Design forum topics from March 2007

The Design : Talkboard forums are getting busier by the week. As more and more graphic designers and creative professionals discover the site and register to become members of the forums, so more and more useful information and discussions are posted.

Many of the graphics forum discussions are timeless and so a quick search through the forums is all that is required. And of course we welcome all designers to start their own topics, either to ask for help, to give advice to others, or simply to have a like-minded chat with other industry professionals and design students.

This section is an additional tool, to make it easier for visitors to find topics that have been started in a particular month. In this case in March 2007. We manually select some of the topics that we feel have become most useful, interesting, or have the potential to be so. Or you can go here to simply see a list of the most recent new threads. It's also worth checking out the graphic design newsletters archive for selected discussion topics and industry news.

Recently started selected topics

• Dealing with business cycles – how to cope in the leaner times between jobs, or if your design business depends on seasonal cycles.
• Are you sure you want to change the extension? – is it possible to disable the annoying Mac OS X Finder error message when changing the file extension name in Tiger?
• Favorite graphic design software – discussion about designers' favorite design tools and applications.
• Revising estimates – do you charge a client extra when the workload turns out to be more than originally agreed? Is it best to use hourly rates, page prices or other methods. And how do you keep the client informed and happy?
• Using PC fonts on a Mac – moving to a Mac from a PC. Will it be possible to move Windows fonts over to a new Mac and use them as before?
• Vector image problems with Indesign PDF – onscreen images looks distorted in PDF file created with InDesign. But it prints OK. Are there any solutions?
• Switching from PC to Mac in Illustrator & Photoshop – font scrolling on a Mac using the keyboard up and down arrows.
• Why upgrade to Adobe CS3? – are the new features in Adobe Creative Suite 3 worth the price to upgrade?
• Using Acrobat Distiller – is it better to create a PDF by Distilling the .ps file?
• Uploading files to a web site – how to publish a web site and make it go live.
• Graphic design jobs in San Diego – Is the graphic arts market getting harder?
• Editing design work – a freelancer asks for tips on how to charge a client for author's amendments.
• Rasterizing a vector graphic – how to convert a vector EPS into a format for use on a web page. Tips on file format and resolution.
• Handing digital files over to clients – what do you do when a client wants the digital files, as well as the printed documents?
• Selling graphic design – should design students learn sales techniques at university?
• Graphic Design Ideas – how do you come up with creative ideas and concepts? Do they come naturally, or do you sometimes need to use other techniques?
• Designing for metallic inks – what to look out for when designing a job for reproduction using metallic printing ink.
• 3D design careers – what are the job opportunities for 3D artists?
• Prepress and Printing Checklist – what items do you always look out for when you send a digital design document to print? List your top ten prepress checklist items here.
• Rasterized PDFs – problems with knockouts and rastered PDF files.
• Principles of graphic design – one member asks what the basic foundation principles of graphic design are. What rules have to be followed to produce a cohesive creative project?
• Presentation graphics software – is Powerpoint the only option?
• Packaging design – not a new thread, but recently revived.
• Logo usage – describing where a logo can be used.
• Design education – is it necessary to get a design degree to become a successful graphic designer.
• Design graduates unable to find work – difficulty in finding design jobs for graphic design graduates.
• Business card design – help with clients choosing the least exciting business cards.
• Freelance design lessons – designers share their experiences of being self employed.
• Portfolio versus promotional design – what happens when your printed portfolio pieces are lost or start looking tatty? This designer asks opinions on making a digital version of a portfolio.
• Internship in Southern California – design student looking to get a internship with a design agency.
• Joining paths in Adobe Illustrator – a designer keeps getting an error when they try to join to end points.