Hey Lion…Where is My User/Library Folder?

Just wanted to post this in case anyone else was wondering who stole their user/library folder in Mac OS 10.7. For some reason Apple decided to hide it. To get it back to where it is visible in your finder open the Terminal app and type:

chflags nohidden ~/Library/

The Library folder will reappear in your user folder.

Vector Logo Recreation

As a business owner your logo is a huge part of your branding. Over the years I have been amazed how many business do not have a vector version of their logo due to their original designer not providing it to them, or it being lost over the years. If you only have your logo as a raster image file, such as jpg or tif, you may come across issues when trying to use your logo for commercial uses such as large format printing, clothing, and in general most forms of print collateral. Raster logos are fine for the web, but if your logo is not in vector format you may have problems using it for print purposes.

Bitmap images have a set resolution, or amount of pixels they contain. When you enlarge this bitmap image the resolution degrades. For example you have a 4” x 4” logo at 300 dpi. If you need this logo at 8” x 8” for a poster, you would downgrade the resolution to 150dpi. Think of it as a sliding scale, as you enlarge the logo the resolution shrinks, and vice versa.

Vector logos do not contain pixels, they can be enlarged infinitely and never become pixelated or lose quality. A 1” x 1” vector logo will look exactly the same, and stay razor sharp, no matter how large you make it. Vector logos are also the preferred format for all printers, whether it be commercial, for a publication or for clothing.

I get a lot of request if a logo can appear on top of a photo or background without the “white box” around it. The white box is the background that you have on a flattened raster image. A vector logo would be transparent and either an .ai (Adobe Illustrator) or .eps (Encapsulated PostScript) file will allow you to place your logo on top of another object and not have the white box around it. Do not be fooled though by an .eps that was created in photoshop, as that is a raster file, it may be transparent, but will pixelate when you enlarge it. A true vector file is created in a vector program like Illustrator or Corel Draw, even though the extension may be .eps, it may still be a raster file.

If you look at the images below both are 1” logos that have been enlarged 1000%. As you see the vector logo on the left is still razor sharp, and the bitmap logo on the right has become pixelated. If you have ever flipped through a magazine and seen this type of pixelization on a logo, it is due to the fact that the logo was a bitmap and was most likely blown up a lot larger than it’s original size.



If you have a logo and do not have it in a vector format please feel free to email me a copy of it, I will be glad to give you an estimate on the cost involved in recreating it to vector format.

New site is live

After a few months of trashing layouts and trying to find time to work on “my” stuff, the new site is finally live. I added a references page to the new version because I was asked for them on occasion. I also wanted to make the portfolio page very easy to navigate based on print, identity and web and I think this layout works well. The site was done in wordpress and to be honest I think I may try and do all future website projects in wordpress. I have noticed a lot of request lately from clients wanting to edit certain areas of their websites themselves, and designing their sites in wordpress and a little training is all they need. Feel free to give me any feedback, and if you notice any issues let me know what they are and what browser and OS you are running. Happy New Year!