Michael Makin, CEO, Printing Industries of America joins hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable for an industry update, share details on their recent efforts to rebrand their organization, and some details on their services. Printing Industries of America has over 12,000 member companies and is the largest printing organization in the world. Michael explains that the printing and publishing industry is far from "dead"; it has in fact grown over the past decade contributing over $170 billion to the U.S. market. Although there have been consolidations in the over 37,000 plant facilities, their overall business is shifting from ink on paper to digital printing and services. PIA is very active in Washington, D.C. lobbying for postal rates and related issues and feels confident that they will continue to represent the industry effectively in 2009 and beyond.

Michael also explains the components that make up the Printing Industries of America, which include business issues and also technical/research programs through their Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF). PIA provides not only government lobbying, but technical support, and education programs that cover technical and business topics. Formerly known as PIA/GATF, Michael felt that the acronyms traditionally used by their organization were confusing the market and not serving their members effectively. This year, they have combined all areas under the "Printing Industries of America" brand.

The printing industry is a very close-knit family oriented business sector, and the organization has been serving their efforts since 1887. Earlier this year Michael produced a hilarious YouTube clip, which expresses PIA’s passion and commitment to their industry; "I Love PIA/GATF".

For more information about their association and services visit: http://www.printing.org.

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

This week, Jay Nelson brings a review of the best holiday gifts for your favorite designers. If you have any designer friends, you’ll agree that the most beautifully wrapped and thought out gifts you receive this year will be from them, so if you’re looking for a way to make their season bright check out his tips for ideas. Jay scoured the headlines and recommends; Pantone inspired mugs, custom designed items at CafePress or Zazzle and other sites, Verbatim’s retro Vinyl CD’s or Digital Movie DVD’s, or their Archival grade CD, Logitech’s Space Navigator, or NewerTech’s Voyager Hard Drive case.

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

Gary Unger, Author, Speaker, Advertising Consultant joins hosts Scott Sheppard & Gene Gable for some tips from his popular book "How to Be a Creative Genius (in five minutes or less)". Gary’s book represents a practical and humourous take on the creative process based on his decade in working as a creative serving such clients as Chick-Fil-A, General Motors and the National Basketball Association. He is the originator of AutoZone’s “Get in the Zone” ad campaign and has a shirt in the Levi Strauss T-Shirt Hall of Fame.

Gary provides some practical advice on how to spark your creative inspiration, how to work with your clients in brainstorming creative thoughts, and offers suggestions on getting out of a design rut. Gary’s explains how his book uses humor, sarcasm, and a bit of reverse psychology to get you to think creatively about his challenging statements. Gary also developed an approach to the creative process called XDO which he uses to teach in his mentoring programs and sessions. Gary is an avid social networker and often uses LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

To find out more about Gary’s work visit: http://www.garyunger.com or visit his blog at: http://garyunger.com/blog/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay joins us this week for some hands-on tips on using Acrobat 9’s collaboration features which include a quick way to share your PDF’s via simple email links and comment together via a built-in chat. Acrobat will also allow you to easily share your screen and desktop among members of your meeting. Gene and Jay review some other features available on http://www.acrobat.com including Adobe Buzzword and ConnectNow. Jay has also been using FileChute for Mac OS, which is a quick way to send files via email links. If transferring files is common to you, you may also want to check out YouSendIt at: http://www.yousendit.com/, which offers easy click plug-ins for Acrobat, FinalCut Pro, Photoshop, Microsoft Office and others that allow you to send from within those applications.

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

Bert Monroy, The Digital Photo Realistic Artist, Author, & Lecturer joins hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable for an inside look at his incredible photo realistic art techniques. Bert is known as a pioneer of the digital imaging era, and the definitive artist of this genre. His work in this space is truly extraordinary. Bert explains the early days of digital tools and how he was able successfully transition from traditional mediums to a completely digital workflow which became his medium of choice; trading his pencils and brushes for a stylus and Wacom tablet. He has written numerous books on Photoshop and his techniques and continues to enjoy teaching seminars and classes, never missing a Photoshop World conference, learning from his students as he takes them through the processes.

