There’s a lot of focus on the need for change in the world. More and more our attention is turning to helping those in more need than ourselves. A number of millionaires have been in the news with their funding of good works around the globe. The Gates have set up a foundation to help with AIDS in Africa. Warren Buffet donated billions to the Gates Foundation. Oprah has started a Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa and now she’s doing a reality TV show creating a competition of multiplying people’s efforts to make a difference. These are just a few examples.

Have you been wondering how you can make a difference in the world? Do you have a desire to contribute, but not the budget that would make that possible? There’s plenty of ways you can make a change in what you see around you. Donating your time and skills is one of those ways.

Graphic design firms all over the country are seeing that their skills are an important donation. Non-profit organizations are very much in need of graphic design. Firms like yours are signing on to provide all the skills that non-profits use to get their message out — logos, print advertisements, posters, invitations for fund raisers, multi-media presentations, newsletters, photography and other needs. Do you have skills you are willing to donate?

Once you begin to move beyond basic background information, you begin to realize that there’s more to Graphic Design than you may have first thought.

How do you decide who, what, where and how? First answer this question. What’s important to you, what would you like to see change. Is literacy important to you? How about finding homes for the homeless? Or, making sure people have enough to eat? Providing job training for homeless people or ex-addicts trying to get back on their feet might be another cause you feel strongly about. (You do need to feel strongly about it, or you’re not going to like the hours you’re putting in without pay.) For every idea mentioned above there’s probably at least one and more than likely several non-profits in your community providing these services. And, most of them are operating on limited budgets. Their flows of Federal and State monies have been cut dramatically in the last few years and more and more they need to depend on private donations.

Decide what you are willing to do and how much time you have. Be sure to be realistic. This is one area where you don’t want to back yourself into a corner.

Think you don’t have enough time? Put together a consortium of graphic design firms to make the contribution. Each one of you can take a different piece of graphic pie that needs to be produced. With multiple skills from several graphic design firms you’ll be able to make a substantial contribution to a non-profit of your choice. And, you’ll likely multiply the value of our contribution. Especially if that contribution involves the design of invitations for a fund-raiser, or a multi-media presentation designed to raise funds for the organization.

See, you and other graphic design firms like yourself can make a huge difference in the world. So, what are you waiting for? Who’s going to receive your volunteer services?

Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what’s important about Graphic Design.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Many talented and capable graphic designers find their resumes filed in the circular file bin, otherwise known as the trash can or recycling bin. Why do these educated, talented, and worthy graphic designers get their graphic design resumes tossed out? Typically, graphic design resumes get tossed due to simple, avoidable mistakes that are made by many beginning graphic designers.

The first mistake that many people make when looking for their first job as a graphic designer that gets their graphic design resumes tossed out is that they try to display their talent within their resume, not through description, but through vivid graphic design. Graphic design resumes should be simple and professional. Fancy fonts, graphics, and page borders do not belong in graphic design resumes. While they will grab the attention of the hiring managers, these graphic design resumes will be promptly laughed at and tossed away.

The second most common mistake that many people make when creating graphic design resumes is that they do not proofread their resume before sending it to prospective employers. When there are mistakes, or even one obvious mistake, in graphic design resumes, hiring managers automatically assume that the graphic designer lacks attention to detail, and regardless of the qualifications that the graphic designer may possess, these graphic design resumes also end up tossed aside.

How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.

The third most common mistake that people make when creating graphic design resumes is that they do not accurately showcase their abilities, skills, and strengths in their graphic design resumes. Your employment history should not only include dates and job titles, supervisor names and company names and locations, but it should show your duties, accomplishments, and major achievements. If your employment at a graphic design firm, or your efforts in an internship, resulted in a benefit to the firm, you should include that information in your employment history.

There are many other reasons that graphic design resumes get tossed aside in favor of other, less qualified graphic designers. Listing employment history that does not qualify you for the position sought is a common mistake. Listing interests, hobbies, and other personal affiliations that do not have anything to do with graphic design will also get graphic design resumes tossed out.

If you have a college education, belong to professional associations, or have other certifications in graphic design you should list them in your graphic design resumes. Be sure to include any detailed information that highlights your skills and talents that were exhibited in your educational track. Graphic design resumes that have little or no experience and do not include this type of information will promptly be tossed out in favor of better qualified candidates. However, you should not list your high school education on your graphic design resumes unless you have not yet completed your college education, or if you obtained significant skills or awards related to graphic design while in high school.

