The beauty of the graphic design industry lies in its ever-evolving nature. People’s preferences change; since graphic design has close ties with advertising and marketing, it’s only natural that the industry transforms in response to shifts in tastes and attitudes.

This year, experts weigh in on what they think will be the trends in graphic designing. The predictions are quite interesting.

Handmade Look Will Be In

In an interview with LogoLounge, expert graphic designer Bill Gardner says logos evoking a handmade feel will be taking the stage in 2016. This means that companies, particularly SMEs, will take on a more personal appearance with their company logos. These handmade logos will make use of cursive font to emulate handwriting, and two-dimensional graphics that insinuates intimacy and simplicity.

Google’s Material Design

On the other hand, Janie Kliever of Canva’s Design School blog writes that the Material Design scheme first introduced by Google will also rise up as one of the popular graphic design templates in 2016. With this design language expected to be a trend, one can expect more companies, specifically in the technology and service vector, to implement the tenets of Material Design: blocky elements, lots of white space, and three-dimensional aesthetics for depth and contrast.

Pixel Graphics Will Be In Too!

The rise of “voxel games” like Minecraft, Roblox and many similar titles seem to have influenced corporate graphic design as well. Kliever also noted in the same Design School blog that Coca-Cola have come up with limited edition pixel graphics for their products, featuring elements from the 1978 arcade game “Space Invaders.”

Kliever also added that the use of pixel graphics leans towards a resurgence of retro graphic design elements from 20-30 years ago implemented with today’s modern graphic design techniques.

Minimalism Will Be On the Rise

The World Wildlife Fund features one of the simplest logos ever sported by reputable companies and organizations. The logo features black letters and a single panda, devoid of any other elements including the organization’s full name itself, set against a pure white background. Gardner predicts that such a simple yet thought-provoking design scheme will continue to influence the industry, banking on the technique’s ability to communicate to the audience with minimal design elements.

Mobile Will Drive Graphic Design

Last but not the least, the rise of mobile technology will influence many of the graphic designs in 2016 and onwards. Medium predicts that more graphic designers will implement mobile-inspired work even though the project is not geared towards a mobile audience.

Design and your custom Smartbag

Designing for your custom Smartbag can be a challenge!
By using these design trends tips you should be well on your way to creating an effective marketing tool that creates great exposure for your business.

Contact Smartbag if you need to discuss your design or print requirements at: sean@sge.net.au or visit us at http://www.smartbag.com.au

Now who would have thought to do this in the first place, right?!
Cheap Christmas decorations for the office perhaps…

Check it out… IT ACTUALLY WORKS!

Not sure about the backing track though, bit dark!

If you want to buy some bags to get started go to:

https://www.smartbag.com.au/

Marketing a small business is, by theory, a lot simpler because, for starters, an SME is often focused on a local market and does not have to worry about, at least in the beginning, establishing a nationwide or global presence. That’s the theoretical part—the actual application can be very difficult, especially for inexperienced entrepreneurs.

To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of 7 ingenious marketing techniques that are both inexpensive and effective. Try them out when you can!

1.       Take Advantage of Social Media Sites

By now, you’re probably already posting updates about your business on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, LinkedIn. But if you want an extra punch for building visibility—especially for really new business—use the paid advertising solutions on these sites, such as Sponsored Ads on Facebook. These paid options help you market your business faster by targeting an audience by demographic, as well as city/region.

2.       Attend Trade Shows

The value of trade shows might be overshadowed by social media, but events still offer one of the best ways to build networks with influencers and, in a sense, “spy” on your competitors. Event networking on trade shows also gives you a chance to meet people who might be interested in entering into a business partnership with you. The possibilities are endless.

3.       Think About Participating in Local Organizations

Corporate responsibility is still an effective part of any corporate communications strategy, showing your audience that you support a particular cause. First, think of what advocacy is closest to you—it may or may not be relevant to your business and its product. You can then highlight this cause by publishing the occasional press release about a sponsorship, or by holding promotions, with a certain percentage of each sale going to your supported organization. It’ll seem like a small thing, but it’s a good way of building

4.       Organize Your Own Events

You can promote yourself better by setting small events of your own. For new businesses, events are one of the best ways to generate interest at the local level. Of course, your event has to be relevant to your brand or industry. For example, food and beverage SMEs can benefit from music and entertainment.

Use the event to give away gifts to attendees, giving them a taste of what you offer them as a business.

