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In today's world of Digital Media, Graphic Designing is becoming quite popular in not just in young generation, but in almost every group of people. Graphic Designing software takes proper knowledge to learn them and they aren't cheap either. There are many graphic design software available to use for your daily work, some of them are easy to use but most of them are very complex to use and takes time to make even simple designs. Designing is gaining popularity amongst people who are looking to make a decent living out of Graphics work and is now considered in a serious career making industries as more and more people are leaning towards the world of Designing to unleash their creativity. Web Design, Vector Design, Digital Art, Digital Painting, Interior Design, Gaming, UI/UX, Animation and Motion Design are such basic examples of Designing, but it's just a tip of an iceberg and is far more diversified than it looks. Graphic designing requires powerful systems to fully render designs in real time and modern computers and laptops are just perfect fit for it, but not everyone can afford them. Also Read: 10 Common Mistakes Designers Make #1 You can work in a company as a Designer, or as a Freelancer. You can make your own gig on certain websites like Fiverr, Upwork or Freelancer or maybe just work on an individual project which could either be online or offline client's work. Maintaining different aspects of resources such as Fonts, stock images, templates and color schemes is difficult thing to do. But there are some tools available online which will not only help you ease your designing work, but also can complete your designs with just few clicks and minutes. Ever wonder making a color scheme for your entire project without any effort at all. Here are our top picks of 8 Online Tools you can use to boost your designing work: 1. CANVA Canva is an online graphic design platform developed by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams. Canva is easy to use and can be used to create Graphics, Social Media Posts, Invitations, Instagram posts, Presentations, Business Cards, Posters, Documents and other visual content. This app includes 610,000+ templates for users to use. This platform is free to use with limited yet useful templates and also offers paid subscriptions such as Canva Pro and Canva for additional functionality with advanced tools. You can use Canva for free with over 250,000+ templates, 100,000+ Photos & Graphics, 100+ design types and 5 GB Cloud Storage. Canva PRO package starts from 6.99$ or ₹499 per month for up to 5 people. Pro version offers everything that includes in Free version with a library of millions of Stock photos, audios and videos. 100 GB of Cloud storage and additional advance tools. 2. COOLORS Coolors is a web app that allows you to quickly generate color schemes for your project in just one click. All you need to do is just press the spacebar and it will randomly choose a set of shades or any color and it also allows you to adjust the shades and hue saturation level in real time. You can also create a color palette of any image in your computer by simply uploading it into 'Create Palette from Photo' tool and a Collage to represent in a more productive way using 'Create a Collage' tool Also Read: 16 Types Of Blur In Photoshop In Details: Gaussian, Motion, Lens, Surface, Radial Etc. Coolors also has an option for 8 different conditions of Color Blinded people which they can use accordingly and is in fact a thoughtful feature to add in. Coolors is available as a web app, you can also use it's app for IOS devices. You can also download the Adobe and Chrome extension from Coolors website. 3. GIPHY Giphy is an online database and search engine website owned by Facebook that allows users to find Hundreds and thousands of short looping videos and animated GIFs. It allows allows users to create and share gifs on their platform. GIFs are considered as more interactive than an still image as it takes same space but can show more content. Designers use Giphy to locate relatable gifs for their project or embed in their website so they won't have to make one from scratch. Giphy is a free to use website where you can use gifs for your personal use and can buy license for any original creative work. 4. WHATFONTIS Ever stuck in a situation where you encounter a visually perfect font in a design and decided to use that font in your next project, but gave up looking for it after hours of finding on google and other font websites. Whatfontis is such a website which does all the looking for you with over 850,000+ fonts on their index. Whatfontitis works as a font search engine where you can simply upload an image of a design from which you want a font name to be extracted or paste a URL of an image if it's located on the web. Also Read: 7 Process To Master Logo Designing In 2022 Using an advance font finder UI, this website displays over 60 fonts for every uploaded image. This tool is a life saver because even if it fails to display an accurate result of your search, it will definitely going to show you a similar and identical font. 5. AWESOME SCREENSHOT Awesome Screenshot App is an annotation tool for screenshot and picture. It is a browser extension for Firefox and Chrome and work as a screen recorder and screenshot tool. You can easily screenshot anything on the web and edit it directly within your browser. Awesome Screenshot is easy to use. Click on the camera lens icon, and you are given three choices: Capture Visible Part of Page, Capture Selected Area and Capture Entire Page. Awesome Screenshot lets you quickly capture most of the webpages. It has a feature that allows annotating those images, which is useful for support related tasks. Highlighted Features: It Allows you to Record both screen and camera, easily crop, edit, and annotate screenshots. 6. REMOVE.BG Making a PNG out of an image is not that hard thing to do, but removing the background out of a portrait is a difficult thing to do as it requires skills to perfectly cut out the foreground image. Removing image from a background is a time consuming thing to do as it deals with hair, skin texture and clothing. This is where Remove.bg come into place for designers and freelancers. Remove.bg is a free to use online tool that allows you to remove background out of any image where foreground is defined and clear. Just a simple click to upload a file or URL and it will automatically remove the background of your uploaded file. This site is free and you can use this tool as much as you want without any hassle to pay for their services. 7. PICMONKEY PicMonkey is an online photo editing, touch up tool, background eraser and design making platform owned by ShutterStock. PicMonkey can be accessed from a web browser, or through an app. It offers easy to use services for not only designers, but also to beginners as it doesn't require any learning. PicMonkey has templates and design options to ease your workflow which can be used for both personal projects or business campaigns. Also Read: What Is The Most Difficult Part About Being A Freelancer? Also Read: Hue, Saturation and Lightness (HSL) in Color System: Explained PicMonkey offers a free trial for 7 days with limited features but you won't be able to share or download any of the images you create. You can buy Basic plan with 1 GB hub storage and export option of JPG and PNG for annual fee of $72.00 or monthly fee of $7.99. PRO plan offers unlimited hub storage and export of JPG, PNG and PDF format of file with annual fee of $120.00 and monthly fee of $12.99 8. VENNGAGE Venngage is an online tool for creating infographics, data visualizations and reports. You can create infographics using pre-made templates and can also add text, change fonts, widgets, charts, and icons. It is a perfect tool for non-designers It’s a reliable platform that lets users to easily create charts, infographics, and graphs by using a wide range of templates that ranges from free to premium and business use. Venngage has a free version which is perfect for beginners and paid plans for businesses and organizations. Venngage comes with Free, Premium, Business and Enterprise plan where all 4 comes with their own sets of features: FREE: 5 Designs Share Publicly Free Diverse Icons and Widgets 6 Image Uploads PREMIUM: Unlimited Designs PNG & Hi Res PNG Exporting Premium Icons and Widgets 50 Image Uploads BUSINESS: Team Size of 1-10 Members Organize with Folders HTML and PowerPoint Exports 500 Image Uploads ENTERPRISE: Team Size of 11-100+ Dedicated Account Manager Multi-Factor Authentication Live Onboarding & Team Training Sessions As a designer, we all encounter these situations once in a while when our project's deadline makes us focus on the main part of the design, and those situations makes us use such tools to ease our workflow but in a useful way. NOTE: This list doesn't rank these tools from top to bottom in any order. All the links available to these tools are in headings. 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Graphic designing is a serious work involving a lot of aspects such as researching a company’s business and depicting its brand message. Any mistake in a design such as a logo, business card, website, brochure, etc. can even potentially damage prospects of a company. But a well- thought out graphic design can turn a company and its business into a trustworthy brand in the eyes of the target audience. Whether you’re a brand new designer looking to jump into your first order or you’re an old hand who’s looking for a refresher, these common graphic design mistakes can ambush any designer and potentially cause a lot of harm. Final output in a design can be determined by the type of software being used and whether you use too many online tools and plugins, which can also disrupt your ability to use your own skills. Also Read: 10 Common Mistakes Designers Make #2 So, take a look through these critical mistakes you need to keep an eye out for. As long as you stay vigilant and double check everything, none of these problems should bother you. 1. TOO MANY FONTS One of the fastest ways to turn your audience off is to include too much text in a piece of communication that is supposed to be primarily visual. This is especially true in the case of infographic and presentation design. The first mistake that stands out when looking at a novice design vs a professional design is the number of fonts used. It’s hard to understand the message of the piece if there are too many distracting fonts involved. Also Read: Top 5 Video Editing Software To Choose From As fun as it can be to play with fonts to convey different feelings and messages, brands should pick two or three fonts maximum on any design piece. Using a single font can also be impactful since it adds continuity and establishes your brand identity. Make sure you keep the size of the piece in mind when selecting the number of fonts as well as the amount of text. A smaller piece, like the logo above, can only support one font, while larger or more complex pieces like your website can handle a little more creativity. 2. USING STOCK IMAGES It’s not wrong to use stock images, it’s best to go easy on them. Using too many stock photos makes a project look cheap and, in some cases, unprofessional. Plus, there are plenty of stock images out there that people will instantly recognize since they’ve seen them all over. Stock images can be a helpful and affordable solution when you’re working on a project that requires specific images. However, using too many stock photos can make your project look cheap or unprofessional. Many common stock photos become used over and over again which makes it a dead giveaway when you put them in your marketing piece. Also, make sure you are properly purchasing the photos you do end up using to avoid sending out photos with a watermark or ones that are low resolution. 3. NOT PROOFREADING You are a graphic designer and not a writer, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to pass on proper spelling. While you may feel that running a quick spell check after finishing your project is all you’ll need, there are plenty of graphic design mistakes that spell check systems can miss. Make sure you are always checking over the spelling and grammar before sending a piece to print or hitting send on an email. While a misused comma or other punctuation marks may not seem like a major problem, there are plenty of people out there that will notice common issues like that, and ignore the rest of the project. Also Read: 10 Best Tutorials To Learn Digital Portrait Painting As A Beginner In 2022 Also Read: What Is The Most Difficult Part About Being A Freelancer? Along with spelling problems, you want to make sure your project has proper grammar. While a misused comma or other punctuation marks may not seem like a major problem, there are plenty of people out there that will see a small slip like that and disregard the entire rest of the project. 4. CHOOSING THE WRONG COLORS One of the single most important design decisions you will make in the creation of your project is your choice of color combinations. Many times, a project with good communicative potential can go away if the right colors are not chosen. It can be distracting to use too many bold colors in one piece. So when creating new branding for your company or a new artwork, it’s important to start by creating a color palette. Each color palette you create should include both primary colors and secondary colors. Test your fonts along with these colors to make sure that text is legible whether standing alone or sitting on top of other elements. 