Design Projects: Making Multiple-Version Ads

Features: Written by Renee Dustman on December 23, 2003

Making ads that can be changed at any time is good business sense. Let's say you need to modify the price of an item: instead of redoing the entire ad you can just change the price. Here's how to use InDesign's layers feature to design quick-change ads.

Design Projects: Making Memorable Business Cards

Features: Written on December 23, 2003

Business cards are essential business tools, but you can turn them into persuasive marketing materials as well. Make your card memorable by including promotional copy and service incen-tives in addition to the standard name, address, and phone number. Here' s how.

The Creative Toolbox: GoLive CS Goes for Broke

Reviews: Written by George Penston on December 23, 2003

Adobe's Web design application gets its share of new features as part of the Adobe Creative Suite but does it have what it takes to go up against the favored Macromedia Dreamweaver?

The Art of Business: Leading Like a Pro

Features: Written by Eric J. Adams on December 22, 2003

Good leadership is a quality as elusive as good design. Here are five steps to becoming a more effective leader.

Paper Tips: Top Ten Ways to Save $ on Paper

How-Tos: Written by Constance Sidles on December 19, 2003

After the flush year-end spending, now is the time to look at how to economize for the lean months ahead. Paper is a major expense for most print designers and therefore a good place to cut costs. Start with these 10 tips.

Under the Desktop: Wishing for a Secure New Year

Features: Written by David Morgenstern on December 18, 2003

Some creative pros may have visions of sugar plum fairies at this time of the year. But keeping David Morgenstern awake are the many worms, viruses, and security holes on computers. Have you been doing your part to fend off these malicious pests?

QuarkXPress 6 vs. InDesign CS: Taking Sides

Features: Written by David Blatner on December 17, 2003

InDesign CS: Adobe Ups the Ante Once Again

Reviews: Written by Sandee Cohen on December 16, 2003

Page layout these days is a high-stakes poker game full of bidding, bluffing, and raking in the chips. With the release of InDesign CS, Adobe adds new features that may make users of other programs throw in their cards. Should you join the game? Sandee Cohen has the answer in her review.

dot-font: The Vico Collaboration

Features: Written by John D. Berry on December 15, 2003

Wooden and metal typeare at the heart of two new portfolios of images -- one letterpress, one photographic -- inspired by the 18th-century philosopher Giambattista Vico.

Design How-To: Using Ghosted Backgrounds

How-Tos: Written by John McWade on December 12, 2003

If your graphic choices are limited, try the time-honored technique of reusing the art as a ghosted background. This approach adds texture and symmetry to an otherwise staid design. See how.

Heavy Metal Madness: Seeing Pink Elephants

Features: Written by Gene Gable on December 10, 2003

Alcohol consumption in graphic arts in the '50s and '60s is often presented as a jolly pasttime, the most dire consequences of which might be visions of pink elephants, says Gene Gable. In this installment: Gene explores what we learn from cocktail napkins, or why we might feel a little nimptopsical this time of year.

Creative Gifts for Creative People: The 2003 Holiday Gift Guide

Features: Written by Sandee Cohen Sharon Steuer Brian P. Lawler Eric J. Adams George Penston John D. Berry Susan Glinert Stevens David Morgenstern Gene Gable on December 8, 2003

Looking for imaginative gift ideas for the creative professional on your list? Creativepro.com's editors are here to help, with creative suggestions for all.

The Art of Business: Pay Less Taxes

Features: Written by Eric J. Adams on December 8, 2003

Why pay more? New 2003 tax deductions can help you lower your tax bill like never before.

Hardware Tips: Top Five Things to Consider in a Color Printer

How-Tos: Written by Rob Stewart on December 5, 2003

Thinking about purchasing a to-quality printer for your studio? Better read this five-point checklist of what to look for in a printer, first.

Under the Desktop: R.I.P. CRT

Features: Written by David Morgenstern on December 4, 2003

Compared to clunky CRTs, LCD monitors are sleek, stylish, and portable. But LCDs fall short in one department: color fidelity. If you care about color, you may want to stockpile CRT monitors. They'll soon be extinct.

Plug-Ins and XTensions: Picture Draggers, Color Balancers, Document Exporters, Nature Makers

Features: Written by Jay J. Nelson on December 3, 2003

This month's round-up of plug-ins and XTensions includes tools for restoring color to old or over-exposed images in Photoshop, dragging pictures from the desktop into any QuarkXPress file, and exporting QuarkXPress files into almost any format. Plus, nifty tools for creating your own water, trees, and skies.

Illustrator CS: Adobe Squeezes in More for Designers

Reviews: Written by Sandee Cohen on December 2, 2003

Now in its 11th version, Adobe Illustrator is already jam-packed with features. But Illustrator CS manages to add new drawing and design tools. Is it enough? Sandee Cohen reviews the latest.

dot-font: Barnbrook's Priority

Features: Written by John D. Berry on December 1, 2003

Emigre has issued an almost-traditional text typeface designed by Jonathan Barnbrook, the decidedly un-traditional graphic designer.

Heavy Metal Madness: You Are What You Eat

Features: Written by Gene Gable on November 27, 2003

Food in all its four-color glory never seems to match our image of the ideal meal. In celebration of Thanksgiving, Gene Gable looks at cookbook graphics for clues about our culinary heritage. In this installment: Gene chews on the printed representation of food, or why Ham and Bananas Hollandaise defies color management.

Photoshop How-to: Retouching with the Patch and Healing Brush Tools

How-Tos: Written by Ben Willmore on November 26, 2003

For erasing wrinkles and fixing facial flaws, you don't need Botox or dermabrasion -- just Photoshop's Patch and Healing Brush tools. But don't think of these tools only as virtual plastic surgery. Ben Willmore shows how to retouch images with the Patch and Healing Brush tools.