iPhone Apps for Graphic Designers

Tick Tock... Tick Tock... The clock is ticking away... Has the Apple iPhone come out on something other than AT&T yet, so I can get one?

It's not like anyone needs another reason to lust after the Apple iPhone, but I found some applications that are made specifically for graphic designers that will make you druel [Which makes me want it that much more, lol]. There are more apps that I will need to download when the day comes, but these are specifically meant for the coolest people that walk the earth [graphic designers, duh] and I thought I would share the good findings.

Let the downloading begin!

Ruler 

Very simply, Ruler is a… ruler and it's on your iPhone or iPod touch. Works in centimetres and inches and can save your latest measurement. This will come in handy even if you aren't a graphic designer. Whoo Hoo!

Palettes 

Palettes is an iPhone App for creating color schemes. With Palettes, it is possible to sample colors from websites, iPhone photo album images or other color schemes. It will import and export color palettes to and from Adobe Photoshop and supports a number of color modes, including RGB, HSV, HSL and CMYK. There is also a Lite version of Palettes, which does not cost anything, but has some features removed (such as importing and exporting palettes from Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and other programs. This is pretty cool, I cannot wait to get my hands on this one!

Things 

Things is a productivity application, or task manager. Things allows the creation of to do lists and allows the prioritisation of items. For example lists can be created for items to be done today, next, or at scheduled times or dates. I will be using this one left and right, I am a note/list maker and lover.

Color Expert 

Another color-based app, which functions by providing a swatch library and interactive color wheel to help enable creatives to select, showcase and identify colors. Color Expert includes various Pantone swatches, web safe and HTML colors. It is also possible to add custom colors and email Adobe Swatch Exchange (ASE) files. Nifty Stuff, I tell you what!

Caliper 

Caliper is another measuring tool for the iPhone, but this App uses caliper jaws to enable measurement. The upper and lower caliper jaws can be moved independently or together and measurements can be taken in pixels, as well as centimetres and inches. I would like to see this one in action, wow.


I cannot wait until my day comes when the iPhone will be MINE. For now I have my dreams and my daydreams.

The Truth about what Graphic Design is [Joke]

I found this funny image today searching for who knows what on google images and thought it was too funny and worthy of a re-post on my blog.  Haha! Sheesh, the truth is brutally funny somtimes.

The Original photo was found on this site:bespokegrafiks.blogspot.com. You should stop by and check out the other cool stuff they have, another wonderful design blog that I've enjoyed today.

Top Ten Graphic Design Tips

I was recently asked what advice I would give to someone studying to be a professional graphic artist. I had a whole list of things and I thought I would share with you. Enjoy!

1. Ok, I know those art school commercials say you don't need to be creative to be a graphic designer. FALSE. I strongly believe art/design/colors/layouts/fonts should all be something your passionate about. It isn't something you can just LEARN overnight. Yes, you can learn programs and how colors work but if you think it will happen magically without work and goals you are kidding yourself.  There were people like this in my college and it just took time away from the us, the students who seriously wanted to learn and succeed. 

2. An important tool to master would be the pen tool. It is one that I use all of the time... learn it, love it, own it. You'll use it a lot including one of my biggest pet peeves, cutting stuff out in photoshop. It's embarrassing for everyone involved when we watch people cut stuff out using the marquee or lasso tool. I mean those other tools work, just not as good and not as easy to make adjustments. It makes you look like a total nube or a lazy, just say'n.

3. KEEP EVERYTHING! Never use the eraser tool if you can help it. It's always best to mask your things out incase you need to modify in the future. Photoshop has layers and groups for a reason, use'em. Nothing is more irritating than opening up someone's files and finding everything low res and flattened. TEARS. 

4. SHORTCUTS. They hounded and hounded us in college to use shortcuts and I'm thankful for that. There really isn't any reason you should be mousing up to do things. I have worked with several designers in the past that didn't even know how to copy paste with shortcuts. RED FLAG, they ended up being horrible workers and they were horrible designers as well. Know your stuff, shortcuts are EASY.  If you aren't using them, please know we are all laughing at you behind your back. 

I'M TELLING YOU THIS BECAUSE I CARE.

5. Macintosh computers. Gosh I hate to bring this up again but seriously you should be working on a mac for graphic design. It's just meant for our programs. Don't be scared... once you go mac you wont go back. I'm serious.

6. Backup your work and hit save as much as you can remember. It's only a matter of time [especially on a pc] when your computer will bite the dust or freeze up. It has happened to me one too many times. I should know better by now. SIGH. 