5. USING INCORRECT HIERARCHY In graphic design, hierarchy is how a piece is organized so the audience knows which elements are the most important and how their eyes should move over the piece. When looking at the pieces above, the flow of the flyer on the left is easy for the eye to navigate and ensures your audience can find the most important information right away. While the flyer on the right has the eye jumping around looking for the important information. Also Read: File Types In Graphic Design: Complete Breakdown Hierarchy is the top design technique that ranks the importance of your information. Whenever you’re creating a new design there is typically one general message you want to communicate. Whether you’re communicating a sale, upcoming event, or new blog post, how you create hierarchy in your design will dictate what your audience takes away from your design. Hierarchy doesn’t just have to be font size or placement, you can also create effective hierarchy through colors, graphic elements, or the weight of the fonts you use. 6. DESIGNING FOR THE WRONG MEDIUM Another important factor which is often overlooked is the medium in which your design will appear. Whether it will it be published online, in a book or a magazine can make a big difference in the way you go about creating your design. For example, if your artwork will appear in a bound book, you must account for the space between the two pages, which is called a gutter. Before you lay out your ideas, make sure to avoid placing any important design elements over this space since they will get lost in the binding process. Also, if you need to print your design be sure to change to CMYK color mode, not RGB, which is the color mode for projects displayed on mobile devices and computer screens. If you created a design in one format and printed or published it in the other it would look completely different because the colors wouldn’t translate! 7. NOT CREATING A VERSATILE DESIGN The best graphics are evergreen and multi-purpose! If you’re creating a logo, think about how it will look on promotional products, how it will look in a 1 color or full color, and how it can be simplified to ensure you’re able to use specific design processes with your logo. This will help establish your brand consistency and save you time and money from having to redesign artwork for new projects down the road. 8. NOT UNDERSTANDING INSTRUCTIONS As in all things, communication between the designer and the client is critical. While it’s the prerogative of the client to provide clear and informative instructions, it’s the responsibility of the designer to ensure they understand those instructions, even if that requires additional queries sent to the client. Also Read: 5 Must Have Transitions For Your Premiere Pro Project In 2022 Creative Blog highly suggests going over the client directives multiple times while taking notes and brainstorming. Whenever something confusing crops up in the directives, it’s critical that you get in contact with the client right away in order to clear things up. 9. STAYING IN THE BOX While thinking out-of-the-box may be a clichéd advice, that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. A major graphic design mistake in logo design and other designs is staying in the well-traveled ruts and sticking to what is known. Graphic design is a creative process, and as such, you need to be creative in order to truly be successful. Go for the crazy and weird, try things out, experiment and play around. Not everything will be a success, but nothing will be if you don’t try. 10. OVER PROMISING Out of all the mistakes covered so far, this is by far one of the most severe and potentially damaging. As Go Layer Cake site states, when it comes to graphic design, you’ll rarely, if ever, find a job that is “quick.” So when discussing deadlines and expectations with your client, you’ll want to make sure you don’t promise them something amazing, and then fail to meet that promise. It’s better to finish a project ahead of a long deadline than late on a short deadline. 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HSL (for hue, saturation, lightness) and HSV (for hue, saturation, value; also known as HSB, for hue, saturation, brightness) are alternative representations of the RGB color model, designed in the 1970s by computer graphics researchers to more closely align with the way human vision perceives color-making attributes. HSL is part of color model in graphic designing and image editing. Adjusting Hue, Saturation and Lightness of an image is easy to do with just simple dialing of values. HSL is like a tool which comes pre-installed in the image adjustment menu of any image and graphic design software. HSL is user-friendly because even with basic knowledge, you can imagine how specific color looks like. It is very easy to change entire color of any type of graphic file and designs like logo, vector art or even an entire image. Also Read: RGB, CMYK AND Image Resolution: Explained What is HSL and what does it mean? HSL stands for Hue, Saturation, and Lightness. When humans view an object it's color is described by its hue, saturation, and brightness. The HSL representation models the way different paints mix together to create color in the real world, with the lightness dimension resembling the varying amounts of black or white paint in the mixture. Fully saturated colors are placed around a circle at a lightness value of ½, with a lightness value of 0 or 1 corresponding to fully black or white, respectively. The HSL color space was invented for television in 1938 by Georges Valensi as a method to add color encoding to existing monochrome broadcasts, allowing existing receivers to receive new color broadcasts (in black and white) without modification as the luminance (black and white) signal is broadcast unmodified. It has been used in all major analog broadcast television encoding including NTSC, PAL and SECAM and all major digital broadcast systems and is the basis for composite video. 1. HUE So what exactly is Hue? Hue literally means color. Hue is a degree on the color wheel from 0 to 360. 0 is red, 120 is green, 240 is blue. When it is used in a color name, it indicates that a modern pigment has been used instead of the traditional one. For example, Cadmium Red Pale Hue is a “color of cadmium red pale”. It is important to note that a hue color is not necessarily inferior. 2. SATURATION So what exactly is Saturation? Saturation is the intensity, or richness, of that color. Saturation is a percentage value; 0% means a shade of gray and 100% is the full color. Also Read: Primary, Secondary And Tertiary Colors In Designing The higher the saturation of a color, the more vivid it is. The lower the saturation of a color, the closer it is to gray. Lowering the saturation of a photo can have a “muting” or calming effect, while increasing it can increase the feel of the vividness of the scene. 3. LIGHTNESS / BRIGHTNESS So what is Lightness or Brightness? Lightness (or brightness) is the amount of white or black mixed in with the color. It's also calculated as a percentage value between 0% and 100%. 0% lightness will also always be black. Lightness (which is sometimes referred to as ‘value’ or ‘tone’) relates to the amplitude of the color – or its proximity to the white or black end of the tonal scale. A color with low value is close to black, while one with high value is close to white. KEY POINTS: HSL vs HSB: HSL & HSB are same where L stands for Lightness and B stands for Brightness. In designing terms both Lightness and Brightness are same. HSL HSB in Color System: These are values to determine Hue, Saturation and Lightness/Brightness in a system where these values when adjusted change the color tone of the selected layer. HSL vs RGB: The HSL color model is used in numerical color specifications. The advantage of HSL over RGB is that it is far more intuitive. you can tweak colors whenever you want. HSL is meant to be more easy to understand. Formats like RGB and Hex are more machine readable than human readable. HSL Colors: For Web style sheets, there are 360×99×98 = 3.49 million possible HSL color choices. Articles Related To Color Grading, Digital Art & Designing: • Primary, Secondary And Tertiary Colors In Designing • RGB, CMYK AND Image Resolution: Explained • Graphic Designing And Its 8 Elements: Explained • Best Laptops for Designing Work in 2021 • Raster Vs Vector Graphics • 8 Free Online Tools To Boost Your Graphic Design Work • Top 5 Video Editing Software To Choose From • 16 Types Of Blur In Photoshop In Details: Gaussian, Motion, Lens, Surface, Radial Etc. UP NEXT: 5 Tips For A Great Logo Design

In the current time of designing and styling, Logo plays a key role in giving your design a unique feel. When it comes to selecting a good Logo Design Style, we do spend a lot of time researching and finding some relatable Design to not just make our Logo look unique but also modern. Here is our 6 top picks of Logo Styles which you can use to enhance your designs in 2022. Also Read: FACTORS THAT MAKES A PERFECT LOGO #1 1. Simplistic Geometric Shapes are the building blocks of imagery. But while primitive shapes such as triangles, squares and circles are often phased out once they have laid the groundwork, there is power in their pure simplicity. 2. Perspective Drawing As iconic logo designer Lindon Leader once put it, great design is born from simplicity and clarity. These two virtues are what allow logo designs to effectively communicate the complex identity of a brand to a viewer. It is why so many past logo trends have focused on minimalism and flat design. 3. Stained Glass Logo design, as a relatively modern invention, often seeks inspiration in the techniques and limitations of the past. In 2021’s case, many logo designers are finding enlightenment in the stained glass windows of the Dark Ages. 4. Abstract An abstract mark is a specific type of pictorial logo. Instead of being a recognizable image like an apple or a bird it's an abstract geometric form that represents your business. Like all logo symbols, abstract marks work really well because they condense your brand into a single image. 5. Golden Ratio You can find the Golden Ratio when you divide a line into two parts and the longer part (a) divided by the smaller part (b) is equal to the sum of (a) + (b) divided by (a), which both equal 1.618. This formula can help you when creating shapes, logos, layouts, and more. 6. Mascot Logo Mascot logos are often exaggerated, like caricatures. They use simple shapes to convey the personality of the brand or team. But mascot logos are still logos. They need to be legible, simplified, and unique. They may need to include the full team or business name within the logo. Articles Related To Logo Design & Designing: • Factors That Makes A Perfect Logo #1 • 5 Tips For A Great Logo Design • 7 Process To Master Logo Designing In 2022 • 6 Common Types of Logo Designs For Beginners • 7 Digital Art & Portrait Style To Learn And Start In 2022 • Raster Vs Vector Graphics • Graphic Designing And Its 8 Elements: Explained • Difference Between GUI And CUI UP NEXT: 8 Free Online Tools To Boost Your Graphic Designing Work

In the current time of designing and styling, Logo plays a key role in giving your design a unique feel. When it comes to selecting a good Logo Design Style, we do spend a lot of time researching and finding some relatable Design to not just make our Logo look unique but also modern. Beginners face many obstacles on where to start with their logo design. Having no experience in logo designing can lead to doubts and the researching part too can become time consuming. One should always begin by deciding what style of logo they want for their brand/design. There are many different styles to make a logo. Some of them are very common and only requires basic shape & text, but there are also some type of logo styles which takes some efforts to make. Beginners have no experience in logo designing and they get confused about where to begin and what type of logo to design first. There are many software you can use to make vector and raster logo designs like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw Graphics Suite, Xara Designer Pro, Affinity Designer, Inkscape and Gravit Designer. Read: Complete Graphic Design Software Breakdown What Are The Basic logo Types? Logo styles can be divided into many basic types such as Abstract, Wordmarks, Lettermarks, Brandmarks, Combination marks, Pictorial marks, 3D and Emblems. All the major companies and brands around the world uses one of these types of logo style to make a remarkable impact among their customers. In this post, we will breakdown some basic logo types in details with some famous examples. Also Read: 5 Tips For A Great Logo Design Here is our pick of Common Logo Styles which you can use to enhance your designs. 1. ABSTRACT An abstract mark is a specific type of pictorial logo. Instead of being a recognizable image like an apple or a bird it's an abstract geometric form that represents your business. Like all logo symbols, abstract marks work really well because they condense your brand into a single image. Abstract logos are preferred for their ability to give a unique look to a brand. Abstract logos best portray feelings and concepts rather than a real image. They are very influential and such logo establishes a new identity for a business that showcase the goals and ideas of the business. Some great examples that best represents Abstract logo are Pepsi, Twitter, Spotify, NBC, Nike, Mitsubishi, BP Petroleum, Adidas, MasterCard and Shell. 