Finally, make sure that your graphic design resumes do not contain any falsified, fraudulent, or exaggerated information. Not only might this unethical behavior get graphic design resumes tossed out, it could lead to termination from employment gained through falsified or exaggerated graphic design resumes.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Great graphic design is the key! Graphic design that creates sparkle and pizzaz and magnetizes your target clients to you is what you are looking for. When you begin to look for the right graphic designer, it can seem that there are way too many to choose from. Most will have a graphic design portfolio on line. This is the place to start.

What is it that sets one apart from another? How do you judge graphic design for yourself? It’s not an easy task, because it also involves personal taste, but here are some basic design elements that will help as you look at their portfolios.

Emotional Response. Take the time to look at their work and see how it affects you. Do you like it? Does it make you want to know more, buy more? Do you respond in some way? It is usually an effective emotional response that make us want to act or buy. In the graphic design you are reviewing you want to assess the degree to which the pieces initiate an emotional response.

Use of White Space. Probably the first and foremost consideration is the use of white space in the graphic design. Is the message presented simply with lots of surrounding space, or is the space cluttered and you don’t know where to look next. Examine a number of the graphic design pieces in the designer’s portfolio. Knowing how and when to use white space is a talent and an art. Does this designer have it?

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Graphic Design story from informed sources.

Simple Easy to Understand Message. Just like white space, the message should be simple and easy to understand. Competing messages don’t make for sparkle and notice in graphic design.

Meaningful Unique Bold Graphics. Our brains process visually, so the visual message is very important, often more important than the words. How clear and bold are the graphics in the work of the design you are considering. Do you get the message immediately? Are the visuals different and unique or do you have the feeling that you’ve seen them before. Is the designer using the same “stock” images as everybody else or do they find new and unique ways to present their message.

Effective use of Type or Fonts. Does the type style match the emotional feel of the piece? Does is help the message to stand out. Is it readable?

Benefits. While benefits are a selling point and not really a part of the design itself, they are a very important part of what makes a piece sizzle and sparke, because it’s the benefits that magnetize clients to you. So be sure your designer has included benefits in their design pieces.

Drama. Does their graphic design work have drama? Drama engages the reader, involves the reader, keeps them looking and then remembering long after they’ve seen the piece. This is another part of what creates magnetism.

Spend some time with each online portfolio. Talk to the graphic designer. As for references and then, talk to their clients to get a feel for how well their work has produced results. How happy were they with the graphic design services they received. Would they use the designer again?

With all this information, finding the right graphic design firm to create sparkle, sizzle and magnetism for your product or service should be a cinch.

You can’t predict when knowing something extra about Graphic Design will come in handy. If you learned anything new about Graphic Design in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

The multiplicity of graphic designs and the elements that make up the designs themselves sometimes seems overwhelming. How can you make your graphic designs stand out and shout. Yes! Shout! Shout to the customers they are supposed to reach! If your graphic designs shout, then they attract attention in an already over advertised world. Today every prospective customer sees at least thousands of messages a day. Which one will they remember? The one that rises above the others, the one that has be most to say, the one that speaks the loudest to them. And once it has their attention, the one that engages them the most.

Shout it out! Use visuals that make a lot of noise! The human brain is visual, so visuals are crucial to making graphic designs that have a built-in megaphone. The best visual megaphone is color. Wild vibrant color attracts the eye. Use visuals and color to make a statement that is loud and bold.

Visuals come in a lot of forms – original hand done illustrations, stock illustrations, original digital illustrations, stock digital illustrations, original photography and stock photography. The first question to ask yourself when choosing visuals for your graphic designs is, “Is it bold?” The Second, “Does it say what I need it to say?” The third is “Does it stand out?” Be careful of the use of Stock Photography and Illustrations and don’t use images that have been overused. Be aware of what looks and images are being used in the graphic designs you see around you in books and magazines and on the web. Try to stay away from those looks and images, or you’ll blend in with the rest. And you want to Stand out, Shout it out!

Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you’re fully informed about Graphic Design, keep reading.

Ask bold questions in your graphic designs. Questions engage the mind, pull people in, and bold ones stay in the memory. Loud, memorable, engaging – that’s what you are going for. Engaging questions often remind the potential client of their pain, the problem they need to solve. Of course the solution is the product or service for which you are designing.

Speaking of what you need your graphic designs to say, be sure that your end statements are benefits, benefits, benefits. What’s in it for the customer or viewer. That’s what the whole game is about. If you don’t speak to how you can solve the customer’s problem, how you can bring the client value, then no matter how loud it is, they won’t remember or pay attention. It just won’t interest them.

