Every week I take some of the most popular and interesting tweets that I come across and share them with my community. Enjoy!

How to sell the value of design: An email conversation

As a designer it’s not always easy to stand up for yourself… clients often have demanding requests, tight budgets and due to one reason or another, designers will succumb to taking on labour heavy jobs at heavily discounted rates. This does not have to be.

Group Interview: Expert Advice For Students and Young Web Designers

Our readers have requested that Smashing Magazine conduct an interview with industry leaders on issues that are relevant to students and those just starting off in their design career. With the help of our panel of 16 designers, we’ll dispense advice that should help new designers get their career off to a promising start. We’ve asked a few different questions to each of the designers; you’ll see all of their responses below.

Where to find contextual image templates for your brand identity presentations

When it comes to client presentations, contextual imagery is key. The use of digital mock-ups allows your clients to visualize how their new brand identity will tie-in with the products they produce, the premises they occupy, the vehicles they drive, the clothes they wear.

So you want to create a font. Part 1

So you’re a brilliant designer, a master calligrapher, and you’ve learned all about serifs, side-bearings, and kerning. Now you want to create your own font. (What! You haven’t learned all about serifs, side-bearings, and kerning?)

Post-it philosophy and graphic design

Regular visitors to this web address will know that we’re interested in why people become graphic designers, given that it’s a fairly unusual career path (and no-one seems to give the same answer twice).

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I am approached by clients on a daily basis for graphic design work. Many are professional, but some are not. Below is a start to a new collection of things clients say, which are frustrating, yet slightly humorous.

1. CLIENT: “This project should be pretty easy if you know what your are doing.”
2. CLIENT: “I need a full scale CMS website. The specifications are attached for all of the pages.  We can afford $100. There’s not much of a budget but it could be a great portfolio piece.”
3. CLIENT: “Why isn’t the site #1 on Google yet?”
4. CLIENT: ”I showed the designs to my wife, and she doesn’t seem very interested. The target demographic is women 35-50, so we really need to work on this.”
5. CLIENT: “I’ve attached an image of [insert ->some absurd picture stolen from a search engine]. Can you just blow this up and make it our logo at the top?”
6. CLIENT: “We need a website and the budget is $XXX.
   ME: “Ok, that seems feasible. Go ahead and send over your specifications for your brand identity and logo files.
   CLIENT: “Oh, we need you to create the logo too. It’s part of the project.”
   ME: “No thanks.”
7. CLIENT: “I need a logo. The budget is $20. All of the rights belong to me.”
   The client is being a impossible to please. Requests everything to be revised just so they can see as many options as possible and not pay for the time.
8. CLIENT: “We really need the website up today.”

I’m looking to expand the list so feel free to post suggestions in the comment thread. Thanks!

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Let’s face it. Every product that humans create has an impact on the planet. In today’s world our everyday life is driven by cutting-edge technology that makes mass production of manufactured materials easier than ever before. So easy in fact that it has come to jeopardize our society’s future by tainting the environment with products so long lasting and durable that we cannot control our waste amounts which end up in landfills. As graphic designers, our role is to produce marketing and product designs that influence our culture. There comes a time when we have to adjust the envelope. We have to serve our future needs and induce preventative maintenance for our planet. Exploring the options of green design will further help expand design knowledge in a ways which will benefit designers, their clients, and the environment.

Think About It

As a graphic designer, I produce designs for printed materials. Some examples include brochures, booklets, the much dreaded direct mail, and even product packaging. But exactly how much material goes into pumping out these paper, plastic, and ink products? Of course they must be printed. Where did the ink come from, and how does it affect the environment? What is the ink printed on? How much of the material will take thousands of years to disappear or could it possibly be reused instead of wasted? Perhaps maybe the entire process is dangerous to human health because of the chemicals involved. These are all important questions when considering the switch to green design.

