Adding graphics and images to your designs

birds shaped like a smile

I am always looking for new ways to add eye-catching imagery to my designs – in the web, on print or wherever.

This happened to me recently: I had a brief that meant I had to look for a smiling face image. It was difficult to think of something original.

I did an internet image search for “smile”. Obviously, I got masses of the usual snaps of people smiling and “smilies”. Exactly what I didn’t want.

But then, bingo! An image of three birds in flight that looked like a smiling mouth with two droopy eyes that someone had posted. And it would cost my client nothing. It was something I could easily do in Illustrator and/or Photoshop.

A bit of lateral thinking and an image search can get you out of a tight spot!

Tags: adding graphics, bingo, birds in flight, droopy eyes, face image, graphics, Illustrator, image search, imagery, images, incorporating to designs, internet image, lateral thinking, new ways, smile, smiling face, three birds, tight spot

This article was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Design.
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9 Responses to “Adding graphics and images to your designs”

Michel Bigue, on March 3rd, 2008 at 11:47 pm, said:

This image is creative.
Dhool, on March 4th, 2008 at 9:38 pm, said:

Fantastic image, very creative!
Rob Cubbon, on March 10th, 2008 at 6:22 pm, said:

Thank you very much for the kind word, Michel Bigue and Dhool!
Matt Saunders, on March 12th, 2008 at 1:53 pm, said:

Lateral thinking – that’s it isn’t it! It’s good to see somebody being thoughtful, and original which is an increasingly difficult thing to do.

Very nice graphic
Rob Cubbon, on March 13th, 2008 at 1:33 am, said:

Thank you very much for your kind words, Matt. But it wasn’t really thoughtful or original, I ‘stole’ it from an internet search!
Jonathan, on April 2nd, 2008 at 1:27 pm, said:

Looks pretty cool.
I’d say you are creative.

I have been trying luck at graphic design, but looks like I am bit out of creativity.:))
Rob Cubbon, on April 3rd, 2008 at 12:19 am, said:

Thank you very much for your comments, Jonathan, very encouraging.
Samanta Lopez, on August 25th, 2009 at 2:00 pm, said:

Creative image and nice blog. Thanks for such graphical information.
Rob Cubbon, on January 26th, 2010 at 11:00 pm, said:

Thank you, Samanta

Graphic and Web Designer London UK