There’s a few pros and cons to becoming a blogger with the pros outweighing the cons. A design blog can be essential for every freelance designer because it can help a freelancer to generate a passive income on a monthly or weekly basis.

Broaden your name across to a wider audience

A design blog is perfect for freelancers to build up their name or their company brand on another platform. The advantage of a freelancer creating a blog means they can gain more exposure through blogging which means they can attract a wider range of clients to work alongside including even international clients.

A good blog can be something to add to your portfolio

When clients approach designers to work on a project 90 percent of clients will ask to see the designers previous work or past design projects, which they have worked on in order to find out if the designer will be suitable to work alongside and if they have the talent and skill to complete the design project to their satisfaction.

If your an upcoming freelance designer your portfolio may be very empty because you still have not yet had the opportunity to work alongside any clients. Creating a blog would be the perfect piece of work to showcase to clients and would be a great addition to your portfolio because it will show off you skills and talent to potential clients.

Generates traffics

A blog can be a great source for sending traffic to your portfolio website allowing you the opportunity for hundreds or maybe thousands of visitors to take a look through your content within your portfolio. Large amounts of traffic from any type of website can quickly and easily be turned into revenue weather it’s through selling advertisement spots or Google adsence.

The screen shot above is monthly page views which Creative Nerds receives notice each month the growth is getting higher and higher.

Can generate extra income

A freelance designer always looked to make a passive income and a blog is a fantastic way to do so. There are several freelancers within the design community who have decided to extend their portfolio by creating a blog section, which has lead to huge amounts of success and generated extra additional income through simply creating and regularly updating their blog section with new content.

Here a collection of freelancers who have design blog sections and how much money they are estimated to turnover a month from just their blog section alone.

· Blog.spoon graphics ($3150) http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/

· Vanderaley design ($3350) http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/

Cheap to setup

I’ve got my own hosting account via mediatemple.com so all I need worry about is buying the domain name for the website which is cheap as chips which from a website like heartinternet.co.uk it will cost about £7($11 dollars) with duration of the domain name lasting for a two year. Working out as 58p month just to simply buy a name for your blog which is fantastic and worth taking of advantage of.

Final Thoughts

I personally believe setting up a blog is great whether it’s a design blog or a personal blog because it can be a great way to interact within people in the design community, it can be finically rewarding also but don’t just blog because you think this will be a great opportunity for you to make some big bucks do it because it’s something your passionate about and enjoy doing.

Do you think it’s essential for every freelance designer to setup a blog ?

We would love to hear your thoughts about the article in a short comment below that would be great.

Go to Source

We’ve seen some great gadgets and equipment for designers. So many cool stuff, that we could actually assemble infinite perfect office spaces! Every week we’ll assemble a perfect office, and we’d like you to help us. What equipment would the perfect office have?

<!–break–>

Not only gadgets and equipment, but also furniture, sound system, gaming stuff (for lunch time!). A designer is totally allowed to dream with the perfect office, and that’s what we’re gonna do here! Comment telling us your suggestions, or even better, you may tell us via twitter (mine and fabio’s), using #abdz_ofc so we can check it. Alright? I hope you guys enjoy this brief selection. Cheers!

The Leash Sofa

Danish designer Per Weiss has created the Leash sofa for the Danish manufacturer, Innovation. The sofa is part of Innovation’s 2010 “One Room Living” collection that they will exhibit at the upcoming 2010 IMM Cologne furnishing show in Germany. (via Cribcandy)

Light Bulb USB Memory

Here’s another bright idea, the Light with the Bulb USB Memory with 2 GB, carry around your most precious files in a fun and handy manner (via 7Gadgets)

Bamboo Wall Organizer

Nice dry erasable bamboo wall panel that you can use to organize your keys, mail, accessories, etc. Comes in two styles that can be hung either vertically or horizontally. (via Holy Cool)

MiniGuru Keyboard

The MiniGuru keyboard has three layers of functions designed to keep your fingers on the home row. Theoretically, that means you could type more efficiently. It would also mean a major overhaul to your typing technique. (via Gizmodo)

Iron Man Decal Powered by Apple Arc Reactor

This is a fine Iron Man decal telling your Apple light shine through his chest. Made of high quality vinyl and will not leave any residue if removed. (via Gizmodo)

Mini Tornado Electra Lamp

“Look closely at the swirling lighting of the Tornado Electra®. Cows and cars are caught in the swirling force of this storm!” Yeah… right. I just want it because it looks cool. (via 7Gadgets)

Sticky note pad with printed animation

It’s not high up on any legislators’ agendas, but our war on boring sticky note pads is important to us! Sticky note pads printed with various illustrated animations, it’s like a teeny… tiny piece of cinema each time you need to remember to buy some milk. (via 7Gadgets)

Go to Source

The wallpaper of this week is a very colorful image created by Fatkur Rokhim, a freelancer designer from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Fatkur is also known as “svpermchine” at his Deviantart profile and he sent this wallpaper to us, so if you have a wallpaper and you want it to be featured on the Wallpaper of the Week, just let us know. Send it via email to abduzeedo@abduzeedo.com

For more information visit Fatkur’s DeviantArt profile.

Desktop Version

iPhone Version

Resolutions:

• 1920x1200px
• 1680x1050px
• 1440x900px
• 1280x1024px
• 1280x800px
• 1024x768px
• iPhone

Go to Source

Renan Molin is a visual and communication designer from Curitiba, Brazil. He and other three friends had started a design studio 5 years ago, but somehow they decided that the best thing would be to keep up with their freelancer’s career. By checking Renan’s work we can tell you that they had, I mean, still have, a lot of talent.

For more information visit Renan’s site at http://www.dmolin.com/ or his Behance Profile.

if you want to see more works feel free to drop me a line, and i’m available for freelance work. renan@dmolin.com.

identity done with Pedro Lopes.

Lilica Ripilica

A film for Lilica Ripilica, a children’s fashion clothing brand of brazil.

Espelhos from dmolin on Vimeo.

luxúria

meio digital

pepsi

deluxe

Illustration for Deluxe Magazine, done with Ale Tauchmann.

workchopp

Other Works

bb 200 anos from dmolin on Vimeo.

Go to Source

David Mascha is a Vienna based designer and illustrator. Since 2005, he has been working for several design studios in Vienna as well as developing projects for international clients, fashion and design labels, magazines and books. David Mascha had his work participating in exhibitions around Europe and Asia. He is also part of the DEPTHCORE collective.

For more information about David, visit his website at http://davidmascha.com. Also there is a great interview that David did for the DEPTHCORE collective, check it out.

“The first thing I got really hooked on was graffiti, I learned the basics of colors, how to compose objects etc. but after a while I got more and more interested in digital art. Programs like Photoshop and illustrator became the perfect tools to develop my ideas, giving me a lot more creative freedom and opportunities than a spraycan. I see an artist or a designer as someone who is constantly improving. – David Mascha interview for DEPTHCORE

Sparkling / Desktopdesign

Custom designed table with hand engraved aluminum frame for http://www.desktop-design.at

Displayed at Blickfang 2009, an international designfair for interior fashion and jewellery
at MAK, Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art

DM Black

“I always try to push the boundaries of my technical skills and aesthetical depth, experimenting with new things, approaching ideas and themes from different perspectives but still keeping a line that’s going trough all of my work. I find it hard to explain how I created, or define my style, I think sometimes creating art underlies a very subliminal process. – David Mascha interview for DEPTHCORE

Milk

Illustration for Depthcore

Adhesion

“I often use stencils to add some graphic elements, and skinny caps to get clean lines, which resolves in a very graphical look. Most of the time I use regular white wall color to fill out the sketch and all the parts that will be painted afterwards, you end up with real bright colors”. – David Mascha interview for DEPTHCORE

Aquatic

This must be underwater love
The way I feel it slipping all over me

Follow me now
To a place you only dream of..

Misc

Go to Source

Christian Nauck is an illustrator, comic designer, and game designer from Berlin, Germany. We have stumbled upon some of his works through the Daily Inspiration and were completely dazzled by the quality. Therefore nothing better than a full feature post on Christian Nauck’s work.

For more information about Christian Nauck, visit the links below. Tip: be prepared to spend some time.

• Homepage
• Blog
• Behance
• Flickr
• Deviantart

“Ghost Riders: Heaven’s on Fire” Cover

Yep, my first (and hopefully not my last) Marvel-cover.
It’s for the last/#6 issue of the Ghost Riders Miniseries, solicited for January 2010.

Rex Plode

Rex Plode from from the great comic series Invincible!

Grifter

yeah, another fan art. This time Grifter from Wildstorm! Kick Ass Character!

Spidey vs Hulk

Am I completely in marvel fanart mode?! …seems so… This time good ol neighborhood Spidey again and his good pal Hulkyschmalky!

Wolvclops

Started as a little Cyclops sketch …. First time I painted a whole scene I guess!

Deadpool vs. Cap

yep, another fanart. Ever awesome Deadpool vs. Captain America:

Darkstalkers

My contribution to Udon’s Darkstalkers tribute book

Daredevil

Dared Evil …uhm Daredevil portfolio work. I don’t dig that the style looks a bit too similar to Marko Dj.’s stuff, but anyway.

It’s a me! Mario!

I think I did the first scribble of this pic almost a year ago after I’ve had played Mario Galaxy. And finally I managed to finish it. It’s a collab with my girlfriend Steffi aka Miss Matzenbatzen! http://miss-matzenbatzen.blogspot.com/ concept and Mario by me, background by Steffi.

Crimson Viper

This time something new. Only the colors are done by me, the lineart is done by Steven Cummings for Udon. The colors are personal work, though – kind of try-out how my colors would look on a lineart like this/which style I would end with.

Randon Works

Sketches

Go to Source

Previously on Fubiz

• Dfect Reel 09
• Levan Kakabadze
• Marc Van Dalen

Go to Source

This week’s designer showcase comes from the wonderful work of Bogielicious. His drawings are so intricate and a pleasure on the eye I just had to show you all what I was lucky to stumble across a while ago. Let me know what you think of his work. Are there any designers you think should be showcased or would you like your work showcased?

