Get to win an Apple iMac, Blackberry cell phones, and iPod Touch by joining Sulit.com.ph banner making contest that will run from July 5 to August 8, 2010!

HOW TO JOIN:
First, create a banner creatively displaying and depicting the new tagline of Sulit.com.ph:

“Buy It. Sell It. Sulit.”

Take into consideration the following technical specifications:
1. File formats allowed: .jpg, .bmp, .png
2. File size: Not more than 10MB
3. Allowed dimensions (any):
- 300 x 250 pixels (Medium Rectangle)
- 728 x 90 pixels (Leaderboard)
- 468 x 60 (Full Banner)
4. Resolution: at least 72dpi

Second, post the photo you created on your blog (outside Sulit.com.ph) and link it to http://www.sulit.com.ph . As a caption, include the following content below the banner:

Sulit.com.ph is the leading buy and sell website in the Philippines. Post advertisements or find great deals at Sulit.com.ph.

Celebrate Sulit.com.ph 4th Anniversary! Join the Sulit Banner Making Contest for July and get a chance to win cool gadgets from Sulit.com.ph, Blackberryzuela.com, and GadgetGrocery. com!

NOTE: Create a catchy and creative title for the blog post. If you wish to write a short description or story behind your photo, you may do so.

Once published, submit the URL of your photo blog post through any of the following means:

Email to promos@sulit.com.ph
Post a reply to this forum announcement

Include your complete name, Sulit username, email address, and contact numbers.

NOTE: You will NOT submit the photo. You will post it on your blogs, and you will submit the URL of the blog post where it can be seen. The file of the official Sulit.com.ph logo is available in the following link:

Sulit.com.ph Logo JPG Format
Sulit.com.ph Logo PSD Format
Sulit.com.ph Logo in JPG and PSD Format (.zip)

HOW TO WIN:
Winners will be chosen according to the following means:

1. Voting (from August 1 to 8, 2010)
2. Viral Posting (from August 1 to 8, 2010)
3. Internal judging

Voting for all official entries will be done through an automated poll here in the forum. The entry with the most number of votes will be awarded as the People’s Choice and will get a corresponding brand new Blackberry Curve 8520. Voting results will be given a certain percentage in determining the over-all winner.

Note that the entry with the most number of votes does not guarantee that it will be the over-all winner as an internal judging among all entries will still be conducted.

Viral posting works by asking your friends to post the banner you designed on their blogs and/or websites, linking the banner to http://www.sulit.com.ph.

The more re-post your banner gets, the more extra points you’ll receive.

For example:  If your banner has been posted to 10 different blogs, this would give you 10 extra points. Viral posting points will be given a certain percentage in determining the over-all winner.

To qualify your viral posting points, you or your friends should reply to this forum announcement with the URL of their blog or website where your banner has been posted.

After the voting and the viral posting period, an internal judging by the Sulit.com.ph team will be conducted. Criteria for judging is as follows:

-Creativity 40%
-Originality 30%
-Over-all Presentation 20%
-Extra Points 10% (earned through viral posting)

Winners will be announced on August 9, 2010 at 5PM. They will be notified through this forum announcement and an official email stating how they will claim their prizes. Winners will be asked to submit a high resolution version of their banners.

All voters and viral posters (your friends who posted your banner on their blogs) are entitled to win a the raffle prize which is also Blackberry Curve 8520.

PRIZES:
1st Prize: Apple iMac
2nd Prize: Blackberry Bold 9000 sponsored by Blackberryzuela.com
3rd Prize: Apple iPod Touch sponsored by GadgetGrocery. com
People’s Choice: Blackberry Curve 8520
Raffle Prize for Voters and Viral Posters: Blackberry Curve 8520

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

1. Promo is open to all members of Sulit.com.ph.
2. Any blog site or personal social media accounts that provide blog pages (Multiply, Tumblr, Facebook, Friendster, Blogger, WordPress, etc.) are allowed, provided that the blog post can be viewed publicly.
3. By entering the competition, the participants declare that the banner submitted is their original work, have not been submitted to any other competition, and does not infringe on any third party’s existing copyrights. Winning entries automatically become the property of Sulit.com.ph.
4. Sulit.com.ph will have exclusive rights to the winning banner design, publish it on its website and in other media and corporate materials such as letterheads, envelopes, and t-shirts. Sulit.com.ph reserves the right to further refine or make improvements and alterations on the final artwork of the winning entry.
5. Decision of winners by Sulit.com.ph is final and irrevocable.
6. Employees of Sulit.com.ph and their relatives up to third degree of consanguinity or affinity are ineligible to join the promo.
7. Prizes are not convertible to cash.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to let those creative juices flow and create a “Buy It. Sell It. Sulit” banner! Good luck!

