Useful Tips, Page 2 Category

As a graphic designer, we spend extended periods sitting sitting in front of a computer. And, of course, this can lead to back and joint pain. So it’s important to incorporate some healthy practices into our routine to relieve these pains and improve our overall health. Here are some tips and exercises that can help you:

To relieve back and joint pain

Maintain proper posture: Sit with your spine straight, shoulders relaxed, and feet flat on the floor. Use a chair with lumbar support and adjust the monitor height so your eyes are aligned with the top of the screen.

Take regular breaks: Every 30 or 40 minutes, stand up, stretch, and take a short walk. This helps prevent stiffness and improves circulation.

Stay hydrated: Drink water regularly to keep your body hydrated. This is essential for proper joint function.

Proper ergonomics: Ensure your workspace is set up ergonomically to reduce strain on joints and muscles.

Vary your position: If possible, use a sit-stand desk or do some of your work while standing to relieve pressure on your back and joints.

Exercises while sitting:

Stretching: Do gentle stretches to relieve muscle tension. Examples include stretching your arms overhead, gently leaning to the sides, and stretching your leg muscles.

Shoulder rotations: Sit up straight and rotate your shoulders forward and backward. This helps loosen the muscles in your neck and shoulders.

Back stretch: Sit on the edge of your chair, cross your arms over your chest, and gently twist your torso to one side while keeping your hips aligned. Repeat for the other side.

Ankle flexes: Sit and extend your legs in front of you. Perform flexing and extending movements with your ankles to improve leg circulation.

Chair squats: Stand up from the chair and do light squats, using the chair for support. This helps activate leg muscles and relieve back pressure.

Hand and wrist stretches: Gently rotate your wrists and fingers to maintain flexibility in your hand joints.

Core strengthening: Practice exercises like short planks to strengthen your core muscles, providing better support for your spine.

Consistency is key. That’s why I try to incorporate these tips and exercises into my daily routine for the best results. Believe it or not, even your creativity will thank you.

Believe it or not, at the beginning of the 90s, in the distant twentieth century, there was no computer with programs to help the designer in the production of some graphic material. In fact, there was no computer. At least not within reach of a mere mortal like me.

The work was done by hand, almost artisanal. That is, the monitor at that time was the paper itself.

When we created a book cover, for example, one of the most annoying things was calculating the width of the spine. Something that was often done on the eye.

For that, you had to know the number of pages, whether the cover would be hard or flexible, take into account the weight of the paper, delve into mathematical formulas, and finally pray that the title and author of the book, which is almost always placed vertically, they were right there, right in the middle of the spine.

If, on the one hand, this could represent an uncreative task, on the other hand, life without a computer forged a more refined look in design professionals.

Today things are much easier. We can leave the math aside. And to make it even easier, there are some graphic sites and print shops that help solve this problem.

Several of them have an online calculator that determines the dimensions of the spine. Just enter the total number of pages, choose the paper type, select the cover dimensions and you’re done. Immediately it indicates the width.

On American sites, measurements are in inches (sometimes Americans like to complicate people’s lives, and that’s why they don’t work with millimeters or centimeters).

Diggypod, gutenberg, printninja and bookbeam, for example, give good help.

Of course, depending on the complexity of your project, the ideal is to check these values directly with the printing company where your book will be printed. Because they all have their production methods and procedures.

But always consider that a book with less than 70 pages is too thin to have a spine.

This reminds me of an amusing chronicle by the late Brazilian writer João Ubaldo Ribeiro, where he writes that his grandfather did not take seriously a book that did not stand up on its own: “This is shit.”, said the old man. “These booklets that don’t stand up aren’t books, they’re leaflets”.