From the IFD Mailbag …
Valuable Design Resources
Hi all,
This week, let's start out with this question from James:
"Can you recommend any books on graphic design to build a graphic reference library?"
Excellent question, James! There are so many great graphics books out there that it is difficult to pick just a few. Sometimes, I like to browse the graphic design section in my local bookstore, get a cup of coffee, and settle down in a comfy chair to check out what's new.
But here are some books that I simply could not live without:
- Handbook of Pricing & Ethical Guidelines – Graphic Artists Guild
- One-Minute Designer – Roger C. Parker
- Looking Good in Print – Roger C. Parker
- Layout Index – Jim Krause
- Design Workshop – Robin Williams
- Designing Direct Mail That Sells – Sandra Blum
And while we're on this subject, we would like to hear from you. What is your favorite design book or resource? If you've found a book that's proven invaluable, please share it with us by sending an email to me at: insidefreelancedesign@awaionline.com, Attn: Kristin Schwarz.
One more question – this one from Julie:
"In order to be successful in direct-mail design, do I absolutely HAVE to have an expensive program like Photoshop?"
Julie, when you are just starting in graphic design, you will probably be able to lay out all of your sales letters and course assignments in a word processing program like Word. But once you move on to more complex assignments (like magalogs), you may want to invest in a page-layout program like InDesign, QuarkXPress, PageMaker, or Publisher (Windows only). We will feature these programs in an upcoming issue of IFD so you can learn about the advantages and drawbacks of each one.
Once you are working on pieces that have lots of images, you'll want to have control over cropping them, resizing, or altering them in other ways. To do that, you will need an image-editing program (like Photoshop). By then, though, your business will have taken off and you'll be happy to invest in this expensive – but great – tool.
That's it from me for today. Remember … we always love to hear from you.
Kristin
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