Design Post Update

This image shows a finished decal texture.

Steps for Decal

1. You can look for an image that you want to be your decal or you can create decal by yourself by open new Photoshop file in power of 2 for example 512x512 with transparent background and you can unlock the layer.

This image shows the Photoshop settings for the canvas.

This image shows a finished decal texture.

This image shows Channel panel in Photoshop.

This image shows Where you can create new channel.

This image shows Alpha channel added.

These images are from their website showing 'before' and 'afters'.  Above you can see 2 typical outlets flanking a fireplace mantel. These would never be used, right?
Here is the 'after' - the outlets are hidden!  Basically the outlet sits in a little box with a paintable plastic cover that can even have your wallpaper applied to it.
Another spot outlets are required and rarely if ever used are in powder rooms. Above you can see the unsightly GFI outlet.
 And here it is with Covered Components - the cover is painted to blend in with the wall.
Here are some pictures I took of a sample board shown in the presentation -on the left is a typical outlet and on the right, the covered Component - practically invisible.  For $13 each this is a real find and I expect to be seeing a lot of these! Now in all fairness, I can't imagine using this in high-use spots.  The large transformers that are on many low-voltage lights and chargers for our laptops won't easily fit within these recessed boxes (although you could use an adapter). I also can't imagine them in a kitchen honestly because you would constantly be opening and closing the cover.   I think these are great for hallways, powder rooms, low-use spots, etc and you can't beat the price!
So what do you think of covered components? They are available for sale on their website HERE.
As stated, I received no compensation for this post, I just wanted to share a cool new product!

An infographic about infographics - click to enlarge

Don't know what an infographic is? Well we have even provided you an infographic on that too! See the example above. A well-designed infographic like the ones below can help you simplify a complicated subject, in case the subject is Design and we have carefully selected 5 must see infographics for any young designer or design student. We hope you find them useful.

Level design image from Scott Petty

The games design tips below are intended to help you improve your overall games design process but are not a replacement for it. So before we get to our top 5 games design tips our first piece of advice is to always, always use the games design process when creating games.

1. Be Original

Game Concepts Should Always Be Original

One of the best thing about games is that there are no limits to what they can be about, where they can be set, the characters involved or the games' missions or objectives. The only limit is your own creativity, so why on earth would you consider starting your project by copying or mimising an existing game?

Sure you can learn from successful games and sure you can create a game in the genre of existing games but you should always have a unique game concept. New characters, stories, settings and missions are what will attract people to play your game in the first place and with literally no limits on what you can choose there is nothing stopping you from doing that.

The random game idea generator activity is a great way to help you get started. It helped us come up with this gem of a game concept for Colossus Cleaner...

"Arnold Schwarzenegger astride a unicorn carrying a mop in the Colosseum of ancient Rome"

It's weird, it's crazy, it's bordering on stupid but ..... it is original.

2. Prepare All Assets First

A selection of game button assets ready to be used in a game

It is always very tempting to jump straight into the actual level design of the game once you have settled on your idea. However this is one of the worst things you can do as it will lead to you wasting more time than you can imagine as you will have to stop and jump back and in and out of the level design process every time you need an asset whether that be a sound, a texture, a mesh, a font etc.

This will also lead to inconsistency in the overall look and feel of the level as if the assets are not all created together they tend to end up being of a different type, scale or style from each other. This will make the game look unprofessional and even difficult to play/understand as players won't recognise one pick up from the next or understand one symbol from another.

The message is simple, plan ahead and take the time to create or gather all sounds, fonts and images (for UI screens), textures and meshes before you even open the level editor or games engine you are using.

Here are a few good places to get your game assets for free....

• www.blendswap.com (meshes)
• www.turbosquid.com (meshes)
• www.3darchive.net (meshes)
• www.textures.com (textures)
• www.dafont.com (fonts)
• www.soundbible.com (sounds)
• www.soundjay.com (sounds)
• www.opengameart.org (all asset types)

3. Detail in Clusters

This room looks full of details and objects at first glance but look closer....

Tip: In outdoor scenes use tall building, trees or other landmarks as focal points for the player to move towards and look at during otherwise empty grasslands or open areas.

4. Create Reusable Elements

The seats in this dilapidated and derelict building are made up of the same parts but have been use differently

We have already told you to prepare your assets and create clustered areas of detail in you game and this tip is partly related to those from a mesh point of view. The image above is a good example of what I mean as it shows the same seat in different positions and in different states of disrepair.

