Creating a drawing for a patent is very much different from the one we did in our school days. Unlike the drawing in school, here, we have certain rules and we need to follow these rules religiously, failing which can cost a rejection in the patent application. No matter whether the drawing is a utility patent drawing or a design patent drawing we need to follow these golden rules put forth by patent offices like USPTO.

This is an article that will highlight some of these golden rules which a draft-person should follow while creating a patent illustration for an invention.

Rules for Patent Drawing

Showing features clearly: No matter whether you are showing a device, process or a design putting every feature of the invention in paper and that too accurately is important. Patent illustrator needs to document every feature of the invention accurately.

All we can say that we need to make sure that the patent examiner fully understands the feature of the item without putting stress on their eyebrows. Failure to include all the details may lead to rejection of the patent.

For example if you have a drawing of a mobile phone that has many features we need to show each feature of the mobile phone in such a way that anyone going through it can have a clear understanding of the invention.

Neatness: Even if, you present features of your invention accurately but the drawing is having some strike-throughs, over writings and alterations you risk rejection. Though it is not documented anywhere that your patent illustration should be neat and clean still patent office like USPTO want you to present a neat and error-free drawing that is readable.

Legibility: Legibility is the ability to distinguish various letters and is another criterion a professional draft person needs to follow where each text, word and image should not overlap its adjacent element. Failing to make optimum legibility could lead to rejection of your application.

Readability: Readability is another criterion that is not documented anywhere but we need to follow it during this whole process. Spacing within words, between words and between lines are such that the resulting text is again visually readable.

Visually Appealing: Not only you need to have a legible drawing but it should also be visually appealing where your drawing sheet is devoid of folds, holes and creases.

Use Metric System: Any dimension and sizing information presented in a patent disclosure will be in metric inches preferably centimeters in case of small devices we can use millimeters. Though USPTO doesn’t forbid using English Engineering Units still they prefer metric system and thus we need to follow this rule as well.

Sheet Size: Sheet size is another important criterion that we need to follow in a patent drawing. Patent office like USPTO is very specific on sheet size and allows only two kinds of sheet size a) 21 cm x 29.7 cm which is also called as A4 size and b) 21.6 cm x 27.9 cm which American people generally use.

Putting it all together we can say that creating an illustration for invention is a science as well as an art that requires adequate knowledge of regulatory norms as well as an artistic approach and thus you can do justice with your invention only if you are an experienced draft-person.

What are the best laptops for graphic designers? No such thing as a laptop that’s best for any particular task. Some laptops excel at a variety of related demanding tasks.

When you’re thinking about design, you’re thinking about Photoshop, Illustrator or CAD software. The Adobe Suite is perhaps the most popular. It’s a powerful design suite. Other design suites are just as powerful. Powerful software demands fast hardware.

First of all, a designer’s laptop should be well-built. You cannot hope to get a budget laptop and run design software well on it. Software like design software requires power

Design software requires powerful hardware. That doesn’t mean the exterior shouldn’t look nice as well. It should be a reliable laptop. Most people would tell you that Apple Macbooks are best suited for designers. But then comes a question of taste.

Mac OS provides a fluid computing experience, while Windows is user-friendly but also error-prone. During its development, the Mac OS went through several optimizations that make it fast. And, it’s also efficient on hardware use.

That’s why most Apple laptops tend to get away with carrying just the right amount of equipment. The software written for them is too well optimized, and it runs well on what the system has to offer.

If you like Windows better than Mac OS, all is not lost. There are some new laptop models out on the market you have to consider. These notebooks pack powerful hardware. They can carry fast Core i7 processors, 8-16GB of RAM, an SSD, and a dedicated GPU. Don’t let this fool you; manufacturers designed these laptops for gaming.

Some of these machines come with IPS panels. The IPS panel offers a high color accuracy, increased viewing angles and excellent brightness.

These screens are better suited for designers than anyone else. IPS is not so okay for gamers since their response times can be a bit higher than gaming ready panels.

