kmdesignxx's Xanga

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 17:00:49 GMT

KM Design have been officially changed to

Y'magine Design

this will be our new name for now.

We been through plenty of changes considering our future business and what not. We're really love this name. I (MyLe) was just messing around with words that describe an artist. And we list a bunch and we changes it around here and there. Originally I was going to go for Imagine Design, but I decide it was not catchy. In this artist world we need to stand out. But there so many names already taken. I'm not sure if this is taken for design wise. Hopefully it is not. I really love the way it look and sound. Any feedback?

Still in the process of our business plan. The ideas are flowing smoothly, there's a bunch of fresh ideas on the table as of right now. We'll see what will happen.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:21:06 GMT

Kenny's practice piece

Original Photo

Monday, March 19, 2007

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:20:23 GMT

Resources: provide the link for your needs.

I will add more links if I find more. This list will be updated.

Inspiration

Phrizbie-Design
classic creations design
sage media
level ten design
royama design
carnright design
ndesign-studio
deviant art

Web Design

web design plaza
webpage design for desingers
design from scratch
web monkey
killer sites
hoover web design
ades design
digital thread
page tutor
website tips
how-to-build-websites
webdesign tutorials
entheos web
all webdesign resources
voidix
html code tutorial
dynamic drive
html.net
html primer
best web gallery

Photoshop

good-tutorials.com
planet photoshop
photoshop cafe
photoshop contests
photoshop support
photoshop crash course
Janee's photoshop tutorials
photoshop contest.com
Phong's Technique
photoshop world
photoshop lab.net
psworkshop.net
pure photoshop
photoshop star
watch and learn photoshop
photoshop-filters.com
www.photoshop101
photoshop ninja
quick tips
total tutorial
the photoshop gurus
photoshop talent
doctor of photoshop

Illustrator

sketchpad.net
illustrator world.com
amateur illustrator
illustrator techniques
pixel 2 life
Beginner Illustrators

Flash/Macromedia

adobe flash.com
flash devils.com
history of flash and macromedia
Adobe buys Macromedia
Macromedia Tutorials Links
Macromedia Lessons
macromedia tutorials 101

DreamWeaver

DreamWeaver Tutorials
dmx tutorials
sitebuilder dreamweaver-tutorials
Marje's Tips
total training
hypergurl dreamweaver
cbt cafe
blink list

Grahpic Design Careers

the business of graphic design
Is Graphic Design right for you?
business design studio
competitive business in art and design
The American Institute of Graphic Arts
graphic push
what to look for when hiring a graphic designer
journal of business and design

Grahpic Design

all graphic design
logo design guru
How Design
the logo company
design firms organization
Graphic-Design.com
creating a new logo design
adobe tutorialz.com
vexels community

Monday, March 19, 2007

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:20:02 GMT

My Le's photo collection

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 22:14:10 GMT

Kenny's Arts

original photo

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 01:40:07 GMT

Answer from previous entry.

For designers, managers, and design firm owners who want to take the initiative and begin moving towards the new model of design teams described above, there are a few specific things you can do to get the ball rolling.

Engage your client in your process. They know their business best, and by collaboration you are enhancing the level of discourse and flow of information, rather than accepting the project as a simple design task. Ideally, this leads to an expansion of the range of services you can provide for your client. Their participation will also increase their buy in on your final concepts.

Understand the context in which the final product has to reside. Cordy Swope, design strategist and founder of normal life, puts it this way; "Understand and respect all other disciplines. Engineering, Marketing, Design, Advertising, Branding, Media, Finance...these are established disciplines with their own terminologies, theories and sets of best practices. It is a big (and arrogant) mistake to declare war on them or their practitioners. You will not win if you do. They are all components of your client's business."

Develop an understanding and appreciation for user research and ethnographic studies. If you don't have in-house talent in this area, hire or partner with specialists in this field. Research is a specialized field, and not everyone is suited for this task. Don't try to force someone on staff already into this area if they don't have the inclination.

Expand your knowledge base to include business strategy. If you read only design magazines, materials catalogs and general news websites, increase your subscriptions to include multiple business magazines, newspapers, and blogs. An understanding of the market forces shaping your client's decisions and the ability to present in language used by business will go a long way when pitching your solutions.

Form partnerships with other firms and professionals to jointly offer integrated solutions that go beyond the traditional product design deliverables. Make sure that these partnerships benefit and are a good fit for both sides. Future turnkey service offerings must go beyond sourcing and manufacturing.