This might seem simple and obvious but if you were planning ahead you would have made the parts of the seat as separate meshes to allow you to do this easily put it together in different ways. On the other hand if your weren't thinking ahead and if you just made the entire seat as a single mesh you would then need to go back and make another mesh for the broken seat and another for the one missing one cushion and another for the one with a missing leg and another, and another....

It's not just meshes that can be reused either. Clever programming can save you a lot of time too. How you do this will vary depending on which game engine you use so lets just use a generic example to explain the point. Let's say you are creating a game where you collects coins, a la Mario. Rather than creating 100 separate coins but each with the same programming code you would instead create a coin 'actor' with built in programming code that can then be added and duplicated within the level editor.

This is an obvious example of course but when you break down your game objectives and requirements you will find that the same actions or events are required for multiple different objects or characters. So why would you create more work for yourself? Plan out your game logic to identify these repeat events and then create a single reusable 'actor' for that event.

5. Don't Neglect The Audio

Screenshot from the sound cue editor in Unreal Engine 4

Firstly we must understand that audio is not just the background music in the game. Audio covers a wide range of areas such as...

Humour:

Funny Image

This is where a funny image, slogan or video is used to make us laugh or smile. It is proven that people tend to remember and retell funny stories, jokes and forward funny e-mails. In this way the product or service is also being remembered. Fun is also a positive image for a company, especially one that is trying to reach a younger audience. What examples can you think of?

Sexy:

Surreal:

Surreal Image

This refers to something that appears real but that logic tells you cannot or should not be real. For example should you awake to see a giraffe in your room, your eyes tell you it is real but your mind tells you it is not logical! These type of ads have become more common in recent years with the rise in software technologies such as Photoshop and Final Cut. These has also given life to a new type of internet ad referred to as virals.

Original:

Bright Colours:

Shocking:

This technique is fairly self-explanatory in that it uses shocking imagery or language to shock the viewer into paying attention.

Iconic:

This is where an iconic (instantly recognisable) image, person, symbol or even voice is used to grab attention. Celebrities endorsing products falls into this category but using symbols such as the Nike 'swoosh' or the McDonalds 'golden arches' is also a form of iconic attention grabbing.

1. Avoid Image Overload...

We are now bombarded with more images and information than ever and our brain simply can't process it all

We are now exposed to more information than ever before through TV, radio, emails, text messages, snap-chats, skype calls, viber etc. There are screens everywhere we look and it is simply impossible for us to process and remember everything we see. But we do remember some things of course.

As a designer, the question is how can you make your designs memorable? The answer is simple...no really it is simple! Complex visuals with multiple images or areas of focus distract the eye from each other and actually prevent people from taking in any message at all. On the flip side, simple images/visuals with a single focal point and a consistent design style can be processed more easily and are therefore more likely to transit their message to the viewer. All the design tips which follow also have simplicity at their core.

So before you start a design project, identify the key requirements and focus on translating the single most important message. For example in a movie poster make sure the viewer walks away remembering the movie's name, if they remember that they can look it up online to find on when it's out, where it's on etc.

2. Grab Attention...

Did I Catch You Looking...?

Made you Look! Good, I was trying to. The first tip was to keep your designs simple and have a single focus so that they will be more easily remembered but that will of course only work if you can get people to look at it ion the first place.

There are actually 7 different image types that are proven to grab attention, make sure your designs main image contains one of them. The first one is obvious (I've used it above) and that's sexy. The others include Funny, Surreal, Iconic, Shocking, Bright (vividly so) and, the hardest to achieve, Original. Read more about Attention Grabbing Techniques.

3. Get Vector Friendly...

This image is made up of layers of flat colour tones and vector shapes

Vector images are another great way to keep an image simple, as you can use them to reduce an image down to it's most basic form and yet (if done correctly) it will still be instantly recognisable by the viewer. In fact, a vector image will be more recognisable and memorable than a photo as they are less common and therefore stand out as being original.

Once mastered, the vector tools in Photoshop or Illustrator are also a really quick way to block out a designs structure and form which can help you visualise the final design more easily. In graphic design projects where an image might be reused in a variety of situations like a advertisement which can appear on anything from the side of a bus to pop up on a mobile website then vector images also have an extra advantage as they can scale up and down without losing quality or pixelating.

