A Royal Souvenir

Recently I was browsing the web and came across an article about a U.K. graphic designer that created a royal wedding souvenir, barf bags. Lydia Leith decided to design a barf bag as a joke but since she is a huge fan of royal memorabilia she thought it would be a great item to actually make.

Above are the two designs of the royal barf bag. I think that they are quite elegant but at the same time are very hilarious but are done in a subtle way. For example just below the crown at the top of the bag are the words "Throne Up". It is quite cheesy and very clever. There is also the statement, "Keep this handy on April 29, 2011" which says the date of the wedding but also adding in the purpose of the barf bag. Since the royal wedding is such a big thing across the world this is an excellent souvenir to have designed and buy.  Even though it was meant as a joke, Leith has sold a lot of these barf bags as memorable souvenirs.

Click here  to read the original article.

Click here to visit Lydia Leith's website.

15 Funny Apple Ads

Earlier I posted about the huge debate about Mac vs. PC. Here is 15 Funny Apple ads. These ads consist of just two people, an older gentleman and the other younger. There is just a white background and them so you only focus on what they are saying. Apple has a very unique, nice and funny way of showing that Macs are better then PCs. 

Making a Photo Look Antique

I recently had a photo assignment, where I had to create a retro looking photo. For this I decided that I wanted to take a picture of an old film player and then make the picture look like it had been aged for about 40 years. Since I had no idea how to create the effect in photoshop, I decided to look online for a tutorial that I would find easy enough to follow and would be able to create the effect that I wanted.

While searching I came across this great tutorial written by Steve Patterson. This tutorial was easy to follow and I was able to create the effect on the picture that I wanted to. This tutorial incorporated simple effects that were added in layers to create an overall aged look. I am familiar with photoshop but I do not know the program as well as the other adobe programs so I liked the fact that this tutorial was easy to follow. There was screen shots of photoshop so it was easy to follow, along with in depth instructions.

Below is a screenshot of what my photo looked like before and after. As you can see my original photograph is not the greatest quality but that does not matter since I have added effects to the photo to make it look a certain way.

Before

After

If you like the way this photo looks here is the link to the tutorial I used: www.photoshopessentials.com

One of the most common debates of the world...Mac vs. PC

Mac vs. PC is one of the most common debates throughout the world. I personally think that it is a personal preference and it all depends what you are going to be using your computer for. The Mac is most commonly used by designers whereas the PC is most commonly used in the business world.

Apple has a long history of being the "Designer's Computer", so they have focused on improving their handling of colours and fonts, especially when going from screen and file to print. Mac has the edge over PC on this factor, but PC has come along way. As far as graphic design is concerned there is not a real significant difference. All of the Adobe programs that are used in graphic design have platforms based for both the Mac and PC. Since the Mac is most commonly used they have developed handy tools and applications that are only available on Macs.

Although Macs have the most developed software for graphic designers, the PC has a larger variety of software and is better to use if you are interested in 3-D renderings and gaming. They have also improved the Microsoft Windows operating system, so that it is more user friendly.

Even though PC is improving the Mac still has the edge due to the ease of their operating system. They are always introducing new software that improves the users experience. The variety of applications has also helped to enable a clean workflow.

These are just a few facts about the Mac and PC but there are many more. I personally believe it all depends on the person that is using the computer. Some people are more comfortable with a Mac whereas others prefer the PC. There is not a right or wrong choice it is purely the users decision. I have used a Mac for at least 5 years now and I prefer it over a PC but that does not mean that I am against the PC. It always bothers me when someone who owns a Mac is always pushing or bothering someone that has a PC. It is their own personal choice of preference, just leave them alone an let them make their own decision.

If you are becoming a graphic designer the Mac is probably the best root to go since most people in the business are using Macs. The Mac's software is built around the graphic design field making it easier for the Graphic Design World, but that's a little bias since I am in the field.