CreativeTechs Tips

As we head into America's July 4th holiday weekend, I was looking for something fun to lighten things up. Ah, yes. This should do nicely. Here is a five minute music video with the inimitatable Deke McClelland singing (rapping?) out 101 Photoshop Tips in just over five minutes.

We transcribed all 101 tips, so do check out the full list. Even the most seasoned Photoshop expert should discover plenty of gems. My own list included tips 14, 62, 80, 81, 85 and 98.

Read the Full Tip: "101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes" »

Tip posted on June 30, 2008 |

Each summer around this time, Veer publishes their annual Summer Activity Book for Creatives. Each workbook is 100 pages of full-color brain-teasing fun. Spend glorious summer hours playing designer-specific games, puzzles, and more.

PDFs of the last four editions:

Veer Activity Book 2007

Veer Activity Book 2006

Veer Activity Book 2005

Veer Activity Book 2004

Enjoy the upcoming extended weekend. See you next week!

Read the Full Tip: "Veer's Summer Activity Books for Creatives." »

Tip posted on June 30, 2008 |

On June 20, 2008, we performed a Google search using the phrase "Seattle graphic design."

Out of about 722,000 total results, we carefully studied the top 10 websites Google identified as the best match for our search keywords.

Then we compared Google's results to a list of the top 10 Seattle design firms drawn from the 2008 edition of Media Inc’s annual Northwest Graphic Design list.

It's instructive to consider the differences between these lists. Large prominent design firms such as Hornall Anderson, HL2, Fitch, and Methodolgie are largely absent from Google's results. While smaller (some relatively unknown) studios managed to grab Google's top slots.

How do they do it? How do smaller studios like Page 3 Design, Eben Deisgn, and Design Hovie Studios beat out the big Seattle design firms in Google's search results?

More importantly, can you learn how to accomplish the same results for your own studio?

Read the Full Tip: "SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for Graphic Designers." »

Tip posted on June 23, 2008 |

Adobe Acrobat has many built in features to view, fix, and control prepress issues — including spot and process colors, printer marks, preflighting, and fonts. These various tools can take much of the guesswork out of files when preparing PDFs for commercial printing.

The Output Preview dialog box for example is a terrific tool that allows you to inspect individual color plates in a process or spot color print job, as well as simulating how your PDF will look in different printing conditions.

Note: That's a PDF of our Mac Maintenance Checklist used to demo this tip.

Read the Full Tip: "Preview Color Separations in Acrobat." »

Tip posted on June 16, 2008 |

If you want to attract visitors to your studio's website (or if you design websites for clients) you really must understand and use Google's collection of Webmaster Tools. This free service from Google provides you with detailed reports about your website's visibility on Google, as well as giving you valuable ways to influence how your website appears in search results.

Link: Google Webmaster Tools

In this tip we'll dig into this powerful resource that is key for harnessing Google as a marketing vehicle for your creative studio. As part of that discussion, we'll show how you can answer the following questions:

1. When was the last time Google indexed your website?
2. Are there any bad links or missing pages on your site?
3. Does your website's content reflect your brand and target market?
4. Who is linking to your website?
5. How can you make your Flash-based site more findable?
6. Can you stop Google from indexing photos in your portfolio?
7. How do you remove something from Google's search results?

Read the Full Tip: "Grow your Studio with Google Webmaster Tools." »

Tip posted on June 16, 2008 |

For years, Tim Russert of Meet the Press has been my weekly Sunday companion as I write, finish, and proof this weekly tips newsletter. I was deeply saddened to learn of his death last Friday.

Tim, I will miss you. Sundays won't be the same without you.

Tip posted on June 15, 2008 |

Apple's Word Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) sold out this year for the first time ever. For those of us who aren't lucky enough to be down in San Francisco this week, Apple has posted the 1 hour and 45 minute video.

Watch it online on Apple's website:

Link: Apple WWDC 2008 Keynote

Or download the video to your own iPhone/iPod from Apple's new Keynote Podcast in iTunes. This latest video has been posted along with many other historic presentations:

Link: Apple Keynotes Podcast

Too busy? Read past the jump for a great 60-second version of the WWDC Keynote.

Read the Full Tip: "Apple WWDC 2008 Keynote Video Now Available." »

Tip posted on June 09, 2008 |

Welcome to our special iPhone tips edition. This Monday in San Francisco, Steve Jobs is kicking off Apple's World Wide Developer Conference with a keynote that should unveil Apple's new second-generation iPhone.

If you find yourself with a hankerin' to start designing the next big iPhone gadget, we'd like to direct you to a free set of templates from Yahoo Developer's Network. This free download includes (among other things) an editable collection of iPhone interface elements. Open their PDF iPhone stencil in Illustrator and you can snap together your own iPhone design from dozens of editable elements.

Link: Yahoo! Design Stencil Kit version 1.0

Read the Full Tip: "Free Editable iPhone Design Elements." »

Tip posted on June 09, 2008 |

It is pretty easy to embed an iPhone-optimized video in any website you are designing. Which can be a nice flourish to welcome the growing hordes of iPhone users who might be visiting your site soon.

Sound hard? It's not. Apple has added a special Export to Web option to QuickTime Pro ($30) that makes the process nearly automatic.

Read the Full Tip: "Embed iPhone Friendly Videos on your Website." »

Tip posted on June 09, 2008 |

If you've been wondering what Stanley Hainsworth has been up to since leaving Starbucks, check out the website for Tether, a new global creative company based in Seattle:

Stanley Hainsworth's Tether

Tether is a global creative company based in Seattle, Washington founded by Stanley Hainsworth, former creative director at Nike, Lego and Starbucks. Located in a gallery space in historic Pioneer Square, there is the creative gallery where Tether designed products are sold as well as curated products and artwork. Within the gallery space the full-service Tether agency creates emotional brand connections for established and start-up brands across all creative disciplines including brand, identity, product design, advertising, digital design, packaging, branded entertainment and retail design. It is located in a gallery space in historic Pioneer Square.

Read the Full Tip: "Stanley Hainsworth's New Seattle Creative Company: Tether" »

Tip posted on June 04, 2008 | Reader comments so far: 0