Announcement: the new-and-improved editor is live!

Here at SampleBoard we’ve been working around the clock to bring you an updated, more user-friendly and intuitive editor to help you create professional visual concepts in minutes.

New-and-improved SampleBoard editor

The following changes has been done:

• Brand new interface, inspired by Picnik
• Tools separated into Basic Edits, Image Effects & Filter Effects all running vertically
• All tools have descriptions and tooltips

The navigator menu on the right consists of My Library, Gallery & Enhancements

• My Library
  • Create new library folders, browse, open and drag and drop your uploaded, imported and saved images onto your canvas.
• Gallery
  • Browse over 50 000 images by keyword search, creative field or category.
• Enhancements
  • Search thousands of user-created color schemes, backgrounds, frames, vectors & clipart patterns & textures

Import & upload images into your SampleBoard library

The top horizontal menu bar has changed.

• The “upload” button takes you to your web profile where you can:
  • upload images from your computer
  • import from your Flickr account
  • import from your Picasa account
  • import pins from any Pinterest account - just type in the username

• The Share, Export and Print functions sits separately with easy-to-use dropdown functions

Share, export and print your designs

You can now sign in and experience the new-and-improved editor. If you experience any difficulties opening or loading the new editor, I would advise you to clear your cache (remember your computer’s memory has the “old” editor in it’s head)

Since we’ve launched the new editor today, there are bound to be a few teething problems and glitches. If you notice any, please could you let me know here so that we can get them fixed ASAP.

Happy creating!

The SampleBoard Team

Designers | How to make your job application stand out from the rest

Designers some tips on how to make your job application stand out from the rest

Designers the tips offered in this article could help you to get your dream job. There is a real art to creating the perfect application. There are some basic fundamentals if forgotten can cost you dearly. Find out the five easy steps you can take to achieve success.

Interior designers, decorators, graphic and fashion designers sometimes forget to create interesting, sparkling, exciting applications to reflection their creative flair. I have seen it happen. Over many years I have successfully applied for jobs, have helped others to achieve success and selected for interview people applying for positions with companies I have worked for.

Time spent creating sparkling exciting applications pays dividends

Some of the things I will mention may be common sense but you only get one chance the slightest mistake could cause your application to be placed in the bin. It happens. Often hundreds of people are applying for the job. If you want to stand out your application must have impact.

Stand out from the crowd by delivering an impacting cover letter.

Step 1

Read the job advertisement carefully

This may sound silly but you would be amazed how many people completely miss an all important part of the job description or some other vital piece of information. Make notes as you go. For example for an interior decorator position posted on the MyCareer website by the Laura Ashley’s company I noted they wanted a highly motivated person with a passion for people and an understanding of retail and the list goes on. What they mention first is usually what they consider to be most important.

Step 2

Find out about the company

Visit the website check out the colours, patterns and motifs used. Try to find out about the people who work in the company. If possible find a telephone number. You can then call the company and find out the person to send the application to. It always looks better if you have gone the extra mile and put a name instead of sir or madam.

Get a name much better than plain sir or madam

Step 3

Work out a colour scheme for your application

You can use the information gleaned from the website to help you choose colours for the paper, folders and/or cardboard you are using in the application. Instead of plain A4 sized pages get creative. Select some colours from the website or company colours. Or you may want to go down the recycling route. The ideas are endless. As designers you should find this easy to do.

Using a different colour instead of black or blue for the text is a good idea. For example the Laura Ashley Company is known for soft delicate hues. So maybe a light beige paper with a toned beige text colour would appeal to the reader of your application.

Step 4

Compose the cover letter 

Word the letter carefully use positive words. Address the job criteria spelt out in the advertisement. Try to give evident of how you meet the criteria. It is best to use short carefully constructed paragraphs. Start each paragraph with a different word. Take care not to use ‘I’ too many times. Keep working on the letter until you are able to express yourself in one A4 size page.

