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Book Cover Design

As a graphic designer I have designed many things, logos, brochures newspaper ads, business cards, invitations, menus, graphics for t-shirts,  20ft banners that have hung on the side of a building, I could go on and on but I won’t bore you.

There is something however I have never tackled before and that is the design of a book cover, until now.

Here is a sneak peak at the cover of a new book by freelance writer Edward Bison

Book cover designBook cover design

The book is a funny, light hearted collection of observations and stories geared towards the adult market.

I was also commissioned to illustrate the book , which was another first.

A revamped website will be launched shortly to coincide with the publication.

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Illustrating a Book

Web design is generally my bread and butter but occasionally I get a completely different project on my plate.

I am currently deep in the middle of an illustration project for a freelance writer who is just getting ready to publish his first book. The book is a compilation of 100 humorous observations and stories and I will admit has had me crying with laughter. It is hard to draw when you have tears running down your face.

Each of the stories require an illustration and have turned to my old faithful ink pen to illustrate the old fashioned way. It is quite a liberating experience to spend a day filling pages in a sketch book rather than staring at a computer monitor. I have about 75 illustrations completed already, a mere 25 to go.

And as a little teaser here is a  sampling.

 

Line drawing of a pig

line drawing of mand with steam coming out of his ears

Line drawing if little red riding hood

The book is due for release around Thanksgiving.

 

2012 © Chicago Web Designer

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Can you read this secret message?

I came across this recently

Can you read this

 

It is amazing how the brain can quickly become wired to comprehend something that seems so alien.

So in the spirit of making your brain work, I have designed a little  teaser. Can you read this secret message?

can you read thisIt requires a little thought and as a  hint you will need to print it out …you can download it  here

Comment if you solve it.

© Chicago Web Designer

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Digital Detox.

Much of my life is spent dealing with digital technology so every now and again I need a complete digital detox to recharge my creative juices.  no phone, no email, no blogging, no Facebook, no Pinterest,  no Google, no voice mail, no Photoshop, no key word analysis, no coding, no CSS, no debugging, no pulling my hair out because of Internet Explorer.

The answer…a holiday. Getting away from Chicago and heading to the coast. Give me a good book, a warm ocean, sandy toes, sea breezes, hunting for shells,  underwater handstand lessons from my teenager, key lime pie, no access to a computer and a phone that is turned off …AAAAAAAAH bliss. I find it completely liberating.

Of course coming back to work is hard even though I love my job. But I have web sites to create, brochures to design and SEO strategies to execute.

So I will have to make do with a few “digital memories” today.

 

digital detox of the chicago web designer

How about you…did you manage a digital detox this summer. Dd you succeed or did you have a sneak peak at your email?

© 2012 Chicago Web Designer

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Keeping a website fresh: Chicago web designer tip of the day

As well as designing websites from scratch one of the services we offer our clients is website maintenance.

This can involve anything from updating text, adding  pages for new services or updating a look and feel with new photos.

We have refreshed the look of The Lincolnshire Academy of Dance website today, updating  all the photographs with recent ones taken during their June recital.

chicago web designer

Keeping a web site fresh with new content,  photographs and news will keep you visitors engaged and more likely to pay you repeat visits. Search engines love fresh content too, so it is a win all round.

© 2012 Chicago Web Designer

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Taking a St Louis Retirement Community Social

A good website is a “living” marketing tool that can evolve to accommodate different approaches to engage with it’s users.  Our long standing client, The Rockwood, a St Louis retirement community, understands this and recently asked us to revisit their site and make suggestions on how it could be improved.

The site has now been overhauled  so it performs better in the search engines and offers interactions with it’s users through social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.  We also built them a custom WordPress blog which was seamlessly integrated into the site.

 

Rockwood st louis retirement community

You can subscribe to their blog, become a Facebook Friend or Follow them on Twitter

© Chicago Web Designer

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New Website for Chicago Home Remodeling Company

Launched today is a new website for Restore North Shore, a Chicago home remodeling company.

Chhicago Home website

We designed and built a custom WordPress template which incorporated not only a blog but pages for project galleries, client testimonials etc.

chicago home website

If you are in the Chicago area and are looking to update your kitchen, bathroom or even an entire house check out the project galleries

© 2012 Chicago Web Designer

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A Geeky Side of Graphic Design: Security Printing

When I lived in the UK I worked for a security print company, creating anti counterfeit design elements. It was a fascinating one in a million job. My designs not only had to look good but more importantly they had to perform. They had to be difficult to counterfeit , which is no small task.

It was what I consider technical graphic design, which is one of the first things that attracted me to web design, as that too is a marriage of design and technical elements (think html, css,  javascript , cross browser computability …the list is endless)

So I thought I’d share with you today a geeky side of graphic design and look at a design elements I created for security print. It is a design concept I invented (see patent) that is used to camouflage messages

Hidden in the following design is a message…scroll down to see what it is.

This concept was used for creating an anti counterfeit pattern that was used on a Microsoft certificate of Authenticity

and on Bank notes printed for Northern Bank in Ireland

anti counterfeit design element

anti counterfeit design element

© 2012 Chicago web design

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Indigo Image : Having fun with your business name

Following my post yesterday on the anatomy of a company name I thought I’d put together a short list today, of fun things you can do with your business name.

Make an anagram

You never know an anagram may reveal a fantastic marketing message. There is no need to sit down and work them all out yourself, plug your letters into an online generator like wordsmith.org and out they pop.

Here is a sampling of what was generated for Indigo Image

I going media
A Doggie Mini
Go maid genii
A midi egg ion
I imagine God

No mind blowing marketing messages there but a fun exercise nevertheless and through Wordsmith.org you can even create an animation of your anagram.

anagram of indigo image

Taking an anagram approach can sometimes be useful for coming up with a product name. Consider the Toyota car Camry, it is an anagram of  my car.

Produce a Graphic

Plug your company name into the Tagxedo creator to create a fun graphic. You can set the font, color palette, select a preloaded shape or even upload your own. Here is a fun Indigo Image graphic I created in literally 5 seconds.

 

Indigo Image star

 

Create a QR Code

QR codes encrypt data which can be easily decoded by a QR reader app you can download to your cell phone.

This Qr code decodes to read ” Indigo Image : The Chicago web designer: 847 607 8679″

 

indigo image qr code

Creating a QR code couldn’t be simpler. There are a number on free online generation site such as Kaywa which allows you to generate a URL, text, phone number or sms QR code

Use your Qr code on

  • Business cards
  • Marketing material such as brochures and flyers
  • T shirts
  • Real estate signs
  • Promotional freebies
  • Product labels
  • Store fronts

© Chicago Web Designer 2012