User experience consultant Paul Boag offers 10 tips for smoothing the web design approval process, but nearly all the tips would apply to print as well. I found #4 particularly interesting and likely to provoke argument.

4. Avoid multiple concepts

Many clients like the idea of having the option to choose between multiple design concepts. However, although on the surface this might appear to be a good idea it can ultimately be counterproductive for design sign off. In a world of limited budgets it is unwise to waste money on producing designs that are ultimately going to be thrown away. The resources would be better spent refining a single design through multiple iterations. What is more, multiple concepts often cause confusion rather than clarity. It is common for a client to request one element from one design and another from the second. As any designer knows this seldom works.

via Swissmiss

Posted by Megan

Jim Krause's latest addition to the Index line of books is out: Color Index 2. The book contains hundreds of different color combinations, each with an accurate formula for both print and web use. You can get a sneak peek of the book here.

Posted by Megan

With Christmas shopping in full swing, you just might need some help figuring out (fortunately, I just finished checking people off my list yesterday!). So, here's a really cool watch from NOOKA that has a neat display (12 dots light up to reflect the hour of day) and comes in a variety of colors (gold being only the obvious choice).

Today must be the day of forwarding along links, because I just got another email about a nifty download you can check out: a free e-book about time management for creatives from Business of Design Online. It's a compilation of a series the site hosted, which equals out to 32 pages full of tips and tidbits about how to prioritize, not have a never-ending to-do list of tasks, and how "doing it tomorrow" can work to your benefit.

A handful of industry news tidbits this week:

• SMART Papers' entire Genesis line of premium uncoated printing and packaging papers has been FSC certified. Genesis also adds several papers with 100% postconsumer waste.

• Worldstudio and AIGA recently announced the winners of their annual scholarship program, including three students who received the Mohawk Paper Award: Sana Ali from University of Texas, Edwin Olivera at University of Memphis and Patrick Anderson from School of Visual Arts all received the top prize, a $2,000 scholarship for the 2007–08 academic year. Six students received $250 scholarships as honorable mention winners: Christopher Lyle, Caroline Park, Emilia Wiles, Tameka Norris, Venice Christina-Marie McCurdy and Marilyn Montufar.

• Corel and ConceptShare recently launched CorelDRAWConceptShare.com, which lets CorelDRAW
users share their work with other designers, colleagues or clients.

• Creative Manager Pro's new version 8.5 includes updates for Mac OS X Leopard and several key features in Flash; a previous update also allowed design managers to use the software on their iPhone or iPod Touch devices.

• Neenah Paper is sponsoring a contest for outstanding design projects printed in part or entirely on its papers; two grand prize winners will receive an all-expense-paid trip to the 2008 HOW Design Conference in Boston. For more info, go to Neenahpaper.com/HOW.

• PROOF-it-ONLINE is offering a free Pro Premium Proofing Evaluation Bundle to the first 50 companies signing up during the month of December. The package, valued at $800, includes a free two-month online proofing account (up to 250 proofs per month), a phone consultation with ROI analysis, a newly released white paper entitled, “Top 5 Things to Know About Online Proofing that Will Help Your Business Grow” and unlimited access to PROOF-it-ONLINE’s Resource Center.
 

Yupo announced three winners of its annual Wally Awards:

Sandra Schler of AJ Images Inc. picked up one of the $1,000 prizes for a series of menu covers for a new high-end restaurant, which Yupo notes is an ideal application for its tear-proof and stain-proof synthetic stock.

Another Wally Award went to Frank Aresta of Master Printing for his brochure for Perry Street Development, a condo project in NYC's West Village.



The Battery Conservancy and Patricia Frank Sher of Frank Design produced the third winner, a guidebook that features the Gardens of Remembrance, located at the southernmost tip of Manhattan.

Don't let this happen to you.

Posted by Megan

T26 Digital Type Foundry has just released Camera Lines, 26 solid vector illustrations of classic cameras by Rob Hunting for $69.

Posted by Megan

Pantone Inc., provider of professional color standards for the design industries, selected PANTONE 18-3943 Blue Iris, a beautifully balanced blue-purple, as the color of the year for 2008. "It best represents color direction in 2008 for fashion, cosmetics and home products," explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. "As a reflection of the times, Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspect of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple cast. Emotionally, it is anchoring and meditative with a touch of magic. Look for it artfully combined with deeper plums, red-browns, yellow-greens, grapes and grays.”

So your colleague routinely snags the office copy of your favorite design mag. Or you'd like to have all the HOW design annuals right at your fingertips. Voila: The DVD edition of HOW. We're releasing all 2007 issues in a fully searchable, totally portable format. The DVD includes a full year's worth of ideas, information and inspiration about staying creative, running a successful design business, surviving in-house and managing your design career. Oh yeah, and lots of eye candy, like 300+ winners of this year's HOW design awards. The DVD starts shipping December 17 but you can pre-order now!


All this great content in a tiny little package.

   
Stereohype, an online graphic art and fashion boutique, is sponsoring it's 4th annual button-design competition. The deadline is January 31, 2008. You can read about the rules and prizes here.

Posted by Megan

AIGA San Francisco and the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design will present the third biennial Compostmodern conference on January 19th in San Francisco. Compostmodern is an interdisciplinary design conference dedicated to promoting sustainable solutions within the design community at large.

Posted by Megan

Portfolio magazine has an interesting little story about wine label design and how makers are taking more risks to make their products stand out on the crowded shelves.

Posted by Megan

If you recently had a project printed on Neenah paper, pull it out and send it in. You could win a free trip to the 2008 HOW Conference in Boston, which includes airfare, meals, lodging and registration for two. To learn more, visit www.neenahpaper/how.

Posted by Megan

HOW's upcoming Jan/Feb issues features the winners of our first annual In-HOWse Design Awards, but you can see the Honorable Mention winners right now on HOWdesign.com. Each category includes a slide show of winners along with credit information and insight into the projects.

Posted by Megan