Science Horizons

Packaging is the ultimate opportunity to attract customers and to ensure that they choose your product from among the group of competing products. It can highlight your brand and help set apart your product on a display shelf. That is exactly the reason why packaging design is vital. It is the last piece in the marketing puzzle, and several studies have shown that careful alterations in packaging design can noticeably boost consumers’ response.

Thus it is of immense importance to have professionals look after the packaging design of your product. An expert will know what the best graphic design, form, and material is that will suit your product, and also what a consumer is expecting.

A specialist designer has the know how of both graphic design and packaging design as he possibly would have received specific training in it. They know how to develop a good package, which is both attractive and better in terms of functionality. A good packaging in terms of these two factors will make the consumers much more satisfied when they begin using the product on a regular basis.

Consumers will respond more positively to the product if the graphic designs on the packaging are attractive and have been used carefully, keeping in mind the type of the product. A well selected graphic design also ensures that the consumer is conscious of your brand name while buying and while using the product, which is important for creating a favourable brand image. A pro packaging designer understands these finer details, and by making skillful use of graphic design, he will see that your product surpasses the competition.

Thus, if you feel the packaging design of your product is letting you down, you must go to a pro packaging designer for assistance. If you commit a mistake at this vital aspect, you may end up seeing your product rotting at the shelf.

Discover how creative catalog designs can accelerate your business growth using qualified graphic design. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.

Isaac Jones 1 Advertising, brochure design, Business, catalog, Graphics, Marketing, packaging design

A catalog with striking graphic design can make it a great marketing tool, which can be at times as effective as an actual sales person. A potential consumer can take his time to deliberate upon buying a specific article after having discussed with his friends and family by using it. Thus, it is very crucial that a catalog is organized and printed in the most effective and appealing way to draw a positive response from the consumers.

A catalog should always be able to emphasize the products instead of making them look overshadowed. Therefore without any compromise, you should first concentrate on the colour scheme and layout of the main graphic components so that the product images in the catalog do not look trite to the consumer. Advanced graphic design software can help you work with different colours and gradients, and their colour picker tools can help you select the colour palette that you are most comfortable working with.

The next thing to deliberate upon is how all the text will be displayed on the catalog. You can also check out the suitability and effectiveness of various fonts and colours in advance by making use of graphics tools. The text must be such that it lays out in a brief way all the best features that the products have to offer, basically driving home the point in a few words.

After the basic image and text layout is decided, one should concentrate on selectively adding good looking imagery to the catalog. Modern graphic design with sleek appearance gives the catalog a certain splendour that is required to keep the customers hooked and interested in the product. For such graphic designs, either an expert designer can be hired or if you are creative enough and have some knowledge in this area then you can create one by your self.

While incorporating the decorative elements to the catalog you can make great use of the pre designed graphics that come with the modern graphic design software. This will save you a lot of effort and will ensure good quality results.

Once the above mentioned steps are taken care of, you would need a good printing firm to print the desired number of copies of the catalog for handing out to customers. You can let a designer from the printing firm recommend some final improvements on the catalog that you have made, as an expert’s opinion always helps to improve the output. Moreover, he can also let you know if the design would come out as good as it looks on a computer monitor.

Discover how creative catalog designs can accelerate your business growth using qualified graphic design professionals. Don’t reprint this exact article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.

Lenie Smith Graphics brochure, brochure design, Business, catalog, design, graphic design, Graphics, Packaging

Have you ever thought that a pamphlet can be one of the most compelling of all your selling materials?

It is a simple piece of paper but the first impact that your pamphlet produces is profound. If it’s shabby and unattractive your prospect is left with the same opinion. This will slow your business growth.

Having a brochure professionally designed and printed is a key to success in a packed marketplace. Taking the time to make sure that your booklet presents all the key data in a way that is easily understood is something that only a professional can do.

If you are just starting out in business you may be tempted to do your leaflet yourself. When I first started in business I did everything myself – not a good choice. That is why it took me 12 years before I was even comparatively successful. Heed my warning – go professional from day one on your marketing materials. They are an investment and not an expense. Professionally created materials will deliver you customers and the cash flow to follow – the reason why you are in business.

A booklet has to use eye-catching design. It has to be brief in terms of the message and last but not the least, it must be successful in enticing people to make that call of action.

Here are three key design principles to follow when creating a booklet. Use them and you will see your results flow.

