Gabby

Mention navigation to a web designer and they immediately think of hyperlinks of various shapes, sizes and colours. But of course navigation was needed before the web, even before the advent of printing, people needed to know how to get around hand-written manuscripts. In a wider context, the word navigation brings up mental images of seafarers, charts and compasses.

In this article Linda gives us a quick orientation (pun intended) in the historical ideas underpinning navigation, and briefly reviews the different styles and approaches used on the web (maps, bookmarks, breadcrumbs … footprints).

Who knows – thinking about the past and reviewing the present, may give you inspiration for future projects!

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In the second part of this mini-series, that could be termed logo design for non-graphic designers, Linda moves us on from the basic appreciation of the issues involved in this area (discussed last week in Typography IV: Corporate Identity, Logos, and Branding).

Here she’ll outline a simple, efficient route to logo design, building on concepts we’ve seen earlier in this series. A case study is considered to exemplify how the straightforward typographical based approach recommended, still has the flexibility to evolve into a more complex design.

As this brings us further into the world of the graphic designer, Linda then introduces us to some thought provoking copyright (and hence billing) issues associated with logo production and sales.

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Could You Design a Logo? There are plenty of small and midsize companies who don’t just need a good website putting up, but also an improvement in their corporate branding to go along with this great new online presence.

But are you the right person to help them? Surely that type of job is left to graphic designers?

Well, Linda Goin reckons not necessarily – after all, your SMB/SME hasn’t got megabucks to blow and you’re the ‘creative person’ that they know and trust. Armed with a little bit of confidence and an appreciation of typography and images you could provide a one-stop creative shop for your clients. Read on for a short, sharp, insight into corporate identity, logos and branding.

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In this third article on typography, Linda is going to build on the terminology of the first article, where the five historic font families were discussed and look at how typography can be used effectively on web sites that are visually heavy and text light (as opposed to the second article that concentrated on text-heavy websites).

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