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[Battlezone]

There's definitely way too much going on there, and it does look like a Themeforest template. There's certainly nothing wrong with that, but do a little more to make it your own. And that green needs to be tweaked at the very least.

Who's your target market? What is your brand? Your website should speak to that, not just be a playground of things you think look kind of cool. It's a business tool.

edit: I also wouldn't advertise "job openings" unless you really have openings-and the money to pay for them. You're going to get a ton of emails, and waste a lot of people's time. There's nothing wrong with being a solopreneur and letting your clients know that you are. Some clients prefer that.

 

[Flek]

Because a student can afford a few months of full price CC instead of full price separate software purchase. It's fucked up.

i mailed them and asked here is the reply:

"Hi ,
You are right, after June 25th it goes back to the normal student discounted rate of $29.99/month. We'd recommend staying tuned to the Adobe Students Facebook page or @adobestudents for any additional student promotions closer to October.
I hope that helps!"

So this offer will end soon but they will have a new one … ok got it!

 

[Brera]

What I plan on doing is:

1. Stick the video on mute on load. I'll give it a shot because I was weary of it but tought I'd give it a shot and see what the feedback was. Everyone with a computer background hated the music while normal people loved it. I'm obviously aiming it at normal people with a business rather than geeks who would do their own site or get a mate to do it.

2. Limit the amount of typefaces in the "chaos" headings. Maybe just stick to the odd word being a bit bigger and get rid of the random bolded words?

3. I'll see what I can do about the green and possibly adapt it in the FAQ section, although it only goes green after the question has been selected...?

In relation to the vacancies bit, my idea was to get someone involved who can do apps, another who does ecommerce while I do simple sites. I used to be able to do the whole ecommerce shit but I have a full time job and don't really have time for SQL and all that crap. I'm learning objective C but again, I'm really aiming at restaurants, one man bands, singers, artists where just simple knowledge of HTML, java, php and CSS is required.

I'm doing a site for a private tutor and that's a lot more restrained and educationy.

I am slowly learning the less is more. And easier

 

[Flek]

I am slowly learning the less is more. And easier

more yes - easier not necessarily

 

[Naito]

I am slowly learning the less is more. And easier

Not necessarily easier, "less" is not something you can achieve by only subtracting.
You have to dose it in relation to the context: leaving the correct amount of fat may give the proper taste for the proper situation.

Sorry for the silly similarity
Part of the "less" attitude is recognizing what has an essential purpose and what hasn't.

 

[Brera]

Totally agree.

I've had a play around with the fonts and bolding etc. I prefer the fucked up look. I don't think it makes too hard to read as the font is clear.

I think where I've wrong is that the images I've used as separators are very bland and corporate. I need something computery but weird/fucked up to communicate that it's supposed to be fucked up rather than something has gone wrong.

Could you guys suggest some fucked up images that would fall within the realm of web design?

 

[Naito]

I need something computery but weird/fucked

Data bending, glitch art might be an interesting pick.
Try tweaking, twisting, refining your results and you should have some surprising stuff to use.

 

[Brera]

Just had a google search. Really like the idea. I'll give it ago!

 

[Brera]

Did I take it too far with the glitch stuff?

http://bearinteractivedesign.co.uk/

I've taken out the glitch video. It's awesome but has rude stuff like "Fuck You" and "Rape" flashing on the screen!

 

[Naito]

The Monna Lisa one isn't bad. But it's not only something about the pictures, the website still has the same structure

 

[Brera]

I'm happy with it for now. I'll probably go for a redesigned one in a year or so.

I think as a site to get people's attention, it does the trick. I've muted the sound as maybe it was a step too far and end of the day, I hate sites with music as well!

Visual diarrhea is what I was aiming for.

Edit. I've toned it all down as much as I can without losing it's character. I'm sure you'll agree its a bit easier on the eye now.

 

[travisbickle]

I'm happy with it for now. I'll probably go for a redesigned one in a year or so.

I think as a site to get people's attention, it does the trick. I've muted the sound as maybe it was a step too far and end of the day, I hate sites with music as well!

Visual diarrhea is what I was aiming for.

Edit. I've toned it all down as much as I can without losing it's character. I'm sure you'll agree its a bit easier on the eye now.

I quite like it as a piece of design, but from a business perspective I think you should reconsider some of the techniques you've used.

The "Our Services" section needs to provide more information at a glance. I think you are providing a tiered service? so why don't you create a table showing what is available, and at what price. Are you providing a logo for an extra £50 on top of the cost for a site? or are you essentially selling logos for £50!!

