Design by Firgs » He Said / She Said

Heads Up! He Said She Said On Vacation

Firgs — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:14:33 +0000

Do to an overwhelming amount of Summer scheduling conflicts between myself and Erik, we have decided that we are going to put this feature on vacation for three months. During that time we are going to be taking a look at how to improve this segment and see if we can make it better. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or comments about the He Said-She Said cross blog feature, please let us know!

You can contact me through this website or Erik through bernskiold.com – We look forward to picking this feature back up in the fall and reading any feedback we may receive on it.

Thanks much! -Erik & Firgs

Getting It Right – in the camera

Firgs — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:30:33 +0000

HE SAID: The thoughts of Erik Bernskiold.

I’m mainly a nature photographer and I shoot a lot of scenes that I’ll most likely never be able to experience again, not in the way that I cannot go back (those exist as well) but more because the light or conditions never might be the same. I’m a big advocate of getting it right in the camera straight away instead of going in to fix it on the computer!

What might be the reason?

The reason as to why is fairly simple. Post-production can only do a certain bit for our photos and as much as I love design and Photoshop, I’d rather spend the time standing there in the nature, with my camera on the tripod, adding the correct filter as a help and finding the correct exposure for the scene than spending hours afterwards, fixing up my photos in post.

It that just it?

Quite, although there are of course other reasons. Even by using the sophisticated editing features found in today’s software, it cannot replace a correct exposure from the camera. We are still modifying pixels in one way or another and the quality is never going to be as good. Of course you can correct minor exposure details as well as doing some color correction (which might be needed anyway due to the way the camera captures) but having it as correct from the start not only saves you a lot of work, but you can have so much more fun!

Think about it, what makes you feel best. Coming back from a shoot, loading in a lot of photos that need to be heavily processed in Photoshop in order to look good, or, coming back from a shoot to see all of these beautiful images you just have to fix up a tad. Taking it to the next level, which makes you feel the best?

Conclusion on my side

As much as there are tools like Photoshop available, it never beats getting it right the first way. It is great to be able to fix up minor faults but a lot of the time, you could have just done the same while you were out there, saved yourself some time and later, felt like you were a better photographer as well!

To see what SHE SAID, don’t forget to check out: http://www.bernskiold.com/

He Said She Said – Me and My Workflow

Firgs — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:30:37 +0000

HE SAID: The thoughts of Erik Bernskiold.

Does it cause nightmares or are you happy to talk about it? The hot subject this time is our workflows and I’ll be telling you a bit about the workflow that I do when doing web design for clients and also give you some tips on setting up a good workflow.

How I do it

After years of trial and error, I feel that I’m beginning to set up a workflow that is working really well. I’m also beginning to stick to it, which is harder than just planning it out. My workflow consists of stages, with a number of different sub-parts in each section: estimate, design, delivery.

For my workflow organization, I am using an application called Daylite. It helps me to keep track of clients, meetings, projects and more in one place. It also ties right into my time-tracking system, Billings. Apart from being on my computer, it also has an iPhone companion app that syncs to my computer database, so I can always have the information with me on the go—something that’s helped me tremendously!

1. When I get a request for a quote or an estimate, I set this up as an opportunity in Daylite. I go through my outlined steps for acquiring the information I need and then send off the quote. Using the app, I can make sure I know exactly where I am in the process and what has been done and said.

2. If I secure the project, I mark the opportunity as “Won” and go through and set it up as a project and sync it over to my time-tracking application. Whether I work at a flat fee or I get paid by the hour, I track my time precisely. I want to know how much time I spend on each project so that I can give more accurate quotes.

When I start a new project, I set up new folder in my “Client Projects” folder, containing a set of sub-folders depending on the type of work. For web design, I generally do, “source” (psd files), “resources” (client submitted info such as text, logos and images), “website” (all website files that will be later uploaded) and “proofs” (for all proofs I send away). This folder structure allows me to always know where to find things and keep me more efficient.

3. When I’m ready to deliver it to the client, I upload the site to the server and send off the instructions to the client. I also issue the final invoice and make sure everything is as it should. I also update the info in Daylite accordingly.

Tips that have helped me build my workflow

Enter client information right away! As soon as you get the client, set him/her up in the address book or the application of choice. Make sure you got all details you need. Don’t save it for later, it’ll end up being more work when you really need to find it quickly!
Keep track of client information! Right off the first, make sure you’ve got the clients information. Address, phone number, email. All that should be in your address book!
Organize your files in folders! I’m a real folder junkie and I create a lot of sub-folders. It is a great way to find your files quickly! It won’t take long if you save them there right away!

That’s my workflow and some tips from me on how to organize yours!

To see what SHE SAID, don’t forget to check out: http://www.bernskiold.com/

He Said She Said – Vector and Rastor Design

Firgs — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:30:36 +0000

HE SAID: The thoughts of Erik Bernskiold.

If you like to use the vector format when designing most of your things, you definitely want to read this. This article is all about raster design, something that you might enjoy if you are doing vector graphics most of the time. If you want to learn more about vector graphics though, go to Firgs’s side of things where she talks Vector today.