BGLCS

Boquwnyez Candy

Experimental Typo

Have A Nice Day

Help Me

Indonesia

Kacao In My Mind

Lost In The Jungle

Lupa Lope Lope

No Hope No Problem

Pagan Golum Panopticon

Save The Elephant

Snow Hunger

Suicide Bomb

Ticem SkizophrenixxX

Vocarious Vomit

If you like this post you may also want to look at:

Designer Showcase – Rockfield

Designer Showcase – Mike Campau

Why not follow me on twitter: @atikusdesign
or to ensure you are updated with every D-Lists posts follow: @d_lists

Did you enjoy this post? If so please share and allow others to enjoy it:

Go to Source

Berk Cankat is a graphic designer from Ankara, Turkey. He graduated from the Bilkent University Graphic Design Department. Here are some charming character designs from his portfolio. His little Japanese illustrations are really nice.

Berk Cankat at Behance.

(Seen at ackbull.5d6d.com)

Go to Source

Go to Source

Steven Bonner is a very talented graphic designer, illustrator, and typographer from Stirling in Scotland. These are some awesome examples from his portfolio. I really like his typography work and his graphic designs.

Steven Bonner’s Website.

Go to Source

Over the last 12 months we’ve been featuring great new blogs in the creative field every now and then, so now we can list no more – no less than 40 amazing blogs you shouldn’t miss no matter what. Please share your opinions and other suggestions in the comments.

Learn Something Everyday

Creative Applications

Design Informer

Little Box of Ideas

Information is Beautiful

Brand Freeze

Design Feedr

Creative Cox

Design Investigator

Design Finds Me

Useful Tools

Paper Leaf

Soul Pancake

The Pro Designer

Freelance Shack

A Way Back

Visual Compelxity

Designrfx

Made in England

AextNet

Design Critique

Social Media Examiner

EagerEyes

Designer Interviews

Appboy Blog

New Work

Echo Enduring

iGraphics Explained

Wall Stats

Tokyo Fashion

MonoModa

LooksLikeGoodDesign

Bit Rebels

Tripping Words

Drifting Creatives

Cats Who Blog

idsgn

Great Web Apps

Great Web Apps is a live collection of the greatest web apps

Dustin Curtis

Anthony Licari

D-Lists

db db

Go to Source

Plants

Adding plants not only adds colour and life but can help to counteract the electromagnetic fields omitted by your computer and any other electrical equipment you may have.  These EMF’s are linked to various health and wellbeing issues including stress and fatigue – not good when there’s work to be done!  I like spider plants and peace lilies as they’re lovely and green, have lots of leaves and are very easy to look after!

Lighting

Unfortunately, we can’t always have the lovely natural light, especially if others are like me and work a lot at night so what lighting should we choose?  Although we’re all encouraged to use energy saving light bulbs I have to admit that in my work space I prefer normal, old fashioned bulbs, preference being the blue bulb.  Designed for arts and craft areas I find it omits a bright light that seems less artificial than yellow standard bulbs.  It might not seem like a lot but it makes a huge difference to my productivity.

One area I’d like to explore are light boxes rather than traditional lamps, these simulate natural sunlight and are apparently a healthier option.  They look good and I’d love to try one out.

Air Quality

Again this is an area people don’t always consider.  Working in a rural setting our air quality is pretty good but even if you live in a city there are steps you can take to improve.  Things like avoiding aerosols, cleaning chemicals (go natural, a whole other topic!) and again, introducing plants can all help towards creating a purer environment.  I’m sure there are people wondering what difference it makes to creativity and output – you’ll just have to take my word for it that it really can help.

I find that anytime over a couple of hours spend on the computer I start to feel a bit unwell.  This is similar to motion sickness which some believe is caused by the static from the screen.  To help combat this, I wipe the screen each morning with a damp microfiber cloth.  Do this at the end of the day also to reduce the risk.

Inspiration

Pictures, books…whatever your chosen form of inspiration make sure it’s displayed.  If you have a collection of books don’t let them collect dust in a corner, put them near your computer on a shelf for instant inspiration.

Wall Colours

Colours are very important, instilling different moods and emotion.  In your work area you should use colour to your advantage.  The biggest single block of colour in your office is most probably the wall space, so make sure it’s not wasted.   Shades of white, yellow or blue can be good in the office, one colour alone of combinations of these.  Colours to avoid are browns, greys and blacks which can cause a tiredness feeling which is not what we need from a work space!

Distraction

Once, in a time management course I was advised to only have on my desk the project on which I was working.  Personally, I find this pretty impossible as I tend to have personal bits, business bits, client bits and more around me!  Having said that, I’ve included it in this guide as I think its good advice for someone more organised than me!

A Few Useful Links :

• EMFs -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation_and_health
• Cleaning without chemicals – http://housekeeping.about.com/cs/environment/a/alternateclean.htm
• Colours in the home -  http://freshome.com/2007/04/17/room-color-and-how-it-affects-your-mood

Vicki Willingham is a freelance graphic designer living in Suffolk, UK. She runs VictoriaAnn Design. You can find out more about Vicki here. You can also find her on Twitter here : twitter.com/Victoria_Ann

Free Vectors, Icons, Photoshop Freebies and Programming Goodies on Design Freebies

Want to advertise here ? Contact us

Related posts

You might also like these similar articles:

1. WordPerfect helpline – Real Story
2. How rumours start in the office
3. Featured Designer #6 – Lauren Marie / Creative Curio
4. Best Photoshop Resources of August 2008
5. Featured Designer #8 – Nick La

Go to Source

Go to Source

wordpress-portfolio.png (23 KB)

Go to Source

So if we work so much in our daily lives, shouldn’t we be making out like bandits? Umm, honestly, I’m not hitting on you, silly. I’m talking about our success. We work and work and work. Shouldn’t we be filthy, stinking rich? Well… okay, that’s not quite what I mean either. I’m not necessarily talking about money (though that could potentially be a part of it). I’m talking about success — as in feeling a true sense of accomplishment and feeling happy about what we do and why we do it.

It’s important to feel accomplished and a general happiness in our work. To make out like a bandit (or have an incredible amount of success), you can either get lucky or work hard for it. And if you’re going to work hard for it, you might as well make it all meaningful and worthwhile. This is what I strive for in my own work and my life, and the following points I’m sharing with you are the steps I am taking to work toward this.

I know the price of success: dedication, hard work & an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen. — Frank Lloyd Wright

Learn. Participate. Do.

The best way to get good at something is to keep doing whatever it is you’re doing that you want to be good at. For example, a sushi-enthusiast might take a sushi-making class because she wants to learn to make sushi for herself. It totally makes sense while the teacher demonstrates all the procedures, materials, and methods needed to make good, beautiful sushi. Later, the student goes home and tries to make sushi on her own, she gets totally confused and lost. Okay, I’m not even going to hide it, I’m talking about myself (this happened to me). As much as I love sushi, I couldn’t even begin to make good sushi because I’ve never really practiced.

Take advantage of learning opportunities where possible. Whether you’re learning CSS, Actionscript, or visual design, the best way to grasp how to do things is to participate, practice, do. Apply what you learn in your work. Participation is so vital to your success. If you have problems, let people know, and ask. But definitely practice on your own. And as cliché as it may sound, believe in yourself because if you don’t think you can do it, no one else will think you can either.

Maintain momentum

With whatever it is you’re doing, if you find yourself “on a roll”, you should take advantage of that momentum and keep moving. Sure, you’ll definitely want to take breaks here or there, but remember that momentum can be very difficult to obtain again once you’ve lost it. Get it done!

Deal with people

Whether you love or hate people, the fact is, you gotta deal with them — even the difficult ones. If you’re in a management position, then you know pretty well that most people don’t like being told what to do (even if that’s their job). Find ways to get people excited about what they’re doing. Make people feel that they (and what they do) are needed — people respond better if they’re valued, not commanded. Even if you’re not in a management position, this still applies to the way you work with your coworkers, clients, vendors, etc.

Resolve any conflicts right away. Conflicts will inevitably happen. Move on to how you can improve the situation, and do it as quickly as possible. Don’t spend too much time focusing on whose screw up it is — nobody feels good in this situation. Also, try to keep people informed on whatever it is you need or what it is you’re doing. If you’re waiting on something from someone, and it’s been a while, don’t be afraid to say something (tactfully). Sometimes people are forgetful — or just slacking. Hey, it happens!

Help yourself by helping others

What are some of the small, simple things you can do when you’re working that will help the people you work with (and in most cases, will end up helping yourself)? For example: if you’re a designer, perhaps taking a couple minutes now to organize and name your Photoshop layers will end up saving time later (since it will be easier to find things). This is going to help both you and your team. Or, developers: taking some time to write some documentation (even if it’s as simple as a comment in the code, or a well-written commit message) could potentially save valuable time for both you and your team later. Maybe you have to take a little time to sit down with a coworker and explain why something works the way it does. This helps them out tremendously — and will most likely lead to them respecting you a little more. This is a benefit.

If you make little things like this a habit, people will notice. People will enjoy working with you. People will trust you and rely on you. Sure, it might seem beneficial at any given moment to be “in it for yourself” (and therefore only helping yourself), but that won’t last very long. Helping others (whether it be a small or large feat) will cause a positive impact in the long run — and that is what will be more valuable to you and your career.

Do work that is meaningful

One of the best ways to feel successful about what you do is to feel good and happy about it. And a great way to feel good and happy about what you’re doing is to actually do good. This could be purpose-driven work that focuses on sustainability and environmentalism, or work that helps support causes and charity. Perhaps the work simply inspires people. Or maybe the work is just something you are very passionate about. Whatever the work may be, try working on projects that are meaningful to you. You’ll do well simply by being more motivated and interested. And it’s a double-win if the project is meaningful to others as well.

I feel very fortunate to work at a place like Crush + Lovely, where we have found quite frequently that the projects that inspire people, focus on global and social good, and create some sort of positive impact are the very projects that bring us more paid projects. But more importantly, we are happy and excited to do it. You might not work at a company that takes on those types of projects. But perhaps you have your own personal endeavors that create this excitement for you. Elliot Jay Stocks wrote about having pet projects. Do you take on side projects? What are those projects?