5.       Give Your Target Market Some Freebies to Think About

Generosity knows no bounds. Organize a giveaway in which your customers can get freebies, like free Eco bags in which to put their purchases from your shop. Some giveaway schemes are literally so cheap that you can run such promos for a sustained period of time.

6.       Think About Content Marketing

People consume information on an astronomical basis especially via the Internet. Get a solid content marketing plan made up and implemented. Articles can be written by you, or by others at reasonable rates; you can even re-purpose existing articles into new ones.

7.       Develop an Affiliate Program for your Customers

This does not work for all businesses, but if your model is one that can work with creating a rewards program for your customers, then by all means, do so. This encourages your clientele to refer others in return for something, and initiates a viral marketing campaign for you by themselves.

For stuff that you can use for your free giveaways like custom bags for shoppers, check us out at Smartbag.com.au. Call us now at 1300 874 559, and we can discuss how we can help you out.

Climate change and rapid overall environmental degradation are truths only few have the guts to deny. We’re dumping so much garbage into – without any solution for taking garbage out of – landfills. The Great Barrier Reef has just recently been declared dead. Every year, we reach new temperature peaks, with the heat becoming so unbearable that asphalt roads and public trash bins are melting in some parts of the world.

No single event catalysed this dystopia. Rather, it’s the culmination of several, seemingly small actions, habits, and shortcomings that lead to the sad reality we live in today. If you’re guilty of any of the following, it may be time to rethink some of your choices.

1. Using traditional light bulbs

A quick look at the data would tell you that if you aren’t using LED light bulbs, you’re leaving money on the table. To start, the average expected lifespan of an LED bulb is 5 times longer than a CFL bulb, and almost 50 times that of an incandescent bulb. An LED bulb takes about 10 watts for a total of 500 kwh over 50,000 hours – that’s 200 less than CFL and 2,500 less than incandescent. Incandescent and fluorescent bulbs aren’t only far behind in terms of energy efficiency, they also wind up costlier in the long run.

• Paying for non-renewable energy

Several energy companies – especially those in developed nations – have already began a steady pivot to sourcing energy from renewables like solar, wind, and geothermal. Those that haven’t contribute to the gaping hole in our ozone layer and the unprecedented multiplication of asthma cases. How so?

Non-renewable energy plants burn coal, oil, or use nuclear energy to heat water to a boil and produce steam, resulting in the release of huge amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Whether your utility provider is running on renewable energy tends to be readily available information you could gather from either your utility bill or from phoning the company.

• Substandard design

How a building or space is designed largely contributes to its eco-friendliness rating. For example, having too many untinted or unobscured windows in a warm climate results expending more electricity just to manage the temperature. Likewise, a space with poor air circulation and low ceilings lined with high-conduction materials would also be quite warm. Architects and interior designers have developed techniques and design standards to match ecological demands. Failing to comply with these would be more than an inconvenience – it would be a failure.

• Using K-Cups

With the world and our lifestyles accelerating to new speeds, it’s no surprise that K-Cups became a hit just as quickly as they wind up as waste in trash bins. Their impact on both the market and the environment is so remarkable that, every year, enough k-cups are sold to circle the planet 10.5 times. Just in case it isn’t clear yet: that’s a lot of K-Cups. To top it off, they’re made of the kind of plastic that doesn’t end up being recycled. They’re a huge waste despite their petite size.

• Single-use items

The K-Cup is only one of many of its kind – single-use items. Despite the growing presence of reusables in the market, single-use items like plastic bags, paper cups, tissues, and the like continue to be the go-to for most. Whether it’s because of a culture that emphasises convenience, lack of foresight (like, yes, a reusable bag is a bit more expensive than plastic, but you’ll end up using it hundreds of times more), single-use has got to go. In their place, there are wiser alternatives like coffee tumblers, reusable eco bags, and mobile tablet – all of which you have way more creative freedom over.

• Impulsive purchases

Let’s run through the life cycle of a buzz item. A trend starts, people catch on, millions of it are produced, millions of it are bought, the trend dies, millions of it don’t get bought, then practically every one of them winds up in either the discount or rubbish bin. Such is the case with the rubber band bracelet and, soon, the fidget spinner.

The purchases you make that you won’t end up having use for or fun with in a month or so become an extra couple hundred tonnes of waste – resources that could have gone to the production of more important and sustainably relevant things. Your unthought-of purchases are as much a bane to the environment as they are to your wallet.

• Sticking to paper

The Earth is balding faster than a man past his prime with our forests and woodlands are steadily running out. Where are our trees going? They wind up as books, piles of documents, magazines, newspapers, flyers, posters, and photographs. Agreeably, these things can’t be classified into the items in number 6 of this article as these are all, in one way or another, significant. However important, their existence in the print format is decidedly not so.