7. When your in college design things that will work in a professional world too. You need to think about what potential employers will be looking for [DVD cases, posters, ads, business cards, logos, and packaging...ect]. I'm not saying to suck out all of the creativity and fun but just to keep in mind you will need good marketing portfolio items, don't make everything pink.

8. Networking. This is one of the biggest things in the design world. You have a friend that needs a logo, DO IT. The more people you meet and know the better off you will be. Plus, you'll have items to use in your portfolio. Try your best to be friendly, I've won freelance jobs just because I'm friendly [and they told me so, a feather in my cap!].

9. Design Fun. Make sure to venture out and do things for yourself. Make sure you have the coolest business cards, myspace profile, facebook icon, custom t-shirts, and custom artwork on your walls. Stay freshy fresh and creative. I notice when I design for fun it really gets my creativity going.

10. HIGH RESOLUTION. Make everything in the highest resolution as possible [including: custom shapes and smart objects] so you wont lose quality if you need to go back.  

I hope this might help any new designer looking for tips, or even an old designer that is looking to pump up the volume. It was fun to share some of my knowledge, it's second nature to me. 

Heather Kant, on YouTube!

What an exciting week for me! I've managed to get so many things done, including my cool new ----WAIT FOR IT --- "Graphic Design Video Resume".  I'm sure you just gasped due to excitement and cannot wait to watch it.

The awesome idea came to me a week ago while driving home after a delish meal from good ol' Applebees. I was trying to think of ideas that would be eye catching and one of a kind. BLAM! The idea hit me like a ton of bricks!  I came home and started trucking away at the graphics.  Now I'm up and running! =)

I think the video turned out pretty awesome! I already have 85 views in 2 days, yowza!!!! I know I don't have that many friends, who is clicking?!  I think that is a pretty good sign I'm doing something right.

Feel free to check it out, rate me, or even add my video as your favorite. I'd really appreciate it, and will gladly return the favor! Enjoy my awesome graphic design skills, with music... inst inst inst inst...

hmmm... I wonder if Applebees gives you super graphic design idea powers??? I should go back and see if I can think of anything else. HAHA!

Learning how to add a custom favicon to your website [.ico]

I have been working as a graphic/website designer for a while now and I have learned several tricks that help your website looks a lot more professional.  It is so simple but I have noticed that a lot of people aren't making them [even graphic designers]. If you are a designer there is no reason not to have one on your website.

If you are wondering... what is a favicon? I suppose you could google it... but I'll give you a summary. It's the icon that displays above the address bar.   I'm sure you've seen these when you visit a big website like Bank of America, Walmart, or HKDEZIGNER.COM. The favicon also shows up in your list of favorites, shortcuts, and all over your bookmarks. This little tiny thing [16x16 pixels] is pretty easy to make. If you don't have photoshop there are tons of FREE websites out there that have something close that will assist you via web. Either way... pretty easy!

How to make your favicon in Photoshop, 6 easy steps!


Step 1: You will need to download a Windows Icon (.ico) file usually called favicon.ico that you upload to the main directory of your website. Nowadays, most browsers besides Internet Explorer [bla] can use a GIF (including animated ones) or PNG (including full transparency) instead. But since all browsers including IE understand the .ico format it is just best you use this method for compatibility issues. Download the .ico plugin from Telegraphics. Hopefully your download and install goes well... [I'd show you how but that would be another tutorial, tehe. I'm sure you know how to download and install. You got this! =P]

Step 2: I like to start my layered/main photoshop file at 64x64 pixels so I can be more creative with my artwork. I like to save this version as a layered .tiff or .psd so I can always go back and modify it.

Step 3: The fun part! The design! If you already have a logo you should reduce it to the 16 x 16 size to see if it looks cool. If it doesn't look good at this size, work with the 64 x 64 canvas and try creating a simple design. Tip: Maybe try using colors from your site so it looks uniform =)

Step 4: When you're ready to test out your cool new favicon design select Image > Image Size menu and enter 16 x 16. Click on Resample Image and choose "Bicubic Sharper" from the drop-down menu (CS only for this step). This is the best setting for making sure that an image doesn't blur as it's being resized. If it’s still not sharp enough, go back and oversharpen, oversaturate and/or heighten the contrast of the original image and then resize it again. Fingers crossed!! Hopefully it doesn't take you to many attempts to having it looking awesome.

Step 5: Time to save the .ico file! Go to File > Save as and make sure you name the file favicon.ico. Under Format you must choose Windows Icon (ICO) from the pulldown menu.  Go ahead and save it where you want it on your hard drive.

Note: This format will only be available in Photoshop after you download and install the plugin. So make sure got everything installed right before you try to save. Sometimes it helps to close photoshop and restart it.

