Choosing a Background Color: PLATES

White, grey, black, brown, green, what is the best color for plating food?  I'm not a chef, I don't pretend to be a chef. I do know design though.  When you think of a well thought out plate of food, you usually want to create something that is both mouthwatering delicious and also visually pleasing (so people will try what is on the plate).  I only know this from past experience of spending most of my life ONLY eating things that visually look delicious.  Luckily I have grown out of my skepticism of food that isn't orange or covered in icing.

If we think about how we use design and color to compliment the meal, this is when a delicious plate of food goes from delicious to THIS IS SO DELICIOUS, I HAVE TO POST ABOUT THIS NOW.  Don't lie, we've have all been there.  Choosing a plate to complement the main focus "the food", I think depends on the meal itself.  Using a green plate for a yellow curry dish, does not seam like an appetizing plate of food.  Using a black or cobalt grey dish for a vibrant yellow curry is a much better compliment to the food itself. Consider choosing a background color (the plate) for your meal next time you a cooking to impress.

Feeling Moody - Essential Mood Board Training

Great design don't always just pop out of nowhere. Mood boards cultivate ideas, and when trying to develop, nothing helps bridge the gap between the idea person and person who creates like a mood board can.

Mood Board Essentials :

 1. Name - give your mood board a name that excites you about the project, and what it can become.  If you start with a boring name, the project will be come boring.

  2. The Hunt - Finding objects, colors, tones, language, lines, photography, filters, applications that inspire you for the project at hand.  Specifically identify the aspects of these items which you would like to bring into your new project.  The idea is not copy, but to use items from all aspects relating to the project to inspire you to create something new.

  3. Edit - Once you have collected all of the elements which inspire this project, edit them.  When you started hunting for inspiration, you may have been going in one direction but realized somewhere along the way there were better paths to take.  So delete or separate all of the items that no longer belong in this project.

  4. Implement - You may not use every idea that you found will on your inspirational journey.  Actually, please don't use every aspect in your mood board all at once.  Save some of the goodness that remains in your mood board for a rainy day, you never know when a few extra assets will need to be created.

Hitting The Wall - Knowing When To Put The Mouse Down

At some point we all hit a wall.  Solution: oxygen.   I realize when I have hit a creative wall, when I realize I've gone around a design challenge and made it full circle to where I started.  That is when I know, time to get some oxygen.  It is incredible the amount of creativity and clarity that can come with taking a 5 minute walk outside, or just sitting outside for 5 minutes. Sometimes being so close to a project can cause you to lose a sense of your surroundings.  Take a break, check in with the outside world and refocus for more productive design time.

Page Density - Web design 101

Density - the degree of compactness of a substance in an outlined area.

Some websites have a lot to say; and they should be able to say all of the things they would like to say.  When websites say too much, the page becomes too dense.  When a website become too dense with text or graphics, the messaging can be too overwhelming for the viewer.  Finding the balance of text, graphics, imagery, and blank space is tricky.  That is why most businesses hire someone like me to create their website.  

An easy rule to page density, is to create a small amount of copy which is rich in content.  Catching the viewer's attention with a short "want to learn more" tone leads people to continue reading and learn about all which your business has to offer.