Bert’s work focuses on his fine art and also commercial work. He walks us through his creative process that often still begins as a sketch in his journal or a photograph. He explains that every element in his fine art pieces are done by hand with a stylus using a photograph as a guide, having completely adopted the digital canvas as his pallette. His commercial work, which is often more time sensitive, may begin as a scan or a trace and is then translated into vector art elements in Adobe Illustrator before finishing the pieces with Adobe Photoshop. His approach is to make the digital medium completely transparent, although his finished work may look like a photograph they are entirely digitally rendered - including the shadow highlights and details. Bert explains that throughout the process he will use the photographs as a guide and visual reference.

Bert also shares his experiences in learning how to use the Wacom tablet and stylus instead of a pencil or brush. He feels that with the introduction of their Cintiq tablet, many of the issues in the early versions have allowed him to gain a more natural technique. He also discusses his studio setup and how he has been able to adjust his environment to get the most out of his digital canvas. Overall, Bert prefers to hone his digital skills by completely relying on the application to replicate. He will incorporate outside elements and scans when time is a factor in his projects. He is known for his ability to replicate 2D and 3D objects within the application, creating his illusions almost from scratch vs. relying on the automatic extrusion and other tools built into the Adobe Suite.

Bert is also in process of finalizing an exhibition at the Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s College of California entitled: "Bert Monroy: Master Digital Artist Retrospective" being held January 24 through April 5, with a private preview and Artist Reception / Lecture on January 18, 2009. This exhibition will feature a look at Bert’s work through the years showcasing the capabilities of the Mac Desktop Publishing platform with real examples.

Find out more about Bert’s work at: http://www.bertmonroy.com. You can also view past episodes of his popular podcast PixelPerfect at: http://revision3.com/pixelperfect/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

This week’s graphic news begins with a discussion of the recent PIA/GATF announcement of their new brand, partnership, and collaborations. Since 1887, the companies have been dedicated to educating and bringing together all participants in the printing and publishing industries. To better manage their brand and efforts they recently renamed the organization to Printing Industries of America and will soon be launching their new website - http://www.printing.org.

Jay also describes a new website developed by the DPC (Digital Printing Council) that helps designers better understand and decode some of the mysteries of going from web to print. Check out their site at: http://w2ptestdrive.com.

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

Chad Siegel, Group Product Manager, Design Segment, Adobe Systems Inc. joins hosts Scott Sheppard, Gene Gable, and Jay Nelson to explain the latest features for designers in Adobe Creative Suite 4. Gene, an Adobe beta tester, feels strongly that this is Adobe’s most integrated application suite yet released since their acquisition of Macromedia in 2005. Chad confirms that this version is the most complete multi-media offering in terms of delivering a seamless, cohesive set of design tools for any creative professional.

Chad shares some anecdotes about the challenges Adobe faced in developing the integrated user interface and some of the benefits of now having an integrated UI across all components. Chad explains that their entire process from conceptualization, to testing in Adobe Labs, and final delivery have made most Adobe employees now feel like "kids in a candy store" with unlimited possibilities of integration and extensions among the platforms. A great example is Adobe Acrobat’s 9 integration of Flash technologies helping creatives develop interactive designs.

Some of the highlights include that the rendering and print engines have been integrated on the back end of the applications, what this means for designers is that now it’s easier to reliably export or output into a range of formats. Chad recently participated in the Adobe MAX 2008 North American Conference, held last week in San Francisco. He feels the key benefit of this conference was his ability to get live feedback and interact with users.

Chad also shares some tips on how the new 3D tools and overall video workflows within After Effects and Photoshop that can really open up some opportunities. Gene and Jay also open up discussions on how today’s economy can affect a designer’s ability to justify upgrading their software - Chad provides some key considerations that can expand a creatives capabilities which can not only bring them new business but open them up to new clients. Chad also explains that with the redesigned interface in Creative Suite 4, can also save time by requiring fewer keystrokes and with the tighter integration many fewer steps to accomplish the same tasks. Chad also shares a glimpse of some of Adobe’s future developments including the potential for a pay-as-you-go model currently being piloted in markets outside the U.S.

