Design & Photography

Category: Uncategorized

  • Portfolio Show from an Inside Source

    When planning out what to show at the portfolio, pick things you enjoyed creating and can talk a lot about! When an industry professional comes up to your booth, be excited to talk about all the things you’ve accomplished.

    Make sure to have one specific thing that captures all of your skills. Photography, illustrating, layout, or maybe even video work. Variety is key when it comes to the design world. Leaders within the industry want to know that you’re not only a “one job” kind of person. Try everything! Dip your toes into every little thing that you can while in college.

  • Inspiration Season in the Photography World

    Whenever I look outdoors in the spring, my mind jumps to how pretty a photography shoot there would be. The colors, florals, blooms, and weather make it so much fun to think about shooting photos in the spring. Inspiration doesn’t always have to come from other people. In this case, my creative juices started flowing because of a season.

    Photo captured by Dannika Weelborg

  • Tiny Text, Big Impact: Spread vs. Choke in Printing


    In trapping cases involving smaller type, the eye can easily detect changes in the shape of dark objects. To prevent the type from appearing overly bold, shrink the background (choke).

  • Knock Out Small Text OR Overprint it?

    Below is a clear example of why it’s better to overprint small text rather than knock it out. Small text is hard to get aligned perfectly with knockouts. Instead, just overprint it.

  • Third Color Results With Overprinting 

    Below, the first example shows the end result with overprinting. The color in the final result differs from how it started. In the second example, three colors appear due to the knockout of the “A”. There are three different colors in the final result due to the knockout and slight overlap of the two colors.

  • Knockout Versus Overprint: Which One?

    The top example shows what a knockout might look like, while the bottom example illustrates an overprint. In these cases, overprinting is the better choice to prevent issues from mis-registration.

  • When Colors Collide: Spread vs. Choke in the Print World


    In a spread, the top object is “knocked out” of the object beneath it, and its color is extended outward to cover the underlying color. In a choke, the top object is also “knocked out” of the object below, but the background color is brought into the knocked-out area to ensure proper trapping.

  • Trapping Not Necessary

    Sometimes, the resulting color from the overprinting of two inks is a desired effect, as the overlap creates a third color. Trapping, however, would prevent this third color from appearing.

  • When the Colors Don’t Line Up: Tackling Print Mis-registration


    During the printing process, paper can shift as it moves from one color unit to the next. Without proper trapping or paper control, this can lead to image shifting or mis-registration.

    The image below is an example of what it could look like if there is mis-registration.

  • Obvious Trap Within Printing

    In an obvious trap, mixing colors is a must!

    1. Select a color for the stroke that is a mixture of the two initial colors.
    2. Note that below for a cyan letter on top of a magenta background, a darker stroke is used that is made up of 40% C and 100% M.
    3. Notice that the darker valued ink is used at the higher percentage.