Words are the heart of my creativity. I adore writing and language, and it’s how I make a living. But we also live in a visual world, and so I often need to design posters, assets, banners and images for social media and websites.

I often organise and run events, so need to create and publish posters for these activities. Not being blessed with design skills, it’s useful for me to see what design bundles are out there, and use them as resources. There are a number of different packages available from various suppliers. There are various styles, different colours, exciting layouts and interesting images that can make a design compelling – and it’s this that connects with people.

Because that is the heart of communications – connecting with people. Whether it’s through the written word or visual images, all businesses, organisations, artists and individuals need to communicate and connect with their audiences. It’s crucial to having a successful venture. So both the words and the images need to work.

I often create both mock ups and finished designs, and here are a few things I have learned about design, as a non designer.

Plan ahead

Don’t just start throwing things on the page, or on the screen. Think about what it is that you are seeking to achieve. What is the overall purpose of your design and what are you hoping to achieve? Is it to raise awareness, create an overall sense or feeling, sell a product, or something else? Even if it is not overt, all communications are trying to evoke some kind of action or reaction. Having in mind what the desire outcome is will enable you to ensure that all of the design elements are working towards that as an outcome.

Think about typography

Typography is itself an element of design. So often I see words just bunged on a page, and the font looks at odds with the other parts of design, and the overall message. Everything needs to be consistent. Fonts really matter. A font is a grouping of typefaces that have similar characteristics and styles. Whether you’re choosing something cursive and handwritten, want something bold and striking, or are looking for a typeface that is more traditional, each font evokes something different and has a different feel. Most design bundles for your mock ups also include font bundles that work well alongside them, so it’s worth investigating how well your font works alongside other elements of your design. Another key aspect of font, as well as matching your message, is its overall readability. Most people only skim read a flyer, or glance at a poster, so making sure that the font is legible and clear and easy to read in a hurry is really important.

Use a grid

One way to keep all the elements of your design neat and tidy is to use a grid format. A grid essentially serves as the framework for the page’s layout. This can include both vertical columns and horizontal rows, and is essentially a way to keep everything clear and aligned. Use one column if you’re doing a simple ad, and get more complex with more detailed designs. Organising your design this way will help with hierarchy, alignment and consistency, and make it more compelling and impactful, and ensure that your message is clear. Rather than haphazardly dumping things down, keep them aligned and your overall design will seem much more professional.

Power of contrast

Whilst most design programmes you can get will include complementary colour palettes and elements, you can also play around with contrasts. Whether that’s black and white, or bold and light, small and large, or other aspects that might initially not seem to go together, using contrasting elements can help your messages to stand out more. Contrast also enables the reader or viewer to see what aspect they are meant to pay attention to, and where to focus the eye.

Don’t go overboard

Just because there are so many cool elements you can use, doesn’t mean you should. That’s why picking a design bundle to create your mock ups is a good idea, as an expert will have filtered through different colours, typography, shapes and images to get the best range of complementary items that will work well together. Generally it is recommended to have a primary and secondary font, and no more than three colours, although you can adjust transparency and gradient to have more flexibility here. Similarly, if you’re going for straight lines, stick with it, rather than throwing in the odd wonky graphic. It just makes the whole design much crisper.

Use white space

Never be afraid to leave some white space. Just because you can fill every part of the page, doesn’t mean that you should. Instead embrace negative space and keep the design looking clean and clear. This gives a much more modern feel, and makes the parts of the page that are filled seem more compelling and clear.

Learn from the best

Top tip from Joe Reddington is know, or at least follow, one ‘pure’ designer. You learn an amazing amount by just spending time with them and seeing what they notice (or don’t care about). Have a scroll and see what you discover.

So there you go, even non designers can design great looking assets and graphics that capture the eye and heart of the audience, and get them to do something on the back of it. Whilst I can never claim to be a visual artist or designer, being able to use the various resources out there has helped make my work much easier and look far more professional. There are lots of different platforms out there – I’m a big fan of Canva – and plenty of advice to be found. So why not have a play?

Here are a few top tips for fonts in your work.

Font families

When designing up a graphic or content it’s important to think about font families. Having a cursive design in the header and a roman one in the body will look disjointed, so think about what goes well together. Take a step back from your design and look at it as a complete piece of work, as well as each segment in isolation.

Rule of three

Good visual typography uses a limited number of font families, and no more fonts within them than necessary. Generally the rule of thumb is three fonts per piece. Try not to get too excited and throw in lots of different fonts, which I know can be difficult as there are so many cool ones out there. Too many different fonts can be disorientating for the reader or user, and distract from your message, which is what you are primarily there to do. Less really is more.

Size matters

Size matters in this case. There’s no point trying to cram lots of text on a page if it makes it too difficult to read. Obviously the specific size will depend on whether you are creating an invitation or a poster, a sign or an Instagram post, and every situation is different. Think about who will be viewing your content, and where they will be reading it. If it’s on a billboard, it needs to be a bit larger than on a flyer!