Most new books are published in both the digital and print formats (the former tending to be a lot less expensive than the latter), periodicals now cater to digital subscriptions (again – cheaper than print), flyers and posters can be “handed out for free” as pictures on social media, and digital copies of pictures costly literally nothing to keep.

Long story short: paper doesn’t have much use beyond wiping out our trees and taking up space.

Deceivingly insignificant habits and small acts are ravaging our environment, and that’s a great thing. That means that the changes necessary to reverse the damage and recover are likewise minute. At the end of the day, it’s an accumulation of little things – choices, habits, fidget spinners – that make the world we live in.

News flash. You produce a lot more trash in a day than you would expect. Over 1.5 to 2 kilograms a day is no joke – that’s about the weight of a full-grown adult human every month. A quick look at the rate at which our landfills are nearing their brims, among other things, will tell you that we have a waste problem, and it needs fixing.

Reducing your waste output and living a green lifestyle sound like daunting tasks, but really are as simple as little changes in your everyday behaviors. Living with zero waste isn’t as drastic like running off into the wild. There are quick, easy, and convenient ways for you to save the planet, and that includes:

1. Going for Reusables

We collectively produce as much as 9 billion kilograms (and rising!) of garbage in a year. When the goal is to reduce that amount as much as you can, the most obvious way to go is to make sure you put out less garbage.

To do this, opt for things that you don’t throw away – reusables.

You’ll find that introducing more and more reusables into your life is as easy to do as it is to say. There are reusable shopping bags available everywhere – a whole myriad of online sellers has begun to offer the product, and even your local grocery may have them ready for sale by the counter. Aluminium (therefore reusable) drinking straws are a growing trend, and come in straight and bent variants.

• Planning your purchases

No one is unfamiliar with impulsive purchases – from the unexpected candy bar to the extra notebook you just “had to” buy. But not only are these purchases unnecessary, they also generate a lot of unnecessary trash in the long run.

To reduce your waste output, it pays to be more mindful and in control of the things you spend your money on. What you take in defines what you’ll end up putting back out into the world, so refrain from the unnecessary and wasteful.

• Go paperless

Every day, over hundreds of acres of trees are chopped down to produce lumber and paper. What’s great about modern technological advances is that your need for paper is now a lot less than ever before.

You can now fit thousands of books in a device smaller than a pocketbook in size. The daily paper and now even your weekly and monthly magazines can be delivered online instead of to your doorstep.

Not only are you saving paper, you’re also cutting down on all the electricity it takes to print at a press and the gasoline guzzled to have hard copies transported around.

• Upgrade your bulbs to LEDs

Your average halogen or fluorescent light bulb is obsolete in so many ways – bulb lifespan, brightness, temperature, and even electric output. It’s about time you go for an upgrade, and switch your regular bulb with an LED. While, yes, these do tend to be more expensive, you wind up saving a lot more than you initially spend. At the end of the day, it’s not just money you’re saving.

• Fix your leaky faucets

A couple of drops every other second doesn’t seem like a threat to the environment, but the truth is that these add up. If a leak fills up, say, a bucket after every 24 hours, that’s a bucket of water you could have used to brush your teeth, or wash your dishes or laundry. And, when the goal is to go for zero waste, every drop counts.

• Grow your food

A lot of oil by-products goes into growing and distributing ordinary food on our tables

• Pesticide goes into growing your fruits and vegetables
• Plastic is used to package them
• Even more gasoline is required to transport food from and  growers, to factories, to warehouses, to supemarkets, and then to your home.

However, as you have seen so far, there is always an eco-friendlier way to go about things. In this case, you can opt to grow your own food.

Seeds and other gardening materials are cheap and fairly accessible. If you don’t have any gardening specialty shops in your area (which is uncommon), many groceries tend to sell seed packs and the tools necessary to get you started.

The benefits of growing your own plants are hardly limited to the culinary. You could grow otherwise useful plants like mint, aloe vera (great for burns and moisturizing), citronella, spider plant, and so on. Additionally, if you’re growing enough to have some to spare, you could always sell or give some away to your neighbors.

• Cook your food at home

Brush up on your cooking skills. It turns out cooking your own food, as opposed to buying them pre-packed, can make a great impact on the environment.

The next time you order take-out or drive-through, get a good look at your order. Think of all the plastic, paper, and cardboard used to package your meal, and how much less you would have wasted if you had just decided to grill your own burger or fry your own chicken.

