The Expierence
For about 3 years I have been using the Wacom tablet, and to be honest this is one tool that really makes life easier. Being able to pick up the pen and feel as if your drawing in your Moleskine sketch book is a good feeling. Currently I am satisfied with the Intuos3 6×8, but now Wacom has done it again! After releasing there Intuos3 Special Edition I thought they would be using the Intuos3 line for a while. They have now taken it a step further with the New Intuos4. Something that I realized is there new size scale. Sizes range from S, M, L to XL ready to meet the needs of all creatives alike.

Product Overview
Intuos4 redefines the Intuos pen tablet experience, thanks to a new design and new features inspired by members of our professional creative community. The shape and surface alike have been completely re-engineered to enable ergonomic, consistent strokes, even over long periods of time.

For more information visit there site at http://www.wacom.com/intuos/index.php

Cavell is a wonderful friend who I have worked with, and still work with! Since we first met 4 years ago, we have always inspired each other with inspiring design tidbits! The Lord has really given him a gift with magazines and layout, and in the past has worked for Last Generation magazine, and Hartland World Missions magazine. I hope this interview will be a blessing to you! Take care!

1. AA How did you get into graphic design?

CB Well I think part of it came naturally. I’ve always had an interest in the visual side of things. My first memory of really doing anything with graphic design was when I made some flyers for our local Vacation Bible School using MS Publisher on Windows 95. After that I began using Publisher for some of my school assignments to kind of spruce things up. Not long after that I got a copy of Photoshop and began playing around with it and doing online tutorials. I think that really jump started my hobby/career of graphic design.

2. AA What pulled you into web design?

CB I’ve really only been interested in web design for the past three or four years now. I had poked around with limited CSS and XHTML back in the late nineties but never really got a grasp of it until I took a simple class on Web Development. Once I got the concept of separating content from presentation and using external style sheets to manage the style of whole sites did I really get excited about using web design as a medium for publishing.

3. AA What is your biggest challenge as a web designer?

CB I think my biggest challenge would be understanding what the clients wants and making it a reality for them especially when they are visionaries.

4. AA How does one make simple designs look good?

CB When you take any two possible solutions to a problem, the simpler one is the better. How do you do that? Use as few features as are necessary to achieve what you need to achieve.

5. AA What are your favorite IE hacks?

CB I’d have to say any script that allows PNG transparency.

6. AA What are some favorite design tools that you just have to have?

CB Coda, Transmit, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, kuler.adobe.com, Wacom Intuos Tablet, and a Mac Computer.

7. AA Magazine design or Web design? What are plus and minuses of both?

CB Hmmm this is a tough one. I’d have to choose magazine design because when the design is all finished and printed out it’s something that I can hold. It’s tangible. Where as with web design everything is stored in bits on a computer somewhere and when you turn off the screen it’s all gone. Also with magazine design after it’s been printed you can’t go back and change anything. This can be a good thing and a bad thing but I look at it as no maintenance. When I finish a design I like it to be fully completed, and not have to be continually tweaking it.

8. AA Whats your standard for web designing?

CB Separate content from presentation. Make the site readable to humans as well as computers, like search bots. Also don’t abuse the pixel. What I mean by that is make every part of the design be effective in getting the viewer to find the content they are looking for and not be so distracted by overuse of design that they go elsewhere to find information they could’ve found on your site.

9. AA What is it like being a Christian Designer in a broad field?

CB We must use sanctified imagination with our designs, and that goes for when designing for Christians and non-Christians alike. Personally I have a burden for making Christian material appealing. There are a lot of Christians out there that have good content that they want to share with the world but just don’t know how to get it to the people. I believe our job is to present their content in an attractive way, and to have a positive influence to the end-user so they will desire to read more and with others.

10. AA What would you like to say to designers just starting out?

CB Learn how to say “No”. Once people realize that you are a designer they will want you do to work for them. At first you’ll take every job you can get and before you know it you’ll have more than you can handle. So my advice is to concentrate as few jobs as possible so that you can deliver quality before quantity.

Just Lay it On
Remember back in the days when you would buy this expensive $80-$100 keyboard reavealing the many shortcuts of Apple Pro applications, ie. Final Cut Pro, Logic, etc. Well now those days are gone while also being inexpensive! KB Covers has developed a quality product that lays right over your keyboard! Whether it’s a Macbook, Macbook Pro, Old gens, New gens, All Apple keyboard gens, your covered.

KB Covers is dedicated to providing the finest quality keyboard covers for Apple/Mac desktop and laptop computers. All their covers are ultra-thin and made with the highest quality silicone available. Their keyboard covers are made with stringent Quality Assurance methods, which help to ensure a tight fit, long-lasting durability, no paint cracking/chipping, a soft-feel, and ultimately a happy customer.

KB Covers are designed to fit all Apple/Mac keyboard layouts around the world, including US keyboard, European ISO keyboard, and Japanese JIS keyboard layouts. Since each cover is designed to fit the Mac keyboard you own, they will not slip or move around when typing. They fit like a glove.

Visit them online at http://www.kbcovers.com/

Bogdan is a wonderful friend that I praise the Lord for, and designer buddy from the east coast in Virginia. He is currently a designer at Hartland Media Services, and is originally from Romania. I hope that this interview will be very educational and a blessing, it sure has been to me! Enjoy!

1. AA How did you first get into graphic design?

BC I first started playing with photo editing and learned some while doing “virtual tuning” on cars. Then I got pulled into some projects that involved type. We’ve been “together” ever since.

2. AA What do you love about graphic design?

BC What I love the most about graphic design is the incorporation of visual arts and a message, that is the content. Both the art and the content are enhanced by the “gestalt”. The mind is focused on a certain concept that the artist perceived while creating the visual because of the text. The text comes to life because of the images, the colors, the pattern and their placement. I sometimes dread the fact that its limited to the 2D world, and to pixels and color spectrums while sometimes I take comfort in that.

3. AA What is your biggest challenge as a designer?

BC My biggest challenge as a designer is finding out what the client wants and helping them realize what that is. When is design for myself my challenge is my own preconceived ideas and design “vocabulary”.

4. AA What’s your greatest influence in design?

BC My greatest influence in design is definitely nature and its probably so for most of us, although we don’t admit it. We seem to be limited to the shapes and colors that the Creator has already put around us.

5. AA What font’s do you find yourself using alot and why?

BC Aaaah, the fonts! Because of the nature of the designs I mostly do, I have to settle for the more common, easy to read fonts. Trajan Pro, Myriad Pro, Adobe Garamond Pro etc. I’ve lately been fond of GeoSans Light and Steiner. The shape is cool.

6. AA What are some apps you just cant live without?

BC The Adobe family: Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Painter X; and then the not so design-specific ones: Firefox, Xee, Things, the iWorks family; Skype, Yahoo Messenger, iTunes, VLC is that enough?

7. AA What was the hardest project you ever worked on?

BC The project difficulty for me is according to how “picky” or wavering and undecided the client is. I prefer not referring to any :D.

8. AA What is the style of Romanian design?

BC The style of romanian design is strongly interwoven with the rest of the european design: vivid colors, sharp edges, contrast, sometimes maximist (as opposed to minimalist LOL). Romanian art is usually strongly influenced by the struggles and hardship of the people yearning for something better but yet failing to find it.

7. AA What would you like to say to designers just starting out?

BC To designer just starting out: do not be afraid to break free from the currents in graphic design (e.g. the “grunge” ) Don’t forget that there needs to be a message to your design; spend time with your tools; understand the needs of the client; understand why you are doing what you are doing; don’t make money your sole factor for deciding between jobs.