I understand you want potential clients to think you're "kooky" and that's ok, but you need your site to show information without rolling over every part.

Also, what is your input into the repeating gif at the top. Is it something you were involved with? Is it Birmingham?

 

[Mobius 1]

GAF, any of you have a Dribbble invite? I will shoot you a link with samples of work if you do. I just got the itch to join the service.

 

[Angelus Errare]

You should really up your price on the logos Brera. I'm willing to bet vast majority of design agencies and freelancers around you have logos priced much higher than you.

 

[Flek]

is anyone of you guys @dribble and could invite a fellow gafer? I could offer an invite to http://forrst.com in return!

also where do you get great freelance programers?

 

[Rösti]

I'm currently working on the layout for the E3 2013 General Information & FAQ thread. If everything goes well the majority of the images in it will be vector based (SVG). The problem is hosting these files. I don't have a domain or server etc., of my own so I will have to use some kind of cloud service.

Google Drive I tried and it sure uploads the SVG file and you can link to it, but there seems to be no way to use the

tag for it as I cannot find a valid link to the image itself. Maybe you can do that as it apparently works with other files (I tried with PNG), but I couldn't get it to function anyway.

Dropbox worked well for this, but I wonder if what you get is a static URL or if it will change in some days. I must have static addresses for the content of the thread, otherwise it will be too much work updating links frequently.

These are the services I've tried so far. And Behance as well, but that doesn't support SVG at all for some reason. Does anyone have a better suggestion? I simply want a static address and I want the service to be very secure.

 

[Dreaver]

I don't want to turn this thread into an invite-fest, but if someone has a spare invite for Dribbble I would love one. Or if someone knows a good way to obtain one, please let me know. I have my portfolio online and I can send it in a PM.

 

[8byte]

Hey guys, I'm not professional, or by any means talented, and I'm looking for some design advice. I'm making a "logo" for my site, Awful Gamer, and I can't really come up with any halfway decent ideas. This is the best I can muster:

Any advice, tips, ideas, etc...will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks, everyone!

 

[LegoDad]

Hey guys, I'm not professional, or by any means talented, and I'm looking for some design advice. I'm making a "logo" for my site, Awful Gamer, and I can't really come up with any halfway decent ideas. This is the best I can muster:

Any advice, tips, ideas, etc...will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks, everyone!

I like it, I'd put what the AG stand for off to the side if going on a website.

So. Logo Awful Gamer

 

[8byte]

Thanks. I'm thinking of doing more solid colors, and definitely going to look into changing that type face on the controller, or just remove it all together. I'll whip up some mock designs today or tomrorow and see how it pans out, and post them up here. Shame this thread is so dead, as there are a lot of talented folks posting here that I could really use some advice from, lol.

 

[captainraincoat]

Nobody wants to hear music when they visit a website unless they actively choose to. You might also want to give honest numbers for your analytics. Considering you don't have any active clients on the site, it's a little hard to believe 12000 people visit your page daily

As far as the green colour, it's not very good. Look at this..

Keep the green but make it a darker one
the font may also need to be bumped up a couple also as its hard to read on ipads

 

[Buckethead]

Hey graphic design bros...

I have an interview for a front end position later this week.

Any tips from the seasoned and wise?

 

[cbox]

Front end development? or just design?

Regardless, know your code and have a portfolio of work ready on every device you own.

Good luck!

 

[Buckethead]

Yeah front end development (the only "must haves" were HTML/CSS/jQuery) although I think my graphic design experience will come in handy as the company's portfolio didn't impress me on a visual level.

There was some good functionality and back end stuff beyond my knowledge base but you can tell none of them come from a UX/design background.

Obviously I don't say that in the interview rather mention my design sense as something I bring to the table, etc., etc., but yeah front end development.

 

[Buckethead]

I'm looking to achieve a handpainted type look on some text.

Anyone ever work with paint markers/know of a good brand?

 

[cally]

Hi, I'm not even sure this is the right thread to ask this, I did do a search but couldn't find a thread for my needs. I was wondering if some kind soul could take the jaggies out of an image for me that i'd like to use. I tried it in paint.net using gaussian blur but it leaves a dull grey halo effect around the logo. Anyway, if someone could do it for me i'd be most grateful.

Thanks.

 

[faridmon]

I want to learn Graphic design to improve my Architectural design presentation. Is it worth to go to a foundation year of Graphical design in a University?