Over the last couple years, I’ve seen some really fantastic side projects come out that are great examples of meaningful work. These projects reflect the passions and goals of the respective designers and developers involved, and therefore become quite successful (because the people involved simply love what they are doing while they’re doing it). Some of these projects include:

• Typedia is a shared encyclopedia of typefaces which serves as a resource to classify, categorize, and connect typefaces. It was founded by Jason Santa Maria, a graphic designer with a love and passion for typography. He created it as a solution to a problem he faced as a designer: finding the right typeface.
• Huffduffer was created by Jeremy Keith, a web developer who wanted to create a podcast of inspirational talks — but after he found that this could be tedious, he decided to create a tool to automate this.
• Level & Tap was created by passionate photographer and web developer, Tom Watson. It began as a photography print store for Tom’s best personal photography. Over time, more photographers were added to the site and the site has grown to become quite a great collection of beautiful photography.
• Heat Eat Review is a review blog created by information architect and user experience designer, Abi Jones. As a foodie, she is able to use this passion for this blog, as it focuses on reviewing TV Dinners, Frozen Meals, and Microwavable Foods.
• Art in My Coffee, a favorite personal project of my own, is a photo blog of coffee art I created, after I found that my friends and I were frequently posting coffee art photos to Flickr, Twitter, and other websites. After the blog became more popular, I teamed up with Meagan Fisher on the project, who has just as much a passion for coffee art, if not more.

So, what’s important to you?

This is the very, very important question here. What really matters to you most? Beyond just working on meaningful projects you are passionate about, is the work you’re doing the right work for you, so that you can live a good lifestyle? Scott Boms wrote an excellent article, Burnout, in which he shares his own experience in battling stress and exhaustion, and what he learned from it. You should definitely read the article in its entirety, but a couple of his points that are particularly excellent are:

• Make time for numero uno, in which you make time for the things in life that make you happy
• Examine your values, goals, and measures of success, in which you work toward the things you are passionate about, your own personal development, and focusing on the things that matter.

A solid work-life balance can be a challenging struggle to obtain. Of course, you can cheat this by finding ways to combine the things you love with the things you do (so then it doesn’t even feel like you’re working — oh, you sneaky little bandit!). However, there are other factors to consider beyond your general love for the work you’re doing. Take proper care of yourself physically, mentally, and socially.

So, are you making out like a bandit?

Do you feel accomplished and generally happy with your work? If not, perhaps that is something to focus on for the next year. Consider your work (both in your job as well as any side projects you may take on) and how it benefits you — present and future. Take any steps necessary to get you to where you need to be. If you are miserable, fix it!

Finally, it’s important to be thankful for the things that matter to you and make you happy. Pass it along everyday. Thank people. It’s a simple thing, really. Saying “thank you” can and will have enormous impact on the people around you. Oh. And, I apologize if the title of this article led you to thinking it would teach you how to be an amazing kisser. That’s a different article entirely for 24 ways to impress your friends!

Go to Source

The wallpaper of this week is an image created by Elena Savitskaya a Graphic and Web Designer, based in London. She comes from a Marketing Management background and when it comes to Graphic Design she has her own definitions of goals that designers need to achieve. In her opinion, it’s not all about “pretty graphics”.

My yearly project. New 2010 free wallpaper for your desktop guys Next year is a year of the tiger, my year so wish me luck, hopefully it will be a better year for me than it was in this one.

For more information visit http://elenasavitskaya.com/ and check out more about Elena’s work.

Desktop Version

iPhone Version

Resolutions:

• 1920x1200px
• 1680x1050px
• 1440x900px
• 1280x1024px
• 1280x800px
• 1024x768px
• iPhone

About the author

My name is Fabio Sasso, I’m a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I’m the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through Abduzeedo. Also you can follow me on Twitter or my personal site at http://fabiosasso.com.

Sponsored Links:

Go to Source

The wallpaper of this week is an image created by Elena Savitskaya a Graphic and Web Designer, based in London. She comes from a Marketing Management background and when it comes to Graphic Design she has her own definitions of goals that designers need to achieve. In her opinion, it’s not all about “pretty graphics”.

My yearly project. New 2010 free wallpaper for your desktop guys Next year is a year of the tiger, my year so wish me luck, hopefully it will be a better year for me than it was in this one.

For more information visit http://elenasavitskaya.com/ and check out more about Elena’s work.

Desktop Version

iPhone Version

Resolutions:

• 1920x1200px
• 1680x1050px
• 1440x900px
• 1280x1024px
• 1280x800px
• 1024x768px
• iPhone

About the author

My name is Fabio Sasso, I’m a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I’m the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through Abduzeedo. Also you can follow me on Twitter or my personal site at http://fabiosasso.com.

Sponsored Links:

Go to Source

Then I thought there must be a less humiliating way to ring in the new year.

So, instead of a vision board, I decided to simply write a good old fashioned list of New Year’s resolutions.

1. Keep your workspace clean

This should be easy. The definition of a clean workspace is different for everyone. Some people like everything on their desk to be at 90-degree angles. Some people would rather just have "a place for everything." Regardless of how you like to keep your workspace, there’s no doubt that being organized in some way is beneficial.

So get rid of all the Twinkie wrappers you’ve been hiding in your desk drawers, shake out all the Hot Pockets crumbs in your keyboard, and then take some industrial-strength solvents and wipe down your workspace. You’ll feel refreshed and ready for the next year at work.

But the trick is, you have to keep it clean throughout the year.

2. Get some exercise

This one seems to always slip by me year after year – but it’s important to keep fit. Exercise has been shown to elevate endorphins (which I assume is a good thing) and increase brain function (which is essential for creativity).

If you put those two facts together, you’ll inevitably come to the conclusion that physical exercise is good for creativity.

Besides, sitting in front of a computer or at your desk the whole day is just plain terrible for your health (see: mirror).

Join a gym, find a jogging partner, walk the dog, or play some stickball – whatever keeps you active and away from the computer for an hour or two a day.

For the upcoming year, aim at designing your body into a beautiful and well-chiseled work of art. Wait… what? I can’t believe I just said that. Whatever. Let’s move past it.

3. Live beyond your workspace

Please stand up and examine your work chair. Does the seat cushion have a perfect imprint of your behind?

Don’t answer that. Just get out there. Do something out of the ordinary in this upcoming year. Gain some new experiences. It’s easy to get stuck in front of the computer monitor and forget that there’s a whole world that exists beyond your desk.

You must actively seek out new adventures and new experiences because you will not find them while sitting on your chair (World of Warcraft does not count).

As long as your new chosen activity doesn’t involve traumatic blows to the head or non-stop consumption of alcoholic beverages and hallucinogens, you will surely gain some new tools to put in your creative arsenal. But, such activities did work for Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouac, so maybe…

The bottom line is that you have to live beyond your desk and take your experiences into your designs; that’s the only way you’ll grow as a designer.

4. Don’t be scared of the dark side, take more risks

Taking risks is all a part of a designer’s job. Granted, design is a profession with a history and many traditions for many people so it’s understandable that some designers may find it hard to take bigger risks, or even convince clients to take bigger risks when formulating a new design. That’s because great design is design that stays.

However, it must be said that great design is also design that is fresh – and fresh is risky. We can even argue that taking risks is one of the biggest traditions of the design industry. Sure, the rules are comforting because they’ve been shown to work in the past, but that’s exactly where you’ll stay if you always choose the path of "righteousness."

Don’t be scared of the dark side. Take more risks. If Darth Vader didn’t move to the dark side, we wouldn’t have the original Star Wars!

5. Work on stuff outside your comfort zone

Work on a design that you never thought you’d do. Take on a project that you don’t think would fit your "style" and adapt to the situation. Not only is this good for adding variety to your portfolio, but it’ll also give you a chance to test your limits as a designer and see what you’re truly capable of. Maybe you can even reinvent yourself in the process.

6. Read more

Working in digital media can be really great. It can also make you forget that there is other media out there. Did you know that they still print newspapers? On real paper… even when there are sites like this! Shocking, I know.

Visit your local bookstore and browse the Design section. Or if leaving your computer is too much of stretch at the moment, you can order books off the internet and wait a couple of days (just in time for the new year).

Regardless of how you choose to add to your library, the fact is there’s always something interesting coming out in print and other traditional media that you can definitely take advantage of. Make a resolution to pick up and read more good old fashion books in 2010.

7. Make time for personal design projects

Personal design projects are a great way to boost creativity and get out of a rut. Not only will personal projects enrich your portfolio with new self-initiated work, you’ll also keep the Boring Monster at bay by periodically focusing on your passions and reminding yourself of why you got into this business in the first place.

It’s easy to neglect projects that are for ourselves; the paid jobs always come first because we all have to eat. But personal design projects have many benefits that, in the long run, will result in better quality work (which in turn, equates to higher-paying projects – it’s simple arithmetic).

Commit to at least one personal design project next year, even if it takes the entire year to finish.

8. Network and connect with people (it’s part of the job)

You don’t have to act like a high-priced escort at a company picnic to get paid like one.

However, surely this new year will bring new gallery openings, art exhibits, conferences and other gatherings pertaining to your life as a designer, and you mustn’t let these prime networking opportunities pass you by.

You have to demonstrate your value to prospective clients. So look through your portfolio and think about your work and how to best talk about what you can do.

Networking with prospective clients is not unlike talking to someone you find attractive at a party or a bar. You talk about yourself, you listen to the other person’s needs, you make yourself attractive to them, and then you ask for their phone number or you leave them yours.  Pretty soon you’ll find yourself in meetings with new people you never thought you could get.

9. Get some business cards made

Of course, you can’t network properly if you don’t have the right tools. If you don’t already have business cards tucked in your jacket pocket/back slot of your Moleskine, or if your business cards are out of date, break out some card stock and design and print them yourself before you even step out tonight. It’s not that hard.

