graphic design Archives - Page 2 of 2

How to Improve the Colour Quality of your Printed Pictures

June 12, 2023June 12, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

The quality of the printers is improving fast. Nowadays a lot of colour printers have more than four cartridges, making sure all the tones are printed.

Yet, the extra cartridges are grey or black, never a colour, which means there are still colours you see on the screen that can’t be printed on paper.

Taking pictures and printing them on your colour printer can be disappointing. Sometimes the result is NOT what you expected. I’ll give you the reasons for that disappointing result and whether you can improve the colour quality of your precious photographs.

How Do Colours Affect Each Other and What Can We Do with this Information?

July 7, 2023June 5, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

One of the best books in my private library is “The Art of Colour: The Subjective Experience and Objective Rationale of Colour” by Johannes Itten, a teacher at the Bauhaus who I admire so much.

Of course, Itten’s notions are only one way of looking at colours. Many researchers, artists and scientists have constructed a colour theory as well. But logically, as a designer and artist, I have a strong affinity with a fellow artist.

Itten explains the reality of colour and the way we as humans perceive colours. Colours affect each other. That influence is an action of our brain. “Eye and mind can only by comparison or contrast come to a clear perception.”

How to Use Layers in Photoshop to Make a Festive Easter Card

April 5, 2023April 4, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

Using layers in any creative computer program is a marvellous way to enhance our creativity. In this article, I will explain how to use layers in Photoshop, applied to an Easter card.

Once you know how to benefit from working with layers, you can use them for any kind of creative expression.

Besides using them for masking, I often toggle between layers to turn them ‘on’ and ‘off’ so I can judge differences. Making variations and looking at which one pleases me most, is easy that way.

Why is Choosing the Right Font Important to be Competitive?

March 31, 2023March 31, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

Fonts have a look that tells something about the character of the person or company that chose them. For me, that has always been the main reason for the letter choices I made for a client. What should their appearance be?

But fonts have more aspects that influence that choice. It is important to know them in order to choose the right font.

While beautiful or ugly is one of those arguments, it is the least important of all. So, why is choosing the right font important?

What are the Rules of Corporate Identity that Can Stand the Test of Time?

March 27, 2023March 27, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

I was a graphic designer for 35 years, so I had to develop several technical skills over time. When I started in 1985 fax machines were quite new and there were no computers in the offices in the Netherlands.

Most printers had offset, although there were a few that still used letterpress printing. Designs were made on the drawing table. The design drawings were transposed by phototypesetting. And, we can hardly imagine this, there were no mobile phones, let alone the smart ones.

The main conclusion throughout the years was that the techniques may change, yet the rules of corporate identity will not.

Is Graphic Design a Good Career? Spoiler Alert: Yes, It Is!

March 17, 2023March 17, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

Nowadays I am retired, yet I have been a graphic designer for 35 years. There hardly was a day I felt reluctant to go to my studio to start my day. It goes without saying that the profession is still part of my heart.

The world has changed hugely in those 35 years, as you can imagine. After all, everything changes all the time.

The question “Is graphic design a good career choice” was frequently asked of me, both by my clients and by students and interns. Despite all the changes, I could always answer with a resounding yes.

How Does a Colourblind Person See the World? Be Considerate of Others.

February 16, 2023February 16, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

The biggest advantage of being a graphic designer is that you meet so many kinds of people and work for so many different types of companies.

Some clients wanted to talk as briefly as possible, while others shared more about their interests and their lives.

That’s how I found out that my printer was red-green colourblind and one of my clients was red-colourblind. How does a colourblind person see, became an interesting topic this way.

DIY: Do You Want to Design it Yourself?

January 26, 2022February 20, 2013 by Hannie Mommers

DIY or let an expert take care of your graphic design? What are the criteria to buy or make your graphic design? It can be necessary to make it yourself. It can be smart to let an expert do that. To know the difference you have to be very critical on your own abilities. Not … Read more