Is the sky really that blue? Are the blossoms on that tree really that pink? The short answer is no.

This is one of the most fun parts of iPhone photography! There are dozens of free (and even more paid) apps out there that can help you enhance, alter, brighten, darken, vintage-ify or apply any number of effects to photos that might not have been so eye-catching to begin with. With a few tweaks, you can take a mundane photo and turn it into something visually striking. Just play around in a couple of apps; just remember, the key is not to overdo it.

For this image, I first used iQuikColor to brighten the blue of the sky and tint the white flowers pink. Then in PS Express, I enhanced the effect using the Vibrant filter effect and played around with the contrast and exposure to make it even more striking. Then I imported the photo into Instagram, cropped it down to a square, and applied the X-pro II filter/border.

Want to see the original photo? What do you think of the edits?

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Don't fall victim to the graphic design zombies! (Source: http://media.screened.com)

Beware… There are zombies are among us! Walking, talking beings devoid of any conscious thought or willpower, they see and hear what’s around them, but are unable to respond. This is because they are being controlled by evil sorcerers who dabble in the magical arts of graphic design!

OK, so they’re not zombies in the dramatic sense. But there are an overwhelming number of people out there who will do things for no apparent reason (and this is by no means limited to design). When you apply this lack of logic to something like graphic design, you can end up with a bloody mess… Like when a zombie, say, rips a someone’s head right off and then has no idea why it did it.

I actually don’t know what zombies do, so it’s hard to give a reasonable example.

But anyway. Zombies don’t usually care if what they do makes sense—but I’m guessing that you do. And if you’re going to be undertaking a DIY design project, fight to break free of the spell of the magical sorcerer who’s enticing you to commit these final Deadly Sins of DIY Design.

A quick recap:

Last time we covered Deadly Sins of DIY Design 1 through 4. To recap, those were:

• Using Comic Sans.
• Filling up every square centimeter of available real estate.
• Using bad graphics.
• Changing your colors as often as you change your underwear.

And now, to complete your “sex ed” of design and overcome the evil sorcerer, here are 5 through 7.

Everything in your design should work together to convey your message. (Source: stock.xchng)

5. Using something just because you can.

Your business, if it’s functioning properly, is streamlined and efficient. Each employee has his or her own functions to complete on the job. You’ve got systems in place to keep your day-to-day activities running smoothly. You’ve cut out as much waste as you can, and every now and then you re-evaluate to make sure things are going as they should, making tweaks here and there to improve.

Graphic design is the same way. Every single thing you put on a page should have a purpose. It doesn’t have to be a “What’s my purpose in life?” kind of purpose. It can be as simple as “To break up the text.” However, it cannot be “Because I just discovered how to add drop shadows.”

The elements you choose should ultimately reinforce whatever it is you’re trying to communicate. People have enough to think about these days without having to decode your secret message or trying to figure out why there’s a picture of Mickey Mouse on your business card. Your customers are smart cookies, right? If you’re using something just because you can, they’ll see right through you.

Which way do you go? Make it easy for your audience to navigate through your material, or they'll get lost -- and so will your message. (Source: stock.xchng)

6. Putting borders around everything.

Imagine a maze. The goal of the puzzle is to get from the entrance to the other side without getting stuck at a dead-end. All you want is your freedom! But the more walls there are, the more difficult it is to reach the finish line. Frustrating, isn’t it?

Design’s not so different. The goal is to navigate the page to get to the information you’re looking for. White space wants to be free to flow around the page. I realize that sounds kind of New Age-y, but you get my drift, right? The point is, you shouldn’t try to trap everything in a box. In fact, it’s kind of evil.

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t ever use borders or boxes. Just use them sparingly—and, again, make sure they have a purpose. For instance, if you wanted to add a sidebar to an article, using a box to separate it from the main text would be an appropriate solution. Don’t just throw a border around one paragraph for funsies.

I'm mad because you stole my entire appearance and passed it off as your own! (Source: stock.xchg)

7. Using something that another designer used.

They say that mimicking someone is the highest form of flattery. Whether that’s true or not, “mimicking” a colleague is a gray area. On the one hand, copying someone else is a great way to try new techniques and maybe even serendipitously discover your own new style. However, to be safe, these projects should probably be used only as experiments.

Why? Because using them for your own profit could be construed as plagiarism… and that is one big zombie mess. Taking someone else’s design is as bad as ganking material from a competitor’s website or a copying a passage text from a book you read. It’s just a little harder to prove.

As artists, we must respect each other’s work. You may admire it and use it as inspiration in your own projects, but copying something with Xerox-like duplication is a huge no-no. If you do use something from another source, you must, must, must give credit to the original author…lest you want to end up in the seventh circle of the graphic design inferno. Besides, what worked for someone else may not work at all for you. And then you’ll not only be a plagiarizing zombie, but you’ll look pretty silly too.

Need help?

If after these lessons in sex ed and zombie survival for DIY design you are still confused, remember it’s better to be safe than sorry. You may spend more to hire a professional graphic designer, but in the end it will pay off. Think of all the money you’ll be rolling in from the new contracts from impressed clients… and all the money you’ll save on potential lawsuits! And hey, guess what? I happen to be a graphic designer myself…

Want to hire me?

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The tools of design are dangerous in the wrong hands.

Everyone’s doing it. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about: do-it-yourself design.