Panel type is important, but the screen size is another thing to keep in mind. You wouldn’t want to run design software on small screens. The artist’s canvas has to be large enough that they can get a clear picture of everything that’s going. But also allow them to zoom it at the pixel level and make minute corrections.

So what should a laptop for a graphic designer incorporate?

Well, it should pack only recent hardware to enjoy increased speeds and power efficiency. This means they will either carry an Intel Core i5 processor, or the even better Core i7 CPU from Intel.

RAM will sit in the 8-16GB range since this will allow you to run several software programs in parallel.

The more RAM you have, the better you’ll be multitasking. A high amount of RAM means you can run many programs at the same time.

Photoshop and Illustrator, along with a web browser with various tabs open for inspiration. Various programs and opened browser tabs are a typical setup in the designer’s workflow. This is just the way an artist works. They need a lot of processing power, along with lots of memory. The software they run requires heavy amounts of processing.

The storage used needs to be an SSD. These drives are much faster than regular hard drives. HDDs, which you can find in conventional laptops, are obsolete in today’s workflow. They cannot keep up with the requirements of a web designer. Also, SSDs are faster by up to 10 times than regular hard drives.

Believe it or not, it is possible to publish a book for under $100. Here’s how.

• Write the book yourself. Many published authors hire ghostwriters to write all or part of the book. If you write the book yourself, then you literally save thousands of dollars right from the start. Writing a book is not as difficult as you may think. In fact, if you already have a collection of articles or reports that you have written – your book is already complete. Simply organize your articles in a structure that makes sense, add an introduction, a few transitions, and a conclusion and you’re set. You have a book.
• Edit the book yourself. Editing is a critical step to writing a book and often it is better handled by the experts. Editors not only find grammar and spelling mistakes, they help bring your copy to a new level. The can help add life and energy to any writing. Instead of spending thousands of dollars to have your book professionally edited, you can tackle the job yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask friends and family for help.
• Use your own photos or stock photos for your graphics and illustrations rather than hiring an illustrator. You’d be surprised what is available online. Graphics can easily be created using many open source or screen shot software products. Additionally, stock photo sites sell their images for as little as $1.00.
• Sell your book as an electronic book or e-book. This eliminates almost all production and distribution costs. You do not need a printer, binder, or shipping and distribution services, all you need is a website and you need one of those regardless. Publishing your book electronically does not negate publishing a printed version of it in your future.

In fact, you can use the profits from the sale of your e-book to fund the production costs of your print book. Not sure about the e-book market? Do a bit of research. E-books are enormously popular and growing in popularity every day. Why even Stephen King publishes electronically.

• Joint venture with someone. You write the book, they pay for printing and publishing and you both market it and share the profits. Look for joint venture partners by exploring associates and resources in your niche. For example, if you want to write and publish a book about how to work from home, you can partner with someone already in the industry.

You cover the expenses of creating the book, they cover the expenses of publishing the bookand you both market the book and profit from the sale. Joint ventures can be extremely lucrative not only because it costs you half as much to get your book to market but because now instead of one person marketing it, there are two – twice the profits.

To produce the best web design, you need to make sure that your using the right software. Here are our recommended software packages for performing your web design tasks.

Dreamweaver.

Dreamweaver is the perfect package for creating websites. Whether your an amateur or a professional, this program is an absolute must have. You can use preloaded templates, have html code created for you, and insert image, flash and movie files in seconds. If you’re already savy with designing then dreamweaver can provide a stable platform for you to build and preview html, php, asp, cfm, css, java, etc pages. Save all your web pages in a ‘dreamweaver site’ and view all your files in one neat and tidy list.

Fireworks.

If your designing for the web then you should definitely consider Fireworks. With its ease of use and similar functionality to Photoshop and Illustrator, you will be able to create professional, effective graphics in no time at all. Saving images for web use is so simple by using the image preview feature. This let’s you optimise the images to your liking before publishing the file.

Flash.

Every website should have some form of moving, animated or interactive banner. Flash allows designers to create a range of different banners with an in depth tool bar and a huge library of action script. There’s so much functionality that it will take you years before you get anywhere near close to using all of Flash’s features.

