Ad Fed Blog

What does the designer of 2015 look like? What skills will he/she need to be a successfull communicator? Adobe and the AIGA have joined together to try and predict the answers.

The recent increase on postage for all your flat mail may have a significant impact on your business and how you design. If you’re like me, you will want to check out all of the new rate information on the USPS site to see how it may affect you.

Sustainable resources for the earth-friendly graphic designer at re-nourish.com. Learn which papers, inks, printers, and firms are eco-friendly and get educated on how to do the best yourself. Don’t forget to check out their blog as well.

So its finally here, and the integration between Adobe and the former Macromedia products has begun in earnest. Although it was interesting to hear about the new products and some nice new features, the most interesting part in watching the live Web cast was seeing the breakdown of technology happen once again. Midway through the Web cast the video that was hooked into the computers so we could all see the demonstrations must have gone bad - bad cable, bad video, bad computer - who knows - except we were all given a “5 minute” bathroom break as they took care of the problem. In looking at the software and thinking about computers, it is amazing how far we have come, yet it amazes me how often I watch a few technological problems bring a big presentation to a temporary halt. It happens so often, that at times its amazing when everything goes off without a hitch.

Do you send your print jobs to an online provider? Chances are that you have or soon will. By combining tens or hundreds of jobs together, these online providers are offering some amazing rates. But there are definitely things that you should be aware of before committing your money, or your clients, to one of these providers. If you are in a rush - and besides price that is often one of the main draws to online - be careful to look at shipping charges. While you may find an incredible price for your postcards, business cards, or brochures - getting it to you within several days may negate your savings. Getting in touch with a live person is also something that you should make sure you can do. If everything goes smoothly up front, and then you receive the product and its all wrong - who do you talk to? Finally, be sure you know how your items are being printed. Are they being run on a traditional press or printed on a digital version? Are post press activities such as trimming and folding being done on a professional maching run by skilled workers? Thankfully, most of the online providers are doing their best to make sure that you are happy with what you get by providing professional results and professional service. Whether the benefits outweigh all that a local provider can give is something you will have to decide for yourself - and often times - decide on a per project basis.

If your lucky, someone (who may be you) budgeted money to be spent at one of this years many design conferences. Here’s a list of a few you may be interested in:

• Photoshop World - April 4-6, Boston, MA 
• FUSE - April 16018, New York City, NY
• ADIM - April 25-28, San Jose, CS
• CRE8 Conference - May 8-10, Orlando, FL
• HOW Conference - June 10-13, Atlanta, GA
• NEXT - AIGA Design Conference - October 11-14, Denver, CO

One of the best blogs I’ve seen on design, marketing, and sales comes straight out of the upstate of our beloved South Carolina. Take a few minutes of your time to visit.

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Design Charts is a top 40 inspired site to the best of Web Design around the world. Taking into account the numerous awards Web designers are nominated and awarded, Design Charts then rates the best of the best based on the traffic generated to give every viewer an amazing glimpse into the sites of these creative geniuses. Check it out…I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Looking for just the right word but can’t seem to find it? Is it just taking too long to look through your hard copy thesaurus? Get help at visualthesaurus.com. The visual thesaurus is just that — a handy, visual-diagram representation to a thesarus in which you can easily move in the direction thats going to work best for you.