Business cards are like grown up trading cards. It has your name on it, your position/title, and a bunch of numbers and information about yourself, not unlike the trading cards you used to collect as kids. They’re also like mini promotional flyers that people actually keep instead of using them for to fold paper airplanes. Although there’s this thing, which, given that last sentence, is very ironic.

10. Work smarter

You know what works for you. And you know what wastes your time when you’re working. Focus on the things that work.

We have to distinguish busy work from important work. Busy work is work just for the sake of working. Important work is the things that we have to accomplish in order to get our work done.

Do you really need that 2-hour conference call with the main agenda being a discussion about whether to use #FFF799 versus #FFF568 on the masthead of a web layout? Do you really need to check your emails and respond to them every hour? Do you really need to calibrate your monitor three times a day?

Being a designer means that your time and energy is a valuable resource. The more time you spend on things that don’t matter, the less time (and energy) you have on doing what you do best: designing and creating creative solutions.

For the New Year, identify busy work, and then do something about them.

11. Use the internet to make your life easier, not harder

Twitter and RSS feeds are great tools for designers to raise their online profile. They’re also crucial in order to stay ahead of the curve and be up to date with events, new techniques, and emerging trends.

However, with so many people to follow and RSS feeds to subscribe to, sometimes it can get a little messy. By the end of the year, I’m almost certain that your RSS feed reader must be working overtime because of the number of feeds that you managed to acquire throughout the year.

Devote some time early in the New Year to trim the fat and organize your internet stuff. Unsubscribe to RSS feeds that you don’t really need or read regularly. Do the same with trivial email newsletters that clutter your inbox every day at 6:30am in the morning (Amazon.com and Newegg, I’m talking to you). Close internet accounts that aren’t essential or are redundant (goodbye Plurk and Hotmail), and reduce your "Web 2.0" website usage to the bare minimum.

Doing this not only diminishes the amount of things that you have to keep up with, but will also have the effect of you having more time to devote to stuff that matter more to you as a designer.

12. Work with more clients you actually like

In the upcoming year, commit to stop working with clients that only raise your stress levels or waste your valuable time. Waste is a thief. If all you hear from your client is a constant stream of criticism and demands for adjustments, then most likely, it means they don’t trust you to do your job well. And most likely, they won’t be great references in the future, anyway.

Focus on clients that you enjoy working with. If you wake up every morning, fearing to see another email from one of your clients – that’s a sign that you should wrap up the current project, and move on. It may mean a pay cut. It may mean that you got to go out there and network and hunt for jobs harder. But in the long run, it’ll be better for your career (and your blood pressure… you can’t design things when you keel over and die of cardiac arrest).

Some parting words

Do no try to resolve yourself to doing the things on this list. Trying is for those who do things with the intention of allowing failure. And if 2010 really is your year, then failure is not an option, is it? So let’s all follow that old shoe maker’s motto and "just do it."

Happy New Year to everyone!

What are your New Year’s resolutions? Share them with us in the comment’s section below.

Related Content

• How to Get Your Ideas Across to Clients
• Adopting a “Does It Really Matter?” Philosophy
• Feedback. The Creativity Killer.
• Related categories: Project Management and Resources

About the Author

Isaac Gube is a photographer, philosopher, illustrator, adventurer, designer, and whatever else he chooses to be on any given day. You can connect with him on Twitter @IAMTHEGUBE or visit his Flickr page to see some of his photos.

Go to Source

Go to Source

Some time ago I was looking for some cool digital works at DeviantART (my favorite spot to check out great art), and I ran into the amazing work of a designer called Uribaani. He makes some excellent pieces, really worth taking a look.

<!–break–>

For more of his great work, you should seriously visit his portfolio at DA and show him some love, because he gently gave us permission to post his work here. I hope you enjoy these. Cheers!

Go to Source

We’ve seen some great gadgets and equipment for designers. So many cool stuff, that we could actually assemble infinite perfect office spaces! Every week we’ll assemble a perfect office, and we’d like you to help us. What equipment would the perfect office have?

<!–break–>

Not only gadgets and equipment, but also furniture, sound system, gaming stuff (for lunch time!). A designer is totally allowed to dream with the perfect office, and that’s what we’re gonna do here! Comment telling us your suggestions, or even better, you may tell us via twitter (mine and fabio’s), using #abdz_ofc so we can check it. Alright? I hope you guys enjoy this brief selection. Cheers!

Gumball Machine

This is an awesome Gumball Machine… just the right thing to make your office a little bit merrier. Nothing like chewing a nice bubble gum. (via 7 Gadgets)

Recoiling Socket In The Wall

Rambler Socket maybe the solution most of us are looking for as far as extension cords are concerned. I mean if you hit “Extension Cord” on YD, for most of the posts you will see readers nitpicking and finding fault with the design. Here’s why Rambler Socket will knock your socks off. (via Crib Candy)

Zip earphones

Though MP3 players guide me to the world of music times and again, the earphones, or rather the messy wires of earphones always upset me. Luckily the designer Ji Woong has created the new earphones with a zipper shape, which allows us to zip the earphones up when no longer using them. Cool. (via Crib Candy)

Ogle Pendant Lamp

Ogle has the functionality of a spotlight combined with the elegance of a pendant lamp. The lamp comes in a matte black soft lacquer finish and LED fitting. (via Crib Candy)

iMac CS Mod

Do you have even the slightest clue what you get when you shove a perfectly operational Mac mini, JBL Spot subwoofer and WMF1 coffeemaker into a perfectly defunct iMac DV case? The iMac CS, that’s what. In one of the most bizarre and aspirational mods we’ve seen in quite some time, one Klaus Diebel has managed to combine three devices that wouldn’t typically be shoved within the same enclosure… into the same enclosure. (via Engadget)

Balding Memo Pad

As if it wasn’t bad enough you had to reach for a sticky note every few minutes in order to remember something, this cleverly designed memo pad also reminds you that you’re probably going to lose your hair, in addition to your memory, as you get older. (via OhGizmo!)

ASUS 17.3-inch Core i5-powered X77

Details are still fuzzy at best, but word on the street has it that ASUS is preparing to unveil a new mobile gaming rig in short order. The biggest news is the powerhouse within: it’ll purportedly be based on Intel’s dual-core Core i5-430M processor. In addition to that, the rumored GPU will be a potent ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730, which is likely to feature DDR3 memory (via Engadget)

USB 3.0 Hard Drive Enclosure

Hey Brando! You’re awesome for being your usual self — $49 isn’t too bad for this next-gen product (also the first USB 3.0 hard drive enclosure sans drive we’ve seen; 2.5-inch here, by the way), and it doesn’t burn our eyes either. (via Engadget)

Go to Source

Go to Source

Have you read “How To Be a Rockstar WordPress Designer” yet?

Loving WordPress is SO easy! You got thousands of great looking blogs, custom themes, free themes, premium themes and designers go beyond that by using WordPress as CMS for their non-blog projects. A while back I showed you 10 non-blog websites powered by WordPress, and now it’s time to take a look at 10 more!

If you have any additions to the list and wish to suggest a website for a future post, do so by adding a comment.

1. ProBar

Visit ProBar

2. Krispy Krush

http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/design/35-expressive-examples-of-stunning-hdr-photography/ HDR photography has become one of the most popular and beautiful forms of displaying images. HDR or “high-dynamic-range photography”, lets you capture different aspects of a photograph and use software to merge them all-together. While scaling through the web, we were able to find a handful of stunning HDR photographs for your inspiration. Let us know if we’ve missed any of the real good ones, and which ones catch your eye.

About the Author

Joel Reyes is a web designer and web developer with years of experience in the industry. He runs a development studio called Looney Designer. Connect with him via Twitter, and through his Blog.

Go to Source

Mozilla’s product designer Stephen Horlander is the man responsible for the way that Firefox looks. On his personal blog, Horlander has revealed five changes that are in the works for Firefox 4, and even provides a nice mockup of how it’ll all look. Firefox 4 looks like it will be borrowing some design elements from Microsoft Office and Google Chrome.

(…)
Read the rest of Firefox 4 UI Mockup Revealed [Mozilla UI Designer Shows Off Mockup Of Upcoming Firefox 4's Release, Similar to Microsoft Office, Google Chrome]

© TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities, 2009. |
Permalink |
No comment |
Add to
del.icio.us

Go to Source

• GOOD is such a misnomer for a website with GREAT content and design. GOOD is looking for a Lead Web/Interaction Designer in the Los Angeles area.
• This is a killer opportunity to work with an incredible team, led by the venerable Greg Storey (West Coast team). Happy Cog West is looking for a fantastic Lead Project Manager. “You should live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and you will ideally work out of our digs in Emeryville.”
• Work from anywhere as a Ruby on Rails Developer at Indie Labs LLC, proprietors of the ever-awesome Big Cartel.
• I’d not heard of Flavors.me prior to their job listing. Their app (currently in private beta) allows you to create an elegant website aggregated from things like Twitter, Flickr, etc. (Watch the video.) They’re looking for a Python / Django Expert in the New York or San Francisco areas who’s interested in equity in the company and 100% medical/dental/vision coverage.
• Superkix, a sister company to Flavors.me, is a search engine for “authentic sneakers” (nice adjective choice). They need a Ruby / Rails Expert. Same equity and healthy benefits as their sister site.
• ZURB creates some pretty impressive web stuff. They need a Designer in their Campbell, California offices.
• Beyond (love the logo) needs a Web Developer to join their studio “set in resplendent surroundings” in Maidenhead, UK. You’ll be working with LAMP and existing frameworks such as Expression Engine, Codeigniter, and Drupal.
• Hallmark Channel needs an experienced Senior Print Designer who will collaborate with the Vice President of Video/Web and Print on a variety of print projects.
• Scrapblog’s Flex-based online photo scrapbooking and printing app is stellar. I had the privilege of using the beta way back when, and they’ve continuously improved it. They need an Interaction Designer whose design and markup (XHTML/CSS/MXML) skills are as mad their “foosball and/or hackysack skillz.”
• If you’ve got a penchant for horses, you’ve probably already heard of SmartPak, “the unquestioned leader in daily dose packaging of equine drugs and nutritional products.” They’re seeking a .Net Developer in the Plymouth, Massachusetts area.
• I’ve done work for several colleges, so I know it’s not an easy challenge but it’s certainly a rewarding one. Texas A&M University needs a Web Developer to help develop and maintain the architecture, look and feel, and general elements of the site.
• How’s this for a job title? Cloud Configuration and Infrastructure Engineer needed at Geodelic Systems, Inc., a “high-energy Santa Monica based startup company working on a groundbreaking location aware iPhone App.”
• I’ve not heard of Patch before, but it looks like it’s the 2010 replacement to local newspapers. They need a Front-end Developer with “expert and up-to-date XHTML/Javascript/CSS coding skills” in the New York City area.
• This looks like a good early-career position at a non-profit in Washington, DC. The American Institutes for Research is looking for a Web Production Associate.
• User Interface Engineer needed at Facebook. I probably needn’t say more.

