Photography is one of the keys to really great graphic design and makes for truly effective advertising. Typography, color and graphics are the front line in a designer’s arsenal, but a powerful image can also be essential in creating a memorable impact. In this era of online stock photography such as istock and Getty Images, today’s designer has access to this imagery right at his/her fingertips. However, if a designer has access to truly powerful images from a talented photographer, it’s like a dream come true.

LOOKING LIKE ANOTHER ESTABLISHED BRAND WILL NOT EARN YOU GOOD BRAND RECOGNITION

So I was in my local pharmacy recently when I saw this on the magazine rack:

Because of the similar typeface and color of the headlines, I read them across both magazines as “My Big Mistake.” I thought, “How clever. Us magazine created two different covers designed to be placed next to each other.”

Then I realized that it was actually two different magazines and the headlines lining up were more or less coincidental. But that got me thinking about branding…

I used to be awesome at remembering anything about movie trivia. I could remember actors names, movie titles, co-stars, quotes, and directors right off the top of my head. If you asked me a question about music, I could give you tons of facts about artists, band members, albums, song titles, you name it. I used to be able remember things like people's names, phone numbers, birthdays and even spelling.