Follow a visual hierarchy

Think about hierarchies within your content, and use typeface and font to discern this. Having very clear and distinguished font sizes and selections helps to create and show a logical content order within your design. Big bold typeface at the top shows the headline, whereas smaller and more cursive in the body copy shows that this is what comes next. Think about headings, subheadings, body copy and how this helps make things flow and keep people on the trajectory and path you are trying to take people on. Clear typographic hierarchy makes text legible and easy to scan, and makes it easy for people to scan, help them to take the desired action, and bring their attention to the right point or paragraph.

Keep it clear

Function and clarity are key. Never sacrifice this for style or imagery. There is no point having everything pretty and creative if people cannot read it or understand it. You do not want your font to take over and distract from the content and message that it is trying to convey. Simplicity and intelligibility remain the most essential principles, and keeping things clear is essential for any designer. Your main job is to get across a message and make people act – not showcase all the fancy fonts and images you have at your disposal.

Remember your context and audience

Consider context and audience. If your sentences are funny or humorous, go for a fun and vibrant font. If it’s more serious, you will probably want a more traditional font type. Businesses might have their own style, and it’s your job to make sure that the font echoes their values and ethos. Ask questions of your clients and get to know them, and think about what fonts will work for them and their messaging.

Mobile responsive

If you’re working on a website, consider mobile. Mobile typography is unique due to the space available. Legibility is crucial, as there will be a small visual area that people are viewing on. There might be spaces to click on, and there needs to be specific and obvious options for doing this.

Ready to go play with some fonts? Have a look at what brands and organisations are doing. Get out there and try some font freebies. And enjoy it.

Sponsored post.

The exhibition begins with posters and advertising promoting the health giving benefits of cigarettes. The mode and means of communication is only as effective as the message and belief behind it, and once it was deemed that smoking was healthy. We then see the sleek and sexy Silk Cut ad campaigns from the 1980s, followed by children’s cartoons promoting an anti smoking message, and the transition to plain packaging.

Symbols we’ve come to recognise and that are ubiquitous in our landscape, such as the green cross of pharmacy’s or the Red Cross depicting impartiality and safety. It’s explained how the font and typography used in hospitals came to be selected – clear, neutral and plain – and the importance of good signage.

Inspiration is taken from good design elsewhere. Miffy creator Dick Bruna’s inimitable style is used for a book about haemophilia, whilst UNICEF’s Ebola symptom posters of 2014 are evocative of Ladybird. The 1980s campaign AIDS: Don’t Die of Ignorance is a stark reminder of the importance of clear messaging, whilst the value of storytelling is apparent through Rejane Dal Bello‘s identity for a children’s hospital in Arequipa, that uses bright colours and happy characters to help ease the worries of young patients.

‘Graphic Design in and of itself isn’t that interesting,’ says Rebecca Wright, Programme Director of Graphic Communication Design, ‘what is interesting is what it does in relation to the subject that it’s serving. It is a service industry for the public and it comes to life in that context.’

Can Graphic Design Save Your Life? The answer from this exhibition is a resounding yes.

The BUST Craftacular London summer session brought some of the best in the capital together to share their skills and wares at York Hall in Bethnal Green. Nearly seventy stalls filled the Bethnal Green venue, including wooden jewellery from Lucie Ellen, quirky postcards by Lucy Wilkins, lovely sewn bags by East London’s Olive Road, some organic haircare courtesy of Glasshouse and prints on offer from Su & Miah.

As well as all the opportunities to part with your cash for something beautiful, workshops throughout the day let participants try it out themselves. London Craft Club set up plant pots for individuals to paint, the colourful thumbs being a giveaway as to who had given it a go. The retro art of friendship bracelets was there with Mollie Makes and The New Craft House, and Live It. Love It. Make It. has brightened up homes (including my own!) with some paper cut wall hangings.

Tatty Devine is one of the success stories of the homegrown creative business. Started by best friends Harriet and Rosie in 1999 as a panicked reaction to a Vogue buyer asking Harriet to see her collection after spotting on her wrist the leather cuff she had made, it’s now a global jewellery range, specialising in bright and bold design. Using acrylic I was taken through the steps of making a bunting necklace, that will jazz up even the blandest of black work outfits.

Most of the designers and makers at BUST Craftacular sell and run workshops throughout the year. From the oooohs and smiles around the fair, it seems like new and old crafters alike will be sampling what’s on offer, and joining the cool crowd.

The Creative Workplace – Rob Alderson

Roads Publishing

Place matters. The environment in which people work not only says a lot about the company and brand, but also has a huge impact on the inspiration and motivation of the team within it. Google’s legendary slides just wouldn’t cut it in GHQ; a brand like Tesco couldn’t have a swanky central London HQ.

The culture and personality of the company and its work can all be reflected in walls, furniture and images where they work. And in visual industries it’s even more crucial. The Creative Workplace opens the doors to graphic design, architecture, advertising and digital media studios around the world and asks creatives what their workplaces say about them.

It’s a beautiful book filled with glossy images of spaces that speak volumes about the aspiration of the companies who created them. Over fifty spaces have been photographed, with stunning inner and outer design work elevating them from the usual office.

