Not All Clients Are Nightmare Clients Most of the time, the types of clients that I come across are upstanding, quality companies that are looking to grow and expand via my services. They want to get their name out that and stand out amongst their competitors. They...
design advice
Real Ways to Spark Creativity
Real Ways to Spark Creativity If you are in any type of creative field, it can really be difficult to keep the creative juices flowing. You sit behind a computer for hours a day, and one day seems to blend into another. The problem is that after a while, you begin to...
10 Freelancing Tips You Must Know
10 Freelancing Tips You Must Know If you've read: Things to Consider When Freelancing or Freelancing: 10 things you can do to get business you know that Getting started in the freelance design business isn't an easy task. For one thing, it doesn't happen overnight. It...
Essential Design Books You Must Have (25 Design Books For Your Library)
Essential Design Books For Any Pro Whether you are new to design or you have been around for years, you can never have enough books. There are books on design, typography, web design, coding, inspiration, color, design history, design theory, and more. With so many...
Freelancing: 10 Things You Can Do to Get Business
It can be really tough to get going as a freelance designer. If you don't have a background in business, you may not know how to get started. Freelancing has its good and bad sides, but it can be scary to take the leap. Honestly, getting into the business and being...
Why You should Choose Design as a Profession
Why You should Choose Design as a Profession I have a lot of friends that hear about my job and think "I would love to do what you do!" I love the enthusiasm, but I don't think a lot of people really know what is involved in graphic/web design, illustration, or...
My Predictions For Design and Development in 2011
I like how so many people like to say that web design and graphic design is going to do this and that. Honestly, I don't think anyone knows where the world of design, web design and web development is going to to be by the end of the year. Some people say that we need...
Where Did Sexy Go in This Armani Black Code Commercial?
Normally, when I think of Giorgio Armani, I think of mystique, sexy, romantic, masculine, etc. Most people think of these things when they think of Armani. They make amazing suits and are considered as fashion gods. Normally, they really hit the nail on the head...
Create Easy Patterns in Fireworks CS5
I really love to work with Adobe Fireworks when making graphics for the web. It is simple, intuitive, and has a few features that give you a little more control than what you find in photoshop. It is almost like Fireworks is a combination of Illustrator and Photoshop...
Things to Remember During an Interview
The economy is in a rough place right now, despite what the media says about no longer being in a recession. None of us can afford to bomb an interview, so I thought I would share some tips and things to think about when going for a big interview. 1. Be confident, not...
Things to Consider With Branding and Corporate Identity Part 1
Many companies and designers think that branding and identity begins and ends with a logo, but there is much more to branding than simply creating a pretty logo. The whole point of building an identity or brand is to build trust with a client and create a connection...
Is the design field seeing the end of its day?
I frequent a lot of design blogs, simply because I like to know what is on the mind of other designers, and also because I like to have my ear to the ground regarding our industry. One thing that I caught wind of was a discussion about designers and web designers and...
Design Book Giveaway: Comment for a chance to Win!
Contest Rules: It's simple- All you have to do is go to the Creative Beacon website and post a comment at the bottom of the giveaway announcement page to win. Post a comment about what you think is the most important aspect of branding or identity. Post your comments...
Is the New Mixer Brush in Photoshop Considered Cheating?
I was playing around with some of the new stuff inside of Photoshop CS5 and came across one of the new tools that they have included called the mixer brush. This is a great new tool that allows you to take a photo and use different settings to create a painting from...
Create a Quick Photo Gallery Using Lightroom
I really like to create my own image galleries, but let's face it, in the real world, we can't always have things how we want them. Sometimes we need to get the job done in the best possible manner, as quickly and effectively as possible. When I need a quick image...
Calling All Readers
I wanted to open the floor to fellow designers to request tutorials and how-to's. I post my own articles each day, but if any designers have any burning questions or would like to know how to do something in particular, how to approach a design, how to create a...
Typography: x-height and descenders
X-height refers to the height of a lowercase letter in a typeface or the top of the midpoint of lowercase letter such as d, p, q and so on. Some typefaces have a tall x-height, some medium, and some have a short x-height. This drastically changes the look of the text...
Web Design: Getting Started Part 2
In the first portion of this mini series, I discussed finding and choosing a domain name, as well as hosting and things to consider. Today, I am going to build on what I discussed in part 1. I realized that I had left some important information out regarding domains...
Clients are Not Our Enemies
I love to read articles about design and art and how to be a better designer. I am knowledgeable, but I always think that there is something new or new insight that I can gain. With that being said, I began to notice a trend on multiple blogs and different sources...
Web Sites: Getting Started
Breaking into the world on web design can be a daunting task, especially when starting from scratch with little or no knowledge of what you are supposed to do, and where you are supposed start. When you want to start your own web site, it is difficult to figure out...