#JustDesignerThings Illustrated, Written & Designed by
NADINE GRACIAS
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CONTENT When you say you’re studying Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05 Graphic Designers v/s Regular people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 Graphic Designers v/s Clients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 To be a Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Murphy’s Law - for Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Illustrated, Written & Designed by
NADINE GRACIAS March 2017
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HELLO!!
Introduction
Hey there! I’m Lizzie, a designer. Being a designer, seems very easy to people. Some think it can’t be the only occupation, others feel its just a backup when you don’t get into engineering or medicine. It must not be that way. Design is an enormous field, so much to learn and do! Through this zine, I want to share with you some thoughts and situations that I have gone through, being a designer. If you’re a designer too, and can totally relate to this; express your emotions and feelings via social media by simply using the hash-tag #JustDesignerThings.
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...When you say you’re studying Design 5
What is Design? Fashion design? Architecture? Fine art? are some of the common questions asked. No! Design is not just the above, its much more! Its an immense growing field. Design is the creation of a plan or convention for the construction of an object, system or measurable human interaction. Design has different connotations in different fields like Graphic Design, Public Space Design , Human Interaction and interface, Film, Illustration (are just a few to name).
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Oh! You’re a Designer, so all you do is draw? Yes, we’re designers, No we don’t just draw all day. We conceptualise, have a creative mind of finding solutions to problems and making sure they are feasible. A designer can be an illustrator, graphic designer, animator, film-maker, textile designer etc. all in one. Being a designer is not just one occupation, its many combined.
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Oh! You seem like a designer! ( What people think Designers look like )
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Drawing & all is okay, but what job will you get? Is this going to be your only profession? In today’s world everything is moving towards design. Be it from engineering coding and interaction, Creating advertisement campaigns, branding a hospital, a brochure, magazine, the chair you sit on, the websites you visit, movies you watch, the car you drive, the clothes you wear, are just a few to name of what a designer does. Yes, it is the only profession I will be working with. Design is a broad and growing field, much needed in today’s world. It is well paying and also provides immense pleasure for that.
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Can you Design this for me? I can’t pay you, but you will gain a lot of exposure. Why? Designers like a little publicity as much as the next guy, but it won’t pay the bills. Freelance designers, in particular, have none of the benefits of traditional employment — they pay their own taxes and insurance, buy their own equipment and supplies, often maintain a home office, etc. All of those costs (not to mention regular living expenses) have to be taken into consideration when designers set their rates. So doing a job for free or for non-monetary compensation usually just isn’t a viable option.
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...Graphic Designer v/s Regular People 11
Resolution
Resolution to them, Is the commitment they make, The goals they set, The vows they take. To us, Graphic Designers, Its about the images we create, Seeing that they’re sharp and clear And promising it will not pixelate. Regular People
Graphic Designers
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Regular People
Colour
For them, Yellow is just a single colour Be it with various tints or shades It still doesn’t matter For us, Graphic Designers, Yellow is just the primary colour, Forming hundreds of variations, More hues and saturations, Be it honey, beige or ochre.
Graphic Designers
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Regular People
KISS To them, Kiss is just a way of expressing love and passion, From a mother to a child, Husband to a wife. To us, Graphic Designers, It reads as “Keep it Simple, Stupid,� One of the top rules of Graphic Design, Which makes the layout vivid.
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Graphic Designers
Graphic Designers
Regular People
Space
Space to them, Is the science and the universe, Or matter that they see, The environment and the trees. Space to Graphic Designers, Its the size of beauty we steal, The white space in-between and A relaxing way for the eye to feel. 15
Fed-ex
For them, Fed Ex is just a delivery van A delivery service, That transports things over night. For us Graphic Designers, Its the logo that matters, The symbol of an arrow moving Forward between the type, Is what catches our eye.
Regular People
Graphic Designers
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...Graphic Designer v/s Clients 17
Clients
Content
Clients want a lot of Content in they layout, If we try to adjust They scream and they shout. But what they don’t get Is that, they will regret By not putting less Ends up making a mess. But if that satisfies them, We shall not stress.
Graphic Designers
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Clients
Typography
They want fancy looking typography And think that it works, Curves and scripts, They think does the trick. For us, a simple serif or sans-serif, Like a Bodoni, Helvetica, Or a Times New Roman, Helps immensely for better Communication.
Graphic Designers
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Clients
Image Source
They pick Google for images When its what they need A few clicks on the internet And they fill up their feed. We prefer photography It’s what we use to lead Us to click the pictures Required for work or fun.
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Graphic Designers
Graphic Designers
Concept
A good concept is needed To give things a kick start, It helps forms the base, Letting us work on each part But the problem that follows, Soon after we write, Is that the clients complain Saying, “That’s not right!” To see them erase All the nights work we’ve done, Without leaving a trace.
Clients
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Gains
Clients
When the work is done, And the relationship ends There is benefit on both sides Which now become friends Their brand upliftment And the increase in the cash-flow While we gain knowledge and experience And wait for another chance to glow.
Graphic Designers
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...To be a designer, (you can relate) 23
Creative Process
When a project arrives, I wonder how an idea will derive. Having no idea of what I am doing Eventually the panic button is what I’m hitting. Closer to the deadline,and with a lot of stress, Satisfied with the work, How I did that? I’m clueless.
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Fonts
The battle begins, when you see a new font Hoping you can have it, Cause that’s what designers want. The fonts we own, are always a few, From where to find the other typefaces Is as tough as finding a treasure’s clue.
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Pick any two
The client arrived, With a design for us to do, He wanted it fast cheap and great Dear client, pick any two, “Then he thought and thought, And took a leap, Asked for something quick and cheap! So we got to work With no time to waste And designed him something in a haste, What he paid for, was exactly what he got The design was a mess Which turned him red hot So we said to him “Dear client, you picked the wrong two” The designs success was all, In the choices made by you.
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How Design is made?
Behind the scenes, a designer sits, Up all night, dawn to dusk Ideating and creating, a design that will last. The world out there, Doesn’t know that, that’s how its done, They think design is made By pressing the “Make Design” button.
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The Struggle is Real,
When you’re so engrossed with work, And need some accuracy, That’s when the software plays Hide & Seek. Trying to get that right number of 90mm But what hits is 88.98mm and a 91.25mm.
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Murphy’s Laws ( for designers) 1. Your computer will crash at the worst time possible. 2. There will be typos on that critical document. 3. Your clients will love your least favorite design and hate your most loved. 4. Somebody has already done that design. 5. You get super creative when there a huge deadline is struck 6. The file is never in the format you need. 7. Creative inspiration flows in inverse proportion to the distance from the studio. 8. If you have two versions of a photo, you will send the wrong one to the printer. 9. If two designs are shown, a third will be requested. If provided, then one of the first two will be chosen. 10. You will never find the font when you need it.
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