Graphic Design

Tenth Anniversary Celebrations with 10% off till end January 2018

Today, Kaz Design Works turns ten years old! On December 21st, 2007, I registered the business name, Kaz Design Works—and that’s the day, Kaz Design Works officially came into being. Today, I am happy to be celebrating Kaz Design Works’ tenth anniversary. Over the last 10 years, I am pleased to have helped numerous businesses … Read moreTenth Anniversary Celebrations with 10% off till end January 2018

Fall Colour Trends for 2016

For a while now on Pinterest, I’ve been sharing the predicted colour trends for the upcoming seasons (you can see the ones I posted for 2016 here). Sometimes, I’m a little late sharing, so this year I thought I’d get a head start and share what I’ve found for 2016 Fall Colour Trends so far right here on Kaz Talk instead.

Read moreFall Colour Trends for 2016

My journey to becoming a graphic designer

When I began my career in graphic design (about 25 years ago), I started as a part-time typesetter, having come from a secretarial background and with minimal word-processing experience let alone graphics skills.

At first, I worked on typesetting machines (Compugraphic—if my memory serves me) using a keyboard to set type for the classified section of a weekly motorcycle news magazine, local TV advertiser and editorial for monthly magazines.

Most of the time, we used only one typeface (Helvetica) in a few styles and all the text was typeset using a set of rules. This was back in the day when, as typesetters, we used predefined function keys that added the code for the different fonts being used (<ft145> through to <ft149> being the ones I remember most).

Read moreMy journey to becoming a graphic designer

The pitfalls of buying cheap or "free" business cards

Since starting my business almost 4 years ago I’ve networked with a lot of other new and/or small businesses owners. Over the course of the years, I’ve noticed how many of these business owners “save money” by getting cheap, “free” or home-made business cards. But are they really saving money in the long run?

One of the main things I’ve noticed in recent months since changing the prescription of my contact lenses, many cheap cards are difficult to read because the text is either too small due to cramming too much on the card, there’s not enough contrast between the text and the background, or both.

Added to that, their business cards are not unique, the card stock is often flimsy and bendy, and poor quality images are often unrecognizable, distorted or cropped badly.

All-in-all, their unprofessional-looking business cards give the false impression that they themselves are not professional and not in it for the long haul. For this reaaon, I thought I would highlight some of the pitfalls of buying cheap or “free”.

  • Your business card (or flyer or website for that matter) is not unique
  • Often the card stock is thin and bendy
  • Text is not readable especially in half light
  • Images are often low resolution and distorted
  • Free doesn’t always mean free
  • Your business does not look professional

If you need business cards designed or printed, contact Kaz Design Works for pricing?

Read moreThe pitfalls of buying cheap or "free" business cards