2. MASCOT Mascot logos are often exaggerated, like caricatures. They use simple shapes to convey the personality of the brand or team. But mascot logos are still logos. They need to be legible, simplified, and unique. They may need to include the full team or business name within the logo. A mascot logo is one that bears an image of an identifiable brand ambassador, often in the form of a cartoon. Mascot logos are designed to be relatable, Some great examples of Mascot logo are KFC, Pringles, Mr. Clean, Wendy's, Boomer, Monopoly, Starbucks and Amul. 3. GOLDEN RATIO Golden Ratio isn't actually a logo style but rather a method which designers use. to create a complex logo using different types of shapes. This method isn't very difficult and the final result it give is pretty satisfying. You can find the Golden Ratio when you divide a line into two parts and the longer part (a) divided by the smaller part (b) is equal to the sum of (a) + (b) divided by (a), which both equal 1.618. This formula can help you when creating shapes, logos, layouts, and more. There are many well established famous brands who used Golden Ratio method on their logo design. Some of these brand are Twitter, Toyota, BP Petroleum, MasterCard, Pepsi, Google. Apple and National Geographic. 4. EMBLEM An emblem logo is made as a symbol that conveys your participation in a certain industry and the ideas you stand for. These logo consists of font inside a symbol or an icon and tend to have a traditional appearance about them that can make a huge visual impact. Such logo style is the go-to choice for many schools, organizations or government agencies. Also Read: Factors That Makes A Perfect Logo #1 Also Read: Factors That Makes A Perfect Logo #2 Also Read: Factors That Makes A Perfect Logo #3 Emblem style logos can appear anywhere because they're designed to represent powerful universal concepts. Emblem logos take the concept of a combination mark and incorporate it within a frame which perfectly give a visual that's worth remembering. There are many schools and companies who use Emblem logo to make a striking impact. Some great examples of Mascot Logo are WB (Warner Bros.), Harley Davidson, Starbucks, FBI, BMW, Lamborghini, Ferrari, DPS (Delhi Public School) and NFL. 5. WORDMARK A wordmark or logotype is a font-based logo that focuses on a business' name alone. Wordmark logos are basically a text of the company which then turned into some stylized text design. Such logo design looks simple but are very effective. Wordmark logos work really well when a company has a short and distinct name. Take an example of Visa and Coca-Cola, where Visa has a really simple font type and Coca-Cola has quite a unique looking font. They both represent their brand just by using a text rather than a shape. The best examples of Workmark Logos are Google, Facebook, Netflix, Calvin Clein, Disney, Subway, Coca-Cola, Visa, FedEx, Dell, Yahoo, Sony, Canon, Sega, Logitech and Oracle. 6. LETTERMARK A lettermark is a typography based logo design made only of text. This logo style is based on company or brand's initials, rather than using its full name. It's also known as a monogram. Lettermark logo types are good choice for a company whose name is hard to pronounce, or too long. Lettermark logos are all about simplicity and generally range from two to three letters. Lettermark logos are visual representations of what your business is all about. Shortening a long company name to its initials just makes it easier for audience to remember the logo and name in global markets. The challenge with both lettermarks and wordmarks, however, is to make them distinctive enough visually that they become instantly recognizable. If your company's name is a mouthful, you should definitely consider using a lettermark logo. The best examples of Lettermark Logos are Cartoon Network (CN), Hewlett Packard (HP), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), Comedy Central (CC), Procter & Gamble (P&G), International Business Machines (IBM), Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Electronic Arts (EA), McDonald's (M) Home Box Office (HBO), Cable News Network (CNN), Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Warner Bros (WB). 7. COMBINATION MARK Combination mark is a type of logo design which involves both company's name and visual representation of the brand. In Combination mark, text and image or icons are combined to make a recognizable logo to helps clarify what a business is all about. It is simply a logotype and logomark combined into one logo to enhance the branding message. Combination mark logos consists wordmark and symbol, which makes complexity and thus easier to trademark. Adding a catchy name alongside a symbolic image of what your brand is going to offer creates direct connection to the customer. This means your logo is more distinctive, quickly recognizable and less likely to be confused with other brands’ logos. Some examples of Combination Mark Logos are Burger King, Pizza Hut, Doritos, Walmart, Adidas, Taco Bell, Dunkin Donuts, Domino's Pizza, Swarovski, McDonald’s, Airbnb, Puma, Jaguar, Amazon, Lacoste, Xbox, Microsoft and Lay's 8. 3D Three-dimensional or 3D logo design give a modern and futuristic look to a brand image. 3D logo also attract more eyes and provides a unique opportunity that will have your company's motto jumping off the page. 3D logos add an extra dimension and create an impression of depth for getting noticed. Such logo work extremely well on apps, games and online platforms. Compared to traditional 2D logos, 3D logo design stands out way easier. Mockups of 3D logo looks astonishing and not to mention, it's a great starting point for animation. The list of famous 3D Logo is short. Some of the greatest 3D logos are Xbox, Mozilla Firefox, Sony Ericsson, Superman Logo, Audi, Mercedes, Autodesk Maya and Universal Pictures. 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The Blur Tool is used to paint a blur effect. Each stroke made using the Blur Tool will lower the contrast between affected pixels, making them appear blurred. A harder blur brush will alter pixels at the given strength so that all affected pixels are blurred to the same degree. Blurs can be beautiful things. They can hide imperfections or soften an image. They can help in the background to draw attention to what you want your viewer to see. Or, they can help you blur a background to see some text. Once you decide to add a blur, you'll quickly realize that there are a bunch of different kinds blurs in Photoshop. Also Read: 8 Free Online Tools To Boost Your Graphic Design Work Blurs can be beautiful. Just by using this one tool, you can accomplish a lot since a simple blur can help improve your image by: Simulating depth of field Hiding imperfections Softening an image Smoothing skin tones Drawing attention to what the viewer sees Making text stand out Masking bad cuts Before experimenting with any blur, read these important notes. Always make a duplicate of your image to work on so you don’t mess up the original. Add the blur filter to a new layer while still keeping the old layers intact. Unless you convert your image to a smart object, you won’t be able to edit the blur once it’s applied. Even though the Blur gallery looks very similar to the regular Photoshop interface, it’s not quite the same. You have to click OK before you can move anything or switch to a different tab. You have 16 types of blur in Photoshop from which to choose. 1. AVERAGE BLUR The Average Blur filter gives a more correct color in your image by removing a color cast. It does this by creating a color that’s the average of all the colors in the neighboring pixels. The ways to use this blur: To color correct an entire image, simply select Average Blur. Your image will end up being one averaged color of the entire image. To color correct a specific area on the image, select one spot before choosing Average Blur. The area’s color will become an average of the colors inside that selection. This allows you to smooth out one area of color. 2. BLUR The Blur Filter looks for significant transitions or edges and then blurs them together to create a softer image. To Blur: Select the Blur tool. Choose a brush tip and options for blending and strength. Select Sample All Layers to blur all visible layers, or deselect this option to blur only the active layer. Drag over the area of the image that you want to blur. 3. BLUR MORE The Blur More filter creates an even more blurry image after you’ve already used the general Blur filter. Every time you select Blur More, it blurs the image three to four times more than it was originally blurred. You may find yourself clicking Blur More up to 10 times to get the look you want. Use this filter when working with a high-resolution image to achieve a more hazy look. You can also use it on a lower-resolution image, but the effect will be much more pronounced. 4. BOX BLUR The Box Blur filter uses the average of nearby colors to blur an image. Because of this, it gives you more control than the Blur filter. The Box Blur looks for edges within an image (two contrasting colors right next to each other) to retain more definition in an image. A word of warning—this filter can create a weird distortion, so it’s often only used for special effects. 5. GAUSSIAN BLUR The Gaussian Blur filter gives a hazy effect by blurring the image or selected area by an adjustable amount. This amount is based on a weighted average, also called The Gaussian Function. You’re able to implement the Gaussian Blur using either Radius or Threshold. The smaller the area you select, the less blur you’ll get. This is a great way to bring focus to a specific part of an image. As good as it is, the Gaussian Blur can still give the image a hazy look. 6. LENS BLUR The Lens Blur is used to give the image the effect of having a narrower depth of field. This means some objects in an image stay in focus while others are blurred. Here’s how you use this filter: Select the depth map to determine where the pixels are positioned. Alternatively, use the crosshair cursor to set the blur’s starting point. Choose an iris shape and change the curves of the blades of the iris as desired. Select Lens Blur and preview the image. To add more blur, drag the Radius slider. Click OK. 7. MOTION BLUR The Motion Blur filter applies a specific blur in a specific direction with a specific intensity. This gives the illusion of movement to a subject in your image. Select a part of the image to blur. When you select this filter, a dialog box will open. Rotate the wheel around to choose the direction of the blur, then choose the distance that you’d like the image to be blurred and by what amount. 8. RADIAL BLUR The Radial Blur filter will simulate either zooming in or rotating a camera. When you select Radial Blur, a dialog box will appear. Change the center of the blur to the place you want and set the amount of grain by using the quality setting controls. A lower amount equals a lower blur. Unfortunately, you’ll have to make your selections without seeing them previewed on your image, but you can guess how they will look by examining the white part of the dialog box. Once you hit Apply you’ll see the final result. 9. SHAPE BLUR The Shape Blur filter is best to use on a part of your image with a simple shape, like the circle shape at the bottom of a tulip. Create a blur by choosing one of the vector shapes that is already included in the dialog box (or custom-shape your own). 10. SMART BLUR The Smart Blur filter smooths out grain and noise patterns between edges. You have a lot of control of this blur in its dialog box. The Threshold setting determines how different the pixels need to be before they’re blurred. If you want a very minimal change, choose the lowest setting. The Quality setting will change the quality of the blur. The Mode setting shows where Photoshop is detecting edges. 11. SURFACE BLUR The Surface Blur filter blurs the entire image except for the edges. Using a high radius will cause you to lose a lot of detail in your image, but the Threshold will allow Photoshop to look at the pixels in the radius and figure out how they should be blurred. This filter is a great way to smooth out skin. However, without taking some additional steps, the filter can smooth out too much detail and texture, making the image look fake. If you add a layer mask to your layer and use your brush tool with the mask selected, you can get back some of the detail you want. Or, you can brush over with black in the areas where you want more detail. 12. FIELD BLUR The Field Blur can help you blur part of a portrait while still being able to see the subject’s eyes or even their entire face. Once you select Field Blur, you’ll see the Blur Gallery open. Also, your entire image will be blurred, and you’ll see a little circle in the middle. The circle is called a “pin” which can be moved or duplicated. Alternatively, you can drag the slider located in the top left corner of the Blur Gallery. 