Posted by admin | Posted in Business Card, Graphic Design, Trends in Design | Posted on 02-07-2010
Got ideas for a clever 3-Dimensional design? Want to create something that will cause your customers or clients to do a double take at your piece rather than just tossing it in the trash? Afraid these ideas are going to empty your pocket book?
They don’t have to.
Thanks to the remarkable design software we have available today and the sheer limits of imagination there is very little you can’t accomplish with a simple postcard design.
If you have a great idea, don’t write it off simply because it would cost too much money. Instead look for alternative design tricks to accomplish the same thing. Let’s look at my favorite 3 approaches for ‘faking’ an expensive die-cut or 3-D design:
1. Layer. For that 3-D design you want to create but don’t have the budget, all you need is some creativity to create a 3-D design that will be looked at and then looked at again.
An example of this was a recent client that approached me about designing a “invitation” for an upcoming event. She wanted something that would be noticed and reminiscent of a traditional invitation. The catch? She wanted it to be a mail-ready postcard.
No problem? As you can see, I created a layered effect to simulate the the actual postcard was peeking out of an envelope. The client loved it! And the campaign has been very well received.
2. Add Texture. This may seem like a no-brainer and it is indeed one of the oldest tricks in the book, but adding nice textures and grains to your design pieces will create the illusion of either a linen type of stock or perhaps something more earthy like these wood grained business cards for a woodworking shop I designed recently. There are no ends to the types of textures you can use, to jumpstart your creativity, here are some ideas to get you started:
- Rust
- Metal
- Wood
- Fur
- Grunge
- Dirt
- Aged Paper
3.Think Outside the Proverbial Box. As we mentioned earlier, when your client approaches you with big ideas and a small budget help them think outside the box. Sometimes creating even “traditional” pieces with a twist can be huge attention grabbers. This happened with a project I worked on for some friends that were getting married. They wanted to be ‘different’ and sent out their ivitations as postcards.
So we did. After a photo shoot in a rose garden we had everything we needed to make a striking invitation that kept them under budget. Rather than the traditional light flowery colors, we went with bright and bold blacks, reds and whites.
The guests loved them. And these ‘wedding’ postcards received a lot of attention with other clients.
The bottom line is, regardless of your budget, a simple printed piece with the right design techniques can be astounding. Don’t be afraid to try something new (or something old!) and explore your options. Remember that you do not have to be confined to the 4 straight sides of a postcard, business card or other flat piece, you can use these sides as a platform to boost your design to the next level.



























The past couple of weeks I’ve been having migraines. Now, I’ve always been prone to headaches but recently my stress level has seemed to go through the roof and the resulting cycle is more headaches and I can get less accomplished, equally LESS prodcutivity which causes more stress resulting in more headaches. It’s a vicious cycle. Get it?
If you travel as much as I do and you’re as committed to keeping up with your work as I am, then you might be interested in some of the self sufficiency tips and toys I’ve acquired over the years.







lright, so let’s say your new client is an author. And they want you to design . . . . a bookmark! In an earlier post we touched on designing a bookmark as a promotional piece, but let’s take it a step farther tonight.
My friend and fellow designer @akd623 has inspired me to learn more about the Mesh tool in Illustrator and learn to use it to create awesome realistic illustrations. Tonight I played with the tool a bit and thought the perfect shape to start on would be circles! so I created some marbles using the tool for adding color/shading and light. Yes, I KNOW that the light source is different on all the marbles. Yes, I know they are different sizes and on different planes. That’s the beauty of “playing” I made the rules. =P
January 5th, 