‘For creative agencies and design studios, workplaces are part of their brand identities, helping to attract and retain both creative talent and commercial clients,’ writes Rob Alderson in the introduction. ‘But there is a definite sense that there exists a direct cause and effect between the spaces people work in and their productivity, creativity and outlook.

‘People will always shape their spaces to give them an advantage, building an atmosphere that helps them think and work in the best possible way,’ he continues.

There’s no formula. AWe see brave architectural statements, airy minimalist lofts, and quirky personal touches. There’s nature and greenery inside at production and interactive design studio Random Studio in Amsterdam and whereas Casa Rex design house in São Paulo has an entrance that  looks like a demolition site. ‘That always makes a positive first impression.’ they say. And what about mobile working spaces, like a caravan at FIVE AM design studio in Belgium.

Where we work matters, both for a huge company and as an individual. It’s a book worth perusing not just for design porn, but to make us consider location and surroundings. Whether it’s nature, clean space, sitting near a window or having a photo nearby, make a change to your outer space and see if there’s a change within you.

‘Travelling and looking at new things around the world and around me is always inspiring. People do inspire me in so many ways, events , words…’ Nadine Kanso


Now based in Dubai, she has always seen creativity as an innate part of her being and her background and culture is evident. Her Arabic identity, and her pride in it, is a living element of her jewellery line, Bil Arabi, which fuses the Arabic language with her milieu of design and creative training and a passion for looking good.
http://www.stylehunter.com.au/interviews/nadine-kanso

Down By The Sea

Through my various musical activities, I have recently been through the rigmarole of deciding upon artwork for a debut album, and a few singles too. Even if the days of digital downloading, when a 300×300 pixel thumbnail is the way the majority of people experience the artwork, this stuff matters. Depending on who you’re talking to in the music business, image is either everything or nothing, and album art is a huge part of this. Being a brand, or a band, comes down to what you transmit to the consumer or audience, and so artwork’s relevance cannot be underestimated.
In the absence of sonic evidence by which to judge music, most people will make an assumption based upon what they can see, projecting the attributes of the art to your band – a fact which was particular important in the days before internet streaming, when the record store still reigned supreme. A means of identification, a sales tool, a dialogue with your fans, a statement of intent – there is much more to the process that a pretty picture.
An image that has the potential to become an icon will immediately register with the viewers conscious. You only have to see some newspaper lettering or the colors neon pink and yellow side by side to think of The Sex Pistols’ debut ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter – take The Beatles’ 1967 ‘Magical Mystery Tour.’ Dreadful cover, but the band did alright. Only a year earlier however Apple insisted that they alter the image on the sleeve of ‘Yesterday and Today’, after the squeaky clean Beatles being surrounded by raw meat caused outrage. The cover sayssomething about the music and the band, even if it is not wholly accurate.
Matching the music is important if you want to appeal to the ‘right’ audience. Swapping the covers of say an Anthrax album with those of a Britney Spears CD could lead to a whole host of problems. Jazz comes in smoky packaging images, metal bands do death icons, indie bands cast a different perspective on every day scenarios and boy bands are associated with shots of them standing looking shiny.
There are also the mundane factors and practicalities. If you can’t work out who a CD is by when you’re standing in store you’re unlikely to purchase it. Similarly the frustration caused by trying to find a record that is poorly titled on your shelf is likely to lead to you never listening to it. Stand out typography that is not intrusive will go a long way towards reaching the information serving objective.
As with most hugely important subjects, like say, life, there is no handbook or set of instructions as to what makes a good piece of album art. Everyone from The Clash, The Guardian and the NME have published lists of both best and worst album covers of all time, but it’s not that easy to see what distinguishes the two lists.
Dan from It’s All Happening believes that emotion is the key: ‘The best album covers are those that strike you, and the reason they do that is because they illicit some kind of emotion, whether that’s interest, a smile, or shock.’
The below are some examples of bands who got it right.

Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (1995)

A simple shot of slightly fuzzy London DJ Sean Rowley and album producer Owen Morris walking down Berwick Street in Soho, it inspired a generation and fitted into the band’s ethos: they make music for people like you.

Sonic Youth – Goo (1990)

A hand drawn comic allows the band to make a statement in an understated way.

Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)

In some ways you could argue that it’s not art at all – just the album’s name repeated over a splodge. Exactly – you know who it is, you know that they are an ever changing entity, and that what is contained within will be hard to grasp, but still somehow feel right.

The Rolling Stones – Forty Licks (2002)

All institutions and brands need a logo, and this simple, exciting, immediate image became theirs. It even featured on Topshop t-shirts…

New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies (1993)

Could anything seem to be less fitting such a seething anarchistic title than a reproduction of the painting ‘A Basket of Roses’ by French artist Henri Fantin-Latour, usually found in the National Gallery’s permanent collection.  The UK release, with no text on the cover used a bold grid of colours that could be decoded by referring to a key on the reverse, to spell out the band name and album title.
This article was originally published on Inspiration Feed, a site dedicated to creativity, design and inspiration.