Ad Fed Blog

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

A link to some fantastic 19th century shipping posters via Drawn.

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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.

Gerard Huerta has helped define the logotypes of some of the top magazine publications including Time, People, and Traveler. An illustrator and typographer in one, his incredible talent can be viewed throughout his site. You can also check out his work on ArtDaily.org.

I loved lenticular technology when I was a kid. The Cracker Jack prizes were cool, but my cousin gave me a couple NASA postcards that blew my mind. You don’t see these kinds of prints much anymore, but with new applications they may be makeing a comeback.

Take a look at this soccer poster from XYZ-RGB. Wow.

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.  

It’s always a treat to spend a few minutes looking through the great design work posted in the AIGA Design Archives. Divided into twelve categories including book, illustration, environmental graphics, and experience design — there really is a little bit of everything here for you to enjoy and get inspired by.

On a totally unrelated side note, who knew there was an International Council of Graphic Design Associates?

If your looking for premium linkage, the Designer’s Jumpola is the place to go.