Kate Harper's Blog: 4/11/10

New Film about Product Design

From the same director who did "Helvetica", Objectified is a good watch for anyone who does product design. Here are 3 clips from the film. I'm curious about your response to them.

Poor Design Practices: Chairs, Cameras, GPS's
(3 minutes)

Apple Computer Design
(5 minutes)

Target Store Design
(2 minutes)

30 online color tools for designers

Here's another great list of online color tools on the Designerfix blog.

As Monty Python would say: "And now for something completely different...."

I couldn't pass up this posting from the Web Designer Depot Blog. Imagine what interesting greeting cards they might make...and what would they say inside say?

Here are a few samples. Pretty impressive. To See all 50, go to their webpage.

Greeting Card Biz Insider Secrets

Check out Artsyshark's article on Greeting Card Business Insider Secrets.

Excerpt:

Keep in mind that a retailer needs a reason to replace an established card line in their store. They want to make sure every square inch of their establishment makes money and they’re not going to stop selling a profitable line unless they’re absolutely sure the new line (meaning yours) will outsell it. Of course, there’s always the chance they have a line they’re eager to replace but you can’t count on that. Even if you’re planning on licensing the cards – in lieu of manufacturing and distributing them – the company that considers your designs will still be thinking, “Will retailers be willing to get rid of an existing line and take a chance on this one?” continued.. Greeting Card Business Insider Secrets.

Photographing Products on a Shoestring Budget

Here's some great resources on etsy on how to photograph your products or licensing samples.

ETSY VIDEO ON PHOTOGRAPHING PRODUCTS

MAKE A LIGHT BOX
Instructables Article: Make a light box

ARTICLES WORTH READING

Digital Photography School: How to Photograph Products
Photographing Products for Online Sales
How to Make Homemade Lightbox

Looking for a greeting card job?

I just added a new feature to this blog: on the left sidebar, about 10 inches down, there is a live news feed called "Job Openings" for all types of jobs in the greeting card industry.

BOOKS FOR THE CARD DESIGN

These are books I own and recommend. Some may be out of print, but used copies may be available. Check link.

Start & Run a Greeting Cards Business Book covers starting a card business in the UK. Good basic info, but financial/measurement info is in different monetary units.

Greeting Card Design Book that shows examples of professional card design.

Publishing Your Art as Cards How to make and sell your own cards for an extra income.

Pushing the Envelope How to work with greeting card sales reps.

Complete Guide to Greeting Card Design and Illustration Great Book on understanding the greeting card profession and how to develop a style.

1000 Handmade Greetings: creative cards and clever correspondence This is not a simple craft book for hobbyists,instead it is a picture book of professionally handmade cards by leading companies and designers.

By the Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes & More Book that addresses how to "manufacture" handmade greeting cards.

How to Write and Sell Greeting Cards, Bumper Stickers, Tshirts and Other Fun Stuff

Sell the Fun Stuff: Writers' and Artists' Market Guidelines for Greeting Cards, Posters, Rubber Stamps, T-Shirts, Aprons, Bumper Stickers, and More!

Writing Card Sentiments

Freelance Writing for Greeting Cards Another good book on how to write for cards professionally.

You Can Write Your Own Greeting Cards Clear guidelines on how to write card sentiments professionally.

Finding the Right Words One of many basic books of this series that tells you how to add words products, cards, etc.

Licensing Your Art to Companies

Licensing Art and Design

Licensing Art 101 Good beginners guide on the art licensing business.

2011 Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market List of greeting card companies, art licensees and agents.Detailed information on submission guidelines.

Gift and Product Design

Start with a Scan One of a kind book that tells you how to transform your art into a scan and what to do with it from there.

Design Your Own Repeat Patterns Simple book on learning repeats.

Twentieth-Century Pattern Design Great book for inspiration and creative approaches to designing patterns.

How to Break into Product Design Overview of product design in all industries.

Designing a Digital Portfolio Shows you how to put a digital portfolio together for the modern era.

Mary Engelbreit: The Art And The Artist Amazing story of how Mary ended up doing licensing.

Principles of Pattern Design Good info on pattern design

Imagery on Fabric Basic info on putting images onto fabric.

Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing Yearly updated guidelines for pricing for people in art careers.

5,000 Years of Textiles Far East, Americas, Africa, Scandinavia, and Egyptian. Good for studying fabric design.

Abstract Design and How to Create It Over 380 illustrations, diagrams, designs, border patterns and textile patterns.

Creative Illustration Workshop Exercises for integrating illustration with other mixed-media techniques, and scan and layer your illustrations using a computer.

Print Workshop Hand-Printing Techniques for low budgets. Interesting ways to put imagery on products. Perhaps a good technique for putting our designs on model items to show what they would look like on real products.

Digital Alchemy Printmaking techniques for fine art and how to transfer images to a variety of surfaces. It includes decals and skins.

Critical Mass Cutting-edge developments in international printmaking. Since printmaking is fundamental in most surface design concepts, this book's goal is a modern approach on a traditional printmaking.

Tradeshows and Booth Design