Blogview on April Harris of Colorphire Studio - Part II

So, I've had about a week to get used to looking at myself in cartoon form. It's still pretty cool, loving the work of April Harris from Colorphire Studio. Just as I promised last week, here's the remainder of the blogview with April.

Can you provide any tips on selecting a customized character to fit a blog? Like color schemes, etc?

In customizing a character or graphic for your blog you need to choose a template that allows you to do so. This would mean choosing one with a customized header.

One of the most important things to do is to use only graphics that are the correct size in resolution and dimension (pixels). If it says your blog header should be 900 x 200 pixels then it needs to be 900 x 200 pixels or it ruins the graphic completely. If your character or logo has been designed by a graphic designer, it is best to contact them and see what their rates are for designing a blog header or additional blog graphics. Let them know also, the precise measurements for your graphics ahead of time so they will be able to design it specifically for your blog.

Some designers may offer to resize a graphic for free if it is just a little bit different in size. If it is a whole other graphic element, they will charge another design fee.

Background and color schemes may be limited to your template choice, too. Some blogs offer the option to customize your background and others may only offer their opinions. As a designer, I can design your header, background and other graphics to all match each other.

Otherwise to do it on your own you would need some software such as Photoshop or Gimp and take the time to create something on your own, which might be more trouble than it’s worth.

It’s always best to consult your designer in all cases, this way you avoid making it harder on yourself than you need to.

This is one of the most important things to me and my business, is that I am not only a designer I a friend and helper. I go the extra mile to give advice and provide additional services as much as possible. You should be satisfied with your graphics and your designer should always be willing to help.

Describe the wackiest request you’ve ever worked on before.

The wackiest thing I have worked on would be a logo design I did for a veterinarian. To this day, I’m not sure how he got my name or email (maybe from my business card??) And he wanted a chicken milking a cow and for the cow to have this shocked look on her face. Very strange! HaHa!

Any other tips for bloggers?

Get professional graphic design help, or really take the time to it right. If you think of your blog as sort of an "online livingroom", you want to make it a place where people will want to visit, sit, stay a while. If your blog "online livingroom" is messy or poorly decorated then people will go somewhere else with a simple click of their mouse. It seems like a simple thing, but it makes a world of difference. And most designers online will give you a great price and be extra helpful (if they are professional). I wish you all the best of luck! 

Thanks, April, you are AWESOME! 

Check out April's blog for more inspiration.