1. The cover:

The cover is your sales rep. Leaflets are quite inactive creatures and you are not often able to ‘walk’ individuals through your pamphlet. So you need to excite people to read further. The cover is the starting point so must be tantalizing and sharing the KEY values of WHY someone should read further. It should answer the WIFM question – What’s in it for me.

A good design company will show you at least three to four cover designs for your brochure. Analyse these designs to see which excites you the most. Ask your protagonists their impression. Does the cover answer the question WIFM? If it doesn’t energise and answer the WIFM question, then skip to another design that works or get it redesigned. Taking the time here to get it right will pay bounties later.

2. The Content:

Once they are past the front then the content has to become the sales representative. So once again, the pressure is on to be good. Do not opt for cheap inept content writers or ask the designer to write the content or worst still do it yourself. Instead make sure that a professional copywriter is doing the work. If your design company does not have a copywriter then engage one yourself.

Ensure that all the key questions that a prospective client will have about your product are answered in a way that gets them to call you for more information. Do not go into ‘overkill mode’ and flood them with too much information at this point in time. Remember the brochure’s job is to excite and get people to call you.

3. The call for action:

If your future customer has read the brochure then you have done a great job. All you need to do now is give them a compelling reason to contact you NOW.

Having things like a free call 0800 or’00 number distinctly shown (in big letters) can make a essential difference. Having an email address is a clear bonus. Make sure these two are clearly placed in large clear type.

Even give your customers a special coupon on the pamphlet or reference code can help. But above all, ensure that you add a clear call to action. One way to do this is to readdress the KEY value of your service to your prospect in a way that will get them to take action. Remember value is everything. People only purchase something that is of value to THEM.

4. The bit that got forgotten:

I did this on purpose and only said there were three points. Well the final point is the one that can get omitted. It is the ‘dummy’ one. Have you checked that you have these on your booklet:

Phone number | Fax number | Email address | Web address | Country of operation | City / area of operation | Company name | And have you proof read for typo and grammar errors?

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Bill Wong Graphics Advertising, brochure, brochure design, Business, graphic design, Graphics, marketing materials

Custom 3d models are in most cases not easy to make when you don’t possess the 3d skills and experience. You also have to be familiar with the required tools, including many 3d software programs and plugins and keep up with the trends in the 3d industry.

3D models are representations of real objects virtually and are generated and displayed via computer software. This means that the way you chose or require your 3d modeling services firm to display it, the interface and plugins as well as the angle are all very important because the width and depth changes depending on the point of view or camera angle that is represented.

These virtual representations start as simple meshes comprised on polygons and are later rendered via specific and powerful applications into 2D renders or images. For this step you will need very good rendering skills that can get you renders of custom 3d models that are realistic looking and highly detailed.

These 3d models initially look like wireframes comprised on points and lines. The more detailed the denser the wireframe. They are then rendered via specific software and plugins and into file formats that can be used by graphic artists for a variety of projects including avatars and environments for real life worlds, in the health care fields, including models of internal organs, simulations, and of course print materials, tutorials, games engines, etc.

Generally talented individuals make and customize 3D models enjoy spending a lot of time on the computer, pay attention to details and have artistic inclinations. However, this might not be enough when on a time crunch or in a driven business environment where cutting costs is important.

Your budget as well as the amount of time that you have available to complete the task can play a part in whether your team uses an existing and reliable 3d modeling service or invests time in learning this new skill. There are many benefits when make your own custom 3d models because you get what you need; you imagine it and create it.

The drawback of trying to make your own 3d models is that professional quality 3D models that are customized to your needs are rarely produced quickly, even by the highly skilled 3d modelers. This can mean a lot of time lost and may make this not a very good solution to pursue. However, dependable 3d modeling services will generally offer custom 3d models or customization of stock 3d models by experienced 3d modelers with faster delivery time because they specialize in just doing this and don’t have to go through the learning curve that perhaps you or your team might have to in order to achieve the same results.

The bottom line when considering on using 3d modeling services is the actual return on your investment. This is because it usually comes down to the price vs. the time that can be lost during production if you decide not to outsource your 3d needs. Another thing to take into account is that your team members or employees may not have the abilities or wish to even try to make their own 3d models.

Using 3D modeling services is common for businesses like ad agencies, medical professionals, video makers and architects due to their ability to cut down their costs and getting the custom 3d models done fast. Creating 3d models is normally just too slow and occasionally too dear compared to the cost of just getting custom 3d models.

