Friday, March 30, 2012

"Giotto" Latin High Mass Altar Cards Just Released

Hello everyone. Today, I would like to announce the release of our latest set of Latin High Mass Altar Cards, "Giotto." "Giotto" prominently features the pre-Renaisannce painting,  Giotto di Bondone's "Christ On The Cross Between Mary And John." This set includes diacritical marks to assist priests who are learning the Latin Mass and the proper pronunciation of the words. Giotto is very similar to our recently released set of "Red" set with its large print and practical layout. The type on the center card is 14 points and the side card type is 16 points. As always, we try to design the layouts so that prayers are not being blocked when the chalice is in front of the center card. Therefore, on the center card right column, the "Placeat" prayer is on the top, the "Incensing" prayers are in the middle, and the first part of the "Supplices" prayer is on the bottom. The rest of the prayer is to be said from the altar missal. The "Corpus Tuum" prayer is on the bottom of the "Lavabo" card. It has been suggested to include the Corpus Tuum prayer whenever possible. This set, in our opinion, would be an excellent choice for your consideration.
"Giotto" is available as a set of prints designed to be framed or laminated; laminated, or beautifully framed with moire fabric covered backs.
"Giotto" can be found among our New Releases at a temporarily reduced price. For more information or to place an order, visit us online at our regular business website, Myriad Creative Concepts.
Thanks for visiting.

"Red" Latin High Mass Altar Cards Just Released


Hello everyone. Today, I would like to announce the release of our latest set of Latin High Mass Altar Cards, "Red." Admittedly, it isn't much of a name but this is a special set of altar cards. Why? Because this set includes diacritical marks that come in handy especially for those priests who are learning the Latin Mass and the proper pronunciation of the words. Red has simple graphics and large, easy to read prayers. The type on the center card is 14 points and the side card type is 16 points. As always, we try to design the layouts so that prayers are not being blocked when the chalice is in front of the center card. Therefore, on the center card right column, the "Placeat" prayer is on the top, the "Incensing" prayers to say High Mass are in the middle, and the first part of the "Supplices" prayer is on the bottom. The rest of the prayer is to be said from the altar missal. The "Corpus Tuum" prayer is on the bottom of the "Lavabo" card. It has been suggested to include the Corpus Tuum prayer whenever possible.

Like all of our altar cards, "Red" is available as a set of prints designed to be framed or laminated; laminated, or beautifully framed with moire fabric covered backs.

Since this is a new release, it can be found among our New Releases at a temporarily reduced price. If you are interested in a fine, easy to read set of altar cards, feel free to see this set's details listed on our regular business website, Myriad Creative Concepts.

Thanks for visiting.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Linking a Business Blog to Social Media via TwitterFeed

Hello everyone. I am working on getting this Myriad blog, Altar Card Artistry (with its shiny new template), properly linked to social media via automatic blog posting. If you would like to learn to do this too, here are the simple steps:

First, you have to have accounts on all three of the big sites: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. So, that is step one. Next, go to Twitter Feed and open an account. Twitter Feed acts as a portal by capturing the outgoing blog feed and sending it on to all three of them after you set up the specs. I don't think that Twitter Feed will post feeds to other places. That's all there is to it. 

When this post is published, in theory, it should automatically post to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I've got my fingers crossed because setting up TwitterFeed seemed too easy to be true. They run a nice, tight ship there and that is a relief after trying to figure the Facebook maze. But, that's a story for another day - maybe. :)

By the way, the picture above, a representation of a social network, is a GIF file. Notice how its background blends perfectly with the white background of this Blogger template? That's because the picture's background is transparent. (The template generates the picture's shadowing effect.) Save your images as GIF's with the transparency box checked if you would like to do this too with some of the pictures that you upload to social networks. As mentioned in my previous post, Gimp for Windows is supposed to be a very good, free photo editing program.

Just a few things that I learned that you might be interested in too. Now, let's just see if this posts automatically or not ...

Take care and I hope that you enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Facebook Cover Ideal Size and more business web stuff

Hello everyone. Lately, I have been working on behind the scenes internet integration of Myriad. This post is about a few things that I have learned about integrating one's small business website with Facebook. I hope that a few of these things help you with your business too.

1. Facebook Cover Ideal Size. Facebook asks for a photo to be used as the Facebook Cover of your Facebook Page in its new Timeline style. But, they don't tell you what the dimensions should be. After some searching, I discovered that the ideal size of a Facebook Cover is either 850 x 315 pixels or 851 x 315 pixels depending on who you listen to. The big problem is that the height spec is static (doesn't change) but Facebook automatically stretches your cover picture which makes it fuzzy. I played with it a long time and I don't see a way to make the text look perfect on the Cover. The picture above is the current Facebook Cover picture that I uploaded. It is two good examples of the Latin Mass Altar Cards that I designed for priests.

