IP Blog: 2008

Tuesday 30 December 2008

The Best Design of 2008!

I know here at IP we have been slow to add new entries to the blog this month, so hopefully the next few instalments will make up for it! This is the first entry of "The Best Design of 2008!” This will be a collection of the best of the best, from artwork, to print, to album covers - if it's great it should be here!

The list is in no particular order...

Best Book Cover...

We'll let the work speak for itself! This work is probably one of my personnel favourite book covers of all time. Clean. Simple. Sophisticated. Here are a few words from the creators of the cover...

Tobin:

Most of the credit for this cover should really go to Lauren, my wife and frequent collaborator. When I was assigned this project I knew it had enormous potential. Because the book discusses many ways of thinking about obsession, I wanted to avoid anything too specific (i.e. a stock photo of hand-washing), and thought it would great if I could make the design a result of obsession rather than a depiction of it. My first attempts were made on the computer, but just didn't work — the computer made the repetition meaningless. Lauren and I always discuss ideas for our projects, and we realized that the cover needed to be made by hand. We realized a pinprick drawing technique she had used before could work for this book.

I then designed the cover as if it were type-only and black and white, trying to get the title as big as possible so that the pattern would be clear and the title would still be readable. I gave Lauren a printout of the title type, which she traced with pinpricks. That took a very long time. We then photographed the results, and adjusted the design — I think the pin as a dividing slash (which makes everything come together) was Lauren's idea. Luckily the design was approved, although the author was disappointed that we couldn't afford to actually punch holes in every jacket.

Nassef:

Isaac decided to collaborate with me on this cover after we talked for about two weeks about potential directions for the design. We're married and so are always talking about his books at home.

We knew that the design itself should be obsessive and, thinking of this, I remembered some drawings I made in college using pinpricks. Since they were the most obsessive things I'd ever done, I suggested using the technique for the title.

Isaac chose his custom typeface Attleboro Gothic for the letterforms and then I punched them out of heavy white card. Once we scanned it in and Isaac laid it out, it was clear that the pin needed to be there to emphasize the act of making the letters.

Best Album Cover...

Gnarls Barkley second album, The Odd Couple, has been chosen because of it's great non-conformist approach not only to it's music, but to the cover art. The album’s cover reflects their unique urban awareness set with undertones of refreshing electronica and dynamic Brit-pop flavours that is embedded in their music.

Best Flash Website...

I do love a well-constructed beautiful flash website. Get The Glass is a fantastic example of one! The best this year I think. Not only because of it's ease of use, but because the graphics are outstanding, with captivating animation and a very slick cool approach.
Get The Glass is the work of the California Milk Processor Board and was designed to encourage increased milk consumption by inviting visitors to participate in a comically entertaining Flash based game whose objective is to Get the Glass - of milk of course!
Do check out there regular site GotMilk.com it is another great flash website, with outstanding graphics.

Best Free Font...

We really wanted to add something for free, and with a world of horrid free fonts we found something of quality that just sparkles with beauty. We found this font at booooooom.com where they also voted this No.1. You can download it here.

Best Print Ad...

click image to enlarge
(we added the tagline in large to make it easily readable)

Advertising Agency:
Young & Rubicam, Buenos Aires

Creative Director:
Juan Frontini

Art Director:
Alejandro Sibilla

Production Manager:
Horacio Marquez

Copywriter:
Rodrigo Ruiz

Illustrator:
Daniel Romanos

Other:
Executive Creative Director: Guillermo Vega.

Well thats the end of Part One; enjoy the last day of 2008!

Keep Creative,

James

Wednesday 10 December 2008

iPod Just Gets Better!

After recently acquiring my new iPod Touch I felt it just had to be an entry in our blog. But what to discuss? Maybe the pros and cons of the iPod compared to its competitors, or the annoying way people refer to the machine as an iTouch. Of course not! Lets talk about its astonishing beauty, ease of use, and the fact that they have just now announced you can use it as a phone as well - well sort of!
Apart from Mac's ever changing creativity within all of it's products, they always seem to be able to set a standard that there other competitors just seem to merely produce a poor imitation of, and without the class. For example Microsoft’s awful Windows Vista operating system. Apart from containing numerous bugs, the operating system was (unofficially) the answer to Mac's OSX that came out 6 years before the new Windows Vista! Or the epic first iMac (see "We love design! - Design Classics") where every appliance, electrical equipment, etc, copyed it's see-through plastic cover, or even after the iPod all the many poor cheaper looking mp3 players trying to follow it's slick cool look.