We use these programs everyday to create some of the best websites for clients. Other great programs to have a look at are; Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator.

Specific Tarot readings will be affected by the Tarot card deck you have chosen. Because of this fundamental reason, it is important to know and understand the differences inherent in different decks. While some decks may be popular and others obscure, all hold power and insight. Knowledge is always important, and knowing the fundamentals about the Tarot decks which are out there will help you interpret your reading.

The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck
The Rider-Waite Tarot deck is one of the most popular decks in the Americas. This deck was initially published in 1909 by the Rider company. The visionary behind the cards was Arthur Edward Waite. He took the popularized Tarot de Marseille from France and, with the help of the talented illustrator Pamela Colman Smith, enhanced their symbolism and meaning through colorful illustrations. This deck is comprised of 78 cards with four suits of minor arcana as well as the classic major arcana, and is the foundation from which many recent variations have been modeled. The Rider-Waite deck is iconic and has led to many interpretations including Eden Gray's story of the Fool's Journey.

The Thoth Tarot Deck
The other major Tarot deck in the Americas is the Thoth deck, which was the product of Aleister Crowley's efforts in the middle of the twentieth century. This deck differs from the Rider-Waite in a variety of ways. For one, the names of many of the cards have been changed. This includes the court cards of the minor arcana as well as many major arcana. In addition to the traditional Latin symbolism of the Rider-Waite deck, Crowley introduced ancient Egyptian and Chinese symbolism in the Thoth. This broadens the mystical tradition which the cards draw upon, and enable more people to connect with them personally. The Thoth deck also has an authoritative text by Crowley which explains the meanings of the cards – the Book of Thoth.

Hermetic Tarot Decks
The Hermetic tradition differs from the previous two in that it seeks to use the Tarot cards to explore hidden truths buried within the subconscious and the imagination. The Hermetic deck uses the archetypes within each Tarot to draw upon ancient and modern knowledge to do so.

Oracle Tarot Decks
These are more modern Tarot incarnations which draw upon other sources of mysticism for their symbolism and occult power. This includes use of power animals, angels, Greek gods and goddesses, etc.

Pop Culture Decks
The latest version of Tarot cards is merely a spin on one of the more established traditions. These decks simply replace the illustrations of Rider-Waite or Thoth cards with images from pop culture like comic book heroes or heroines. This may appeal to a broader audience, but removes much of the thought and symbolism which mystics like Waite and Crowley put into their work.

Walk Shepherdess, Walk: A Sing-Along Book

Barrett Cobb-Illustrator and Performer

Dog Ear Publishing

Indianapolis, Indiana

2016

$17.98

36 pages

Barrett Cobb’s childhood was filled with literature and songs. As a young child one tune stayed with her, almost as a lilting lullaby.

Eleanor Farjeon wrote both the words and melody which were first published in Nursery Rhymes of London Town in 1916 and adopted by the American Girl Scouts evolving the little tune into a folk song reflecting to the world a different time, place, and culture for most of the world.

As with most folk songs, throughout the years the song has been modified slightly with the tune and alternative words. This book focuses on the original version. The book is based on a basic three-versed four-lined poem. Some of the vocabulary could be difficult depending on the past experiences of the readers. The story was written with sheep wandering through the nearby hills and uses words, not always commonly spoken in today’s city culture. Some words need to be introduced such as shepherdess, ebony, ram, ewe, fleece, wether, and shan’t. The book explains that a wether is a lead sheep which could be compared to the game Follow-the-Leader. For many of us city people, this is a new word for most of us.

The music is beautifully performed by the author, Barrett Cobb and can be downloaded through the website listed in the book. The melody is an easy tune which quickly can be a haunting selection, staying with you for days. The simplistic tune is sung by Barrett, who has a beautiful, well-trained voice adding accompaniment harmonies, flute and piano into a memorable performance.

