dave johnson design - creative freelance graphic designer

A galaxy far far away…

dave — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:56:23 +0000

It always amazes me how much this type of photography sells itself.

I was recently contacted by an online toy and collectibles retailer, who wanted to update his existing poor quality product shots with some professionally taken. Initially I shot around fifty different items. My client was so pleased with these he asked me to shoot over 100 more.

Very simple set-up with minimal post-shoot Photoshop work.

Apologies for the watermark – I’ve had a few issues, in the past, with people and organisations flaunting copyright notices, and my images appearing where they shouldn’t without permission. If you’re interested in similar photography for your project, please do get in touch.

Finally, an alternative to Microsoft…

dave — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:04:09 +0000

Just about every computer, in every office and home, has a copy of Microsoft Office running on it – wether it be legal or bootleg. For many this is the quintessential software suite for day-to-day word processing and spreadsheets. But its expensive to buy and upgrade, non user-friendly and, at times, can also be the most infuriating software known to man.

For anyone who’s as fed up with Microsoft products as I am, there is hope.

I discovered, not a stiff drink at the end of every Microsoft Office session, but a really well built and well designed open source office suite called OpenOffice. Its free to download, works on practically every computer platform available and is fully compatible with all existing Microsoft Office documents.

OpenOffice packages include Writer (Word), Calc (Excel), Impress (PowerPoint), plus Draw (drawing package), Base (for database creation), and Math (for creating and resolving mathematical formulae).

What they say…
OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.

What I say…
It works, is available on just about any computer platform and its totally free – what more is there to say except download it now!

Impact International Calendar 2010

dave — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:00:37 +0000

Impact International are global leaders in sustainable business transformation and people development. Their learning journeys and training solutions inspire new thinking and generate the meaningful dialogue needed to create and develop sustainable enterprise.

This years Impact calendar is designed to be hung on the wall, and uses images taken by Impact’s internationally based staff. Arrives as an A5 ‘booklet’ with a seasonal message and space for a personal greeting on the back cover. A4 ‘open’ size, litho printed in full colour on 100% recycled paper, using vegetable based inks, wiro bound. All fully recyclable.

I designed and produced this project whilst working at Zinco.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot?

dave — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:01:58 +0000

And never brought to mind, should auld acquaintance be forgot?, and auld lang syne.

It’s 2010 and I wish a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to you all!

It was my brithday yesterday so, right about midnight, I’ll probably be having one or two more glasses of the finest wines available to humanity (thank goodness for auto-scheduling pages on my new website!).

Auld Lang Syne (times gone by)
Adapted from a traditional song by Robbie Burns (1759-96)

5 golden rings

dave — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:00:13 +0000

Come on, sing along… Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree!

For environmental reasons I don’t send out business Christmas cards, so I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks for your continued support and business, and to wish all of my clients, suppliers and friends a very merry and peaceful Christmas, and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

I realise its been a tough year for us all but, hopefully, next year will be a different story!?

Holidays – Please note I will be away over the Christmas and New Year period from 18.12.09 until 04.01.10 inclusive. However, if you have any urgent requirements please do get in touch as I will have occasional access to my computer.

Click here to read my Christmas related blog atricle…

Bubblehouse website

dave — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:00:27 +0000

bubblehouse was my old band from the 90’s. Our MySpace page still gets a considerable amount of visitors and comments, so we thought it might be better to have a website of our own – particularly as there’s talk of getting back together and writing new material.

This dynamic website is database driven, includes an easy to use content management system, photo sliders, and image galleries, as well as a facility to allow visitors to leave comments or send in their own photos etc of old bubblehouse gigs.

In the coming weeks I’ll also be adding sound clips and videos.

Click here to visit the bubblehouse website.

Cumbria Crystal Welcome Pack Advert

dave — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:00:15 +0000

Based in Ulverston, Cumbria Crystal are the only remaining producer of hand-made full lead crystal in England.

This ‘king-size’ advertisment was designed to be included in hotel ‘Welcome Packs’. These welcome packs are usually to be found in local hotels when visiting a particular area, and advertise various attractions for tourists to visit during their stay. The layout and styling of the advert is based closely on Cumbria Crystal’s existing leaflet used for distribution through Tourist Information Centres.

I designed and produced this project whilst working at Zinco.

N-Visage™ Brochure

dave — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:24:36 +0000

Developed by REACT Engineering Limited, N-Visage™ is a patented modelling technique that predicts the location and size of radiation source terms within a 3D CAD model of any building or facility.

This brochure promotes the new technology and services offered to potential customers. and includes specially commissioned photography of the N-Visage™ device. A4, 6 pages, printed litho in full colour on environmentally friendly paper.

I designed and produced this project whilst working at Zinco.

The best marketing campaign

dave — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:00:47 +0000

As the festive season approaches, I thought I’d take a minute to highlight one of the most successful marketing campaigns of all time – and it all centres around the man in red!

While Santa Claus was originally portrayed wearing bishop’s robes, in modern times Santa is generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots.

This image of Santa Claus became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. His iconic depiction (illustrated below) in Harpers Weekly was the definitive image of Santa for almost 50 years.

What many people don’t realise though, is that the image of Santa we know and love today was re-invented in the 1930s by Haddon Sundblom for Coca-Cola’s Christmas advertising campaigns (one example is illustrated below). The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was in fact invented by Coca-Cola or that Santa wears red and white because they are the Coca-Cola colors. This is inaccurate though, as several other companies have also used an image of Santa to promote their products. It is likely though that Coca-Cola briefed Sundblom to alter Santa’s red coat to their own ‘Coke’ red – simulateously giving us the definitive Christmas red we all recognise today.

However, its Coca-Cola’s full-on Christmas marketing campaigns since the 1930s that have kept this image of Santa forever fixed in the minds of children and adults all over the world for almost 70 years.

Still, both are beautifully evocative illustrations though… don’t you think!?

Just shows what a powerful tool successful marketing can be!

Halcyon Days Christmas Box

dave — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:40:49 +0000

Halcyon Days produce a range of limited edition collectables including boxes, clocks and ornaments – some of which require a considerable amount of Photoshop retouching before final reproduction.

This was an interesting one… During the production of the Halcyon Days Christmas catalogue, this box was sent to us to be photographed. Once the client saw the image they realised that it hadn’t been painted and finished according to specification, so I was asked to make the correct modifications for the catalogue, and the painters would then use this as reference.

Below you can see my final version (top), and the supplied original (bottom).

I designed and produced this project whilst working at Zinco.