February 6th, 2010 | Design, Resources | No Comments »
This is the Designer Toolbox series where I’ll share tools that I find useful as a designer. You can view the previous Designer Toolbox post about Color.
Design is a true community. We all use each other for inspiration and help each other out via collaboration, critique, and support. Sometimes, especially freelancers, don’t really have the opportunity to share process work with fellow designers. I wanted to share some venues that I find useful in receiving feedback. Of course, you may not want to share freelance projects, but it is great for personal projects.
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February 5th, 2010 | Design, Minneapolis | No Comments »
I put together a list of young Minneapolis Designers who I went to school with at the University of Minnesota. If you’d like to be added to the list, let me know. And if I forgot you, I’m really sorry I just couldn’t find your web site!
All these designers are really awesome. So take some time and check out their sites and blogs.
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February 5th, 2010 | Design Every Day | No Comments »
January came to a close with more designing.
Day 24 – Monkey Illustration
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February 3rd, 2010 | Color, Design, Resources | 1 Comment »
I’m starting a series called Designer Toolbox featuring various tools that I use frequently, as a designer. All the tools are web based and may include organization tools, resources, downloads, tutorials, etc. Today, I want to share the color tools I use quite often.
Adobe Kuler
When I am creating color schemes, I enjoy using Adobe Kuler. A Flash web tool, Kuler allows users to create color schemes utilizing color properties such as monochromatic, triad, complementary, etc. Users can save, share, and download their color schemes for use in Adobe Creative Suite programs.
A very neat feature is the ability to choose colors from an image. The user can upload an image or choose one from Flickr, and Kuler automatically retrieves an editable color scheme.
The themes community is a nice way to share color schemes or find inspiration. Users can download or save other color schemes, share and tag their own, or discuss the color schemes.
Use Adobe Kuler
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January 31st, 2010 | Design, Opinion | No Comments »
I’m attempting to do something…tasty. There are different types of graphic designers. There are different types of pizza. So…is it possible to compare designer types with pizza types? Yes, here we go. Agree or disagree with me in the comments.
stock.xchng Photo by katagaci
Cheese – Typographer
A cheese pizza is deceptive. It looks plain. It appears boring. Yet, it tastes good. A cheese pizza is essentially the base of most pizzas.
A typographer is much like a cheese pizza. The idea of typography, to many, is boring. But when you look deep into the stems, serifs, counters, kerning, etc., typography becomes interesting. It is also the base or essential part of many designs.
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January 30th, 2010 | Design, Resources, Wallpaper | No Comments »
Every month, I make a desktop wallpaper to experiment with both Photoshop techniques and calendar layouts. This month I turn the usual vertical grid horizontal.
Download Feb 2010 Wallpaper
January 30th, 2010 | Apple, Opinion | 3 Comments »
The tech world was overwhelmed recently with all the discussion about Apple’s iPad. I’ve heard the whole spectrum of comments from “I want one now!” to “It sucks, just a larger iPhone.”
But I truly believe, besides my Apple fanboy status, that the iPad is a smart decision by Apple to benefit both the MacBook/MacBook Pro and the iPhone/iPod Touch. I, honestly, do not believe Apple cares about the success of the iPad. They are taking this opportunity to research and see how people react and use the technologies and features existing in the iPad. From that research, Apple will (in my opinion) apply the data to their most precious products.
I’m going to run down some of the features of the iPad and how it will benefit both the MacBook and iPhone.
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January 29th, 2010 | Design, Resources | No Comments »
I’ve compiled a list of some of the best design blogs and resources that I read on a regular basis. I’ve also included RSS feed links and Twitter links for easy access to all of the content.
You can follow all of these blogs on a Twitter list I created.
You can also download an OPML file to subscribe to all the RSS feeds. Right click on the link and choose “Save as…”
Of course, here is the master list:
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January 27th, 2010 | Design Every Day | 1 Comment »
The results are in from last week’s designs. As you know, I’m designing something every day for 2010. Here they are:
Day 017 – Quirky Header Graphic
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January 27th, 2010 | Design | 4 Comments »
There has been a lot of discussion lately about spec work; which seems to come in waves for some odd reason. My opinion on spec work has changed from when I was a wee little student to now, an emerging professional designer.
For those out of the loop, I want to define spec work. I’ll also tackle the pros/cons and my position. I also have a list of resources for and against spec work at the bottom of the post and feel free to share your opinion and resources in the comments.
Essentially, spec work is a project(s) that a designer creates in anticipation of being compensated but not guaranteed. A common example is a logo contest. A “client” posts a project via an outlet needing a logo. The client will award $400 to the best logo from a pool of participating “designers.”
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