So, here is a quick tip that will cure this ailment of boiling blood. Start out drawing without the Pen Tool. 

“What? If I couldn’t draw with the pen tool, how am I going to draw without it?“ 

Believe it or not, most things can be drawn using the Shape Tools and that includes the Custom Shape Presets. Don’t believe me? Then chances are you missed out on a Drawing 101 class somewhere along the way. In Drawing 101 they teach you to stop looking at the whole picture, and start looking at the pieces. Simplify the image. Bust it up until you get down to the very basic shapes that construct the frame of what you are trying to draw. 

For example, take a look at this basic owl image. 

Now at first glance, and to a beginner, this may look like an involved sketch. But if we take a closer look at it we will see that the whole image was made using the basic shapes (rectangle, triangle, ellipse) from the Shape Tools pallet. 

First, let’s simplify the image. Here is what it looks like without all of the fancy shading.

And now we are going to bust it up into pieces. Here is the wire frame.

Once you get to know the shapes and can start to visualize how whole images are built using them – then you can start to do things like transform them, warp them, use the path selection tools to change their points, handles and curves. Although the custom shapes are already images, you can actually create entirely new images just by experimenting with them. Go on! Try it! It can open a whole new world of image creation for you.  And here’s the bonus of it all – the more you play with shapes something will start to happen. You will gradually understand how the Pen tool works! 

So the next time you need to draw or redraw an image and you find yourself cringing at the thought of using the Pen Tool, try using the shapes and see what happens. I’m willing to bet that if you do, Penicullus Fervesco will soon fade from your life.

Design by Firgs

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written by: Firgs of DesignByFirgs.com

A lot of beginning designers seem to skip over the typography lessons until they get further into doing actual design work. About then is when something seems to hit them like a thunk on the head making them suddenly realize that they need to start asking some questions. And the first question that many designers will ask is: Serif or Sans Serif – what one for what occasion? And this is a fantastic starting point.

A lot of designers will tell you that it will be a personal preference or that they will just go with what “feels” right. And believe it or not, this is actually good advice. Going with your gut feeling can often lead you down the right path. But, it can take beginning designers a long time to learn to trust their gut because they have no real experience to use as a base for judgments.

So, for what it’s worth, here it is. My take on the typography starting point: Serif and Sans Serif fonts.

First of all, to define the two, a Serif font is one that includes protruding portions that extend beyond the main strokes of the letter. Examples of this would be fonts like Bondi, Century, Garamond, Georgia, and Times New Roman just to name a few.

A Sans Serif font is one that does not include these protruding portions. Examples would be fonts like Arial, Futura, Impact, Myriad, and Tahoma.

Now, when deciding which one to work with for your project, it’s a good idea to start out by considering Serif fonts as “fancy” fonts. Those little embellishments on every letter are just that – embellishments. Something to add to the structure of the letter. This being the case – Serif fonts can be associated with the words: classy, refined, expensive, and just basically more dressy. If those words also describe who your target audience is, then this is what you should choose. For example: It used to be that Times New Roman (a Serif font) was the standard for all article writing because that was a standard font found in newspapers. News is associated mentally with importance and seriousness – and so the font Times New Roman became associated mentally with importance and seriousness and that is why you will find it as the font of choice for the actual articles inside the magazines.

Sans Serif fonts however come without these embellishments so this leads to them to be associated with the words: clean, without fuss, straightforward, and sometimes (although not always) inexpensive – which is why you will see them commonly used on magazine covers or on movie posters. If you want a font that is going to speak to the subconscious of the general public and make them feel comfortable instantly, than Sans Serif is your font. For example: The next time you are standing in line at the grocery store, take a look at the font of all magazine covers on display. Do this and I can guarantee that about 90% of what you will be looking at will be Sans Serif fonts. And this is a for good reason as magazines market to the general public. It’s a way of keeping the cover light and friendly so it can be used to draw people inside to where the seriousness, or “news” takes place.

However, if you are still confused as to which font to use and when, then there is a sure fire trick that will never fail. Pick one and stick with it for the whole of the project. Keeping with a unified font is always a safe bet. For example: Say you are a designer that wants to put a friends face on a fake cover of SportsIllustrated. The picture is in place, the title is rockin’ in true SI style, and all you need to do now is add some phony articles to the sides. Now the SI header is and always has been a Sans Serif font, so you can use that as your starting point and follow suit with all Sans Serif article titles. Another way of looking at it is, mimic what others have done before you got there and you can’t go wrong. 

So, there you have it. A few guidelines to help you out in your quest for the right font for the right occasion.  At least until you can figure it out on your own and your gut instinct starts to kick in that is.

You can find more from Firgs On the web  and on Twitter.

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