UK by the way...

 

[PistolGrip]

So just starting out. What do you guys think?

What can I do to improve?

 

[cbox]

So just starting out. What do you guys think?

What can I do to improve?

I'd worry about getting the base of the logo finished before sprucing it up with styling. Standard logo design procedure is a black and white base first, then the fancy biz.

I'd start by lining up the Stone Tower and Financial Titles. I'd also lose the line as it really doesn't add much in terms of balance. What would work better is if you increased the size of both fonts and have them line up with the top and bottom of the graphic. Keep going!

Also, don't be afraid to show us a bigger version I had to zoom in 200% to see it!

 

[Buckethead]

Anyone have a font similar to either of the two below?

Free would be nice but I'd be willing to buy if anyone has a link to a quality one.

 

[RDreamer]

Anyone have a font similar to either of the two below?

Free would be nice but I'd be willing to buy if anyone has a link to a quality one.

There's this, but really just type paintbrush font and go through a ton of them until you get the one in particular you can use.

 

[PistolGrip]

I'd worry about getting the base of the logo finished before sprucing it up with styling. Standard logo design procedure is a black and white base first, then the fancy biz.

I'd start by lining up the Stone Tower and Financial Titles. I'd also lose the line as it really doesn't add much in terms of balance. What would work better is if you increased the size of both fonts and have them line up with the top and bottom of the graphic. Keep going!

Also, don't be afraid to show us a bigger version I had to zoom in 200% to see it!

Great tips thank you! Will revise and repost, I am a complete noob at logo design.

 

[PistolGrip]

I fixed the original image

 

[Kikarian]

I fixed the original image

It feels as though it's behind a blur. I would increase the sharpness of the logo and text.

 

[Rösti]

Been editing a PDF and came across text that appears italicized but is actually fake italicized (skewed). In Indesign if you want to skew text, you just input the degree of this by using the T tool (looks like a skewed T). In Illustrator (CC) I cannot find any such, the only way to skew text I can find is via Object>Transform>Skew or by using the Touch Type tool. But I need to know the exact degree of skewing.

Am I missing something obvious here or is there no way to find out the degree of skewing in Illustrator CC? Adobe's help articles did not answer my question.

 

[Buckethead]

Anyone ever work in project management side of things?

I've typically worked in prog/design but a good opportunity has presented itself.

Any tips?

 

[Futureman]

My friend says his graphic guy won't respond. He wants me to try to do a Tshirt design and the printer needs either a .EPS file or .AI file.

I don't know what a .EPS file is, and I've never used Illustrator. I do use Photoshop CS5 and Illustrator CS5. Can I do designs in PS and convert it to Illustrator?

 

[MrBig]

My friend says his graphic guy won't respond. He wants me to try to do a Tshirt design and the printer needs either a .EPS file or .AI file.

I don't know what a .EPS file is, and I've never used Illustrator. I do use Photoshop CS5 and Illustrator CS5. Can I do designs in PS and convert it to Illustrator?

If you make the design entirely via photoshop's vector tools (pen, shape, and text tools) you can import the .psd into illustrator and then export a .ai/.eps/.svg/whatever


On that note, how does everyone else feel about adobe's handling of vectors in photoshop? I feel vector support was best in CS5, CS6 introduced some irregularities that make it them a little more annoying to use but still fine, but when using the new CC version I felt they behaved very unpredictably and don't seem to be as extensible.

 

[Flex187ad]

Hey guys... This is something I'm working on for a school project. We have to rebrand the Byron Bay Bluesfest (popular music festival here in Australia). Here is their current logo/website:

http://bluesfest.com.au/

Their flat logo:

Here is what I've come up with. Going for a wider audience with a more fun/hipster-esque font and colour schemes... Any feedback? The chains will be a theme throughout the rest of the branding as well as the 25th anniversary.

 

[zethren]

I like your simplicity in your color pallet, and the colors that you ARE using is very classic and well chosen.

Have you attempted to see what "BLUESFEST" would look like if there was more space between the "LU", "ES, and the "FES"? Just a hair of white space in between the letters so that they weren't smudged together.

I'm not sure if that will look better than your current design, but it's always a good idea to explore your different options.

As the design is right now, I like it. I like your design better than the original, which automatically gives me a Jack Daniels feel.

Do you have any supplemental designs to go along with it? Actual flyers, etc?