And use bold and relevant type to ask the questions or provide solutions. Make it easy to read, and be sure that it visually and emotionally matches the message, the audience you are attempting to reach and the product or service that is being sold. Don’t use garbage type in graphic designs intended to speak to a more sophisticated audience, and don’t use sleek elegant type to talk to the younger crowd.

So in summary, design to have your graphic designs Shout to their prospective audience. Make sure they can be heard above the visual and verbal din of today’s commercial world. Be bold, use color to make noise, engage the mind and talk benefits, benefits, benefits.

It never hurts to be well-informed with the latest on Graphic Design. Compare what you’ve learned here to future articles so that you can stay alert to changes in the area of Graphic Design.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

So, how do you choose? Look first at what you need and it will be much easier.

Being clear about what you want and need, and able to clearly communicate that, will make it much easier to see which of the graphic design studios is a fit. Are you looking to focus your marketing efforts on print or the web. Do you already have a logo or do you need one? What about CD or DVD production? Make a clear list of what you want.

Who are your customers? Perspective graphic design studios will need to know all about your target audience, so be ready to answer the “who”, “what”, “where”, “why”, and “how” questions about them. Define your potential and current clients in terms of their demographics such as age range, income range, ethnicity, lifestyle, professional focus (if applicable), education, home ownership, and mobility.

What are the reasons they buy your product or services. What pains or problems do they experience and what solutions does your product or service offer? What are the inherent benefits to the customer of buying your product or service?

How does your target audience use your product or service? What were your past marketing efforts? Why did your past marketing efforts work, and why not? If you don’t know, that’s okay. Bring along your past marketing materials and ask your candidates what they think. This is another way to assess whether or not you want to work with a particular studio.

If your Graphic Design facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don’t let important Graphic Design information slip by you.

Knowing your product or service, your market and what it is you want is just half the equation. The other half is what you are looking for. Here are some simple questions. You can rank the candidates on each of these on a 1 to 5 scale where 1 is “not at all” and 5 is “Yes, absolutely”.

Do they have access to all the services I need? You might want to make a list of the services and then rate the graphic design studio on each one.

Does the style of their work meet my taste criteria?
Do they have experience with my product or service?

Do I think I’ll enjoy working with them? (This may not seem as important until you’re in the middle of a project. Then it will be crucial.)

Will they give me references?
Are the references happy with the work they received?

Okay, now you are armed and ready to choose from among the bounty of graphic design studios. Remember the ones that come up first in your search know how to optimize their web sites and if you are working on a web site, this may be important to you.

So now you know a little bit about Graphic Design. Even if you don’t know everything, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

A professional graphic designer will have a full range of services available to meet your needs. These include print and web design, Flash and video work, photography and illustration, resources for quality and affordable printing, and other marketing services. The professional graphic design firm also uses professional tools, like Adobe In Design or Quark, Photoshop, Dreamweaver or Cold Fusion to just name a few.

Look at the firm’s clientele. What size firms are they servicing? What services are they providing for those companies? Do the services they provide cover a full spectrum of graphic and marketing services? Professional graphic design firms will have access to and be using a wide variety of resources. You can ask for the full list of their services if they aren’t already included in their on-line web sites.

Once you’ve narrowed your list down to two or three firms, ask for references and call each one of them personally. Getting your business off on the right foot is at stake here. Take the time to really understand what their clients think of them. Here are a few questions you might ask. This is not an exhaustive list, so before you start calling add any additional questions you can think of to it.

It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of Graphic Design is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about Graphic Design.

Did the services they provide include the following: logos, stationery, business cards, marketing post cards, advertising concepts and print advertising, brochures, newsletters, press releases, marketing CD’s or DVD’s, web design, web optimization and market research.

For each of the services that were provided ask how happy the client was with the end product. Was it delivered on time and within budget? Did it produce the desired results? What were the downsides of working with the firm from this client’s point of view? What were the upsides? All in all, how happy were they with the products produced? Would they call this firm a professional graphic design firm? Why or Why not?

Once you’ve made the reference calls, take the time to look at the results of each interview. If you rate each of your potential firms on a 1 to 5 scale on the above elements, you’ll find on that a leader begins to emerge.

Then ask yourself some additional questions as well. Which of the professional graphic design firms you are considering has experience in your field? Which one does work that you like and feel is effective? It’s time for your personal taste to be brought into the decision making considerations. On a more personal front, which of the people do you think you’ll like working with more?

Once you’ve considered all of these factors, a clear decision should emerge. If it doesn’t, take the top two and – flip a coin because you’ve done all the relevant homework.