Think of it this way: not only are you cutting down on your waste output, you’ll also end up a better cook along the way. It’s a win-win.

• Start a compost pile

Growing and cooking your own food doesn’t get you all the way to zero waste. You still have to throw out – and waste – whatever’s left behind. Composting your leftovers bridges that gap between you and zero waste. There are several guides online with tips on how to start your compost pile, what goes in and what doesn’t, where to keep it, and so on.

Old habits die hard, and you can’t expect to make these changes overnight. There’s no trick or cheat here – all you’ll need is the creativity to come up with ways to be eco-friendly in your own ways and the persistence make those little changes leading up to a pivot in your lifestyle.

Minimising your carbon footprint, or the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds generated from the consumption of fossil fuels, has grown to become a major concern in recent years, what with the dangers of climate change looming over our planet.

More people are now conscious of their impact on the environment, both on a personal and societal level. It’s no surprise then why there’s a growing movement to find efficient and eco-friendly lifestyle changes that minimise humanity’s impact on Mother Nature.

And it’s not all that difficult too. When it comes to reducing your carbon footprint, even the smallest changes can have an exponential effect, especially when combined with the efforts of others.

Below are a few examples of what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint, starting today.

1. Unplug Your Gadgets and Electronic Devices When Not in Use

Many of us leave our gadgets plugged in at home all the time, even if they’re not in use. But even if your electronic devices are switched off, as long as they’re plugged into a power source, they’ll still use a little electricity.

While a single TV may not seem like a big deal, if you have more than 20 devices plugged in and on standby, you can bet the cumulative electricity consumption of these electronic devices will show on your next bill.

By making a conscious effort to unplug devices on standby, you can save at least a hundred dollars each year on your electricity bill. That’s not much, but when you and several thousand people do the same, you can cut carbon emissions by a significant percent.

• Carpool and Take Public Transport

Share a ride, save the world.

Cars and other petrol-powered vehicles are easily one of the biggest generators of carbon emissions. The simple solution? Have fewer cars on the streets. But actual implementation is a different story.

What you can do is start small. Take public transport instead of driving your own car, and try to come up with a carpool arrangement to share a ride with some friends regularly. You can even take things up a notch biking or working to work whenever possible. You’ll even get some exercise to boot.

• Switch to Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

How many people does it take to change a light bulb and save the environment?

If everyone were to change their light bulbs from old incandescent bulbs to newer, more energy efficient bulbs like light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), you can expect to see a dramatic drop in electricity consumption.

For one, the LED equivalent of a 100-watt incandescent light bulb uses a mere fraction of the energy to generate the same brightness of light—sometimes even more. By using less electricity, power stations won’t need to burn more fossil fuels to keep your home illuminated.

You can even kick things up a notch by combining your home LED lighting setup with solar panels to reduce your dependence on ‘grid electricity.’

• Filter Your Own Water

If you’re constantly buying bottled water, you’re not only increasing your carbon footprint, you’re also producing more plastic waste.

Fortunately, tap water is safe to drink in many developed countries. In Australia, water is in major cities has been filtered and made potable. According to Sydney Water, “We filter 100% of your water to ensure it’s safe to drink straight from the tap.”

“We clean our filters every two days,” the company adds on their site.

If you’re uncertain of the quality of your tap water, you can still save money and cut your plastic waste by installing your own water filtration system. This solution might have a high initial investment, but it’s one that ultimately pays for itself in the long run.

An even simpler, not to mention cheaper, solution is to buy multiple water filter pitchers to maintain a steady supply of safe drinking water.

• Use Reusable Bags

When was the last time you thought about plastic bags?

Most people never think about plastic, not knowing that each time they throw away a single-use plastic bag that came with their purchase at the supermarket, they’re contributing to the worsening landfill and ocean pollution crisis. In fact, the huge majority of garbage floating around in the ocean is composed of plastic, specifically, plastic bags and packaging

Furthermore, the production of plastic bags also requires the emission of carbon—after all, plastic is a by-product of crude oil.

The simplest and cheapest solution is to use reusable shopping bags. Made from sustainable materials like cotton, canvas, or jute, reusable bags can last well over a lifetime and can be reused over and over again. Use them when buying food, household supplies, going to the beach, going to the gym, as a carry bag in school—the possibilities are endless.

• Laptops over Desktops

There’s no doubt computers are a necessity in today’s world.

