Hands Design

18/03/2019

Matchbook (public library), from the wonderful Tara Books, collects more than 500 striking Indian matchbox labels gathered by Shahid Datawala over the course of several decades, at once reminiscent…

07/07/2017

British illustrator John Holcroft has a knack for capturing modern society’s issues and behavior in a uniquely old-fashioned way. John’s style is inspired by 1950s advertisements, which has recently seen a huge revival in popularity as a result of TV shows such as Mad Men. We just love how he manag...

26/09/2016

Over the past five years Hands Design has been more and more involved in digital design, especially e-commerce. To that end, Kerrin has partnered with business and tech guru David Zivot to create https://elevatr.ca. We provide a design/branding/business orientated ecommerce service served up on the superb Shopify platform. Please take a minute to check out our website below and keep us in mind for any exciting ecomm venture you have in mind.

"Where will I get my book covers/magazines designed now?!" I hear you cry. Well, Hands Design will still be available for all your print design needs. Just drop us a line through the website or at the usual email address.

Powerful, engaging and simple—for you and your customers. That’s modern ecommerce. And that’s where ELEVATR will take you. As veteran ecommerce entrepreneurs ourselves, we see the big picture, not just pixels and code. We’ll build your new ecommerce site on Shopify. It’s a brilliant platform that al...

02/02/2016

https://www.shopify.com/blog/6464492-the-ecommerce-graveyard-how-37-popular-sites-used-to-look?utm_source=exacttarget&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digest&email-link=1

Online shopping began its steady growth in 1994 after new security measures allowed for safe ecommerce transactions to occur online. Surprisingly, Pizza Hut was one of the first major companies to adopt ecommerce by offering online ordering through their website. As online shopping grew in popularit…

29/01/2016

There are some interesting developments in the graphics software market. This is a fantastic blog piece comparing three professional products, Adobe Illustrator, Sketch and Affinity Design. Affinity have been making some really good software over the last few years, with photo and illustrating software already launched. Page layout is due 2017. Could they be an Adobe killer? http://blog.iconfinder.com/can-sketch-or-affinity-designer-replace-adobe-illustrator/

Should you stick to the tried and true or give one of the newcomers a shot? In this article we will take a look at how well two contenders, Affinity Designer and Sketch stand up from an icon designer’s perspective. Is Adobe Illustrator finally ready for retirement? Adobe Illustrator Initially releas…

10/12/2015

Ecommerce website produced on an ultra tight budget, using the fantastic Shopify platform. Photography, content, production. http://.ashfelebikes.com.

01/12/2015

It's been a while, but new work is now on the site, with a slight design refresh!
http://handsdesign.ca.

27/04/2015

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-32429132

Gwen Harrison and Sue Anderson use printing techniques more familiar to Johannes Gutenberg than the 21st century to create their handcrafted books.

12/02/2015

Recently, I've been listening to podcasts from DRT.FM. A podcast channel featuring interviews with entrepreneurs from design and technology startups. This one stood out for me - essential listening for any creative. http://drt.fm/debbie-millman/

In this interview Debbie Millman, President of Sterling Brands, explains how to use failure to your advantage, and why courage is important.

08/02/2015

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31188255

Printing blocks for a typeface called Doves Type have been discovered in the river Thames.

22/01/2015

Infographics R Us. This week, anyway.

24/11/2014

ONE THAT GOT AWAY - Unpublished book cover designs.

The Sandbox tells the day-to-day story of an American soldier sent to fight in Iraq. I used images of desert and war to create a sandy, combat camouflage design. I offset the gritty background with boxed serif typography to describe the main character being alienated fighting a war he didn't understand.

You can see the chosen cover and other work for Soho Press at http://www.handsdesign.ca/our-work/soho-press-book-covers/

24/11/2014

For anyone updating to OSX Yosemite a warning - back up your machine first. I have Time Machine running so was prepared, but I was forced to wipe a machine with no option to bale out.

Pretty good update though. Tested on my sluggish 2008 imac which I use as a research/scanning/music/movie machine, it is now lightning fast.

11/11/2014

Awesome Lego Movie poster by Tom Whalen - strongstuff.net

05/05/2014

Busy week. Animated video for http://Grainstorm.com, box set packaging for Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe, magazine for Air Miles and branding for a new paper product company.