Twelve gorgeous watercolor paintings perfectly parallel the story in poem form as the story progressing reinforcing the poetic story. For young children, matching the text to the illustrations is so important with understanding the story and this book exemplifies this relationship.

After a few readings, it is easy for a young prereader or early reader to sing the melody as the pages are turned with the pictures reinforcing the words.

At the conclusion of the tale, a narrative explaining the poem assists in further demonstrating the theme being jealousy and how to appropriately recognize and turn this into a positive life lesson.

Barrett Cobb is a painter, singer, flutist and now a visual storyteller turning a childhood folk song is an enchanting life lesson for everyone.

“Henry loves books, but not like you and I, not quite. Henry loves to EAT books. And here is the best bit: the more he eats, the smarter he gets.

Big books, picture books, reference books– you name it, Henry eats them up. And the more he eats, the smarter he gets. (You knew that was coming, right?) Henry keeps eating and getting smarter, knowing one day, he’ll be the smartest in the world. However, all the fun catches up to him and one day poor Henry feels sick to his stomach. Eventually, all the information Henry’s digested gets so jumbled, he needs to find a new way to enjoy books.

Even though the story is predictable for adults, kids will literally eat up The Incredible Book Eating Boy. I have to admit, even though the story was predictable, I still found myself wanting to read on. The clever illustrations make this book truly unique. Using old book covers, and pages from books, Jeffers’ collage-style will have you oohing and aahing! The best part? When you get to the end of the book, we find out that Henry hasn’t changed his ways and has taken a bite out of the lower rear corner of the final pages– Funny!

Parents, teachers, and librarians will love the positive moral of the book about the importance of reading and children’s literacy. Young readers will enjoy the cartoon illustrations and young and old will enjoy the low-key humor.

Author/ Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers

Publisher: Philomel, April 2007

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

As all of you probably know, Pokemon started in Japan. Therefore the oldest and rarest Pokemon cards are from Japan. But, which ones should you buy?

This is a very fascinating and difficult question. The answer really depends upon why you are buying the cards. Are you buying the cards for your personal collection, to sell for profit at sometime in the future, or to use in the Pokemon game.

For those of you who are looking to collect rare Japanese Pokemon cards for your own personal collection, its obviously best to choose which cards you like the best. The Japanese Pokemon promo cards are much nicer than the US ones. They are much more nicely designed, have better detail, and don't have the cheap looking yellow border like the Wizards of the Coast US Pokemon cards. But, that is my personal opinion and the choice is completely yours. Whatever cards you like I think you should collect.

Those collectors who wish to buy Pokemon cards in hopes of turning a profit later, the answer is simple. Buy the older Japanese Pokemon trophy promo cards. These cards are the ones that will truly hold their value. As with baseball cards, the older the card, usually the more valuable it will become. Although this is not always true, its a good rule to follow. The older, rare Japanese Pokemon promo cards are becoming harder and harder to find and the value is skyrocketing. Take the rarest Pokemon card of all time, the Pikachu Illustrator for example. 8-10 years ago there was one of these for sale for about $ 6000. Now, you are lucky if you can buy one of these beautiful gems for less than $ 25,000 (There is one currently on eBay for $ 32,500). Other rare Japanese Pokemon cards such as the Pikachu trophy card, SSB (Super Secret Battle) Mewtwo, Tropical Mega Battle Exeggutor card have all increased in value. You used to be able to find these cards for about $ 3000, but now they are close to $ 7000 each. The price will keep increasing with time, as they are getting harder and harder to find, especially in mint condition. The trophy cards were produced in such limited quantity and they were made before anyone really new about Pokemon cards, so they are extremely difficult to find. The newer Pokemon cards are nice, but they just don't seem to have the same charm as the older ones. Plus there are many more produced than the classics.

Finally, those of you who wish to use the Pokemon cards for the actual Pokemon game itself, I have very little advice. Due to new rule changes in the Pokemon game, its getting harder and harder to be able to use Japanese Pokemon cards in tournaments. My advice to you is to wait. The way it looks now is that Japanese cards will be banned completely from tournament play sometime in the next couple years. Of course they are still great to collect, as they are much nicer than the US ones, but if you are looking to use them in tournaments, its not a great investment.

