide time to improvise and play (with the termination of the process), two things that make an important contribution in the development process. I can understand that at this point design is an art, not just a mere science. I can also understand that, basically, we all need a deadline, and how the existence of these things is as important as the process itself.

Surely, I can appreciate the existence of a reasonable deadline, no matter how relative meaning of these words.