Anne-Marie "Her Geekness" Conception, Author/Trainer/Principal Seneca Design & Training joins hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable for an update on her latest projects which include many popular classes available through Lynda.com. She also shares her insight and tips on web design, InDesign, and design. Learn more great tips at: http://www.senecadesign.com/designgeek/,
find out what’s happening in the publishing industry at: http://www.toc.oreilly.com/
or hear more tips at: http://indesignsecrets.com/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay joins us this week to discuss some trends in newspaper publishing, Adobe’s first quarter results, some new products at The Power Exchange.

For more on Jay Nelson and his Design Tools topics visit: http://www.design-tools.com

Sara Cowley, Designer, Cowley Design joins hosts Scott Sheppard & Gene Gable for an in-depth look at her work which includes packaging and surface design. Her unique designs and focus present creative challenges as often her designs, unlike an ad or a logo, are often the final saleable product. Sara describes her journey from graduating art school to learning the ropes of running a business and ultimately starting her own firm. Sara shares some tips on selectively growing your client base and possible pitfalls to avoid when first starting out as an independent.

Sara explores some of the inspiration and creative process involved in her surface design work which includes bookmarks, wine tags, bookplates, mousepads, and more. Unlike other client work, this type of design involves creating the products first and then pitching the final concepts to clients for fulfillment and retail.

Sara also teaches typography at the Creative Circus, a portfolio school in Atlanta.

Find out more about her work, or read her blog at: http://cowleydesign.com/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay joins us this week to discuss some upcoming design focused “Road Shows” which are exciting events that can help you get up to speed on your favorite applications. Jay’s list includes offerings by Mogo Media, Rocky Mountain School of Photography, Adobe Events, Apple Store Events, Noble Desktop,

Jay maintains a special industry calendar with more details, dates, locations, and links at: http://www.design-tools.com/events/

For more on Jay Nelson and his Design Tools topics visit: http://www.design-tools.com

Daniel Crosier, Illustrator/Comic Book Artist, Thoth Engine Productions joins hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable to explain his background, work, and some tips about how he created a popular wood burned comic book series “Bartholomew of the Scissors“. This unique illustrative style and technique has opened doors to many collaborative opportunities for Daniel and his work combines his original creative visions and topic ideas based on direction from art directors and comic writers.

Daniel describes his approach to this technique which involve starting with a basic piece of pine wood and simple pencil outlines. He started his first project with a basic $20 woodburning tool kit but soon found he preferred to use a basic pen tip, replicating traditional mediums, rather than use a series of specialized burning tip shapes. He explains basic trial and error have allowed him to explore various effects and often builds upon the natural grains and imperfections of the wood piece to expand the final illustration.

Once the designs and art pieces are burned onto the wood, Daniel then scans the pieces at 300dpi for finishing and layout for print. Daniel has many other projects and pieces in the works but much of his woodburning techniques lends itself well to a dark, horror inspired creative theme perfect for the underground world of comics.

To see more of Daniel’s work, visit his site at: http://www.thothengine.net or find him on Deviant Art at: http://danielcrosier.deviantart.com/. You can also connect to Daniel on MySpace or Facebook.
Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay starts the year with a preview of the exciting design oriented conferences and events for 2009. Highlights include Macworld, Graphics of the Americas, Web Directions North & South, Photoshop World Conference and workshop events, Print Oasis, and many others.

Jay maintains a special industry calendar with more details, dates, locations, and links at: http://www.design-tools.com/events/

For more on Jay Nelson and his Design Tools topics visit: http://www.design-tools.com