The world is full of prejudices. All designers use Apple Macs is one of them. This was surely true 10 or 15 years ago, but todays designer are well distributed across all platforms. There have been several reasons why Apple Computer where so dominant at that time, but all of the reasons have become obsolete and you can choose yourself if where you want to put your money – into looks or content.

Software

The operating system wars are over – no really – OSX and Windows 7 are equal in functionality and ease of use. They are actually so similar, that one often gets confused where to find specific things when switching from one to another.

Availability of professional and free software for designers on the other hand are actually not the same. Unlike in the early ages Adobe and other developers have switched to PC and Windows as their main platform. Many features (GPU acceleration) and even whole Suites of Programs are PC only.

And if you are a Linux fan, even then you have plenty of open source software your can use and work pretty well.

One of the biggest game changer in this sector is the internet. If you design websites you are used to use “development” tools. And more often than not this tools are easier to find for other platforms than Mac. It’s the “App”-Numbers Game you see on Iphone vs. Android/Symbian/WebOS/Blackberry – but inverted. Hundreds of applications for Mac, thousands for Windows and Linux.

Another big game changer was actually PDF. The designer doesn’t have to use the same Programs and computer platform as the printshop, since PDF has become the standard for sending printable files. It’s a typical example of how a “locked in” environment has been broken by the use of open standards.

Hardware

Apple hardware looks good. I’m not going to deny that. Until last year the apple fans could also claim, that the hardware inside the boxes was always top notch and not more expensive than PCs if you take the same components. I made the calculations myself a few times and it was true. Mac Pro’s used processors and chipsets which you find in serious workstations. Picewise obviously if you compare a Mac Pro with a standard Dell Office PC, the Dell wins – but the performance is not the same.

But here is the news – you don’t need the power of a Mac Pro. Actually most designer (if they are on a Mac) use the Macbooks or iMacs. And even the Dell Computer intended for the use in the office runs Indesign and Photoshop smoothly. The recent office PCs have more performance than a workstation 3 years ago. The possibilities that your computer is waiting for input 90% of the time is high if you are not encoding HD-Video all the time.

So there is for the average designer no need to buy an expensive Mac Workstation to do the work. And if you really need the horsepower? Well than you have another reason to not choose an Apple.

Apple is not upgrading it’s Macintoshes

Normally we have seen that Apple is a Computer and Hardware Manufacturer who does extra stuff to sell more hardware. This is changing and we can see it every day. Apple is focusing on “consumer stuff” and content related stuff.

It’s more about iTunes, iPad and iPhones this days than OS X and Mac Pros. In the past Apple was the first to implement faster processors – now they don’t care. They prefer to release a new tablet instead. Today if you want a serious workstation you get an HP or even a Dell. The lack of new announcements for Macbooks etc. show in my opinion that they stop to offer hardware which runs an relatively open operating system altogether. And sincerely – as professional I will not invest in software and hardware for a platform which future is not certain.

In these digital days using a sketchbook seems oldfashioned, but it is just the opposite. Most believe that doing “things” with the computer speeds up the process, but this is only true to repetitive tasks and if you have to deal with alot of data. Taking notes about ideas, sketching layouts, writing down if you have seen something inspiring or intresting is much faster done with a classic sketchbook. Many times you see something when you are not at your computer and to be honest, writing notes on a phone is not pleasant.

I personaly like the sketchbook Moleskine Sketchbook Large, mostly because they build to last and don’t fall apart after two weeks. But you can use wathever you like. I find it useful to have all my notes in one place and when I go on with the projects I transfer them to my PC, where I use Evernote (a really handy tool, especially if you work on more than one computers).

The transfer also helps my give the notes a structure and is the first step in the creative process.

I will show you in one of the next post some scans of my sketchbooks and point to some other important aspects related to analogue sketching against digital sketching.

How many times have you seen a folder, website, brochure with poor text? How many times you read a headline and thought what is this all about? How many times did you stop reading a text because it was tedious to read? I’m sure many times. These texts are not written by copywriter but by the client himself. As a graphic designer you don’t care much about the text, it’s not your business – as an art director you must care about it. Here are some tips on how you understand if a text it’s good enough and how you convince your client that is worthwhile having a copywriter do the job.

Copywriting is a job on its own

Like being an art director or graphic designer, being a copywriter is a job of its own. It’s more than just writing grammatically correct; it’s about tailoring the text to the medium to transport the message. It’s very similar to the graphic job, just with other tools. By that said it’s obvious that a client whose profession is to develop/sell products or services is not the right person to write the texts. Neither is the secretary or a journalist (unless your project is a house organ).

Advertising text is not the same as a technical description

Most of the time you will get texts which read like fact sheets or are technical descriptions which are suited for the experts. Most of the time all facts and topics are treated as if they have the same importance and the texts are therefore dull. As with all advertising you can transport only one message which has to be single minded. A good copywriter tailors the text to transport this one message and incorporates the rest in order to strengthen this message. You see, there is clear difference between simply describing the features of something and transmitting a message to the audience with the description.

Half-ready texts needs to be reset

The worst thing is, when your client thinks he can actually write. This results in halfway-technical and halfway-old school-advertising texts. You can recognize them easily. You find the company and product name hundred times in it (written in capitals), many bold text phrases (everything is important) and a lot of words like “new” “best” “never seen” “amazing”. The sad thing is that the strong points of the product get lost and you have to reset the whole thing and get a briefing to be able to find out the structure und the facts which matter.

Copywriting comes after the creative brief – but the copywriter needs to be there first

In most cases the creative brief is made not only for the graphic design part but also for the copywriter. But like I said in a lesson, the creative brief is a compressed form of the briefing which helps you stick to the track. You need to be at the briefing and so does the copywriter. You maybe want to get the help from the copywriter to write the creative brief and convey with him about the direction the whole project should go. It’s important that you both now what you are talking about. You may be surprised how valuable it is to have the copywriter with you as you proceed with the project. You can decide with him how much text you need or want for example – your job is to make the text fit into the layout and the job of the copywriter is to write a text which stays in the layout. The communication between you and copywriter in this sense is crucial.

Get valuable partners

Every professional has his strengths and his weaknesses. The same is true for graphic designers, art directors and copywriters. Some may be perfect for technical products, others for consumer products or cosmetics. Not only graphical appearance must comply with the audience, also the words, and the language. Some creative professions are already more open to classify themselves, like photographers for example, its common that a photographer states that he does only fashion. I haven’t seen this happen yet with copywriters and it’s your job as an art director builds the network and understands what the strengths of the copywriter are. Ask them what they enjoy most writing about, get to know them and the writing style they have. Get to know more than one, so you can bring the right copywriter to the right job. And finally if you have to do jobs in more than one language (of which you may not speak or understand some) is sure you can trust the copywriter.

Now that you know how important it is to have texts written by a professional you can approach your client accordingly and “sell” the copywriter to him. But to get good results you need to communicate with the copywriter and how to do this will be part of the next lesson.

In the last lesson I pointed to the positive effects that studies can have in improving your projects. In this lesson I will show you where to find studies, how to make project and art director relevant conclusions and how to use them in your creative process. I have also included a nice example-tutorial to make it less “dry”.

Where you find the studies

You find studies everywhere – really. It’s a common trend these days. There is a study now for everything, and a couple of years or months later another one states the exact opposite . Concentrate on the ones from serious independent institutes and don’t use them by the letter. Get the big picture; see what’s going on and what it means to you. Other good resources are scientific publications and blogs/podcasts. They are also really good sources for inspiration on new materials to work with.

Take out a maximum of 2 key points

Some studies are tedious to read and difficult to pin down what they really mean. Try to find the original source of the study and don’t rely too much on news article about them. They sometimes drive the conclusion the way they wanted. If the key points taken out of the news article are close to the original go with them, otherwise read press release of the study (if the study comes from an big institution, they mostly make press releases of them). Try to find out 2 key points of the study and write them down.

Make one conclusion

Now think about what this means for your project. Does it enforce the goal of your project or does the study show you factors that work against your project. Both things are good, you just have to know about them. If the study empowers the project, than you can use it to give strength in your efforts and go along safely. If it is against the project use the information to “work around”. Rethink the goals or the strategy you wanted to apply. If you find something relevant you have to inform your client. But you should already have a solution to the problem ready when you do so. This is called proactive – you found something interesting to you client and provide also a solution – very powerful.

Visualize the conclusion

Now it’s the turn of the graphic aspect to the whole process. You know have the knowledge about the study and the key points. You made your conclusion on what this means. Now you want to use it in your presentation to give strength to your project. What you don’t want is to lose 30 minutes in explaining the study to your client. So you have to visualize it. You can do this with a picture, a drawing or something else – it’s a side project. Don’t invest too much time – you just have to make the point. Add the reference to the study in the documentation you give to your client and it to the visualization (complete original name of the study and the institute).

Use the visualization to get an idea

Now you have the visualization of the study for your client – but this visualization may help you in finding the creative idea you need for your graphic design, advertising or product design project. It’s a paradigm shift. Don’t just use the findings from the study to show you the limits where you can go, but use it as a starting point. It sound a little odd, but it is actually a great time saver and I will go more into detail about this in one of the next lessons.

And now an example

I will explain the whole concept of using studies as an art director (or as an aspiring art director).

