According to these two recent and accredited studies, sex and violence in advertising does the exact opposite of it's intended result. It proved that for most women - the larger part of our purchasing audience on the internet and in brick and mortar stores - sexual or violent depictions actually "turn off" the memory. The ones that were remembered were not liked by most women. And for men, although they are more likely to remember the sexual aspects, the brand recall is erased.

"Earlier work has suggested that sex and violence in television programmes deter people from paying attention to advertisements, but speculated that this may be overcome by using sex in the commercials as well. The new work suggests that this view is mistaken. It would appear that sex does not sell anything other than itself."
The big turn off

Ok so what do people like? What does stick in the memory and leave good feelings in the viewer toward the product or business you are designing for?

I will tell you a secret.

If you design as if you are designing for a child - you are on the money every time. Apple knows this. Other great designers know this. Don't get me wrong here. You can have a very sophisticated ad schema, and still retain important childlike elements in the design. This is not a 'dumbing down' recipe, but a design recipe for attractiveness and brand remembrance for the average viewer. Here is a simplified list to work from.

Solid blocks of "friendly' colors.
Larger, bold, easy to read text.
Curved or rounded shapes.
Rhythmic shapes or designs.
Smooth flow or impressions of smooth movement.
Funny or quirky, non-threatening elements or images.

Observe a child watching a professionaly produced commercial. They rock to the music, clap their hands, laugh out loud, sing. And when you take them to the store they see those brands and remember them (and want them) every time.

That level of excitement and joy is what you are aiming for in commercial design for adults. So insofar as your client will allow, leave out the sex and violence and bring back the fun, the simple, the cool. If you need to, show your client the results of these studies. You, your client and his business will all benefit greatly.

Here are a couple of examples of Design Disasters and what I did (or couldn't do) about them.

Example 1:
A site catering to and providing clinical assistance to those with HIV and their families.

I assisted as far as I could in design – but the &%*# at the ad agency who had originally designed their logo and print materials (brochures, etc) did all of it in Scarlet Red and Grays. Apparently he/she learned in Design 101 that red attacts immediate attention. Yes it does. But where it goes from there depends on the mind of the person viewing it, and that is the critical element. Red subconciously generates fear in those already fearful. Grays can promote depression the same way.

This client was dealing with people who are in various stages of depression, or scared out of their minds. So the agency starkly colored their fear and depression and threw it in their faces instead of providing comfort and a sense of security.

One of the images chosen for the home page was of a man walking completely alone, head down, hands in his pockets, under a dull gray overcast sky – all done in grayscale – like he was walking to his grave. It was depressing for me to look at, I can only imagine the negative impact on the poor patients and families.

As I was designing through the agency, using their materials, and had no client contact- there was nothing I could do to remedy the situation and had to just let it go. Needless to say, I no longer have any dealings with this agency and they are still out there, fumbling along and looking for a designer.

Example 2:
A community portal site catering to an upscale, physically active, younger demographic (20 to 40) that would be heavily advertising for several major clothing companies. I was deeply involved in it’s inception from day one.

I open the site one day to check traffic and scan through only to see in screaming 18pt type this headline: “(anonymous) rounded up the chicks for a hot photo shoot!” ….Oh boy.

'..rounded up the Chicks'- like you round up cattle?

By the last demographic study I read over 53% of online sales were to women age 24-45. This demographic is expected to grow very quickly. Online sales are now catching up with store sales – which show that 61% of brick & mortar purchases cover the same feminine demographic. And these women are not buying for themselves either- most of their purchases are for family members, husbands, boyfriends etc.

The last major social study I read (done by Princeton of over 8,000 women, aged 20–45)) showed that over 87% of women are offended by language such as ‘chick’ and the use of the words ‘hot’ in relation to their sex, ie: hotty, etc. Beyond that some 35% of males are offended by the usage as well – and even more in relation to their wives, daughters or girlfriends.

So, on the front page of this site we had language that would immediately piss off over 50% - at minimum - of possible future clients to major advertisers that we were trying to attract and who I knew know their own demographic.