Go to Source

Art Lebedev has teased a new, flexible digital camera concept called the “Fleximus”.  Lebedev, the designer of the famed Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard, created this goose neck digital camera to provide greater reach and flexibility to digital photographers.

(…)
Read the rest of Art Lebedev Teases “Fleximus” Flexible Tube Camera [Art Lebedev's Fleximus To Provide Greater Flexibility For Photographers]

© TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities, 2009. |
Permalink |
No comment |
Add to
del.icio.us

Go to Source

Go to Source

By Tim Mercer

Unlike raster-based images, vector images are infinitely scalable. From the photo-realistic to the abstract, vector art is as varied as any other medium of expression. The artist featured here have taken their craft to the next level with these inspirational images. In this inspirational post we present 35 beautiful vector illustrations that will certainly inspire you. Do you have further suggestions for beautiful vector illustrations or just some nice ideas for next inspirational posts? Let us know in the comments to this post!

Vector Illustrations

Christiano

Jonathan Ball

Zutto

p3nx

Varziel

Jorge Packer

Alegas

Andres Cardenes

Robotnicc

Lee Daniels

Plue

Miracola

ndesign-studio

Highside

Limkis

Zoomwafflez

Bandila

Pixelledanddead

nrslkrkc

Drownsoda

Ruslan Khasanov

Turp

Pentoolart

Last Click

Yukio Miyamoto

Caradeliebre

Resources

Vectortuts
Awesome vector tutorials.

Vector Vault Flickr Group
Lots of cool vectors in this Flickr group.

Vectips
Vector tips, tutorials and more.

Freevectors.net
Tons of free vectors.

About the author

Tim Mercer is a photography enthusiast, graphic designer, artist and blogger. His blog digital-artist-toolbox offers free resources to the digital artist and graphic designer as well as tutorials, artist interviews, inspiration and more.

Go to Source

Previously on Fubiz

• 3D Posters Illusion
• Transparency Series
• Where the Wild Things Are Posters

Go to Source

Justin Maller

Justin Maller is a creative freelance illustrator in Melbourne, Australia. He’s been conceiving creative digital art for over 8 years now and houses his portfolio at SuperLover.com.

Alex Beltechi

Alex is a great designer we found over here. He has a strong portfolio that showcases unique characteristics within the Behance Network. A lost of his skills rely on the use of creative typography elements.

Adhemas Batista

This is the showcase of Adhemas Batista, we highlighted incredible artwork for your inspiration. Batista likes to bring several ideas together and create amazing works of art. This has led him to expand his career and work with clients such as Coca-cola, Vodka, Playstation 3 and Microsoft.

Adhemas has a style that incorporates a strong use of vibrant colors along with a variety of organic shapes that come together to create amazing work.

Joao Oliveira

Joao Oliveira, a designer and creative abstract artist shows us his extensive portfolio full of magnificent work. Joao has worked with several top-notch clients such as Addidas, which gives him a great reputation and consistent recognition within our design community.

Michael Kutsche

Michael Kutsche, an award-winning digital artist has worked for the games and film industry for several years. He had a large role in the new movie from Tim Burton titled “Alice in Wonderland”.

Michael strictly uses Photoshop and Painter for all of his conceptual art. Here are a few of the best examples we found from him.

Go to Source

The wallpaper of this week is another beautiful design created by David Mascha, a artist and designer from Vienna, Austria. David is part of the DEPTHCORE collective and he has been working since 2005 for several design studios from Viena and other international projects.

For more information visit David Mascha’s website at http://www.davidmascha.com/

Desktop Version

iPhone Version

Resolutions:

• 1920x1200px
• 1680x1050px
• 1440x900px
• 1280x1024px
• 1280x800px
• 1024x768px
• iPhone

About the author

My name is Fabio Sasso, I’m a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I’m the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through Abduzeedo. Also you can follow me on Twitter or my personal site at http://fabiosasso.com.

Sponsored Links:

Go to Source

Previously on Fubiz

• Lamborghini Reventon Roadste
• Mag+ Prototype
• North Kingdom Showreel 2009

Go to Source

Having a blog as a freelance web designer should be practically mandatory, as it can help to convey all kinds of messages to your clients but it also helps to give you an easy medium in which to network with other people in your industry. This basic form of networking can help to grow your business in amazing and unexpected ways.

List of freelance web designers with awesome talent and awesome blogs

Lee Munroe

Freelance web designer based out of Belfast, Ireland
http://leemunroe.com

Michael Dick

Freelance web designer based out of Tulsa, OK
http://m1k3.net

Mike Precious

Freelance web designer based out of Brantford, Ontario
http://mikeprecious.com

Aaron Russell

Freelance web designer based out of Swindon, Wiltshire
http://www.aaronrussell.co.uk/

Ted Lermontov

Freelance web designer based out of Sydney, Australia
http://www.tedler.com/

Lelia Thomas

Freelance web designer based out of Austin, TX
http://www.leliathomas.com/

Matt Brett

Freelance web designer based out of Ontario, Canada
http://mattbrett.com/

Comments

Go to Source

Hey guys! This is the beginning of a seven day series that I am doing called “7 Questions, 7 Designers,” in which I throw out a different question each day and compile the answers from seven different designers. There are participants from all over the world, each offering a different and unique perspective on the realm of design.

I am so excited to have had the chance to connect with and learn a bit more about some of the leaders in the design community, and some people that I really admire and respect! I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

Alright guys, without any further ado, let’s kicking things off with the basics. Why don’t you all tell us something about yourselves – where are you located, what areas of design do you focus on or specialize in.

Chris Spooner
Follow Chris on Twitter

I’m Chris Spooner, I’m based in Sheffield, UK. I have a strong interest in quite a few areas of design, from print to web to various areas of illustration. Whenever I see something I’m inspired by I’ll often experiment and create some artwork in a similar vein, for instance I’ve recently been watching a couple of episodes of Miami Ink on TV, which has given me the incentive to brush up on my illustration skills and aim at creating a tattoo inspired design.

Sneh Roy
Follow Sneh on Twitter

I am Sneh Roy. I am a web-designer, content manager and brand creator from Sydney, Australia. I am 32 years old, have been married to my college sweetheart, business partner and best friend of 14 years. I am also a mum to two little boys aged 6 and 2 who are absolute rascals and keep things interesting. I am a visually creative person. Designing logos, designing and developing websites and databases, creating and illustrating characters, weaving beautiful stories and developing original content is what I do best. Although I dabble in a lot of things like illustrations and photography, my forte lies in logo and web design and blogging.

Mike Smith
Follow Mike on Twitter

My name is Mike Smith and I am a full time freelance designer from Knoxville Tennessee. I am a country boy at heart and love watching (and soon, competing) Mixed Martial Arts fights. I also have a huge obsession with my blackberry and it never leaves my side.

For the past 3 years I have been focused on building wordpress blogs for clients. I have been told that I have a “scrapbook” style to my designs, which can be true in most cases. I also love the clean and sleek look of apple products and the accompaning websites. I have recently dove into learning jQuery and some php in order to give my custom themes a bit more ‘pop’.

Jeff Finley
Follow Jeff on Twitter

My name is Jeff Finley, I’m 27, and I’m part owner of Go Media, a creative agency headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. I’m an entrepreneur that specialize in illustration, graphic design, and 3D. I also enjoy networking, marketing, and social media, and running a business in general.

Brad Colbow
Follow Brad on Twitter

I live in the beautiful city of Cleveland Ohio (no really, it’s a great place to live). I call myself a freelance web designer but I’m probably better know for my illustrations and weekly comic strip The Brads (bradcolbow.com).

Grace Smith
Follow Grace on Twitter

Sure, I am a 26 year old web designer and owner of a small but perfectly formed studio called Postscript5 based in Northern Ireland. I work with individuals and companies based mainly in the UK and USA on a diverse range of projects from branding and blog design to application UI’s.

I tend to specialise in two fields, Application UI design and WordPress Blog Design, these make up the majority of my projects.

Nick La
Follow Nick on Twitter

My name is Nick La, a freelance illustrator and web designer from Toronto, Canada. I’m the creator of N.Design Studio, Web Designer Wall, Design Jobs on the Wall, Best Web Gallery, and IconDock. I focus on designing artistic CSS websites, vector illustrations, and stock icons.

Digging a little deeper, what does design mean to you? Professionally? Personally? How did you get into the game?

Chris Spooner
Follow Chris on Twitter

I’ve always been an artsy type person right from a young age. So I naturally pursued the creative topics in School, College and University. I ended up landing my first full time job as a designer at a local studio, then headed out on my own as a self-employed designer. Design is pretty much my life! I’m forever checking out and analysing billboards, TV ads, leaflets – Everything!

Sneh Roy
Follow Sneh on Twitter

For me, design is a way of life. It impacts every aspect of my being. The sketching of a logo or the wireframing of a website extends into the real world where besides the work I do in the digital medium, I am landscaping yards, sketching out diagrams for the carpenter to build into furniture, designing a themed cupcake display for a wedding and individually decorating 40 odd cupcakes, each one unique. Design is very personal for me. I cannot imagine a day without being design, a moment that is not creatively inclined in my day. I just take all that personal passion and make a profession out of it. Which means I absolutely love what I do, because for me it is not work, it is play!