13. IRIS BLUR The Iris Blur filter uses a lot of the same technology and techniques as the Field Blur, but it gives you more control over the blurring of a subject’s eyes. The differences are that with Iris Blur, you: Can change the shape of the ellipse to be more circular or flat by manipulating any of the four points around the ellipse. You can even drag the ellipse outside of the image to blur just the corners. Control the transition or gradient of the blur in the transition area. The space between the center of the iris (where the pin would be) to the edge of the four transition points will have no blur. But, a gradual blur can be applied from the transition point to the 100% blur line. Control the line curve by manipulating the little diamond that’s on the 100% blur line. Dragging the diamond changes the shape of the ellipse to a rectangle with rounded corners. Change the transition of just one part of the ellipse by holding Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows). Change the focus in the transition area by adjusting the Focus slider in the Blur Gallery. 14. TILT SHIFT The Tilt-Shift filter prevents perspective distortion by controlling the plane of focus. Sometimes it’s also used as a way to make an image look as though it was shot up close with a macro lens, rendering the subjects look like mini versions of themselves. The different components of Tilt-Shift are similar to the Iris Blur, except the solid lines create a protected area without a blur (unless the Focus is adjusted). The dotted lines represent the 100% blur line. Between the solid and dotted lines is where the blur will transition or form a gradient. 15. PATH BLUR Path Blur is the fourth of five blur filters in the Blur Gallery available in Photoshop CC and later. It enables you to add motion effects along a path to images. ... A path with two end points is automatically added to the image. Notice the arrow at one end of the path. The arrow determines the direction of the blur. 16. SPIN BLUR The Spin Blur is the last of the five blur filters in the Blur Gallery available in Photoshop CC and later. It enables you to create circular motion effects that emulate an object's rotation. This tutorial will show you how to use the Spin Blur filter to add a spinning motion effect to a car's wheels. You'll get to modify the different values, duplicate the effect, then clean it up using a smart filter mask. Now that you’ve gone over how to blur an image in Photoshop using the 16 different types of blurs in Photoshop, it’s finally time to take the next step. Articles Related To Photoshop & Designing: • 10 Must Have Plugins To Use In Photoshop • 7 Digital Art & Portrait Style To Learn And Start In 2022 • How To Choose Colors And Fonts For Your Design/Brand? • File Types In Graphic Design: Complete Breakdown UP NEXT: 10 Best Photoshop Plugins To Use In 2022

In the digital world of social media where basically anything from videography, photography, digital marketing, writing, shopping & selling can be done online. People are inclining more towards learning digital skills and working online full time. After the 2019 Covid-19 pandemic, many employees lost their job due to the lockdown. On the other side, that gave birth to a modern name Work From Home for those who were continued to work during the pandemic. Working from home is basically as same as a regular job but with some added comfort of staying at home. Also Read: 8 Free Online Tools To Boost Your Graphic Design Work There are many designers, writers and coders who believe in self employment and does not want to work in any typical job. This is the situation where Freelancing comes in. Freelancing is basically working whenever you want and however you want. Freelancers make their own time schedules and habits for work which makes them their own boss. It means they can earn full commission out of a project. As we talked earlier about Covid-19 lockdown when some lost their jobs, this was the time when freelancing became a life savior alternative for those who are willing to work irrespective of getting paid less. Freelancing could be done both online and locally and more companies are hiring freelancers than ever before. One could argue that being a freelancer comes with perks and freedom from all the burden that comes up with working in a regular job. Some might think that freelancers charge a hefty amount for their work and get paid very well. All these statements are somehow true but we all can agree on the fact that nothing is perfect and flawless, same applies for freelancing. Like every other job out there, freelancers also face some difficulties in the beginning of their freelancing career. These problems could be varies from delivering quality work to financial problems or client management. Even experienced workers who turned into freelancing faces some issues in this field. Here are some of the difficulties every freelancer faces: Getting First Project Getting Good Ratings/Reviews Project Pricing Personal Expanses Finding Work Regularly Client's Trust Tight Deadlines Client's Expectations Time Management Keeping Productivity Competition Low Freelancing Benefits Read 12 Difficulties Every Freelancer Faces and Tips To Overcome These Problems to learn in details about these 12 points. 1. Finding Next Project There are many factors that can demotivate a freelancer to continue working on this line of field, but one of the major difficulty a freelancer faces is that they have to Keep on looking for the next work/project even while working on an ongoing project. This situation is quite bad for those who fully rely on earning from freelancing work. Such freelancers continuously bids for project on various freelancing sites in the hope of getting selected. TIP: Building client's trust is a great way of getting future projects. Freelancers must work on building a network of clients based on types of project they requires. 2. Project's Pricing Another difficult part being a freelancer is to work on Project's pricing. Freelancers are clueless and desperate in the beginning, thus make efforts of getting a project by pricing their services cheap in order to stand up against the competitors. This trick will work as a local freelancing, but this trick backfires in the online selling as the client's psychology is exact opposite and they prefers service with great quality and above average pricing. Convincing online clients is much more difficult than convincing one in front of you. TIP: Freelancers must price their services based on what they are capable of making and what their competitors are offering. 3. Personal Finances Freelancing can provide a good income with some reputed client base, but this field is unpredictable and a client can change his mind whenever he wants. Not everyone is financially stable and some goes to full time freelancers. Personal finances is an issue which affects them mentally and force them to make mistakes in a desperate attempt. They have to pick a project on daily basis in order to sustain their personal finances. Thus freelancing makes them vulnerable if their regular clients somehow stop taking their services. TIP: Freelancers should always have some spare money and must not always rely on freelance earning. This applies to both beginner and reputed professional freelancers. Freelancing is fun when you have no time constraints and have freedom to pick whatever project you like. Yes there are some factors which can make someone think twice before entering into this field, but what you receive in return will definitely overshadows their negative aspects. It's never been too late to start something new. Start selling your services online by adding your portfolio on various freelancing websites. Articles Related To Career & Designing: • 8 Free Online Tools To Boost Your Graphic Design Work • Where To Hire Great Designers? Advantages of Hiring a Designer • 10 Tips To Finish Project On Time UP NEXT: 10 Best Photoshop Plugins To Use In 2022

Have you ever had a wave of confusion over when a designer asks, “Can you please supply your company logo as a vector file?” Or maybe they need a .PNG file for your website’s header image. What is a vector file? And why does Papua New Guinea have a file-type? As a graphic designer, it is extremely important to use the correct file-types for specific applications. Having the incorrect file-type could potentially lessen the desired look you were hoping for. To help prevent confusion we have put together a go-to list of design file-types that will fill you with confidence and help you understand the difference between a vector and Papua New Guinea file, I mean .PNG file. File types are also known as file extension. Table Of Contents RASTER FILE VS VECTOR FILE RASTER FILES 1. Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG) 2. Portable Network Graphics (PNG) 3. Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) 4. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) 5. RAW - Unprocessed data from digital camera 6. Bitmap Image File (BMP) 7. Photoshop Document (PSD) VECTOR FILES 1. Adobe Illustrator File (AI) 2. Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) 3. Portable Document Format (PDF) 4. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 5. Corel Draw File (CDR) Also Read: 7 Process To Master Logo Designing In 2022 Also Read: What Is The Most Difficult Part About Being A Freelancer? Also Read: How Do Graphic Designers Stay Inspired | 10 Tips For Inspiration Understanding the distinctions among different file types will help you correctly save, send, and manage every digital project you work on. Unless you’re a designer, you’ve probably never worked with a .PSD or an .INDD file, but that doesn’t mean you never will. This guide will help clear up the misunderstandings you might have about file types and maybe introduce you to a brand new one along the way. RASTER FILE VS VECTOR FILE Before diving into the different file types you might encounter, it’s important to know the distinction between a vector and a raster. Raster images are made up of pixels, or blocks of colors, to form an image. The pixels have a defined size depending on the resolution of your image. If you try to make an image with a very low resolution into a very high resolution, the pixels will stretch and become distorted. It is impossible to resize raster images without compromising their resolution as they are already compressed. To prevent this, save your raster files at the exact same dimensions needed for your project. JPEGs, GIFs, and PNGs are all raster-supporting file types. Vector images resolve this issue. Also Read: Why Branding Is So Important In 2022? Also Read: 10 Common Mistakes Designers Make #1 They are far more flexible and are constructed with proportional formulas instead of pixels. Your logo was most likely created in a vector program, like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw. A vector image can be stretched or shrunk as much as you like—without looking pixelated and without compromising the resolution. EPS, AI, and PDF are all vector-supporting file types. RASTER FILES Raster Image files are compressed, these files are ‘Pixel based’ meaning the resolution and the quality of the file is limited. Using a JPEG or PNG logo image will not be able to be scaled to huge billboards or posters. This is because they are built up in pixels, meaning once you begin to stretch these images to larger scales the pixels are stretched themselves. This results in a pixelated image. 1. Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG) Used For: File choice for banner ad publishers Medium and low resolution web-use Proofing and sharing work-in-progress design work with clients Handy To Know: Quick load time for web Photos are compressed and smaller in size Constraints: Does not support background transparency Does not retain its quality when rescaled Flat image that is non-editable 2. Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Used For: Transferring images on the internet High quality web images Handy To Know: Files can be created with transparent backgrounds (great for company logos and icons) Compressed file sizes allow for quick load times Displays crisp and clean on digital applications Constraints: Not ideal for printing Cannot be scaled over its pixel width Flat image that is not easily editable 3. Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) Used For: Web animations Social Media Memes Short inaudible clips Handy To Know: Files can be created with transparent backgrounds Perfect for emails and web graphics File size is small Constraints: GIF files are low resolution Support only 256 colors 4. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) Used For: Commonly used in the photography sector If you’re printing large photos – use this format Storing large documents Handy To know: Largest raster file type Reliable and never lose quality Use them for saving photographs for print Scans high quality documents Constraints: Never use this file type for saving web graphics Take more time to load Takes more space 5. RAW - Unprocessed data from digital camera Used For: Used by photographers and design professionals. Store all the unprocessed and processed data from an image captured with a digital camera RAW file allows the image to be in the absolute most highest quality Handy To Know: They are high quality and have high resolution They are very large Best used when shooting and editing photos Make sure to save as a JPEG or TIFF when exporting Constraints: Most print companies won’t accept RAW files to send to print. 