Keep the cover letter to one page

It is important to make sure the letter is easy to read. Use only one or two different fonts. One font for the heading; one for the body of the text. The size of the lettering is also vital. If you make it too small and difficult to read it could end up in the bin. You will find examples and more details on http://creativebuzzing.wordpress.com  the notes will give you an idea of how to word your application.

Make it easy for the reader to read

Step 5

Coordinate your application package

Use the same colours for your curriculum vitae (or resume), skills audit, educational and reference pages as used in the cover letter. It is wise to have your name and contact details on each page. This keeps bringing your name before the person reading the application.

Create an interesting folio for your application

Present the application in a coloured folder or envelope. Make sure the colour works with the colours of the pages you have selected. Pure white, beige, grey or black usually work with most colours. I do offer a word of caution check out the company carefully. A conservative company would be looking for someone who can fit in with the company image. Where as a contemporary company will be looking for someone who is trendy and up to date.

So there you have it five easy steps to design success. Happy job hunting.

Author: Rosena MacFadzean for SampleBoard.com

Client Presentations | Create Color Schemes in various Design Disciplines

SampleBoard created by Pixy Louise Smith on sampleboard.com

Create a Color Scheme with your initial design presentation

The easiest way to start designing a look and feel for a client is by getting the color scheme right from the beginning. By presenting various color schemes when pitching to a client it will give you a good indication of the feeling your client wants to create, be it an interior space, fashion collection, graphic brochure or website layout…

Most creative design disciplines require some sort of color scheme when creating an initial design – may it be by using paint swatches, fabric samples, HEX or RGB color codes. Color schemes are useful in any design presentation.

SampleBoard created by Pixy Louise Smith on sampleboard.com

Designers in various design disciplines can easily create their own color palette on www.sampleboard.com by following these steps.

Check out SampleBoard.com’s Creative Community for more inspirational ideas on how to create beautiful sampleboard presentations.

Contemporary Kitchen Design | Inspirational SampleBoard using CeasarStone

SampleBoard created by Moira Mannen on sampleboard.com

Kitchen Design | Use fabulous finishes like CeasarStone

The most important thing to remember when designing your clients (or your own) kitchen are the finishes. Kitchen’s are always valued by which finishes you select so bare this in mind when designing a kitchen from scratch.

Usually an Interior Designer would start with the kitchen countertops and build the scheme around it. A popular choice at the moment is CeasarStone.

CaesarStone kitchen tops have four times the flexural strength and double the impact resistance of granite while impressively outperforming marble. With a beautiful color range to choose from, if you can afford it, this is definitely the way to go!

You can view and play with the CeasarStone colorways, creating your own kitchen design, on www.sampleboard.com, searching under:

• ‘Interior Design’ design discipline
• Category: Decorative Surfaces
• Type: CeasarStone

Happy Creating!

Interior Design client presentation | Use titleblocks and firm logo’s for more professional looking sampleboards

SampleBoard created by Simone van der Plas on sampleboard.com

Client presentation | Use Titleblocks and firm Logo’s for more professional looking sampleboards

When using a drafting program such as AutoCAD or ArchiCAD you typically have a page template that includes the following:

• Job title/project title ( in this case “Gelissimo Gelato”)
• Client name
• Address (site position)
• ‘Drawn by’ name (designers initials, so other people on the project has a reference if they need to query something)
• Note ( as the designer you need to notify if the page is not to scale, or any additional information that’s important when reading/viewing the drawing)
• Title of the page ( Sampleboard/Scheme design/Concept)
• Drawing number (this helps with filing the physical plans/sketches in a physical library or electronically in your project folder)
• Firm/company logo with name, address and contact details (usually sits either on the left or right-hand side of the template)

Titleblock detail

This type of template is standard practice in any architectural or interior design firm. It allows for order, referencing and can range from a complete project drawing package that includes architectural layouts, detail drawings, shop fitting details, elevations, sections, lighting layouts, plumbing layouts etc.to concept scheme ideas and sampleboards.