In essence, the design industry must respond to their customer's needs, retool and reconfigure their offerings, and structure engagements based on value rather than cost. Firms that can design compelling solutions to meet these needs will gain clients and take advantage of emerging business opportunities, growing into the leaders for the next phase of professional design practice.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 15:15:20 GMT

Rethinking the Design Industry
by Niti Bhan

By now, you've seen the business media talking about design with every second breath—"design thinking" will lead the way to innovation, growth, and new products. Outsourcing and consolidation of design, engineering and R&D will cut costs and increase profit margins. The 21st Century will be a "Conceptual Age"—a society of creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers. Companies must connect with their customers—offer products and services that resonate on an emotional level—to be successful you must evoke the "warm fuzzies".

In these stories, and more, two broad themes emerge. One is that given the technology and communication systems available today, most components of traditional design services will be commoditized to the point where price is the only differentiator. The other is that these very same cost cutting and efficiency measures, while disruptive to the design industry in its current form, will ultimately transform the industry for the better. Tomorrow's clients will seek to apply design skills and methods much earlier and more significantly in the product development cycle, while research will focus on the customer, not the marketplace, and strategy will focus on growth and innovation, not the cheapest vendor.

"While the design industry is gaining awareness of this shift in their business, their roles relative to their clients and their future growth opportunities, the fact remains that the nature of the trend is of an order of magnitude much greater than imgained."

Bruce Nussbaum, design champion and editorial page editor at BusinessWeek observes that design studios at the forefront of this revolution are evolving their "core competencies from drawing to thinking, from styling to innovating, from shaping things to visualizing new business paradigms." He continues by suggesting that corporations look to the design industry as a "resource to help with the broad array of issues that affect strategy and organization—creating new brands, defining customer experiences, understanding user needs, changing business practices."

A report on the APDF study "State of the Design Industry-2004" states "Beyond the conventional parameters of design, creatives are stepping-up to fuller problem solving roles, offering perspective and innovative thinking—work done away from the Mac." While the design industry is gaining awareness of this shift in their business, their roles relative to their clients and their future growth opportunities, the fact remains that the nature of the trend is of an order of magnitude much greater than imagined. History shows that once industries disappear, they are gone for good, along with the expertise and way of life they entailed.

So how exactly do you evolve and retool your design business? What are designers doing once they have redefined their role? Conversations with practicing professionals revealed quite a few insights.

Answer on the Next entry.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 22:33:13 GMT

Myle's graphic design

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 20:57:17 GMT

Kenny's graphic design

Careers and Education in Graphic Design

(click the red text it's a link to more information)

Think you like a challenge? Try this one. You're given the art director's concept sketches and the copywriter's input for text for the campaign's headlines and body. Next comes the photographer's ideas about what looks right for the campaign. And don't forget...the client's opinion overrides all of these ideas. Your job is to pull together all of these elements and marry them in a way that should inspire the client's audience to react to the message in a positive manner. It can be a daunting task, however, the rewards of this type of work are great. Working with a group of creative professionals, getting the to chance to express your ideas, and especially seeing your finished work makes you realize how much fun you had with the planning, creation, and execution of the project.

Introduction - Graphic design is a demanding and competitive field and today's designers need to have a good grip on more than just art. Traditional hand skills such as drawing, painting, and doing paste-ups, plus basic artistic concepts such as composition, color balance, and typography are still critical to understand, however with advances in technology, more and more design is done from scratch on computers. Because of these changes, graphic designers need to have an excellent working knowledge of various design and photo manipulation software packages in addition to understanding some basic business principles to succeed in this field. This article provides an overview of graphic design careers and how to begin your education as a graphic designer.

Graphic Design Schools - The world of graphic design is dominated by software - and understanding how to use this technology is extremely important. When it comes to selecting a school or program, be sure to pick one where you will learn about art and design concepts and fundamentals in addition to getting strong training in graphic design software. Check out this article to help you assess what you need to look for in a good graphic design school or program.

Financial Aid - Educational and training costs associated with becoming a graphic designer can get pretty high, depending on the type of school or program you choose and the length of time needed for completion. Discussed in this article are typical ways to find funding sources for your education as a graphic designer, in addition to some that are unique to the industry of graphic design.

Careers - As varied as the colors in a palette wheel are the opportunities for graphic designers because jobs can be found in nearly every industry imaginable. The article will introduce you to a variety of the businesses that employ graphic designers and talks about some of the more common positions that are filled by graphics experts.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 22:25:45 GMT

Myle's exploration stage in photoshop