CSS3 - Oh Yeah
Posted by derekbender | Filed under Technology
Yes, I know. I’m a little behind the times with this post, but I cannot contain my excitement any longer. Web design is great and all but sometimes it just sucks when I design something that never looks the same after it’s built into an actual, working web page. Drop shadows, rounded corners and more just plain suck to execute in code, as my co-workers at NFi found out when my first design was ready for the assembly line. Ridiculousness is a vast understatement.
The Best Illustrator Shortcuts and Time Saving Tricks
Posted by derekbender | Filed under Design, General
Adobe Illustrator is an amazing program. It is my program of choice for logos, graphics, websites and more but carrying out common tasks again and again can become tedious and time consuming. To be efficient in Illustrator, or any program for that matter, it helps to know a few shortcuts and tricks. Did you know that the leading and tracking of text can be adjusted by a quick press of the Alt key? No? Well in that case, I’ve compiled a printable PDF guide, just for you, with the most useful keyboard shortcuts and tricks. With a few quick key presses you’ll be amazed at how much time and effort you can save.
How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul - A Book
Posted by derekbender | Filed under Design, General
I started reading How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy. Its basically a ”How To“ for fledgling and intermediate designers. It covers a wide range of topics - interpretation of a brief, idea generation, winning new work, dealing with clients and freelancing among others. It even runs down what it takes to start and run your own studio. And contains more than a few interviews with industry pros.
Freelancers Unite Survey at FreelanceSwitch
Posted by derekbender | Filed under General
One of the best resources for freelancers can be found over at Freelance Switch. They provide some of the best advice and a resources for all varieties of freelancers including designers, writers, illustrators, and photographers. They are looking to gather information by releasing a short survey aimed at their audience - the freelancers. So if you freelance, head over to FreelanceSwitch and fill it out. It takes 5 minutes; 10 if you switch between tabs every 35 seconds like me.
Creative Binge - Social Networking for Creatives
Posted by derekbender | Filed under Design, Trends
Creative Binge is a new site that I came upon one day while browsing an article on Smashing Magazine. I was immediately impressed within the first second I clicked on the link. Binge is a social networking site for the creative community. Users are encouraged to upload their portfolios and provide brief summaries about themselves just like every other social networking site out there. So what sets Creative Binge apart from the rest. Read the rest of this entry »
Design & Success - A Beginner’s Guide
Posted by derekbender | Filed under Design
In today’s design industry it takes a lot more than talent to succeed. Since going pro I have learned a few things through my observations and experiences. This guide is written to help the recent grads and those new to the wide world of design. Be it print, web or motion, it doesn’t matter, these tips will help you to keep afloat and eventually prosper in the design world.
Pixelmator - More Awesomeness for the Mac
Posted by derekbender | Filed under Design, News, Technology
I was surfing the interweb a couple days ago and came upon a curious site. Pixelmator.com is pushing a new product dropping soon, called, you guessed it, Pixelmator. First off, the website is amazing, a great piece of work….besides the table layout.
The Guide to Branding OR Why I Won’t Design Your Logo for $50
Posted by derekbender | Filed under Design
As a freelancer and occasional traveler of the freelance design listings, I constantly read of people needing logos for their startup business, band t-shirts or a myriad of other reasons, all well deserving of a logo to represent them. I love to do logos and branding work so I’m usually excited to hear about this kind of work, that is until the end of the post where the budget is usually listed.
The Best Web Resources for Web and Graphic Designers
Posted by derekbender | Filed under Design, General
Throughout my travels on the interweb I’ve stumbled upon quite a few gems that have become the basis of my favorites with their amazing resources and sources of inspiration, not to mention they are some of the sites I visit most. These are the best of the best. Some of these sites you may have heard of and others maybe not. Anyway, here is the list for the designers must have web resources.
Hello World!
Posted by | Filed under General
Well as you can see, I finally got around to getting my blog up and running. Not exactly as I had planned as I would have liked to have my own homemade theme, but I can’t complain. Thanks to Phu for turning out such a cool theme for me to play with before I can get my own theme up.
Hopefully I’ll be able to cover a wide range of topics here. Design, web and typography are a few that I hope to delve into. I’m also hoping to write the odd tutorial every so often.
Cheers.
Already put on my desktop! Keep...