It’s essential for designers to stay on top of the ever-growing list of galleries, apps, and tools that can be found. But at this point, there are so many great design resources on hand that sometimes it can be overwhelming to attempt a survey of them. So instead, let’s focus in on the ones that you’ll really find yourself returning to, day after day. For inspiration, we’ve rounded up three resources with completely different scopes and subjects; in combination, they might be all you need to get yourself going on your next project. For tools, we’ve made selections that reach out to all the different design disciplines; whether you work primarily in print or web, alone or in a group, you’ll find a great timesaver or two.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
9 Clues That Your New Freelancing Gig May Actually Be a Scam
When I began freelancing, one of the things I was most afraid of was failing victim to a work-from-home scam. As a result, I was super cautious. I checked and double-checked every potential client carefully. If something didn’t seem right, I didn’t pursue it.
I don’t think that was a mistake.
Even though freelancing is much more commonplace that it was ten years ago, the scammers are still out there. Freelancers still need to be careful.
In this post, I’ll share some clues that what seems to be a legitimate freelancing gig may actually be a scam. I’ll also share some tips and resources to help you avoid scams in the future.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
9 vital tools for shoestring startups
For many startup businesses out there, the idea of funding or angel investment is a mere pipe dream. ‘Bootstrapping’ is a much more realistic way for many new businesses to build their online presence and customer base – but that doesn’t mean that everything has to be a struggle.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Can A Corporate Giant Help Your Startup Succeed?
Many startups are dedicated to disrupting the businesses of established enterprises by leveraging innovative ideas, processes and strategies. Big businesses, in turn, either ignore pesky startups or consider them possible competitors to be squashed - or, best case, acquired - as quickly and efficiently as possible.
But with competition keener than ever, those insular views are changing. A few far-sighted big businesses are starting to reach out to startups to fund, partner, mentor, exchange ideas and share expertise in areas such as marketing and brand awareness — especially in the field of technology. And that offers new opportunities for savvy startups willing to be frenemies with giant enterprises. These three companies - Mondelēz International, Volkswagen and SAP - are helping lead the way.
Monday, November 19, 2012
10 workflow apps to enhance your productivity
You know, sometimes a task manager isn’t enough. Sometimes you need something that keeps you work flowing beyond the to-do list. There are several apps that can do just that, and I call them “workflow apps” as they may not be the backbone of a trusted system, but they sure can support the workflow that helps you keep that trusted system intact.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sandy relief: How you can help now
To find a Red Cross shelter, people can download the Red Cross Hurricane app, visit the Red Cross web site , call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767.)”
People can also register on the Red Cross Safe and Well website, a secure and easy-to-use online tool that helps families connect during emergencies. To register, visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767). This site also connects with the Twitter and Facebook accounts of users.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Master Illustrator CS6 With These 40+ Excellent Tutorials
I have been scouring the web in search of the latest Adobe Illustrator CS6 tutorials for you to try out. I am confident that these 40+ excellent Illustrator Tutorials will guide you in creating some of the most amazing Illustrations for your next project. In this post, you’ll find everything from Creating a PlayStation Controller in Illustrator to Designing a Brightly Colored Progress Bar Using Transparency Settings and the Appearance Panel. So what are you waiting for…why not try one out?