Google.org Philanthropy and World Betterment Campaign

Lead by Example

Before I start explaining the possible material alternatives, we should first assess the benefits of going green with a marketing or product line purely from a marketing aspect. Companies spend thousands of dollars developing advertising printouts focused at creating a positive image for the brand which represents them. When I receive direct mail, I’m often frustrated at the amount of effort put into designing the delivery so that I will look at it for a few seconds and throw it away. What if direct mail were different in such a way that when consumers open it that they feel like the sender cares about more than just the profit of its stockholders? If the consumers knew that the company took the time to use 100 percent recycled materials they would probably think differently. People want to see some initiative from the entities that they purchase from. Take Google for example, which started out only a few years ago and is now a top company in the world. Google has set aside a portion of profits for “philanthropy and world betterment.” This philanthropic notion has positively boosted Google’s public image (Google’s Reputation Precedes Itself, surpassing Yahoo, which started out heavily running television advertisements, unlike Google. I’m not sure which is the better way to announce a company, but I know which method is more beneficial to everyone.

Printed on 100% recycled material

Reuse and Reduce with Recycled Materials

Using recycled materials may be the most obvious and well known way of creating design that is sustainable for the environment. Many designers, and companies who hire these designers, are helping lead the way of environmental movement by taking advantage of the recycled materials which are both friendly to the earth we inhabit and appealing to consumers. Johnson & Johnson is taking steps to reduce its environmental impact by using sustainable packaging with product boxes and bottles plus using clean energy in its buildings. The company’s official website mentions that 93 percent of its packaging contains more than 30 percent post-consumer recycled content or fiber from certified sustainable forests. Many options provide environmentally friendly packaging without jeopardizing the security and marketability of almost any product. Consumers react positively to businesses that take measures to use green packaging and processes, but companies can also make a difference on a large scale by being an example for trend followers.

According to NRDC, if every household in the United States replaced one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees. That’s a lot of trees. NRDC has a shoppers guide to home tissue products so that you can help save forests.

Soy Printed Samples

Why Use Soy Inks? The Question is…Why Not?

Soy ink is relatively new to the printing scene, but has great benefits and availability. Below are some benefits:

• Soy inks create rich, vivid color that “pop” off the page
• Soy inks helps prevent pollution (low in VOC’s, or Volatile Organic Compounds)
• Soy inks are a safe, sustainable, and renewable resource
• Soy inks promotes paper recycling (they are more easily stripped from paper during the de-inking / recycling process than petroleum inks)
• Soy inks are comparably priced to most petroleum-based inks
• Soy inks are accessible: 25% of the nation’s offset printers use them
• Soy inks creates less waste on press (they remain more stable throughout the printing process so there are fewer ‘rejects” at the end of the print run)

Soy-based inks are very similar to petroleum-based inks, the only exception being that they contain 20-100 percent soy oil instead of petroleum.  The ink can be used on virtually any lithographic press without modification or special cleaning agents.  It is available in all Pantone Matching System and process colors and formulations. Roughly 25 percent of offset printers in the United States use them, and a staggering 90 percent of daily newspapers use them. Imagine how much waste has been prevented already just from newspapers switching to soy inks. They produce vivid colors, which pop off of the page. During the printing process, soy inks remain more stable, thus requiring fewer reject prints after the print run. Soy inks contain a minimal Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOC’s, and are also recycling center friendly when it comes to de-inking the materials. Soy ink contains non-toxic soybean oil, the same used in cooking oils, salad dressings, and thousands of other foods we consume daily. Soybean oil is also extracted from soybeans grown in the United States, so simply by requesting soy inks when you go to the printer you are supporting American agriculture.

As quoted by the United Soybean Board and the National Soy Ink Information Center, “Using soy ink helps the nation’s economy by providing a market for a domestic crop while diminishing dependence on foreign resources such as petroleum oil.”

We are already switching over many of our petroleum dependant products to the flank the downfalls of foreign oil reliance. Why not follow the trends of the green movement and be ahead of the game while manufacturing vividly printed products at the same time? If anyone is curious, I use JakPrints.com (How JakPrints is Making a Difference) to print most of my projects. They have affordable prices and good service.

Round Up

With all of the new technology in manufacturing, and the demand for high quality design, companies may not think that eco-friendly design is appealing. However, after ample research, I have weighed the cost and benefits. Graphic designers, and the clients work for, have the ability to move toward more eco-friendly practices without jeopardizing profit margins. There are numerous solutions, and benefits, to the environmental situations we are currently encountering. Green design can be a positive influence for the way our industries go about delivering products to consumers. Graphic designers play substantial roles in everyone’s lives from providing fine art to providing design and solid advice to clients who seek them out for their services. Clients are often in the dark about ways to enhance print design or use sustainable materials, but designers have the specific the role of choosing how their work is produced from start to finish. The next time designers present a project, they should intrigue their audience with their knowledge of green design and how it can benefit the company and the world. Both designers and clients will feel satisfaction, whether it’s because they just took their positive branding campaign to the next level, or the fact they contributed to improving the environment for everyone by eliminating future waste products from the earth.