Anyway, I am one of the millions subscriber of MyFonts.com and I would like to share to you their October issue of Creative Characters: The faces behind the fonts, Rob Leuschke.

Below is the excerpt introduction about Rob and you can read the full interview by visiting the online version of the newsletter since I received it to my email.

Many type designers make script fonts, but precious few match Rob Leuschke’s consistent high-quality production. Although his letterforms often have an immediate familiarity to them, they are seldom based on existing letterforms. Rob Leuschke does not revive typefaces, he draws them afresh. He doesn’t think of himself as a calligrapher, though. Then how does he do it? Read on and find out how much of what looks like spontaneous handwriting was in fact painstakingly drawn.

Photo manipulation is the application of image editing techniques to photographs in order to create an illusion or deception (in contrast to mere enhancement or correction), through analog or digital means. Its uses, cultural impact, and ethical concerns have made it a subject of interest beyond the technical process and skills involved. - wikipedia.org

But on this post, I will not elaborate and give you my insight. But, will share some tools/links for your own references.

The first picture/screenshot above is one of the great photo retoucher I found on the net. And his imagination is somewhat beyond your expectation. While the pictures below from wikipedia is the old tools used for photo manipulation in the late century perhaps.

The question is, can you do the same images/artworks from above site using the old tools below?

For more inspiration and jaw dropping images, visit Erik Johansson from Gothenburg, Sweden at alltelleringet.com.

Enjoy!

Mario Sanchez publishes The Internet Digest, an online collection of web design and Internet marketing articles and resources. Business cards are one of the most powerful and inexpensive marketing tools you can use.

Here are 50 Surefire Tips to make the most out of your business cards:

