TriLeaf Designs

TriLeaf’s Eco Tip: Ride on Two Wheels Instead of Four

KWoods — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:00:41 +0000

A Way of Travel That’s Better for Everyone

For this next blog, I’d like to promote an old idea instead of suggesting a new one; one you probably come across every other day when you find yourself driving to work at 15 miles an hour behind a particular eco-friendly traveler. Yes, I’m talking about riding a bicycle. Although it seems to be growing increasingly in popularity, I still have yet to see more than one person riding their bikes on the streets at a time. Riding a bike from location to location has many more advantages than disadvantages. You save on gas money, you help prevent air pollution, you get great exercise and your conscience can rest easy because you know you’ve done so much good for yourself and others just in one trip. So I challenge you to be ambitious and choose to ride your bike when you’re heading somewhere that doesn’t require an automobile.

Written By: Jen Ebenrick

Leafy Discussions: Green Funerals

KWoods — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:00:28 +0000

A Positive Turn for a Difficult Subject
Losing loved ones is perhaps the hardest thing we have to deal with during our lifetime. Nothing can turn that type of situation into a happy moment, but there is a way you can give back even after death. It is called an eco-burial. The way this process works is a company called Eternal Reefs Inc. uses the cremated remains of individuals and mixes it with cement. The cement mixture is then used to create artificial reefs. This type of reef can help with the recovery of reefs that have been decimated by pollution. It’s a hard subject to think about, but I think it’s great that people are doing things like this for themselves and the environment even after they pass away. What do you think? Tell us your thoughts about this new type of eco-burial. For more information, you can visit eternalreefs.com.

Written By: Jen Ebenrick

Green Design: Go Green by Going Black

KWoods — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:00:16 +0000

A Technological Tip on How to Save Energy
Having designed a few websites, I’ve come to realize that not a lot of people show love when presented with a design for a website with a black background, but the truth is, black=energy conservation. It takes more energy to power a website that is predominantly white/light colored.
So graphic/web designers, I challenge you to keep the environment in mind the next time you go to design a website. A clean and sophisticated design can still be accomplished with a darker background by simply keeping space in mind. Use it to your advantage by using colors that pop. Learn more about this topic by reading Meredith’s previous blog on Blackle, a search engine powered by Google Custom Search, or visit Blackle.com.

Written By: Jen Ebenrick

Art & Trash: A Tip for the Screen Printer

KWoods — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:00:21 +0000

A Great Effect That is Good for the Environment Too
An experienced screen printer will tell you that the paper you use to screen print on is very important when trying to reach a specific result. One thing to experiment with is to use old newspapers as the paper you screen print on. It not only prevents wastefulness, but also can give your project a twist if you pick pages with interesting stories. Plus, each piece can be unique if you decide to use different pages for each print. We can thank our friends from Dress Code for introducing this tip which I find to be great and useful. Make sure to show us your results after trying this useful technique.

Written By: Jen Ebenrick

Art and Trash – Wine Bottles

KWoods — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:00:07 +0000

Candles Holders

While I was at the home improvement store the other day looking at new lights for our kitchen I meandered over to the drop down lighting section. They are always my favorite part although right now we don’t have a need for them.

I came up with this idea that I want to do when we have the ability to do so. Just like you would when you buy the light kits that are hanging down you can buy all the materials just not buy the shade or outer cone. Then just simply use wine bottles in whatever shapes, sizes and colors you want to go down the line. I also thinking adding the little wire pieces like shown in these candle holders is a nice touch. It adds even more interest and individuality.

If you know someone whose done this, please tell them to share their experience with and how they like it.

Written by: Kim

What is Design? – Stroke

KWoods — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:00:40 +0000

What is stroke?

Stroke refers to the thickness of a line. You can have pretty much any size stroke that you want. The stroke can be on the outside of a box, text, a line by itself is considered a stroke. Strokes a lot of times are used as lines to add organization and they are simple. You can either use the line tool, add a difference color to the outer edge of the box or you can use the pen tool to create curved strokes or to follow a path.

Written by: Kim Woods

Leafy Discussions – Light Bulbs

KWoods — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:00:04 +0000

Motion Lights Bulbs

Did you know that motion censor lights do not work with regular light fixtures or at least the ones you by that are fixtures? I always thought that these were both multi functional. After doing a little bit of research I have found that the outdoor lights cannot do both. The indoor lights are different. I have found that you can buy motion censored lights that can be both turned on and just be turned on. These tend to stay on longer than the outdoor lights though with a lot of them you can set how long you want the lights to stay on when you install them. If your wondering how this came up, I always had assumed that they could both. We bought a new light fixture for our porch so that my fiance did not have to leave the light on all night for me when I came home from work at the restaurant that it would come on. I went to turn it on without the motion and I couldn’t. I learned something new.

Did you know that?

Written By: Kim

TriLeaf’s Design Tips – Maps

KWoods — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:00:22 +0000

Needing to add a nice map to something?

This is easy. I ran across this my fiance was getting so mad at the computer, he was trying to vectorize an image of a map from a screen shot on google for directions. I let him play a little bit because he has worked with the programs some and then took over. But the thing you can use is place the image in Illustrator and then use the pen tool to go over the path that you desire. This will create an easy line to follow and you can add in little building or extra help as you go. Set the stroke to whatever size you need it to be.

Written by: Kim Woods

Art & Trash – Milk Jug Scoop Ball

KWoods — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:00:38 +0000

Why throw away your old milk jugs when you can use them for a quick game of scoop ball?
What is scoop ball? Scoop ball is what you get after reusing your old milk jugs to make “scoops”. Interested? I thought so. First, after you find that you have an empty milk jug, rinse it out thoroughly, and carefully cut the area under the handle. This is real useful if you have kids and want to play a “green” game with them. Grab a plastic ball, and have a go. This is great for a quick activity with kids.

Written By: Brandon North

TriLeaf’s Design Tips- Crop Marks

KWoods — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:00:00 +0000

How to set up crop marks

When you need to print something that has a bleed, which we covered earlier is colors that go over the edge or “bleed” over the edge. You will need to give the printer a lot of times crop marks so that they know how far to cut into the color, this will save them and you a headaches. If you do not send them crop marks they may crop in too or too little. This causes problems especially for things that are being mailed. If they do not fit into the envelope then you are in trouble. By helping out the printer you are keeping both of you happy. You can can set up bleeds when you make your pdf out of Illustrator or InDesign. Just go to Marks and Bleeds and add whatever size bleed they need and be sure to put the Printer’s Marks on.

You can also do it when you are designing in InDesign when you set up the document just say use the documents bleeds in the pdf saving.

Written by: Kim Woods