Yes it was a young guy who put the language on there, probably thinking it would be cool to other young guys. But young guys are not the major sales demographic on the internet -in any area, or in brick & mortar stores. When a credit card gets used to purchase items online, mens or womens, or in stores, most of the time it gets pulled out of a purse.

Fortunately we were able to correct this one pretty quickly, but not before there was a post made about it (by a man) on the forum, strongly expressing displeasure.

I'm sure there are a lot of designers out there who have stories like these and worse. Fortunately most of us are able to create and generate vibe, mojo and edge and generate wins for our clients and others, and fend off disaster, even if sometimes we have to fight for it.

Yet, even with all their millions and their so-called experts they apparently can't handle doing the simple job of creating a standards compliant browser that will conform to the rules used by all web developers as the basis of site design and development. While Firefox - open source, relying on donations for development - is nearly fully compliant with W3C code principles.

I can write code and design templating all day and throw it up in Firefox and be assured the page will look exactly as designed, scroll smoothly and load quickly.

I have been working on designing Joomla! (open source) content management sites and playing with various templating. It is so much fun and so easy that we are in the process of converting the main Athyrius Design site to a Joomla based project. I finished the site design and we are just about ready to deploy. You can see a sneak preview at www.athyrius.com/joomla .

But of course yesterday I then had to turn around and spend another day and a half developing fixes and writing a separate CSS code sheet to make up for Explorers seeming total confusion on how to handle basic code. We do this on every site. It is still not quite complete on the Explorer side, but getting there.

If you look at the site in Firefox right now, you will slide like a ball-bearing on ice down the pages- and most pages on the web. Clicking through the site is instantaneous. The images are tight and crisp, the text bright and clear, almost white. The layout is perfectly set. On the gallery pages, there is no loading time whatsoever (unless you have a realy bad connection).

If you are on Explorer, as you scroll down you will notice your screen pausing, hiccuping, lurching down the page like a drunk heading down Main Street. The text shows as a rough, muddy grey, the .png images look blurry, muted, and oversized and yes, you will have a slight load time on the galleries. Navigating from page to page will take longer than on Firefox or Opera.

I have had to write separate code for Explorer to even allow the header image to show on this page, put in a transparent .png 'fix', write a separate .css code to link in with various fixes for Explorer, and the site (and every site that is shown in Explorer) still looks rough, out of focus and hesitates on scrolling because of the horrible way Explorer handles basic screen re-draws.

All web developers and designers have to do this on a constant basis for every site they create. We basically have to develop the same site twice. Once; the correct way using world-wide standards, and then a second code write/re-write/fix for Microsoft Explorer.

Search Google for "Explorer CSS fixes". You will find 1,850,000 search results (as of today). CSS is a basic code used in the layout of websites, and has been used for years now.

All designers have had the experience of developing something cool for the web, and been unable to use it because no matter how much they wanted to deploy it- it would never work well in Explorer. Right now I would love to develop a really exquisite site using layered transparencies, but I seriously hesitate because of the hours I know would be tied up in simply getting it to work right in Explorer.

Where the rubber meets the road is that because of Microsoft's stubborness, or lack of foresight, or arrogance, hundreds of thousands of man-hours, and millions of dollars are wasted every single day in this business. I would love to know how much money U.S. corporations waste yearly on man hours alone in making up for Microsoft's recalcitrance in simply developing a web standard compliant browser.

What I really don't understand is why most have not boycotted Explorer by now. But then, if you have never tried an alternative such as Firefox or Opera you probably think the entire web is one slow, muddy mess. It would be like living under cloudy skies for an entire lifetime, not knowing what the world looks like when the sun shines.

If you have never tried an alternative browser, I encourage you to go to Mozilla.com and download Firefox for free. It is very lightweight and a fast download. The controls are just like Explorers, so I promise you won't get lost or confused. You will notice one thing immediately - everything is suddenly crisp and smooth and fast.
And you will probably never open Explorer again.

