As a designer, I have been working with typography for years, and “font psychology” has been a factor in my work since long before this particular phrase became popular to describe it. Since the very beginning, typefaces (to me) have always had personalities —...
In my article “On the Creative Process,” I left aside one deep component of creativity because this aspect of creativity — i.e., play — is worthy as a topic unto itself. Play is at the heart of the creative process. And at risk of stating the obvious: creativity is at...
You’ve heard the phrase “it can turn on a dime.” When it comes to writing copy, “it can turn on a word.” Ergo, it makes sense to have respect for good writing. The heart of graphic design is in combining words and images in the most effective and impactful ways...
Every once in a while, I think about the word “Gestalt.” The rest of the time, I’m busy applying its principles. I like to think that I can tell a good composition from a bad because of my years of experience as a designer and exposure to much that...
“We went to Jan with an idea of what we wanted, but no idea how to do it. At the time we had folders that had about 15 pages in them, listing and describing all products and services the Bank had to offer, but it was outdated and not user friendly. With the help of...
For visual designers, there are two basic kinds of contrast: Contrast in color, and contrast in composition. When I design for you, I bring my knowledge of and experience with contrast into the picture (pun intended). Contrast in Color In color, there are literally...