1. Your business card must communicate more than just your contact information. Make sure that your card includes a tag line that explains what you or your company do.
2. Order them in large numbers. By ordering 1000 your cost per card will be significantly lower than if you ordered 500.
3. Keep all the information in your business card current. If you changed address or phone number, don’t scratch the old number and write down the new one by hand; get new business cards.
4. Even if you can produce your business cards at home using an inkjet printer, have your business cards professionally made by a printing company. Your business card will be the first impression your prospects receive of your business, so let them convey the best possible one.
5. Avoid using standard clip art as your business logo. A logo brings credibility and brand awareness, so before you invest in business cards have a logo professionally made for your business.
6. Put up a website and use the URL in your business cards. If you don’t have a website, people will notice the absence of a web address in your business card and, depending on the business you are in, it may make you lose credibility.
7. Keep your business card simple. Don’t use too many fonts or try to cram too much information in it. Try to use a pleasant layout and make sure that your main message (your tag line or your unique selling proposition) doesn’t get lost.
8. If you live in the US, limit your business card size to 3.5″ x 2″. Anything bigger will not fit in standard card holders and your card may end up in the trash. Business cards in Europe tend to be larger, but so are the wallets and card holders.
9. Make sure that your business card reflects your image. If you are an artist or a graphic designer, it is OK to use trendy colors and fonts. If you are an investment banker, a sober layout and colors such as blue or gray work better.
10. Your business card is an integral part of your brand or corporate identity strategy. It should follow the same graphics standards as the rest of your communications material (stationary, brochures, letterheads, etc.).
11. Find a way to make your business cards stand out. I’ve seen business cards with one of its corners cut in an angle, or with an interesting texture, all of which makes your business card stand out of the crowd. The best one I’ve seen is from an interior designer, who used a hologram to show a room before and after a redesign.
12. Make your business card easy to read: use high contrast between the background and the type. Light background with dark type works better.
13. After your logo, your name should be the largest piece of information on your card.
14. Make sure that all the information on your card is printed in a large enough typeface to be easily readable.
15. Run your business card copy through a spell checker and double-check your contact information.
16. Keep your business cards with you at all times. Keep a stack in your car, in your house, in your office, and in your wallet.
17. Leave your business cards in billboards at supermarkets, schools, stores, libraries, etc.
18. When giving away your card, give two or three at a time, so that your contacts can in turn distribute them to other people. This will not only help you distribute them faster, but will generate a beneficial “endorsing effect”.
19. Include a business card with all your correspondence. People may throw away the letter, but will usually keep the business card.
20. Make your business card go the extra mile: use the back of the card to print more information: special offers, checklists, schedules, etc.
21. Throw in a business card in every product you ship.
22. Send a business card with any gift you send, instead of just a card with your name.
23. Scan your card and use it as an attachment to emails.
24. Use your business cards as name tags. Get a transparent plastic cover with a pin, and attach it to your lapel. Wearing it on your right side tends to make it more noticeable.
25. Use your business card as a name tag on your briefcase. Make sure that your company logo and tag line are visible. This way, your business card will turn into a “conversation piece” during plane rides, which may help you meet interesting people and good business contacts.
26. Use your business card as an ad: many publications offer “business card size” classified ads. If you design your business card properly, it can double up as an ad in those publications.
27. Don’t give your business card too quickly. It may be perceived as pushy. Try to establish a conversation with your prospect first. For example, ask them what do they do. That will usually prompt them to give you their card. That is the perfect moment to give them yours.
28. Don’t try to give your card in situations where many people are giving them to your prospect. Wait for a moment when you can capture your prospect’s attention span.
29. Another tactic you can try when your prospect is overwhelmed and can’t pay you enough attention is to send your card by mail. Pretend you ran out of business cards and ask for theirs. Then, mail them your card and take the opportunity to drop a follow up note.
30. If you have a mobile phone number or a direct phone number that is not listed in your business card, write it at the back of your card before handing it out, and tell your prospect that you are giving them your direct number. This will make your card more important, and less likely to be lost or thrown out.
31. Another way of increasing the chances that your prospect will keep your card is by printing valuable information on the back, for example important phone numbers (local police, hospitals, etc), a calendar, or a football schedule.
32. Offer to hand out cards of complementary (non-competitive) business people in exchange for them distributing yours. An example of non-competitive businesses is real estate brokers and mortgage brokers.
33. If somebody gives you their business card, you should give them yours in return.
34. Always give your business card face up.
35. Take a cue from Far East business people, who hand out business cards with both hands. It helps give the impression that your business card is something very important.
36. If you conduct business internationally, use the back of your card to print a translated version of your business card in your customers’ language. Even if they have no problem reading English, it will be a classy touch and they will appreciate it.
37. If you sell different product brands and want to put their logos on your business card, print them in only one color. Using each logo’s brand colors could make your business card look chaotic and busy.
38. Create a business card in magnet form. Magnets are widely used, to hold important papers on the refrigerator door at home and on file cabinets at work. They are always visible and always get read.
39. When receiving somebody else’s business card, don’t put it away immediately. Instead, keep it in your hand for a while you talk to your prospect, or place it neatly over the table, and try to develop a conversation based on the information on the card.
40. Use the back of the cards you receive to write down important facts about the persons who handed them to you. It will help you enormously when you follow up with them.
41. If you are in a profession where relationship selling is important, it may be a good idea to include your picture in your business card (i.e. real estate brokers).
42. Even if your business is a sole proprietorship, you can still use “account manager” as your title instead of “owner” or “president”. If you do sales (and we all do) “account manager” is a perfectly appropriate title, and it will give the impression that you work for a larger company.
43. Use logos of organizations that you or your business belong to in your business cards. They are an easy way to provide instant credibility to your business. For example, if you operate a repair shop you can display the logo of the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) or the Triple A (AAA). (Check with them first about the terms of use).
44. If you participate in affiliate programs online, you can still use business cards to promote your affiliate links. Use the name of the affiliate company as the company name, use ‘partner’ or ‘associate’ as your title, and the URL of the directory or web page where you have placed your affiliate links as your web address. Just because affiliate programs are online doesn’t mean that you can’t use off-line marketing methods to promote them.
45. If you need to give cards to different kinds of prospects (for example if you are a student looking for work), make business cards with just your name and contact information, and attach custom made self-adhesive labels at the back with information of interest to each specific prospect.
46. Include an information email address (for example: info@yourdomain.com) that is set in autoresponder mode, that automatically triggers an email message with full information about your product, service or company. This will increase the effectiveness of your business card since you will give your prospect much more information that you can fit in a card.
47. Take good care of your business cards. Keep them clean and crisp in a cardholder. Don’t give away cards that are bent or damaged.
48. Try to get a cardholder with two pockets. That way, you can use one for your business cards and the other one for the business cards you receive.
49. Keep all the business cards you receive neatly organized in a Rolodex®. It will save you time and will provide you with a database of contacts with whom to build positive business relationships.
50. Collect all the business cards you can find, even if you don’t need them. Together, they will act as an “idea file” that will provide you with valuable tips that you can use to design your business cards.