We need them for work, school, for business transactions, and of course, leisure. But unless your computer requires a powerful CPU and GPU, you should consider using a laptop instead of a desktop PC.

According to Energy Star, a notebook/laptop can be up to 80% more energy-efficient compared to a desktop. The reason is simple: most laptop computers have low-power components to ensure long battery life. They’re often equipped with energy-efficient screens, hard drives, and CPUs.

• Open or Close Your Windows and Curtains

If it’s hot, open a window instead of having the air-conditioner on full blast. If it’s too cold, close one. Don’t crank up your heater.

Simple adjustments like these can be enough to moderate your home’s indoor temperature. It also helps to use your HVAC system only when you need to. If you live in an area where it can get really hot or cold, insulating your home is one of the best ways to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. 

Curtains are also a big help in moderating your home’s indoor temperature. During summer, keep them closed at daytime to keep sunlight out. This ensures your airconditioner doesn’t have to work twice as hard to keep your home cool. At night, pull back your curtains to let the breeze in.

During winter, pull your curtains back to let as much natural sunlight at daytime—this way, you won’t have to switch on your lights. At night, pull them together to keep warm air inside.

• Choose Local and In Season Food

The amount of carbon produced to transport food and other edible goods around the world is something most people don’t think about. The ships, trucks, and even planes required to transport food from producers to warehouses around the world can lead to tonnes of carbon emissions each year. And that’s all so people can have watermelons and other out of season fruits and vegetables in the middle of winter.

The more sustainable option? Support local growers instead, even if that means waiting for your favourite produce to be in season. This not only reduces your personal carbon footprint, you’re also putting money in local farmers’ pockets, giving them a reason to invest in fresh, locally grown, and organic food.

• Plant a Tree or Two

Give back to the environment and cut your carbon footprint by planting a tree. Trees don’t just provide shade, they produce oxygen through a process that absorbs and converts carbon dioxide into the air we breathe. And the older a tree becomes, the more carbon dioxide it absorbs to generate oxygen. In fact, a single 10-year old tree can release enough oxygen to support two people.

These are just a few simple ways to help you cut down your carbon footprint. Remember, it’s never too late or too early to start caring about the environment. We only have one planet we call home and if we intend to make it livable for the next generation, we need to act now.

It’s no secret we all face a serious trash problem today, and that “serious” is an understatement. Landfills are brimming with waste and mounds of trash are finding their way to the ocean – harming ecosystems and industries in unprecedented ways.

When the liability of an ailing environment falls on us, so does the burden of finding solutions and innovative means to change for the better. While we’re past the onset of technological leaps and bounds, changes both big and small in the amount of waste we put out all contribute to stave off complete ecological breakdown. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Avoid disposables

To reduce the amount of trash you’ll be throwing away, buy less of what are – by their very nature – disposed of. A quick look around you and a prompt reflection of the things you purchase on an everyday basis will drive you to the conclusion that we simply throw too much stuff away.

• Go for reusables

Many establishments have already begun providing incentives to encourage the use of reusables. For example, some coffee shops now take a few cents off your bill for bringing in your own tumbler or mug. Some groceries now charge for the use of plastic and paper bags – forcing you to purchase and bring reusable shopping bags on your own accord.

While reusable shopping bags are mostly rather inexpensive and accessible (especially online), if plastics bags are simply unavoidable, you may reuse these to line smaller rubbish bins at home.

A lot of things on the market now come in reusable variants. For example, plastic drinking straws (which are especially harmful for the environment and marine ecosystems) now come in stainless steel. It takes just a little bit of extra looking to find more eco-friendly variants of whatever it is you seek.

• Make friends with your local waste recycling station staff

Send them gifts of tin and aluminum cans, used plastic bottles and other containers, old yellow pages, and even your empty ink cartridges. There’s a whole list of things that recycling stations accept that you might want to check out if you have the time.

• Buy items in bulk

While, yes, buying things in larger amounts sounds contradictory to the goal of reducing your waste, buying in bulk actually uses up less packing material than buying something in smaller, individual parts.

• Sell, trade, or reconstruct your furniture

Old and damaged furniture takes up quite a large space in landfills and junkyards. The sad thing is that they don’t even have to be there. Lots of people would still be very much interested in purchasing your old furniture – either to reuse them or use the parts to make something new. The pieces resulting from deconstructing old furniture are actually great starting points for new and innovative pieces.

