Luke Trower’s Post

TW: Discussions of Ableism and images of Horror Villains. Historically, society has made villains Disabled which has had a societal impact over our impressions of Disability. The ‘Disabled-villain’ trope uses Disability, usually visible difference, to make a villain ‘appear’ more evil. In recent years in society, we have accepted that culture is not a costume, and the same should apply to Disability. In today’s post, I discuss this issue and give an example of how it can be addressed by writers such as Russell T Davies for Doctor Who. At Purple Goat Agency, we can provide authentic lived experience from the Disabled Community for how you can navigate such topics. Get in contact if you would like to learn more! #Halloween #DisabledVillains #DisabilityIsNotACostume #DisabilityIsNotScary #TrickOrTreat #InclusiveMarketing #Inclusivity #Representation #LivedExperience

Which typefaces should your brand be using to be accessible? Many ideas surrounding inclusive and legible typefaces have surfaced in more recent years, after many well-established brands have already set up their well-known brand guidelines. This means that when they were designed, they may not have been considering Inclusive Graphic Design. So now we know better, should these brands abandon their long-established ways of doing things, or is there another way we can try to fix things in the meantime? This is the topic that I explore in today’s post, based on my work at Purple Goat Agency. Do you have any ideas on how brands can adjust their typefaces in such a way? Let me know in the comments below! #GenZWorkplace #SocialMediaMarketing #GraphicDesigner #InclusiveDesign #Typography #Fonts #InclusiveFonts #GraphicDesign #Legibility #Branding #BrandingDesign #BrandDesign #BrandGuidelines #BrandGuidelinesDesign

#BratSummer may be coming to a close, but it's never too late for a trend retrospective! 🟢 Today, I want to take a look at the album cover for 'brat' by Charli XCX. There has been a huge amount of reproduction of this design, including us Purple Goat Agency, but what does it actually mean? After doing my research, I found that this album cover is actually quite deep and has a lot of connotation behind it. Here are some ideas that we can take from this: 1. Creative freedom can create the most innovative work. 2. Don't be afraid to make something different. 3. Well-crafted design does not always equal good design. What do you think of this album cover? Let me know in the comments below! #Brat #GraphicDesign #GenZMarketing #GenZ #GenZMarketplace #SocialMediaMarketing #Trending #TrendingDesign

Social media platforms generally offer very few accessibility features specifically for video covers. Therefore, as Inclusive Graphic Designers, it’s our job to bridge this gap in what we create. Here is the process I undertake when making accessible covers at Purple Goat Agency. Do you follow a similar process? Do you do anything differently? Let me know in the comments! #GraphicDesigner #GenZWorkplace #MarketingAgency #SocialMediaMarketing #InclusiveDesign #AccessibleDesign #SocialMediaCarousel #Carousel #GenZDesigner ID (Slide One): “How I make accessible video covers.” ID (Slide Two): “Check the aspect ratio and specifications. Different social platforms have different aspect ratios for their video covers. These are always being changed even if you only post to a single platform, so always look out for changes to your content feed.” ID (Slide Three): “Decide on the background and style. This will be the canvas for your cover. It will help you decide what tonality and impact you want your cover to have. Setting this up now will help you to think about how to create contrasting imagery and typography that stands out and is accessible. A background could even be a clip from the video.” ID (Slide Four): “Prepare images for the specific style. Select images that match your tonality and think about how you are going to apply them. You could collage them, apply filters, cut them out - there are more possibilities that can be named. Clear, simple icons can also be effective and easily read by your audience.” ID (Slide Five): “Decide on the composition. Paste the images and start being playful with how you move the images around the background. If you are using software like Photoshop, don’t commit to merging everything into a single layer. Try different combinations, scales and positions while remembering to leave room for your text. You also don’t want the cover to be too overwhelming, so keep that in mind too.” ID (Slide Six): “Add the text. Small amounts of larger text is best. Remember that the cover will be smaller on a phone screen at whichever size you are creating it at, so always zoom out to check that all of your text is legible at small sizes. Add borders and boxes should you need to make the text more contrasting.” ID (Slide Seven): “Check and publish. Check your cover for any potential accessibility errors. Is your text contrasting enough? Are all aspects of the cover readable? Will someone viewing this on a phone be able to read it? If you can answer “yes,” to all of these questions, then you are ready to put your video on socials!” ID (Slide Eight): “What would you like me to talk about next?” There is a credit at the bottom to the author, Luke Trower, who is a Designer. He invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn at the same name.

