Rich Murray can be located in Canada, where he will be using his multi-talented skills in Flash Animation and Children’s and Cartoon Illustrations.

He has a degree from Ryerson in Television and Radio Arts and he also holds a Computer Graphics diploma, with high honours from Sheridan College.

Since then, Rich Murray has been employed as an interactive art director at various communications companies and he has worked on contracts for a number of clients in the sectors of healthcare, marketing, telecommunication, advertising, automotive, education and entertainment.

With 17 years of experience in digital illustration, animation and interactive design, Rich has developed many projects – large and small – from beginning to end, and just about everything in between.

He has established the main element of his skill, which is based on his designs of these animated projects. There is a series of logo designs he has done, which capture the element of the information it is giving out but in an illustration

This series has a set of combining colours as well as an added story line. Even if you cannot hear what is going on, you can tell what is happening from the well-constructed illustrations.

Looking through his work, you can see a mixed range of styles but that is because of the designs made for that specific client. Rich has the equipped frame of mind to deal with these requests and create what the customer or client is asking for, with no hesitations.

Rich has made connections within the design world with some well known companies, including AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Bayer, Biovail, Amgen, Shoppers Drug Mart, Kinder Surprise, Texas Instruments, Deal Or No Deal, GM, Rogers, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Airport Parking Reservations, Bang Albino, Loft and many, many more communications companies.

Client List: AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Bayer, Biovail, Amgen, Shoppers Drug Mart, Kinder Surprise, Texas Instruments, Deal Or No Deal, GM, Rogers, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Airport Parking Reservations, Bang Albino, Loft and a whole raft of other communications companies.

Rich Murray’s services include brand designs, illustrations, videos, character designs, games, podcasts, animations, interactive applications, presentations, e-blasts and print.

Why not Do Find new ways to become more efficient as a graphic designer and find a host of top professionals by viewing their design portfolios.

There are many articles on what makes great design. Usually folks like to talk about elements like color and line, etc., but there isn’t a lot of information out there about the principles of design. The principles are basically what a designer can do with the elements. So, let’s talk about this application. What are the principles of design?

The first design principle we should define is balance. Basically, design elements like color or shape need to counter each other in way that equals out. The best way to understand it is to use examples. A little mark close to a border will counter a big mark in the middle of a design area. The same is true for light and dark. The darker the shape, the heavier it appears, so make sure to balance your lights and darks accordingly.

The principle of gradation refers to the size and direction to produce a linear perspective. For example, gradation of color from warm to cool will produce an aerial perspective. The same is true for tones going from dark to light. Gradation will add appeal and a sense of movement to a shape. Dark to light gradation will cause the eye to move along a shape.

Repetition is a fairly simple concept in terms of design. Repetition with some variation is appealing. Repetition without variation will be irritating or boring. It’s tricky to pull off a good design with repetition done well and most beginners do little of it.

Contrast refers to the positioning of opposing elements. For example, using colors opposite one another on the color wheel, like red and green or purple and yellow, provide a great contrast. Contrasting tones would be light vs. dark. Contrasting lines would be horizontal vs. vertical. The most contrast should be at the focal point of your design piece. Too much contrast a bad thing, and can crush unity, so choose carefully.

Harmony is similar to contrast because it deals with how elements interact with each other, but instead of opposing elements working together, harmony is about adjacent elements working together. Examples are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel or ovals next to circles. Harmony gives subtlety and depth to design.

Dominance is important in design because it’s where the eye lands first. But what is it? It’s the emphasis in design. So while you’re playing with contrasting or harmonizing elements, one is surely going to show up as the leading actor so to speak, and that’s dominance.

The connecting or centering design principle is unity. Unity is defined as how the concept is expressed in all elements of the design. So, if the concept is aggression, go with dominant harmonizing colors, jagged lines, and rough texture. If the concept is purity, go with lots of white space or little tonal contrast, few or wavy lines, smooth textures.

Chris Kincaid is a twenty year marketing professional and writes extensively on business including local topics such as graphic design in Michigan and Ann Arbor web design.

If you are looking for a new way to expand your brand awareness one of the best tools that you can use on the Internet is the social media video networking site YouTube. And one of the best ways to take advantage of the power of YouTube is with a professional firm such as Houston website design company, RAXA Design. YouTube is the fourth most visited website on the Internet daily, and is part of the Google family of Internet companies. YouTube when used correctly can be a highly effective marketing tool for your business due to the immense amount of exposure that you can get with very little effort. This is where RAXA Design, a Houston website design company can come to your ais and help you optimize your marketing potential for YouTube.