Oddly enough, I have absolutely no training in design. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering and Robotics was the only subject in my final year that was remotely associated with design. Even then it was all theory and we barely got to build a robotic arm for our grades. I got introduced to HTML back in 1996 I think. I was dazzled by the scrolling text effect, Comic Sans and the blinking of photographs and graphics that was loosely labeled as animated gifs back in the day. Ah the power that was at my fingertips! Nick [hubby] and I had just met at college and we were both huge soccer fans and with the world cup fever on, we built a soccer website [no, I am not showing that hideous creation even if you beg me to]. We actually landed our first project for Bayer [the pharmaceutical giant] based on that soccer website and we totally winged it. I had so much fun building their website. We then went ahead and built Starswelove.com [which is relaunching early next year on its 10th anniversary]. That site has been a constant learning curve for us. 2 years later I graduated, but I was already freelancing full time, developing websites for small businesses. And that is how it all began for me.

Mike Smith
Follow Mike on Twitter

Professionally, it means supporting myself and my girlfriend (10+ years together). Without freelance design, I don’t know where I’d be right now. I have my struggles and problems, but designing for a living gives me a way to live without additional stresses. Personally, I have been drawing since I was really, really young so I guess it’s always been a part of my life. To this very day I still sketch a lot because it helps relax me and drown out the stress around me.

Jeff Finley
Follow Jeff on Twitter

To me, design means making a difference. Making something that is remembered and stands for something. I’ve been an artist my whole life, and it wasn’t until after college I actually started getting into “design.” The artist in me strives to create art whatever medium I can muster, whether it’s illustration, film, or music. It’s a form of self expression and an emotional release. My goal is to create something that someone else might relate to and enjoy. The designer in me loves to craft a user experience with a predetermined end goal and then tinkering it to get desired results.

I went to college to become an animator and make video games and movies. By the time I graduated in 2004 I wasn’t thrilled with my career options and started freelancing. I made t-shirts and websites for bands, record labels, and clothing companies. I’ve kind of always had this desire to do something different, more profound. I ran into Bill and Chris, the two gentleman who founded Go Media and we had a lot in common in that regard. We decided to join forces and start a movement together.

Brad Colbow
Follow Brad on Twitter

I kinda fell backwards into design. In school I majored in advertising but took a couple design classes. I studied advertising in school and I landed a marketing internship at a roofing company. I started by writing copy and sticking it into Quark Express templates. Since I knew a little Photoshop I was making the documents look better in the process. By the end of the summer I was designing more and writing less. I never looked back and have been a designer ever since.

I wish I had some deep philosophical definition of what design means to me, but I don’t. It’s just a heck of a lot more fun and interesting than anything else I could do for a living. I really enjoy the problem solving part of design and web design in particular.

Grace Smith
Follow Grace on Twitter

A passion for design and art is a huge part of who I am. I was an avid artist throughout my childhood and right through school. Being a designer is just very natural and suits my sensibilities and passions. I can’t really think of being anything else!

Personally I feel design can best be described as ‘art within constraints’, it is focused on purpose, solving problems and functionality. Great design grows out of a real understanding of the problem and informed thinking of this accomplishes the goal(s) set out at the beginning of the project. Over the years I’ve formed the opinion that the foundation of design is communication, not the desire to make pretty things!

Nick La
Follow Nick on Twitter

Professionally: design is about putting things together to make something beautiful and functional. Personally, it is my life (I can’t live without it). I got into design because of my high school art teacher. He introduced Photoshop to me and fell in love with it ever since.

Thanks guys! That’s it for Day 1, everyone. What are your reactions to our designers’ comments? Learn anything that you may not have known before? Be sure to check back over the next six days for more awesome insights from these seven great minds!

Exclusive Content

To thank you for subscribing to my feed, I am including exclusive, feed-only content for you at the bottom of each post!

Current Freebie Code – 0rx655ws

Go to Source

I could only find 10 social bookmarking sites specifically fit for design, but if you know of any others, then I would love to hear them. So feel free to drop in a comment anytime.

DesignBump

This is a quality design bookmarking website. We submit all our blog articles to DesignBump and It has a great community!

* * * * *

DesignMoo

DesignMoo provides fresh daily design links to web designers.

* * * * *

The Web Blend

This site is kinda the new kid on the block in terms of design social bookmarking, but has hit the internet hard.

* * * * *

Design Related

This site has a nice design, and is the perfect resource for any web designer.

* * * * *

Share Brain

Recently renames from DevMarks, ShareBrain still provides designers with the same quality links.

* * * * *

Pixel Groovy

This beautiful design social bookmarking site shares all the best design links with web designers.

* * * * *

Developers Niche

Developers Niche lives up to its name. Its user submitted content just keeps getting better!

* * * * *

D Zone

D Zone is the place for web developers to find new and exciting stories. There are some awesome user submitted links!

* * * * *

Design Float

With Under 20,000 Alexa, Design Float is doing very well. There is more a less hourly popular content that makes the homepage. Its another perfect resource for web designers and developers.

* * * * *

Graphic Design Links

This social bookmarking site lives up to its name. There are some great content submitted by many top web designers.

Go to Source

Deviant art has a lot of great design talent showcasing their work and I was lucky enough to stumble across the beautiful designs of Rockfield last week. Now I’ll let you get to know his style. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Amphritite

And Die..In Peace

Blue Fish

Car Love

Colourful Candy

Digital Tree

Eclipse

Freedom Days

Gloria 79

God Have Eyes

Me And My Frozen Heart

MTV

Nuclear Atom

PINK Peace

Sky Soldier

Take Your Illusion

Tech-Matrix

The Future Is Tech

Time Machine

Type

If you like this post you may also want to look at:

Designer Showcase – Mike Campau

Designer Showcase – Mike Mitchell

Why not follow me on twitter: @atikusdesign
or to ensure you are updated with every D-Lists posts follow: @d_lists

Did you enjoy this post? If so please share and allow others to enjoy it:

Go to Source

I came across the wonderful work of Mike Mitchell the other day and I instantly fell in love with his style. It didn’t take me long to decide to showcase it here for you all to look at and enjoy!

Balloon Boy

Carly

Crusaders And Haters

Death Of Neon

Eye

Gnomercy

I Am 8-Bit

Icons Of The Empire

King Skully

Let’s Play

Little Pilot Skillington

Magical Journey

Mickey Mouse

Mr. Bunners The Rabbit Master

Nom Nom Nom

Peace

Stormy

Super Mario World

If you like this post you may also want to look at:

Designer Showcase – SHORT

Designer Showcase – Fernando Volken Tognira

Why not follow me on twitter: @atikusdesign
or to ensure you are updated with every D-Lists posts follow: @d_lists

Did you enjoy this post? If so please share and allow others to enjoy it:

Go to Source

Yesterday I was looking for some t-shirts to buy for Christmas and I started browsing through Threadless and other sites. As usual there were some beautiful illustrations and, of course, very funny ones. Then I decided to select the funniest ones and share them with you here at Abduzeedo.

It’s impressive how this guys can get so creative, exploring very simple subjects they come up with incredible ideas such as the Simple Plan by Neil Gregory, which I own one and it’s so funnny; A Fest Fit for a King by Fatheed and the Eternal Exercise by Glennz, perhaps the most creative t-shirt designer out there.

Below I selected the ones that really made me laugh, if you have others, please share with us leaving a comment with the link to the page.

Aled Lewis – Fatheed

Matthew Skiff

Brian Cook

Ian Summers

Brock Davis

Glennz

Jean-sébastien Deheeger

Jean Salamin

David Creighton-Pester

Neil Gregory

Chow Hon Lam

Chris Bishop

About the author

My name is Fabio Sasso, I’m a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I’m the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through Abduzeedo. Also you can follow me on Twitter or my personal site at http://fabiosasso.com.

Sponsored Links:

Go to Source

For every new project, there is a research phase when we look into a great amount of visual information, be it design books, magazines, web sites, annuals and more. It is important to stay updated with the latest news and trends in the design world and we browse daily in search of new resources to keep us sharp and well documented.

If online there are thousands of designer’s web sites, archives, blogs, magazines and more to get inspired and learn from, offline there are only a few great magazines you can subscribe to and check out monthly at least, helping you being a better designer.

So here are 5 prestigious design and designer magazines you need to look into:

Wallpaper

Wallpaper covers all creative industries, from interior design to fashion and architecture and it is the best at this, offering lots of information and features.

http://www.wallpaper.com/

Grafik

Grafik is a magazine mostly for print designers and art directors, with great examples of print works, interviews, feature articles on typography, experimental visuals, portfolio reviews and more.

http://www.grafikmagazine.co.uk/

Creative Review

This is one of the most respected creative magazines, with interviews from lead designers and profiles for agencies and studios, CR is admired and read by the top creatives of the world.

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/home

Computer Arts

This is a magazine dedicated to young and fresh designers, that still need to learn more about this trade. It has great tips and tutorials, a great selection of reviews and it comes with a CD full of goodies, like video tutorials, software, fonts, etc.

http://www.computerarts.co.uk

DigitalArts

DigitalArts is focusing more on digital design, with great insight and how-tos for commercials, video, motion graphics and more. It has good tutorials and is a great showcase for young digital designers to be noticed

http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/

These magazines are a must for every designer and getting subscriptions for some or all of them is a good idea to keep you informed about what’s going on in the world of design.

Go to Source

Wojciech Pijecki is an awesome graphic designer and tutorial writer. He published some very good tutorials over at PSDTUTS. Also we had an long talk with him here on Abduzeedo. In this case study he shows us how he designed his newest cd cover.

Visit him on his website http://www.behance.net/zerobound

CD and DVD covers created for my friend’s pop/rock band on their first official album.

The first letter of band’s name “A” stands for Angels. So this basicly enforced the concept itself.
I wanted to make front and back of this cover connected, so if you take a look at both sides – they create a small story about a statue of angel coming to life.

The band wanted both covers to be similar with small color difference, so the CD and DVD look pretty much the same.

Case Study

Close-Ups

About the author

Aloa is the moniker of the german/greek graphic designer/filmmaker & musician Alexis Papageorgiou. Im glad to share great artistic work with the readers on Abduzeedo. Contact me on aloa@abduzeeo.com or http://twitter.com/obstgemuese.

Sponsored Links:

Go to Source

We’ve seen some great gadgets and equipment for designers. So many cool stuff, that we could actually assemble infinite perfect office spaces! Every week we’ll assemble a perfect office, and we’d like you to help us. What equipment would the perfect office have?

<!–break–>

Not only gadgets and equipment, but also furniture, sound system, gaming stuff (for lunch time!). A designer is totally allowed to dream with the perfect office, and that’s what we’re gonna do here! Comment telling us your suggestions, or even better, you may tell us via twitter (mine and fabio’s), using #abdz_ofc so we can check it. Alright? I hope you guys enjoy this brief selection. Cheers!

Retro Light Switches and Switch Plates by Fontini

These retro light switches and retro switch plates by Fontini are sure to turn you on. Bringing some old-world charm to the modern home, the new 1950 Collection is a line of modern decorative hardware commemorating the company’s 60th Anniversary with a nod to the small details of the ‘50s. These (via Trendir)

Designer Lamps by Puntozero

Light up your lifer and your home with these amazing architectural lighting fixtures by Puntozero. The Zero, Zero 360 and Punto designer lamps are made in Italy using 100 percent glass – inside and outside. These beautiful and functional architectural lighting is the ultimate expressions of versatility, customizable to your style and your space. (via Trendir)

The Message Messenger Bag

With an email icon on one side and an air mail envelope on the other, this bag is a wearable metaphor for a message. If you want one, the Message Messenger Bag is available for $130 from the Yanko Design Store, and it comes in a choice of two colors, white and yellow. (via Geeky Gadgets)

Zoku Quick Pop Maker

Make all the bacon-apple popsicles you want with the Zoku Quick Pop Maker ($50). The nonstick cast-aluminum molds use an internal space-age solution that gives you ready-to-eat popsicles in about 7 minutes with no electricity required. The Zoku comes with six reusable plastic sticks and six drip guards. (via Uncrate)

Bialetti Hot Cocoa Maker

For those of you who prefer the temptations of caffeine, the $99 Bialetti Hot Chocolate Maker also makes teas and cappuccino, puddings and “cold milk beverages.” But today isn’t a cold milk day, is it? (via Gizmodo)

ikyaudio Red Lobesters Audio Speakers

Audio speakers handmade from PVC pipes, each houses a 3 inch magnesium/aluminum alloy full range driver. Frequency response is 80-20,000. 3 way binding posts on back. The bass port is on the end of the 1-1/2 pipe/stand. Nice sound and a very good sound stage, lots of low end bass for a small speaker. Hand painted with a high gloss lacquer. (via 7Gadgets)

Philco PC concept

This retro Philco PC concept has us basking in a stew of our own biological lust. Designed by SchultzeWORKS design studio, this retro rig combines design elements of the 50′s classic Philco Pedictas television, antique typewriters, and just a hint of steampunk. Granted, it doesn’t have the clean, minimalistic form of modern designs that appeal to the mass market. But really, isn’t that point? (via Engadget)

The Emperor 1510, The Ultimate Workstation for the Ubber Geek

The Emperor 1510 seems to cost slightly more than $4k, or one tenth of the price with pretty much all the same functionality. Some things that appeared to be standard are now options (or or three screens? Colors? 2.1 or 5.1 sound?). But really, if you’re an office manager looking for the baddest work environment ever, the Emperor 1510 doesn’t get much better. Word is, the Prince of Dubai just ordered 10 of these bad boys. (via OhGizmo!)

Go to Source

The moment some of you who’ve commented and tweeted in the previous free icons, vector and brush packs contest have been waiting for. We’ve got our winners – 11 of them. 10 winners will walk away each with a vector, icon and brush pack of your choice; 1 winner with a complete designer set with more than 447 packs of 6000+ design elements. Courtesy of Artbox7.com

Here are our winners, in no particular order:

Vector + Icons + Brush Packs

1. Helena #16
2. themisfit #54
3. joshua #70
4. goldfish300 #23 @goldfish300
5. Rommel #58 @eyeondesigns
6. Sam Lim #135 @babblemecrazy92
7. Camille #167 @camilleruivivar
8. mAVErick #103 @maverickchen
9. SE7EN #177 @SE7ENize
10. Karen #204 @simplyamusing

Complete Designer Set

1. Abdelhadi Touil #41 @hadi060

Once again, congratulations to the winners and thank you all for participating. Have a great week ahead.

Go to Source

This is part 3 of the Design Toolbox Series where I ask top designers what design tools they use to help them complete their work. This series was largely inspired by Grace Smith’s “Show Me Your Dock Series.” It’s my hope that you can gain insight into what other designer’s are using, and hopefully find some new apps/tools to check out.

About Kyle Steed

Kyle Steed is an awesomely talented designer from in Dallas, Texas. He is refreshingly open, honest and humble. He’s the guy behind kylesteed.com (naturally) and works a full-time 9-5 job doing web + graphic design as well as work in his free time doing illustrations + web design.

Computer/OS

Computer/OS – iMac/Macbook running OS X 10.5 (Waiting to upgrade to Snow Leopard)

Printer

Epson Stylus Photo RX620 (I use it more for scanning than I do printing)

Browser

Safari is really my browser of choice

Code Editor

A mixture of Dreamweaver (Code view only) and CODA

Mail Client

Using Google Apps to manage my personal email through my domain

Billing App

FreshBooks (Still using the free version since I’m not full-time freelance)

FTP Client

Transmit (hands down the best)

Twitter App

Tweetie (I love the shortcut keys to switch from the main timeline to my @ replies and DM’s to search)

RSS Reader

Google Reader (As of just a couple months ago. Before then I didn’t really use RSS)

Task Organizer

My moleskin (Does that count?)

Any Other Apps You’d Like To Share?

Cornerstone by Zennaware is my favorite Version Control software. Fluid is another personal favorite.

Connect With Kyle

• Website
• Flickr
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Vimeo

Feel free to comment add your tools of choice for any or all of the categories above.

Go to Source

For this Sites of the Week we have selected some great sites such as the Inspire and ChicagoNow, from Jason Santa Maria. Also we’re featuring the N.Design portfolio, and much, much more! As usual we would love to hear from you, keep sending your suggestions to us and we will be more than happy to feature your site.

<!–break–>

You can send me your suggestions via Twitter twitter.com/FabianoMe or twitter.com/abduzeedo, and include #abdz_sites in the message.

DESIGN / CSS

Morphix – morphix.si

Morphix Design Studio is based in Slovenia, Europe and was established in 2000 by Gašper Vidovi?, a senior graphic designer. Morphix Design Studio’s specialties are in all types of webdesign, graphic illustrations (pictograms) and corporate and product identities.

Inspire – inspire.boranikolic.com

This initiative is an attempt to curate inspiring morsels largely focused on design, art, philosophy and architecture – also including a variety of other interesting subjects. The collection is updated and maintained on an ad-hoc basis.

APP / WEB APP

goFISHn – gofishn.com

We started Go Sportn Inc to invent new ideas in online marketing and media for enthusiast categories. Our goal is to create rich experiences that serve the small business owner and the amateur enthusiast equally well.

iMapFlickr – imapflickr.com

Create custom Google Maps from your geotagged Flickr Photos to embed in your website or blog, or for sending to Facebook, Twitter or your favourite website. Its quick, non-technical and free.

COMMUNITY / PORTAL

ChicagoNow – chicagonow.com

More than 10 million of us call ourselves Chicagoans. Some of us live in the city proper, many of us live in the suburbs and more than a few live a plane ride away. While our stories vary, we are all passionate about Chicago.

Pictory – pictorymag.com

Pictory is a showcase for people around the world to document their lives and cultures. Anyone can submit one large, captioned image to each of Pictory’s editorial themes. I’m editor, designer, and founder Laura Brunow Miner, and I will select a few dozen of the best items from each theme to appear in each showcase.

FLASH SITE

Moon Palace – moonpalace.fr

French graphic designer, flash animator, webdesigner and illustrator, originality and imagination are my goals, Flash is my tool, Moon Palace is my portfolio.

Kashiwa Sato – kashiwasato.com

Official website of Kashiwa Sato : Art Director / Creative Director, Tokyo Japan.

BLOG / PORTFOLIO

N.Design – ndesign-studio.com

N.Design Studio was founded by me, Nick La, a Toronto based illustrator and web designer. I am also the creator of the popular blog Web Designer Wall, Design Jobs on the Wall, IconDock, and Best Web Gallery.

Jay Hollywood – jayhollywood.com.au

I specialise in branding, user experience, and interface design, specifically when it relates to the digital world (although I do dabble in a bit of print work too). I work with all types of clients to achieve specific results and exceptional outcomes through creative problems solving and development.

TEMPLATES

Epica – themeforest.com

Epica is a pixel perfect theme that’s bold, sexy and super clean.

Backstage – woothemes.com

Backstage is a powerful niche theme design for musicians and artists showcasing their media, upcoming shows and music using hugely flexible custom widgets and audio players. This beautifully crafted layout was designed by Elliot Jay Stocks and boasts 7 alternate styles.

About the author

I’m from Brazil, co-founder of Zee with Fabio. Nowadays I like to play with Fireworks, Photoshop and improve my skills in CSS. If you wanna request some posts, please feel free to contact me or follow on Twitter.

Sponsored Links:

Go to Source

There seems to a great misconception amongst the web agency-employing-section-of-society as to what a web designer does and in particular what all the different disciplines in web design/development are.
—Phil Thompson

A successful website is the result of many different parts working together toward a common goal or set of goals. Those parts might be the product of one or many different people, one of whom will be the site’s web designer.

Last week a thread on the small business forum about copyrwriting evolved into a discussion of what a web designer is responsible for doing in regards to the success of a website.

Of all the parts that go into a successful website, which are the responsibility of the web designer?

I’d like to spend some time in this post offering more thoughts about the responsibilities of a web designer passing through the questions of what a web designer might and should do.

photo credit: Alex Osterwalder

What Might a Web Designer Do?

Depending upon the scope of your web site, you may need to choose two different companies. Building a web site is a highly technical process. Designing a web site is a highly creative process.
—Andy Quick

I mentioned above that a successful website consists of many parts. What are some of those parts?

Assuming the site is a business site those parts would include a solid business model, the right target market, a marketing strategy, advertising, copywriting, usability and accessibility, interaction design, information architecture, visual design, development of the web pages, front end programming, and backend programming.

And a number of other things not mentioned above.

Who’s responsible for all those things? Your web designer? We can probably remove creating a successful business model from what a web designer might do, but everything else listed above might be offered by a web designer. Not all by the same designer, but any of the above might be something some web designer offers as part of their design services.

One designer might include marketing where another includes backend programming, It would depend on the skills that designer has acquired on his or her journey through life as well as what interests they have as a designer.

The specific needs of your project will also have some say in what a designer might offer. Some projects require a content management system. Some projects don’t. Some projects require the copy to be written. Some come with the content already written.

What Should A Web Designer Do?

Web Design: A multidisciplinary pursuit pertaining to the planning and production of Web sites, including, but not limited to, technical development, information structure, visual design, and networked delivery.
—Web Design: The Complete Reference

No one person is going to be an expert in all the aspects mentioned above. You might know a fair amount about all of them, but there’s only so much time in the day. A larger firm might have several or many people working on a single site and be able to offer all of the above.

It’s also not uncommon for a larger company with a larger site to hire firms solely to do one thing. Maybe one company handles the visual design, which is taken to another company to develop the design into working web pages. A third firm might take care of the backend programming, while a fourth is responsible for the marketing.

Assuming we’re talking about a typical small business hiring a lone designer or small design firm, there are certain things I think most of us would agree the design would include.

• Organization of the client’s content into a working hierarchy
• Creation of the visual look and feel for the site
• Development of the visuals into working web pages

Is there anything else you can really expect your designer to do?

Every web designer should have a design process that starts with research and information gathering. When designing a site you should try to learn as much as you can about the client, their business, their goals, their marketing, and their industry. Many of the aspects that lead to a successful site move across the designer’s plate, but is the designer responsible for doing those things or rather using those things to do their job better?

You shouldn’t be expected to choose the client’s target market or define their goals for success, however you might have ideas about those things and advise the client about them.

photo credit: M i x y

All web designers benefit from learning as much as they can about all the different aspects that make up a successful site.

Maybe you’ll never acquire enough skills to offer marketing services, but an understanding of marketing will make you that much more valuable to potential clients.

When I first started as a web designer I built a site and wondered now what? How exactly will clients find me? As a result of that question I began learning about search engine optimization and marketing. Eventually I felt confident enough in my skills that I could offer some seo services here.

I don’t offer a full set of seo services, though I do offer some. More importantly by understanding where seo and web development overlap I can build search friendly sites and use that as a selling point for my design services. Not everyone will care, but to a certain group of people that will be a selling point.

Similarly I’ve worked with WordPress a lot over the years and can offer WordPress design and development services. Again not necessarily something everyone wants, but it makes me more valuable as a web designer to a specific group of people.

You might have acquired more programming skills and be able to offer programming services or a limited set of programming as a selling point to your design services.

Even if neither of us ever offered those extra services or used our extra skills as selling points, we’re both going to be able to design sites better. Regardless of what services we ultimately choose to offer, all web designers should be learning as much as they can about everything that makes for a successful site.

You may never agree to help a client with their business model, but doesn’t it make sense to understand what makes for a solid business model?

photo credit: HowardLake

What is a Web Designer Responsible For Doing?

A web designer is responsible only for those things the designer and client agree will be part of the specific project. Those responsibilities may and likely will change from project to project and client to client.
—Steven Bradley (Hey, that’s me)

The quote above is the best answer I can give to the question. It does have a measure of “it depends” in it I’m afraid. It has to. A website encompasses a lot of different disciplines and no one person can truly be an expert in all of them.

Most web designers will be able to create a visual look for your site and then turn that look into working web pages. Beyond that it’s going to come down to the skills and interests of each particular web designer.

This is why a definition of the scope of the project is so important.

It’s also why you should do your homework before hiring a web designer. You should know what you’re looking for in a site before contacting one and you should take some time to find a designer who’s skills match your needs.

With so many possible things you as a web designer might do, your clients may have some expectations of what you will do that you don’t consider part of the project. If the last company your client spoke to went on about all the link building they do, there’s a good chance your client is going to expect some link building from you as well.

Let’s add one more responsibility for any web designer, perhaps the most important one.

As a web designer you are responsible for clearly communicating to the client what you will be doing for them for a specific price. You should include as part of this conversation some things you don’t consider part of the job, but you do consider important in the overall success of the site.

As a client you should ask your web designer what will be included in your project. Don’t assume something will be part of the project.

If you’re a client what do you expect your web designer will do as part of your project?

If you’re a web designer what do you include with all projects? What do you expect the client to have ready for you?

A web designer creates web pages

Go to Source

Go to Source

Be sure to add your own wish list for this holiday in the comments if they’re not on here!

Gear and Gadgets

1. iPhone ($99 – $299)

The iPhone will probably be the most requested gift of the season, but there’s a chance your designer or developer already has one because of its popularity in the industry, so make sure to check before you get one.

2. The Smashing Book (~$30)

The Smashing Book will be one of the most influential web design and development books to hit the market and will be a wonderful book to add to any designer or developer’s book collection.

3. Macbook Pro (starts at $1,199)

Apple’s new Macbook Pro is leaps and bounds above any other laptop in the market and is a favorite amongst the web professional crowd. It comes in three sizes: 13inch, 15inch, and 17inch.

4. Kindle 2 ($259)

The Kindle 2 lets you read e-books on its digital screen. It conveniently carries around your favorite books so that you can access them anytime and anywhere.

5. Notebooks: Moleskine (~$12) or Field Notes (~$10)

These fanatically followed high-quality notebooks are popular gifts for creatives and can be used for numerous purposes such as sketches, idea gathering, and task management. They come in a variety of formats: lined, grid/graph paper, and lined.

6. A Wacom Tablet (starts at ~$200)

The Wacom tablet, a computer input device that features a pen and a drawing surface for digital illustration, is far superior to the traditional mouse when it comes to complex designs.

7. Magic Mouse ($69)

Apple’s revolutionary new multi-touch mouse is a great present for Mac users that will satisfy their functional and aesthetical demands.

8. USB coffee heater (~$9)

Designers and developers often love caffeinated hot drinks such as coffee and tea, and what better way to keep their drink warm than a portable USB-powered liquid warmer that plugs into their computer.

9. Paper Email (~$4)

Geeks who love writing on paper can find appreciation in this "old school" notebook that’s creatively designed as an email message.

10. App Pillows ($15)

These unique pillows are modeled after the icons of popular designer/developer desktop applications such as Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Illustrator.

11. G-drive (starts at $179)

G-technology makes outstanding external hard drives that are good-looking to boot, designers and developers can always use the extra hard drive space.

12. Typophile T-shirts (starts at $15)

Let your designers express their love for fonts and typography by giving them these trendy t-shirts.

13. IronKey (starts at $79)

IronKeys are secure portable USB drives that have a metallic-like, slick surface. They’re great for people who work intimately with computers.

14. Staple Free Stapler (~$10)

These staplers require no staples, and can be cool and environmentally friendly way of attaching paper together (such as invoices, sketches, wireframes, etc.).

15. Bose QuietComfort (~$300)

These headphones are truly high-end; they’re great for tuning out background noise when working in a noisy environment, and amazing for listening to music.

Subscriptions

16. Lynda.com subscription ($375 a year)

Lynda.com is one of the best online resources available, with video lessons and how-to’s for popular web technologies and desktop applications.

17. .NET Magazine (~$113 for 13 issues)

.NET Magazine is the premier top-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Each issue comes with a CD that contains useful resources to supplement the issue’s topics.

18. Layers (~$50 for two years)

Layers is a magazine that focuses on how-to’s for the popular Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, etc.).

19. Digital Arts (~$195 a year)

Digital Arts is another top-notch magazine for digital creatives, featuring tips, inspiration, and relevant reviews. Each issue comes with a CD containing demos and freebies (stock photos, vectors, fonts, etc.) to keep your designer fully stocked with digital art resources.

20. Threadless monthly t-shirt ($200)

Threadless is a popular online retailer that sells creative and trendy t-shirts such gaming tees, which is a pastime common among designers and developers. The subscription will send your designer or developer a shirt every month for a year.

21. iStockphoto.com subscription (starts at ~$970)

iStockphoto.com is a place to get stock photos, something designers can’t get enough of. This gift is on the higher end, but will be very useful for work-related purposes.

Software

22. CSSEdit 2 (~$45)

By far one of the favorite CSS editors among designers and developers who use Apple computers, this application will give them great control over how their websites look.

23. Textmate (~$59)

Textmate is a simple clean text editor that is supported by multiple languages for Mac users. It’s handy and amazing as a source code editor, supporting languages such as HTML, CSS, and PHP.

24. Coda ($99)

Coda is a great integrated development environment for Mac users that’s intuitive to use for developing/designing websites; if your designer/developer doesn’t have it yet, this would be a wonderful present to give.

25. Things ($~50)

This Mac app will keep your designer/developer organized so they can be at the family reunion on time. It also has a gorgeously simplistic user interface.

Got more gift ideas for designers and developers? Share them in the comments!

Related Content

• 20 Useful Web Design Books Worthy of Your Collection
• 10 Useful Gadgets for Mobile Computing
• 10 Ways to Cut Down Web Development Time
• Related categories: Resources and Tools

About the Author

Shane Jeffers is a Web Developer from Virginia Beach, VA. He has a unique passion for design trends and tutorials. He runs Three Styles, a blog that brings tutorials and information to web developers and designers. Connect with him via Twitter.

Go to Source

Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on 25 Awesome Gift Ideas for Designers & Developers