I can't wait to lead this conversation with Carmen de Castro! Anyone who is interested in learning more about social strategy or inclusive social media should definitely join. I can't wait to see you there!

Which is your favourite Graphic Design tool? On a daily basis, I use about a dozen different digital tools to complete my work. 🎨 Some of them I enjoy using, some of them less so! Here is a list of my favourite tools that I use frequently use most days of the week. #GraphicDesigner #MarketingAgency #SocialMediaMarketing #GenZWorkplace #RemoteWorking #GraphicDesignTools #ArtEducation #Adobe #AdobeInDesign #InclusiveDesign #AccessibleDesign Purple Goat Agency ID (Slide One): "My Favourite Digital Graphic Design Tools" ID (Slide Two): "Adobe InDesign: Good for making accessible documents and social media carousels (such as this one!)" ID (Slide Three): "Adobe Acrobat: I can use this with Adobe InDesign to sort any accessibility errors and finalise PDFs." ID (Slide Four): "Adobe After Effects: This software has made me rage more than any other, but I can never argue with the results!" ID (Slide Five): "WebAIM Colour Contrast Checker: Clear and easy to understand, it helps me to make sure that my colour choices are accessible." ID (Slide Six): "Google Slides: Limited but reliable. It has taught me that good design doesn’t require expensive tools."

The Things I wish I Knew Before Becoming a Graphic Designer 🖊 I had 4 years of formal Graphic Design education, but this was not conclusive and did not teach me everything that I know today. As I have continued to work at Purple Goat Agency, I have learnt so much more. If I could go back in time and see my post-university self, here are some of the things that I would advise. I wish I could have known some of these earlier - they may have helped me along the way! If you’re a graphic designer, what other things did you wish you knew when you started? #GraphicDesigner #MarketingAgency #SocialMediaMarketing #GenZWorkplace #RemoteWorking #LifeLessons #ArtEducation ID (Slide One): Text reads: “Things I wish I knew before becoming a Graphic Designer.” It is surrounded by small, Graphic Design related icons. ID (Slide Two): Text summarises the importance of knowing programs beyond Photoshop and Illustrator such as After Effects and InDesign. There are small icons of some of these program logos at the bottom. ID (Slide Three): Text summarises that the rules of Graphic Design were built for a specific time and context, so might not always keep up-to-date with new media. There is an icon of an alarm clock at the bottom. ID (Slide Four): Text summarises the importance of good design principles, and how they are everlasting. Trends are only temporary. There is an icon of a sun at the bottom. ID (Slide Five): Text summarises that you should ask the right questions, namely questions that get to the heart of what your client is looking for. There is an icon of three question marks. ID (Slide Six): Text summarises the importance of putting down your Graphic Design tools at the end of every day and taking up other creative pursuits. There is an icon of a paint roller with paint. ID (Slide Seven): Text summarises how in Graphic Design you should focus on the area that interest you the most because you will be doing them every day. There is an icon of a smiley-face emoji at the bottom. ID (Slide Eight): Text summarises how when you work in a team, you can learn a lot from different people in different roles. The accompanying icon is dots connected by lines back to a centre point. ID (Slide Nine): Text summarises how you should spend time thinking and planning before decision-making as this will help you to avoid mistakes. The accompanying icon is a thought bubble with an ellipsis in it. ID (Slide Ten): The final slide reminds everyone to stick with it, because being a Graphic Designer is a lot of fun. Icon to the side is of three heart emojis.

Is your brand thinking of engaging with the Paralympics this year? Find out how to do it in the most authentic way possible from industry experts with this free online event by Purple Goat Agency!

I am involved in another episode of the Puple Goat Podcast! In this episode, I am on a panel with Dayna Halliwell and Ruby Woods where we discuss our lived experiences of Autism. I really enjoyed filming this episode because Dayna and Ruby have both studied disability to a high academic level, and provide some amazing insight. I hope you enjoy it!