2. Facebook Background Color: You might also be interested in knowing what specific shade of blue that Facebook is using for its Facebook background color. I did a screen capture (windows print screen key) and pasted it into a new Photoshop document, used the eyedropper tool to make it a foreground color. Facebook's current background color is: RGB: 231, 235, 242 respectively. For my Facebook cover, I wanted one of my framed works to be smaller than the other and white slivers of background didn't look right. To blend it with Facebook's, I used the the rgb values just listed. I hope that helps you if you are doing something similar. Remember, any pictures posted for display on computers are supposed to be designed with RGB values not CMYK. CMYK is for pictures to be printed.

3. Facebook Business Presence: For Myriad, I have a personal page, Jerry Myriadcreativeconcepts, a business (fan) page, Myriad Creative Concepts, and a Places page, Myriad Creative Concepts. From what I understand this is the way to do it. Apparently, if you merge them together, you lose many of the features so there is quite a debate on whether to merge them together. For now, I intend to go with these separate pages. If you have tips on how to make the various Facebook pages work well together, send me a message. Thanks in advance for any ideas that you have. :)

4. Free Photo Editing Software: I use Photoshop for my graphic design business. But, if you don't have it and would like a free program to edit photos or to make a Facebook Cover picture, GIMP for Windows is supposed to be very good.

5. Lastly, if you are interested in creating a small business website online, check out Yahoo Small Business. They have lots of templates for you to get it up and running pretty fast.

That's it for now. Just a few things that I found out that I thought would be good for you too. Take care and have a great weekend!


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Small Business Milestone Accomplished



Hello everyone. Today, I am just proud as punch because Myriad Creative Concepts has reached a small business milestone and I just have to share my good news with you.

Within the past two weeks, we have shipped our Roman Catholic Latin Mass Altar Cards to priests on four different continents! The Latin Mass is making a big comeback, folks, and we are proud to be a part of it by serving the needs of the Latin Mass community worldwide. Now, if I can just make sure that I grow into these shoes well and provide great service, I will be happy as a proverbial clam.

It always worries me when an order is in transit. I've heard back from the order that went to Australia so I know that it got there OK. But, I still have to hear about the orders that went to Ireland, Singapore, and Florida. We've shipped to these places before without incident and I have my fingers crossed that these orders get to these customers too.

Never in a million years did I envision this day that my little vocation would have such far-reaching effect. It is humbling and an honor to serve you out there in the "field." Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support for our work here at Myriad.

That's it. I just wanted to take a minute to share my good news. Carry on. :)

Friday, March 16, 2012

"Celtic" Latin High Mass Altar Cards Just Released

Hello everyone. Today, we are proud to release our newly designed set of Altar Cards for the Roman Catholic Latin High Mass, "Celtic." Celtic has elaborate art gleaned from the manuscripts of the "Book of Kells." Its center card type is 11 points on average while the two side cards (not pictured) have 14 point type. We laid out the prayers to make them most useful during Mass with the "Placeat" prayer top right on the center card and the "Incensing" prayers also in the right column about mid-way down. The Lavabo card includes the "Corpus Tuum" prayer at the bottom.

For full details about this new design, please visit us online at our regular business website, Myriad Creative Concepts. It is brand new so is temporarily listed in our New Releases section.

Thanks for visiting. Have a great weekend.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Latin Mass Sacristy Sign "One" Just Released


Hello everyone, by request, we have just finished designing a modest letter-sized Sacristy Sign in Latin for visiting priests to reference before Mass. The graphic art includes a subtle dark gray line so that the card can be trimmed to 8 x 10 inches for framing if desired. There are several "fields" to be filled in with church-specific information. We laid out this card so that when it is received, each church can print labels and affix them to the print. Or, if ordered laminated, a wet erase marker (not included) can be used to write on the laminated card. If ordered framed, we will use a laminated card without glass or plexiglas so that you can use the included wet erase marker to fill in the information or change it at a later date.

For more information about our new Sacristy Sign "One," see it online within our regular business website, Myriad Creative Concepts under Latin Sacristy Cards.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

"Formal Black" Latin Requiem Altar Cards Released

Hello everyone. Today, I would like to announce the design and release of our latest set of altar cards for the Roman Catholic Tridentine Latin Requiem Mass. This new design is called "Formal Black" and has a conservative style with an image of Francisco de Zurbarán's painting, "Christ On The Cross" as its centerpiece.

Like many of our altar card designs, "Formal Black" has been designed to be practical. For easy reference, the "Placeat" prayer on the center card is located top right. The center card also includes the full text of the "Supplices" prayer. The Lavabo side card contains the "Corpus Tuum" prayer at the bottom. Lastly, the font is easy to read and sized at 14 points. If you are looking for a good, all-around choice in a set of Latin Requiem Altar Cards, "Formal Black" would be a great choice.

These altar cards measure 12 inches high before framing. The center card width is 18 inches and the two side cards (not pictured) measure 12 inches wide before framing. We have our cards printed on card stock and are sold in three options: as a set of prints to be framed by your local framer, as a set of laminated cards, or professionally framed by us here at Myriad Creative Concepts.

For more information or to place an order for your own set of these newly designed Latin Requiem Mass Altar Cards, see them online in our "New Releases" section of our business website, Myriad Creative Concepts.

Thanks for visiting.