Step 6: Time to upload your awesome new favicon to your server! Connect to your online server and upload your favicon.ico file to your website. Make sure to place the favicon.ico file into the same directory as your home (index) page.  Most browsers should find it automatically and sadly some browsers will look for a direct link in the HTML. You can help these browsers by adding this link in the head section of each page on which you want the Favicon.ico to appear.

Here is the link code to include in your head section to all of your sites pages:
<link rel="Shortcut Icon" href="/favicon.ico"></a>

WOOT WOOT! You should have a cool favicon now! See, that wasn't so hard! Lets hear it for being custom!

Heather Kant attends Flash Camp Phoenix

On January 29th I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to attend a full-day event focusing on the Adobe Flash Platform [Flash Camp Phoenix]. I was so excited to go to Flash Camp Phoenix to learn cool things about Adobe Flash and other design software. 

My friend/coworker Scott and I carpooled over to Tempe early to make sure we had everything ready to go. Who knew if the traffic was going to be terrible or not!? We sure did luck out, we even had time to stop at McDonald's for some de-lish breakfast.  What a great time! I was also ever so grateful to be a passenger instead of a driver on that packed freeway, thanks again Scott!

The event was hosted at a Design College [University of Advancing Technology] in Tempe, AZ. It was so fun going into a design college. It made me remember the good ol' days of working all day on artwork without a care in the world. Also, getting to use other design mediums like markers, paint, and clay.  I suppose when we all get older we get busy in our daily lives and forget doing cool stuff like actual painting and drawing. I suppose when you sit at a desk all day photo-shopping away you forget about your beginnings. The artwork on display at this school was phenomenal! It looks like this school has a major focus on game design, something I'm not too familiar with but it sure looked cool. My hats off to them! I SHOULD have taken some photos with my phone of this adventure, I apologize.

I'm not going to lie, this event was a little hard core and was focused more for developers vs. designers. But I was able to follow along as good as I could, it was neat seeing another side of websites and programs. I like learning new things and I really think the speakers did a great job of being descriptive enough for me to catch on. The amount of people to network there was overwhelming... There were people there from Adobe [Who gave away 2 copies of the CS4 Suite - druel] and a lot of other great people too.

On a side-note: They didn't really talk about Adobe Flash at all, it was all about Flex and air... They should have called it Flex and Air Camp Phoenix. Haha.

There were a lot of developers there who had personal websites they invented that are doing great. The guy who invented www.runpee.com was there and he was kind enough to offer to his fellow designers/developers if we had an idea he would put it on his homepage to help. I thought that was about the nicest thing I had heard in a while.  I'm so used to everyone being so cut-throat. I'm not sure I will ever need to use his website, but I will sure let people know how nice he was to all of us. If I ever make it big, I will do what I can to publish him on my homepage as well.

All in all I really enjoyed my day at Flash Camp Phoenix. Yeah, I wish there could have been more design professionals giving cool presentations on photoshop or illustrator tricks... But it was still really fun and eye opening. Very Refreshing!

NOTE: In-case you didn't know. Designers are the folks who make the graphics, designs, and layouts of websites/programs. Developers are the folks who take those designs and make them a real working website/program.

Heather Kant's Photo of the day! Downtown Phoenix Arizona

Believe it or not...This photo was taken with my cell phone [Motorola Rokr].  I think it turned out pretty sharp.  I took it about a year ago from one of the buildings downtown Phoenix while I was waiting for the elevator.

What a spectacular view!  Can you imagine working in an office that overlooks that every day? Actually I can! I worked in a building down town Phoenix once [Cableone]...and truthfully it was VERY distracting. Everyone would catch their-self looking out during meetings and training classes. Ha ha! It was sure a nice location right by the freeway too.

Graphic Designers can stay warm while making awesome graphics! Introducing the Workie!

Join one of the latest pop-culture phenomena! Perfect for keeping designers warm while working furiously on cool designs. Order now and get a free book light!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I thought you could use a good laugh! I know I had a good laugh at this one!

Here is the thing... I’m always cold at work and my friends tease me because I use a foot heater -- in Arizona! My friend, Trevor, teased that I needed the Snuggie to keep warm one day. Then he later had the idea to call it the Workie. We had a good ol’ laugh at the name Workie.  Then I decided to take the joke one step further... I made the actual packaging for the Workie.

Let the good times roll!

Note: The Snuggie is REAL! I'm sure you've seen it on tv. Here is the official website if you are interested: www.getsnuggie.com

RE: Heather Kant's Phoenix Arizona Thrill The World Logo Design

CHECK IT OUT! LOOK WHO'S LOGO IS IS ON THE MOVEIN 97.5 WEBSITE!!!!