People love video online. Video is one of the most and interesting parts of the Internet. You can find a video online for just about anything that you find interesting, moving, funny or gross. The best part about online video on YouTube is the fact that there is pretty much no restriction as to what you can produce and how often you can produce it. There are of course some community guidelines that you are expected to follow but they are for the most part common sense things, such as no nudity or sexual oriented material and of course nothing that is considered inflammatory or racist is allowed, but other than these items you are pretty much without restriction other than good common sense and taste. A Houston website design company such as RAXA Design can help you to produce high quality and effective video presentations optimized for YouTube.

Using the power of YouTube to market your business is easy and can make a huge impact to your earning potential. “YouTube is a great tool that a smart business owner will take advantage of,” states Brian Waraksa, owner and Marketing Consultant for Raxa Design, a Houston website design company. His statement has a ring of validity to it. It has been shown that a single YouTube video has the potential to be viewed thousand of times in as little as a couple of weeks. Just think about it, thousands of potential new customers watching what is for all effects and purposes a commercial for your business and they don’t even realize that it is a commercial.

The holiday buying season of 2009 is a prime example of the power that YouTube has on the market. The number one selling toy of the Christmas rush was a small robotic hamster (Zhu Zhu Pets). The distributors of the hamster harnessed the power of YouTube and social video media to build a “gotta-have-it” momentum around the toy for the three months before the shopping season. This was done by using videos of kids that were playing with the hamsters, the videos were made in a way that they resemble regular home movie type videos that are the basis of the YouTube site. This was a highly effective campaign that was produced by a firm similar to Houston website design company RAXA Designs

Marketing took place via the parents or the kids themselves saying the name of the toy over and over throughout the video in a very casual and natural way. Waraksa at the Houston website design company RAXA Designs “The power to utilize everyday, man on the street connections is the very core of why YouTube can be so highly effective in getting you message out, people can connect with your product or service and not even know they are being sold to,” Waraska stated in a conversation at the offices of his Houston website design company.

Raxa Design, a Houston website design company, specializes in graphic design, website design, and search engine optimization. So him and his team know a little about how to develop interactive and informative Internet marketing campaigns.

Some tips to keep in mind when using YouTube to market with video, according to Waraksa are:

1)Don’t make the marketing the central premise of the video, think of it like a dish, make the content the meat and the marketing the subtle seasoning

2)If you are going to include a link across your video it should be understated and should not be constant, bring it into the frame softly a few seconds into the video and then move it out again, repeat one or two more times during the video. Never show it for more then a few seconds.

3)Keep the point of your marketing message simple, if you have a very complex message don’t be afraid to produce more than one video and break the message up into smaller pieces that are easier to digest for the viewer. The same is true for a large product line, you can incorporate your products into the video easily using “product placement” techniques. Just make sure that you aren’t overloading the video with products, one per video is great. Remember they are watching for the content of the video the marketing is soft, they should not even realize its there.

Of course if you are a little skittish about producing your own videos, to aid in your marketing efforts, or perhaps you just don’t have the time, resources or creativity, you can always hire a professional firm to handle it for you. A Houston website design company RAXA Design, which specialize in search engine marketing, can produce full on campaigns, which utilize social media sites such as YouTube and many others to market your brand and message effectively online to a extensively broad and constantly growing market.

The cost of this type of marketing is not as much as you would think and, considering the potential return on investment you can see from video marketing, hiring a firm such as the Houston website design company Raxa Design makes good economic sense. If you were told if you spend $1 and were guaranteed potentially to make $50 would you consider the investment good? YouTube is a goldmine of potential customers who are ready to hear your message. Start making your videos today!

To contact Brian at the Houston Website Design Company click here now.

So many people are browsing the computer looking for products and services. If you are looking to share with the world some services, products or just to get your point across then you need to be sure your website is a site that a visitor will remember and revisit. If you are wondering how to make a great web design you will need to follow some important tips.

First, you will want to know your audience. What type of people will be interested in your product or service the most. These are the people you will want to design your website so it will intrigue them. You will need to keep this target audience in mind when you are writing content for your website.

Learning how to make a great web design can be done in a short time if you know what you are doing. This will give you the foundation you need to start. You do not want your audience to get confused when they land on your website. Your audience should have a good understanding about what you do without searching for it.

While browsing the web, navigation is a key factor that will determine how long someone will stay on a website. Having a table of content will allow the reader to look at a page and quickly return to where they started. This offers easy navigation to your readers so they will not get lost. Easy navigation will be a deciding factor on return visitors.

An important factor when learning how to make a great web design is how long it takes your website to load. Graphics is a reason why a webpage takes a long time to load. To resolve this problem, keeping the pictures small will help. Remember to make sure the image you have is in the correct format also.

Pay attention to the colors you are choosing for your website. Depending on the colors, backgrounds, etc. Some content may not be visible or may be hard on the eyes to read. For example, yellow is hard to read and many times is not visible. While you are choosing the color for your text, it is also good to note, not to add too much text. Web browsers do exactly that, they browse, they do not read all the content, they skim it. A good tip is to have the wording bigger than the average font type and keep it short. Don’t forget to check your spelling. Readers will suspect your site is not professional since you couldn’t put the effort in proofreading how much effort do you put into your products and services then.

Another tip about how to make a great web design, keep all your information about your business current. You do not want to have a sale item on sale from last week because you will have to either honor that price or there is a good chance they will take their business elsewhere.

Having your business’ contact information is important also. You want to be able to answer any questions your readers have. You can have your address listed on the website or you can create another page where they can submit their questions and you can response back.

You have now learned how to make a great web design. Your users will browse your site successfully and with ease. This will result in returning users and more referrals.

Design your webpage appropriately to match your targeted demographics. Visitors from different cities will have unique demands, so gain a competitive advantage by researching on Toronto web design and web design in Vancouver.

Image is everything in winning a client or in dealing with other professionals. You must make a very good first impression. Image doesn’t only include things like the way you look, dress, act, what you wear, or what company you run to make people take you seriously. Your professionalism must also show in the most conspicuous part of your written communication with others. Your image must also include a well-crafted letterhead.

A letterhead is the first thing your clients or other professionals see when they open a mail from you. It not only provides your company address, it also affects how your potential clients see you. The letterhead bears your company name and logo. Writer Charmaine Joy Caro says that a letterhead introduces your company to your prospects, stating who you are and what products and services you have.

You should design your letterhead with the right image for your company. A letterhead is well-designed when it effectively gives you a good image to your prospective customers.

Keep these in mind in making your letterhead:

- Plan carefully the design of the letterhead you are going to use before printing it. Take note all the information to be used in your letterhead, like the company name, company address, person to be contacted, phone and fax number, E-mail address, and Web site (if there is any).

- Choose a logo. The logo represents your company. Clients can easily recognize your company through your logo. Compress your company’s big logo to a size that is fit to your letterhead. Dean Mapa relates that graphic is preferably not larger than 5×2 inches.

- Your letterhead may be printed in one color, two color or full color, on a nice, high quality paper stock. Choose the right kind of paper. You can use textured paper other than the usual bond paper.

There are letterheads written in this way: the logo and the company name are put together on the upper portion of the paper, while the the address and other details are near the bottom page.

- Carla San Gaspar relates that the standard size for a letterhead is the 8.5 x 11 for it is conveniently sent through the mail or through fax.

- Use an excellent quality printing method in fabricating your letterhead. Choose the printing company that provides you with the best services you need. Gaspar notes that four-color printing gives a business letter more character and that it makes logos more identifiable. Another writer, Charmaine Joy Caro relates that the more colors used in the letterhead, the more expensive it becomes.

- Match your letterhead with the envelopes. The paper of the letterhead must match that with the paper used on your envelopes to create a good corporate impression for your business package. Every large and established firm has custom printed letterhead.

When creating your letterhead design, think about what kind of reaction you want potential customers and current clients to feel when they first see your letterhead. A fun, laid-back company with a bright, colorful letterhead design? Or a serious, strong company that doesnt take anything lightly? Neither one of those choices are bad, and there are numerous choices in between these extremes. Whatever gets the feeling of your brand and your company across is right.

Here are some tips to help you get started in creating your letterhead.

Dont necessarily shy away from color. Granted, most professional companies, like banks, have black and white letterhead. But, these designs border on being boring. Using colors in your letterhead can make the page really pop and grab someones attention who might otherwise ignore your letter. Just make sure to use appropriate colors, like light blue (relaxing) for a spa rather than bright pink. If you can pull one color out from your logo design to use, that makes a nice design element. Because you should always

include your logo.
You should already have a logo to include in all of your marketing materials, but if you dont, get one. Generally, logos are the centerpiece of letterhead design. Your letterhead will be seen over and over again in direct mail letters, invoices and other business communications, so you need to get your logo on there so people will recognize it when they see it other places.

Use good quality paper.
You should use bond paper that weighs at least 24 lbs. These papers bear a watermark when held up to the light. Bond paper comes in finishes like linen, which add a nice texture to your letterhead. This texture is an easy way to give the impression that you are a high-class company that people should be doing business with.

Include pertinent info.
Your company name will probably be the primary element of your letterhead. Either that, or your logo, if your logo contains your companys name. You should also include phone numbers, fax numbers, a company email address, your Web site and optionally, the name and title of the President or CEO. Many schools have letterhead with the Principal and Vice-Principals names and phone numbers. This makes it easy for parents (customers) to reach someone at the top of the chain.

Dont forget matching envelopes!
Matching envelopes in the same type of bond paper and with the same font or logo in the return address section exudes class. It might seem like something extra, but think of how out of place your nice letterhead will look coming out of a store-bought, you-can-almost-see-through-it envelope. People will notice if you dont have a matching envelope. Ask your printer for a discount on envelope printing to go with your letterhead printing.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Letterhead Printing

Makes letters look formal
letterhead printing gives your paper work a semblance of formality. For example, would you take a memorandum or official notice seriously if it was written in some yellow paper or other writing pad? How about legal documents printed only in plain bond paper? It takes a leap of faith to see them as a work of a professional right? There is something about the look of a letterhead that demands respectability and formality. If your company isn’t writing its paperwork with letterheads it will look unprofessional. If this happens how would you think your company image will last against your competitors?

Lends to Credibility
One of the major points for investing in letterhead printing is that it lends to credibility. If you guard your letterheads well, and use them for important documents then people will always believe what those letters say. Moreover they will believe that the letter, memorandum or announcement came from you, your department or your firm. Usually with no questions asked. For example, a CEO or head of an organization can make a policy decision and enforce it just by distributing its announcement with the power of a letterhead. People will read it and of course bow down to the decision so to speak. It is almost like a bill becoming a law. Once it is written with the letterhead, it is believable and it will be done so to speak.

Security
Linked to credibility is security. Again, if you guard your letterheads and use them for official functions then people should always note that they will only believe the official information coming from those notes. This is important in firms and organizations where a degree of security in the paperwork is needed. For example, high level research firms, government agencies and corporate management staff could use guarded letterheads to pass on vital information to colleagues. With the official letterhead stamped on to the header people will think the information is secure and believable. So, if you want to feel secure about your paperwork, then letterhead printing is for you.

Those are the major advantages in letterhead printing. Most organizations and firms print letterheads primarily because of these reasons. However, in the end it is about pride and the firm’s image actually. Having a letterhead in your paperwork tells people that you are credible, believable and of course professional.

Have you received a memo or an announcement from you company with a letterhead? Doesn’t it feel so important, urgent or maybe even officious? Letterheads have power in their own right because of this. Still unconvinced? Then let us discuss each point.

Makes letters look formal
Letterhead printing gives your paper work a semblance of formality. For example, would you take a memorandum or official notice seriously if it were written in some yellow paper or other writing pad? How about legal documents printed only in plain bond paper?

It takes a leap of faith to see them as a work of a professional right? There is something about the look of a letterhead that demands respectability and formality. If your company is not writing its paperwork with letterheads, it will look unprofessional. If this happens how would you think your company image will last against your competitors?

Lends to Credibility
One of the major points for investing in letterhead printing is that it lends to credibility. If you guard your letterheads well, and use them for important documents then people will always believe what those letters say. Moreover, they will believe that the letter, memorandum or announcement came from you, your department or your firm.

Usually with no questions asked. For example, a CEO or head of an organization can make a policy decision and enforce it just by distributing its announcement with the power of a letterhead. People will read it and of course bow down to the decision so to speak. It is almost like a bill becoming a law. Once it is written with the letterhead, it is believable and it will be done so to speak.

Security
Linked to credibility is security. Again, if you guard your letterheads and use them for official functions then people should always note that they would only believe the official information coming from those notes. This is important in firms and organizations where a degree of security in the paperwork is needed.

For example, high-level research firms, government agencies and corporate management staff could use guarded letterheads to pass on vital information to colleagues. With the official letterhead stamped on to the header, people will think the information is secure and believable. Therefore, if you want to feel secure about your paperwork, then letterhead printing is for you.

Those are the major advantages in letterhead printing. Most organizations and firms print letterheads primarily because of these reasons. However, in the end it is about pride and the firm’s image actually. Having a letterhead in your paperwork tells people that you are credible, believable and of course professional.

