JPEG, PNG, and EPS - What to Use & Why

When you are designing a logo for someone, or are having a logo designed by someone, you should always ask that you get it in the following formats: JPEG, PNG, EPS/AI. Each one serves a different purpose, and it's handy to have them all at your fingertips. 

Recently I had a client contact me because they were confused which format to use, so I put together this brief post to clear things up. 

Here's a breakdown of 3 different file types 

and what they're used for: 

What is a BLEED - Printing Terminology for Non-Printers

"Your file needs a BLEED." 

Not a day goes by where I don't have to explain this concept. I mean it. Every. Single. Day.

To be fair, it's not a term that's really used out in there the "real world." It's an art and creation specific concept, so the average person doesn't need to know. But, with more and more people attempting to be their own graphic and print designer (in an attempt to cut costs even though it usually ends up being a complete nightmare) it's something I thought I would tackle here on the blog. 

This way you guys can learn a little something, and I'll have a place to copy and paste responses instead of ripping my hair out. 

So, what is a BLEED?

Media Kit MADNESS

Lookin' all kinds of professional! Not like a food crazed sleepless zombie at all!

Look at me being all professional looking and junk!

So my numbers aren't super impressive, yet, but they're not bad considering I started the official blog in January of 2014. For roughly 2 years of hustling, this isn't too shabby.

Check out the backside after the cut!

Story Time: Don't Feel Obligated to Accept EVERY JOB

This one is a bit of a downer and mostly me venting about a nightmare job of mine I should have walked away from a long time ago. Let this be a precautionary tale to those of you starting freelance.

A group of dentists are making a directory for their 500+ member organization. The job comes to my print-shop-day-job, but we can't do the file creation part of it (they have ancient computers and no InDesign) so my boss sends them my way and suggests I freelance it to keep the job close as well as "help me out" with extra income. I'm saving for my own house so I do need the money so I talk to the clients. 

The client said they will provide an excel sheet with data about the members. I need to use that 500+ directory of data to make a book divided into three sections. 

1. Directory organized alphabetically by members' LAST NAMES
2. Directory of members organized by the COUNTY their practice is in
3. Directory of members organized by their SPECIALIZATION in the field 

I give them my hourly rate and let them know what I need to complete the job. They assure me they've done this before and that it'll be sent over very soon. 

I have better computers than my day job, and I’ve done data merging like this in InDesign before, it’s 500+ members, but it should be a simple data merge and a little tweaking here and there to get the layout to flow correctly. Should be easy enough, right?

5 AWESOME Resources for Digital/Graphic Designers that I use EVERYDAY!

What The Font!

An AWESOME resource for designers. Several times a week I have clients give me a physical copy of a flyer or business card that was designed years ago and they want me to recreate it in the digital age. Trouble is they want an EXACT copy, fonts and all, and they have no idea what the original typeface was. What do you do?

You take a photo of it and upload it to What The Font! and they help you narrow things down. They aren't always 100% spot on, but it always helps me figure things out and it removes you looking through the hundreds and thousands of fonts on your computer to find the perfect typeface-prince charming. Seriously, this site is a lifesaver and not enough people know about it. Add it to your design arsenal and stop ripping your hair out. 

Pixabay

FREE. STOCK. IMAGES. Need I say more? 

Client on a budget? This is the site for you! Admittedly this is the B or C-team when it comes to stock images, but you can't beat FREE! They have a decent selection that's always growing, and they even offer some .EPS files and other vectored imagery.

Identifont

Similar to What The Font!, but this one doesn't require a scan of the font itself. This is a series of questions designed to help you narrow down possible typefaces.

It starts out basic, "Is it Serif? Italicized?" etc, but progresses into different characteristics of certain letters, like the center lines of the letter "M" or the subtle differences in a lowercase "i." If What The Font! fails you, Identifont is a great back up.

