A Brief History of Printing

The Brief History of Printing infographic by Diginate looks back on over 2000 years of the industry. 

There aren't too many industries older than printing (!) - the origins go back to woodblock printing in 200AD!

To try and understand the route that the art of printing has taken through to today's digital formats we thought we'd create an infographic charting it's history, and make some predictions for it's future...

Nice, clean design.

Thanks to Vas for sending in the link!

RGB vs CMYK

RGB vs CMYK infographic from Card Printing explores the differences between the two color modes. Your use of the finished product determines which color mode you should choose. RGB is the best choice when it comes to digital uses, and CMYK is perfect for printed products!

CardPrinting.us presents an infographic weighing the pros and cons of using both RGB versus CMYK color codes in the printing process.

Colorful and informative in equal measures, the infographic is divided in sections detailing the identifiers, stats, arsenal, strengths, weakness, and the verdict for each spectrum. RGB (red, green, blue) is at the right side, and CYMK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is at the left. Graphics and text make the infographic easy enough to understand even for those who aren’t well versed in color spectrum and printing process.

Reading through the infographic can help clients and artists decide on which works best for them, especially since the arsenal section lists down the tools and media suitable for both RGB and CMYK. As well, they can get tips from the strengths and weakness sections, plus the final verdict which states that as far as the digital realm is concerned, RGB wins while CMYK is tops in print form.

Nice simple comparison that uses the side-by-side format to explain the basic differences between the color modes. Perfect to send to that manager or executive that has no idea what you're talking about!

The infographic should have visualized the stats, like the difference in the number of colors. Also the direct URL to the infographic landing page should be included in the footer.

Found on Downgraf

Color: Profiles & Printing Explained

It is frustrating when you go to print an image and it doesn’t look right. Color: Profiles & Printing Explained infographic from The Logo Company explains the differences between CMYK, RBG, and Pantone as well as when to use them.

Whether you are printing a single logo or a full promotional brochure, you want your marketing products to look sharp. Given this, it is important to understand the science behind color creation and printing techniques, so you can make educated decisions about how to produce the best images for every project.

To keep your logo and other imagery looking bright and vivid, there are three basic color profiles with which you should become familiarized. What works for your web page will not necessarily work for printed postcards. Choosing the right color profile is the essential first step in creating a beautiful image.

A bright, colorful infographic design almost always grabs the audience’s attention, and this design does a great job of showing the readers the differences between color profile methods.

On the infographic landing page, the infographic image is actually below all of the more-detailed text descriptions, and readers have to scroll down to see that there is an infographic at all.  The image should be at the top of the page with the additional text below to add more detail for readers that want the additional information.

The footer should include the URL to the infographic landing page so readers can find the original, full-size version, and also a copyright or Creative Commons license.  How are people allowed to share and/or modify this design?  Could another printing company put their logo on the design and publish it?  It’s not clearly stated.  A standard copyright license is assumed, which would not allow other companies to modify the design, but it really should be explicitly protected.

Thanks to Matt for sending in the link!

Serif vs. Sans: The Final Battle

Ever have a problem deciding whether to use Serif or Sans? The Serif vs. Sans: The Final Battle infographic from webdesignerdepot.com has broken down when and why you should use each one. The final verdict? Serif is better for print and Sans is better for web.

First it was the Capulets versus the Montagues; then it was Coke versus Pepsi; and the latest epic battle? Serif versus sans-serif, of course.

Lucky for us, the crew at UrbanFonts has produced a nifty infographic to help clarify the age-old rivalry between serif and sans. Brief, yet information-packed, it covers everything from DPI to classification, and expertly explains why serif is better for print and sans serif is best suited for web.

This clever infographic — that smartly draws upon humor to drive home its points — offers a simple, insightful conclusion that designers should bear in mind: “The best font choices are ones where readers do not notice the font … but the message.”

Thanks to Jordan from Say It Visually for sending in the link!

Brockhaus Encyclopedia Infographics

Check out the Brockhaus Encyclopedia Infographics, infographics and data visualizations in the new German Brockhaus Encyclopedia!  Designed by oberhaeuser.info, the design studio of Martin Oberhäuser.

Series of info graphics for brockhaus, a large encyclopedia publisher from germany. The info graphics visualize several statistics and informations of topics like: the worlds highest mountains and their first ascent, the languages of the world, comets close to the earth, world oceans, ecology, media evolution and so on. One graphic shows the evolution of the world population from 1950 to 2050. Six transparent pages (one for each 20-year period) overlap each other.

These are some beautiful designs.  I’m sorry an English version isn’t available.

Found in the Behance 100 Most Appreciated Projects of 2012

Ultimate Guide to Business Cards

Start the New Year off right with a new business card design!  The Ultimate Guide to Business Cards is a very well designed infographic from BusinessCards.com

Business owners can find themselves easily overwhelmed when it comes to working with a graphic designer on creating branded business cards. Often enough business owners underestimate the quantity and importance of design decisions (selecting typeface, font, card shape, size and material) that must be made in addition to organizing basic contact information.

Below are some common areas that sometimes get lost in translation between designer to business owner. If you’re starting a business card or identity project we recommend getting a head start and figuring out the following elements for your project.

I really like how the infographic literally shows the reader what each of the topics mean.  Using the actual fonts, showing the color blends, showing the actual business card dimensions is easy-to-compare rectangles, showing examples of the different materials, etc.

Simple, easy-to-read design that tells a story nicely from top-to-bottom.

Thanks to Chris for sending in the link!

iPad Meets the Competition (infographic)

From SectionDesign, iPad Meets the Competition is great design that looks at the products in the market that will compete with the iPad in four different product categories.

This infographic was commissioned by Courrier Japon Magazine in Tokyo and is based on the article “The iPad Changes Everything” originally published by Fortune Magazine. It was printed in the July 2010 Issue.

It illustrates the introduction of the iPad and how many devices in different markets are now finding themselves in direction competion to the power of the iPad and the Apps Store. All data was researched by myself, and the graphic was later split onto two pages to better fit the flow of the article.

Found on FlowingData.com