Design Behind the HeForShe Campaign

At this point, I’m sure everyone and their dog has watched Emma Watson’s speech at the United Nations announcing the HeForShe Campaign. If you’re one of those few people who have not heard or seen anything, here is a quick run down. HeForShe is a campaign that wants to end gender inequality with the help of both men and women. This campaign was created by UN Women and is the first of it’s kind.

DIA Studios in New York created the logo and identity for this campaign. The logo was created by the merging of the male and female sex symbols equally.

See more work from this campaign HERE

DIA did a fantastic job balancing between feminine and masculine not only with the typography but the color choices as well. They also did a great job creating social media content, such as the look for the website and app, as well as the printed/physical media that includes pins, scarves, posters, etc.

See more work from this campaign HERE

Overall, I personally really like what DIA Studio created and I hope the HeForShe Campaign succeeds.

How To Create A GIF

A GIF or Graphics Interchange Format is defined as a set of standards and file format for storage of
digital color images and short animations. These files are used on the Internet in some articles and the social media site, Tumblr.

Creating GIFs can be tricky but here are step by step instructions to create your own in Photoshop.


Step 1: Find a video/animation and download it in the highest quality possible.

• Tip: Videos that are 720p or higher should work perfectly.

Step 2: Open Photoshop. File > Import > Video Frames to Layers

Step 3: Open your video and select the section you wish to make into a GIF and click 'OK'.

Move black arrows to select the area you want to GIF

Step 4: Resize the GIF to a smaller size (This one will be roughly 3x5 in) 

Image > Image Size 

Step 5: Trim any extra frames you don't want in the GIF

Select the frames in the Timeline and click the trash icon

Step 6: (Optional) Add Text with the Text tool in the tool bar (Left)

Make sure the text layer is on top (see above right)

Step 7: Choose the moving speed of the frames.

Select all frames > click on arrow on a frame > click other

Step 8: Enter desired frame delay

Depending on the length of frames, 0.04-0.07 could work

Step 9: How to save the GIF (File > Save for web)

File > Save for web

Step 10: Preview the GIF and if satisfied, "Save"

A web page should appear and show exactly how your GIF would look online

Finished Product:

Keep It Simple, Stupid: 4 Tips For New Graphic Designers

For new graphic designers, learning the basics and developing ideas can be frustrating and overwhelming. Here are a few tips I wish I had gotten when I first started out.  

Confidence

A designer having confidence in themselves is extremely important. If a designer thinks their designs are bad and will always be bad, chances are they will be. A beginner should not to compare their work to another designer who has a decade more experience. Take it one day at a time and eventually a beginner will gain the confidence and skills to be a successful designer.

Draw Designs First

Drawing designs first is a good indicator of how well the design will transfer from the mind to paper. No matter the drawing skill level, it is important to get the main idea down.

Drawing also helps a designer keep their designs original and (hopefully) decreases the risk of copying someone else’s design.

Web vs Print
It is very important to keep in mind the end product of a project. Will it be printed or go on a website? It is important to set up the document correctly or the finished product’s colors will be different than expected.

When printed, a design must be in CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) because the printer ink is based on those colors. A CMYK design is typically measured in dpi (dots per inch) because it translates the resolution to the printing device. A designer also must be aware of printer’s marks and bleeds to get a successful printed product.

Designing for the web involves a different color model, RGB (Red, Green, and Blue), which has more color variations. These designs use ppi (pixels per inch) instead of dpi because it refers to the computer display rather than the printing device. Most of the time, designing for the web involves creating several different orientations for different technology screens.

In summary

Print

• CMYK
• Measured in inches
• 300 dpi
• Printer’s marks and bleeds

Web

• RGB
• 72 ppi
• Measured in pixels
• Different web orientations

White Space

Designing does not always mean every part of the design has to be a different color. White space can be used cleverly by graphic designers to balance a layout or make an aspect of a design stand out. Many beginners have trouble seeing white space as a good thing and keeping designs simple. Some advice to those who have this problem, K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid)