product review BY ERIN BOELLING

In every profession, you come to realize that certain instruments and tools are of utmot importance. Whether your tool is a computer, a bulldozer, a bicycle, or a common pencil, the quality and upkeep of that necessary implement is crucial. To perform at our highest threshold, we seek products that have been specially designed and tailored to a specific use or craft.

Galaxy Gauge™ tools for graphic design are such products — taking a common gauge, used daily by graphic designers and professional artists, and tweaking its fine points until an improved product evolved. Focusing not only on the gauge but on all aspects of a designer's job, Galaxy Gauge tools for graphic design also include products for easy font and color identification and decision making, as well as mobile products that make site and client visits easier for any designer. With two mission statements (sell affordable graphic design tools and provide graphic communicators around the world with measuring systems crafted specifically for creative applications), the makers of Galaxy Gauge tools for graphic design seem to embrace and understand the creative community and its need for exceptional tools.

The most popular tool is the Galaxy Gauge 18™ — a designer's tool actually made by designers and with designers in mind. The Galaxy Gauge 18 helps a designer get the data needed without getting in the way of the process. This gauge measures in inches, metric, and picas, and includes a Conversion Edge™ to easily change needed measurements.

Other gauge features include:

• bullet sizes in points;
• rule weights in points;
• fraction-to-decimal conversion chart;
• leading and line spacing information;
• proofing marks guide;
• angle gauge;
• circles and corners gauge;
• FTP clock;
• scan sizes;
• type sizing in serif and sans serif;
• screen densities;
• screen finder;
• suggested linework resolutions;
• decimal, inches, and millimeters; and
• enlarge/reduce percentage formula.

With all of this information easily at hand, a designer has no reason to worry about carrying a separate device for each function. Made of a special material with an incredibly high dimensional stability, the Galaxy Gauge 18 is the tool of choice for discerning designers.

Figure 1 The Galaxy Gauge 18, Galaxy Gauge 18 Metric, Galaxy Gauge Elite, Galaxy Pocket Gauge, and Galaxy Ultraprecision Gauge

The Galaxy Gauge Elite™ is a 12-inch version of the Galaxy Gauge 18, preferred by many designers who work in a smaller format. The Elite is made of the same material as the Galaxy Gauge 18, but does not include all of the same features. The Elite boasts the inches, metric, and point systems of measurement; proofing marks; leading sizes; type sizing in serif and sans serif; bullet point and rules sizing; as well as the quick-conversion feature. This compact graphic design tool is easy to maneuver and decipher while being especially useful in situations where space is limited.

Figure 2 The Art Director's Reference Set retails at $48 and includes: Galaxy Gauge 18-Imperial or Metric, Galaxy Gauge Elite, Galaxy Pocket Toolbox (Pixel Wrench, Pocket Color Map, Press Ranger card, Ultraprecision Gauge, and Pocket Gauge), Color Map Pro, three Press Ranger Cards, Font ID 2.0, Uncoated Color Set (Color Map Pro Uncoated, two Pocket Color Maps Uncoated, and five Press Ranger cards Uncoated), and Voucher for Display ad on Design Link.

Not only considering the measurements, sizing, and proofing side of graphic design, the tools produced by Galaxy Gauge also include the Color Map™ Pro, a color tool intended to help a designer decipher a color scheme or match a tint especially for a CMYK design. The Color Map Pro includes color in CMYK values; a traditional color wheel; an Emotional Color Mixer; a color directory by name; a type-on-tint chart that shows black and white type on CMYK and MY, CY, CM color combinations; a paper tint chart used to help determine paper tint on uncoated and coated stocks; a color combination guide for help finding opposing hue, related hue, three- and four-color combinations, and primary and secondary color advice. The Color Map Pro comes in both coated and uncoated color sets to give any designer accurate color knowledge. Each Color Map Pro includes Press Ranger™ cards for inclusion with jobs sent to the printer so any press operator can match ink densities on press for precise and accurate colors. With information for and notices to both the printing professional and the designer already printed on the front of the Press Ranger card, this useful tool will allow for many more error-free experiences and color accuracy.

Figure 3 The Galaxy Font I.D. 2.0.

The Font I.D.™ 2.0 is useful for quickly matching and previewing fonts (and comes free when you order a gauge and a Color Map Pro). On the front of the Font I.D. 2.0 card you will find tips to finding and matching faces. With a foundry key and descriptions of a handful of the most used types of fonts, the Font I.D. 2.0 card allows for easy font identification without having to sort through books, books, and more books, having to scroll through a hard-to-navigate web site, or use a software-based, font-management system. Oft-used types of fonts, and reference and comparison are much simpler and easier when separated into categories as done here. The Font I.D. 2.0 card is fully laminated, precision-printed, and durable, making this tool a must have for designers.

Figure 4 The Galaxy Pocket Toolbox.

With five of Galaxy Gauge's most popular pocket design tools, The Pocket Toolbox™ is a portable 6" x 4" plastic box filled with a designer's best friends. Including the Pixel Wrench™ digital-photo tool (a very useful tool for color calibration and color correction), a Press Ranger card, a Pocket Color Map, the Pocket Gauge™, and the Ultraprecision™ (useful for tiny design work with measurements in decimal inch, fractional millimeter, and fractional point/pica), this kit is a helpful tool for when designers are on the go but still in need of precise measurements and color matching.

Overall, the message behind the Galaxy Gauge tools seems to be the better the tool, the better the product created with the tool.

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