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Recently, in my writing composition class, I was asked to write a paper using a prompt which questions my field of study. The results were quite interesting after I thought about the question and did some research.

The prompt:

“What is the most important development that has occurred in your field of studies during the last ten years?  Explain this development and how it has impacted your field.”

In the past twenty years, our world has changed greatly with the increased reliance on computers. The invention of the microchip has advanced our technology so much that we can now access many services without leaving the comfort of our homes. As a graphic designer I can also see that my industry is no exception to this revolution. Suddenly, untrained individuals have access to inexpensive tools that can be used for a variety of publications. Professional software owners are making their own fliers to promote small businesses. The invention of the internet has created a new medium demand for online web design, and the multimedia industries have also turned to more advanced design elements.

Historically, graphic designers have relied on professionals from outside trades to handle technical aspects of design such as typesetters and printer. The designers only need to develop concepts, seek approval from clients, and assemble the finished art to complete the piece. Once the type set and style were specified for the typesetter, the proofs were attached to a presentation board with all of the artwork and design elements for final production. The relationship between designers, typesetters, paper suppliers, and printers was almost exclusive. The development of the computer has changed the routine path for the industry. Graphic designers often still have agreements with suppliers, but typesetters have disappeared, and their duties are absorbed by the designers themselves. These days clients provide all of the copy in a digital format, and the designers are in charge of formatting the copy and creating a layout. Once clients approve the designs, it goes straight to prepress preparation or printing. The trail from start to beginning to end can be completely digital from the design standpoint.

The introduction of the computer to the design world has revolutionized the way graphic designers conger up and process ideas into the finished products we see on billboards, movies, fliers, magazines, and especially websites. A new medium of work has been sent to the playing field. Instead of a typesetter working with 2,000 characters, now computer-based software products can take the creative process straight to the computer with thousands of type fonts to experiment with. Adobe, a major software company, has licensed several products and packaged them into a design suite with software which allows users to manipulate anything from simple fonts to images, or even video and animation. Due to the ease of use and lack of training required for basic tasks users have began to take projects into their own hands. Thus, eliminating some need for hiring designers. This is one reason why designers have been forced to spread themselves lightly over a variety of platforms. The survival of a designer in the digital world partly demands that the individual must study in multiple types of media. The fine arts have been almost stripped from graphic design and journalism has been added to form a type of hybrid individual for the digital market. Although drawing skills and many of the fine arts can be greatly beneficial to anyone working in digital media, it is no longer necessary to land a job in a small firm, or maybe even a large firm. Whether or not one can survive as designer never touching a pen and paper is quite controversial considering it can astronomically reduce creative results and greatly simplify, or abstract, your work as a designer.

With all of the new bells and whistles being used in graphic design, education has evolved to meet such expectations and demands. As the graphic design field continues to merge more every day with computer technology, university curriculum has followed the trends by offering courses which reflect the needs of the design industries. Perhaps a degree which used to recommend classes such as print technique, typesetting, and typography has introduced courses such as animation, web design, and now even digital three-dimensional design to appeal to the job markets. These are all of the perks of an education obtained from a physical university, but some students are choosing an alternative route by going to the internet to learn. In the past few years, a slew of online universities have popped up offering an education to incoming students searching for an affordable, yet acceptable, means of being preparing for the design world’s demands of a degree and experience. As a student who attended a physical university, I could not imagine omitting the hands-on skills taught to me by my instructors. The advice, peer collaboration, and bits of fine art forced upon me were the struggles that forged me into the well rounded professional I am today. It seems that every time I’m stuck, I think back and find some application of the thought process and skills which most would not consider necessary to design a product package, website, or branding concept. The will to design coincides with the ability to spark the thought process with inspiration and past experiences, hence the struggle of an artist.

As the world becomes technical intertwined with digital communications, the design realm is following along. Collaboration is easier that it has ever been before. The communication process has moved from merely voice over telephone and/or in-house teamwork to include widespread collaboration via the World Wide Web using email, chat software, and teleconferencing. And the web connectivity does not stop there. There are many software solutions provided by online freelance services such as ODesk (http://www.odesk.com) and Guru (http://www.guru.com) which allow a group of individuals to team up by utilizing sophisticated yet user-friendly desktop management applications online. Anyone can join websites like these, so it is likely that you could be receiving work from clients anywhere around the globe. These web entities have influenced the graphic design business in both a positive and a negative way. Outsourcing has become less difficult for companies. Graphic designers seeking jobs outside of local areas can now log onto the internet and find employment, but the compensation often suffers at the same time do to competition. The employers who hire online have the choice of choosing the most qualified designer but most likely at the lowest rates.

With the introduction of the internet, to the graphic design field has become a stagnant pool of plagiarism and copyright infringement. Amateurs looking for quick designs such as clip art have found it easy to snag an image directly from the Google image search engine and paste it into their own project without regard to the laws that are in place to prevent such crimes. One such example of this involves Portland High School in Portland, Michigan, and Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Both schools seem to be using the exact same logo design of a cardinal; however, Portland High is calling the design a “raider bird” named after their school mascot. Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for marketing and communications, claims that  Portland is infringing on the Ball State trademark, and the university wants the high school to “cease and desist” using the logo. The school is merely 602 students compared to the whopping university student count, but the point is that it is quite easy to step on toes when using the internet as a source for design. According to Ball State Daily News, the “Cardinal bird” has been a registered trademark of Ball State since 1989 when alumnus William Villarreal won a nationwide contest to design the image. Portland High School later adopted the logo around the same time from a company who said it was free from trademark. Before the introduction of the internet is more likely that such an issue would have never come to light since searching the words “cardinal logo” within a search engine have become so effortless.

Through ample research and dedicated work experience within the graphic design industry, I’ve concluded that the world of design has shifted drastically in recent years. The process of design has transformed because of computer software and the extinction of industries which artists used to rely on for the full production of print design.   Communication has become so simple that graphics designers can now work with nearly anyone in the world to help run a graphic design business. Outsourcing has become prominent with the use of the internet as a catalyst for work transfer. Websites provide collaborative networking, and email puts delivery of the designs only seconds for client approval. The ability to post and share work publicly with the world has also posed a risk of creative stagnation, but once a designer can work through all of the differences between now and ten to twenty years ago, I think one will see that the aspirations of a graphic designer have not changed.

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Andy Warhol used non-representational color and representational form to convey different sensations. Apply the same idea to the portrait of Marilyn Monroe below, using the controls to adjust the colors. How does the color affect the mood? (source: http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/marilyns.html)

Contemporary art is often misconcieved as lackluster or lazy art. Many artists like Pablo Picasso started movements in the Contemporary era. They should not be noted as poor artists. They often excelled in fine art, however, they are highly experimental. They would sometimes study one particular mastery while neglecting to introduce the full spectrum of design.

Important keys to understanding Contemporary Art:

• Originality is important.
• Artists begin to question traditional definitions of art.
• Art takes an increasingly intellectual turn in the 20th century.
• Art becomes difficult to understand.
• The viewer takes a more prominent position in determining the meaning.
• The idea behind the art is more important than the physical form.

Want to know how to think like a Contemporary artist? Ask these questions.

1. What is art?
2. Who makes art?
3. What is the function of art?
4. What is the role of the artist in our society?

Below are a few Contemporary artwork examples:

These are only a few examples and I encourage you to research further. This article is not intended to suffice for a complete academic resource. It is designed to quickly grasp the principles of Contemporary artwork and generate an overall understanding.

Kazimir Malevich, “Black Quadrilateral” 1913

Notes:

• Detaches from everyday life
• Used as religious meditation

Marcel Duchamp, “Fountain” 1917 Notes:

• Take a ready made object and put it in art context.
• Questions the definition of art

Tony Smith, “Die” 1962 Notes:

• No trace of self in artwork. Manufactured.
• Intellectual  or Difficult to understand

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Image notes: Chris Hardwick (Nerdist) recently joined forces with Chris Glass and Wire & Twineto create a new series of t-shirts. Their first creation is “Nice Tweets”, in honor of Chris’ Twitter addiction. Borrowed from http://laughingsquid.com.