6. Bitmap Image File (BMP) Used For: Contains uncompressed data and displaying high-quality digital images Store bitmap digital images and independently of the display device Best for creating 3D UV texture maps Handy To Know: Creates lossless image quality Allows open and re-save the image without degrading the integrity Constraints: Does not support background transparency Not recommended for photographs, static graphics and animated graphics Lack of compression generally creates larger file sizes 7. Photoshop Document (PSD) Used For: Primarily used to create and edit raster images not vectors PSD Files are purely the original editable photoshop files PSD files can be created and opened only with Adobe Photoshop Handy To Know: This file type allows for transparency and multiple layers Photoshop is able to export a PSD file into a wide range of file types, including JPGs, PNGs, and PDFs Can resize any image to fit whichever project you’re working on. Vector layers can be contained in a Photoshop file All Photoshop files can be exported in all the above raster formats. You should use PSD files when retouching photos, editing digital artwork, creating web images and creating frame animations or videos. Constraints: Photoshop is a prerequisite Large storage capacity due to layers VECTOR FILES All the logos we create are vectors, this is because they are made up of points, lines and curves that are based on mathematical equations rather than pixels like raster images. This means that no matter how large or small you make the vector or how close you zoom in all them lines, curves and points stay pristine and smooth. Logos need to be in a vector format purely so it can be scaled to large shop signs, window graphics, billboards or scaled smaller to a T-Shirt embroidery or for any print work. Also Read: 10 Tips To Finish Your Project On Time Also Read: 10 Best Plugins To Use In Photoshop #1 1. Adobe Illustrator File (AI) Used For: Logo and illustration design Creating multi-layered/multi-paged artwork Prototyping websites Handy To Know: Scalable to any size without losing image quality Supports transparency Full editing capabilities within Adobe Illustrator Vector-based working file for digital artists and web developers Constraints: Can only be edited in Adobe Illustrator 2. Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) Used For: Logos and illustrations Infographics Icon design Handy To Know: One of the most preferred formats by digital designers and other third-party creatives Single page vector-based drawing that can be scaled to any size Supports transparent backgrounds Fully editable artwork Retains image quality Can be exported to various file types Constraints: Can only be edited using design software such as Adobe Illustrator 3. Portable Document Format (PDF) Used For: Digital versions of hard copy documents or publications Sharing previews of work without losing image quality Universally viewable by computers Emailing documents Both print and digital Digital downloads Handy To Know: Can be opened and edited in Adobe Illustrator Illustrator and Photoshop files can be saved as PDF PDFs can contain both raster and vector images Constraints: Not always suitable for viewing on smaller mobile devices Can only be edited using design software 4. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Used For: It is a standard graphics file type used for rendering two-dimensional images on the internet. SVG has become an essential web design format Even better than JPEG, PNG, and GIF Handy To Know: SVG can be scaled to any dimension without losing quality SVG files are also easily editable just like changing a word in a text document SVG can be altered using JavaScript or CSS SVG can be bring back into Illustrator to edit SVGs are scalable they can be saved at a minimal file size. Constraints: Cannot support as much detail SVG doesn't work on legacy browsers 5. Corel Draw File (CDR) Used For: Logo, banners and UX designs Creating multi-layered/multi-paged artwork Vector graphic images and drawings Handy To Know: Scalable to any size without losing image quality Supports transparency Contains text, lines, shapes, images, colors and effects Best for client and printing work Constraints: Does not work with Adobe apps Can only be edited in CorelDraw and Inkscape Now that we have covered the ins and outs of common design file types, their uses and the differences between them, you can supply and share with confidence! Articles Related To Designing & Career: • 5 Tips For A Great Logo Design • Graphic Designing And Its 8 Elements: Explained • Hue, Saturation and Lightness (HSL) in Color System: Explained • Trendy Logo Design Styles in 2021 • 6 Common Types of Logo Design For Beginners UP NEXT: Top 5 Video Editing Software To Choose From

The aesthetics of a design is an integral part of your business image. It is, after all, what people see when looking at your website, social media, and anything else associated with your business. Your audience can judge your company, product, or service in just a few seconds. Most of that judgment is based on color alone. Table Of Contents WHY COLORS AND FONTS ARE IMPORTANT? • WHY ARE COLORS IMPORTANT? • WHY ARE FONTS IMPORTANT? HOW TO CHOOSE COLOR FOR YOUR DESIGN/ BRAND? • COLOR TERMINOLOGY CHOOSING THE RIGHT COLOR 1. EMOTIONAL RESPONSE 2. COLOR PALETTES 3. INDUSTRY STANDARDS 4. TRENDS 5. COMBINATIONS HOW TO CHOOSE FONT FOR YOUR DESIGN/ BRAND? • FONT TERMINOLOGY CHOOSING THE RIGHT FONT 1. FONT PSYCHOLOGY 2. CATEGORY 3. HEADINGS 4. TIMELESSNESS 5. FREE AND SAFE FONTS 6. COMBINATIONS TOOLS TOOLS You can influence what your audience feels and sees with the typography and different colors you use. Colors are essential in marketing, and it’s about color palettes, emotions, complementary colors, and more. Any good color palette you incorporate into your aesthetics will change how your audience feels about you. Nailing the color and typography you use is essential, and we’ll look at how you can do that in this article. Also Read: 7 Digital Art & Portrait Style To Learn And Start In 2022 Also Read: What Are LUTs And How To Use Them In Premiere Pro | Complete Guide Also Read: How To Install And Use Presets Into Your Premiere Pro Project WHY COLORS AND FONTS ARE IMPORTANT? Your design can affect user experience and your brand identity. It gives your branding a specific style that can be recognized by your audience no matter where it’s used. It should complement your company emblem and the structure of your Brand. It would be best to create websites and designs tailored to your audience type, so don’t forget to put yourself in their shoes. If you use it right, your website and business can stand out from the competition and gain better brand recognition. Fonts and typefaces are part of typography, and they can affect people’s moods. Some fonts are whimsical and fun, while others are more serious or sophisticated. WHY ARE COLORS IMPORTANT? Color plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live. Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure or suppress your appetite. When used in the right ways, color can even save on energy consumption. Effects on Emotions: When we’re exposed to a particular color, it can evoke an emotional response in us. For example, bubblegum pink has been found to have a relaxing effect on people. So much so that some sports teams have been rumored to paint their visitor locker rooms in this soothing palette in hopes of messing with their opponents’ psyches. So, give some thought to the feelings that you want your brand to emote from the public. We have listed some emotions generally associated with each primary color. Keep in mind that the specific opacity and tone will affect emotions differently. So while bubblegum pink calms, hot pink tends to excite. The lower the opacity the more soothing the color becomes. Colors And Emotions: PINK : Feminine, youth, romance, sweet. RED : Passion, aggression, violence, adventure. ORANGE : Excitement, inexpensive, youth, autumn. YELLOW : Happy, friendly, cautious. GREEN : Natural, prosperity, money, stability. BLUE : Tranquil, trustworthy, professional, authoritative. PURPLE : Royal, luxurious, romantic, creative. BROWN : Dependable, natural, simple, sturdy. BLACK : Authoritative, strong, refined, mysterious. The popularity of each color varies from year to year. Thus, it’s important to pick one that appears current to your audience. Since colors used in branding a company don’t typically match the colors used in fashion, it’s important to consult trends that are appropriate. Companies have been built on predicting which colors will be popular each year. Branding usually identifies a family of colors that may be used depending on the circumstances. Two colors might potentially be selected for the brand logo. Two other colors may be optioned for use in collateral or supporting art. All these colors need to play well together. WHY ARE FONTS IMPORTANT? Fonts are universally used by writers and designers on both digital and paper formats to show different actions, situations, speech, emotions, and emphasis. It is especially helpful for the viewer when they are looking at anything. Category: There are probably just as many fonts as colors. Fortunately, many of these can be found on organized and user-friendly websites. Since your color brainstorm already revealed the top emotions inherent in your brand, perform a search based on those results. You can also perform a search based upon your industry or subject matter. Here are some top websites to help you get the right response out of your brand’s font. Myfonts.com — This site’s useful and robust interface allows you to type in the text used for the font preview as well as some other good visuals. Dafont.com — Here, the mixture of amateur and professional fonts available will vary from free to pricey. But the menu of categories will help narrow down the list from thousands upon thousands to a more manageable hundreds (or less). Note: Be sure you have proper usage rights; these are notated on each font summary. Fonts.com – The site boast great font previews and visuals, combined with powerful search and category functions. Once you make a design, you may not want to have to redesign it every couple years. So, consider a classic, tried-and-true font. Some fonts have endured decades without too many signs of aging. For example, the typeface Helvetica has been around since 1957. Yet, it continues to be one of the most popular and classic fonts available. HOW TO CHOOSE COLOR FOR YOUR DESIGN/ BRAND? There are several factors that must be considered when trying to pick the right color for your brand. These include, Emotional Response, the Trends, Industry Standards, and Combinations. But before choosing the right color for our design we have to understand color terminology. So, lets take a short brief on color terminology. COLOR TERMINOLOGY: The Color Wheel: This is a visual representation of color hues arranged by the chromatic relationship between them. You’ll find that a good color wheel always shows 12 hues. Warm and Cool Colors: The color wheel is divided into warm and cool colors. Red, yellow, and orange are warm colors because we associate them with warmth. Green, blue, and purple are cooler because we associate these colors with things like water and grass. Hue: Hue is often used in color to mean the same thing, but it’s more specific than that. Color can refer to tint, shade, hue, or tone. Hue refers to the pure primary colors on the color wheel, the ‘dominant color family,’ and is particular. Red, blue, yellow, etc., are all hues. Note that we don’t refer to white, grey, or black as hues. Value: The value of a color is how light (tint) or dark (shade) it is. Chroma: Chroma, also known as saturation, is how intense a color is. Tint, Shade, Tone: These three are all part of how we can change and adjust the appearance of colors. You can make them darker or more intense by adding white or black to the primary color. CHOOSING THE RIGHT COLOR 1. EMOTIONAL RESPONSE You always hear about how first impressions last. This is true when it comes to colors so you might want to think really hard before picking one. Colors draw out emotions and feelings. According to a study, up to 90% of customers are able to make an initial impression just by looking at brand colors. In short, they are powerful in making the customers decide whether to engage or not with your brand. Understanding what colors mean is the first step in choosing the perfect color scheme. (Click To See): Colors And Emotions Psychologists have spent many years just to learn about the feelings that are invoked by colors. You might want to make use of their research findings in figuring out which colors will work best in translating your brand message. 