As proclaimed on the website. “Lifeclipper is an open air art project.” Lifeclipper consists of a VR headset, GPS and portable computer that feeds images and sound to the participant as he is walking around and interacting in a real environment while totally immersed in a virtual environment.

I believe that this and projects like it will pave a path to immersively interacting with our environments on a daily basis. The Lifeclipper site states that “Users feel as though they are watching a film in which they participate as active observers and in which they get attention from virtual players.”

This is one more step towards blurring the distinction between virtual reality and physical reality. Other applications can be as simple as virtual clocks on our walls or virtual windows with your choice of scenes, incorporating sound. Or as complex as virtually manning a hundred robots in a factory line.

What does this future hold for designers? Everything. Incorporation of virtually designed environments means that designers will be creating a new world. What this world ends up looking like will be up to the designers, the artists, the visionaries. Every accredited university is now exploring the applications, including the futurists at Georgia Tech who have established the GVU Center, whose mission statement is: “To advance the state of the art of the interaction between people, computing machines, and information by developing technologies that naturally reflect the abilities and behavior of people.” As a designer, if you have an interest in exploring this ‘brave new world’ it would be a good idea to contact your local University and ask about any programs they may have and how you can participate.

As with any new technology there are certainly pitfalls and room for abuse. Baser instincts and craving for hedonism, barbarity or pure escapism can drive some to turn this new world into something resembling the old, yet ten times or a hundred times worse. It will be up to the Designers to create the new. To bring thought provoking beauty, balance and reason into this world via the images that spring from the imagination will be your job.

As I write this there are millions of people traversing virtual worlds thanks to the gaming industry. The Gaming industry is a good indicator of what’s to come in regards to the split between barbarity and humanity.

I just read that over 8 Million people are playing World of Warcraft. A lovely and massive virtual environment created for it’s players to totally interact within. The designers have created an amazingly huge universe filled with striking architecture, outdoor environments, creatures to interact with as well as real human beings behind avatars to befriend, play or quest with. There is a certain level of violence in the game- mostly having to do with killing evil dragons or other creatures to 'bring light into the world', or correct environmental poisoning and destruction. People can get so immersed in this environment that some actually have trouble ‘leaving’ it to participate in ‘real life’.

What I am hoping for is a time to come when real life and virtual worlds will co-exist in harmony and support of one another instead of one becoming a place to escape the rigors or hardships of the other.

On the other side of the coin there are the two million or so who play Grand Theft Auto – an example of the barbaric side of the virtual world that involves carjacking, crime, violence, racism and sexism. But to me the numbers give reason for hope- 8 million vs. 2 million is a pretty striking split.

The themes that you decide to focus on in your design concepts now will eventually evolve into a large part of the world you, your children and grandchildren will live, play and work in. This is something to think about when plotting your future work- or considering your next design project; as everything you do will open doors to a future that even now you are in the process of creating.

I remember the first time this happened to me. I was Googling for Haunted Houses at Halloween to find a few spooky stories for the kids. I clicked on a promising link for a Haunted House replete with dungeon. Suddenly a massive flood of images filled my screen- and kept loading until my hard drive locked up solid. Needless to say it was not the kind of 'dungeon' I expected- and it left me a bit more wise to the ways of the world. Yuck. I am sure that everyone who was online back in those days has an experience like this to recount.

It seemed the sleaze and the cheese would never end. In some places, it hasn't ended (see www.cyberspaceorbit.com for a taste of the good old days) It was a madhouse, and it was fun (besides the lack of reliable pop-up blockers). And strangely enough, a lot of the so-called 'conspiracy sites' have proved to be amazingly prescient and accurate, digging up nuggets of pure fact amongst the wierder anomalies. It was a time when graphic arts and net development was evolving at such a rapid rate that it was hard to keep up with in any realistic way.

With every new development a trend would begin -such as the obnoxious blinking text. At one point every single site on the internet had blinking text, I would swear to it. And (ooohh-aaaahhh) animated .gifs. I remember when JASC Paint Shop Pro came out with the Animation Factory. We all had to make some. Come on, fess up, you did make some cheesy animated .gifs in your graphics lifetime. Of course, mine were cool, and I am sure yours were too... uh huh.