Next time I will share some business card design inspiration. See yah!

Ha! Now you’re wondering what is the relationship of my question to the title of this post huh!?

Well, what I am going to share is one of the extra-ordinary persons all around the world who been acknowledge and known to their skills and passion on what they are doing. Base from Design:TalkBoard.com, famous designers and typographers who’s work has shaped the world of graphic design and creativity.

Indeed, some of them are important enough to have had an influence on the very meaning and interpretation of the history of design itself. If you have any suggestions or comments about any of featured artists, please let designer talk board know.

Ron Arad
Ron Arad is a well known furniture designer, artist and architectural designer. Ron Arad’s work has been exhibited at many major museums and galleries throughout the world and his work is in many public collections.

Giambattista Bodoni
Giambattista Bodoni was an Italian typographer, engraver, type designer and printer who lived between 1740 and 1813. Giambattista Bodoni gave his name to the series of fonts that he designed.

Neville Brody
Neville Brody became famous in the 1980′s for his typographic design work on numerous British magazines, in particular The Face and Arena. Brody used newly invented desktop publishing tools to the fullest and continues to be influential as a type designer for both print and web.

David Carson
Like Neville Brody, typographer and graphic designer David Carson became influential in the late 1980′s and 1990s for experimental typeface designs. David Carson’s designs were featured heavily in surfing and skateboarding magazines.

A tribute to other self-taught designers, David Carson broke most of the rules of design and typography, a process that was made easy with the use of desk top publishing programs, such as Pagemaker, QuarkXpress and Illustrator. He experimented with overlapping and distorted fonts and intermixed these with striking photographic images.

William Caslon
A typeface designer and engraver, William Caslon lived in England between 1692 and 1766. William Caslon’s typefaces became extremely popular in the mid-to-late 18th century and were used for many important printed works. A version of Caslon typeface was used for printing the first edition of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser is one of the most famous American graphic designers of the 20 century. Milton Glaser is the designer behind some of the most famous popular icons, including the ‘I love New York’ campaign for the New York State Department of Commerce and, in particular, numerous advertising posters, record covers and soup cans.

Now, do you know who’s your inspirations now or do you want to read the Part 2 of this famous designers list’s? Let me give you this passage from the bible before you click the link above…

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Yes, my first work as a Layout Artist is very rewarding for a simple “promdi” who became an Artist from Business Management course. Rewarding because of so many great things happen to my life just in 5 years.

As an Artist and probinsyano, this post is all about Bleeding Edges / Bleeds. This post is somewhat related in publication that is why I wanted to share it and it goes something like this.

When graphic designers or printers mention the word “bleed,” it doesn’t mean that they just sliced their thumb off with an X-acto knife. Bleed is a term used to refer to ink that runs all the way to the edge of a trimmed page. If your design calls for ink to extend to the edge of the paper (the “trim”), your ink is “bleeding” off the page, and you need to build a bleed into your document before you release it to be printer.

Can’t the printer just print to the edge of the paper?
No, an offset printing press cannot run ink to the very edge of the paper. If your design calls for ink to run to the edge of the paper, your printer will have to print the piece on a sheet of paper that’s larger than the actual size of your document. He will then trim the larger sheet of paper down to actual trim size. You will build a bleed into your document that extends beyond your trim size. Therefore, the trim is taken inside an area of color, which ensures that no slivers of white show at paper’s edge.

How do I build a bleed into my document?
If you have created your document in a page layout program (like QuarkXpress) or illustration program (like Adobe Illustrator), and you set your document size as your actual trim size, you simply need to extend any areas of color beyond the boundaries of your document. Now isn’t the time to get sloppy. Determine the exact bleed measurment that you need, and extend any area of color to that measurement.