It never hurts to be well-informed with the latest on Graphic Design. Compare what you’ve learned here to future articles so that you can stay alert to changes in the area of Graphic Design.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Student Graphic Design Books

A great graphic design book for students wishing to pursue a career in product graphic design is called Design Secrets: Products: 50 Real Life Projects Uncovered. This graphic design book analyzes product graphic design for various projects. It includes information such as the graphic designer’s motivation behind the project, client specs, and other information. This graphic design book is a great way for graphic design students to learn more about product graphic design.

Universal Principles of Design: 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design (long title, I know) is another great graphic design book for students of graphic design. This graphic design book gets back to basics, leaving the technological and creative aspects of graphic design behind in favor of looking at the general purpose of graphic design. It is a must for starting graphic design students, or those interested in pursuing a career in graphic design.

Hobby Graphic Design Books

You can see that there’s practical value in learning more about Graphic Design. Can you think of ways to apply what’s been covered so far?

A new book called Take Control of Fonts in Mac OS X, Tiger by Sharron Zardetto Aker is a great graphic design book for anyone using a Mac OS X computer operating system. This new operating system makes dealing with fonts very difficult, and this graphic design books gives you hints, tips, and tricks to manage your fonts in this computer operating system more effectively.

The Non-Designers Design Book by Robin Williams (not that Robin Williams!) is another great graphic design book for hobbyists and those in other professions that find themselves using graphic design for work or play. This book has a wealth of information that can also make it a great candidate for students interested in pursuing a career in graphic design.

Graphic Design Books for Extensive Study

The Complete Guide to Digital Graphic Design is a great graphic design book for beginning, student, or experienced graphic designers that are struggling with the technological aspect of graphic design. This book is a must for experienced graphic designers and students of graphic design alike.

Overall, there are so many graphic design books available that it would be impossible to list them all here. If you would like to know more about graphic design or would like to get a graphic design book, check your local book store, your local library, online library catalogs, and online book stores for more graphic design book options.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

In addition to your graphic design portfolio, you will need to create a graphic design resume to outline your skills, experience, and education for prospective employers and clients. The most important thing to remember when creating your graphic design resume is that your portfolio is a separate item. Don’t try to showcase your skills as a graphic designer within your resume by using fancy fonts, graphics you have created, page borders, or graphic page dividers. Keep your graphic design resume simple, professional, and organized.

Your graphic design resume should be tailored to showcase the skills requested for the opportunity or job offer that you are seeking. It is okay, and actually a good idea, to keep a stock graphic design resume on hand, updating it whenever you change positions or complete a significant freelance assignment. However, be prepared to make changes to the organization of your graphic design resume if it seems warranted by the opportunity you are seeking.

There are many things you should be sure to include in your graphic design resume. Make sure you list all of the computer software, technologies, and skills you have acquired, your level of expertise, and how long you have been familiar with the skill, software, or technology. You should also list any certifications or degrees you have received. If you do not have a college degree but do have professional certifications or awards, you do not need to list your high school education on your graphic design resume.

Those of you not familiar with the latest on Graphic Design now have at least a basic understanding. But there’s more to come.

Your graphic design resume should also include information about your previous employers or projects. This may sound obvious, but many graphic designers are not aware of what information should be included in their experience. Any significant freelance assignments and any industry related work experience should be included in your graphic design resume. Do not list jobs like fast food or retail in your graphic design resume. It should be geared to showcase your talents in the graphic design field, and other jobs you have held on your way to your chosen career as a graphic designer are unimportant.

Your experience section of your graphic design resume should show the month and year of employment or the freelance assignment, and the month and year that the employment ended. Your graphic design resume should also highlight specific achievements at each position, or ways that the work you did or the freelance assignment you completed benefited the company you were working for.

Make sure that in addition to any educational references and mentions that you list all of your academic and professional achievements, significant projects, awards, and certifications on your graphic design resume. Many graphic designers neglect to include specific information in this section of their graphic design resume.

Finally, the best thing you can do to make sure that your graphic design resume is perfect is to proofread your graphic design resume. If you’re not sure that you have caught everything, have someone else proofread it as well. If you submit a graphic design resume with errors of any kind, you will be labeled as not being detail oriented, and you will not get the job or project that you are applying for, regardless of your skills or talent.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

You have a new company or new product focused in the medical and health field and you want to do the best possible job of marketing it. How do you do that? You can go the traditional route and find an advertising agency or graphic design firm to assist you with getting your message out. Or, you can find a firm or studio that specializes in medical graphic design. They will have both a depth and breadth of relevant experience that will give you an edge in crafting your message and creating visuals that attract appropriate clients.

What services do I look for?