Let's face it, Macintosh has done it again, the iPod Touch and Phone is just irresistible. Touch screen, ease of navigation, slick rotating windows... beautiful! I wonder how many more products will try and imitate (well the list has already started)!
But wait I here you say... the iPod Touch can be used as a Phone!?
YES! (and I'm not refering to the iPhone!)
Well sort of... I read an article yesterday from ITProPortable.com saying that the iPod Touch can now be used as a virtual mobile phone with the Internet company Truphone.

Truphone have launched a new Wi-Fi application that transforms the music player into a caller device. With its Wi-Fi capability, the new application enables users to make and receive calls through VoIP with other iPod Touch users, Truphone’s Internet telephone service customers, and Google Talk’s messaging service users; eventually, the addition of feature to make or receive calls from landline devices is also there on the cards, the company asserted.

For dialling, the app utilizes a virtual keyboard over the interface of iPod Touch devices, and necessitates the addition of headset integrated with microphone.

The software is available through Apple’s App Store, and as it utilises the Wi-Fi ability of the device, calls made using the VoIP feature are free of charge.

Quoting the move as company’s another step towards becoming an established internet player globally, Truphone’s CEO, Geraldine Wilson said in a statement, “There are a slew of new features we're rolling out for the iPod Touch that will let users call landlines, Skype users or send instant messages. We're talking weeks, not months, before these go live".

Don't you just love it when creativity inspires more creativity!

Keep Creative,

James

Monday 1 December 2008

Bloggers Unite: World Aids Day

Today is a slight change to our usually entries. Today is World Aids Day, and as part of a few blog forums, bloggers are being asked to contribute. Here at IP we loved to help good causes, so please support the day however you can. Go to BloggerUnite to find out more about the cause and how you can help.

HIV/AIDS has been a global epidemic for more than 27 years. Most of today's youth have never known a world without it. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published national HIV incidence (new infections) that showed much higher numbers that previous estimates. The time is now. Together, we can prevent the spread of this pandemic – through awareness, care, prevention, education and research.

“HIV/AIDS has now become a pandemic that has literally put the world at risk, affecting diverse populations in different ways”. –Dr. Nora Volkow, NIDA Director

Also on another note. BloggersUnite is a fantastic site, with strong graphics and a great identity - a must see for the creativity as well!

Keep Creative,

James

Wednesday 26 November 2008

5 Great Websites To Entertain You!

It's a simple entry this week. Are you ever sitting at home or work, bored or in a creative rut? Then check out these sites we found on the Internet. They are all fun, aesthetically pleasing and great ideas. Enjoy!

Jag-Jeans.com

This site is a great interactive site, allowing you to take your own photo shoot. Surprisingly addictive, well constructed, and great company promotion!

CocaColaZero.com

A beautifully slick website, with fun advert videos and cool games. Looks great too!

ThoughtPile.org

A fantastic idea, help the world, give your ideas, and win a cool chair! The site has a unique navigational system, and a very simple but sophisticated feel.

DeadSpace.es

A great Spanish site (also in English). Online game with great introductory graphics, and a brilliant example of viral marketing!

7UpLimaFree.com

A fun musical website, with fast impressive graphics! Be careful it gets addictive!

Enjoy &
Keep Creative,

James

Monday 17 November 2008

Tuesday 11 November 2008

Top 10 most irritating phrases!

Today's entry is a slight diversion on our usual topics, but the subject was such an interesting one for me, I had to write about it.

Words - an essential part of the world’s communication. So why do we always seem to get them wrong?

Well, if you might not have guessed, today's entry is about words, or more specifically "OXFORD's list of top ten irritating phrases". A work colleague emailed me this article from telegraph.co.uk, and it just had to be shared. The list mostly comprises mistaken phrases such as the grammatically incorrect "shouldn't of" instead of "shouldn't have".