I’m not gonna lie to you: It will be cheaper to design your own business cards and marketing brochures. But before you invest in the newest edition of Microsoft Publisher, hang on! Your friendly neighborhood graphic designer (that’d be me) must advise you against designing something when you’re obviously not ready for the consequences. Good graphic design requires the proper tools and knowledge of how to use them.

“But everyone else is already doing it!” you say.

Whether that’s true or not, I know you’re going to do it anyway at some point. So I feel that it’s my duty to educate you on what might happen if you’re not careful. Protect yourself now, or you could be dealing with unintended consequences down the road…

Even comic-strip characters hate Comic Sans.

DIY Design Sin #1: Using Comic Sans.

This font is everywhere: you’ve seen it on childcare advertisements, office memos, and flyers for lost pets. Since it’s so popular, that must mean it’s a good choice, right?

You couldn’t be more wrong. You could try, but you would not be successful.

Comic Sans is the bane of existence of the graphic and web design world. Every time someone prints something using Comic Sans, a designer somewhere dies a little inside. You think it’s carefree and fun; we think it’s evil. You think it’s popular and well-liked; we think it’s evil. You think it enhances your message; we just think it’s evil.

Where did this intense hatred start? Honestly, I don’t know. All I know is that a) Microsoft “designed” it, and 2) it is so overused it makes me want to cry. That’s enough for me. (Comic Sans Criminal gives a more entertaining history if you’re interested.)

The bottom line is, if you want to look professional, it doesn’t matter how you personally feel about Comic Sans. Don’t use it. It will pretty much ruin any credibility you have. The only exception is if the average age of your audience is 7 or you are actually designing a comic—in which case there are myriad less-ubiquitous options.

Other fonts to avoid:

• Papyrus (overused and cliche)
• Arial (Microsoft’s knockoff of classic Helvetica)
• Times New Roman (not changing the default font makes you look lazy)
• Anything ridiculously cutesy or hard to read (like this font, for more reasons than one)

When it comes to real estate, who doesn't like a big yard? Apply the same thinking to your DIY marketing. (Photo: stock.xchng)

DIY Design Sin #2. Filling up every square centimeter of available real estate.

For many new and non-designers, white space is scary. If it’s empty, they think, we must fill it. Their gut instinct is to fill up the entire page with every possible thing a customer might want to know. Because then you ensure the reader gets all the information, right?

Au contraire. This technique results in some very cluttered, overwhelming pages that have no visible hierarchy, no focus and no readers. Because who is going to read a brochure that is an assault on your visual senses?

White space—also known as negative space (a term that doesn’t help with its reputation)—is an essential part of design. Proper use of white space helps balance the design and subtly direct your reader’s eyes where you want them to go, as well as provide a “break” so as not to overwhelm. While it seems simple, this is a tricky technique to master, so for now, just avoid filling up the entire page and you should be good.

Learn more:

Check out Before & After Magazine‘s quick video demonstrating The Power of Empty Space.

If you can see the pixels in your image, nix it. (Photo: stock.xchng)

DIY Design Sin #3. Using bad graphics.

Images are a great way to enhance your message and attract attention… But make sure the graphics you choose have a positive impact. If you’re using an image that doesn’t work, just to fill space, you’re doing more harm than good.

This design rule is pretty easy to master: Simply don’t use bad images. What constitutes a bad image? I’m so glad you asked!

If your image meets any of the following characteristics, delete it immediately:

• It has nothing to do with your business or topic being discussed
• It has been distorted so that the proportions are off
• It has been enlarged past 100% so it has become pixelated
• It is poor quality or low resolution
• It is stolen
• It is clipart
• Its style is inappropriate for your brand (e.g., using a cartoon when you are a bank)

While it's good to change your underwear often, changing your company's colors on a similar time-table is a no-no. (Photo courtesy Flickr user eriwst under creative commons license.)

DIY Design Sin #4. Changing your colors as often as you change your underwear.

Like anything else, color can often be dependent on trends (think the mustard yellow and pea green hues of the ’70s), and people’s tastes can change fairly often. One of my favorite exercises in design is coming up with new color schemes. Sadly, I cannot always use these color schemes. Why? Because color is an essential part of your brand and its image, and it’s something you shouldn’t deviate from on (insert current project here) just because a certain color has become popular.

Once you have a color palette (consisting of a couple of main colors and a few accents), the best thing to do is stick with it. Presumably you’ve put a lot of thought into this, and maybe even tested the colors on your team and existing clients, so don’t undo all that work on a whim. This could result in a lot of confusion on your clients’ part. Not only that, but constantly changing your colors could be construed as instability and disorganization.

And please, above all, do not alternate colors of individual letters within words without a damn good reason. This is visually confusing. People tend to group similar things together, so by changing the color of every letter, you’re inadvertently denoting that these items do not belong together, which can negatively affect readability. Not to mention it looks insanely childish.

Other things you shouldn’t change like underwear:

• Your brand’s logo (duh)
• The typefaces your brand uses in marketing materials
• Changes to both of these require an entirely new branding strategy that should be carefully considered before implementing.

To be continued…

Next time, we’ll cover Deadly DIY Design Sins 4 through 7. In the meantime, what do you think about these tips? Think they’re doable? Will they help with your future DIY graphics projects? What do you think is missing from this list?

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Special thanks to the Green Bulb Gang for providing the inspiration for this graphic!