Find out more at: http://www.adobe.com, or see Adobe’s favorite social links by visiting: http://delicious.com/adobe/

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

Fabrizio Scippa, Creative Director/Signor Dettaglio & Marc Aguilera, Color Management Director/Eclectic Technologist from Encompus, Inc. join hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable for some hands-on tips about how they are using and have integrated color management tools into their design workflows. Encompus specializes in creating brands and identities for medium sized businesses and Fabrizio explains that color in the look of the brand is an extremely important element in their design philosophy. Since they often create brands for their clients across all mediums print to web, color consistancy is very important to them.

Fabrizio shares examples of how color has opened up many business opportunities for them. Growing up in Rome around a family business in interior design, Fabrizio has learned the impact of color in many forms. Marc, who has a photography background, works well with his team because he is able to accurately measure color elements in nature and successfuly are able replicate and communicate them for each project. Like many studios, Encompus sees color as being a top priority and Marc shares some details about their workflows and how they are able to maintain consistancy in their studio using standards such as GRACoL 7; share those color settings, calibrating their monitors and proofers. Marc shares that they provide each client with a document that "decodes" their brand colors within the various color spaces and is actively involved in color education speaking at seminars around the country.

Marc also shares some tips on how designers - who are often overwhelmed by the technology of color - can easily improve color consistancy in their designs with tips he’s presented in his discussions during the Color Control Freak seminars. His hands-on experience enable him to get the most of out available color tools from X-Rite, using their measurement and calibration devices in addition to relying on the Pantone Goe™ System and Pantone Matching System® swatches to acheive color they can rely on. Marc also explains how they use the EFI RIP designer edition to accurately match colors in their output.

Jay Nelson joins the chat with focused questions for Encompus about the Pantone Goe™ System and their ColorMunki. Marc shares a live client example where they were asked to match a terracotta tile color that after measuring it with the ColorMunki, found there was no exact match in the standard Pantone Matching System®. Fortunately for Encompus, when cross-referencing the color to the Goe system, they were able to identify an exact match that pleased the client and enabled them to

For more information about Encompus and examples of their work visit: http://www.encompus.com/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay shares a great tip for a retro-plugin that will definately spark up your next design called Permanent Press by Mister Retro at: http://www.misterretro.com. This unique plug-in lets you create professional quality vintage offset printing and ink effects with any design, photograph, type treatment or image. Jay’s hot topic of the week is whether or not the design industry is ready to adopt the Pantone Goe™ System. The bigger question is are the printers using the newly defined Pantone Goe™ System base inks or are they using their existing inventory with some other matching techniques? Overall, the new color system offers a larger range of colors, organized it into a manner that addresses some of the flaws inherent in the older, but widely adopted Pantone Matching System®.

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

Drew Trujillo, Designer –better known as Dr. Woohoo! joins hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable this week to share his background and an inside look at his amazing design work. Fusing the best of art, technology, and design Dr. Woohoo’s technical and programming background help him to bring his visions to life. Drew explains, although his early background was in traditional mediums he soon became passionate about animation and digital art applications where his current expertise tests the boundaries of Adobe’s Creative Suite.

A renowned speaker, Adobe beta tester, and educator on Adobe Flash, AIR, and other interactive platforms. One of the best places to see his work in action is on In the Mod - Color Analytics: A Study of Color Palettes website. This site offers the ability to explore art, the interaction of color and palettes, and even lets you download your favorite sets directly to your Adobe apps. Dr. Woohoo gives us his description and experiences of the power working with Adobe AIR and how it integrates within the other Adobe Suite applications.

He has also published a book showcasing his work entitled, "Color Visualizations: Exploring the Circle, vol 02". Where he uses software he developed to generate his artwork by extracting millions of color pixels in each image, analyzing and organizing the color data and then building the composition with absolute precision.

In addition to pushing the limits of available technology, Dr. Woohoo’s art is truly unique. He combines the organic qualities of nature and textures and expands them using digital enhancements that stand out in multiple mediums. His work is available for viewing and purchase online, including his kinetic art - Dandelions.

For more information, news, tips, his art, and more visit: http://blog.drwoohoo.com/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay Nelson joins us this week to share the latest news and discussion about typefaces and a informative history of OpenType to celebrate the release of ITC’s Franklin - not Franklin Gothic offering a new range of options for larger display fonts. Jay and Gene, our resident "fontologists" share the use, sizing, and variations of this popular typeface. Jay also shares his review of the type focused movie - Helvetica, which recently came to his home town of Denver for a screening. PopChar celebrates it’s 20th birthday this month, which remains a great easy way to enter characters.