The researchers who compiled the list monitor the use of phrases in a database called the Oxford University Corpus, which comprises books, papers, magazines, broadcast, the Internet and other sources.

The database alerts them to new words and phrases and can tell them which expressions are disappearing. It also shows how words are being misused.

The phrases appear in a book called Damp Squid, named after the mistake of confusing a squid with a squib, a type of firework. As well as these expressions, the book's author Jeremy Butterfield says that many annoyingly over-used expressions actually began as office lingo, such as 24/7 and "synergy".

Other phrases to irritate people are "literally" and "ironically", when they are used out of context.

Mr Butterfield said: "We grow tired of anything that is repeated too often – an anecdote, a joke, a mannerism – and the same seems to happen with some language."

TOP 10 most irritating phrases:

1 - At the end of the day

2 - Fairly unique

3 - I personally

4 - At this moment in time

5 - With all due respect

6 - Absolutely

7 - It's a nightmare

8 - Shouldn't of

9 - 24/7

10 - It's not rocket science

I’m sure many of you are conjuring up many irritating days at the office! But what are your most irritating phrases? I personally have to say that “having said that” for me should be there!

Please add to the list!

Keep creative,

James

Wednesday 5 November 2008

The Importance of Colour Within Branding.

After a recent branding exercise which involved extensive research into colour (in which the brand's main direction was taken) I came across some interesting information regarding colour and its importance and power within a brand and in general.
Firstly some statistics summarised from the Branding Strategy Insider, which cited some very interesting facts regarding colour.

1. Colour increases brand recognition by up to 80%.

2. Colour can improve readership by 40%.

3. Ads in colour are read up to 42% more often than the same ads in black and white.

4. 73% of purchasing decisions are made in-store. Therefore, catching the shopper’s eye and conveying information through the effective use of colour is essential to boosting sales.

5. Tests indicate that a black-and-white image may sustain interest for less than two-thirds of a second, whereas a colour image may hold a person’s attention for two seconds or more. Since a product has just one-twentieth of a second to catch the customer’s attention on a shelf or display, the 1+ seconds added by colour could have a significant impact on awareness and sales.

It is important to remember that while perception of colour is somewhat subjective, there are some colour effects that have universal meaning. Colours in the red area of the colour spectrum are known as 'warm' colors and include red, orange, and yellow. These warm colours evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility.

Colours on the blue side of the spectrum are known as 'cool' colours and include blue, purple, and green. These colours are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.

I found a fantastic article from entrepreneur.com with an essential guide to colour submitted by John Williams. This is an extremely good quick guide about the meanings of colour and will give you a helpful breakdown of the colour spectrum.

Blue: Cool blue is perceived as trustworthy, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure. Strongly associated with the sky and sea, blue is serene and universally well liked. Blue is an especially popular colour with financial institutions, as its message of stability inspires trust.

Red: Red activates your pituitary gland, increasing your heart rate and causing you to breathe more rapidly. This visceral response makes red aggressive, energetic, provocative and attention grabbing. Count on red to evoke a passionate response, albeit not always a favourable one. For example, red can represent danger or indebtedness.

Green: In general, green connotes health, freshness and serenity. However, green’s meaning varies with its many shades. Deeper greens are associated with wealth or prestige, while light greens are calming.

Yellow: In every society, yellow is associated with the sun. Thus, it communicates optimism, positivism, light and warmth. Certain shades seem to motivate and stimulate creative thought and energy. The eye sees bright yellows before any other colour, making them great for point-of-purchase displays.

Purple: Purple is a colour favoured by creative types. With its blend of passionate red and tranquil blue, it evokes mystery, sophistication, spirituality and royalty. Lavender evokes nostalgia and sentimentality.

Pink: Pink’s message varies by intensity. Hot pinks convey energy, youthfulness, fun and excitement and are recommended for less expensive or trendy products for women or girls. Dusty pinks appear sentimental. Lighter pinks are more romantic.

Orange: Cheerful orange evokes exuberance, fun and vitality. With the drama of red plus the cheer of yellow, orange is viewed as gregarious and often childlike. Research indicates its lighter shades appeal to an upscale market. Peach tones work well with health care, restaurants and beauty salons.

