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About marinaduque

Hey! My name is Marina, and I'm a Toronto based Web & Graphic Designer, Artist and Illustrator with over 20 years experience.
14 March 14, 2019

My New iPad Pro Has Kidnapped Me

2023-05-04T12:57:59+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate|

My New iPad Pro Has Kidnapped Me I have literally dropped off the face of the earth, maybe for a few years.... I blame it completely on my new iPad Pro. Rest assured I am back in the land of the living. But ever since I bought this as a little Christmas present to myself, I cannot put it down. After doing lots of research, I settled on purchasing the 3rd Gen 12.9 inch iPad Pro along with the 2nd Gen Apple Pencil. I mean besides everything else any iPad does, I'm going to specifically talk about drawing on [...]

6 December 6, 2018

Selling on Etsy vs. Creative Market

2023-05-02T12:57:27+00:00By |Art, Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Illustrator, Marketing, Photography, Photoshop, Website Design|

Selling on Etsy vs. Creative Market This post will feature selling on both Etsy vs Creative Market as a Digital Designer. I opened up my first Etsy store back in 2007 and since then have ran a few shops on there. This one is technically still active but I have not had time to dedicate to it at all which is why you will see no listings) Within the last year, my side hustles was opening up 2 Stores: Typemaven (Etsy and Creative Market) and Flat Lay Studio on (Etsy and Creative Market). Primary Differences Etsy primarily sells physical goods and handmade [...]

23 November 23, 2018

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org

2023-05-02T12:58:09+00:00By |Graphic Design, Marketing, Website Design, WordPress|

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Confused between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? Here is a simple explanation: wordpress.com - WordPress will host your website for you for free but it comes with a hefty price tag of a horrible looking domain like thisdesigngirl.wordpress.com. wordpress.org - You host your own website. Your domain would be like thisdesigngirl.com. But of course, there are pros and cons to both. Keep in mind that both options are essentially free. WordPress is a free open source software. But it's OTHER things that you need to pay for to get them to work, like hosting, domain name, plugins, premium themes etc. [...]

1 October 1, 2018

Should I Have My Logo Redesigned?

2023-05-02T12:56:05+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Marketing, Website Design|

Should I Have My Logo Redesigned? The question of the century to every business owner who needs to keep up with the ever changing current times. The 5 most common reasons I find where business owners often shy away from a logo redesign / refresh are: Cost - It isn't just the cost of the logo, it's web updates, it's redoing business cards, all print material, and signage (if any). If you are a huge company, this can cost millions. If you are a small business owner, then you are lucky. Fear - that their current audience may not [...]

16 September 16, 2018

6 Designer Tools to Have in Your Arsenal

2023-05-02T13:01:38+00:00By |Graphic Design, Photography, Photoshop, Website Design|

6 Designer Tools to Have in Your Arsenal As a designer, there are resources and tools that you gather throughout your career to make your life easier. Here are my top 6 Designer Tools that I use (some for years and in no particular order). 1. Dummy Text Generator Dummy text or what is more commonly known among designers as 'Lorem Ipsum'. It is text that is used in the publishing industry or by web designers as "filler content" until they get actual final copy from the client. This helps aid in visuals when laying out a design. I once [...]

4 March 4, 2018

Using the Mockup Scene Creator to Create Flat Lays

2023-05-02T13:03:15+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Marketing, Photography, Photoshop, Website Design, WordPress|

Using the Mockup Scene Creator to Create Flat Lays Sometimes you just want to have control over your entire Flat Lay! Look no further! This Mockup Scene Creator features everything that The Sophisticated Entrepreneur has on their desk. Sometimes less is more! I love the minimalist look and sourced pieces that I would use in my own setting. Objects were shot individually and painstakingly clipped just for you (anyone who knows Photoshop knows what I mean! ;) ) In this quick little Photoshop video tutorial (6:45), I will show you how to use the Mockup Scene Creator from Flat Lay [...]

4 October 4, 2017

Everything You Wanted to Know About Print Bleeds

2023-05-04T00:21:54+00:00By |Graphic Design, Illustrator, Photoshop|

Everything You Wanted to Know About Print Bleeds Don't forget to also reference my other post on How to Design Business Cards which also includes a downloadable business card template. What is a Bleed? A bleed is when the artwork extends PAST the edges of your paper. This is to ensure that when the printer cuts your artwork to size, that the colour goes to the edge. My Business Card Here is an example of my business cards. The front only has my logo and nothing else. No colors go to the edge. So in this case, there is no bleed [...]

6 July 6, 2017

Flat Lay + Styled Desktops / flatlaystudio.com

2023-05-02T13:06:42+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Illustrator, Marketing, Website Design, WordPress|

Introducing Flat Lay + Styled Desktops at flatlaystudio.com I'm so excited to announce that I have added Flat Lay / Styled Desktops to which is available for purchase Flat Lay Studio. What are Flat Lay + Styled Desktops? They are styled stock photography that every blogger, online creative or business savvy entrepreneur can use to beef up their marketing brand or image. These styled photos are great for any blogpost, sidebar widget, or slider graphic that you may need as a graphic accompaniment to your website or promotion campaign. My style is geared towards minimalist desktop design. I have included a [...]

27 June 27, 2017

How Much Does a Logo Cost?

2023-05-02T14:59:34+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Illustrator, Marketing, Photoshop, Website Design|

How Much Does a Logo Cost? Logos can go anywhere from being free to $1,000,000 to apparently $1.28 billion. But let's stay a little more realistic shall we? Depending on how much experience the designer you hire has, logo costs can usually be summed up like this: Your Nephew or Yourself: Free Fiverr: $5 + Offshore: $100 ~ $250 Logo Design Contests: $299 ~ $499 Freelancers: $399 ~ $1000 Agency: $1000 ~ $5000 Super Duper Famous: $1,280,000,000 Examples of famous Logos and what they cost But just to give you an idea of some famous brands and what they cost, [...]

18 May 18, 2017

Design 101 ~ Negative Space

2023-05-04T00:21:23+00:00By |Art, Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Illustrator, Marketing, Website Design|

Design 101 ~ Negative Space In my previous articles, I speak many times that a good design will consist of several things. Good typography, use of images, relevant content, color theory etc. But we must not forget the glue that holds it all together. Negative space. What is Negative Space? You may have heard it before. White Space. Negative Space. Both are the same thing. It is essentially the space that is NOT used in a design. Basically it's "The Nothing". It does not have to be white. It could be any color. So for the sake of simplicity, let's call it negative space [...]

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