4. Forget Colour*

Black and white images are more powerful due to the contrast

A lot of designers make the mistake of starting a project by adding colour to their design in the form of a gradient background or by inserting their main feature, often a colour photograph. Although it would seem to make sense to get the main features of a design in place early it can actually slow you down in the long run.

*Working in just black and white at the start of a project allows you to focus on the composition and layout of the design without the distraction of trying to choose and match colours as you go. Think about any design template you see, they are all in black and white and focused on structure. Here and here for example.

If the composition in a design is poor the viewer will not be drawn in to look at it no matter how nice the colour scheme is. A good composition also allows you to structure the design to ensure the key message is in focus compared to the other elements which may surround it.

5. Have Principles...

This image uses 2 of the 5 design principles

The Graphic Design Process

The Graphic Design Process is a series of steps that a designer takes when working on a graphic design project; put simply it is a more graphic design focused version of the general design process. The details of each stage will differ depending on the type of design but the approach should always be the same. It is vital to stick to the process during a design as skipping a stage, completing stages out of order of not using the process at all will result in a lower quality outcome, an outcome the client is not happy with or even worse no outcome at all.

The diagram above outlines the basic stages of the graphic design process and below each stage is explained in more detail.

1. Analyse The Brief

Each design project will begin when a client delivers the designer with a brief. The brief will outline what the client wants although as the client will likely have no design experience it is important for the designer to carefully analyse all details given by the client and if necessary to make further enquiries about the needs of the client.

2. Identify Key Requirements

Based on the analysis of the brief you must identify the most important parts/key requirements. Ask yourself, what requirements must I fulfil? For example when designing a poster for an event, the simple act of including the time, date and venue are much more important than any other aspect as a poster without the necessary details is useless. It is therefore important to identify and prioritise the key requirements of the brief. The graphic design style most appropriate to the brief should also be identified at this point.

3. Research Existing Designs

Research is important to identify possible design styles and ideas which may also suit the needs of your client. These samples can be used when meeting with the client to identify the style of image/design which they prefer. For students research will also help to familiarise yourself with industry standard designs and the quality of design which is required.

4. Generate Ideas

Coming up with an idea for the design, a slogan for a campaign, an image for a poster, a name for a website etc. can be difficult. However, by focusing on fulfilling the key requirements of the brief and allowing your research to inspire you it is possible to generate original designs for your project. Brainstorming is often used where a lack of ideas is a problem. Free writing is a type of brainstorming which simply involves relaxing your mind and writing down any and all ideas you have as quickly as possible without really thinking. Having your research around you can help when doing this. It may seem very simple but generally people have numerous ideas but they tend to dismiss them before writing them down, considering them down and allowing them to be developed into viable design solutions. For help and assistance visit our article on idea generation.

5. Develop Ideas

It is good practice not to settle on simply one idea but rather to choose 2 or 3 of your best ideas and develop them through simple sketches, drawings, colour scheme test pages and font style sheets. These steps all help to develop your ideas and highlight which one has the most potential for success. Sketching will also help to identify possible layouts/compositions that can be used.

6. Produce The Design

Once an idea has been selected and sufficiently developed it is time to begin producing/creating the design. It is important to note that this is commonly the stage that overeager student designers begin at and without stating the obvious this should never be done. Depending on the type of design different softwares or materials will be used to create the design but regardless of the means of production it is important that the previous stages are not forgotten and that the key requirements are fulfilled. For help and assistance with the graphic design production stage you may find our Photoshop tutorials useful.

7. Test The Design

This is a quick and simple stage of the process but one that is often overlooked. For printed designs testing simply involves printing the design to ensure the resolution and colours are of good quality, that no clipping of important details occur and that text is readable and without errors. For website design this stage will involve checking that all features are functional, that links are working and that page loading speeds are acceptable.

8. Place The Design Insitu

For printed designs this will involve placing the poster/logo/sign/banner etc. in its intended position and ensuring that text is readable from an acceptable distant, images are clear and that the colours do not clash with or blend into their surroundings. For websites this will involve publishing the website online and rechecking all features and functions. For other types of designs, such as architecture or interior design, a programme such as Photoshop can be used to digitally place the design into its intended environment.

9. Evaluate The Design:

Before presenting your final design to the client it is vital that you evaluate it without bias. The easiest way to do this is simply return to stage 2 where you identified the key requirements of the brief and see if you have successfully fulfilled them. It may also be useful to get the opinion of others at this stage if you fear you will be unable to objectively evaluate your own design.