These days, sadly, the internet has become corporatized and homogenized. The graphics and design techniques are slicker, yes, and cooler, yes. Multimillion dollar development and graphics corporations have bloomed like dandelions in spring. But the excitement in surfing; never knowing what was beyond the next click, is missing. While we all welcome the ease of the new web 2.0 and up, the personality and fearlessness of the individuals that helped design the net in the early days is greatly missed by some of us.

Sony Display- serving up cold drinks and hot games.

We reveled in the smell of new electronics, brilliant lighting, fabulous audio and larger than life displays from the moment we entered the halls. On the first day we gathered our press-kits and just wandered around. We arranged interviews for the following days with various company heads and took some candid shots.

The immortal Jon Anderson at XM. Following him was his co-immortal, Todd Rundgren.

C|Net Recording Stage

Audiophonic area at HDTV's Display

By the second day I realized that we had not yet seen Adobe, the biggest graphics company in the world- recently joined with Macromedia, home of Flash Animation. We were really looking forward to seeing what kind of imaginative display they had put together. I was hoping for something interactive, perhaps with giant plasma screens and work stations where you could play with software in real time. We were also looking forward to talking with the Adobe reps about the Macromedia buy. Of special interest to us as my better half had been one of the developers on the team that originally created the cell animator that became ‘Flash’, pre-Macromedia.

After asking around, checking maps and deliberate hunting we finally found the Adobe/Macromedia ‘Display’.


Adobe/Macromedia Booth at the CES 2006, Las Vegas

We missed it because we were looking for something large; not something resembling a supersized Dilbert Cubicle. I honestly thought it was a bathroom sign hanging on the wall. I had to look twice.

huh?

Shocked, we wandered in. Nothing inside but a few generic looking tables, chairs, and brochure racks- all in gray. The tall,pc-clad Adobe people (also in gray) completely ignored us until one came over to ask, rather haughtily, if we ‘had an appointment’. We replied that we were there to set an appointment. The gentleman said ‘sorry’ – they were not giving interviews with any press unless the appointment were pre-set. This generally means “scripted questions”. Then they asked us to leave. He said ‘press’ with the same inflection normally reserved for ‘cockroach’.

It was as if we had accidentally wandered into the inner sanctum of the Queen of England.. Hitting this ice-cold wall at Adobe after meeting such open, wonderful people everywhere else was bizarre. Watching from outside the open door for a while we noted that everyone who wandered in got the same reception. Sharply tilted nose and cold shoulder included.

Apparently Adobe had forgotten that they were attending the Consumer Electronics Show. For most companies this is a chance for some solid interaction with the people who purchase and use their goods on a regular basis. And it means they get a chance to pull out the extraordinary toys they have been busy developing and show them off before they hit the store shelves.

Play time at Gibsons extraordinary club-style tent- Free drinks and live stage shows attracted major crowds.

From the look and feel of Adobes ‘display’ they couldn’t be bothered with consumers, nor did they have anything to show anyone.

Adobe, you know I love you. I would not be here if not for you and you know it .. Most of your software is simply divine. But it is time to climb down off of that stratospheric pedestal and get back down to earth and in touch with the people who brought you this far. Or like all companies who lose touch with thier clients, your lifespan as an active corporation in the creative community will be greatly shortened.

But I have a warning for Adobe; if they don’t get their stuff together and start upgrading their software with designers’ real, human needs in mind, some upstart like Xara is going to come along and eat their lunch. That’s a guarantee.

I really don’t care about corporations or brand names. All I (and every designer who works in vector) wants is an intuitive program that allows us to easily create and move paths, strokes and fills without clicking a million times on microscopic nodes to just capture and adjust a selection, or have to switch between three tools to do the same. Working with the micro-mini Adobe Illustrator nodes and the micro-mini selection zone around those nodes is not only wearing on the eyes, but on the nerves as well. If you work in Illustrator you full well understand my frustration. The program seems designed to fight you every step of the way.