Letterheads seem to imply, and it does so effectively at that too, as a sign that the business has made it. It indicates that the business is legitimate and is performing with a class of its own, befitting its status within the business community.

Every correspondence and every word written on it exudes professionalism and holds weight. It is because letterheads bear the companys logo and name that makes it all the more urgent, official and formal.

Letterheads, though perfunctory of business stationeries, are a necessity. Just imagine directives written without letterheads, theyd probably be ignored or worse, thrashed at some point. Then again, a managers written directive would not fall on deaf ears if it had been written with an official letterhead.

Yet, letterheads and business stationeries are not just for the top corporations. They are not for superiors of executives alone. Personnel with letterheads boosts your employees morale, seeing how theyre own worth, their own roles, are preserved and recognized in print.

It is good practice even for an upstart company to have letterheads. It is good exercise and can lead corporations to even improve them as they go.

But first, a design as distinct and recognizable as their own business should be set up. After all, letterheads do not just circulate within the company but outside as well. Letterheads are reflective of you and your company.

A considerable amount of effort must be present in your letterheads, so that your readers, clients and business partners may respond favorably from the very beginning.

Designing letterheads can be divided into 3 stages, and these are:

1. Preparation of all the necessary information

Gather all the necessary information that you need to include in the letterhead.

Bear in mind which are the most important details which your letterheads cannot do without.

Also, be sure to emphasize the most important details. Some of these may be the company name, full address, the website, phone numbers and email, etcetera.

Check your details and see if anything has been misspelled or any contact details are lacking in information. Sometimes, as little as a missing digit in the telephone number can be overlooked.

2. Picking the theme or color scheme.

Letterheads are just like brand names of corporations. They can easily be identified by virtue of style and color.

It is well advised to choose a color that will be consistent with that of your logo.

Not all fonts should be written in the same style as your logo, especially when such fonts are not legible.

3. Incorporate the company logo. Find someone who can edit the big logo of your company and shrink it to the appropriate size that will fit the letterhead. Look at other samples of the letterhead pages and find a layout that may just be right for the company.

4. Arrange the elements. Now that you have all the components and have looked at as much samples as you needed. Put together all the components along with the logo and company name on the upper portion and the address and other details near the bottom page. This is just one way of doing it, for again, there are different styles that you can follow.

5. Review and Print

Before rushing to print your design, once again, review your design for any errors. As you will be printing these in print, it would be wise to study every angle. Cover all the bases:

Image resolution

Colors

Spelling

Layout

Find a professional letterhead printing company which can actualize your desired design unto the final print. One which has a variety of printing options and services would be ideal so that everything that you may require of your letterhead printing, you wont have to source out anywhere else.

Give your business the respect and treatment it deserves. Demonstrate good business style, sense, etiquette, all rolled into one through letterhead printing.

A letterhead can be your front liner in communication. It’s the first thing that your clients and colleagues will see when they receive a mail from you. Your letterhead will not only serve as an idea where you are located, but also affect how your clients will perceive you. A letterhead contains your everything about your company at a glance; a letterhead acquaints your company to your prospective clients, and indicates who you are, what products or services you are offering.

Design your letterhead with the good company image in mind. You should keep in mind when you select your printer too. So what should you put in your letterhead? In one word: information. And when we say information, we mean information that includes the company’s name, address, contact person, phone number and fax number, e-mail address. Should your company own a website, indicate it on the letterhead too.

Your letterhead should also have your logo. Your logo is easily the most recognizable representation of your company. When you’re designing the letterhead, resize the logo to fit proportionately to your letterhead. It should be at 5×2 inches or smaller.

In general, letterheads are written this way: the logo and company name are indicated together on the upper side of the paper. The company’s address and other contact details are placed near the bottom page. Standard sizes for letterheads are at 8.5 x 11 inches, because at that size letterheads sent easily through mail or fax.

Printing Your Letterhead

You can print your letterhead in three color printing options: one color, two colors, and full color. In general, printing a full color yields your business letter more depth and breadth. They also make your logos more identifiable. Be ready for the cost of quality though, the more colors included in a letterhead, the more expensive it is to print.

Choose quality stock paper in your printing. For more effect, use textured paper rather than plain bond paper. In choosing a printer, your printing company should choose high-quality printing methods. But of course, quality customer service should also be a part of your consideration.

When you’ve printed your letterheads, make sure that there are matching envelopes. So you can create a clean and professional look, the paper of your letterhead must be compatible with your envelope’s paper. Don’t scrimp on the cost if you want to create a good impression. All the big companies you know make letterheads and their printing a part of their budgets.