Every week I take some of the most popular and interesting tweets that I come across and share them with my community. Enjoy!

Here are 40 intelligent logo designs showcasing the negative beauty of logo designing

With the present logo design awareness I think there is no need to explain the term ‘Negative Space’. To me, interpreting the negative space within a logo design is no child’s play and I deeply respect the designers who succeed coming up with such clever logo designs. Submitted by Logo Design Blog. Thanks!

Four Things I’ve Learned About Designers

For the last two years, I’ve been doing to designers what they usually do unto others. Which is to say, I’ve been observing and studying them, asking a lot of questions and trying to discern patterns. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way.

30 Typographic Print ads… Hard to ignore!!

One has to agree…within last few years advertising industry has manifestly overtaken the media world. Today print ads are conveying big messages to the world in an impressive and unforgettable manner. I believe print ads to be one of the fastest ways to attract potential customers but if they are not interesting or memorable, then they are useless. Lately, brands have been releasing such clever ads that without any description about the product, they have conveyed their message to their customers.

10 Mistakes Logo Designers Can Make When Designing Logos

There are many mistakes we can make when designing logos for our clients or even ourselves. I have compiled a list of 10 common mistakes I’ve seen in mine and others work. This list is merely my view of a Top Ten.

Interesting Negative Space Logos

Here are 40 intelligent logo designs showcasing the negative beauty of logo designing.

Check Out This Weeks Notable Tweet Submissions From Visitors

25 Naughty Logo Designs

Is it important that every time we talk about logo designing, we should do it seriously? Don’t get me wrong here…I don’t aim to underestimate the value of logo designing. But, all the logo design topics available on net reveal it as an unexciting and boring industry. We ignore the multiple aspects of logo designing, including its fun part.

35 Red Logo Designs

Have you ever imagined the earth without colors…how boring and dull our lives would have been. My journey as a graphic designer has helped me learn the symbolic and psychological impact of different colors. Every color has a unique personality and delivers a different message. Therefore, when you get a logo design for your company, be very careful with the color selection. Always pick those colors which reflect the nature and characteristics of your business.

How to get inspired when you are not inspired

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Mosaic illustration made by Tsevis Visual Design for an article about Twitter for the Greek best selling computer magazine “RAM”. Best viewed large.

Every week I take some of the most popular and interesting tweets that I come across and share them with my community. Enjoy!

Colors can change your logo design fate – 10 careless color contributions!!

We can’t deny the exceptional value of colors in our life…Red is the color of love, blue is the sadness that drips from our eyes while Black signifies our evil side. Unquestionably, the world of graphic design wouldn’t have existed without colors. Being a graphic designer, we are well-aware that simply changing a color can make a logo design go from “good” to “bad” or “bad” to “good”. Submitted by Graphic Design Blog. Thanks!

Milton Glaser on design studios

The great benefit of this [everyone sitting together in a single room] is that you can hear what everybody’s saying. I’ve never written a memo in my life, because everybody knows exactly who I’m talking to and what I’m doing. Everybody here knows everybody’s business. If you have a deep sense of privacy I don’t think that you could work for me.

How 20 designers charge their clients – part 3

The final part of the series — how 20 designers charge their clients. Here you’ll find more financial insights from talented designers, as well as some very useful resources from excellent websites.

The Foundations Of Typography Explained

It is essential for all print and multimedia designers to have a firm grasp of both the technicalities and aesthetics of typography if they are to successfully deliver a message.

30 Dual Element Logos, Do You See Them All?

All of these logos combine two or more individual concepts to create one seamless design. Some are a little more obvious than others, but all equally impressive.

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Every week I take some of the most popular and interesting tweets that I come across and share them with my community. Enjoy!

24 Numerical and Punctuation Logos – The Unusual Logo Designs!!

So, here is a collection of 24 numerical and punctuated logo designs showing how creatively designers have played with these ignored features. It will be real fun to see how exclamation marks, brackets, semicolons, question marks and digits have decorated these logo designs. Submitted by Graphic Design Blog. Thanks!

15 Examples of Well Designed Contact Pages

We showcase 15 designers who go above and beyond in designing their contact pages. These pages show that a little extra effort can lead to stunning results in your website design!