• Go for LED light bulbs instead

Your typical fluorescent or halogen light bulb not only uses up more electricity, but is more likely to meet its end much earlier than an LED light bulb will. LED bulbs also produce less heat, tend to be brighter despite its lesser electricity consumption, and last several thousand hours longer than their obsolete counterparts – making it the perfect pro-environment bulb.

• Curb your compulsive buying

You pass by a lot of things that are good to look at and likewise look great to have. Truth be told, a lot of products go through rigorous planning and design to produce this effect, so it’s really not your fault if you’re unable to resist their pull. You will want to at least learn to develop some self-control for the goal of waste reduction, as a lot of what you purchase on a whim tends to end up in the rubbish.

• Don’t replace what you can fix

With capitalism and consumerism deeply ingrained in our culture, we wind up – again – making unnecessary purchases. Should a little scratch, a mild inconvenience, or any slight tic to an object or product throw you off, most tend to rush to get a replacement. Instead, consider the following mindset: if you can’t use it, fix it. If you can’t fix it, get a professional to fix it. If a professional can’t fix it, throw it away. The norm is to jump right to that last step, but to save the environment requires that you refrain from doing so.

On that note…

• Fix leaking pipes and faucets

The spillage of unused water isn’t waste in the typical sense in that it isn’t garbage, but it still ultimately amounts to an unnecessary wastage if you look at the big picture. It doesn’t take too long to apply some sealant or tighten openings, but if you really can’t spare the time (or if the problem is a lot deeper than you’d initially discerned it to be), a phone call to your local plumber won’t last longer than five minutes.

1. Segregate your trash

We’ve set ourselves up in such a way that – despite all these tips – producing trash and waste is simply just unavoidable. However, this isn’t a fate that you should necessarily resign to. Segregating trash is a really simple way to reduce your trash footprint – so simple, in fact, that it gets overlooked as being effective in any way. But as a lot of the previous points have shown, you could produce a lot less waste by making consciously ecological choices. Imagine all the recyclables that could have, well, been recycled if you’d only put them in the right bin.

Most of these tips really just boil down to making more informed and conscious decisions. You’d be producing a lot less waste by continuing the research you’re doing now – these tips are only to get you started and prompt you to come up with your own novel ideas.

It’s a designers job to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the industry. If you’ve been keeping an eye out on trends in the world of design, you’ll see that contemporary graphic design is moving more and more towards flat and functional design.

This applies not just to mobile applications, but websites as well.  But why is this happening?

One reason is because websites need to be mobile responsive. That is, they need to be optimized for the smaller screens of mobile devices, so it’s only natural for designers to want to implement a flat and simple design to their websites.

As a designer, you can’t escape the inevitable, especially if you’re working for clients. To avoid potential losses in your graphic design business, make it a point to educate yourself and your design team how flat design works and why it’s important. Face it. It’s here to stay!

It’s Minimalist In Nature

Flat graphic design rejects any extraneous graphics and images that just clutter the user interface, on both mobile apps and websites. What results then is a two-dimensional and, in some cases, monochromatic UI. In other cases, bright and vivid colors are juxtaposed with flat and simple icons.

While it could contrast with the minimalist look of any flat theme, designers make use of the pantone scheme to come up with a complementing set of colors to avoid confusion and clutter for the user.

The first known example of contemporary flat design in the computer industry is the design of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system, wherein the tech company got rid of the old desktop icons in previous operating systems, replacing them with flat and simple icons. It may have been a competitor response to Apple’s iOS design, and Windows 8 might not have been very successful as an OS, but in terms of design, the system’s flat design was a hit.

Information Is Presented Briefly and In a Concise Manner

Because it’s minimalist in nature, any text found in the design is brief and to the point. True to the design theme’s preference for “less clutter, more functionality,” tool tips and other descriptions have as few words as possible to avoid consuming space that can be otherwise used for more icons or maximized to optimal effect.

While it looks easy to design, implementing flat design can actually be a complicated exercise. To summarize, however, what you’ll need is a good sense of complimenting colors, which takes a lot of experimentation and editing using graphic design software. The results, however, are definitely worth the effort.

Flat Design for your Smartbag

There are certain mediums and print methods, screenprinting in particular, that have always inadvertently leant themselves to flat design due to restrictions within the print process.

Branded, custom printed Smartbags are a good example of this where primary, flat colours reign supreme!

If you need advice on designing your flat design logo for your Smartbag contact us via email at sales@sge.net.au anytime or visit our website www.smartbag.com.au

For many, travelling is a way to get out of one’s comfort zone, see the world, and escape responsibilities. But just because you’re on holiday, doesn’t mean you should forget your responsibility to the environment.