DaFont.com

Speaking of fonts... this site is the BEST for free fonts. I've been using this site since I was a teenager! They have...I don't even know how many fonts, and they're all broken up into great categories. Like handwritten, serif, script, old school, etc. This is a great resource when you're first starting out and can't afford to buy expensive font families. (Lucidity is one of my favorites! I've been using it for YEARS!) Some of the fonts are licensed for personal use only, so be sure to check the licensing for each one before you use it for any commercial work, but when I was making designs for my college courses this resource was the BEST! It gave my designs variety without having to eat cup-ramen the rest of the week to afford it.

Gumroad

Gumroad isn't free like the others, but it's just as valuable. It's kind of like etsy. Artists have their own little shops where they sell their goods, but instead of physical items, it's downloadable artist materials made by artists for other artists. Music, texture packs, brushes, stock images, etc.

I've bought several brush packs for Photoshop and Illustrator through shops on GumRoad and I used them all the time! The pricing is reasonable, and you can put them on as many devices as you like! I have the same brush packs on my laptop, my desktop PC, and my Mac mini at work, so I get a lot of use out of them. If you're making your own brushes, textures, and resources, you might want to check this out and even open a shop of your own to make a little money on the side.  

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WIP Wednesday - Great Gatsby Prom Invite

Today's big design job, Great Gatsby themed prom invitations. #dayjob #graphicdesign #greatgatsby #highschool #design #prom #jaygatsby #poisonandantidote

A photo posted by M. Smith (@poison_and_antidote) on Apr 20, 2016 at 12:22pm PDT

My day job has been eating up a lot of my time and creativity these days, so I figured I'd try to post more about it here on the blog. I mean, I AM a graphic designer, so the stuff I make during the day is artsy, even if it is more functional and client-driven.

The most labor intensive design I worked on today was this high school prom invitation. This year the theme is "The Great Gatsby" (The movie more-so than the book), so I recreated the title screen from the film for the front of the invite. 

Check out a behind the scenes WIP photo under the CUT and I'll talk a bit more about the process of making the design. 

Designer Tip Tuesday: Borders & Commercial Printing- Don't Do It!

I've been working in commercial design and print for a few years, so I thought it'd be fun to do something like a #tiptuesday where I can share a bit of graphic design advice and kind of vent about the frustrations of my day job.

A lot of colleges and art programs will reward you for pushing print capabilities to their limits, which is awesome, but when you send that file off to print, it might not come back looking like you had expected.

For my first ever topic, something simple, borders!

Day 176: Business Cards make me legit, right?

Summer Fancy Food Show, Here I Come!

I'm heading to NY this weekend to attend my first ever food industry event! (I’m so nervous!)

Wifi-permitting, I’ll be posting updates while I’m there, but I don’t know how great my connection will be. Keep an eye on my Instagram account for any photo updates.

Since I am still playing around with my business card design, I just printed and cut these temp cards at work to get me through the weekend. They are standard size (3.5"x 2") on 12PT single side coated stock. Not too shabby.

The final cards will have a spot UV, which means stamp-like gloss coating, on the front with all the scattered images, but I'll be sticking with a matte back just in case I want to write any notes or anything while I'm networking.

See you all on Tuesday!

Day 160: Design Break

Today is another design instead of doodle day. I’m printing business cards for Sometimes Foodie, so I made a few mock-ups. So far I’m really digging these ones. They still need a bit of tweaking here and there, but I think I’ll do two sets of 500 cards with some spot UV on the front.

I’m going to print out proof versions at work tomorrow to see what I’d like to change before moving forward. I also plan on making some postcards or something featuring more of the Asian food items I’ve reviewed to pass out at Otakon 2015. Gotta get the foodie word out about my blogs!
 

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Work-Work (Stuff I do at my 9-5 job)

Being a graphic designer at a print shop means that the majority of my day is spent remaking or reworking preexisting business cards.

This is one for a fancy bridal shop. I feel like my design is an improvement, but we'll see how the client feels about it tomorrow.

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