Yes Adobe, we all know you have been busy little bees adding all the nice little bells and whistles from new symbols to fancy little tools. It is like you are adding fins, grills, and high end stereo equipment to a car – but the thing still can’t drive straight down the road without hitting the ditch.

All we want is a program that allows a designer to easily select a node or a line and move it without going blind after 3 hours work. Xara can and has done so and I have taken to starting my basic design in that program and when I have done as much as possible in it, importing it into A.I. Xara’s nodes are actually large enough to select with one click and the path adjustment tools are so intuitive it is unbelievable. It takes half the time to do a basic design in Xara as it does in Adobe Illustrator.

Xara does have drawbacks: the layering system leaves a lot to be desired and if you are switching from Adobe Illustrator back to Xara you have to save back to a Legacy 8 or Xara will error and not open the file. For those of us working in Illustrator CS2 that can be a pain. But I would not bother doing it if Adobe could learn a lesson from Xaras intuitive ease of handling.

The one striking thing about all of this is the extremely well defined and insistant drive for individuality on the net. Although humans may enjoy tribalism ie: finding people that they harmonize with -they insist on exhibiting a high level of individualism in all forms of expression including art, music, and design.

It seems now, early on in the nets rebirth into Web 2.0 that things look a little dry out there. Digg is undoubtedly bland in looks, but currently (as of this morning) it was by Alexis as the 153rd most popular site on the entire internet. But as technology surges forward in breakthroughs that allow more and more interactivity, more space, and more power, we are going to see a new surge in design and art that will rely less and less upon 'the in thing' and more and more on random, individual acts of design. I see 'quirky' becoming the new 'in' thing as it is the antithesis of 'in' itself. People are definitely becoming rebellious of design being dictated to them and are more than ready to do their own thing- and who can blame them? These days anyone can be a star, dictated only by their own abilities and imagination.
The design watchwords for the near future?

Strange
Random
Individualistic
Eccentric
Quirky

For the artist this will be the opportunity to break new ground and truly explore the depths of unlimited imagination.

Most professional freelance graphic artists have spent as much time fine tuning their art as it takes to get a masters degree in any profession. Most of us work with multiple, intricate software platforms, each of which alone can take years to master. And we consistently develop new methods, new designs, and new ideas that take a great deal of effort and creativity. Why people have this strange idea that graphic designers should work for free (or nearly so) is a total mystery to me, but many do. More than in any other profession I have witnessed first-hand.

And here is a list of reasons and excuses that people have used to keep from pulling out the checkbook, and my responses. Please feel free to add to it or share your stories in the comments section below. I would love to hear them.
_______________________

1. "Well we thought you would do this first one for free, so we can see if you can do what we want."

Would this person tell his barber to give him his first hair-cut for free, to see if he liked it? Obviously they like your work and know what you can do, or they wouldn’t be talking with you in the first place.

2. "Do this (free) for me and I will hook you up with my relative, (nephew, niece, cousin) the famous (recording star, movie icon, producer) - he/she will love your stuff."

But in the long run they are always ‘in a meeting’ or ‘on tour’ or ‘in another country’ or ‘going through a divorce’ or 'washing thier dog'...

3. "Work on this for me and we can build this business together and both make money."

This type wants everyone to work on ‘stuff’ for them for free, and because of that in the long run they end up owing a lot of people besides you and generally turn out to be total losers who are in debt up to their eyeballs.

4. "The check is in the mail."

Uh Huh.

5. "I don’t have money, but I need something to show the investors. They have lots of money."

Yes, generally money you will never see once the project is finished and the art is in the contractor’s hands.

6. "It’s only a little sign... (banner, website, etc)."

The next time you need an emergency appendectomy try telling your surgeon that it is ‘only a little organ’.

7. "Do this project (free) and it will get you a ton of exposure to the right people."

Just don’t wait with bated breath for the calls to start rolling in or you will need to call for emergency oxygen… right before your phone gets shut off.

8. "I will pay you when the project is finished."

