1. Who are graphic designers?
Designers are ARTISTS who are into applied art.
2. What is graphic design?
Graphic design is applied art.
Design is a three-dimensional or two-dimensional appearance of the whole product, or its part, which is determined by its visual characteristics, especially lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and materials the product is made of, or decorated with as well as by their combination (according to Law). As a discipline graphic design deals with the production of printed solutions. These solutions include: newspapers, magazines, billboards, business cards etc. In its recent meaning graphic design includes graphic productions adjusted to electronic media, the Internet or television and other media.
Graphic design is an art and profession of choosing and arranging visual elements such as typography, photography, illustration, symbols and colours with the aim of communicating a message to the target audience. Sometimes, instead of graphic design a neologism “visual communications” is used, which is to emphasize its function of supplying information with form and shape. The aim of a graphic designer is combine visual and verbal elements into an organised and efficient whole. It can be said that graphic design is a collaborative discipline. Writers create words and slogans, photographers and illustrators create visual elements, typographers - different typographies, while a graphic designer creates a composition (whole) of visual communication.
Design starts with a process of making a set of decisions which aim at construction, formulation or creation of something applicable. Design usually follows a beforehand set plan, idea or conception. The idea of design is the realisation of a plan or idea which can be caused by the need to solve a particular problem. Therefore, design process is often defined as a problem solving process. The person working on a design is called a designer. Graphic design is a creative discipline which uses a language of fine arts values to communicate information, ideas and messages to the user.
3. Why do you need a design?
Design increases quality and price of your product or service and gives it advantage on the market in the proportion you invest in it: knowledge, creativity, energy and means. Design satisfies and respects the needs of your product or service users offering them the more and the better than the competition. All in all, design is all around us...everything is designed by someone...
4. What is GUI design?
Abbreviation GUI stem from English words "Graphical User Interface" and marks the user environment. GUI consists of buttons, icons, windows, menus... The user, indirectly, by using GUI sets a command to the computer and through GUI he/she receives a certain response (result) from the computer.
The term GUI design is usually associated with a narrow and untrue picture which reduces it to icon "drawing" and window "colouring". This job includes a lot more than just pure knowledge of graphic programmes and "aesthetic sense".
First of all, the designer has to understand the mental model of the end user, his/her previous experience, habits and expectations. The aim is to create a design which will be pleasant to use not to designer nor to the ordering party, but exclusively to the end user, and that puts him/her into the position which requires non-conformism, objectivity and analytics. When designing, one also has to have in mind the user’s motor skills and psychophysical limitations. E. g. older users are not accustomed to simultaneously performing multiple tasks, they are less skilled with the mouse, their eye sight is poorer.
The designer is expected to know the appearance of all standard components of UI as well as to know their procedures and opportunities, to know how to programme and the ways of implementing graphics into programmes, to know the used APIs and their capabilities, to know I/O devices, their way of working, advantages and flaws.
Only as a finishing touch there comes the thing called window "colouring". The final programme design itself is a considerably more complex task than people tend to see it. Like in other professional and mature design works, UI design is not done uncontrolled. Designer uses his/her knowledge on perceptive processes, artistic elements and principles of composing, he/she plans and constructs the UI in order to make the understanding and using of the programme as easy as possible, using visual communication with the end user.
Why invest into GUI design?
Good GUI design has, as a consequence, dramatic results in time spent on doing the work and reducing the number of errors. Surveys of different researchers indicate that, as a result of programme design in improvement, the average saving of time and error reduction is around 25%, although in the extreme cases it goes even up to 130%.
In 2006, Nielsen wrote in his report to IBM that optimization of programmes used by them lead to a saving of 72 minutes a month per employee. In this way the company saved $194 million on annual basis.
Good design leads to saving when staff training is concerned as well. There is a lower need for instructors, it is necessary to organize significantly training sessions, and the employees get used to the new programme dramatically faster.
In 2001 IBM set a postulate of cost-efficiency of investing into programme development. For every $10 of good-quality investment into programmes enhancement, $100 turn up as a profit.
What is applied painting and graphics?
This area includes: illustration, cartoon, caricature, applied painting, applied graphics, conservation and restoration.
What is illustration?
Illustration is a fine arts discipline which aims at realizing a piece of art using a picture: a) for the picture to be the exclusive copyright holder; b) for the picture to be dominant, accompanied by appropriate text and c) for the picture to be subordinate and accompanying element of the copyright text. Illustration can be realized using all the existing creation techniques. For example: picture, drawing, graphic, tempera, water colour, photographic, digital picture or graphic... In the framework of searching for the most convenient text interpretation and artistic qualities, the illustrator expands the meaning of the idea creating a new piece of art.
This area includes the works realized in all the existing classic and modern techniques and those being: vignette, free technique illustrations, particular technique illustrations, scientific text illustration, textbook illustration, cards which contain figures and artistic elements, literary text and folk literature illustrations, illustrations of book covers and jackets, decorative letters and initial accompanying the illustration, picture books...
Illustration is a broad term and can be used in order to:
• Give the face to the main characters in a story;
• Present more examples of a subject in the school text books;
• Give a visual "step by step" explanation for some repairs.
