Issue #48
April 05, 2007

Welcome to Inside Freelance Design (IFD), your free, bi-weekly e-letter from American Writers & Artists Inc. Every other week, you can receive this special alert with secrets, tips, and insights from AWAI's graphic design pros to help you improve your skills and reach your goal of becoming a professional graphic designer in the fastest time possible.

IN THIS ISSUE:
  • What’s The Name of That Font, by Kristin Schwarz
  • Quick Tip: Be Careful When Saving JPG Images
  • EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
What Font Is That? Online Systems to the Rescue
By Kristin Schwarz

Your client comes to you and says something like, “I saw a font in a Pets Forever ad that I love. I want it for the headline of the promotion you’re working on.”

You have no idea what the font is called or where to get it. All you see is a sans-serif typeface that is thicker than your usual Arial.

Or maybe a client asks you to recreate the font used on their logo or logo tag line, and the original art is no longer available.

What do you do?

Font recognition: not just for font fanatics

All designers are afflicted with a delicate madness. We love fonts. I have over a thousand available to me, but I use the same ones (10 or so) for 98% of my work.

And you’re probably as much of a font fanatic as I am. You see a font in a publication or ad campaign that captures your fancy … and you wonder what it is. And knowing its name isn’t enough. You also want to know how you can get your hands on it.

But when questions about a “mystery” font come from a client, the situation is different. It changes from a personal obsession into a BIG business problem.

You’d love to be able to tell the client, “The font is ‘Agilita,’ and I know where we can get it.”

Lots of luck! You could spend endless hours searching through font books or online. With tens of thousands of different fonts, you’re looking at several days’ work … with no guarantee of success.

Where font-recognition systems can help

Fortunately, the Internet has several solutions to this problem … in the form of online font-recognition systems.

One of the best font-recognition systems is WhatTheFont, developed by MyFonts with the University of Birmingham in England. It finds the closest match for you from a database of more than 50,000 fonts … and it’s free.

All you have to do is scan a sample of the typeface you’re trying to identify and submit it as a file through their website. The scan can be color or black and white, and it doesn’t have to be high resolution (although that helps). Check out the WhatTheFont site for exact specifications and search tips.

If that doesn’t work, you can submit your image to the WhatTheFont Forum, where type enthusiasts may be able to help. You can also view submissions and comments posted by other designers.

WhatTheFont is not the only free font-finder out there. Identifont offers an online system that guides you through some questions on the characteristics of the font you are looking for. Identifont’s system is not as accurate as WhatTheFont’s, but it is still excellent.

Linotype offers a similar service.

Knowing about these font-recognition services can be a tremendous asset for you in your DM design business. And if you’re afflicted with font madness … it is also a lot of fun.

* * * * * * * * Highly Recommended * * * * * * * *

Selecting the design software that best fits your needs may be one of the most critical decisions you ever make!

The perfect design program that is right for you will fit your budget, fit your working style, give you all the features you regularly use - and help you access them more easily. It also should give you room to grow as a designer and advance your career!

If you have any questions about design software – about what you DO and DON'T need to make your design business a success -- AWAI's Designers Guide to Buying Software will help you make the decision that's best for you!

Click here to learn more.

QUICK TIP: Be Careful When Saving JPG Images

If you take digital photos, download images from royalty-free sites, or get photos from clients or friends, the most common format you’ll get them in is JPG.

The JPG format gives you a huge advantage when transferring images. The file size can be made small, because it uses a compression system that mashes the image data together. And you can specify how compressed the file will be.

Then, when you open the compressed image, it appears full-sized and ready to use.

But JPG compression carries a cost. The compression is “lossy” … meaning that every time you open a JPG image and save it again, you lose some data. Eventually, the image loses sharpness, contrast, and overall quality.

Open and save it enough … and you have an unusable image.

The solution is easy. The first time you open a JPG, convert it to a high-resolution TIFF or PNG master image. Both of these formats use “lossless” compression – and you can easily convert them to a high-quality JPG image using software like Photoshop.

And here’s a valuable JPG tip from GDS Member Joseph Browns:

“In Photoshop, Edit > Save for Web works magic on JPGs, making them a teeny fraction of the original size, without losing much quality.”

Thank you for the tip, Joseph. This is a great way to configure JPG images for the Web or for viewing on screen or in email. The file’s resolution is too low for print work, but that’s why you use a high-resolution version as a master

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EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
  • WEB GRAPHIC DESIGNER – Incline Technology Solutions needs a creative, innovative designer to take the lead on their Web development projects. You should have a broad background in Web design techniques and well as a good understanding of Web usability. Send your information with links to your portfolio to Ryan Campbell at dryan.campbell@yahoo.com.

  • GRAPHIC DESIGNER – CTA Integrated Communications, a full-service communication firm located in Louisville, CO, is looking for a graphic designer to join their creative team. You'll work on direct mail, brochures, newsletters, and more. You must know the Adobe Creative Suite plus PowerPoint, Dream Weaver, and Flash. Send your resume and pdf samples (or links to samples) to creativecareers@ctaintegrated.com.

  • ENTRY-LEVEL GRAPHIC DESIGNER – Bag 'n Baggage has an immediate need for an entry-level graphic designer to join their in-house team. You'll use proven skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Quark to create a variety of marketing-oriented materials. Send your resume, design samples, and salary requirements to mikeb@bagnbaggage.net.

COMING NEXT ISSUE:
  • A Super-Simple Way to Land New Clients
  • Quick Tip: What’s That Color on My Monitor?
* ABOUT INSIDE FREELANCE DESIGN *

Inside Freelance Design is a FREE bi-weekly newsletter from American Writers & Artists Inc., available to AWAI members and friends.

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