Tutorial: How To Create An Iconic Logo Design

Logo design is arguably one of the hardest parts of graphic design though with a little insider knowledge, you may find it’s not so difficult after all. By understanding what makes a “good” logo and the principles behind effective logo design you will be on the right track in no time. In this tutorial you will be guided through the logo design process, from initial brief right through to delivery while being given vital logo design tips along the way.

Prepress Tips for Graphic Designers

When you design artwork for print, standard practice is to send a PDF to your printer. But are you 100% sure you got the settings right? Are you confident the size is correct? Have the colours been set to print standards or client brand guidelines? What about font usage?

6 Ways To Take Your Webdesign From Good To Great

The difference between good and great webdesign is relatively small. The average person may not be able to explain the tangible differences that make up great design, but they can usually spot a design they like. By examining some awesome sites, I’ll attempt to put my finger on some of the small details that make up the difference.

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The other day I had a client come back to me after the WordPress 2.8.5 upgrade came out. I had designed the WordPress theme for his website and after the upgrade had been installed the theme disappeared from his Appearance–>Themes section in his administration panel. At the very bottom of the theme selection page it read, “Template is missing.” next to the name of the theme. After searching around on the web I found a simple solution the error. Its just small problem within the style sheet.

Here is the solution to the “Template is missing.” theme problem:

Simply open the style sheet in an editor such as Dreamweaver or you can do the editing right within the admin panel by going to Appearance–>Editor and selecting the Style.css file.

Look for Template: at the very top of the code. It should look something like this at first:

/*
Theme Name: BrewBlog.ca
Theme URI: http://www.blakemccreary.com
Description: Theme with two columns, right-sidebar, fixed-width and widget-ready. Compatible with Wordpress 2.8, valid XHTML & CSS. What’s new? No sprites, header image, version check and much more.
Author: Blake McCreary
Author URI: http://www.blakemccreary.com
Template: BrewBlog.ca <——-DELETE THIS LINE OF CODE
Version: 2.0
*/

Once you delete the Template code just save and/or upload the new style sheet. And there you go. WordPress theme “Template is missing.” problem solved!

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The answer to your lightbox gallery problems is here.

Last night, I was pressed for time developing a WordPress site for my friend who happens to be an upcoming hip hop artist out of Atlanta, Georgia. Before we get started you can check out the new gallery to see how it functions. (Mr. Floyd County Photo Gallery) The launch is on October 23rd and everything was ready to drop on iTunes. The website had been neglected all summer with both of us being busy and we had to throw everything together quickly. After all, what artist doesn’t have a website up and running at all times if you are anywhere near the mainstream? (hrrm…http://www.kidcudi.com…seriously. I’m getting big timed hardcore on Twitter.) Anyway, I ran into some major issues when implementing a lightbox gallery in the WordPress.

If you haven’t noticed yet I use the Flexible Lightbox plugin on my Portfolio page to showcase my designs to potential clients. That plugin has always been quite a pain in the ass to me. It never works when I try to simply import a gallery all at once instead of doing all of the images individually. The CSS code has to be tweaked every single time I go in to edit. I will be taking my own advice soon and upgrading to the Lightbox Plus WordPress plugin by 23Systems.net.

I tried just about every single lightbox plugin possible including Lightbox 2, Shadowbox, and Flexible Lightbox. They just would not work with my new theme design. The images in the gallery just kept popping the images into a new window tab which is extremely boring. After getting frustrated I performed a search in google and hit this page.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/lightbox-plus/faq/

After reading through the frequently asked questions and troubleshooting page for the Lightbox Plus plugin I was immediately convinced that there was some good development behind the plugin so I installed it. After installing the plugin I was immediately impress by the array of options available within the admin panel. The screenshot below does not do justice.

One of the most impressive options within Lightbox Plus is the style setting. Many bloggers are not very knowledgeable  in CSS customization and the plugin clearly takes care of it with so many choices already available. A few of other settings available Resize Speed, Transition Type, Overlay Opacity, Slideshow, Previous/Next Labels, and much more. You can check the plugin out at the 23Systems.net home page or I’ve provided a direct link to the WordPress.org plugin below for quick download. Enjoy creating your lightbox gallery with efficiency and ease!

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