There is no “standard” bleed size. A common bleed for an offset press job is 1/8″ in the United States. However, I recommend that you call your printer and ask him how much bleed he requires. Different printing methods will differ in the amount of bleed needed.

For demonstration purposes, let’s say you’re designing a postcard that is 5″ x 8″ at final size. Your printer required requires a 1/8″ bleed. You’ll set up your document in a page layout program like QuarkXpress, and your new document size will be 5″ x 8″. If you have any picture boxes containing images or color that go to the edge of your page, you will make the picture boxes bigger, extending the width or height of those picture boxes to 1/8″ (.125″) beyond the boundaries of your document. It may be helpful to bring guides into your file, each placed .125″ outside your document boundaries, so that you can simply snap the appropriate side of your picture box to the designated bleed line. Your ultimate “bleed size” will be 5.25″ x 8.25″ if color bleeds on all four sides. Your “trim size” is 5″ x 8″.

If you’re building a file for which your document size and trim size are not the same, i.e. an ad with slug requirements or a die-cut pocket folder, your actual document size will be larger than your trim size. In this case, create crop marks within your document to indicate the trim size of your design. Create a second set of crop marks to indicate the bleed area. You will then extend any images out to your bleed marks to create your bleed.

If you using a program like Photoshop to create your document, or using a full background image that you import into your page layout program, you do not have the luxury of a pasteboard area that extends beyond your document size. You will need to set your document size to your bleed size or larger, not your trim size. You may find it helpful to pull guides into your file, and set them at your trim lines. This allows you to easily see what will be cut off when the printer takes the trim.

When do I build the bleed into my document?
You can either build your bleed into your files as you build your document, or wait until you’re going through your pre-press preparations to release the file to the printer. (The exception to this is if you’re building your layout in Photoshop. When using Photoshop, you must build your bleed into your document file dimensions.)

I tend to wait until my final pre-press file preparation to build my bleed. As I design a page, I don’t want to see what won’t be there on the final piece. That’s just my preference; either way is acceptable. The important thing is that you remember to do it before releasing your file to the printer.

Is there anything else I should keep in mind?
Of course! You don’t think I’d let you get off that easy, do you?

First, if you wait until the pre-press preparation to build your bleed, there’s a hidden danger—literally. When you’re using images in your layout that bleed off your page, and you didn’t initially build your bleed, you need to keep one thing in mind: When you import these images into your page layout program, remember that you’ll be pulling a bleed later. When you pull the handles on your picture box to extend it to your bleed marks, there had better be image there! If you have final approval on a layout, then find that you forgot about your bleed, you’ve got to either enlarge the image to fill the bleed area, or move the picture. Either way, you’re forced to modify an approved layout. Avoid this at all costs.

Second, if you’re doing spreads, you need to know which sides of your pages will bleed and which don’t. Remember, bleeds extend beyond the trim. If you’re doing a saddle-stitched catalog with facing pages, the area where the two pages meet is called a “gutter.” You don’t build a bleed on this edge of your page, because it’s not a trimmed edge of the page. It’s a side that butts up to another page. You only bleed the outside edges of your spreads.

Third, if your using a page layout program that gives you bleed options in your print dialog box, like QuarkXpress, these options only affect the printing of your document, not the building of it. If you set your print options to include a designated bleed amount, it will only print that amount—it doesn’t build the bleed for you. The bleed needs to be built into your document by you.

Remember, it is the responsibility of the graphic designer—not the printer—to build a bleed into a document. If you do not supply documents with proper bleeds, it is well within your printer’s rights to either charge you to fix the file, or reject the file and return it to you to fix.

And finally, thanks to Production Perspective editor Valarie Martin Stuart from creativelatitude.com for this great information that they shared to their website visitors around the world. Hope you enjoy the post!

Adobe Creative Suite 4 and its associated point products are immediately available through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store. Estimated street price for the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium is US$1799, US$1699 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium, US$1699 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, and US$2499 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection.

To reward customers for staying current, Adobe is offering Creative Suite 3 customers moving to Creative Suite 4 a lower upgrade price than it offers to those moving from older, qualifying versions. For a limited time, a special introductory offer enables customers with older qualifying products to enjoy the same lower price with savings of up to US$200 off their actual upgrade price.