While travelling can indeed be very taxing on the environment – using up huge amounts of jet fuel, paper, plastic, and so on – there are ways to minimise the impact your vacation, whether you’re going to Asia, Europe, or for a quick weekend in the Caribbean.

• Use reusable bags

There’s no denying just how destructive plastic bags are becoming. They’re filling up landfills, clogging and poisoning our bodies of water, and killing our wildlife. The statistics reflect this, placing our plastic use at 300 million tons per year, resulting in over 10 million pounds of trash being collected at beaches and waterways every year. While lots of countries have either outlawed or put a price on plastic bag use, many still haven’t, and paper bags miraculous waste-free alternative.

Reusable bags, in this case, are the ideal. Bring some with you as you journey the world for the obvious purposes of bagging your retail finds, groceries, and soiled clothes. Should you use a reusable bag for shopping purposes, be sure to keep your receipts to avoid being accused of shoplifting. Lawsuits take up more paper than you think.

• Pack less

No one really intends to pack heavy. Extra kilos in your luggage also mean extra expenses, after all. The thing is that heavier cargo requires more fuel output for dispatch – whether you’re travelling by plane or by ship. Take knowing that heavier luggage also results in greater carbon emissions as another disincentive for packing more than what you need.

Take a moment to fully visualise your trip. Make a list of the things you’ll really need based on what you’ve envisioned. The time you take to rationalise your luggage as opposed to succumbing to impulsiveness and worry could have a greater impact on the environment than you know.

• Pick your lodging wisely

It’s not all about what you bring to a trip – even where you decide to stay for its duration matters. Applying eco-friendly concepts to architecture and design is a relatively new practice, so your average accommodation may not follow eco standards.

There are, however, ways for you to determine whether a hotel is the eco-friendly choice for lodging. For one, check if it has a pool. Pools, as you would know, waste huge quantities of water and chemicals for their maintenance. At the end of the day, flying across the world to swim in a hotel pool is probably not a good idea.

You can also check for a LEED certification. What is LEED? Their website states that “LEED certification means healthier, more productive places, reduced stress on the environment by encouraging energy and resource-efficient buildings, and savings from increased building value, higher lease rates and decreased utility costs.” Organisations like the “Green” Hotels Association, the Center for Sustainable Tourism, and even National Geographic serve similar purposes.

• Avoid inefficient transportation

Flying seems to be the go-to means of transportation for most tourist destinations. However, plane flights use up a lot of fuel and are generally very costly and inefficient in their operations. Of course, some destinations you can’t help but fly to given the limitations of space and time (not everyone has weeks to spend for a cruise to Spain and back). The most you can do in cases like this is opt for direct flights. The shortest distance between two points is always a straight line, and a shorter distance means fewer carbon emissions. Same goes for travelling by water – if you’re taking a cruise, opt for shorter trips. If you can drive or take a train to your destination, that would be ideal.

That’s for getting to your destination. On to getting around once you’ve arrived. Renting private vehicles is a great way to contribute to global warming and limit your immersion. On top of that, a rented vehicle is an added responsibility to what could have otherwise been a relatively stress-free trip. Opt for public transportation like buses and trains, take taxis if you really can’t avoid it, or better yet rent a bike if you know how to ride one.

• Act in a hotel as you would at home

A common mistake among tourists is to abuse the services and amenities at a hotel. While, yes, you might not be directly footing the expenses for water and electricity, the environmental impact remains nonetheless the same. Reuse your clean towels a few times before trading them in for new ones. Switch off lights and appliances that aren’t in use – especially before leaving your hotel room to go about your tourist-ing. Be careful not to soil bed and pillow coverings to avoid having to replace them. In short: treat your hotel room as you would your home.

• Make adjustments to your home before you leave

Eco-friendly travel involves more than just the trip itself. More than destination, going on an eco-friendly trip also requires some adjustments to the home you leave behind. Supposing there isn’t anyone you’ll be leaving behind, consider tweaking the settings to your heating or cooling systems. Make sure that all lights and appliances have been turned off. Unplugging them is also a good idea as plugged appliances still take up electricity even when off – also preventing any untoward fires from occurring. If you have any pets or children, taking them to the pound or consigning them to a relative’s care is a fantastic idea both in terms of safety and eco-friendliness.

If there’s anything you can learn from these tips, it’s that travel need not be a wasteful activity. With some planning and mindfulness, you can reduce your impact on the environment and set an example for others to follow.