The reason for this brief introduction to titleblocks is that I wanted to demonstrate how it lifts the overall feel of your sampleboard to one that can easily be used in a client presentation along with your professional drawing sets. It can form a complete entity which in turn creates a more professional client pitch or presentation.

We are constantly improving and adding to the functionality and features at SampleBoard.com, as well as ensuring it’s an inspiring space from which you can create and interact. We are working on bringing you easy-to-use titleblock templates soon.

Happy creating!

Sophisticated, contemporary Interior Design | Inspirational Moodboard

SampleBoard created by Moira Mannen on sampleboard.com

Inspirational Moodboard | Using the drop-shadow, opacity and blur tools for better looking moodboards

In this SampleBoard, Moira has used a combination of easy-to-use tools to create an excellent look and feel to her board.

The main component used was the background image (which can be found under the drop-down menu: Interior Design_Dining Room_Lifestyle). If you look carefully you will note the image was cloned, cropped and flipped so that the entire page is filled.

This image allowed her to easily place her samples and product images around it, giving it a ‘room-like’ affect.

Lets look at the pendants – 3 tools were used to create this effect:

Clone, Opacity and Blur (You can use your toggle to play around with the size of the image). You have to use your eye and visual sense of proportion to create realistic depth, but with practice it should come more naturally each time you create a 3D effect.

She dropped in her samples (wooden veneers, wallpaper, paint colors) and furniture images but made sure to use the magic eraser to eliminate any backgrounds and then softened the edges with the drop shadow tool. This also allows it to make it pop out from the background.

Lastly a model was dropped in which gives the board a quirky and fun feel and even makes it more realistic so clients can relate to it more (This reminds me of my student days where we did hand-drawn perspectives and traced over models out of magazines to give it a lived-in look and feel…)

So there you have it in a nutshell. Hope this quick tutorial tips gave you some amazing ideas for your next fabulous SampleBoard creation!

Happy creating!

 

Interior Design inspirational moodboard | French provincial bedroom

Moodboard created by Rosena MacFadzean on sampleboard.com

Inspirational Moodboard | How to create a dreamy bedroom

The SampleBoard web editor is where you combine images easily and beautifully into digital moodboards. The web editor allows you to quickly and easily pull together design trends, colour schemes, textures and products via a convenient drag-and-drop function, using the rich editing toolset with over 30,000 product images from the library or your own images uploaded onto the system from your personal profile.

To create this beautiful effect with your moodboard design, you should use the opacity tool in the SampleBoard web editor.

The opacity tool is used to create transparency in an image. You can adjust the amount of transparency you want in an image by using the options bar at the top of the editor screen (below file, edit, image, filter).

Tooltip: create interesting depth by layering transparent images with non-transparent ones.

For tips and tricks in how to create a French provincial bedroom, read this post

For more information on creating digital moodboards, check out www.sampleboard.com

Enhancing your moodboard | How to add text

Moodboard created on sampleboard.com

Moodboard Design | Adding text

The SampleBoard web editor is where you combine images easily and beautifully into digital moodboards. The web editor allows you to quickly and easily pull together design trends, colour schemes, textures and products via a convenient drag-and-drop function, using the rich editing toolset with over 30,000 product images from the library or your own images uploaded onto the system from your personal profile.

Today I will be discussing how to add text to your moodboard using the text tool in the web editor toolbox.

The Text tool is used to position and enter text into your image. The text may be of any colour or font in the dropdown menu. You also have the option to set the text tool to work so that the background colour is used for the “fill space” around the text, or if the text will be applied with transparent “fill space”, allowing the image to show through behind the text. You can fill the space behind your text by ticking the ‘background fill’ box in the options bar at the top of the editor screen (below file, edit, image, filter).