 

[Futureman]

If you make the design entirely via photoshop's vector tools (pen, shape, and text tools) you can import the .psd into illustrator and then export a .ai/.eps/.svg/whatever

ok... well obviously all art isn't done with vector tools, so why would this Tshirt printer only accept .eps and .ai? What If I wanted to hand draw something and put it on the shirt, but maybe mix it with vector stuff?

and in my original post I meant I "use PS and OWN AI."

anyways here's a sign for work... I designed it for an 11x14 sign holder, but I might spread it out a little and just print to 11x17 and tape it onto the holder from behind. I made this in PS... would there be any advantage to doing something like this w/ Illustrator??

I dunno if I should color the books in at the bottom or leave as is...

 

[MrBig]

ok... well obviously all art isn't done with vector tools, so why would this Tshirt printer only accept .eps and .ai? What If I wanted to hand draw something and put it on the shirt, but maybe mix it with vector stuff?

and in my original post I meant I "use PS and OWN AI."

Depending on the version of ai you can automatically imagetrace rastor work into vectors (not super accurate but effective if you don't want to learn to use vector tools) or use the cs5+(?)'s vector brush tool. Talk with whoever you're working with and the printer for specifics on the technical needs.

 

[Flex187ad]

I like your simplicity in your color pallet, and the colors that you ARE using is very classic and well chosen.

Have you attempted to see what "BLUESFEST" would look like if there was more space between the "LU", "ES, and the "FES"? Just a hair of white space in between the letters so that they weren't smudged together.

I'm not sure if that will look better than your current design, but it's always a good idea to explore your different options.

As the design is right now, I like it. I like your design better than the original, which automatically gives me a Jack Daniels feel.

Do you have any supplemental designs to go along with it? Actual flyers, etc?

Thanks for the feedback, I agree that the kerning on 'Bluesfest' could use a little tweaking. I'll put together some more stuff and post it a bit later with some mockups too.

 

[cbox]

Hey guys... This is something I'm working on for a school project. We have to rebrand the Byron Bay Bluesfest (popular music festival here in Australia). Here is their current logo/website:

http://bluesfest.com.au/

Their flat logo:

Here is what I've come up with. Going for a wider audience with a more fun/hipster-esque font and colour schemes... Any feedback? The chains will be a theme throughout the rest of the branding as well as the 25th anniversary.

Seems like a strange project to request more of a hipster-esque look and feel considering their branding is already quite "new age", at least the flat black and white version. I don't want to sound rude or mean, but the bluesfest typeface is just not very good at all. It's amateur, along with the rest of the typography. I won't comment on the colours because when you begin a rebrand, you need to really research and nail one or few colours and not just try them all. Nothing about the logo/typeface sells blues to me, and I'm also not sure why there are chains.. You might also want to consider redoing the background of "byron bay" since right now it's just a jagged mess.

Sorry for the harsh feedback, just trying to be as honest and critical as I can be. Sometimes it helps

Some considerations : Fun usually means rounded fonts. Since it's a blues festival and the music is important, maybe incorporate something from history in there. Blues is also very classic, so you want to use a type face that has character. Clean lines, and straight edges also.

anyways here's a sign for work... I designed it for an 11x14 sign holder, but I might spread it out a little and just print to 11x17 and tape it onto the holder from behind. I made this in PS... would there be any advantage to doing something like this w/ Illustrator??

I dunno if I should color the books in at the bottom or leave as is...

Always, always, always design brochures in either illustrator or indesign. That or start a photoshop file with 300dpi and use shapes and vector objects. I'd lose the dirty texture and pick a direction, lol your shapes and italics are all over the place!

 

[layzie1989]

finally got my portfolio website up

www.imborden.com

Question: what are your guys feelings on cover letters? Short and sweet? What should be said? Got any examples? I'm applying for a job on behance and want to include a cover note.

 

[DaFish]

finally got my portfolio website up

www.imborden.com

Question: what are your guys feelings on cover letters? Short and sweet? What should be said? Got any examples? I'm applying for a job on behance and want to include a cover note.

lovely work

 

[Flek]

well this thread is going slow so time for some designer jokes

 

[Angelus Errare]

well this thread is going slow so time for some designer jokes

Ah yes, the OCD rager.

 

[Angelus Errare]

finally got my portfolio website up

www.imborden.com

Question: what are your guys feelings on cover letters? Short and sweet? What should be said? Got any examples? I'm applying for a job on behance and want to include a cover note.

I absolutely love your CIVILAINY design.

Fucking amazing sir.

 

[Kikarian]

well this thread is going slow so time for some designer jokes

Every time.