2. COLOR PALETTES Color schemes are the colors that you use in your designs. They are also called color palettes and will be made up of all the colors used to make your design and brand relevant. Your color scheme must take into consideration your font and font colors, so they don’t clash. Typically, you will have one or two dominant colors in your chosen scheme. They are the colors chosen to attract the most attention. You create your moods and bring forth emotions with them. If you don’t have the time or energy to choose your own color scheme or color palette, you can consider using a color palette generator. You will still get a beautiful and pleasing color scheme without doing too much thinking. There is awesome graphic design software out there, like color palette generators to choose from, all with great features. Adobe Color is an excellent choice and will come up with a complementary color scheme for you. Also Read: Top 5 Video Editing Software To Choose From Also Read: 10 Tips To Finish Your Project On Time On the other hand, if you want to reduce your digital dependence and minimize the time you spend on such tools yourself, you can hire a trained graphic designer to do this for you. Color palettes are often used for specific purposes, and complementary colors are put together to get a particular effect. Similarly, designs and brands dedicated to food won’t use the same color palettes because they don’t require the same emotions and associations. Think carefully about what your design and brand are all about and build a few color palettes around that. It’s good to have a few options to choose from. 3. INDUSTRY STANDARDS You must also consider picking colors that are already established to be associated with specific industries. Anything related with technology, for example, uses blue, black, and their variations. Delivery services, on the other hand, favor the brown color. Although it might do good to be different and stand out, incorporating colors from within your industry might stir some familiar feelings in the audience. This would count as the first step to building brand recognition. 4. TRENDS You might have observed that for the past few years, many industries are waiting about what the next “color of the year”. It is usually determined before the year ends. Products and designs with the new color will start to come out right after the New Year. Since the trend changes unpredictably, it can be difficult to pick one trendy color for your brand because it might not be cool to have it when the hype is gone. What you can do with trendy colors is to use them for your campaigns. This is very essential if you want to make your brand look updated and fresh every year. Anything related to fashion and styling can benefit the most out of following the color trends. 5. COMBINATIONS Colors also interact with each other. Putting two colors that complement each other may be enough to make heads turn. You can pick a main color for your brand then match it with other colors to achieve the best combination. You can always refer to the color meanings for guidance so that the meanings do not collide. HOW TO CHOOSE FONT FOR YOUR DESIGN/ BRAND? One of the key players in building brand identity is the font. It must come together with your design and colors in order to tell your brand story. In picking the perfect font, it should be unique, legible, works in every platform, and can effectively communicate your brand personality. But before choosing the right font for our design we have to understand font terminology. So, lets take a short brief on font terminology. FONT TERMINOLOGY: Typography: This is the technique of making written language visually attractive and appealing. Typography can refer to the letters’ size, the way they’re displayed, letter-spacing, and line-spacing. Typeface: Typeface is sometimes used interchangeably with font, but doing so is incorrect. This term refers to a group of characters with the same design, such as Calibri, Helvetica, Georgia, and Arial. Font: A font is a part of the typeface you’re using and is in a specific style. For example, Calibri Bold and Helvetica Bold are fonts. Fonts have specific styling elements like width, height, and point size. Font Family: A font family is a group of fonts that have been designed to be used together. Arial is an example of a font family – it has Arial Regular, Arial Bold, Arial Narrow, Arial Italic, and more to choose from. Kerning: The horizontal space between two characters is known as the kerning. It is helpful because it lets you set different spaces between the letters of a word if you need to. Weight: Font weight refers to the thickness of a character’s strokes. Typically, weights are variants of thin, bold, black, or regular. Point :Point refers to a font’s size and the vertical distance from the top to the letter’s bottom. Note that it’s the size of the whole font and not just one letter. Tracking: This is also known as letter-spacing. Tracking will adjust spaces for a whole block of text. If you need to change only the spaces between two characters, you’ll adjust the kerning. Leading: Leading refers to the spacing between lines of type. It affects the readability and visual appeal. Serif: This is a styling element and refers to a small line added to printed letters’ tops and bottoms in certain typefaces. Sans Serif: Sans Serif is the opposite of Serif; Sans is French and means ‘without,’ so the typeface doesn’t have the small lines added. Slab Serif: Related to the already mentioned Serif fonts, this one is thick and more block-like than Serif and Sans Serif. Script Typeface: These are supposed to look like actual handwriting and add a touch of authenticity to writing. Blackletter: Also known as Gothic minuscule, Old English, and Gothic script, an ornamental appearance can identify this typeface. CHOOSING THE RIGHT FONT 1. FONT PSYCHOLOGY Typography has a complex relationship with emotion. Emotion from any typographic experience is a complex system of the person's prior cultural context, their environment, formal design principles and psychology. Designers navigate this through visual communication. By changing the style of font, choosing a more emotional font or a powerful font, a designer can make the viewer feel and respond differently towards a brand. A transitional serif font like Baskerville will help readers to feel that the text has more authority and intellect. Good designers know the value of using a good font. Much thought goes into fonts and the emotions they can make people feel. If you use a font like Times New Roman, different feelings and associations are present than if you use Comic Sans. Examine the fonts you like and try to determine what exactly they make you feel and think. Use your reactions to determine the best font for your business. 2. CATEGORY Just like colors, you can also base your font choice based on the feelings that they bring about. You can actually make a search on some websites to see which fonts are available for your industry or according to a specific subject matter. Serif fonts: Originated from the 15th century and they are associated with being traditional, classic, and trustworthy. Brands who want to convey respectability and tradition favor these fonts a lot. Script fonts: They are perfect for brands who want to evoke elegance and uniqueness. The cursive handwriting design gives that distinctive impression which explains why some brands remained recognizable for decades. Lucida Script, Allura, Satisfy, and Pacifico are trendy Script fonts that are popular today. Handwritten fonts: They are perfect if you want to appear approachable and artistic. They give an approachable and playful aura which may work on specific audiences. Knewave, Just Another Hand, Permanent Marker, and Patrick Hand are all good-looking handwritten fonts. Decorative fonts: They are diverse as they come in different shapes, forms, and proportions to create a dramatic, distinct, and highly stylized look. It makes a brand instantly memorable.. Decorative fonts that look dun and trendy include Bangers, Lobster Two, Fredericka, and Fredoka One. 3. HEADINGS Not many people realize, but their fonts look different when used in headings. When you’re working on your brand tag lines, your headings might look different than the font you chose for your overall written content. As your headings get smaller, so do your letters, and the words may become difficult to read. Headings play an essential role in your website’s SEO, so you can’t just make your words bigger; they need heading tags. As such, you can’t always get the same effect with your fonts that you would have without the headings. Always consider how your font will look in the various heading sizes. 4. TIMELESSNESS A classic font may help establish your branding and will not need a redesign in the next couple of years. You need to consider having one that will still be popular and recognizable across seasons. Helvetica, for example, has endured plenty of years and yet it is still used by many brands today. Once you make a design, you may not want to have to redesign it every couple years. So, consider a classic, tried-and-true font. Some fonts have endured decades without too many signs of aging. For example, the typeface Helvetica has been around since 1957. Yet, it continues to be one of the most popular and classic fonts available. 5. FREE AND SAFE FONTS You can use many free and safe fonts if you’re not too sure how to proceed. Google Fonts has a library with more than 1,000 free fonts to choose from. If you want something bespoke and unique, you may find that you’ll have to buy a font or get someone to design it for you. In most cases, however, you should be able to find a nice free font that you can use. You should consider using a safe font, even if it means a little less creativity. Most devices your audience uses to visit your website come with fonts pre-installed. If you use a unique font, it might not be compatible with all devices. Fonts that are considered safe include Times New Roman, Georgia, Courier, Arial, Times, Verdana, and Helvetica. 6. COMBINATIONS Some brands use multiple fonts and this is fine. One font can be used for the logo and other prominent details and another one or two fonts can be chosen for body copy in articles. What you must consider though is that the fonts should not clash with each other. They must complement visually in order to not cause confusion and headaches to the viewer. TOOLS Here are few tools you can use to generate and identify which colors and fonts suits your brand best: Color Palette Generators: Coolors Paletton Colormind Color Hunt ColorSpace Font Pairing Tools: Font Joy Font Combinations Library Font Pair Mixfont Typ.io Font Pairing Lists Both colors and fonts are key components in increasing brand awareness. They should align with and communicate your brand personality effectively. Failure to do it right could hurt your chances of achieving the full potential of your brand. Knowing about color psychology helps in learning about how people’s perceptions and behaviors are affected by colors. It would be such an advantage to know which colors will benefit your marketing efforts. Fonts, on the other hand, help create a well-defined brand personality that is identifiable to the audience. Whatever you choose, use the same colors and fonts across all your marketing strategies so that customers easily recognize you. It’s estimated that color increases brand recognition by 80 percent. The font you choose can be vital for attracting your intended target audience while communicating meaning and tone. When you consider the items above, you will find the right colors and fonts to fit your brand. Note: All the images used in this article are taken from Pexels.com and are completely free to use. May this article point you in the right direction upon choosing the color schemes and fonts that will lead your branding efforts to success. Articles Related To Designing & Career: • 10 Signs Of A High Quality Designer • 7 Process To Master Logo Designing In 2022 • What Is The Most Difficult Part About Being A Freelancer? • 8 Free Online Tools To Boost Your Graphic Design Work • What Is Rebranding And Why It Is So Important? • Stock Photography And Footage Selling: A Complete Guide • A Guide To Google Adsense Approval Of Your Website In 2022 • File Types In Graphic Design: Complete Breakdown • 10 Common Mistakes Designers Make #2 • 10 Common Mistakes Designers Make #1 UP NEXT: 10 Must Have Plugins To Use In Photoshop