My Thriller Logo!!! :)
http://www.movin975.com

Here are some cool photos from the event! Scary??!!

Original Blog Post: Here

Heather Kant designs a flier for Paradise Nails - Arroyo Grande/Anthem

I’d like to think I really NAIL'd this project! Ha ha! Yep, that was some awesome graphic artist humor.

This was another one of my projects from last week.  I really like how it came out - It’s professional and yet the red color gives it a little sass you would like to see in a salon flier! Those are some killer prices too! I should go get my nails done, I have the geek-nerd sheik nails on my hands.  No paint, really short, and maybe a hangnail here and there. I guess that’s what happens when you’re a full time computer art savy ninja like myself, no time for nails.  Looks like it's time for me to go see Debbie!  If your in the area you should really give Debbie a call too!

Birthday Invitation Designed by Heather Kant

A couple of weeks ago I started on a project for my good friend Amanda.  Her daughter is turning 2 and they needed a birthday invitation made for her party. I was excited to get the opportunity to do another card for her daugher. I've done invites for her in the past and it's always fun because she's so cute and I'm able to get really girly with the artwork.

I'm really pleased on how cute these invitations came out! They have been approved and they are in the mail! Yee-Haw!


Tips for creating artwork to print at Walmart. I assume they don't advertise the "how to" on their website because I think they want you to buy their greeting cards. The last time we went to print we did the longer greeting card size (7"x4"), and had a lot of problems.  I'm not sure if it's the store having problems or just the Walmart equipment that doesn't want to accept that size.  We had slightly less of problems this time around doing the 4"x6" prints.

Here is what I came up with for the closest & easiest of prints at Walmart. I Googled and couldn't find anyone posting the exact dimensions (If it needed a full bleed or not, cmyk? It just wasn't posted). If you have any further information on this please let me know - Thanks!

SpinalWorks Chiropractic Poster going out to 50+ Local North Phoenix Businesses. Designed by Heather Kant

Whooo!! I am ready to mark these awesome posters as DONE in my planner! Such a good turnout!  We did a total of 131 posters total with 50+ different local businesses.  It took a great deal of time to hunt down the logos and save each one out, but they are ready to be sent to the presses tomorrow!! I'm so happy that they turned out professional and sharp! Now it's up to Dr. Steve and his staff to hand these out. My hats off to them! :) I'm sure these posters will attract people in pain so he can get them feeling better.

Note: If you live in the North Phoenix/Dear Valley area - you should go get an adjustment!  He is one of the best chiropractors I've ever been to!  I was in a car accident with a lot of pain and I feel great now!  Not to mention they have an awesome website --- with coupons! Just say'n!  [SpinalWorks Chiropractic website designed by Heather Kant]

North Phoenix Chiropractic Care>>;
SpinalWorks Chiropractic is the Best!!!

I hope you enjoy the poster! I know I enjoyed making it!! It was time consuming, but well worth it - It came out great! Very vibrant and colorful!

Heather Kant's Phoenix Arizona Thrill The World Logo Design

Not only am I learning the Thriller Dance with my friends to perform at the Phoenix Arizona State Fair I have also been lucky enough to design the Phoenix, Arizona Thrill the World group logo [Shown Above].

I'm pretty excited about the logo I designed for the Phoenix, Arizona Thrill The World Group. It has been approved and posted live on their site. Click Here to see the Phoenix Arizona Thrill the World Goup's Website. There is talk of shirts being made too! Woot woot!  When I find out more, I will post a link on here on how to get one.

---

If you want to participate in the Thrill The World Event here is the information you'll need.  I know they need more people to make the world record!!!

Main Website: http://www.thrilltheworld.com/
Phoenix Website: http://web.me.com/prh4/ttw09/index.htm
Time: October 24th at 5:30pm, 2009
Place: The Arizona State Fair
Classes: There are different studios posted on the Phoenix site, but they also have youtube videos to teach you! http://www.thrilltheworld.com/learn/videos

Welcome to Heather Kant's Online Blog!

Hey! Welcome to my blog! This is Entry #1, how lucky are you to be reading this!?! I'll be posting projects I'm working on, links, ideas, and who knows what else.  For now you can visit my websites.

My Personal Website: www.hkdezigner.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/spiffydesigns4u
Phoenix Art Space Profile: www.phoenixartspace.com/hkdezigner 
My Music Profile (Yeah, I like to sing too): www.myspace.com/hkdezignersongs
My Radio Station: www.hkdezigner.com/music.html

If you want to contact me I'm on aim: hkdezigner