I hope the natural world around you is thriving this month. The roses in my garden are in full bloom. It is tempting to linger on the garden bench, with a tea and watch gorgeous fat bumblebees dive into each flower. At my desk there are wellbeing websites to complete, a logo to tweak and two books I can't wait to send to print. Bringing me joy last month was real life humans! I met up with Sophie Cross, and Mel Barfield from The Freelancer Magazine in Cambridge on Sophie's road trip around the UK in her camper van. We shared space with other freelancers including Len Keenan, a copywriter who does amazing things with words. Give him a shout if you need a copywriter on your project, and Andrea Constable from Squiggle Social who chatted to me about developing a social media design workshop. I wrote three paragraphs in two hours for my ‘co-working’ and enjoying time sharing the highs and lows of our working lives, and our personal ones too. It made such a difference. I also hosted The Freelancer Magazine's co-working in May too which was great fun too. We gather together on Zoom and work for 45 minutes and chat for 10 in break-out rooms. It starts at 9.30am and ends at 11.30am, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with different hosts. |
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If you've got an idea, I would love to know about it. I invite you to read on for inspiration and if that plan or thought needs taking into a real life thing, let's chat. You can connect with me on social on the links below and book a free 15 minute call on Zoom. |
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From can't to can, and the most useful page on my website. The word can't creates negative feelings. The term can, on the other hand, creates positive feelings, which is why I get curious about what I can do. After all, I'm hired to create, inform, explain, present, and guide. And to push back when what's requested isn't viable, which is where can't creeps in. I'm banning can't from my emails as much as possible, as there's usually a workaround. If I'm booked, here's a recommendation; I know other great designers and image researchers. If that process needs to be clarified; let's try this way. Can I subcontract a service to move this along? Being upfront about skills and capabilities is the most straightforward situation to transform a negative into a positive. A project may require sequins and coordination, but the budget won't even get it out of the dressing room. This may be a need for more understanding about how much design costs. Each job can be reviewed to see what's possible. Saying no shuts people down and makes it all about money. That's why I offer free 15-minute calls. I would rather have a friendly chat about the project aims early on. What is the most useful page on my website? After the terms and conditions, it's this; my guide to working with me. It appears in my footer, and I present it with all proposals. It sets the scene up for success, from how to contact me, advice for free, what systems are used, and the benefits of collaborating. For each field of design expertise, I list the stages. When the project is complete, there's more on how I can help clients. It's not a considerable effort to read, unlike the t&c's, and far more accessible. It's setting the scene and giving clarity. Most of all, it saves me writing can't as it explains all the possibilities for doing more together. What do you think? Anything you would add? Let me know, I love seeing how other people set up for success. |
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I've been part of a test team with Adobe's Firefly which got me thinking about how AI affects design. You may have been pondering AI and it's impact on your work and ideas too. |
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I wrote this Gorgeous Guide a while back on being overzealous with image correction. It feels appropriate to cite when I'm exploring Generative Fill in Photoshop. Just because I can, should I? It is any good? Is it accurate? |
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You see what I mean?! I like donkeys and dogs but I'm not sure they make any sense or there's any taste! AI will (just like Canva) allow anyone to create and publish the good, bad, ugly, misspelt and questionable. Writing, marketing and design use taste and research to provide critical feedback. This includes understanding trends, the audience, what font works best where and construction of space and content. AI is an amazing thing when used well. I have used Chat GP to create prompts for writing but I have been caught out by it's inaccuracies that may have damaged the brand of my side-hustle podcast had it been published. It really doesn't make me an expert writer. I still require the skills of a copywriter, editor and proofreader to provide the best reading experience for my work and that of my clients, but it's a great way to generate ideas. “…it's not just the layperson who has taken a step up using AI - the best experts have simultaneously taken one up too. The rules have changed, but also stay the same. Find good people - give them the best tools - get out of the way.” |
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Five fonts I've been using this month in my work. 1 Turbinado which is a rough cursive. It is created by Aerotype, founded in 1995 to house a small collection of typefaces created by Stephen Miggas. Aerotype is largely known for hand lettered scripts and wood type digitalisations. I've been using Turbinado the new Community branding for The Full Stop Community CIC, alongside Bree Serif to give an informal lift. |
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2 Fleurie Modern Stylish from Creative Market. It was on offer and I thought I could use it for a branding design. I didn't, but it may look good on a book cover or someplace without too much competition. Use sparingly and large, as it's very decorative. |
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3 Larken from Ellen Luff Foundry. I was looking for a gorgeous serif for a project I'm working on which required a font that supporting Latin. Ellen is an independent typeface designer based in the UK. Her work has been used by Apple. |
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5 Ecofont Vera Sans is made up of small dots with spaces to reduce ink use. According to SPRANQ creative communications (Utrecht, The Netherlands) your ink cartridges (or ink toner) could last longer. SPRANQ used this information to create a new font: the Ecofont. After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles and uses up to 15% less ink. Free to download, free to use |
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Are eco fonts really eco-fonts? I'm in danger of undoing my own words here but when it comes to saving ink, you can do just as well with a light weight of a font you have already, such as Century Thin or Arial Light. It could be argued that Ecofont is great to use for printing drafts, but why should we print drafts at all? You may wish to print a book proof, to see how the page size really appears but it's not likely to be designed in Ecofont. When it comes to drafts, it's a great idea to use digital tools to make that process even more eco-friendly than an initiative to use less ink because we wouldn’t be using any ink at all. There is also a bonus factor in not using any paper with digital drafting. If you want to know how to mark up a PDF then here's a Gorgeous Guide on how to do that. |
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Hello Lovely is a member of Ecologi. I'm a believer in reducing our impact on the planet at source through good practice. Offsetting adds to carbon reduction. 85% of the subscription money to Ecologi goes directly to funding planet-saving projects and if you're interested in planting trees, you can use my link below and 30 more trees will be planted! |
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Design is inclusive, education and inspirational. Design can invite protest, encourage reflection, and find reassurance. Design make us think, and learn complex information in an accessible way.
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