Hiring someone for your work can play an important part in completion of your project and a risky thing to do. There's a time limitation to look at someone's potential and wasting further time is only going to delay the project. The process of hiring a designer is quite simple and can be done by just looking at their previous workflow and portfolio, but still there are some risks involved. Also Read: 10 Signs Of A High Quality Designer Professionally designed graphics and images can help in creating a positive impression and effective communication of the message. Graphic designing helps to create a professional brand image. This professional image helps in building trust and credibility in the minds of the consumers. A great designer use any kind of designing software that suits their expertise to deliver your work. TABLE OF CONTENTS Top Advantages To Entrusting Your Design Work To A Professional: 1. 99 DESIGNS 2. DESIGNCROWD 3. DRIBBBLE 4. FIVERR 5. BEHANCE 6. UPWORK 7. CROWDSPRING 8. DESIGNHILL As a small business owner, it can be tempting to cut corners. Quality graphic design requires a trained creative professional. A good designer will know the best approach for communicating your message to customers. They will know who your competitors are, because they will have researched them. And most importantly, they will develop quality designs using professional software so that your marketing materials can easily be printed. Also Read: What Is The Most Difficult Part About Being A Freelancer? Top Advantages To Entrusting Your Design Work To A Professional: 1. Strengthen Your Brand High quality graphic design will strengthen your brand and help you stand out from the competition. Graphic designers can help you create a logo or other marketing materials that make your company’s products instantly recognizable. 2. Attract Prospective Customers Advertising is everywhere your look, from your smartphone to the billboards you pass on your morning commute. With an oversaturation of advertising, it’s important to invest in high-quality graphic design just to stand out and stay relevant. You only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention and convince them to buy your products or services. Professional graphic designers can help you accomplish that more effectively. 3. Be Memorable What is your brand’s personality? What is your company’s unique selling point? You’ll need to answer these questions and more if you want to target a specific type of customer or expand your reach. Most customers buy the same products and services because they identify with the brand’s personality. Graphic designers can help you create designs that communicate a lot about your company’s values and target audience in something as small as a logo. 4. Save Money Graphic design is an investment in your company. While we understand you may have a limited budget for marketing, you’re actually much better off hiring a professional graphic designer than asking an amateur or hobbyist to design a new logo for free or for cheap. Poor-quality design can leave a bad impression on prospective customers, affecting your profits in the long run. By hiring a professional graphic designer, you can ensure you’ll receive high-quality results at a fair price. 5. Save Time Imagine spending the money to print a thousand copies of your company newsletter, only to realize that the colors of your logo are wrong. Hiring our graphic designers means you won’t have to worry about unwelcome surprises once you print or publish your content. Graphic designers know when to use RGB vs. CMYK and how to use color contrast to improve readability. Instead of doing things on your own and potentially having to redo projects to fix simple mistakes, save your time, energy, and resources by hiring one of our graphic design experts. Graphic designers have experience working with clients just like you, which means you can count on your new designs to be done right the first time. We’ll help you save time and meet your internal deadlines. Here is the list of 8 most Popular and Effective sites where you can find great designers: 1. 99 DESIGNS One of the best places to find designers, 99designs, helps you find the perfect professional based on your requirements. They have a global community of excellent designers to whom you can talk and explain your projects. Here, you can find designers experienced in 90+ design skills who are ranging from beginners to experts. They will help you create designs for: Logos Website and app Advertisements and branding Clothing and merchandise for your eCommerce store Arts and illustrations Book and magazine designs Packaging and labels To select designers who are vetted for great quality, you can easily review portfolios, request quotes, and hire them quickly. All you have to do is start a contest and open your briefing to the community, and the designers would submit their unique ideas, which helps you pick the best. 2. DESIGNCROWD To get started with hiring freelancers on DesignCrowd, you need to submit your design requirements to a contest where freelance designers can participate with their coolest ideas. Once you get a deserving candidate, you can select them and proceed further by asking them for revisions if you may need them. The platform is already buzzing with more than 882k freelance designers and over 378k completed projects so far and still counting. The design services it provides are divided into more than 50 categories, including designs for email campaigns, business cards, advertisements, product catalogs, calendars, blog designs, car wraps, CD covers, cups and mugs, eBooks, and YouTube videos, and more. 3. DRIBBBLE Having 10,000+ professional designs on board, Dribbble is a good option you can try out. It was founded in the year 2019; it has helped more than 40,000 innovative brands worldwide. It showcases the designer’s name, their location, pricing per hour, and their design samples. Furthermore, you can also see their core specialties, experience in the field, work history, etc. which will help you shortlist them quickly. Dribbble is highly selective with their freelancer membership, which is based purely on an invite-only basis. Its built-in communication channel also helps you interact with freelancers easily regarding your projects. 4. FIVERR Who does not know this name – Fiverr when it comes to searching for freelancers! It is a hub of millions of freelancers with creative talents in various fields, including design. You can browse through profiles of designers to know more about them. Fiverr also has a star rating system that previous buyers give to the designers based on their performance and how much they were satisfied with the work. Hence, you can compare the ratings, prices, and other aspects that match your needs. Here, you may get designers at affordable rates in fast turnaround times as well. The platform is also available in 6 languages for your convenience. 5. BEHANCE Behance is developed by Adobe, which you might be using on an everyday basis. This portfolio platform allows you to hire designers via memberships from its massive pool of more than 15 million profiles. You will get to see the design and artworks of all sorts, while the membership also helps you post a job or explore an unending portfolio to help you find the exact match. The unique thing about Behance is that the designers can upload video or animated presentations of their works. It gives you custom recommendations of your job posts by taking your specific criteria into account and searches for the right candidates for you. If you like any of them, you can save their profiles and manage jobs using Adobe Talent through apps designed exclusively for iPad and iPhone. 6. UPWORK Formerly called Elance oDesk, Upwork is one of the most popular platforms for freelancers across the globe. They have over 300,000 web and graphic designers available that you can find with varying talents and pricing. To search for designers, you need to post your job and let designers respond to the same. You can also browse through individual profiles manually, followed by communicating them directly through chats and video calls. Also Read: 10 Must Have Plugins To Use In Photoshop Similar to Behance, Upwork also has an amazing collaboration workspace so that you could get quality services. You can also track project status and share files using your PC or mobiles. To enable the same, Upwork goes the extra mile by providing mobile apps for iOS in addition to Android, which helps you manage everything with your fingertips. 7. CROWDSPRING With a community of over 220k vetted designers, CrowdSpring can be your next destination to hire a design professional. They never let you compromise on quality, price, or choice. CrowdSpring uses industry-standard IP protections to provide complete ownership of the designs you pay for, so you can use it anywhere you like. You can choose from over 30 categories of designs, complete your project brief, choose a package within your budget, and start your hunt. After getting the work done, you can also give your suggestions, score the designers, and avail revised designs as well when needed. However, if you are not sure about things, you can even take design consultation from CrowdSpring via phone call, chat, or email. 8. DESIGNHILL The creative marketplace, Designhill, can be your best bet if you are looking for affordable services and great quality. It offers three ways to hire a designer. You can run contests for designers to choose the best candidate. Browse its in-built Graphic Design Services to get custom designs from the designers of the platform itself You can opt for One-to-One Projects and contact a freelance designer directly for your project Designhill also features an AI logo-making tool, capable of creating dozens of interesting logos instantly. Just ask simple questions, follow a few steps, and get the work done even with no design skills. I hope you now have a clear understanding of the significance of a powerful design for a brand. It not only creates a strong impression to attract customers but also helps you increase conversion rates. Thus, hire a professional designer who can justify your requirements from any of these platforms I just discussed. May you get an excellent designer for your upcoming projects! 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Do you have a habit of starting projects, but not finishing them? In our busy lifestyle we encounter a lot of things. We give priorities to some things more than they deserve and that's where we start to neglect our previous pending work. These projects could be of Graphic designing, Video Editing, Freelancing, Coding, School/College work or personal work. Completing a project successfully takes proper planning and conscious action. If you have ever embarked on a project, you’d know that every goal/project comes with its own set of challenges which are not visible when you first start. Finishing a project on a right time is must and it's also a specialty of a high quality designer. Also Read: 10 Common Mistakes Designers Make #1 Either its a client's work or a personal one, finishing a project gives a meaning to why you started it in the first place. When we left a project in progress and start to work on other things, then there's a low possibility that we are ever going to finish it or even work on it again. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. BE SELECTIVE IN WHAT YOU BEGIN WITH 2. IDENTIFY ALL RELEVANT TASKS 3. BUDGET YOUR TIME AND ENERGY 4. CREATE A PROJECT COMPLETION PROCESS 5. FOCUS ON A SINGLE TASK AT A TIME 6. SELECT GOALS WITH REALISTIC TIMELINES 7. QUIT BEING A PERFECTIONIST 8. USE PRODUCTIVE SOFTWARE 9. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS 10. BLOCK OUT DISTRACTIONS Here are 10 best tips on how to finish the projects you start: 1. BE SELECTIVE IN WHAT YOU BEGIN WITH When you start on a project, make sure it is something you are passionate about and you want to see through. You should embarked on things which was half-interested in in the past. This resulted in waste of time and resources which could have been better utilized elsewhere. Because of that, you'll be more conscious of how you utilize your time and energy. If you set a high threshold on what you want to do, the completion rate is also higher. If you aren’t sure that this is something you really want to do, dip your feet into the pool first – try it out on a small scale and see if it’s what you’re interested in. Also Read: Why Branding Is So Important In 2022? When you start a project, you’re tempted to start working right away. It could be because you’re overflowing with ideas, or maybe because the project is already familiar to you. In the long run, though, taking your time to prepare first can be far more efficient. It makes it easier to: Establish priorities Avoid missing deadlines Prioritize key tasks Minimize the risk Achieve the desired results Before starting a new project, you should prepare by making a list of all the steps you will need to take to get to the desired result. Organize the tasks by priority and type Make sure that you have a good understanding of your final goal Break down what needs to be accomplished to reach those targets Define the desired goals and objectives 2. IDENTIFY ALL RELEVANT TASKS You must identify all the work items, tasks, and processes that are going to be a part of the project. This can be easy to do for repeat or simple projects where activities are straightforward or clear to you because they have been performed previously. For new and complex projects, identifying all the necessary work items can be more difficult. In this case, you must forecast the requirements on the normal and worst-case scenarios so that they can be prepared for environmental risks with contingencies. In companies they do resource planning, where they estimate how much resources is needed for a project. After which, they plan out the manpower and investment accordingly. For us, that means doing a quick plan on how much time and effort this idea will take, so we can have a bird’s eye view. It doesn’t have to be exhaustive. Just a quick outline will help. The point is to have something that guides you 3. BUDGET YOUR TIME AND ENERGY After you create your outline, you should have a realistic idea of how much time and effort is needed to complete it. Plan out your time and resources accordingly and integrate them into your schedule. Block out time in your calendar for the project. Give yourself some buffer as well. A big reason for loss of enthusiasm or energy is when people underestimate the amount of work needed to bring the goal to life. Good planning of resources help you plan out your energy and expectations. Also Read: Best Laptops for Designing Work in 2021 Also Read: 5 Tips For A Great Logo Design You know you have to put in hours and work to get the final output, so you’ll manage yourself appropriately to achieve your desired outcome. This’ll lead to a higher project success rate. 4. CREATE A PROJECT COMPLETION PROCESS There should be a robust monitoring process for each project task to ensure work is progressing according to schedule. The review can be carried out on a daily basis for short-term projects or on a specific day each week for tasks that can take months to complete. Once an activity has been finished, it should be checked for accuracy of completion and quality review before proceeding to the next task. You should assign some time for reviewing progress on each activity and must not neglect the review process in favor of pursuing other tasks. The continuous review process will ensure that you are on top of the different activities for the project. 