We turn out a tonne of artwork every year so we’ve seen our fair share of mistakes.
Junior designer, Nicole rounds up the worst ones — so you don’t have to trip up on them too!
1. A BIG EMPTY SPACE
The eye goes straight to blank spot on a busy design. Draw the viewer’s eye around the page with some connecting elements and create a sense of flow.
2. TRAIN TRACKS
When blank spots line up it can create what we call train tracks – basically long gaps that create divisions. Close any roads by arranging some elements closer together. Unless of course you’re working on a stripe!
3. REPETITIVE MOTIFS
Re-using a motif is a time-efficient practise but be clever about how you do it, especially when duplicating an element within the same design. Change the direction, transform or flip the shape. Make the double look different!
4. DRAWING AT THE WRONG SCALE
Draw to the same scale as your finished product so that the line weights maintain their thickness. There’s nothing worse than spending time on an illustration only to find that you have to reduce the scale and the line widths are too thin to print. It helps to use a thick nib to begin with (we like a 0.5 minimum).
5. PHALLIC ELEMENTS
Look for shapes that resemble body parts, especially when designing for apparel and swimwear. Long hibiscus stamens and hairy orchid centres are particularly susceptible to misinterpretation!
TIP: Think your work is clear? Step away from it for a while and return with fresh eyes. You’ll instantly spot any problem areas. And it’s a good idea to ask someone else if they spy anything strange before you hit the send button.
Hope you learnt something new!
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