The world’s landfills are filling up, and one would expect them to, given that the average person produces as much as 5 pounds of trash in a day. From those 5 pounds, most say that only about a quarter of that amount can be recycled. The call, then, is to innovate new ways to reuse the things you already have on hand but would otherwise wind up in the rubbish. The best part? Reusing an object Here are some to get you started:

• Glass jars

You can get these at the dollar store and even supermarkets. A lot of products have also reverted from plastic back to glass packaging, so you’re likely to already have some of these – reusing is the name of the game, after all.

Glass jars tend to be repurposed to store herbs, spices, other ingredients (if it’s large enough, maybe even cereal), however these can be used for so many other needs. These could serve as desk pen holders or drilled holes into to be used as pots for plants. Its uses aren’t even limited to containing – pick up a food canning hobby or keep kids occupied by giving them some to paint or otherwise decorate.

• Plastic bags

It’s no secret that plastic bags have practically taken over the planet – they’re in the hands of every customer regardless of the kind of establishment they just came from, piling up in landfills, and even drifting aimlessly along roads and sidewalks. This has brought local governments and even establishments themselves to outlaw plastic bags either through charging a little extra for each bag or outright banning them, forcing customers to use paper bags or bring their own reusable bags.

Plastic bag policies aren’t universal, however, so if you wind up having some on hand, you might as well make the most of them. Plastic bags are useful for lining rubbish bins, reused to carry things around, separate soiled clothes from the other contents of a bag you intend to keep clean, and so on.

Should you find yourself running out of alternative uses for them, you may always choose to approach a local recycling center with them.

• Dryer waste

Too many sources online are eager to give you alternative uses for dryer sheets once they’ve served their original purpose, however, none will warn you just how toxic these can be. Dryer sheets are laden with benzyl acetate, benzyl alcohol, and even chloroform, among many other chemicals. Reusing and doing your part for the rehabilitation of our environment are both great endeavours, but you will have to remember to draw the line where self-sacrifice starts – you can’t save the environment if you wind up sick!

That doesn’t mean dryer waste is entirely useless, however. For example, dryer lint can be repurposed into bedding for your small rodent pets. Dryer lint is also the cause of over 2,900 fires in the United States alone. Put that flammability to good use in your next camping trip. Dryer lint is one of those especially biodegradable materials, making it great for compost or mulching plants in the cold.

• Toothbrushes

You might think your old toothbrush is over, done – passé. Its use actually extends indefinitely no matter how aggressively you’ve used it to scrub your mouth clean.

For food preparation, you can use a toothbrush to brush out the silks from a corn cob or clean out a coffee grinder – just be sure to thoroughly clean the brush before you do. If you, like many others, have the terrible habit of eating over your computer keyboard, a toothbrush should suffice in removing the crumbs from those hard-to-reach spots. Those who use makeup know that mascara clumps terribly. A cleaned toothbrush does wonders in removing these clumps and keeping your lashes neat and in order.

• Used paper products

Offices and other kinds of work place are rife with paper products just waiting to be reused. Copy machines often have a garbage nearby to dispose your flukes to. However, some others come in friendlier-looking forms like a basket clearly designated for placing scratch paper in. If your office copy machine doesn’t have one, you could always set one up yourself. Used paper envelopes work great, too but are much harder to come across. Unused greeting cards, outdated paper flyers, old memos – these and all the other countless paper products you come across every day are great for jotting down quick notes, grocery lists, and so on.

• Leftover food

The leftover greens from that salad you forced yourself to chow down on the night before, used coffee and tea grounds, crushed egg shells, pastries, the fruits you accidentally let overripe, and so on don’t have to go in the trash. Nature didn’t make landfills, so these things were meant to go back into the ground. Make the most out of the natural process of decomposition by strategically composting your leftovers in a compost pile along with some dried leaves you may have lying about.

Take not, however, that there are some things you can’t compost. Meat, bones, fat, animal skin – be they from fish, beef, pork, or poultry – are huge no-nos in composting. In fact, egg shells might be the only material from animals that are safe to compost; grease, animal oils, and all forms of dairy have no place in compost piles.

• Old clothes

Donating clothes that may no longer fit you or your children anymore to orphanages, disaster-struck areas, or the otherwise less fortunate is always a great idea. However, it’s still useful to know that these can be repurposed into mops, rags, rugs, quilts, and so many others. Fabric is an incredibly versatile material to work with as its uses and reusability are pretty much unparalleled.

The good news is that many of these household items are probably in your home right now, which means you’re just one step away from living a more sustainable lifestyle. Good luck!