Category Archives: Designing

Free Vector Art for Professional Graphic Designers

Today, readable content needs an image or graphic representation. This helps the readers to understand and interpret the conveyed message in a much better way. A graphical depiction of a thought makes it more intelligible and easy to present the initial thought. Plain textual content becomes monotonous and boring. So, images can be used to make it interesting and attractive.

Whenever, we are almost done with some content or looking for a particular design, we tend to quickly browse through Google to search for an appropriate image. Sometimes, we get an image within the first few links, while at times, we have to browse a lot. Sometimes, we get the required image, but either it is watermarked or lower resolution or size or blocked. So, rather than stressing yourself with constant searches or confusing pages, you would prefer a repository, where you can find apt vector images of good quality for a theme and of course, at free of cost, which can be downloaded and used without any restriction.

Vector artwork is created by vector illustration programs like Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or Inkscape. These are different from normal computer art. They use mathematical equations and geometric components like points, lines or shapes to create images. They are clean, camera ready and can be zoomed or scaled to any extent, without loss of quality. Usually, these images are saved with .ai, .pdf, .eps, and .svg file extensions. These are mostly used by professional graphic designers for printing and producing high quality artwork.

The following portals are some of the awesome places, from where you can download free vector art:

Freepik:  This is one of the largest search engines for free vector art. They produce hundreds of free vectors daily with a current stock of over one million artworks in ai, eps and svg formats.

FlatIcon: They have around 107, 150 free vector icon in a wide range of formats like png, svg, eps, psg and base 64.

1001 Free Downloads: They have thousands of free vectors along with photos, PSDs, fonts, brushes and much more. They collect the best free graphics for designers from the web as well as develop in-house to enrich their repository.

FreeVectors: This is like a free community, where anybody can share free vector artwork. They are mostly free for personal and commercial use (sometimes, they may be restricted for commercial use). The freshly added graphics appear on the top of the page and so on. This helps to create a huge repository from the professionals, who use and work with vectors every day.

Vector Portal: This is an extensive library of free vectors, which are up for both personal and commercial use. The site is easy to navigate and filter the options as per your criteria.

DaFont: Dingbat Fonts is mostly a collection of small vector graphics. You can directly type a letter and create a new object in Illustrator CS6. Mostly, they are free for commercial use, but still you need to check before use.

Spoongraphics: This is a personal blog by Chris Spooner, but has a huge collection of original and amazing free vectors. Apart from the artwork, it also has a nice repository of insightful articles on related topics.

There are many other websites, where you can find amazing vector art, free of cost. They all have a huge collection of vector art and adding more to their stock everyday. You can search these locations for almost anything that you have in mind. Now, you know, where to look for those images, without wasting your time and energy, looking at the wrong places.

Hey, thanks for the info. Now what?

If you need any help with content creation, we have tons of free resources to get you over the hump. Please subscribe to this blog to ensure that you never miss an article.

Have questions or comments? Please use the comment form down below. We read and reply to every comment.

If you really enjoyed this post, please help us to spread the word by clicking one of the social media sharing buttons.

Tips on Tri-fold Brochure Design

Partition3A

A brochure is an important tool for marketing and promotion for any organization. The design, content, and the layout of a brochure is very important for a good first impression and a long lasting one. There are different kinds of marketing collaterals, which organizations use for different purposes like brand building, brand visibility, promotions etc. A tri-fold brochure is one such brochure, which are effective due to its compact size and can be placed in any holder. It is also easy to carry, so prospects might retain it. It is also easy to display it on the desk or somewhere else in full visibility.

What is a tri-fold brochure?

A tri-fold brochure is basically a bi-fold and a tri-panel brochure made by folding a 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper, twice. It creates 3 panels and content is printed on both the sides of each panel. As mentioned above, it is quite handy and popular due to its compact size. Small businesses prefer this as it can easily mailed in a #10 envelope. Every panel can have a different unique design or a single design can be spread over the three panels. It is an attractive and a low-cost sales tool, which helps you and your business to stand out in the crowd, if designed effectively.

What is the importance of a tri-fold brochure?

Apart from the size implication, the following factor or trends also contribute to the importance and growing popularity of tri-fold brochures over others:

  • The emergence and usage of the Company website for information and sales conversion have done away the need for elaborate, printed brochures. Rather, people prefer smaller ones, which can store easily or display. Tri-fold brochures serve just the purpose and hence preferred by many.
  • Continuing from the first point, these brochures are also cost effective. They are low cost on printing and hence contribute towards cutting down of marketing expenses.
  • Finally, today people prefer environment friendly ways to run their businesses. So, these brochures are helpful in avoiding wasteful paper promotions.

Overall, this is an effective tool for spreading the word around, at an economical cost.