5. What needs to be prepared before the design process starts?
Texts, photographs, illustrations, i. e. material which design should include and all that in digital format if you have (otherwise, text input, scanning and photography and illustration processing are charged additionally)...Naturally, if you do not have the photographs, illustrations, texts, we can make all these for you, but these services are charged additionally according to the price list.
Be prepared to talk about your company, too, because the more information you provide the designer with the better and more efficient solution you will get...
Naturally, be ready for the advance payment from 50-100% depending on the size of the project.
6. What needs to be considered before meeting a designer?
If you have a wish to design your advertising material or packaging yourself and you only need a "contractor" who knows how to use programmes and type on the keyboard... we kindly ask you not to turn to us...
Considering the fact that with the increase of graphic programmes availability the number of “semi-skilled” designers also rises, and that anyone who can use Photoshop calls himself a “designer” and offers his “services” almost for free, maybe at first you will find it difficult to decide to pay a bit more money for a professional design... However, let's ask ourselves why people still pay a lot more money to buy a Mercedes in comparison to Yugo for example...
Bad advertising is a counter-advertising!
Graphic design is a professional service, design is done for the end user of your product or service and it will adapted to the target group it aims at, and although you are paying for it, it does not necessarily have to be to your liking.
If you fall into the category which understands the necessity of design work being done by professionals, the fact that you respect our profession by itself will be a good basis for a successful co-operation and an additional motive to us to provide maximal quality in return for that shown respect.
Think about what you would like to achieve by having a new design or improving the old one, what is your target group and how you would like to influence it. But above all bear in mind to utilize your new design meaningfully, i.e. to make your (financial) investment into it bring you sales increase (of about 10-15%) and improvement of your business image. Therefore, the design has to bi maximally exploited (ideas do not fall from the sky every day and they are not cheap), design costs have to be included in your product or service price and design profit followed through the sales. Do not expect miracles, design is not a magic wand that will immediately sell 100% of you product or service at all that at 5 times higher price than you competitors’ :-). Competition is also fighting for its spot under the sun.
7. Required documentation?
For foreign clients, documentation on company registration and tax identification number.
8. Procedures in the studio
A) Take a look at our web site portfolio (and you can also pay us a visit to see in person what we did earlier), read the Admiror Design Studio general terms of co-operation (our services are available only after your agreement with Admiror Design Studio’s General Terms of Co-operation) and frequently asked questions... when you decide that we are what you need, call us or send a design request e-mail...
B) Initial meeting-getting to know each other, you will sign Admiror Design Studio General Terms of Co-operation (you can fax us a signed copy if you are far away), we will fill in a questionnaire with all the relevant data connected to your request and discuss what kind of design you would like...this can be done: in person, using e-mail, telephone or chat through our web site. Then you bring us or send by e-mail/post the material which will be used for the design.
C) After we discuss all the details of the project, we send you our offer and agree on the price and payment model. If a big project is in question we will sign a Contract which will protect interests of both parties and define the details connected to design project.
D) If the price suits you, you will receive an invoice through e-mail, according to which you will make the set advance payment.
E) After the invoice payment, draft of the notional solution is created and sent to you for consideration.
F) In case that our notional solution, according to your opinion, is far from the one you need (this happens rarely, but is possible) the paid advance payment is returned attenuated for the amount which is defined by Admiror Design Studio General Terms of Co-operation for the proposal costs, and with the aim of prevention of free collection of notional solutions.
G) In case that notional solution meets your requirements, we move on to elaboration, changes, additions...generally, co-operation of both sides with the aim of achieving maximal results.
H) Final correction, attestations and realization approval.
I) Before the delivery the rest of the agreed amount is paid and not later than 60 days from the project start.
J) Delivery of the design in the agreed form.
9. How much does the design cost?
For the smaller-scale projects the price is calculated according to the number of work hours (you can check out the informativne prices on our blog), and for the larger projects, we will adjust the service to the budget you dispose of for that project and the payments will come successively after the completed phases of the project.
We do not send any mokup before you pay in advance of a minimum 50%.
Creation and sending of offer or invoice is, naturally, free.
Printing is not included in the design price, if you decide to do the printing through us, you will receive a separate invoice from the printing house where your project is printed, with our assistance in the sense that we recommend you a printer according to the price and quality and to collect the offers on your behalf and monitor the printing.
10. Design order and payment from abroad?
Design order and payment functions almost the same as with the domestic payment operations. Communication with the client connected to design project is established using e-mail or telephone and materials are sent through our FTP, payment is done according to the invoice from client’s account abroad to the foreign currency account of Admiror Design Studio with Banka Intesa a.d. Belgrade.
Instructions for payment for foreign clients can be found on the page documentation. All relevant documentation on Admiror Design Studio can be found on the page documentation. Payment currencies are EURO(€) and DOLLAR ($). Admiror Design Studio is a registered independent craftsman company with its headquarters in Novi Sad city, Serbia, Daliborka Kekeljević entrepreneur.
At the moment it is not possible to pay by credit cards.
Transaction costs with foreign banks are paid by the client. Those costs are not large, though.
11. Admiror Design Studio is not liable to VAT.
12. For all other questions, doubts or consultations feel free to contact us through e-mail or telephone and do not hesitate to ask us everything you want to know connected to Admiror Design Studio and services we offer, we will be glad to answer all your questions!