What do you know about illustration designs? For most commercial artists, it exhibits a specific value which brings them to the satisfaction of higher level of sovereignty to express them. Dissimilar to designers who create logos and relative figures, the illustration designers receive the repeated anticipation that they will be able to make a vigorous and character-driven design incorporated with traits and frequently an incorporation of humor.

In the midst of the existing numerous companies that are maximizing the application of clip art as well as the other downloadable illustrations, the illustration designers frequently perform as freelancers or self-determining contractors more willingly than those corporate workers. Based on the BLS, around two-thirds of the entire artists perform as freelancers. Searching for work normally rely on the skill of the illustrator, his networking skills and contacts. Artists who have the potential in executing digital graphic design are particularly in need. The moment they are hired, the illustration designers maximize their aptitudes to make illustrations which stand for particular ideas.

Normally, artists who drift down toward the scheme of illustration design attend to academic schooling concentrating in arts regardless if they do not have the college degree. Different universities, colleges, technical schools, and art academies are offering coursework in drawing, illustration, digital art, sketching, design and animation. Somehow, for no degree artists, a collection enclosing their superior work is vital in achieving a job either being a freelancers or an employee.

Illustration design is somehow associated to commercial arts made for particular industries. Numerous designers concentrate and identify constant execution in such turf as the following:

1. Graphic novels and comic books
2. Storyboarding
3. Book illustration and design
4. Web design
5. Caricature
6. Textbook illustration
7. Multimedia ventures like cinemas and televisions
8. Cartooning
9. Dedicated illustration like scientific designs
10. Costume and fashion design

Illustration designs are efficient means of communication as it express a message and stand for a notion by illustrating designs like the creation of photograph for character, cartoon, or mascot, and drawing are extensively recognized by the advertisers, corporate, and publishers nowadays. Certain inventive designers and artists can form an impression by painting, creating photographs, or drawing. Envisioning something while forming a structure in an imaginative method is known to be an illustration design. A poem, information, or story can be relayed or demonstrated through which both the object and the subject tap the mind of the people much more ideal than other existing forms. Specific skilled cartoon artists can customize cartoons as well as designing services for cartoon logos. Gaining the artistic illustration becomes an easy undertaking because the inventive artists are present to assist us.

Regardless if you intend to use the illustration for web medium or printing, this will capture attention of guests and paste them on the page and are somehow persuaded to read on. In the event that you intend to use the illustration for online functions, the excellence and significance leads the online visitors to stay and browse the website. For so many instances, digital graphic designs have efficiently achieved the overpowering prerequisites of graphic designing schemes.

James Jean, a Taiwanese-American award winning artist and illustrator was at the educated School of Visual Arts in New York City. Not wasting any time, J.J started working as a cover artist for DC Comics which lead to several more plus awards.

Talk about putting us to shame. In less than 10 years this talent has managed to win several awards, published 4 books, worked for The New York Times, Spin, Target, Prada just had his first solo exhibit in Jonathan LeVine Gallery and is just thirty years old. I feel weird to be inspired by someone so young, but if you’ve seen the body of work James Jean has accumulated, you would become an instant fan also.

This may also depend on the type of art you love. Mr. Jean draws you in with colors and animation, if you take a longer look, the dark story behind some of his piece starts to show. With the colors and his use of children or animated characters, most likely kids will be attracted to James creations, but his pieces are definitely not G rated.

If you visit the bio page on his website, there is nothing except for the year he was born (1979-). It is obvious that he is not one for many words, but his art says everything. We should look forward to seeing you pretty often in the future Mr.J.

James Jean published works, are collections of his illustrations and art: The Process Recess volumes display Jean’s process in his illustrations, by showing both the original sketches and the final coloring, Process Recess Volume Two, Fables: Covers is a collection of all the cover art illustrations James Jean has made for the comic book series Fables and finally, XOXO is a selection of his illustrations displayed in the form of postcards.