Image libraries are becoming increasingly popular with businesses feeling the pinch of recession. Those photographs, digital images and logos didn’t fall from the sky; people made them and were paid for it. Why weren’t you one of those people?
Everyone has to learn somewhere. While most professionals designers have studied at art college, there are hobbyists queuing up to learn how to use design software, so why not teach them? Think beyond digital design, too; if you can draw, why not teach art classes?
Many of us are hobby photographers anyway, so why not put it to good use? Professional snappers aren’t going to be quaking in their boots, but niche areas of photography remain undeserved in the age of ubiquitous digital cameras.
You don’t need a letterpress to produce interesting books and pamphlets; any designer with an interest in literature or fiction can use print-on-demand services to produce fantastic work.
A classic side-project, printed T-shirts are simple to produce and eternally popular. Starting a couture clothing line might require a serious investment, but T-shirts? Not so much. From simple silk-screening to mass production, T-shirts have always been easy to make and, if your ideas are good easy to sell.
Everyone from big soft drink companies to wine festivals are interested in the flow, movement, freedom of mind and ornate lettering of psychedelic design. The context and the aims of psychedelic design are different now than they were in the 1960′s.
Many designers are trying to walk to the same path while trying to improve it a bit more, according to the possibilities that the present era brings us.
People are seduced by the graphics of the psychedelic era, which brings a lot of possibilities. They can be oriented to appeal to children, as well as be very sophisticated, but they always bring us a kind of mystic dreamlike feeling.
Psychedelic-infused art and design is taking on the mainstream. The heydey of psychedelic art and design spanned but a few years from the rump end of the 1960’s, and yet its influence continues to resonate strongly, with a new breed of artists and designers drawing on the classic works of genre in fresh and exciting ways.
Unlike psychedelic music – which has rolled into the mainstream – psychedelic art remained very much a part of the counter culture, never gaining true acceptance by the established art community of the day. It was frowned upon by the art establishment, in much the same way as freestyle graffiti was in the 1960s.
Artist such as Hurford, Gerald Scarfe, Alan Aldridge and Barney Bubbles came to encapsulate 1960’s psychedelia. Hurford was one of the main illustrators working on famed counter-culture magazine Oz.
In London around 1967 there were psychedelic posters on walls and for sale from street vendors in Oxford Street. They advertised clubs, groups and shops.
From the outset, a main outlet for psychedelic art was the music scene, and UK design group Hipgnosis was at the forefrom of this, designing cover art for outfits such as Pink Floyd, Wishbone Ash, Led Zeppelin and Genesis. In the US, meanwhile, famed designer Milton Glaser won recognition for his psychedelic Bob Dylan poster design.
While never scaling the same heights as it did during the late 1960’s, psychedelic art has maintained a strong relationship with music, but it is the realm of visual communication that it is currently currying unexpected favour. As businesses and orginizations begin to appreciate the genre’s ability to communicate rich and varied visual messages, a new generation of illustrators and designers is putting a fresh spin on the genre.
Stir things up a bit: Voice your opinion and seek public debate and critique of your ideas, not just your designs. Of course, this is dependent on you having ideas in the first place. If you don’t, the best policy is to say nothing and let people read you as a deep thinker. If you do, try not to be too bombastic – you’ve been wrong before.
Work with the best and benefit by mutual association. Creative people spark when they are brought together. The results can be amazing, particularly since first-contact collaboration often involves non-commercial pieces intended to explore some common theme. Not only with the work speak volumes for both parties, there’s no need to feel self-conscious about singing the praises of your fellow creative.
The difference between a good designer and a successful designer is self promotion. Churning out innovative, high quality work is important, but making sure the right people take notice of it and remember who it’s by is even more crucial.
Self promotion doesn’t mean selling out, though. Clever mailers a well-stocked blog, quirky gifts and memorable business cards all help shape Brand You.