When looking to learning new program interfaces, select the 3d modeling software carefully. Keep in mind this like easy of use, intuitive interface, features, licensing cost, plugins available, upgrades, and the king of formats and results that you can achieve. There are some open source applications available but be aware that they may lack some of the features of paid professional software, not have enough documentation or support. In fact, start slow and use tutorials that help you build straightforward and simple object and continue to each day learn more about it.

Therefore, when you get your custom 3d models made by 3d modeling services you save time and money. However, before you go ahead and get these services, consider putting a comprehensive list of the things you need. After all, the more time you put into making the decision to use the services and defining your requirements, the more satisfied you will be with the results that you will get.

You can see more examples of using existing 3d models to create high quality custom 3d models with stock 3d models from existing libraries, like FlatPyramid.com. They also offer stock 3d models and offer 3d modeling services and for this month only they have some very detailed ones available for download.

Ron Pietsch Graphics 3d, 3d modeling, 3d modeling and rendering, 3d modeling services, 3d models, Animation, Architectural rendering, buy 3d models, computer graphics, custom 3d modeling, custom 3d models, graphic design, Graphics, rendering, visual effects

The Magic Wand is one of three tools in Photoshop which are dedicated to making selections. When I run courses on Photoshop, tools like the magic wand and the clone tools are usually the ones which everyone finds the easiest to start using because they give such immediate results. The Magic Wand works by selecting colours within the image adjacent and similar to any pixel that you click on. Pixels of dissimilar colour act as barriers to selection and so the selection ripples outwards from the point you click on.

Typically, when using the magic wand, you will select part of the area that you want with your first click and you will then need to add and subtract from the selection, perhaps switching to the other selection tools from time to time. Photoshop offers you two ways of modifying a selection: you can either use modifier keys on you keyboard or activate the modifier icons on the options panel normally displayed below your menu bar.

To add more pixels to your selection, hold down the Shift key while clicking with the Magic Wand on a part of the image which is not yet selected. To subtract from the selection, hold down the Alt key and click on the part of the selection which you wish to deselect. The selection modifier icons are situated on the left of the options panel. There are four of them: new selection, add to selection, subtract from selection and select intersection. These icons effectively allow you to change selection mode on a permanent basis. Thus, for example, you could click on the second of the four icons when using the Magic Wand and click continually on different parts of a subject until it was completely selected.

Sometimes, you can benefit from the Magic Wand’s ability to select areas of uniform colour even if your subject does not contain uniform areas of colour. Say, for example, you want to select a subject against a uniform background such as a wall or the sky, a simple trick is to use the magic wand to select the background and then invert the selection by choosing Select – Inverse. A slight variation on this technique is to make a rough selection which completely encloses the subject as well some of the background and then to use the Magic Wand in subtract mode to remove the background from the selection.

The number of pixels which the Magic Wand selects when you click on part of the image can be controlled by changing a setting called tolerance. Tolerance determines how far a pixel can vary from the pixel that you click on and still be included in the selection. The default tolerance is 32 and the maximum is 255.

Georgia Rose Photography adobe, Computers, desktop publishing, Graphics, information technology, Photography, photoshop training

The Marquee, the Magic Wand and the Lasso are the three main tools for making selections in Adobe Photoshop. The Lasso is one of those tools with several options. To reveal the different modes it offers, click on the tool and hold. The three different modes of the Lasso are freehand, polygonal and magnetic.

The Freehand Lasso, as you can probably imagine, puts the onus on the user to manually trace the shape of the area to be selected. If using a mouse, it requires a steady hand; not to mention a decent mouse. This mode works best if used in conjunction with a graphic tablet where the mouse is replaced with a pressure-sensitive pen.

The polygonal Lasso is used for drawing polygons, shapes made up of straight lines. This tool is great for selected elements in an image which have straight edges, such as boxed products, pillars and buildings. Unlike the freehand Lasso, where you hold the mouse button down as you outline the area to be selected, with the polygonal Lasso you simply click repeated around the area to be selected and Photoshop joins the points you click on.

Magnetic Lasso mode is the cleverest option that the Lasso tool offers. In this mode, Photoshop recognises edges within the image automatically and creates a shape as you move the cursor around the area to be selected. It creates the shape by automatically placing points around the area to be selected. You can also click yourself to add points if Photoshop occasionally doesn’t seem to understand where you want the points to be placed. If Photoshop plain gets it wrong and places a point where it’s not suppose to be, just press the Backspace key to remove the point and the segment of the path that comes after it.

