One thing graphic designers get very excited about is “white space,” or the empty space on a page around images, in the gutter, on the edges, between lines of type, in the middle of a big letter “O.” Expertly used, white space (or any other solid block of color) acts as a frame, grouping the content on the page into distinct areas that can be more easily digested. Like how a bright blue sky sets of a few fluffy clouds, like the spacious feeling standing in an old building with 10 foot ceilings, or like the ocean reflecting the setting sun’s rays.

White space can make clients nervous.

They look at the half inch of space here and there, add them together, and fear the space may be wasted, underutilized… When we ask for feedback on the design, the client may look at these slices of white and exclaim, “My, what big white space you have!”

The graphic designer grins and says, “The better to see your message with.”

But unlike big bad wolves, DDA’s graphic designers can be trusted. For one thing, our teeth are much smaller, and well-flossed. We don’t want to gobble up all of the important content with our big white space. We want the client’s message to be experienced as if it is an elegant, balanced, seven-course meal, not as an overpriced raisin on a plate, or an overloaded buffet.

Just like fashion and architecture, design goes through trends. Technology plays a part in that. For example, when Photoshop first introduced the ability to create drop shadows and other more frivolous effects, including psychedelic twirls, some designers used those effects heavily.

Designers now tend to use those effects with more subtlety and, we like to think, sophistication. Font usage can also date a design. There are some beautiful fonts that, because of their uniqueness, speak of a certain era. I can see why trends keep coming back, because it is hard to resist using some of these fonts just because they remind us of an earlier time.

But sometimes it’s possible to break the rules. I just finished a technical sales sheet, and managed to get away with using an older font (Bauhaus) by using it mostly in the headers. It works because it is similar to the font used for the company’s logo.

I love it when it works to break the rules, and if we can do it often enough, maybe we’ll help bring back that font’s popularity!

DDA has the drive to succeed, which is why they have not only survived but thrived in their fourteen years as an innovative, full-service advertising agency. Another reason for DDA’s success is that they hire the best candidates for any given position–not necessarily the most local candidates. The parking lot is always filled with employee cars (with a few spaces left for clients, of course).

You won’t find my car in the company parking lot, because it’s a black IROC-Z with tinted windows that exists only in my mind. My actual car is Rob’s. Rob is an animator here, who lives down the street from me; we carpool together every morning and evening. Before I started getting rides with Rob, my car was a SEPTA bus that took me on a scenic tour of the Great Northeast before we went through the various suburbs of Bucks County. The ride gave me lots of time to think of new and different ways to write search engine optimized content, and to compare the advertising I saw on billboards and fellow buses with the print advertising we do at DDA. Needless to say, I usually saw design flaws that DDA could have fixed in a second, or slogans that could have been less awkward. I also saw some that were pretty good, of course, but I never saw anything better than what we’ve done in the past and continue to do.

Why do I ride with a co-worker/ the good people of Philadelphia? Because I can’t drive. I have metaphorical “drive”: I got through high school and college like a champ, and have been working most of that time. Like the rest of DDA, I work hard at a job I do well, and take pride in the finished product. Unlike the rest of DDA, I have to use bizarre forms of ID to get into bars, and rely on public transportation to get places that are over a mile away. I’m learning to drive this year, though; my cousin’s going to teach me. I hope you’ll be there (client, potential client, or casual reader) the day I debut my sweet, sweet ride. You could probably take a test drive if I’m feeling nice (which I usually am). It’s just another reason to take your business to DDA.