The Death of the White Rose Trailer

Awesome Photoshop CS3 Trick

I've worked with Photoshop for years. I mean years! (Since version 5.5) I just now discovered a little trick for selecting objects. My Photoshop files get pretty large with loads of layers. It becomes overwhelming trying to find and select an object on a layer.

Open your Photoshop document.
Select the "move" tool at the top of your tools.
Command click on the object you want.

The layer with your desired object is selected and highlighted. That's it.

So simple but it should save me lots of time and I hope you can use this tip. I guess I should read the manuals sometime.

How to Handle Client Revisions

The best way to handle your revisions is to try to do it all at once. It takes time to stop what you're doing and open up a client's file. So the best way to get the most effective use of time is to send your revisions at one time, if possible. It doesn't make sense to open a file and make a small type change and then have to go back and open the file again to make another one.

The simplest way is to cut and paste your revisions into an email. That way you can be sure that the info is correct. The info will be cut and pasted into your document and then formatted to fit the design. I've done this long enough to know that it can save client's money by streamlining the process. If you think of it as there is a fee to open a file and make changes each time, then you will help your project run smoothly and save money.

So, here's a checklist:

1. Try to send all your revisions at one time.
2. Cut and paste your revisions into an email for inclusion into your artwork.
3. Rely on your designer's good judgement but double check everything carefully.
4. Ultimate responsibility for errors is in the client's hands.

I spend a great amount of time getting things just right for your design. Sometimes, if you make changes in the content it can change the way the design works. So make actual content changes early. And fine-tune the details further along in the process.

Website Redesign Specialist

I really believe there is tremendous opportunity in helping people redesign their websites. I've come across a large number of businesses that have existing websites but they are stagnant sites that were designed years ago and are just sitting there. Newer sites are connected to social media that is helpful for search engine ranking. So many businesses have the content up and either need to refresh their content or place that content into a newly designed site that take advantage of the latest technologies.

Does your site link to social media (Facebook, Twittter, etc.)?
Are your page titles and meta tag descriptions consistent with the content on your pages?
Does the look of your site reflect the quality of your services or products?
Has your site been submitted to the major search engines?

I can take your existing content and redesign your site into a new, fresh look for you. I learned that making sure your content and page titles as in sync are a big factor in ranking your site. That means, just by examining your content and making sure certain keywords are in the title and within your content can be a big factor in how your page ranks.

Kingsley Group Design site:
Kingsley Group Design

Or you can also visit my blog:
Kingsley Group Marketing Communications


This economy is tough. Businesses have to make sure that their site is doing work for them. You can do all this yourself if you have the knowledge and skills. But is that really the best use of your time? Most people want their sites to do more for them. My goal is to improve the look of sites and help businesses get more from their website.

SEO Ideas-2010

There are so many people doing Search Engine Optimization that I wanted to find the tip of the iceberg and take a look at my site and see how I fall short in making site ready for SEO. There are score of info on the web and I think I get at least 2 spam emails about how I can pay someone to have my site reach number one on Google. Here's a quick list of things that I found out that I'm in the process of doing. This is from Debbie Everson of SearchMar, Inc.:

1. Decrease load time of site
2. Get listed in Google Local Search
3. Get involved in social media
4. Optimize for mobile media
5. Apply web analytics

Just doing these thing takes a lot of time and some planning but I shall give them a try to see if they affect my search results.

Children's Book by James Spring

I've been working on a book with James Spring and it's been really fun. He is a remarkable person. He was inspired and wrote a children's book. We started this about a year ago and finally got to a point where we are able to put it into presentable form. The writing is great but the illustrations just didn't cut it. I look back on the first roughs I did and there was a whole lot of room for improvement. James stuck with me and we finally came up with a style that we think will work. It's a really great book and I'm honored to have James believe in me enough to work with him on this project. Now let's just hope that some publisher sees fit to put it into book form.

Design-I'm So Lucky To Do What I Do

I really am so lucky to do what I love for a living. I've been doing this all of my adult life and still get stocked over design. I admire great design. I love learning new things about design. I am truly blessed to have a passion for what I do. Every project I do gets me excited. When I see a design I like I respect the person that crafted it and look for the details that make it work.

I work and rework and rework behind the scenes to get a project ready to show a client. They never know that I put this effort into their projects. I will try many approaches and select the ones that are best before presenting them. I love typography and believe that that is the one of the major keys in developing good design. I will nudge and nudge type forever to get it right. All small and seemingly insignificant things that the client doesn't see or usually, doesn't notice. But it works. I had one client say about me, "He's a genius with type". And that was years ago but I still remember the compliment and am inspired by it.

The technology of today is so exciting and opens up so many doors. I remember when we had to send out for typesetting and a piece of type would come back where the leading was wrong. I would take the trusty old x-acto knife and cut apart every line to get the type to what I wanted. Man that was a lot of work.

I can see where most of the print projects of yesterday are being swallowed up by the digital projects of today. That's not a bad thing. It's just the way things are going and give a greater opportunity to focus marketing efforts on customers and clients that really want to receive information.

I still have so much to learn but it still gives me great pleasure to be in this business of design.

Hello 2010...almost

This time of year I start thinking about the new year. And I'm glad to be turniing the page on 2009. I think everyone has just about had enough of this year. I am planning on making some serious changes in the new year. From billing to how I communicate with clients, friend and such.

Been playing around with Mail Chimp and I think it's the right direction. I'm sending out an email with a survey form to validate the names on my list. I don't want people getting emails from me if they don't want them, but it is a great way of staying in touch and showing my most recent work.

Discounts in a tough economy?

Everywhere you look it seems businesses are offering discounts. That is a good way to stimulate sales and get attention. But what does that say about where we have been? Have all our price points been artificially high or is it a way to get more aggressive with marketing. I think in a lot of cases the most effective approach is to re-market existing products.

Let's take Subway as an example. I think this is brilliant. The five-dollar foot long has really always been there. You can get a 6" sandwich for 3.99 and for about another 2 bucks you could always make it a 12" sandwich. There's your $5 foot long. What is does is get you in the store and from there you will make additional purchases. Pretty clever if you ask me.

Take what you have and wrap it in a new package and drive business to your place.

San Clemente Art Walk 2009

Bestest buddy in the whole world Tom Meadows got this thing rolling. He contacted Mark Harman, my brother Dave and I and put us in contact with Bob Hesse of Distinctive Coast Properties to show our work. We went up last night and hung all of our paintings in the office.

Mark Harman was focused and knew exactly how and what he was going to hang. Dave and I were rescued by Lorraine and Tom Meadows who came in and just seemed to have a vision of what we could do. With Lorraine's talented eye, she got all our things in good groupings and everything came together beautifully. Thanks Tom and Lorraine! You guys are the best.

The San Clemente Art Walk is on the last Thursday of the month for July 30, August 27 and September 24 from 5:30-9:00pm. Hope you can come by and see us. Our work is on display at Distinctive Coast Properties, 110 Avenida Del Mar, San Clemente, CA 92672.