Irrespective of which Lasso variation you use to make a selection, Photoshop offers two ways to close and complete the selection. The first method is to click on the point you started from. To make this a little easier to achieve, when you position the cursor in exactly the right place, Photoshop displays a tiny circle next to the cursor. The second method is to double-click at any point. This technique causes Photoshop to unceremoniously close the shape by drawing a straight line from the point on which you double-click back to the point you started from.

Ryan Rose Photography adobe, Computers, desktop publishing, Graphics, information technology, Photography, photoshop training

The Magic Wand is one of three tools in Photoshop which are dedicated to making selections. When I run courses on Photoshop, tools like the magic wand and the clone tools are usually the ones which everyone finds the easiest to start using because they give such immediate results. The Magic Wand works by selecting colours within the image adjacent and similar to any pixel that you click on. Pixels of dissimilar colour act as barriers to selection and so the selection ripples outwards from the point you click on.

As you can imagine, you will not normally completely select your intended subject with one click when you are using the magic wand to make selections. Typically, you will select part of the area that you want and you will then need to add and subtract from the selection, perhaps switching to the other selection tools from time to time. Photoshop offers you two ways of modifying a selection: you can either use modifier keys on you keyboard or activate the modifier icons on the options panel normally displayed below your menu bar.

To subtract from the selection, hold down the Alt key and click on the part of the selection which you wish to deselect. To add to a selection, hold down the Shift key while clicking with the Magic Wand on a part of the image which is not yet selected. The selection modifier icons are situated on the left of the options panel at the Photoshop interface. There are four of them: new selection, add to selection, subtract from selection and select intersection. These icons effectively allow you to change selection mode on a permanent basis. Thus, for example, you could click on the second of the four icons when using the Magic Wand and click continually on different parts of a subject until it was completely selected.

If you want to select a subject against a uniform background such as a wall or the sky, a simple trick is to use the magic wand to select the background and then invert the selection by choosing Select – Inverse. A slight variation on this technique is to make a rough selection which completely encloses the subject as well some of the background and then to use the Magic Wand in subtract mode to remove the background from the selection.

The number of pixels which the Magic Wand selects when you click on part of the image can be controlled by changing a setting called tolerance. Tolerance determines how far a pixel can vary from the pixel that you click on and still be included in the selection. The default tolerance is 32 and the maximum is 255.

Edward Alexander Photography adobe, Computers, desktop publishing, Graphics, information technology, Photography, photoshop training

Graphic design refers to artistic and professional tasks which focus on visual communication and presentation in order to communicate an idea or concept. An assortment of methods is used to create and combine symbols, images and words to create a visual depiction of ideas and messages. A graphic artist/designer is one who does the designs graphics. Graphic design software programs provide all of the professional and creative tools that one will need for drawing, photo editing, web graphics, logos, page layout, painting, image design and editing, illustration, and other design processes.

There is no one best digital design computer program. However, there are specific software programs that are better for certain graphic design tasks. One should choose programs for digital design based on the task that will be performed.

Professional graphic designers tend to use graphic designing software that contain page layout software, graphics software, and word processing software. Adobe products of graphic design applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are a few of the best graphic design software. As well, Corel products are top selling products of graphic design software programs. Top Corel products include CorelDRAW, Corel Ventura layout software, and Corel Photo-Paint.

Microsoft produces Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Office Publisher which is used in page layout for print. Quark Press Serif produces a number of Web design applications for graphics, but the primary graphic design software application is Serif Page Plus. The latest versions from Adobe, Corel, and Serif can be downloaded or purchased as a hardcopy.

A few top software programs for graphic design include:

Avanquest Design and Print Business Edition: This software allows designers to create and publish various sales and public relations materials such as greeting cards, postcards and flyers.

Greenstreet Publishing Studio: This design software allows one to make documents in a number of languages. One can edit photos with added filters, borders and image effects.

Broderbund Print Master: This software is filled with templates such as brochures, flyers, posters and other office forms. Photo and image editing is included. It is very use-friendly.

Print Shop Pro Publisher: This award-winning program allows one to edit photos and images, produce unlimited designs, and use clip-arts for a variety of projects.

Logos: For commercial printing, scalable EPS graphics are the format that designers choose because they can be easily imported into most major page layout programs. Vector-based drawing programs allow more flexibility when creating artwork that is to be resized or must go through numerous edits. Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, and Macromedia Freehand are examples of vector-based graphics software for logo design.

