Working as a graphic designer, I often hear the term “brand police” bandied about by my fellow designers. And when it comes to creating, explaining, and/or enforcing brand standards, I am fully capable of being the bad cop. The elements around any brand – from
I learned it back in art school: Take the time to give your attention to every little design detail. That valuable lesson didn’t really hit home until I was out in the professional world. Designing a direct mail piece for a client, I was thinking
Back in the day, when I eked out living as a struggling musician and there was no such thing as social media, promotional tools for local bands consisted of a flyer, a staple gun, and a telephone pole. Every reachable inch of the pole would
A few years back, I was planning our backyard garden with my “green thumb” friend, Kathleen. Thankfully, she took the time to explain the importance of considering texture when selecting plants. Even though most of the shrubs would have leaves the various shades of green,
The mountain of marketing messages we're all hit with every day can be overwhelming. It also presents a challenge for the graphic designer. It's our job to get our client's message to stand out in this roiling sea of information and graphics.So, what's a designer
Here in the digital age, with the human attention span getting smaller by the day, the phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words" has never been truer or more relevant. Our mental capacity has not increased, but the amount of information we are required
As a creative professional, I'm always thankful that inspiration can strike anywhere, at any time. We're inspired here at Cronin Creative by a lot of things, from museums and galleries to nature and books and music, and on an on. Even the bright colors in
“Good design is good business.” This quote from former IBM president Thomas Watson Jr. was delivered at the University of Pennsylvania in 1973. Back then, the idea that design was integral to the future of commerce was a new and somewhat revolutionary notion, but Watson
I am not ashamed to say that I am a full-on, dyed-in-the-wool font-ophile. I can't help myself. I have just always loved and been drawn to (no pun intended) beautiful typography. Driving down the road, I call out the names of fonts on signage and