Friday, September 21, 2012
Beat College Debt
You don't have to be swallowed up by the B.A. debt maelstrom. Plan ahead. Educate yourself frugally. Here are 12 steps to education solvency.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Grow Your Design Business: A How-to Guide
Figuring out how to grow your design business should be your main focus. You have the talent, and you have the expertise, but where is the steady flow of clients that you are looking for? One of the hardest things for designers to do when freelancing or starting their own business is promoting themselves properly.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Freelance Advice I Would Give My Younger Self Pt. 1
Experience can be a harsh teacher. Through my experiences as a freelancer and business owner, I have learned many lessons that I now consider priceless – lessons that I unfortunately learned the hard way. While I believe that experiencing challenges for yourself is an essential element to success, I hope that you will learn from my mistakes instead of making them yourself.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Freelance Advice I Would Give My Younger Self Pt. 1
Experience can be a harsh teacher. Through my experiences as a freelancer and business owner, I have learned many lessons that I now consider priceless – lessons that I unfortunately learned the hard way. While I believe that experiencing challenges for yourself is an essential element to success, I hope that you will learn from my mistakes instead of making them yourself.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
7 Tips to Become an Online Entrepreneur
Each one of us, at some point in our life, plan to start our own business and become our own boss. We all have hundreds of ideas in our mind through which we think we can become a successful businessman. If you have an idea that you think might help in achieving your dreams, there are ways execute it, thanks to the internet. Internet itself is a huge industry now and anyone with a good idea related to Start a Business thinks about setting up his own business over the internet and enjoy the cash flow. Over the past 10 years, internet has grown a lot and with its growth, we have seen a lot of successful online businesses emerging.
Friday, August 31, 2012
10 Ways To Get More Facebook Fans
If you build a Facebook Page, will fans come? This is the great hope for many businesses. However, fans do not magically appear from the Facebook mist. People must be lured to your page. And there are some good and bad ways to go about doing this. In this article, we’ll share 10 ways to drive more fans to your Facebook page.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
10 Hot Apps for Graphic Design
Few industries enjoy as much innovation as graphic design. Perhaps that’s because graphic designers have been driving technological advancements for the past 15 years. Here are some of the best apps to make you the best the biz.
How to Design for the Retina Display
Apple is known for being a top of the line computer company. To no one’s surprise, they have decided to integrate a new display into their devices that is double the resolution of a normal screen. Images are sharper, crisper, and show more detail. The only problem is, this adds yet another problem for designers and developers. So, what is the problem? When we look at our crisp graphics on a normal screen, they look fine, but on the Retina Display, they appear to be blurry.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Homework Questions? Ask a Tutor on InstaEDU
The pool of tutors available to teach high school and college-aged students just became a whole lot more accessible.
Online tutoring site InstaEDU, which launched in public beta in May, announced new features to its site on Tuesday. Now students can schedule tutoring sessions in advance, including SAT prep courses.
Previously, InstaEDU was kind of like a reliable Google search for homework questions. Macroeconomics class giving you a tough time? InstaEDU would connect you to a tutor in real-time who is skilled in this subject. Tutors for one-shot sessions are available any time of day for 50 cents per minute ($30 an hour).
Now, InstaEDU lets students develop stronger and longer-lasting relationships with their favorite tutors by booking ongoing sessions. InstaEDU’s private tutoring can cost as little as $22 an hour for returning customers.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
4 Hardest Decisions in Typography
Typography is defined as the art of arranging or composing text in a pleasing manner. Every font style and color gives different psychological effect to the viewer. This is the reason why it is really hard to make right choices in typography. Every part of a web design depends on its visual and so does typography. The organization, color scheme and placement of a font decide the next step of your website’s visitor. So it can be said that typography itself is really hard to perform in web design.
Friday, August 17, 2012
6 infographics to help you better understand WordPress
Like most web designers, I didn’t go through school education to learn how to use WordPress. The process of learning went through reading books, trying tutorials, studying great designers themes, and finally checking some images, charts and infographics that visually gave me a better understanding of WordPress. Following are some infographics that will give you a better understanding of WordPress.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
5 Phobias that are killing your small business (and how to overcome them)
It’s the most common reason many would-be entrepreneurs never venture outside their comfy cubicles.
It’s what keeps many small businesses from reaching their potential.
And it could be killing your small business.
What is it?
Fear.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Illustrator CS6 Tutorials: 30+ Superb Tips & Tricks
It has been three months since my last post on Illustrator tutorials titled: 30 Very Useful Illustrator CS5 Tutorials. Since then I have been scouring the web in search of fresh new Adobe Illustrator CS6 tutorials for you to try out. I am confident that these 30+ excellent Illustrator Tutorials will guide you in creating some of the most amazing Illustrations for your next project. Now the hard part will be deciding which one of these amazing tutorials you will use in your next creation. Hope you enjoy!