Print Artist: This software contains a broad range of images, design, templates and fonts.

Graphic Design Software for Photo-Editing and Illustration: Adobe and Corel provide most of the professional level graphics software choices. Bitmap graphics tools are needed for working with photos, scans, or other images. Adobe Photoshop, Corel Photo-Paint, Corel Paint Shop Pro, and The GIMP are top choices.

With the right digital design software, you can create just about any print or Web design project.

Amy Nutt Graphics digital art, graphic design, Graphics, programs, Software, software programs

The Marquee, the Magic Wand and the Lasso are the three main tools for making selections in Adobe Photoshop. The Lasso is one of those tools with several options. To reveal the different modes it offers, click on the tool and hold. The three different modes of the Lasso are freehand, polygonal and magnetic.

Freehand mode, as you can probably imagine, puts the onus on the user to manually trace the shape of the area to be selected. If using a mouse, it requires a steady hand; not to mention a decent mouse. This mode works best if used in conjunction with a graphic tablet where the mouse is replaced with a pressure-sensitive pen.

Polygonal Lasso mode is used for drawing polygons, shapes made up of straight lines. This tool is great for selected elements in an image which have straight edges, such as boxed products, pillars and buildings. Unlike the freehand Lasso, where you hold the mouse button down as you outline the area to be selected, with the polygonal Lasso you simply click repeated around the area to be selected and Photoshop joins the points you click on.

Magnetic Lasso mode is the cleverest option that the Lasso tool offers. In this mode, Photoshop recognises edges within the image automatically and creates a shape as you move the cursor around the area to be selected. It creates the shape by automatically placing points around the area to be selected. You can also click yourself to add points if Photoshop occasionally doesn’t seem to understand where you want the points to be placed. If Photoshop plain gets it wrong and places a point where it’s not suppose to be, just press the Backspace key to remove the point and the segment of the path that comes after it.

Irrespective of which Lasso variation you use to make a selection, Photoshop offers two ways to close and complete the selection. The first method is to click on the point you started from. To make this a little easier to achieve, when you position the cursor in exactly the right place, Photoshop displays a tiny circle next to the cursor. The second method is to double-click at any point. This technique causes Photoshop to unceremoniously close the shape by drawing a straight line from the point on which you double-click back to the point you started from.

Christopher Mason Photography adobe, Computers, desktop publishing, Graphics, information technology, Photography, photoshop training

Adobe Photoshop CS4 provides us with a great tool for getting an overview of the tonal range of an image: the Histogram panel (Window – Histogram). The histogram is basically a chart which shows how many pixels are present at each luminosity value, with dark pixels on the left and lighter pixels on the right. If no selection is made, the histogram reflects all the pixels in the image. It is also possible to select just part of an image and use the histogram to examine the distribution of pixels just within the selected area. If the image consists of multiple layers, Photoshop displays a pop-up menu which allows you to choose either “Entire Image” or “Selected Layer” to determine which pixels are included in the output shown in the histogram.

A lot of photographs which were shot in average lighting and which contain a variety of colours will have a bell-shaped curve with the most pixels in the middle of the histogram and the number of pixels gradually tailing off in the lighter area to the left and right.

Naturally, photographs can feature any number of subjects, be shot under different lighting conditions and have different artistic aims. Thus, for example, if an image deliberately has a lot of white: say a white sofa against a white wall, the histogram will have a peak on the left with pixels tailing off in the middle and right. In the context of this image, the skewed shape of the histogram is perfectly healthy. Similarly, if you look at the histogram of a photograph shot at night, don’t be surprised to see a very lopsided chart with most of the pixels on the right… So how do you use the histogram to spot tonal problems in an image?

If an image lacks contrast, then its histogram usually has a tell-tale shape. Images that lack contrast have a histogram where the number of pixels tails off to zero or close to zero in the brightest and darkest parts of the image. Such images tend to have a dull, muddy appearance.

One of the easiest techniques for correcting the problem of an image that lacks contrast is to use the Levels command. Choose Image – Adjustments – Levels and, in the Levels dialog, drag the right triangle over to the right to the position where the pixel distribution falls to nothing. Next, drag the left triangle which represents the white point of the image over to the right to where the pixels disappear. When you click OK, you will notice that the image has a lot more contrast and sharpness.

David James Photography adobe, Computers, desktop publishing, Graphics, information technology, Photography, photoshop training