Design projects yield a bunch of creative ideas, some good and some not-so good. Ultimately, only one option gets the final approval and you’re left with all these left over ideas and designs. These eventually get laid to rest in the design graveyard – some to never see the light of day again. However, there are instances where you can to bring your designs, or at least some elements, back to life.

Why Design Graveyards are important:
1. You learning new skills from exploring different options.
2. You learn from mistakes either conceptually or with the design.
3. You can always re-use elements you’ve created elsewhere.
4. These designs and ideas could act as ready-made design somewhere else!

So keep your design graveyard cataloged so you can go back and dig up items you may need in the future.

Here are some past projects at NorthPoint where designs and ideas changed a lot compared to the approved design.

1. Swag Hoodie

2. Water Bottle Design from the Game of Thrones Hot Box

3. Box Design from the Shark Week Hot Box

4. Bottle Opener Design

5. NorthPoint Logo

There are two types of designers – those who name their layers and those that don’t. We’ve all been there, opening an old project file and looking at the layers panel and thinking, “What did I do?!” You scroll through all the layers and groups trying to find this one element you, in the moment, thought was a good idea to lock but now need to locate to unlock. All of this frustration could have been avoided if you named and organized your layers. For those resistant to change, here are two main reasons to adding this to your process:

Organization:
Number one, you can find elements quicker. The amount of time it takes to name and organize layers is much less than the time wasted looking through your layers for something you can’t find.

Thinking of others:
Number two, be considerate with naming and organizing in case your file is opened up by another designer. Instead of having them hunt through an organized-mess you may understand, create a fool-proof naming and grouping scheme to help explain where to find elements even when you’re not present. 

Now you’re saying, “Yes, I’ve seen the light! How can I change?” Here are some tips to help you get started.



Change the layer name. Whether using Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign or other design programs with a layers panel, simply double click the layer name to change it!

You can also organize by color. Change the layer color within the layer dialog’s options.

Name your grouped assets. It’s helpful to group an asset’s different lines, shapes, images, or text boxes together to make them easier to move without leaving something behind. You can also name these groups or even their individual elements to help identify important ones.

Utilize NorthPoint's design services on your next project!

In recent years, hand-written fonts have started to become popular within the design community. This may be due to the need for contrast with the use of the clean and simple design language we’ve seen in our daily lives in recent years. Pairing a clean sans-serif font with a hand-written font adds a sense of humanity to a design, and the organic strokes are popular with green and natural branding.

With so many options infiltrating the typeface market, how does one choose the right option for them? Enter MyFonts. This typeface resource has a plethora of different hand-written looks. Here are some of my favorites that touch on different styles for any occasion. Consider pairing a hand-written font on your next campaign!

Stormy Youth


Authentica


Kokomo Breeze


Brush Up


Lumios Marker


Pinto


Inspecture


Hero



Brushtones



Daft Brush

Throwing a lot of data at someone all at once is overwhelming, so that’s where Infographics can make it less painful. Data visualization through graphs and charts has been around for a long time, but going beyond the basic by using design is what makes infographics so popular. When you fuse imagery with information, people are eager to learn! Between textbooks, business reports, and all over the web, infographics are a great tool for sharing information.

Click the images below to view the full infographic.

1. The ABC of Design
via DesignMantic

2. Staying Happy & Healthy at Work
via UltimateMats

3. The Chart of Controllers
via Pop Chart

4. How to Make Apple Pie
via Fine Dining Lovers

5. Social Sites Explained
via AddThis

6. Impact of Music on Workplace Productivity
via WebFX

7. Inception Timeline
via Behance

8. How to Focus at Work
via Onward

9. Live Wind Map
via Hint.fm

10. Culture Creators
via Dowitcher Designs


Want to visualize your data with an infographic? Reach out to NorthPoint and utilize our design team!