The Design Shed

I no longer blog on this waste of space.

I blog here now http://benjaminminnich.com

Ok… So I was thinking… How can I make my designs better? How can I have designs that are forward and push the envolope of development.? Huh… well I can try new techniques that I have never used before. I can also try more photo manipulation and integration into my designs. Or I can develop my own software that will invent new techniques (that will take me forever).

It is not easy designing. It is incredibly fun and awarding, but is still hard none the less. I will get an idea, and I will then draw a rough sketch. I will then scour the internet looking for a way to make my vision a reality. As the old adage says, “Nothing is new under the sun.” So true… look at the designs within the internet. They are drawn upon each other. They use elements from each other.

I want to become a better graphic designer, but I do not want to design something that is too progressive. Too progressive does not make you money, and can ultimately hurt your designs and your design reputation. That is why I love simple, clean designs with a hint of flair.

So as most of the readers of this blog, Dr. Hobbins, the pastor of Lewis Avenue Baptist Church for over 37 years, resigned and Steve Hobbins, his son, took over. Which let me add, has been great. Pastor Steve Hobbins has been doing a fantastic job!

Well for Dr. Hobbins there is going to be a banquet in his honor on May 9th at 6:00pm. It is going to be a great time to honor a man who has done so for other people throughout his life and ministry. Lewis Avenue would not be the place it is today without Dr. Hobbins. A man who has always put the Lord first in everything he has done. He will say that it is not he who has done anything, but the Lord. Well that is true. But Dr. Hobbins first submitted to the Lord’s will, and the Lord used him mightily throughout his life.

(more…)

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I was thinking today of what is everyone’s favorite style of website design. Is it loud, simple, modern, abstract, grunge, large type, or etc… What is it? I can tell you mine. I love simple, elegant or simply elegant. I like the them simple but yet with intelligent graphics. Here are some examples:

http://grapefruitgraphics.com/

http://www.achtentachtig.com/

http://www.mediact.nl/

http://www.thilothamm.de/

http://hotwebber.com/

http://www.authenticjobs.com/

http://www.toggle.uk.com/

All of these sites are some examples of having a clean look without white-washing it. They have either no flash animation whatsoever or they use it very limitedly. Simple, clean, elegant designs. I try to strive for this every time I design, sometimes I get it sometimes I do not, and sometimes I get it weeks later after I think I am done. I have tried to incorporate many of these techniques in a couple different sites: Liberty Baptist, Liberty School, Lewis Ave, State Line, and in my own personal website.

Let me know what you think about design, and how you perceive a site would look if it was yours.

Ok… so I am at it again. Creating more designs for churches and Christian Schools. I enjoy it more than words can express, but I do have some issues and some bones to pick.

First, the designer is the designer, we go to school for this and we study hard, plus we scour the internet looking at designs and design ideas to make us better at what we do. Clients do not! Sorry, if you are, then you are not doing your own job. I will say this though, I love when a client has ideas and inputs of what they like and what they don’t like, it makes our jobs as designers much easier. I enjoy working for someone who can have input, and see things the way they want it to look without compromising us designers and the design we are putting forth. Liberty Baptist Church of Durham, NC is very good at this, so is Lewis Avenue Baptist Church. Two churches I have had the pleasure of working with in past, present, and soon to be future.

Secondly, we cannot and will not copy someone else’s design, period. We will use elements and techniques of another, because nothing is new under the sun. I look at other sites all the time, and say, “I love this… I want to incorporate many of the ideas and styles in my own projects.” But I never say, “wow, this site is awesome, I am going to make mine exactly like this.” I am sorry, you don’t copy someone’s book and say it is your own, why would you copy a website or design and call it yours? Hello…

Thirdly and lastly, I enjoy building and designing websites, graphics, print, media, and anything else related to design. I enjoy it so much that I forget to study for my classes. Sometimes when I have an idea I stay in front of a computer hours at end without eating, drinking, and sometimes sleeping. I love design. I look forward to helping churches and ministries move their presence, whether it be online or print, to the next level and beyond. The reason is, businesses pay billions of dollars for designs; websites, commercials, print brochures, stationary, business cards, multi-media presentations - all in the hopes to make more money, and most of the time they do. Why shouldn’t a church or ministry behave the same way to win souls for Christ. I don’t mean to plop down millions of dollars, but what I am saying to take their websites, stationary, everything of multi-media seriously? We only have so much time to do our jobs, why not use that time efficiently and wisely.

There, that is it. All I am saying is designers are designers, don’t copy an idea - build on that idea and make it better, and become passionate about media design to use to win people for Christ. You can have a slick website and print without having rock-bands playing in the background. A good design should not compromise the mission of your church or ministry.

Enjoy.

So who is going to watch the Super Bowl? Well New York Giants fans and New England fans will watch it, but who else? I will probably be watching the pottery channel, because it will be more exciting than watching New England run all over the Giants. Will you be watching it? If you do, do not tell me what happened, because I really could care less. Not because I am a kill-joy, just the fact I am tired of watching SportsCenter and half of the show is about Brady and the Patriots. Dynasty? Maybe, but once again who cares?

I really am in a good mood, just tired of Brady’s foot and  bill belichick’s attitude.

So my boss made a interesting statement about the WYSIWYG haters. “Do they work on a computer without a GUI OS, like Windows or Mac OSX?” Very interesting comment. Basically everyone who is worth their salt use technology to make their lives and work more productive. So the concept that hand-coding is the only way to go is just plain stupid.

Designers have to worry about their designs, not retyping the same statement over and over again. Hello, earth to the wannabes… I would take a grade A designed site over a text-ridden, clipart-pieced, hand-coded site any day. As long as it is functional it is worth the price paid for it, period.