No you won’t, because I actually need to eat and pay bills while I am working on your project, not afterward.

9. "My (cousin, sister, nephew) the (rotary club secretary, auto detailer, dog catcher) would do it for me for free."

Okay! Obviously you don’t need me!

There are other scams out there- generally designed to play on the artists’ ego. What we lack in greed, we make up for in ego. I can admit to that. But it is an ego based on our work - not on our personal selves. Hence you have a plethora of ‘Design Contests’, generally online, that nets scammers a lot of free artwork. I am sure you have encountered those and others.

I remember very clearly the day a fellow professional looked me in the eye and told me, “I don’t open a program without getting paid." That day I went home, heated my Ramen and thought about it for a while before deciding he was absolutely right.

The only time you should work for 'free' is for non-profit entities; when you can afford to.
Or for your grandmother.

Photoshop Gallery on Graphics.com
Graphic Gallery on Graphics.com
Athyrius Design Website

The CES could have been called the Orange Bowl of Conventions. It was astonishing. From packaging, to signage, to literature. A couple of other colors were at play of course, a sky blue and lime green, both of which were chosen seemingly to emphasize the Orange.
Ok, you are thinking to yourself- “She went to the largest convention on earth and saw the most amazing new technological devices in the universe, and she is talking about Orange?”

Actually I am talking about an advertising trend so overwhelming broad in scope and influence that it actually colored one of the largest gatherings of one of the largest and most influential industries on earth. So I spent some time thinking about and studying this as, after all, I am in the business of branding. I know the depth of consumer/socio-psychological testing that goes on before a major new product or service goes on the shelf. This was no accident that the major manufacturers who can conduct or afford access to these studies were all exhibiting this very same shade of color.

Once upon a time, back in the happy, non-threatening days from the 1960’s through 1990’s the major rule in shelf or advertising branding was use Red. Red was shown to instantly attract the eye of the consumer to your particular product. This led me to wonder what had happened since that time, especially in the very recent past, to change Red to Orange. It rather quickly became apparent exactly what had happened. In a personally non-threatening environment, under comfortable conditions, the color Red means excitement, adventure, fun. Under personally threatening conditions the color Red becomes very uncomfortable to view. It converts to a fear-inducing color within the psyche.

Orange is Red that has been ‘watered down’ with yellow- a psychologically sunny, happy color. Orange can be nearly as eye-catching as Red, without the uncomfortable side effects that occur in uncomfortable surroundings.

This focus on security and comfortable, non-threatening design reminded me of an insider paper that was produced by a major auto manufacturer in explaining that their SUV’s needed to be designed in a way that was ‘comforting’ to the consumer. This paper went on to say that the interior design needed to be rounded, padded and ‘womblike’ to provide the greatest sense of internal security possible for today’s consumer. So what is this Orange trend really saying about us, our society and the influence of our art in reflecting what is happening in the minds of the consumer? Is our job now not to excite people as much as to comfort and soothe them?
Just something to consider - as designers in looking closer at present and future trends, and as people.

Photoshop Gallery on Graphics.com
Graphic Gallery on Graphics.com
Athyrius Design Website

About timelines. Understand that if you have chosen a professional artist they are generally not going to 'pop out' a logo in a week. They are going to take the time to look at the art you have shown them already, and they are going to consider your market and the effects of form and color on your clients. Often it takes a week or so of sketching and considering different ideas before you even see the first 'Comp'. Never try to rush your graphic artist. Make sure you have adjusted your business timelines in order to accommodate a truly professional job.
(Comp- Initial test designs as presented to you by your artist.)

Insofar as judging design I recommend you do as my smartest clients do- share the initial comps with business associates, family and friends. Get recommendations from them until you find consensus on a specific design and go with it. If you still can't decide, leave it up to your artist.

About design changes. I often compare graphic layouts to parking cars. Whether it is a poster, postcard, business card, it doesn't matter. It takes time and effort to graphically and artistically layout a great design incorporating all of the informational elements necessary. To request a major change in these elements after the layout is done is akin to asking that the mercedes be put where the cadillac is and adding space for a volvo. Often it means moving everything, re-sizing other graphical elements and changing 'space' completely. So make sure that your artist has all of the information needed from the very beginning and try not to request too many 'tweaks' or you can lose the design itself to minutinae.