Brown: This earthy colour conveys simplicity, durability and stability. It can also elicit a negative response from consumers who relate to it as dirty. Certain shades of brown, like terracotta, can convey an upscale look. From a functional perspective, brown tends to hide dirt, making it a logical choice for some trucking and industrial companies.

Black: Black is serious, bold, powerful and classic. It creates drama and connotes sophistication. Black works well for expensive products, but can also make a product look heavy.

White: White connotes simplicity, cleanliness and purity. The human eye views white as a brilliant colour, so it immediately catches the eye in signage. White is often used with infant and health-related products.

I hope this bit of information is as helpful to you as it was to us!

Keep Creative,

James

Monday 20 October 2008

So what makes a good business card?

You have just come back from an important business meeting and you take another glance at the business card handed to you. Clean, sophisticated, simple. Thick card and strikingly-placed logo with a great colour combination. You can’t stop staring at it. You think back to your last self-made online business cards and wonder why the final impression of your critical business meeting didn’t leave the strong lasting impact you wanted. Why don’t they call?

It is time you got a professional "business-winning" business card for your company! You can search the Internet and find many cheap business card solutions, but it is not advisable to use such services for your company card. If these designs are available on the Internet, you will not be the only bargain hunter who has downloaded and used the same design for a company’s business cards.

Your best solution is to hire a professional to create your card. Remember, professional graphic designers have been in this business for many years and know how to design and print a great business card that complements your company perfectly. A professional in this area will be the best person to discuss your options for card type, colour and maybe extra processes such as silver or gold foiling to make your card really stand out.

Of course there are business-card-maker programmess which can be helpful when you need to print a limited number of business cards immediately. However, the initial cost of using the software and being able to print multiple copies on one A4 sheet using other programmes can sometimes outweigh the cost of printing professionally a larger amount that will have much better results and quality.

So what makes a good business card?
Take a sample of great business cards that have caught your attention and lay them out in front of you. Can you see what makes them work?
They will have simple designs and good use of minimal colour combinations; not just the colour combination of the text and logo, but also the colour that is used in the background of the card. Remember that the specific design used on these cards you are looking at will not be appropriate for your business, but the design concept is what is important. You will also notice that leading companies NEVER clutter up the card with too much text or information.
A lot of people are inclined to fill their business card with all the information it can hold. REMEMBER, a business card is a business card and not sales literature.
All that additional information should be saved for your promotional material; let the business card speak for itself. This will ensure that the information needed is available immediately.
You do not want the potential client you have just met to have to scroll through your business card just to find your contact details. The necessary information should always be easy to find.

Multi-fold cards are a big NO. Your potential client will almost certainly throw it away without a glance. A business card's purpose is not to promote your products or services. Your business card is there to reflect your true image and provide contact information; this why it is highly recommended to have it designed by a professional.

Let's face it, if you need to spend a little extra on a business card that makes an important prospective client pick up the phone and place an order, do it - you will almost certainly get your money back!

If you are looking for business cards, we offer a complete package from design to print, so we can be there for every step of the process here at Imprenta Pronto

Keep creative,

James

Tuesday 14 October 2008

IP + MySpace = WOW!

IP are live and active on MySpace, don't forget to check out our new Myspace look HERE!

Keep Creative,

James

Monday 6 October 2008

Urban Art!

Love it or hate it, graffiti has become a part of urban culture and is now an accepted form of art. Just take a look at your nearest modern art gallery! There is no denying the creativity of some of the greatest graffiti artists around. Here are our top 5 pieces of art.

by Bansky.
Anything that references modern culture and makes you smile is a thumbs up from us!

by TheMac.
Part of the Turk Street mural. Simply beautiful, need we say more?

by Bansky.
Yes Bansky again! There is so much of his work we could put on this blog. This example is a personal favourite and is executed fantastically; this critically-acclaimed artist in so many genres has done it again!

by Moose (Paul Curtis).
With artists and society becoming increasingly environmentally aware, a new movement called the 'new clean art' movement, sometimes also called 'reverse' or 'inverse' graffiti, has started.
This is the latest way of expressing creativity, co-opted for use in the guerrilla marketing campaigns of late. The graffiti is produced by cleaning the dirt from the walls, leaving the authorities a little stumped when it comes to how to act upon the inverse graffiti. How do you fine someone for cleaning? Quoting the followers of the movement:

It’s a bit like fining your mother-in-law for finding dust on your mantelpiece.