Project: You have to make a billboard campaign about a cleaning agent – the claim is that it removes any stains.

You may think, that there is not much creative potential in this job, but consider this. Billboards are outdoors and are exposed not just to the weather. Sometime ago I stumbled on an interesting study. Let’s get through the process:

1. This study is named “Graffiti and litter lead to more street crime” and in the interview the researcher states:
   

   In the most striking experiment, Keizer left a €5 note protruding from a fully addressed envelope that itself was poking out of a mailbox. The team discovered that people were less likely to steal the money if there was no graffiti or litter on or around the mailbox.

   Well you have at least to read the whole interview to get the picture but I’m sure you already have. This study seems to have nothing to do with our art director business – and nothing with our billboard. That’s not true.

2. The key point of this study is that in a disordered neighborhood, disorder gets worse.
3. The conclusion to this study is that your work can be damaged or vandalized if the surroundings aren’t kept well. So now you know, that you have to choose the right surroundings for project, not just by getting the right place for target reach aspects.
4. Now you visualize this concept. Don’t overdo it – a picture with a graffiti or lither on the streets will make you point.
5. At this point you may go to your client and say, that billboards may not be the best way to show the positive aspects of the product. If you show a nice and clean shirt it will have graffiti on it in less than 5 minutes. On the other hand can you use this information the other way round? You could imagine a campaign where you want people to act against your work.

Turning the bad into cool

• Design a poster for the billboard with a nice white shirt on it and the claim “Removes any stains”.
• Part of the campaign is to put a (real) graffiti on it.
• You will have plenty of graffiti’s in a few days – looks ugly you think. Yes, but now comes the cool thing.
• You put on every other night/day a fresh “shirt” on the billboard. You are “cleaning” the shirt.

This will generate a buzz and attention to it – people may have seen the shirt “dirty” and the next day is clean again. Why is that – oh yeah – the cleaning agent takes care of it.

The fictional billboard with Graffiti

Conclusion

Can you see the loopback – you have a straight campaign and you turn it into something really new and cool by using knowledge about human behavior taken from a study.

Now it’s your turn. Build a database of studies that you find intresting, get the feel of what a study can mean to your work and use it when you need it. Good studying.

Are you bored to use always the same classic fonts? Helvetica, Garamond and Gill are awesome fonts, but don’t help your graphic design project to be unique. There are thousands of alternatives fonts available, but which ones are right for your project. This little guide will help you choose an alternative starting from the classic fonts. You wanted to use Helvetica? Why not try FF Fago. This is the first of a 12 part series featuring Zapfino, the classic script font.

Zapfino

from Linotype (www.linotype.com)

The links next to the fonts are linked to the example pages of the foundry.

Top Alternatives

• Avalon (www.fontbureau.com)
• Burgues Script (www.veer.com)

• Victoria Samuels Italic (www.myfonts.com)
• Corinthia (www.p22.com)
• Reiner Script (www.fontbureau.com)
• Hamada (www.lintotype.com)
• Zaner (www.p22.com)
• Bickham Script Pro (www.veer.com)
• Zanzibar (www.fountain.nu)
• Incognita (www.fountain.nu)
• Olicana (www.type.co.uk)

Every graphic/online/media designer nowadays calls himself an art director (or worse Information Architect). Even the Wikipedia, the new holy grail of knowledge states, in a little confusing manner. Find out what is the difference between a graphic designer and an art director and what it takes to become one.

Despite the title, an advertising art director isn’t necessarily the head of an art department…

Well, let’s get straight to the point – if you do not “direct” at least a team, may it be of internal co-workers or external partners in a project, then you are probably not an art director. You might be a very good graphic designer, photographer, art-buyer, copy-texter,  image retoucher, layouter, producer,  but not an art director. Let me explain why.

Art directors are team players

An art director must have a good knowledge of the above capabilities. He must understand them, he has not to excel in them, but know how to use them accordingly. If he is not the best photographer for the job, he has to know who is and this not only by capabilities, but also according to the budget.

In smaller firms, most of the time the budgets are tight and therefore the graphic designer takes also the pictures and writes the headlines, looks over the production, printing … While this can result in very good quality for small projects, it also has on big pitfall. The outcome is limited to the capabilities and style of one person.

The Art director on the other hand,  has to have the big picture in his head, know where the whole production is heading to. Setting the style and tone for the project and is not limited to only his capabilities.

Step by step

Obviously there are not only the extremes – on the path from being a graphic designer to become an art director are many steps, where duties may vary and overlap. But the important thing to know is that the mindset changes when you are no longer only a graphic designer. You think differently and approach projects differently.

How to achieve this different mindset will be shown in the next lessons – little by little.