Holiday RAWK 2017 Preshow Prep (Making Business cards)

One of the promotional items that I am working on for the show next week are new business cards. I don’t give out a ton, but for showing work and connecting with people, the business card is still ideal. Here are a few tips and reasons why.

Why the business card still works?

Considering the age of texting, social media facebook, instagram and all of those things, the need for the personal business card seems to have never gone away. It’s like a little piece of yourself you can give to a potential customer or client. This will make them remember you when you don’t have access to social media. If you happen to have a professional beneficial encounter with someone you are not going to stop to find a wifi signal to connect on social media. This is the reason why the personal business card is still the top way to exchange information. It’s a quick exchange which you can then refer back to later on when you are home.

What kind of card do you need?

There are many kinds of cards you can use to get the point across. You can go the traditional route of the small pocket sized card. You can go more of the unique route with a non traditional shape or design. 

The point is to have the most key and relevant parts of your contact information you want to include on the card. If you are an artist or photographer, having your work on the back of one of the sides of the card is not a bad idea either. A lot of sites give you this option so you can provide your audience a preview of your work. Your goal here is to leave a memorable impression with your design and help your client or customer to remember you later on when they go back to find your information and follow up.

Sites and other resources

There are a ton of sites that you can use for printing purposes. 

My personal favorites are

-Vistaprint.com

-Moocards.com

These two sites have easy interfaces, the ability to upload designs, customize layout, pick a card style, etc. and much more and also ship to you when you are ready. 

Also, take a look and explore what other promotional ideas you can come up with that might be useful. 

You can have a business card with a discount code on the back, or a free download link item help your audience remember you. The most important thing is for the business card to do the work for you so that your potential client or customer doesn’t have to.

Back from Central America (Art Book cover sketches and more..)

Hey gang,

I'm back from Central America after a week of shaping and molding young minds. It was a really great week, and I feel so lucky to have been able to share time with those students.
You can see some of their wonderful photos on the Design 4 Kids Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Design4Kids

While I was there I had some time when I was not teaching class. I managed to start work on some cover designs as well as complete the final list of pieces that will be included in the book:

Here is the final list (in no particular order and not all necessarily Nintendo games:)
-Megaman (2)
-Clu Clu Land
-Pro Wrestling
-Mario
-Ducktales
-Elevator Action
-Legend of Kage
-Ring King
-Mighty Bomb Jack (gonna fix the cover)
-Sonic
-10 Yard Fight (if I have time)---I never really played 10 Yard Fight that much but it seems to ba a favorite. So if I can make it happen I will fit it in.
I managed to complete all of the composition sketches so now it's on to knocking these out one by one. 
I plan on starting that this week, so I am pretty excited about that.
As a quick treat below are some logo and cover sketches (kinda early but this will give you just a quick idea of the cover layout).

Below are some sample logos ideas:

Below are some cover ideas:

I'll start posting as I work through the ideas.
See ya soon!

Design 4 Kids 7!

Hey all,

I wanted make a quick note to let you know that I am on hiatus for a bit (read out of the country).
I am currently attending an overseas program called
"Design4Kids7", which is a great program that takes place in Guatemala Central America.

The program is designed to teach local students about the principles of graphic design, typography, photography as well as using tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator.

I was able to lead a drawing class this week as well, which gave the students the chance to get hands on drawing practice, doing gesture drawings, portrait drawings, memory drawings and blind contour drawings. It was all a lot of fun and gave the kids some hands on drawing practice and trying something new.

If you want to take a look at some of the photos the students have been posting, you can take a look at the Design for Kids Facebook page (make sure you like it):
http://www.facebook.com/Design4Kids

Also to learn more about the organization itself check out:
http://design4kids.org/

I will be back next week with more news and tid bits about the 80's video game art book coming out in April!

See you then!