12.30.2010

Coroflot on Portfolio Reviews

A portfolio doesn't speak for itself, by Jim Best of Pensa

Competition for getting a new job is getting tougher every day. As a prospective employer, I've found that it's easy to weed out design candidates who don't show a grasp of basic skills, but frustrating and difficult to tell the difference between an incapable candidate, and one who just isn't communicating well. This is where good talent gets passed over. There's not much time in an interview situation for everyone to really get to know each other and imagine the possibilities of working together; because time is tight, you need to be organized and communicate clearly.


Assessing creative freelancers, by Terra Dehnert of Aquent

When my clients approach me looking for creative freelancers, they tend to come at the last minute for unique and highly skilled individuals -- of which 5 exist in the universe. Today one of my top retail clients praised the work of a designer I sent out for a 4-hour project. Another needs a proofreader and a production artist to put the final touches on their annual report, one of the most highly visible projects they produce each year. Obviously, I can't send creative talent to these clients that would make even an inkling of a mistake. Luckily for me the company I work for has developed hands-on assessments that make sure our talent head out the door, armed with skills to impress… and usually a pretty stylish outfit to boot.

11.03.2010

5 Reasons to Hone Your Verbal and Written Skills

Measuring Up: 5 Reasons to Hone Your Verbal and Written Skills — AIGA | the professional association for design
How do you rate in the workplace? What are best practices? What skills do designers need in order to excel at and accelerate in their careers? AIGA and Roz Goldfarb Associates surveyed a small, but geographically diverse group of hiring managers to learn about the skills they seek in creative talent beyond visual communication abilities. This is the first in a series of articles sharing their insights and constructive comments for designers, to offer a window onto the hopes (and frustrations) of your potential employers. We hope this information will be useful, so please share your thoughts and questions, too.

10.12.2010

An Introduction to Graphic Design

An Introduction to Graphic Design: Observatory: Design Observer
Broadly defined, graphic designers (sometimes referred to as “communication designers”) are the visual ambassadors of ideas: their role is to translate, communicate — and occasionally even agitate — by rendering thinking as form, process and
experience. *

10.09.2010

Vecteezy

Free Vector Art - Download Free Vector Art Graphics at Vecteezy!
Vecteezy is a community of vector art! We provide a place for vector artists to create and exchange a variety of free vector graphics like Vector Icons, Vector Patterns, Vector Swirls, Flourishes and other cool stuff to enchance your designs and creativity.

10.08.2010

The Now Habit

The Now Habit: Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play
I've read The Now Habit multiple times, I've given copies away to college freshman I'm teaching (every year I watch them struggle with procrastination and time management), and I've praised the book to anyone who confided in their struggles with procrastination and a sense of despair in the overwhelming nature of their work. If you've read books about procrastination and put them down in frustration after they turned out to be a rehash of the old 'just focus and work harder!' shtick, Neil Fiore's The Now Habit is a refreshing look at the habits and thinking that drive procrastination and what you can do to change the way you work and play.

8.26.2010

The End of Forgetting

The Web Means the End of Forgetting - NYTimes.com

According to a recent survey by Microsoft, 75 percent of U.S. recruiters and human-resource professionals report that their companies require them to do online research about candidates, and many use a range of sites when scrutinizing applicants — including search engines, social-networking sites, photo- and video-sharing sites, personal Web sites and blogs, Twitter and online-gaming sites. Seventy percent of U.S. recruiters report that they have rejected candidates because of information found online, like photos and discussion-board conversations and membership in controversial groups.

8.23.2010

Why Are College Students Studying Less?

A good read for the beginning of a new semester:

Why Are College Students Studying Less? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

Classes begin this week at many college campuses around the country. A recent report by two economists at the University of California found that over the past four decades the time college students spend in class and studying has decreased substantially, from 40 hours a week in 1961 to 27 hours a week in 2003. At the same time, a report released in July by the Delta Cost Project found college spending on instruction declining while spending on recreation and student services rose.

What are students doing with their time? Are hours that might be spent in library carrels being diverted to educational extracurricular activities? Or are students simply enjoying more leisure because colleges demand less of them?

8.19.2010

Danish Design School Exhibition Images

Graduation Exhibition 2010 - a set on Flickr

The Danish Design School and friends celebrate and showcase the work of 75 designers on their way into the world.

August 19 - 31th
Carlsberg, Pasteursvej 4, 6. sal, 1778 Copenhagen V.
Opening Hours: 11am – 6pm. Weekends: 11am – 5pm.

The 2010 Graduation Show presents the latest prognoses for Danish design by 75 graduate students. With a very high graduation grade average this year’s graduates demonstrate that modern material skills, a strong theoretical basis and a playful conceptual awareness can make a difference.