Nonetheless it is apt that our carbon footprints should be marked so clearly, in the dirt!

by Unknown.
We found this on the Internet; if anyone knows who created it please let us know!
Not only is this piece obviously an extremely cool optical illusion but it is in our list for its fantastic execution, creatively painted as if it were just a "spur of the moment" thing, using such aesthetically pleasing lines which almost reference the old political newspaper comics.

That’s all for today,

Keep Creative,

James

Tuesday 30 September 2008

I hate corrupt fonts!

Here at IP our studio is all kitted out with Macs. I do love Macs and, let's be honest, who doesn't?! But sadly, even the mighty Mac is victim to poor computer performance every now and again. Finally, after trawling the internet to resolve several extremely annoying computer issues, I came across an article that put the blame on fonts!
I must admit I do find it hard not to turn down a good free font, but can this really be the problem? Well I have to say after following a set of instructions, not only did my computer resolve nearly all its issues, but also the performance was so much better!
I would thoroughly recommend following these instructions to make your Mac purr like it used to!

1. Consolidate All Your Fonts Into One Folder:
Move all fonts out of the /Users/[username]/Library/Fonts folder.
Move all fonts out of the /Library/Fonts folder.
Move most fonts out of /System/Library/Fonts except:
Geneva
LastResort
Monaco
Keyboard
LucidaGrande
AquaKanaBold.otf
AquaKanaRegular.otf
(Keep Helvetica and Helvetica Neue if you do not have PostScript or OpenType versions of these. Make sure that these two fonts are in your startup (permanent) activation set if you do remove them. See more on these two below.)

If you are using classic, take everything out of /System Folder/Fonts except Charcoal, Chicago, Geneva, and Monaco.

Remember that if you are using your older Type 1 Postscript fonts you still need the screen (bitmap) font suitcase and the outline (postscript) font. (In Mac OS X, font suitcases look and behave like other font files: You can't open them by double-clicking the file as you can in Mac OS 9. Use Font Doctor or Smasher to edit these font suitcases if required.)

It is also advised that you remove everything from program specific folders in the /Library/Application Support and ~/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support folders. This includes font folders for Microsoft products, Adobe, and Macromedia.
Adobe puts fonts here:
~user/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts
The exception is the Adobe/Fonts/Reqrd folder. Don't delete this file, or you'll break your adobe apps.

NOTE: iCal and a few other programs require Helvetica and/or Helvetica Neue. You don't necessarily have to use the version installed by default in OSX (dFont) - you can replace these with other TrueType or PostScript versions that you use for publishing.
If you use the dFont version of either of these fonts, you may find the type in your older jobs is reflowing. If you had a PostScript or TrueType version of these fonts installed before going to OS X, you should choose to install that version instead of the dFont. Programs that require these fonts will work correctly no matter what version of these fonts is installed.

2. Delete the Myriad Font Caches:
If you see garbled font display or your applications are crashing or freezing then a likely cause is a corrupt font cache.
Under OS 9 the system would read and write to font files directly. If a crash happened at the wrong moment it was (remotely) possible for the font file to become corrupt, which could lead to all sorts of crashes. In OS X, instead of opening the original font, everything is copied into a
cache. This protects the original from damage, but unfortunately, the cache files seem to become corrupt much more often under OSX than the fonts themselves became corrupt under OS9. (from link #2)

Adobe uses it's own font caching technology (of course) to delete all the Adobe font caches do a find for "AdobeFnt" and delete everything that it finds with a .lst extension (e.g AdobeFnt.lst, AdobeFnt08.lst etc). Warning - do not delete the AdobeFnt.DB files.

