Graphic Design

It seems like just yesterday I decided to take on graphic design as my major. Second semester of freshman year was when I began to discover my love of the field. Sophomore year, I committed to the major. It was the third major I had switched to, but I knew it was the only one I would stick with. I'm sure before I know it I'll be graduated from Waynesburg and out in the real world searching for a job. It can be kind of intimidating to think of competing for internships and jobs. There are a lot of graphic artists who do amazing work. As I was looking at some projects that graphic designers around the world had published, I stumbled upon a website that gives hope to those of us who are just starting out. Here is the link. The site is called #50 Things Every Creative Should Know. It gives advice like: You are not the first, There will always be someone better, Share your ideas, and Take responsibility for failure. Each piece of advice has a title, an illustration, and a small description that can be easily tweeted. This advice was very encouraging and somewhat inspiring to me. Obviously, I am not the first graphic design student to look for an internship, but actually thinking about it made me relax. More people than I can count have gotten internships. This means it is possible. The same will go for the job market once I graduate. Like I said before, it is also intimidating to see others work at times. The advice that the site gives about there always being someone better was also encouraging to me. It is pointless to waste time worrying about the work that other people do. I need to do my best. That is all that really matters.

Although it is not good to dwell on how seemingly perfect other designers work can be, I often feel inspired by the work that others do. This especially applies to logo designs. I love creating logo designs, and as I was meandering around the web this week I found a website that showcased a few really cool logo designs. I absolutely adore logos that feature a play on words. I find them to be extremely clever, and I often dream of being able to create such a perfect design. Here are some examples of what I am talking about: 

Ed's Electric features an electrical plug that forms an 'E' in the negative space.

The Pink Umbrella logo illustrates the letter 'U' into the handle of the pink umbrella.

The Go Music logo transforms the word go into a guitar.

These logos are so simplistic, yet so brilliant. They inspire me to think outside the box when creating logos. They are so obvious, yet so unique because the designer chose to incorporate the theme of the logo in a creative way that you don't see too often. Right after I found these logos, I found a tool on a website that helps designers find variations of every color imaginable. The user only needs to click on one of the colored squares on the main page. Once a color is selected, the site shows every variation of that color. It has a copy button once you select a variation so that you can paste the color code into whatever program you are designing with. This tool is very exciting to me because often when I'm designing logos, I can't seem to find the exact color that I want. Here is the link. 


Overall, after browsing through some graphic design articles, blogs, and websites this week I have learned that what is most important is working hard and doing my best. The best part is , I'm not along. There are infinite amounts of resources out there to help me along the way. The color variation tool is something I am sure I will use a lot in my designs. Looking at others creativity can boost my own. And finally, reading advice from design veterans will guide me along the way.