Selections from the Design Talkboard forums, June 2007

The design forums during May 2007 were a very interesting place. Many new topics were started and other, long term threads, developed into some fascinating discussions.

As ever the forums continue to offer a mixture of the usual topics; from graphics software troubleshooting queries; to design business and freelancing advice; to computer hardware tips and other general graphic design, branding and design education questions and discussions.

This area of the site is for highlighting news topics we feel are of particular interest on a month by month basis. Either they are unique subjects, or they contain typical creative industry themes, but looked at from an interesting angle. Sometimes the discussions are selected because they have simply become interesting in their own right.

This time, for the first time, we are going to try and split up the topics into themes, such as hardware, software, education and so on. If this works, will will carry it on in future months. Let's see how it goes.

The forums are open for everyone to read, but to join in the discussions you will need to register. It's free and the other members are friendly and helpful. So what are you waiting for? The latest form topics are here and the forum itself is here.

Highlighted forum discussions from threads started in June 2007

Web design

• Cross-browser compatibility is one of the biggest headaches that web designers and developers face. Just as you think you've crushed one display issue, a client phones up and says that their web site looks wrong in some obscure browser that a client of theirs is using. And, of course, this gets even more complicated when when dealing with browser compatibility across operating systems.
  
  Just because a web page looks and works properly with Firefox under Windows, doesn't mean that it will do the same with Mac OS X. Now that Safari has been released for Windows, this opens up both possibilities and also more issues for web designers dealing with cross-browser compatibility with Safari. Is it possible to use the Windows version of Safari to test Mac compatibility? This discussion aims to find out.
• Reports of the Demise of GoLive Have Been Greatly Exaggerated! Or have they? Adobe's unexpected decision to announce an upgrade for its WYSIWYG web design application GoLive has taken most designers by surprise. Many assumed that it would go the same route as Freehand did earlier this month when it was discontinued by Adobe.

Design education

• Should I major in graphic design? This is the question asked by a student considering changing their major. As ever, forum members are always keen to give their opinions. The advice is mixed, but useful as ever.

Pre-press and production

• Working with CMYK profiles. There are lots of questions regarding color profiles in the Design : Talkboard forum. This member has posted a guide on the subject for junior designers.
• Commissioning a print job is often hard when you are new to printing and choosing the right printer for your project is not easy. Is a pre-contract the way to go?
• Color calibration, additive colors, subtractive colors... all these terms can really confuse a person. When it comes to color matching, nothing confuses junior designers and even some established designers, more than the apparent discrepancies between the different color models. Matching Colors, Pantones Versus CMYK Versus RGB, asks some questions and gets some answers. As does this question about ICC color profiles.
• Just to add another useful topic into the mix, this thread on color calibration and management has some outstanding tips on converting RGB camera images to CMYK and using color profiles.
• InDesign is now an established page layout tool. But many designers still need to locate many of its less obvious features. Do you know where to find the registration marks in indesign?
• This is actually a thread started on the forums in May, but there have been some interesting developments and solutions in June, so we have highlighted it here. How to set the DMAX, maximum ink density in Photoshop?

Hardware and software discussions

• Everyone uses Photoshop From web designers, to pre press and production people, to photographers and digital artists. But Photoshop is a notoriously resource hungry application and designers are always trying to find ways to speed up Photoshop. Memory and fast processors are one way, as are assigning scratch disks. But there are many opinions on the best way to do this and this designer wonders about the best way to set up Photoshop scratch disks?
• May of the commonest questions on the design forums revolve round small techniques and tips on using certain programs. This designer wonders if there is a method for applying a gradient to a stroke, in Adobe Illustrator.
• Do you despair at the continuously changeable interface of graphics applications? Would you like more consistency in the way that your software tools function? This designer asks why the Edit Undo function is different in every software program?
• Error messages in design software programs are rarely helpful and we often have designer coming onto the forums to ask for help with these. If anyone has an answer to this cryptic Photoshop and Illustrator message, please feel free to help out. Could not complete your request because the parser module cannot parse the file. Clear as mud isn't it?
• Managing fonts is always a pain in the neck. Especially for graphic designers who tend to have a lot more than most people. Font Managers, which should I get? is another question often heard around these parts.
• Now that Apple have switched over to Intel processors, it is possible to run the Windows operating system on the same machine. But is it possible, or a good idea, to consider running windows software on Mac?
• Displaying design is always a challenge. This designer needs a program to paste artwork into packaging pictures.
• A designer's equipment are their bread and butter. We don't just choose any old computer equipment generally and monitors are no exception. A graphic designer needs color accuracy, sharp images and, to deal with all those floating palettes and large format publications, the screen generally needs to be somewhat larger than standard. This designer is getting rid of their old CRT display screen and is looking for a decent 24" monitor. Any suggestions?
• Well the first two featured topics for this month have been hardware related. This creative is considering switching from a PC to a Mac Pro for the first time and has some questions about a Mac Pro for a graphic designer.

General graphic design discussions

• This designer wonders whatever happened to the dream of DTP on the... er desktop. Will We Ever Get Real DeskTop Publishing?
• Designing a T-shirt, questions and advice. Tips on designing graphics for T-shirt design. Should you use vector or bitmap graphics for the best effect?
• Sometimes clients are not the most creative people in the world. And this presents a dilemma for the creative designer. How much do you push the creative aspect and at what point do you simply decide its time to just get on with it. And what is the best way to keep your interest up when dealing with Boring Graphic Design!
• The Olympics must be one of the most high profile events in the world and so its public image is very important. As the new logo is launched, designers comment on the design of the London Olympic logo. This has turned out to be a very popular topic, with the discussion carrying onto page 2 also.

Freelance and self-employment

• Do you hand over your digital files to the client once the job is over? Or do you hang on to them or charge for their release? Releasing design files to clients discusses the moral, practical and legal aspect of this issue.
• We have a lot of discussions about charging on the forums. But logo and business card design is quite a specific area. It spans branding, corporate identity and so on. So this is developing into an interesting topic. How much to charge for a logo and business card design?