5. FOCUS ON A SINGLE TASK AT A TIME The Pomodoro technique was invented by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, as a time management method. The rules are simple: you break down your work into cycles and then take a quick, timed break. The technique is based on a feeling of urgency manifested in the timer. Instead of feeling like you’ve got countless hours to get things done and inevitably squander those precious work hours on distractions, you know you’ve just got 25 minutes to do as much work as you can. Once four Pomodoro sessions have passed, take a 15-20 minute break. Steps to implement this technique: Find out how much work your activity requires and split it into small tasks Turn off all internal and external distractions Activate a 25-minute timer set Only focus on that one task before the timer is over Put a checkmark on your list of tasks that show that you have completed one Pomodoro Take a five-minute break Start over 6. SELECT GOALS WITH REALISTIC TIMELINES As a project manager, you want to strive for high goals while leveraging a realistic timeline so your team has enough time to be excited about the project and generate great ideas. If your project team views the project as just one huge goal, it can be overwhelming and disheartening. If you break down the project into smaller, more manageable tasks with due dates attached to each one, it will seem more doable, thus your team will be more productive, moving the project along on schedule. 7. QUIT BEING A PERFECTIONIST A lot of people have very high standards. Seeking perfection can be good because it means that you appreciate quality, but the anxiety of failing to deliver something less than ideal can be paralyzing. You end up spending too much time on some minor details, and eventually, you don’t have time to work on the most important parts. Also Read: 7 Digital Art & Portrait Style To Learn And Start In 2022 Try these two tips: First, break the task into many little steps, then focus on one part at the time. If you still put it off after breaking it down, then break it down even further into mini pieces. Soon, you’ll be left with such a simple task that you’ll be wondering what was keeping you from doing it from before! The second tip is to give yourself the permission to do a draft version. Meaning, there’s no need to get it done right the first time. Creating a draft, even if it’s a crappy one, is better than if you didn’t do anything at all. Get started and things will roll on from there. 8. USE PRODUCTIVE SOFTWARE Technology can have a significant impact on your ability to be productive and manage your time. By incorporating the right software into your stack, you’ll find it a lot easier to concentrate, manage your time and no longer feel like you’re trying to keep your head above the water. Given the important role of time management for both people and businesses, unsurprisingly there are a number of software companies out there that build software to make peoples’ lives easier & more productive. So, you should review some of the best software available to help you manage your time when working on a project. 9. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS Tracking your progress helps you understand how you’re doing and gives you a target to reach. This makes it easier to keep up with your momentum. Create a project sheet that records your targets and your current status. Specify your goals that you want to achieve. If your goal is to make logo, your KPIs will be your logos, type of logos, and perhaps your performance during making logos. Then every week, review your progress. What % of your end goal have you achieved? Is it on track against your target? What is your target for the next week? Tracking makes you accountable to your goal and helps you to stay on track. 10. BLOCK OUT DISTRACTIONS Even the most productive workers know that it takes time to build focus and a second to lose it. When you need to work for hours, staying concentrated on tasks is far from easy. Sources of distractions: Mobile phone and internet Noise Overthinking Tips for avoiding distractions: Focus on your main priorities first Turn your mobile data off Find ways to prepare your mind for work and control internal distractions (you can try meditating before work, for example) Get away from things around you that make you distracted No project is perfect. Variables and conditions change along the way, and as a project manager, you need to adapt accordingly and proactively. The best way to ensure your project fails is to not have a contingency plan for each phase and milestone. Be prepared. When people look at someone who’s really productive, it sometimes doesn’t seem like they’re working that hard. The point is that productive people know when to work and when to take a break. Working 10 hours straight is alright, especially when you’re working hard for a goal, a dream, or even a deadline. But it’s hard for anyone to concentrate and produce high-quality work without giving themselves a chance to relax and take a break. If it’s hard for you to stop working, I find it can help to schedule midday breaks away from a screen so that when you come back you’re really able to focus. You need to take breaks if you want to be able to do great work. Over to you – what’s your best practice for finishing projects faster & managing your time? Feel free to let us know in the comments below. Articles Related To Career & Designing: • 7 Process To Master Logo Designing In 2022 • How Do Graphic Designers Stay Inspired | 10 Tips For Inspiration • 12 Difficulties Every Freelancer Faces and Tips To Overcome These Problems • Where To Hire Great Designers? Advantages of Hiring a Designer UP NEXT: 10 Best Tutorials To Learn Digital Portrait Painting As A Beginner

There are so many laptops in the market to choose from. The laptop range from an individual's requirements and work expertise. There are different laptops for Graphic designing, Video Editing, and 3D modeling & animation. But new users always get confused in the beginning while choosing the best laptop that suits their work field. Best always comes at a price tag. If you are looking for the best laptop for a long run, then you would have to do a little more research than what you typically do. There are many brands of laptop you can pick. Some of the major laptop brands are Dell, Apple (MacBook), Acer, Asus, HP, MSI and Lenovo. Looking for a laptop to use for graphic design can be a challenge, and different than purchasing a laptop for general use or gaming. You want a laptop that's light enough to be portable but powerful enough to do complicated work. Also Read: 7 Digital Art & Portrait Style To Learn And Start In 2022 Before getting too far in the decision-making process, consider the kind of work you do and your budget. If you do complex 3D work you will need to be on the upper end of all the specifications. If your work is mostly 2D, you can be at the mid to low end of the range. The most important specs to look at for graphic design are the operating system, CPU, the memory or RAM, the storage drive, the display type and size, and color accuracy. Here are 5 laptops to buy in 2021 for graphic designing. Also Read: Top 5 Video Editing Software To Choose From 1. 2020 HP ENVY x360 13.3” HP Envy x360 13 (2020) is a Windows 10 Home laptop with a 13.30-inch display that has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The HP Envy x360 13 (2020) packs 512GB of SSD storage. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth and it comes with Headphone and Mic Combo Jack ports. Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 ((up to 4.7 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 12 MB L3 cache, 4 cores) | Memory: 16 GB DDR4-3200 MHz RAM (2 x 8 GB) | Storage: 512 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD Operating System & Pre-installed Software: Pre-loaded Windows 10 Home with lifetime validity, FREE Upgrade to Windows 11* (when available, refer product description for more details) | Microsoft Office Home & Student 2019 Display & Graphics: 35.6 cm (14") diagonal, FHD (1920 x 1080), multitouch-enabled, IPS, edge-to-edge glass, micro-edge, 250 nits, 45% NTSC | Intel Iris Xe Graphics Ports: 1 SuperSpeed USB Type-C 10Gbps (USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, HP Sleep and Charge), 2 SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps, 1 headphone/microphone combo, 1 AC smart pin, 1 HDMI 2.0 | 3-cell, 43 Wh Li-ion Battery, Supports battery fast charge: approximately 50% in 30 minutes Features: Camera: HP Wide Vision 720p HD camera | Microphone: Integrated Dual array digital microphones| Fingerprint Reader | Audio: Dual Speakers, Audio by B&O | Keyboard: Full-size backlit keyboard | Alexa Built In | Networking: Intel Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 AX201 (2x2), Bluetooth 5 combo 2. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is an impressive 14-inch gaming laptop that delivers on several fronts, with great performance, incredible battery life and unbeatable portability. Dynamic and ready to travel, the pioneering ROG Zephyrus G14 is the world's most powerful 35.56cm(14-inch) Windows 10 Home gaming laptop. Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS Processor, 3.0 GHz (8MB Cache, up to 4.3 GHz, 8 Cores, 16 Threads) Memory: 32GB (2x 16GB) DDR4 3200MHz Dual-Channel RAM with | Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD Graphics: Dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q GDDR6 6GB VRAM Display: 14-inch (16:9) Quad HD (2560 x 1440), 300 nits Brightness, Anti-Glare IPS-level panel, 60Hz Refresh Rate, 100% sRGB, Pantone Validated, Adaptive sync, 85% screen-to-body ratio Software Included: Pre-installed MS Office Home and Student 2019 | Operating System: Pre-loaded Windows 10 Home (64bit) with lifetime validity 3. DELL XPS 15 9500 15.6” Dell XPS 15 9500 is a Windows 10 Home laptop with a 15.60-inch display that has a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels. It is powered by a Core i7 processor and it comes with 16GB of RAM. The Dell XPS 17 10750H packs 512GB of SSD storage. Processor:10th Generation Intel Core i7-10750H Processor (12MB Cache, up to 5GHz,6 cores) Memory & Storage: 16 GB DDR4 at 2933 MHz (2 x 8 GB), dual channel | 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4GB GDDR6 Display: 15.6” UHD (3840 x 2400) InfinityEdge Anti-Reflecitve 500-Nit Display I Eyesafe technology Operating System: Windows 10 Home Plus Single Language & Microsoft Office Home and Student 2019 Design: CNC machined aluminum in platinum silver with carbon fiber composite palm rest in black | Laptop weight 1.83Kg | 18 mm thin Keyboard & Battery: Backlit chiclet keyboard | 6-Cell Lithium Ion Battery | 6 cell 86 Whr | 21 hrs battery life 4. Acer 15.6" ConceptD 3 Ezel Multi-Touch 2-in-1 The ConceptD 3 Ezel is the creative toolbox designed for creators on the go with its slim and lightweight design and up to 15.6” FHD touchscreen display. Sketch, finalize, and present on one device, with the 15.6" ConceptD 3 Ezel Multi-Touch 2-in-1 Laptop from Acer. Alongside the included Active Stylus Pen, Acer's patented 360° Ezel Hinge gives users six different modes to choose from, allowing them to easily collaborate with others in Share Mode, create efficiently in Float Mode, work on the move with Stand Features: 360° Hinge | Active Stylus Pen Processor: 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7 6-Core (10th Gen) Memory & Storage:16GB DDR4 RAM | 1TB NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 IPS Matte Touchscreen 5. LENOVO ThinkPad P1 Gen 3 Premium design. Powerful computing The ThinkPad P1 Gen 3 is the perfect combination of form and function. This stylish mobile workstation is built with rugged, thin, and light carbon fiber. The stunning design hints at what’s inside: an amazingly powerful system that offers a choice of 10th Gen Intel® Core™ or the latest Xeon® processors and professional NVIDIA® Quadro® graphics. Features: Processor: 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10750H Processor (6 Cores / 12 Threads, 2.60 GHz, up to 5.00 GHz with Turbo Boost, 12 MB Cache) Operating System: DOS Memory: 8 GB SO-DIMM DDR4 3200MHz Hard Drive: 256 GB M.2 2280 SSD Display Type: 39.62cms (15.6) FHD (1920x1080) IPS Anti-glare 300nits Non-Touch Graphics: NVIDIA® Quadro® T1000 Max-Q 4GB GDDR6 AC Adapter: 135W Warranty: 3 Years Onsite Camera: 720P HD with Microphone Wireless: 11AX (2x2) & Bluetooth® 5.0 vPro Fingerprint Reader: Yes Keyboard: Backlit, English (India) Battery: 4 cell, 80Wh, Upto 9 hours Doing a little bit of research before buying a laptop can benefit you on a long run. Always choose a laptop that suits your work field even if its not a designing or video editing related work. Laptops aren't cheap to buy and wasting a good sum of money isn't worth it. You can check laptop websites, compare them on online platforms or simply visit a local seller for a better idea. Articles Related To Career & Designing: • 10 Signs Of A High Quality Designer • Where To Hire Great Designers? Advantages of Hiring a Designer • How Do Graphic Designers Stay Inspired | 10 Tips For Inspiration • What Is The Most Difficult Part About Being A Freelancer? UP NEXT: 10 TIPS TO FINISH PROJECT ON TIME