10. Redesign:

This step is only necessary if, after evaluation, you feel you have not successfully met the key requirements of the design brief. This stage involves returning to the beginning of the process and returning through each step correcting the errors which led to the key requirements not been fulfilled.


If you enjoyed this article then perhaps our articles on the web, interior, games or furniture design processes may also be of interest.

Interior Design Styles

At the start of any interior design project, you wonder what style should I choose? what style do I like? what style will look good in that space? what style will I feel comfortable with? Whether you're decorating a single room or a whole house, a bungalow or a mansion the style will change dependent on the existing space and what is appropriate for it.

The above image of interior design styles is not a definitive list but rather a selection of some of the most common or popular interior design styles, more styles exist and more are being created all the time. If you want to learn more about any of the interior design styles shown above, read the full interior design styles article HERE.

Avant Garde

This ad on the official apple website used the avant garde technique to promote the iPad

Avant Garde is a French phrase used to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art and culture. In graphic design advertising it is the suggestion that using this product puts the user ahead of the times. Phrases like "revolutionary" or "cutting edge" are often used too but overall a general sense of the product/service being futuristic is the key aspect. Apple are the masters of this technique with all their recent product launches using this technique.

Weasel Words

"Bang and the dirt is gone" - an example of weasel words in an advert

“Weasel words" are used to suggest a positive meaning without actually really making any guarantee. A classic example being the Cillit Bang catchphrase "Bang and the dirt is gone!". IT sounds simple, has impact and is memorable but what does it really mean?

Magic Ingredients

Actimel advertise their magic ingredient in their advertisemnts

The suggestion that some almost miraculous discovery makes the product exceptionally effective such as the "L. Casei Immunitas" in Actimel. They constantly mention this ingredient in ads despite the fact that very few people outside of micro-biologists knows what it is! It sounds impressive though and "if we haven't heard of it then it must be very special",  that's what they want us to think.

Patriotism

An example of an advert using the patriotism advertising technique

The suggestion that purchasing this product shows your love of your country or supports your country through your purchase. In these ads there is often no effort to talk about the superiority of the product/service or it's attributes, the emphasis is solely on the fact it is a local or national product/service.

Diversion

Katy Perry is used as the diversion in this advertisement for .... chips! Sorry I got distracted.

Diversion seems to discuss a product or service or tackle a problem, but then throws in an unrelated topic or distraction. What distracted you in this above ad...?

Snob Appeal

The imagery and the text in this advertisement portray an elegant, sophisticated service through the snob appeal technique

Snob appeal is the suggestion that the use of the product or service makes the customer part of an elite group with a luxurious and glamorous life style. We all aspire for a better life, that is human nature, and this type of ad appeals to that desire.

Bribery

This one is very simple and is therefore very common. The bribery advertising technique seems to give a desirable extra something when we use/buy a service/product. We humans tend to be greedy so getting something for free or for a reduced cost is very appealing, sometimes even if we didn't need or want the product in the first place!

Testimonial

Another simple one that advertisers use is to get a famous personality to endorse the product. In this way they can grab our attention using the iconic attention grabbing technique as well as adding a sense of the products appeal by associating it with the right type of person. In the above example the young, beautiful, talented and successful Taylor Swift adds a lot of positives to the Diet Coke brand.

Humour

Customers are attracted to products that give them a reason to laugh or to be entertained by clever use of visuals or language. Ads using humour also give a brand a fun factor which can make a customer "like" the brand's approach to doing things and thus favour them over competitors. The above ad uses humour but also a hint of the sexy attention grabbing technique as well.

Simple Solutions

Avoid complexities, and attack many problems to one solutions. Seems good, doesn't it! Thats what the advertisers are relying on of course. Phrases like "all in one" and "multi-purpose" are commonly used in these types of ads. We can tend to be lazy and is offered an easy, all in one solution to multiple issues then why wouldn't we take it?

Bandwagon

Bandwagon is a form of propaganda that exploits the desire of most people to join the crowd or be on the winning side, and avoid winding up the losing side. It's a popularity contest with these type of ads which often compare their customer base to competitors or suggest that "everyone" is with them so why aren't you. "Join us", "be part of it" or "get on board" are commonly used phrases in these type of ads.

Sexy...?