Medical Illustration. A key component of medical graphic design is medical illustration and the presence of a certified medical illustrator or an illustrator that is a member of the Association of Medical Illustrators. If it’s not online, ask to see their illustration portfolio.

Medical Animation. Telling the story of what your product or service does may require animation – either using Flash for your web site or 3-D Animation. Expertise in on-line rapid downloads, as well as producing CD’s and DVD’s for marketing and sales purposes is something you want to be sure of. A good medical graphic design studio will have either in-house ability or an on-going connection with medical animation resources.

Medical Web Design. Today, one of the most important marketing tools is your web site. And not just the design, but the optimization as well. The medical graphic design studio you are looking for will have success stories and their clients will fare well in internet searches. As part of your evaluation, assess if you like this medical graphic design firms web site, and then do the same assessment of their clients.

Medical Print Design. To go from web to print, the studio must show experience in translating 3-d explanations into 2-d graphics that focus on communicating the benefits of your product to your target audience. Benefits is the key word here. What’s in it for your potential client? Examine their portfolio. The work of a good medical graphic design studio will focus on benefits. If the brochure you see makes you want to know more or to buy, you have the right firm.

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Graphic Design story from informed sources.

Photography for the Medical Graphic Design Field. Again, medical photography is a specialty. Does the studio have a medical photographer in-house or a relationship with one they use often? Check the portfolio. Look at the clients that have used their work.

Ask for References.

Finally, pick 2 or 3 firms that you like and ask for references. Then call the clients and ask about the firms services.

- How satisfied were they with the services they received
- Did the medical graphic design studio deliver on schedule
- Did the web site, brochures, etc. deliver the promised results
- Would they use them again? Why or Why not?
- Were they easy to work with when there were changes?

Rate each of the firms on a 1 to 5 scale. Putting your impressions into numbers often assists in becoming clearer about what you’ve learned in your interviews.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

A graphic design portfolio is the best way to display and showcase your past projects, creativity, and talent. A graphic design portfolio is vital when trying to pursue opportunities as a graphic designer within a company or as a freelance graphic designer pursuing clients. The graphic design portfolio can contain any number of items, in several different formats.

The first important step in developing a graphic design portfolio is deciding what work to include. You should only include your highest quality work in your graphic design portfolio. If you include mediocre work in your graphic design portfolio simply because you are concerned about not having enough pieces in your graphic design portfolio, you will lose important job offers and clients. It is better to have a few pieces in your graphic design portfolio that really showcase your talent and creativity than have many pieces that do not help you build a solid reputation as a graphic designer.

The next step in developing a graphic design portfolio is deciding what type of graphic design portfolio you want to create. There are four main types of graphic design portfolios: printed pages in a binder, an online graphic design portfolio, images placed on a graphic design portfolio CD, or a slideshow of images placed on a graphic design portfolio DVD. Really, it is best to create one of each type of graphic design portfolio so that you are fully prepared to offer whatever your prospective employer or client is prepared to look at to judge your talent and creativity as a graphic designer.

You can see that there’s practical value in learning more about Graphic Design. Can you think of ways to apply what’s been covered so far?

To create a graphic design portfolio of printed pages, you should choose only your best work, and only the best quality printed copies. If you are unsure of the quality of your home printer, put the images on a disk and have them printed for you at a print shop. The best quality and most creative pieces can look mediocre if not printed with high quality printing. You should then present the pieces in a professional manner. The best color for a graphic design printed portfolio is black, and the most professional style is leather. This should be something that is spiral bound, a book, or a case so that you can add or remove pieces from your graphic design portfolio easily as you progress in your graphic design career.

To create a graphic design portfolio online, you will first need web space. Website hosting and domain registration has become very cost effective. Most websites also give you free website building tools so that you don’t have to know HTML. However, make sure that you sign up for website hosting with enough bandwidth to handle all of the images and potential traffic. Once you have your website set up, you’ll want to choose your pieces carefully. Display them as thumbnails on one page, with each full scale piece appearing on another page when the thumbnail is clicked. This will give people with slower internet access easier access to your online graphic design portfolio.

To create a graphic design portfolio on DVD or CD, you must have a computer with a DVD or CD burner. To make really professional DVD or CD graphic design portfolios, you will want to get a CD or DVD burning kit that allows you to burn images onto the top of the CD or DVD and create labels for jewel cases. You can either save individual pieces on the CD or DVD, or you can simply save a copy of your website on the disc.

Of course, it’s impossible to put everything about Graphic Design into just one article. But you can’t deny that you’ve just added to your understanding about Graphic Design, and that’s time well spent.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO