A Wrench is Not a Hammer
The general purpose of these articles is to define and educate buyers of graphic design services. This particular article strays from that stated purpose, so some readers may wish to skim the technical discussions which form the focus of the first part of the article, and skip to the “Why Does It Matter to Me?” section that discusses the ramifications of designers knowing the tools they are using.
In your local hardware store, there is a section devoted to tools, and in that section is a subsection devoted to hammers. The hammer section includes not only the general utility hammers found in most homes, but also a bewildering array of specialty hammers, such as ball peen, drywall, framing, tacking, etc. All the other tools have a similar array of options, designed to allow an experienced individual to select the best tool for the job.
Just as different tools are designed for different tasks, graphic designers must choose the best tools to accomplish their goals.
Stages of a Graphic Design Project
Almost every graphic design project goes through five stages: research, conception, execution, publishing and analysis. In the research stage, the client and the target market are examined; in conception, the idea that will drive the design is created; in execution, this idea is turned into a finished design, ready for publication. Once published, the design process is not yet complete, because the final result must be measured to determine effectiveness. For many designs, execution is the make-or-break time that determines whether or not a concept can go from the ‘neat idea’ stage to effective design. This is the time for the designer to select the best tools for the job.
Some designers prefer to conceptualize on the computer; others prefer to use traditional materials for their concepts. Regardless of the method used, the designer must keep the concept separate from the concept sketch. It is inadvisable for the designer to begin the execution stage by modifying the concept sketch. If the computer will be used for execution, then using the sketch (either computer-generated or scanned in) as a background layer may be useful, but taking a low resolution sketch done in Photoshop and trying to turn it into a final print piece or website is a recipe for disaster.
Choosing the Proper Tools
Graphic design tools can be grouped into four categories: drawing tools, image-editing tools, assembly tools, and delivery tools. The drawing tools and image-editing tools are used for creating content to be assembled, and then all of the elements are packed for delivery. In web design, the assembly and delivery tool can be one and the same, but in print design and interactive design they can often be separate tools. This overview also ignores another tool — the word processing tool. This article assumes that you, the design buyer, are providing the copy (text) for the design.
Selecting between using drawing tools and image-editing tools is often the greatest challenge for the designer, especially for less experienced designers, and this choice can have the greatest impact on the finished product. Making the right selection is often a problem for self-taught individuals, who may have access to only one program, or may only feel comfortable using what they already know (the adage of “When all you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail”). Also, recent versions of these programs have blurred the lines between these tools, and the best choice may not be the most obvious choice.
Trying to use a wrench to drive a nail is a frustrating process that usually produces less than ideal results. Beware of ‘professionals‘ that use non-industry standard programs; word-processing and presentation programs are not design tools and will not produce professional results. Neither are ‘home-publishing‘ programs designed to function in a professional manner. The assumption with these programs is that you will be creating and printing the piece on the same machine, which may work for twenty brochures, but will you print 2000 flyers on your office inkjet?
Creating Design Elements
Often the best way to determine which program to use is to consider the starting and ending points of the element being created. An element existing only as a sketch will probably be created in a drawing program, whereas a photographic element will often be manipulated in an image-editing program. However, it is easy for the roles to be reversed — recreating a logo that is now only available in printed form is done best in a drawing program, even though that logo could be scanned into the image-editing program. Many designers and illustrators are able to create amazing ‘digital paintings’ in an image-editing program from their imagination or from a rough sketch.
The Destination of the Element
The destination of the element can also be the determining factor. A drawing program creates what are called vector graphics — each part of the drawing is mathematically defined, and can be scaled up and down without any loss of quality. Also, in specialized applications like sign fabrication and embroidery, vector graphics are essential. The software either cannot handle image files or produces poor results when working from an image file. Image-editing programs use what are called raster graphics. The image consists of a certain number of dots, and going up or down from that size can produce less than ideal results. Raster graphics are necessary for reproducing photographs and often the best choice for certain web graphics. Mixing the two types of programs for a single element can also produce lower quality results. A vector graphic imported into an image-editing program loses its ability to scale to any size, and a picture placed into a drawing program does not (without extra work) become a vector graphic.
Assembling the Elements
Once the individual elements are created, an assembly program is used to combine the elements into the design. Less experienced designers often are tempted to try to use either drawing programs or image- editing programs to do the assembly work. Using a drawing program can be inefficient and limiting. Using an image-editing program does not allow vector graphics (including type) to retain their vector nature and can create designs that are difficult or impossible to publish (unanticipated color shifting or unprintable gradients for print work; the entire page being a single image for web work). Assembly programs often provide additional benefits, such as allowing the designer to define areas for bleeds (elements that go to the edge of a printed piece), allowing both vector and raster elements to coexist, even allowing elements of different color modes on the same page and allowing a preview of the final result.
The Delivery Program
For web design, the delivery program is the user’s browsing software, and most web designers use various browsers to preview the results as they develop the web site. For interactive designers, the delivery program is a scaled down version of their assembly program, only able to play back already created content. For print designers, the delivery program can be more complex, allowing different output profiles depending on the intended destination and allowing imposition for final printing. Decisions made here can have a dramatic impact on the final result.
Delivery programs allow users to define output settings like resolution for raster graphics ... The program can’t increase resolution for a lower resolution file, but it can reduce higher resolution files to an optimum resolution for the printing device. However, this reduction applies to all raster graphics, even type that has been converted to raster. While reducing the resolution of photographs to allow a better match to the printer is desirable (for technical reasons), reducing the resolution of type or other graphics meant to have sharp edges is not. Also delivery programs allow the designer to flatten the file... desirable to create a more accurate match to what the designer sees on screen, but also capable of lowering quality (flattened graphics become raster graphics).
So Why Does It Matter to Me?
The above discussion involves many technical details that are probably of more interest to designers and their publishing partners than to you. You may find the overview beneficial to better understand certain issues the designer may discuss with you, for example why the designer would much rather have the eps file (vector graphic) of your logo, rather than the Microsoft Word file or a business card with the logo on it. But another impression you may get from the above discussion is that the execution of a design requires a large number of decisions, and those decisions can have a direct impact on the effectiveness of the design and, therefore, your business.
You will notice that there are few absolutes when it comes to these decisions, and multiple paths can lead to success. Different destinations necessitate different choices; for example, web or interactive work requires a different output than print work. To make the right decisions, you will want to work with a designer in whom you have confidence, and you’ll want to consider two important factors: the decisions that impact the current project, and the decisions that impact future projects.
Decisions that affect the current project are most of the decisions that we have discussed above. Be clear with the designer about the intended use of the design. Try to provide the designer with resources in the best format possible (high resolution photos, vector graphics of logos) — doing this reduces the workload on the designer, potentially saving you money and reducing inconsistencies between different versions of files produced for different projects. You don’t need to be involved with every decision, or even most of them, but the designer should be able to explain to you what decisions were made and why.
When assembling the brief for the designer and creating those clear expectations for the design, try to think ahead for other implementations. Perhaps an element in a brochure will be used on your website. Even a dedicated print designer should be able to provide a web-ready version, and it will be even more important if the element will be used on the web first and then in a brochure for you to have a print-ready version. Make sure you inform the designer of your needs and be prepared to discuss the most efficient solution for those needs. (Perhaps having one designer handle both the brochure and the website will be best, instead of having one designer produce a version to pass off to another designer.)
Execution can be one of the most challenging aspects of design, but with clear expectations and good decisions, you will be able to move to the most exciting stages — the publication of the design and the results that the design generates!
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In your local hardware store, there is a section devoted to tools, and in that section is a subsection devoted to hammers. The hammer section includes not only the general utility hammers found in most homes, but also a bewildering array of specialty hammers, such as ball peen, drywall, framing, tacking, etc. All the other tools have a similar array of options, designed to allow an experienced individual to select the best tool for the job.
Just as different tools are designed for different tasks, graphic designers must choose the best tools to accomplish their goals.
Stages of a Graphic Design Project
Almost every graphic design project goes through five stages: research, conception, execution, publishing and analysis. In the research stage, the client and the target market are examined; in conception, the idea that will drive the design is created; in execution, this idea is turned into a finished design, ready for publication. Once published, the design process is not yet complete, because the final result must be measured to determine effectiveness. For many designs, execution is the make-or-break time that determines whether or not a concept can go from the ‘neat idea’ stage to effective design. This is the time for the designer to select the best tools for the job.
Some designers prefer to conceptualize on the computer; others prefer to use traditional materials for their concepts. Regardless of the method used, the designer must keep the concept separate from the concept sketch. It is inadvisable for the designer to begin the execution stage by modifying the concept sketch. If the computer will be used for execution, then using the sketch (either computer-generated or scanned in) as a background layer may be useful, but taking a low resolution sketch done in Photoshop and trying to turn it into a final print piece or website is a recipe for disaster.
Choosing the Proper Tools
Graphic design tools can be grouped into four categories: drawing tools, image-editing tools, assembly tools, and delivery tools. The drawing tools and image-editing tools are used for creating content to be assembled, and then all of the elements are packed for delivery. In web design, the assembly and delivery tool can be one and the same, but in print design and interactive design they can often be separate tools. This overview also ignores another tool — the word processing tool. This article assumes that you, the design buyer, are providing the copy (text) for the design.
Selecting between using drawing tools and image-editing tools is often the greatest challenge for the designer, especially for less experienced designers, and this choice can have the greatest impact on the finished product. Making the right selection is often a problem for self-taught individuals, who may have access to only one program, or may only feel comfortable using what they already know (the adage of “When all you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail”). Also, recent versions of these programs have blurred the lines between these tools, and the best choice may not be the most obvious choice.
Trying to use a wrench to drive a nail is a frustrating process that usually produces less than ideal results. Beware of ‘professionals‘ that use non-industry standard programs; word-processing and presentation programs are not design tools and will not produce professional results. Neither are ‘home-publishing‘ programs designed to function in a professional manner. The assumption with these programs is that you will be creating and printing the piece on the same machine, which may work for twenty brochures, but will you print 2000 flyers on your office inkjet?
Creating Design Elements
Often the best way to determine which program to use is to consider the starting and ending points of the element being created. An element existing only as a sketch will probably be created in a drawing program, whereas a photographic element will often be manipulated in an image-editing program. However, it is easy for the roles to be reversed — recreating a logo that is now only available in printed form is done best in a drawing program, even though that logo could be scanned into the image-editing program. Many designers and illustrators are able to create amazing ‘digital paintings’ in an image-editing program from their imagination or from a rough sketch.
The Destination of the Element
The destination of the element can also be the determining factor. A drawing program creates what are called vector graphics — each part of the drawing is mathematically defined, and can be scaled up and down without any loss of quality. Also, in specialized applications like sign fabrication and embroidery, vector graphics are essential. The software either cannot handle image files or produces poor results when working from an image file. Image-editing programs use what are called raster graphics. The image consists of a certain number of dots, and going up or down from that size can produce less than ideal results. Raster graphics are necessary for reproducing photographs and often the best choice for certain web graphics. Mixing the two types of programs for a single element can also produce lower quality results. A vector graphic imported into an image-editing program loses its ability to scale to any size, and a picture placed into a drawing program does not (without extra work) become a vector graphic.
Assembling the Elements
Once the individual elements are created, an assembly program is used to combine the elements into the design. Less experienced designers often are tempted to try to use either drawing programs or image- editing programs to do the assembly work. Using a drawing program can be inefficient and limiting. Using an image-editing program does not allow vector graphics (including type) to retain their vector nature and can create designs that are difficult or impossible to publish (unanticipated color shifting or unprintable gradients for print work; the entire page being a single image for web work). Assembly programs often provide additional benefits, such as allowing the designer to define areas for bleeds (elements that go to the edge of a printed piece), allowing both vector and raster elements to coexist, even allowing elements of different color modes on the same page and allowing a preview of the final result.
The Delivery Program
For web design, the delivery program is the user’s browsing software, and most web designers use various browsers to preview the results as they develop the web site. For interactive designers, the delivery program is a scaled down version of their assembly program, only able to play back already created content. For print designers, the delivery program can be more complex, allowing different output profiles depending on the intended destination and allowing imposition for final printing. Decisions made here can have a dramatic impact on the final result.
Delivery programs allow users to define output settings like resolution for raster graphics ... The program can’t increase resolution for a lower resolution file, but it can reduce higher resolution files to an optimum resolution for the printing device. However, this reduction applies to all raster graphics, even type that has been converted to raster. While reducing the resolution of photographs to allow a better match to the printer is desirable (for technical reasons), reducing the resolution of type or other graphics meant to have sharp edges is not. Also delivery programs allow the designer to flatten the file... desirable to create a more accurate match to what the designer sees on screen, but also capable of lowering quality (flattened graphics become raster graphics).
So Why Does It Matter to Me?
The above discussion involves many technical details that are probably of more interest to designers and their publishing partners than to you. You may find the overview beneficial to better understand certain issues the designer may discuss with you, for example why the designer would much rather have the eps file (vector graphic) of your logo, rather than the Microsoft Word file or a business card with the logo on it. But another impression you may get from the above discussion is that the execution of a design requires a large number of decisions, and those decisions can have a direct impact on the effectiveness of the design and, therefore, your business.
You will notice that there are few absolutes when it comes to these decisions, and multiple paths can lead to success. Different destinations necessitate different choices; for example, web or interactive work requires a different output than print work. To make the right decisions, you will want to work with a designer in whom you have confidence, and you’ll want to consider two important factors: the decisions that impact the current project, and the decisions that impact future projects.
Decisions that affect the current project are most of the decisions that we have discussed above. Be clear with the designer about the intended use of the design. Try to provide the designer with resources in the best format possible (high resolution photos, vector graphics of logos) — doing this reduces the workload on the designer, potentially saving you money and reducing inconsistencies between different versions of files produced for different projects. You don’t need to be involved with every decision, or even most of them, but the designer should be able to explain to you what decisions were made and why.
When assembling the brief for the designer and creating those clear expectations for the design, try to think ahead for other implementations. Perhaps an element in a brochure will be used on your website. Even a dedicated print designer should be able to provide a web-ready version, and it will be even more important if the element will be used on the web first and then in a brochure for you to have a print-ready version. Make sure you inform the designer of your needs and be prepared to discuss the most efficient solution for those needs. (Perhaps having one designer handle both the brochure and the website will be best, instead of having one designer produce a version to pass off to another designer.)
Execution can be one of the most challenging aspects of design, but with clear expectations and good decisions, you will be able to move to the most exciting stages — the publication of the design and the results that the design generates!
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