As said, I am going to be talking raster graphics and that might just invoke the first question. What is raster? First let me borrow the technical Wikipedia definition of a raster graphic. ”In computer graphics, a raster graphics image or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium.” That might not make it a lot clearer however so let’s get down and dirty. A raster image, or a bitmap as I’m going to say, is basically the way most images that we see are built up with the most obvious being photos from your camera. Each photo is made up by millions of small dots, called pixels (remember the word megapixels?). Each of these pixels have their own colour and when we view them together (at a much smaller size) we don’t see the individual small dots, but a shape as all of these colours come together.

Bitmap graphics are most used on the computer platform. Websites in particular use graphics built up this way and as we’ve already said, so does photographs. Most art that we go about displaying on the computer screen is rasterized (meaning, converted into the raster format) even if created as a vector. This is because the files are smaller and more widely supported.

The main disadvantage when using bitmaps is that they don’t scale very well. Unlike vectors, built upon mathematical equations (read more in Firgs’s article), scale very neatly to any size whereas bitmap images do not scale well even slightly. Why so you might ask? It is rather simple! As a graphic is built up by millions of pixels, each storing a colour of its own, what would logically happen, should we decide to add more pixels in? If you may not select the answer that these new pixels won’t fill with anything, or be filled with white, you are only left with one logical answer. They assume the colour of other pixels nearby and it is this that causes so many problems mainly as they will take a new shade than the “original” pixel which will render this originally rather sharp shapes very blurry when you try to enlarge them.

So you might wonder, when shall I use these bitmaps instead of these vectors that sounds so nice? I say it is made into a much bigger deal than it needs to be. As bitmaps scale rather poorly, you would want to avoid them for things that you want to be able to be used at multiple sizes, pretty much whenever. What they do brilliantly in is web graphics like banners, headers and backgrounds. All of these graphical effects that do not need to be brought into an editor and be resized. All of the graphic that will be happy at the size where you once created them. Furthermore, all of the graphics that are extremely detailed and need to use a large colour pallet benefits largely from bitmap images as you will have a wider range to use there as you are indeed colourizing these small dots called pixels and not creating mathematical objects. All of these objects need not be created in a vector format, they work extremely well in bitmap, as they have always been created. However, if you are planning to view the graphic very zoomed in or planning to have the need to resize it in a graphics application later on. Vector would be your way to roll!

To see what SHE SAID, don’t forget to check out: http://www.bernskiold.com/

To Trend or Not to Trend – That is the question!

Firgs — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:30:25 +0000

HE SAID: The thoughts of Erik Bernskiold.

There is a certain thing about this discussion that keeps it renewing all the time. What should you do, just follow along with the trends or stick your head out and go your own way? Can you survive at just following the trends without going your own way, or putting it the other way, is it possible to only go your own way?

Going your own way is what sets you apart!

My honest opinion is a little mixed out of both. I believe that the trends are set by people who go their own way and don’t follow on what everyone else is doing. After all, if everyone would just do the same things there would be no trend. A trend is something that builds upon something successful. By going your own way, you set yourself apart from the masses and makes you interesting for anyone to hire!

Don’t forget about the trends!

However important I think it is to stick out and going your own way, it is equally important to follow the current trends. Most "modern-art" artists were not appreciated until even a long time after their death! To survive as a creative professional in this era you really need to supply for the demand. Most demand is built upon the same basis and the clients you are going to get approached by will probably have their opinion made up of what’s around the millions of other places on the internet and in the world. It’s only natural that they will want something similar in style for themselves.

However, don’t forget to go your own way anyway!

I do realize that I’m really jumping back and worth with these headings, from one extreme to another but in the way of doing so, I am hoping that you stick in the middle! There will always be times where you will be able to do something that you feel isn’t like everyone else’s, do take advantage of it! Even if you don’t get asked to do it by a client, take your own time a little now and then and do something that you really like, that may just not be what everyone else has got. Not only will you develop your skills but more so, perhaps even more importantly, you will gain fresh new ideas. You’ll be able to take bits and bobs from those "own way" projects and incorporating them in your "main style" thus setting you apart from everyone else and moving you into your own style!

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To see what SHE SAID, don’t forget to check out: http://www.bernskiold.com/

He Said / She Said – The Introduction

Firgs — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:30:08 +0000

He Said / She Said has arrived! First of all, Erik and I want to thank everyone who submitted an interview question for our first post. We ended up getting so many really great questions that we decided to answer 12 questions. The original ten plus we picked two lucky people who submitted more than one question to have not only their Twitter accounts linked, but also their websites!

So without further delay – Here are the winning questions and Erik Bernskiold to give his answers. And to read my answers, you know what to do – Click the pic!

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@JoeHendricks – How did you get started in graphic design? What motivated you?

