What little “tricks of the trade” have you picked up over the years? What do you know now that you wish you had known when you began your career as a designer? Share your best!
Send me your tricks in the comment section and I will put them together in a subsequent blog post.
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Owner, News Design School
Great idea for a post!
I like to keep a big cork board in my office where I pin up inspiring page designs that I come across. (mostly from Newseum.org)
I keep them up for about a month, and then they retire into a binder, and I start pinning up new pages.
I find that it helps me to visualize what it is that makes a page striking, and in turn, it makes it easier for me to try and find that balance with my own work.
Here’s what she looks like… http://twitpic.com/1fbc9r
Thanks for your contribution, Matthew. A great idea I wish my students would do.
If you’re going to break one of your paper’s design rules or style, always have sound logic to back it up. The change should be able to speak for itself, but if your editors just don’t get it, explain it to them in words they understand. They may not agree with you and tell you to never to do it again, or they may come around to your way of thinking. It’s good to take risks and experiment … just be prepared to defend yourself.
Heather: I think the key to what you said is “in words they understand.” Many editors don’t understand design very well, so it becomes important to explain it to them in a way that they feel empowered to make the right decision. Thanks for the comment!