Karen Gaudet Graphic Design is a design studio based out of Halifax, that specializes in communication design, marketing and advertising. We feel that you do best at what you do the most, so have channelled all of our energies into print collateral design related to promotion. It's that simple. Print design basically encompasses materials that get printed such as posters, brochures, marketing material, book and CD covers, newspaper ads, magazine ads, post cards, flyers, magazine layouts, catalogue pages, the development of logos, corporate identity, branding and more.

We provide the creative solutions that meet your business needs quickly and professionally. Whether you're a large corporation, or a small and developing business, we tackle each of our design projects with the same amount of energy, commitment, and expertise.

Your business doesn't have to be located in Halifax, or even Nova Scotia to use our services. We've successfully completed work not only across Nova Scotia, and Canada, but across three continents and counting. Documents, design concepts, discussions and final artwork can all be exchanged via telephone, email and fax. The internet is a powerful marketing tool, and we're always very pleased when we hear from people in other countries.

The Services menu above provides you with a detailed accounting of the services we provide. Each category contains a selected piece of work for that criteria, as is the same with the Clients, Process and Portfolio menus. We try to update these menus as often as possible so that you can see our most recent work.

A comprehensive list of the materials we design include the following: advertising, marketing, promotion, mail out campaigns, large promotional post cards, email mailouts, web design, layout, vector graphics, vectorizing exististing graphics, digital illustrations, graphics, magazine page layout, landing page design, menu design, newspaper ads, logo design, Event Design, branding, corporate identity, flyers, billboards, magazine ads, re-branding, invitation design, CD design, signage design, poster design, vectorizing existing logos, vectorizing existing graphics, brochure design, trade show design, bookcover design, post card design, web design interface and layout, stationary design and yellow pages advertisements. I'm sure we've missed something, so don't hesitate to ask.

"YOUR VISUAL IMAGE CAN DETERMINE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS AND MARKETING POTENTIAL. OUR PASSION IS TO CREATE THAT IMAGE".

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vector graphics

Our Logo designs and graphics can be created using using bezier curves, that scale well to accommodate any application from placement on a business card to placement on the side of a shipping vessel. Vector Graphics ensure the image stays crisp and clear in small and large scale production of literally any size. Photoshop is fine for editing raster images but we prefer to use a vector-based program as much as possible. This ensures that your graphics get the best print quality.

More and more manufacturers are requiring vector graphics to produce materials. Whether you're manufacturing a fabric product or a lapel pin, the manufacturers have specific file requirements. Often times the requirements are bezier curves.

Please note: when viewing the vector graphic samples on this website, please keep in mind that in order to use the graphic on a webpage it has to be converted to a JPG, so is no longer a vector graphic and appears different than the vector file. It is however, based on a vector graphic, and the vector graphic file would be the file used for manufacturing, not the JPG. The JPG version is just a sample of what it looks like. Clear as mud?

Below: A vector graphic from sketch to digital imaging.

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our team

KAREN GAUDET, BDes, OWNER/DESIGNER

As early as age fifteen Karen was a self-taught artist who explored many different mediums from playing and writing music, and filling sketch pads with drawings, to making stained glass windows and painting. Eclectic by nature, one interest was not enough.

She was influenced early on by her mother Gloria MacLeod, Dalhousie/NSCAD alumni and art teacher in Halifax, who supplied her with canvases, paints and paintbrushes, and suggested she give it a try!

With a background in finance and marketing, and lots of customer service training, Karen has spent many a day in boardrooms wishing she was designing forms, instead of filling them out. Finally she decided to combine her business background with her love of art and design, and make a full time career out of it. Since then she has completed her Design Degree at NSCAD, formed Karen Gaudet Graphic Design and paints from her home studio. Her paintings can be found at Secord Gallery, Seeds Gallery and Art Sales & Rentals Gallery at The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

Karen's design style is minimalist and simple. Her design philosophy? Less is more. She has designed many logos, and marketing pieces for small and developing businesses as well as large corporations. Several of her larger scale productions include event materials designed for several events held by The Cobequid Community Health Centre, and as well all of the materials for the bridal show at The Casino Halifax entitled The Forever Yours Bridal Show put on by Weddings Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada Weddings. She loves to learn, loves to do new things, thrives on change and continually keeps herself updated on the latest technology in the ever-changing environment of design.

Our immediate team is comprised of a small group of big-hearted individuals with a flair for creativity, and a passion for visual communication. We work as a support structure for each other, offering inspiration and constructive criticism, while drawing on each individuals strengths. Our external team is comprised of other associates and individuals who are called upon when needed to perform other services related to the development and success of our projects. Like they say, it takes a community.

Our designers work closely with you to create the artwork that visually represents who you are and what you have in mind. We want our working relationship with you to be long, and mutually rewarding.

...read more about us

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design process

Design is a process. Here's an idea of the what to expect once we begin your project:

In the first stage of the design process, you will describe what you need designed, and what it entails. This will include discussion about problems and issues that we may encounter, initial ideas, concerns and limitations. As well details of the end product will be exchanged including details such as size, color, and time lines.

The second stage of the design process is research. We will endeavor to research your project in order to know the product/service/company we're representing and the materials required for successful design completion.

The third stage of the design process is brainstorming. In this stage we'll start to explore any and all ideas that could possibly result in the end design. The client is generally not included in this stage of the process, but ideas, thoughts, and possibilities presented (by the client) in the initial meetings are.

The forth stage of the design process is to start to eliminate some of the ideas that came from brainstorming and start to zero in on the better ideas. At this point we will supply you with some rough drafts of these ideas. Sometimes these design drafts are still in sketch form, sometimes they're computer generated renderings. Generally you would expect to receive anywhere from three to six concepts, depending on the project and it's complexity.

Once you've reviewed the rough drafts, a discussion about the likes and dislikes of the roughs will enable us to either start to develop one specific idea, or to head in another direction with more precise knowledge. This is where the design process really starts to heat up.

In the fifth stage a second round of 'further developed' designs will be supplied to you. These drafts will again be discussed in order to further develop the successful concepts and to eliminate what doesn't work.

In the final stage, the successful design concept will be developed to completion.

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we think in green

The environment is important to us and we're committed to doing our part in considering it in all facets of our work. We're learning as we go and doing everything we possibly can to make a difference.

We specialize in the design of print materials, so ink and paper have become an important issue to us. It's not about going paperless, which would require and entire world wide paradigm shift, and is not likely to happen in our lifetime, its about using environmentally friendly products to make an environmental difference.

Using FSC certified paper and environmentally friendly inks will make that difference. If you want to ensure that your project takes the environment into consideration, ensure that the products and printing services you use display the FSC Logo or are printed by a printing company that has taken measures to reduce environmental hazard. The FSC Logo ensures you that the product is FSC Certified.

What does FSC Certified mean? Who is the FSC and what are their responsibilities?

FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council of Canada. The Forest Stewardship Council of Canada provides an international certification and labeling system that guarantees that the forest products and services you purchase come from responsibly managed forests and verified recycled sources.

We can supply you with the names of printing service bureaus complying with FSC standards in the HRM. If you're a printing service bureau that complies with FSC standards, please let us know so that we can add you to our resources list.

Visit the FSC Website