A little while ago I came across a small paper back book in our local bookshop called The Graphic Design Cookbook, with a slogan – mix and max recipes for faster, better layouts, sounded interesting so I bought it. Essentially what the book does is picks and element of a design layout for example page folios and then shows you numerous page folio examples, just as simple black and white diagrams. The idea being I guess that if you are stuck for an idea for layout you flick to an element of the book to inspire you. Some of you may disagree but I think the premise of this book is very good. I would never create a mix and match design but sometimes you do think – what could I do with that page folio to make it look a bit more interesting and anything to help spur an idea is always welcome.
The downside of this book is, in my opinion it is badly executed. I decided to give it a go when I was stuck once for a straight piece of layout design.When I have a concept within a design I find the layout easily evolves around it, but for me if I am just given a photograph and text and told to make them look nice its a lot more difficult to pull something interesting out of the hat. So did the book work, for me, no, the graphics deliberately made stark/diagramatic did not inspire me at all, and so I did my usual flicking through my scrap books and magazines for inspiration and scribbling on a layout pad. What it did do was make me think this could work if was done better.
Maybe there is a way we could all start a shared design elements gallery on Flickr or similar image gallery (cool headings, navigation, folios etc) ? I rarely use Flickr so am not sure if this is possible for people to group their images together, or do you prefer to have your own personal resource? What do you think?
Twitter
RSS
Facebook
17 Comments
I really really like the idea of a shared design gallery for inspiration. I don’t know if something like this already exists, but if it doesn’t then I think you’re onto something! And if it does, then count me in. I’ll be interested to find out.
I rarely use Flickr either, although I know that it’s possible to pool images.
Ben at Noisy Decent Graphics has done this with success, although I can’t remember off the top of my head the location.
That sounds like a great idea! Now to find someone who knows how to create photo groups… I don’t even have a flickr account, so I’m no help
This sounds like something Vivien would be really interested in!
I have used Flickr, and I will create one and get it going if everyone likes the idea. I think it’s a great idea Tara. The groups can be set up to be public so that anyone can add items, or public where anyone can view it, but can only add things by invitation. The second option seems to be the better choice. I’d be glad to manage it.
Thoughts?
By the way, one of the nice things about Flickr is that you can comment on the items that are uploaded there, so it’s a nice place to house a design community.
oh, I’m definitely interested in a Flickr group for shared design ideas. I started using Flickr only recently, so if Randa can set it up for everyone to use and manage it, I’ll certainly join it.
There are several very interesting Flickr groups where people share business card samples, posters by category, that famous Web 2.0 logos group and the list goes on.
Brilliant idea.
I’ve got a lot of good and unused hosting space and bandwidth, so I’d be more than willing to help out; but if not me, then I’m willing to contribute
Ok, I hesitated to set this up while Tara is still on holiday, lest I seem to be “hijacking” her idea without getting more feedback from her but… Tara- I hope you won’t mind, but I went ahead and set up a Flickr group since there was some interest.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/inspir/
My apologies if you think the name is silly- it’s a litle play on “flickr”. I can always change it if you want me to. If you want to share items in the group, you’ll need a Flickr account. I did set it up to be publicly viewable, but you can only join the group by requesting permission. I’m not really sure how that works- maybe someone could try and join and see what happens? I assume I’ll get an e-mail or something…
NOTE: Flickr can be good for SEO- see this article
.
Ok, I think my last comment went into moderation because there were two links in there. Since who knows when Tara is back from her holiday, I’ll try again.
Tara- I hope you won’t think I’ve hijacked your idea, but since there was some interest I did go ahead and set up a group on Flickr:
http://flickr.com/groups/inspir/
If everyone thinks the name is goofy, I can easily change it. It’s a public group, but you can only join on approval. I thought that was better suited to our purposes. I added a couple of images just to play around and see how it worked.
The other link I had added in the last comment was about how Flickr can be good for SEO, as they are indexed by Google and Yahoo, so you can always put the keywords you want to rank for in the image description, as well as your URL.
Quick work, Randa. I’ve just requested permission to join. Once you accept (I hope
), then I’ll post some work.
Hi everyone just got back from my hols, thanks for setting something up Randa, I will check it out.
Hi guys,
I would like to join in and contribute too. I can only access Flickr sporadically – the place where I work has it as a forbidden site – and I teach digital design! But I hope to join and add something soon.
Jennifer- I just sent you an invite via e-mail!
Randa this is probably a silly question but where is the invite someone button on Flickr? Thanks
Tara, click on the “Contacts” menu in the header, and select “Invite Contacts” from the dropdown.
Or, when you’re in the Inspir group, you can click on Invite (right next to where it shows how many members there are). I see you added some work – off to check it out!
Thanks Randa, johno
I have added a couple of bits trying to sort out a portfolio page so will upload more when I have some sorted.
One Trackback
[...] over at the Graphic Design blog in a recent post, Graphic Design Cookbook, suggested, Maybe there is a way we could all start a shared design elements gallery on Flickr or [...]