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

Dr. Yao-Hui Huang, CEO & Joey Kilrain, Creative Director, Gigapixel Creative join hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable to share their backgrounds - Yao was in pharmaceuticals and Joey a fine artist - and the overall vision behind their unique New York based web agency. Their background in technology, art, and business has allowed them not only to offer award-winning creative direction but they also provide their clients; strategy consulting, marketing, development, and technology support services.

Yao and Joey explain their approach in consulting with client’s business needs first. Once they have a full understanding of their direction and goals they are then able to prepare a comprehensive Web 2.0 strategy that combines design elements with the latest web platforms and technologies. Their clients include Time Warner, General Mills, Pfizer, Chase, and many others. They also offer affordable turn-key solutions through their Baby Gigs group.

In addition to working closely with top agencies, also founded an incubator for innovative technologies through The Hatchery. Yao and Joey discuss how they partner with key venture capital firms, media companies and technologists to identify, fund, and support new ideas and business concepts. Each month, 3 companies are selected to participate in The Gauntlet, picture an "American Idol" for tech startup companies, where they can present ideas to an elite forum and gain feedback on their concepts.

To find out more visit: http://www.gigapixelcreative.com/ or The Hatchery at: http://www.hatchedby.us/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay Nelson joins us this week to share the latest news including that Quark XPress is now supporting InDesign and InCopy. Jay is one of the industry’s definitive source of Quark news and as a Quark insider, he explains some of the benefits of their latest announcement. Jay also share some tips about a cost effective web design program, Freeway 5 from SoftPress who offer upgrades from GoLive and other options.

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

Renowned Illustrator and Founding Member of the Illustrator’s Partnership, Brad Holland joins hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable for an update and some insight about the recently passed, Orphan Works Bill that was "hotlined" through Senate earlier this month. ‘Orphan works’ is a term used to describe works where the owner of the copyright cannot be located. Brad has been instrumental in advocating the rights of artists and creatives, participating in congressional hearings, and is a true expert in copyright legistation. Brad explains some of the issues involved in registering your work commercially and details on what the new bill changes in comparison to what had been in place prior to the bill passing. This bill originated in early 2006, and was intended to help museums and libraries obtain the rights to use truly "orphaned works" of art of images. Unfortunately, the current state of the bill does that and much more. The bill is backed and was presented by the advocacy group "Public Knowledge", who maintains their side of the information at: http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/copyright

One of the key changes is that traditionally creative work was protected by ensuring there was a visible copyright symbol along with a year on any work that you wished to protect. This acknowledged that the work belonged to the originating artist for their lifetime plus 70 years. The new law changes this structure and requires that any work considered copyrighted has to be clearly identified and searchable in a central database registry. Brad and Gene discuss some examples of "Fair Use" and complete infringement and an artist’s ability to take legal action against infringement under the new bill.

Brad explains the impact on creatives and small businesses who under the new law are required to register all existing and future work. Due to the processing fees involved, Brad points out that today’s digital photographers, who shoot hundreds of images on average, could be expected to pay $250,000 to over $1,000,000 in filing fees if each image cost $1 to register. This is very cost prohibitive to the artists.

Gene seeks to find the benefits of this new bill, which at this point are very clouded and unclear. There are amendments proposed to be presented to the House in the next few weeks and all urged folks involved to take an active position by writing to your Congressman and local House Representatives expressing your concern for this revised copyright system. For additional resources and one-click links to write your position visit: http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/ or http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

For more information about Brad Holland visit his site at: http://www.bradholland.net

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay Nelson joins us this week to follow-up on last week’s topic about Apple’s decision to stop offering the matte display on their new MacBooks. Jay explains some of the issues designers have in using a glossy vs. a matte screen and shares some tips on how to calibrate your glossy display. Jay indicates that the issue isn’t the display but in the manner in which they are backlit, in the case of the MacBooks it’s using LED technologies. Jay warns that not all of today’s popular monitor calibration tools are designed to properly manage these displays but there are some available that can optimize your display to your work environment.