A few design tips for a tri-fold brochure have been listed below:

A tri-fold brochure has three panels- front, back and interiors. So, the design has to be such that every panel is utilized effectively and the message is conveyed in the right way.

The Front Panel needs to be attractive with the logo, tagline or an eye-catching image. Not much of textual information should be given here.

The Interior Panels can be wisely used with content like features, products, testimonials (back interior) and others. Offers, promotions, discounts and call to action can also be put there.

Back Panel is mostly used for contact information or something to reinforce or remind them like an image or a catchy line or note. Do not put important information there. The contact information should be crisp and clear.

Margins should be carefully designed. There should be enough gap or white space, so that when it is folded, no content gets hidden and broken.

The flow of content needs to be designed properly. You need to plan what comes next, so that people do not get confused with so many sides. They should be able to understand, which panel follows.

It is important to choose an existing template from the printer. The design and layout will be based on it, so that it is easy to print. The inner flap is a bit smaller than the outer one, so that it opens neatly. It is important to ensure that the design meets the printer’s expectation.

Once the design is in process, you probably need to print and fold them as a mock test, to decide which looks better. This exercise helps to see the ‘look and feel’ of the final product. Once you print and fold, you will be able to figure out if the edges are proper and the contents are in place.

You can experiment and try something new with the design. It is not necessary that every panel will have a discreet and separate image. You can also select an image, which can bleed over the edges and spread across the panels to convey an idea. Sometimes, these kind of graphics is more attractive and impactful.

Hey, thanks for the info. Now what?

If you need any help with content creation, we have tons of free resources to get you over the hump. Please subscribe to this blog to ensure that you never miss an article.

Have questions or comments? Please use the comment form down below. We read and reply to every comment.

If you really enjoyed this post, please help us to spread the word by clicking one of the social media sharing buttons.

Color Psychology : How Colors Influence Our Mind

Color1-1200x500

Black and White aren’t that bad, but as Joseph Addison said, “Colors speak all languages.” Colors have a direct impact on the brain and our thought process. Colors depict personality, feelings, emotions, messages and influences our psychology.

It is widely understood that colors affect human behavior and emotion. This can be used by businesses to create an advantageous edge. Colors are a major part of branding in any industry starting from Company logo, brochure, corporate colors, office designs and others. Though, there is a lot of scope of research on how color influences our mind, but a study found out that around 90% of the purchase decision is based on color alone.

Different colors are known to trigger different emotions in us and hence, they are associated with different human attributes as well. Moreover, different cultures also have different connotations for colors.

Color and Temperature

Experts feel that color can be associated with people’s perception temperature. Colors like red and yellow gives a warmer sensation, while colors like blue and green are known to be more ‘cooler’ shades. This helps designers to use these appropriately in interiors, apparels or even specific products.

Color and Emotion

Colors evoke a person’s emotional quotient in different ways. Sally Augustin, Ph.D. and an environmental psychologist highlighted few basic facts on how colors can affect emotional and behavioral actions. For example, someone might dislike blue color, if he/she is reminded of some allergy medicines of his/her childhood. Similarly, a person might have an attachment or aversion to certain colors, which is related to their emotional self.

Color psychology also varies based on gender as well. Recent research by experts talks about the relation between colors and emotional health. Some of the general beliefs about different colors are as follows:

RED: This is the color of power and force. Red stimulates our mind to work faster and reduces analytical thinking. It is also the color of warning. So, mostly you will see the warning signs in this color.

BLUE: This is a more acceptable color and depicts serenity or smoothness.

YELLOW: This is the color of purity.

ORANGE: it is associated with healing and increases energy levels. It indicates good value, so brands use it to depict trust and support.

PINK: It is mostly associated with care or babies, which helps to calm people down and give a feeling of happiness.

GREEN: This is again related to acceptance and trust. Brands use this color to bring out concepts of growth and prosperity.

WHITE: This is sometimes associated with boredom or sadness. However, both black and white have a wide variety of meanings in different cultures and races.

These are just a few general connotations, which can vary over customs and religions too.

Color psychology is a vast and yet to be fully explored. Once documented the findings will be of great insight for brands to enhance their look and feel. The eyes see the colors, the mind interprets them and the brain indicates the action. It is no longer about a single color, people are experimenting with different shades and hues to give brands- products and services, a whole new perspective. Colors are an integral part of our lives, and they strongly help to make or break market decisions.

Do you need help? We are here for you

Just write to us at info@medialabs.in. To know more about us, visit our website www.medialabs.in.

Hey, thanks for the info. Now what?

If you need any help with content creation, we have tons of free resources to get you over the hump. Please subscribe to this blog to ensure that you never miss an article.

Have questions or comments? Please use the comment form down below. We read and reply to every comment.

If you really enjoyed this post, please help us to spread the word by clicking one of the social media sharing buttons.

Thanks so much!

1 2 3 5 »