You can use an app to delete all your font caches (see links below) or do it manually.
There's a number of files and folders to delete - in all cases, delete the object listed:
/Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ATS.plist
/System/Library/Caches/fontTablesAnnex
/Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS (this is a FOLDER, not a file)
/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/ (Office Font Cache)
Adobe Font Caches: any file that starts with AdobeFnt and ends with a .lst extension
/System/Library/Caches/All.files.whose.names.include.ATS or font. The com.apple.ATS.System.fcache and com.apple.ATSServer.FODB_System files are the most important ones to delete. But it doesn't hurt to delete of all of them.

Whichever method you choose, restart your Mac after deleting the cache files. That’s the best way to make sure OS X immediately and correctly creates new files. If a corrupt font is actually causing your problem, eliminating the cache files won’t help – but cleaning out your font caches is often effective and certainly easy.

3. Clean Up Your Font Library.
Run FontDoctor or Font Agent over all the collected fonts to remove corrupt, orphaned, duplicate and unnecessary screen fonts.
Normally you do not want dFont duplicates of any PostScript or OpenType fonts - especially the Helvetica, Times, Symbol and Zapf dFonts.
Once you've cleaned up all your fonts (Font Doctor does a nice job of putting them all in lovely alphabetised order) then you can use your font mangement utility to activate and deactivate as required. Don't have too many fonts activating at startup - let them auto-activate when possible and make sure the auto-activated fonts are set to deactivate on restart.

4. Burn a Master CD
We recommend burning a CD (or DVD if your font library is huge) to keep as a known good copy of all your fonts. Copy this CD to each workstation's hard drive and use Suitcase, Font Agent Pro or Font Explorer X to open and close them. If your font library changes regularly, burn the collection to a CD-RW. Try to enforce a strict font management policy - only one or two people in the studio should be able to add fonts to the company library.

5. Garbled Fonts in Safari, Mail
A common cause of this problem can be activating multiple versions of Helvetica. Mac OS X comes with a Helvetica.dfont already installed in the system. Activating another version of Helvetica can trigger this problem.
(Also, if you have the font Helvetica Fractions in your font collection, this can potentially trigger this problem as well. See above.)

FYI: Font Load Order (Hierarchy) under OS X
Mac OS X will use the fonts in the highest location first - later duplicates will not be loaded.
1. Application Font Folders
(eg /Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Office/Fonts/ and /Applications/Adobe Indesign CS/Fonts)
2. Application Support Folders (in /Library or /Users/[username]/Library)
3. /Users/[username]/Library/Fonts
4. /Library/Fonts
5. /Network/Library/Fonts
6. /System/Library/Fonts
7. /System Folder/Fonts (if Classic is used)

Many thanks to Adam Dennis for this great Mac help.

Additional Resources:
1 A great PDF put together by J.S. McCarthy Printers, in Maine. You can find it as issue #3 on this page:
http://www.jsmccarthy.com/technical_tips.asp

2. An excellent PDF on font management with OS X:
http://www.ideastraining.com/DownloadAndTips/DownloadsAndTips.html

3. Extensis Font Management Best Practices Guide
http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/pdfs/fonts_osx.pdf

Font Management Utilities:
FontFinangler (US$10) -- Font Cache Cleaner.
http://homepage.mac.com/mdouma46/fontfinagler/

FontDoctor (US$70) -- Coretech techos won't leave home without this wonderful software.
http://www.morrisonsoftdesign.com/with_fl/index.html

Smasher (US$50) -- a mix of Font Doctor and FontFinangler, also lets you edit font suitcases.
http://www.insidersoftware.com/SM.php

Thursday 25 September 2008

RGB aint CMYK

It's been another busy week at IP, but we have now finally got the time to add another exciting installment to our blog!
It occurred to me the other day, how confusing colour can be! Then I came across a fantastic article that explains RGB and CMYK extremely well. So if you were ever confused about what the printer is talking about when he is huffing and puffing that you have got your artwork in RGB, not CMYK, or you don't actually quite understand what the different processes are all about, then read on!

Colour is colour, right? Wrong! Depending on your application and use, there are two main colour referencing formats you will come across: RGB and CMYK. These two colour formats are for completely different uses, but the result of the two formats is the same to our eyes.

How do you know when each is being used? How does this influence your colour printing projects? These issues and others are the point of this discussion as we delve into the finer points of colour printing.