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

Dani Nordin, Designer & Zen Warrior Princess, The Zen Kitchen Design joins hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable for some insights, tips, and inspiration about her eco-friendly design business.Dani’s passion for design began with her background in theater. Leveraging what she learned about understanding and developing a backstory to get into character actually helped her develop her process and approach to communicating her design ideas with her clients. Figuring out what her clients would like to accomplish through design, Dani uses theater inspired techniques to get her clients to define the character of their target market to help her hone in her creative pitch. She attributes her success to her consultative approach with her clients.

The Zen Kitchen specializes in eco-friendly designs and Dani is passionate about striking a balance of minimizing our environmental impact yet using enough of the right materials to acheive marketing/brand success. Focusing on environmental issues doesn’t mean her designs look "hippie" or "eco" but that her commitment to making smarter choices comes through her design choices and advice to her clients. Dani also shares some of her thoughts about working with clients seeking "green washing" designs and rebrands that are hoping to take advantage of the rising popularity of eco-friendly designs.

Dani actively participates in the design community, and firmly beleives that social networking, her blog, and attending design related events have brought much success and business to her firm. She feels that offering advice and consultation, and sharing information especially with women owned business groups is a great way to learn, stay inspired, and of course gain clients.

For more information about Dani & The Zen Kitchen visit: http://www.tzk-design.com/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay Nelson joins us this week to share his thoughts on the Orphan Works Act recently put through legislation. Jay explains the importance of speaking up about this topic from a designer’s perspective as the final verdict includes eliminating the automatic copyright protection on your existing and future creative work.The issue in legislation surrounds the lack of their ability to easily research and reference the origin of creative work. In the future, you will have to individually register and reregister work you’ve already registered in order to ensure proper credit, and royalties for your work or be able to litigate in the event of copyright infringement upon your work. Registration for existing work could be tedious and there is a fee for filing which could get costly for large collections.

To get more information and find easy ways to write your local Senate and House Representatives visit Jay’s site at: http://www.design-tools.com/ilpow/ or the Illustrator’s Partnership Orphan Works’ Blog at: http://www.ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/

Jay also shares a tip about scanning your work. At a recent conference he learned that over time, flatbed scanner bulbs and parts can wear out which can impact the overall quality. Since many manufacturers offer cost effective solutions, it’s a good idea to consider an upgrade every 18 months.

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

Andy Hussie, President & Andrew Hussie, CTO, Master Colors LLC join hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable for an overview and discussion of their unique digital color selection tool, HVC Color Composer. Andy explains how his background as an artist/painter inspired him to find a better color selection tool. Using his son,Andrew’s talents in programming they were able to create a completely different way of composing color palettes that are able to predict complementary hues within a specified color range. Working as an enhanced color picker tool in both Photoshop and InDesign, this powerful plug-in expands not only the range of definable colors but allows designers to quickly arrange, organize, and select colors specifically for their project.

The HVC Color Composer accurately measures the contrast between colors, allowing it to create coherent “smart palettes” that work with various target colors chosen by the artist. The HVC Color Composer gives professional artists and designers complete control of their color compositions, and allows the user to create an unlimited number of color palette. Andrew explains some of the differences between using the HVC and other color spaces including RGB, Lab, CYMK and give some tips on how the HVC Color Composer analyzes and assigns colors in relation to these color areas.

The plug-ins are reasonably priced, under $100 and include a one-hour custom tutorial demo - by Andy or Andrew - on how to use the HVC color space to your best advantage allowing you to immediately begin mixing colors at a new level.

For more information, and to download a demo version visit: http://www.master-colors.com/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay Nelson joins us this week for an update on his recent trip to the Institute of Newspaper Technology Conference held October 9-11, in Knoxville, TN. Jay shares some of the details on their workflows and challenges. Most of the conference attendees represented local, mid-west newspapers whose constant pressure to reduce their operating costs have made it difficult for them to maintain their circulation. Jay also brings up the Orphan Works Bill which we will cover extensively in a future program. Jay, Gene, and Scott discuss the release of Apple’s updated MacBook and some possible issues around their decision to discontinue matte displays on Apple MacBooks.

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

Gene and Scott round out the week with some tips on how to keep your creative business booming even when the current ecomomic conditions are not.