Adding text to your moodboard

• Select the text tool
• Double click to edit text Enter your text and click ‘done’
• Select your font in the drop-down menu in the options bar as well as the size of text (As long as the text tool is active, you’ll see that rectangular boundary around the edge of the text area. You can move this rectangle around by clicking and dragging on the very border of it, or resize it by clicking on the tab buttons at the corners and midpoints of the edges)
• You have the option to bold, italics and/or underline your text and align the text to the left, right or centre of the text box
• To change the colour of your background fill from the default white, select the colour well and click on the ‘background fill’ to change the colour
• If you decide to have transparent background fill, simply un-tick the ‘background fill’ box

Changing the text colour

You can change your text colour by selecting the colour well and changing the foreground colour (default black). Be sure that your text tool is active, you’ll see that rectangular boundary around the edge of the text area. If it’s not active, simply click on the text to activate it.

Re-editing the text

Double-click on the text object. This will reopen the text entry dialog and allow you to make your changes.

Tooltip: you can add a drop shadow to your text with background fill once you are complete to accentuate it and make it pop out of the background.

Tooltip: choosing the right font can make the difference between a professional looking moodboard and an amateurish one. Make sure you don’t use more than 2 or 3 fonts in a moodboard, and be consistent in their usage. For example, if you use Arial for headings, don’t create another heading using Times!

Dont forget to watch our guided tutorial video for a quick tour on the basic functionalities and features that the SampleBoard web editor has to offer.

Tips and tricks to a better moodboard | Using the drop-shadow tool to create depth

Moodboard created on sampleboard.com

The SampleBoard web editor has various different image-editing tools to create fabulous moodboards with. (Watch our guided tutorial video for a quick tour on the basic functionalities and features).

Simply drag-and-drop images from the navigator over to the moodboard canvas. Once there, you can move the items around, resize them by dragging on the small squares at each corner, rotate, crop, blur, clone, reflect etc.

One of the most popular tools, the drop shadow can be used to create a shadow behind your image and make it pop up from the background, and if used right, it will add natural emphasis to your moodboard image, as seen in the “monochromatic fashion” moodboard above. You can change the angle of the drop shadow as well as the distance, opacity and colour.

Tooltip: choosing a low opacity setting for your drop shadow will create a drop shadow that is softer and more transparent.

For more tips and tricks in creating beautiful moodboards of your own, visit www.sampleboard.com and check out the other cool image-editing tools here.

Tips and tricks to help improve your moodboards | Create your own unique colour palette

Moodboard created on sampleboard.com

Tips and tricks to help improve your moodboards

Using colour schemes is an easy way to create great moodboards. Decide on a theme, and source anything in that color range. It can create a beautiful feel and mood to a creation. Keep your older moodboards to remind you of how far you’ve come with designing. Play around with sizes, it creates dimension. And try overlapping images to create a collage affect. Study moodboards you find inspirational, and ask your fellow members and connections for advice.

With the SampleBoard moodboard editor, you can create your own unique colour palette by following these easy steps:

Creating your own unique colour palette

You can create your own customised and unique colour palette by using the eye dropper, shape, colour well, clone tool and following these steps:

* Select the eye dropper tool and sample your desired colour from an image on your moodboard. (you will notice the colour well’s foreground colour has switched to your selection)
* Select the shape tool, choose the rectangle and click ‘create shape’ ( a white shape with your sampled colour border will appear on your moodboard canvas)
* Go to the colour well and switch the foreground colour so that your sample colour becomes the filling and the default white colour becomes the border.
* You have created your first unique colour swatch for your palette!

Note: the foreground colour (default black) of the colour well is the border colour of any shape. The background colour (default white) is the filling of any shape. So when you create your colour swatch make sure the foreground colour is white so that you don’t get stuck with a terrible border around your shape. You can do this by toggling between the two.

For more tips and help on creating moodboards, visit www.sampleboard.com