About fees. Universal rule: you get what you pay for. And what you are paying for now will be the first thing that every consumer that encounters your business will see- forever. I alway suggest checking the Graphics Artists Guild pages for standard guidelines to work into your marketing budget. See the Pricing and Ethical Guidelines link for a good reference. Spending a little time on this site will also help prepare you to understand your graphic artist and the process of design that you will both go through during the duration of your project.

But the important thing is that no matter what the designs purpose it needs to flow, it needs to be balanced, it needs to look fabulous and eye-catching without looking tasteless or thrown together. There is a professional 'edge' to design that I believe we only learn with time and effort. It is very hard to define in words, but when you see it, you know it. And attaining this level of design matters, believe me.

In October we held a Mr. Olympia after-party. This was at the request of a Mr Olympia contender, whom we had met at another event we held at the Palms. This contender was expected to come in the top three and had placed in the top three in the Arnold Classic this year. In the course of the project we designed the 6x8 invitation cards and distributed them around town, targeting fitness clubs and healthfood stores, and at the Mr. Olympia Convention.

Then disaster struck. Our contender made an abysmal showing at the preliminaries on the morning of the event. Disaster for him and for us. We knew from experience that people do not want to be around "losers"- and something like that can kill an event. Worse, our afterparty was competing with three other top-billed and heavily advertised parties that same night.

But amazingly most of the former and current Mr. & Mrs. Olympia winners showed up at our event, along with hundreds of fans. I have never seen so many huge people in one place in my life - except possibly the Floyd Mayweather party the night he won his Belt.
During the party I did a little on-the-spot polling and I asked a few people why they chose our party in particular. Surprisingly, many individuals said "you guys had the best/coolest/sharpest invitation card so we knew that it was going to be a class affair.", and words to that effect. We discovered later that the other Mr. Olympia after-parties were a complete bust.

Which just goes to show that great design can psychologically overcome the odds and make all the difference in the world, flamboyant or conservative.

You can see the design (which we actually did not think was that fabulous because we had a very short timeline on development) at: http://www.athyrius.com/mr_olympia.html

These low-cost software packages promised to "turn anyone into a graphic designer in minutes!"

Uh huh.

The low-cost "graphic design" software allowed any business owner anywhere to hand a cheap disk to his poor secretary and instantly turn her into his web-designer/advertising layout designer/business card designer/brochure creator/ etc & ad nauseum, saving him tens of thousands of dollars or more a year. The resulting chaos consisted of a mass plethora of hideously appalling, dreadfully designed websites and advertising materials that poured into the public arena like a flood of visual toxic sludge.

The major side-effect of this desktop publishing boom was that many brilliant and creative graphic artists and web designers, who had studied and practiced their art for years, suddenly found themselves unemployed or in financial straits as their contracts began drying up. Another side-effect is that small companies began accepting bad design as a matter of course.

Small business owners were thrilled at the savings. But this boon of getting 'two for one' out of their secretaries ultimately came back to bite them. Larger businesses and corporations knew the importance of using only the brightest of the creative artists in promoting themselves and their products. The larger corporations were thrilled to see the smaller businesses producing such amateurish advertising and websites. What an instantaneous way to separate the 'big boys' from the 'little guy'. Also, with the sudden flood of talented artists cut loose on a tighter and tighter market, larger companies had their choice of great graphic designers at cut-rate prices.

Yea Desktop Publishing!

Fortunately this trend is beginning to change. Many small business owners (the smart ones) are realizing that amateurish advertising on the web or in print actually kills sales. The subconscious thought process of the average consumer is: "If the advertising looks like garbage- the product must be garbage as well.", and no one needs an art degree to spot bad design. Many companies that didn't learn this are gone by the wayside. Unfortunately, many great graphic artists are gone as well.