I got started in graphics design about six years ago now with the launch of a fan site for the Harry Potter series. Because money was low I couldn’t really afford anyone to design a site for me, so I had to learn how to do it myself. I had to improve each time I designed something new to keep up with the leading sites at the time and that actually forced me into learning the stuff properly. A little over four years ago, I started my design company, XLD Studios which has helped to evolve my work tremendously and still does all the time. The need to keep up with the new ways of making things, new styles and trying to get into new areas as well.

@egower – Will this lead to any collaboration of artwork with you two in the future? A round robin type of project between your two different styles would be fun.

You never know what the future may hold. We enjoy working together, and right now – anything is possible. The main reason why there is nothing planned is because we are both swamped with things and that’s the reason we decided to make this article only once a month. But, we are open to new ideas and right now – anything is possible.

@weewood – What does the "datchic" in "datchicfirgs" stand for?

This is a question for Firggy, so if you want to see her answer you’ll have to check my site – http://www.bernskiold.com/.

@shadowcall – Are you afraid of bees?

I most definitely am! Can’t stand them, get moving quickly when they are too close to me!

@b_e_creative – What artists have influenced the most through your career?

This is a really tough question. Honestly it’s very hard to say for me as I don’t really have a special artist that has influenced my designing. I’m constantly influenced by small things on websites or big things like structure for that matter as well as well as things I see done around me. It’s very hard to know most of the times who did it which means my answer to the question shifts more to "What inspires you" rather than "What artists…". I just don’t know any individual artists that have influenced me more.

@b_e_creative (site link) – Where do you find inspiration when you hit a "wall" during a project?

Another very good question and very personal as well. I find that a really hard thing as well. I’m going to start with what I do when I hit the "wall" during a project or before I start on one. The first thing I’m going is to take a break and do something entirely. Usually I’ll sit down and play music (a great passion of mine) which takes my mind of what I need to do. Most of the time, it’s the stress that is making my mind blank out. Mostly, I browse around the many showcase websites online to get some inspiration. I also find that browsing deviantART will give me some great art to look at as well. Combine that with taking a break and I guess that’s how I mostly solve my designers block.

@Squiretwizz – How do you cope with having a busy life and still find time to do tutorials, twitter and blog updates, and respond to all the emails you must get? must be very busy with no time to rest let alone breathe!

It’s actually a wonder, and up till recently, I would have said that I had no idea. I however discovered recently that my life probably wasn’t as good as I had forced myself into thinking and had to change around a few things. I’ve started to plan my things and taken use of batch processing tasks to free up a lot of time that I used to procrastinate tasks before that I didn’t want to do. That way, I didn’t feel free from work when surfing the web as a preventive way from doing certain tasks that still had to be done. I just plan in blog posts and tutorials into the work that I have to do and do them in batches, which allows me to be more productive. As an end here, I don’t get a lot of emails actually and I quite wished I got some more. I’m always glad to help by answering questions so you’re just welcome to send them to me, here, I’ll even give my email to show that I really do mean it; erik@bernskiold.com. =) Until I get too many flooding me, don’t be afraid to shoot me mails =)

@CreativeWisdom – Would you consider yourself a SM expert – and do you plan on integrating SM into your design company?

I’m far from a social media expert although I know the basics of it. I do plan to integrate social media more into my design company as well, but perhaps not to the extent that I’m doing it into my media company. It’s mainly time restraints and also because I feel that my media company could benefit from it a bit more than my design company. Plus most of my social presences are in my personal name, giving me the opportunity to use some social media for my design company, some for my media company and then some for both. It’s not a perfect mix by any means and I’m working on some planning as well to incorporate it better, but those are plans I cannot evolve into more.

@UseR2006 – How do you choose what gear you use for certain shoots?

Simple, I usually lug around most of my gear with me. Well, that’s just true for landscapes really. For things like portraits and events, I try to use a reasoning on what focal lengths I might need, how the light will be etc. but in the end, I end up carrying more than I need with me anyway.

@aj_wood – Do you Mac or PC? Why?

I use a MacBook Pro (recent upgrade). I’d been a PC user my entire life up until two years ago when I moved over to the Mac. For the first, I think the Mac is a cleaner, better designed platform that I enjoy using day in and day out without getting mad at it for not doing what I want. I also find it to be very stable which is really important when relying on it that much.

@aj_wood (site link) – Was Photoshop the first imaging tool you used, or did you use a lesser known product first?

No it wasn’t. I got into Photoshop late at version 7 (almost at the release of CS) and I’d been using Jasc Paint Shop Pro for a couple of months before that. However, the first art that I did and published more formally, was done using Photoshop.

@mcgregorlink – What impact does the growth of Social Networking have on your approach to Web Design?

That’s a tough question. I think social networking has made me understand and get a grip on the importance of user interaction on websites. The flourishing of social networking I think proves just that users like to interact with the websites they visit, and offering them a good way of doing so, while still keeping the website to its point is a great way. It’s also made me realise the importance of marketing through word by mouth especially. The way a user can spread the word about something today is superior to any other way possible before. It does really have an impact on me as a designer, to make sure users can interact with the website and social networking for the common interest.