Nuts and Bolts: Describe Distressed Effects.

We have discussed before the importance of special notes to call attention to any special, unusual, digital effects or elements in a design. Online shoppers looking at a product image can assume and expect all kinds of things. In your metadata and product description (Artist’s Notes) is the place for you to explain to them exactly what the card is (and is not).

Here is the overriding guideline on Describing Digital Elements.  We have also included tips for Music related designs.

We will now add to the list of design effects that need footnoting; grunge, distressed, aged, worn, etc. GCU has had unhappy shoppers receiving cards that they feel “the printer ran out of ink” or “the mail truck must have run over it”.  We hear the strangest things!

When designing cards with any distressed, grunge or aged effects first consider the following. The review team will hold submissions to the following criteria as well:

1. does it look intentional – is it used in a manner that looks like part of the design and not a printing error?

2. does it add value to the design?  does it make sense in the overall subject matter of the design and occasion of the card?

grunge, aged, distressed, industrial, torn,

THE TEXT ON THE COVER OF THIS CARD IS GRUNGE STYLE THAT INTENTIONALLY LOOKS AGED AND WORN OUT

THE EDGES OF THIS DESIGN ARE INTENTIONALLY DESIGNED WITH DIGITAL EFFECTS TO LOOK WORN AND AGED

This can prove to be an issue in the Artist’s Notes with a like image series to still attain the “unique” thumbs up.  So, consider using a thesaurus to help creative different variations of your effects disclosure statement to keep it unique. See Notes Uniqueness Tips here.

This is similar to circumstances where shoppers do not like the Papyrus font, of which GCU will be Removing Papyrus.

Here is a great example of a design where the distressed look on the cover font was too subtle resulting in a shopper thinking it was a printing error. The artist was asked to either make the effect more obvious or remove it.  Thanks to artist, Judith Gorgone Designs, for the quick edit on this cute design.