RGB: the primary colours of light
RGB is an acronym for Red, Green and Blue: the primary colours of light. When your computer monitor or television screen reproduces images, the three primary colours are mixed together in varying shades and strengths. The important distinction here is that light, rather than ink, is used to reproduce an image. Just because a picture looks one way on a monitor or television screen does not mean that it will be reproduced accurately on paper.

CMYK: the primary colours of ink
CMYK is an acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black: the primary colours of ink. When your printer reproduces images, the four primary colours of ink are mixed together in varying shades and strengths.

You are probably noticing the pattern about now, in that RGB and CMYK do the same thing but in different ways. What you have to understand is that RGB references light and CMYK is ink.

What all of this means.
You cannot print in RGB and you cannot view pictures on a monitor in CMYK. So, to answer our first question of how to know when you are using which colour format, monitors display in RGB and printers display in CMYK.

A conversion process has to take place to go from viewing pictures on a monitor to view the same pictures in print. What's more, the conversion is not always perfect or accurate. In response to the question about how this impacts colour printing: there may be differences between what you see on the monitor and what you get back from the print shop. You can compensate for this by calibrating your monitor and through printing proofs to make sure your work is translating properly.

RGB and CMYK are fundamentally different. RGB is how monitors display light. CMYK is how printers reproduce images in ink. You can make sure your colour printing turns out as expected by using a calibrated monitor and by printing proofs to check for any colour variations.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kaye_Marks

Keep creative,

James

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Getting Animated!

Firstly, my apologies for not uploading a blog entry last week. Sometimes work just gets too much! But this week we are back with an extra pep in our step as the new intro for our website is up and running! Therefore, as the title might suggest, our blog this week is about the wonderful world of animation!

As technology expands and becomes far more accessible, the possibilities for using alternative ways to capture people’s attention become greater than ever before. If you are sitting at your computer reading this blog and wondering how you can dramatically direct more traffic to your website and capture a greater audience for your advertisements, then animation could be the key.
There are so many fun, quick and "to the point" animations out there that often we lose site of how effective it is - it's almost subliminal!

I will be concentrating mainly on the ways in which to captivate your web market.
Firstly, and most importantly, keep it short! If you haven't grabbed the attention of your target audience within the first 8-10 seconds, you never will!

Make it rememberable! The key to a successful animation is to get your audience talking about it... "Have you seen...?", "Look at this cool site..." etc. This works as viral marketing, it keeps people talking and reflects creativity and forward thinking.

Establish one message or key point. Don't over-complicate things. As soon as you try and cram all your ideas into one, you confuse your audience and lose their attention; you will create a greater impact with simplicity!

Always have an "opt out" option, let people skip the intro; sometimes people just can't wait, even for 8 seconds! You don't want to annoy your customers and turn away potential clients.

If you stick to these key points, you will be successful in guiding more people to your site, through the strongest form of advertising - word of mouth!

Here is a preview of the intro of our web site.
Go to imprentapronto.com to see it in all its glory!

The animation shows the blast of creativity that comes from IP. We used the printing colours CMYK to reflect our printing and design services.
The ink is made through a system of particles combined with a ‘blob mesh’ which makes the particles turn into ‘drops’ which, when they detect the others closest to them, join together as regards volume, imitating more or less the way mercury behaves.

Imprenta Pronto would like to give special thanks to Gabriel Martinez Rodriguez for his exceptional work!

Don't forget your Solutions for Success™

and keep creative!

James

Tuesday 26 August 2008

Great Free Desktop Wallpapers

Ok, ladies and gentlemen, this week we have a treat for you! It's all about spreading the love.
Ever been trawling the Internet for hours to find a decent desktop wallpaper? Fed up of finding advertisement-heavy websites with nothing but cheesey celeb wallpapers and poorly-designed cartoons? Want to make your computer look beautiful? Well here at Imprenta Pronto we have done the hard graft for you! We have carefully and painstakingly searched and searched for free desktop wallpapers that you all can enjoy.
There's something for everyone - we have put them all on one site!
To download click on your screen size of choice, then drag the loaded image to your selected desktop file.

Mac Wallpapers