FOR THE GEEKS

At Red Couch Creative, inc., we use industry-standard equipment and programs for optimal performance and formatting of our work, to minimize time and increase efficiency. For all you tech-geeks out there, the following information should give you a good idea of what we utilize.

HARDWARE

  • We use both Mac and PC workstations for development, testing and graphics creation.
    • One Apple Mac Pro tower is used for the majority of our personal server storage, featuring a 3.33GHz 6-core Intel Xeon Processor, 3 GB Memory, an ATI Radeon HD Graphics Card, running the latest Operating System available. This system uses a dual-monitor setup featuring a 27-inch Apple Retina display and a Dell 24″ 16:10 LED IPS LCD display. We also enhance our performance by using Solid State Drives (512GB SSD or greater) on all of our systems. All client projects are backed up every evening using Carbonite off-site storage.
    • One Mac Mini is used for primarily production work. It features a 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB on-chip shared L3 cache, 1TB Fusion Drive and 16GB Memory. This system uses a 30" Apple Cinema Display monitor.
    • One Apple iMac with 27" Retina 5K display is utilized for both design and production projects. It's a powerful little thing with 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz), 1TB Fusion Drive, an AMD Radeon R9 M390 graphics processor and 16GB of memory.
    • The PC workstation we use is a custom-built tower system featuring the Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) operating system (we hate Windows 10), an ATI Radeon HD Graphics Card, a 3.33 GHz Intel 6-Core i7 980X CPU, 18GB Memory, and a Solid State Drive (256GB SSD) for the Windows 7 Operating System drive. It also uses a Dell 24″ 16:10 LED IPS LCD display.
  • In 2019 we cut our paper use down to only 20% of what it was after investing in reMarkable tablets. These handy little devices have been a game-changer for us in terms of reduced paper waste (fewer trips to the dumpster and less time shredding), as well as keeping us organized. If you don't know about reMarkable yet, check them out by clicking here.

SOFTWARE

All of our systems are equipped with the latest software from Adobe. For print design and development, we use a combination of the following programs:

  • The latest Adobe CC Suite of programs including, but not limited to:
    • Adobe InDesign CC
    • Adobe Illustrator CC
    • Adobe Photoshop CC
    • Adobe Acrobat
  • Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel and Outlook
  • We have the capability of opening and/or working with QuarkXPress files, but sorry folks, if you're looking for someone who uses Corel Draw, PageMaker or Publisher you'll find none of that nonsense here.

For website production and development, we utilize the following programs:

  • Adobe Dreamweaver CC
  • Adobe Flash CC (when required, not preferred)
  • ...and any of the supporting graphics created from programs listed above.

When developing websites, we offer knowledge of the following languages/programs:

  • HTML / HTML5
  • CSS / CSS3
  • JavaScript
  • Mobile Responsive Development
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – latest practices and Google Analytics guidelines.

PHOTOGRAPHY

For product photography we have a photo and light studio with advanced technology in 360° shooting. We often work with clients who need custom product photography for use on their website and marketing materials, and we are happy to provide this service in-house.

  • We use a Canon T6i Rebel 24.2 Megapixel DSLR camera, with a Canon 50mm f/2.5 compact macro lense for those detailed close-ups and telephoto & wide-angle lenses for larger products.
  • Should our T6i baby break down for any reason, we always have our backup ready. She's a Canon Rebel XSi 10.2 Megapixel DSLR and utilizes all the same lenses as our T6i.
  • Lighting is set using two 24″ x 24″ Softbox Lights and full spectrum photo florescent light bulbs.
  • Our favorite toy is the Pamco Imaging VR1040 Photography Turntable system. We have an 18″ turntable with 40LB capacity that integrates with our photo and light equipment to take seamless 360° images on rotation, and outputs a high-res, transparent background JavaScript animation. The images can be pulled as stills at any angle or downsampled for website integration and seemingly "animated" views of any product, optimized for desktop and mobile applications. We're very excited to offer this incredibly cool service to our clients, as we feel this type of product display is the future of product photography.
© 2024 Elle Phillips Design, inc., All rights reserved | Graphic Design | Website Design | Product Photography