7 bad graphic design habits to lose

Every designer has design projects that weren’t up to par. Some designers try to save time and neglect something that should be done in their project. If it turns out “average” and the client is pleased, it’s easy to resort to skipping this step the next time. And very soon, this becomes a bad habit that will eventually result in lost clients. There are enough potential snags out there without getting into bad habits.

The steps learned in designing are meant to be followed. If a designer has a bad habit of bypassing any of these steps, everyone suffers. It’s just as easy to work toward good habits as it is to revert to bad ones. It’s a matter of scheduling, re-checking along the way, proofreading, and using the other steps that were learned.

Knowing what designer mistakes are is the first step. Then a designer will become aware if they start to slip into any of the following bad habits.

1. Poor Typography Choices

By making the wrong choice of typography, the entire project can fail. Some of the poor decisions are the type that is illegible, too many different types, and applying type that doesn’t go with the content. There are several ways to correct this problem like the few shown below.

– Choose only two or three fonts
– Combine fonts that are round, heights that are similar, or plain and elegant
– Combine serif and sans serif
– Be sure that every word is readable
– Match the tones of the content with the type

2. Fear of White Spaces

When a designer tries to squeeze all of the information into the space allotted, sometimes they make it too cluttered, and that hurts the entire design. It’s important to give every component plenty of white space, so they don’t run into each other. The leading must be the larger type and the body, with a smaller type, needs more space. Make sure to edit the copy to fit the space properly. Space in and around the components need to be the same size. Using a grid will help format the information and space.

3. Using raster instead of vector

Raster isn’t always wrong – but it really is! In most cases, designing the graphics used in backgrounds or logos should be done in vector format. Raster files contain millions upon millions of pixels like in digital photos. When the size changes the pixels become more and more evident. Always use the vector format in all graphic components as it will never lose the clean and crisp resolution. The reason is that it uses curves and lines when creating an image instead of pixels. Whether it’s a print, mobile, web, vector always produces the same feel and look.

4. Too much colour

It the colour palette isn’t planned or is weak, problems will exist. Lack of colour will give it a cold feeling, and it’ll seem messy and cluttered if too many are used. Hues that are oversaturated will appear to vibrate, when being viewed, and will strain the eyes. The best way to avoid this is to use two or maybe three tints and colors to get the maximum effect. Put in a neutral to get a balance and think about how the type will look on top of the colours. There needs to be enough distinction to craft a separation. It also needs to bond warmly with the message.

5. Forgetting to Kern

When a designer neglects to kern, there will be a noticeable difference between a finished project and an incomplete one. There are some combinations of letters, in all typefaces, that may need help. If the lettering is dominant in a component in any form, a little adjustment is probably needed. Kerning is when a designer adjusts the space between two letters. Some letters are too close, and some are too far apart. A manual kerning alternation fixes the problem. Look at all of the large letters in the text and adjust as called for. It will add a little finesse to the project.

6. Failure to Proofread

Typos are always a death but this especially true for designers. It’s not professional to send a “final” copy that has typos. This will never bring a client back so there should never be anything that goes out with typos. Failure to proofread properly can also be very costly. If a project has been printed with errors, the client won’t pay for it. And there’s less profit when it’s reprinted. To avoid all of this, when the project is finished, read it. Then leave it for a while. Come back and read it again, and if it’s necessary, repeat.

7. Forgot to Package

The project is finished, and it’s time to send the product to the client. It’s not enough to send just the raw text or image file. Everything must be packaged together which includes everything used in the project. That’s a complete package, and if it’s not done correctly, there could be a lot of problems for the person opening it. Things could be lost, damaged, or corrupt.

It’s simple to avoid this happening when the complete source files are packaged together in the correct manner. Adobe’s “package” wraps everything in a folder ready to send out. Or it can be done manually. Make a separate folder for fonts, graphics, video, images, and anything else that was used in the project. When sending the final design, include these folders.

Source : http://inkbotdesign.com/