From service design, redesign of stucco and campaigns for the Red Cross to fashion, new types of housing, pocket parks and user-friendly medicine packaging
From LED-driven glass objects, storytelling for TV, video and the web - to digital services, business models, patient hotels and service design that teach young people how to become experts on the Danish tax system. Meet crazy illustrations, new interaction design or industrial design with a playful, public approach to health issues. All examples of design that addresses essential questions which affect our daily life in 2010.

8.18.2010

History of graphic Design Resource

Design Is History

As a designer it is important to understand where design came from, how it developed, and who shaped its evolution. The more exposure you have to past, current and future design trends, styles and designers, the larger your problem-solving toolkit. The larger your toolkit, the more effective of a designer you can be.

Part of the graduate thesis of designer Dominic Flask, this site was created as a teaching tool for young designers just beginning to explore graphic design and as a reference tool for all designers. It is supposed to provide brief overviews of a wide range of topics rather than an in-depth study of only a few. It is a constantly evolving, changing, expanding reference library.

A Blog on Ethics in Graphic Design

Ethics in Graphic Design

Eileen MacAvery Kane created this blog as part of her MFA thesis in graphic design at Savannah College of Art and Design as a forum for the exploration of ethical issues in graphic design, to provide resources for further investigation, and to create an open dialogue among graphic designers about these critical issues.

Ethics: A Graphic Designer’s Field Guide, was created to serve as a handbook and reference for the topics. More information is posted on the guide page. Both the blog and handbook were created for her MFA thesis entitled “Ethics in Graphic Design: A Call to Arms for an Undergraduate Course.”

8.13.2010

Comp It Up: A Studio Skills Foundation

As a professor of interactive and graphic design, many books cross my desk each semester. Every now & then there is one or two I get excited about. This is one of those books. If you are one of my students - this is a must read - order it now. :)

Amazon.com: Comp It Up: A Studio Skills Foundation (9781428322356): Rose Gonnella, Christopher J. Navetta: Books

Comp It Up: A Studio Skills Foundation is a one of kind practical and functional guide for students learning to produce professional-level comprehensive mockups and portfolio presentations in graphic design. This text not only covers a wide range of materials and techniques needed to produce these mockups, but it also promotes creative inspiration with hundreds of images and examples. Readers will also find dozens of step by step visuals to help them in learning how to work out more difficult techniques. Exploring both traditional print and new media applications, Comp It Up is adaptable to a variety of graphic design and advertising design applications. Using this text, students will not only learn the skills they need to build comprehensive mockups, but they will also gain the knowledge and confidence needed to present them professionally.

6.25.2010

Another Color Palette Tool

0to255

0to255 is a simple tool that helps web designers find variations of any color. Perfect for hovers, borders, gradients, and more.

6.17.2010

IDD Professor & Alumn Design Blog

Courtney Phillips has some great posts, go take a read:

All finals have been handed in and students have high-tailed it home for summer. Some are fortunate enough to have landed a summer job or internship to work on their skills and maybe even earn a little money, but others are left to wonder…what in the world do I do with the next 3.5 months? It’s a frustrating economy and time to be a design student, so here are some of my tips for using your summer wisely (looking for work and a backup)...


http://thecreativblog.wordpress.com/

5.19.2010

Logotype/Wordmark

Logotype/Wordmark Logos: 30 Creative Examples
Logotypes (or wordmarks) are logos that use typography to represent companies, organizations and products. Logo designers show their talent and creative skills by crafting a logotype that’s memorable, clever, and symbolic of the company they’re representing. To follow up on our logo design tutorial that presented a process developing a logotype from start to finish, here’s a showcase of logotypes (wordmarks) for visual inspiration.

Portfolio Inspiration

Beautiful Personal Web Portfolios: A Showcase
Placing your portfolio on the Web gives you an additional venue to feature your work and gain more clients. In addition, in this day and age, clients expect you to have some form of web presence. For your inspiration, here is a visual showcase of some eye-catching web portfolios of creatives in various industries. This showcase follows up on Matthew Heidenreich’s tutorial on creating a portfolio web layout in Photoshop.

Package Design Resource

TheDieline.com: Package Design

Established in 2007 by Andrew Gibbs, The Dieline is dedicated to the progress of the package design industry and its practitioners, students and enthusiasts. Its purpose is to define and promote the world’s best examples of packaging, and provide a place where the package design community can review, critique and stay informed of the latest industry trends and design projects being created in the field.

5.13.2010

Retro and Vintage Photoshop Tutorials

50 Beautiful Retro and Vintage Photoshop Tutorials

Retro and vintage designs are valued for nostalgia and sentimental memories. You can notice that retro and vintage design is created by using rich colors, grunge elements and various textures. In this collection, you’ll find 50 retro and vintage related Photoshop tutorials. These tutorials are useful and unique, so you will learn some new techniques that you can use in your next projects.

5.11.2010

design mind by frog design

Work – Life - Issue 12 | design mind

About design mind

Published by global innovation firm frog design, design mind is a media platform that includes a print magazine, a website, videos, and events.

Written by frog designers, technologists, and strategists, design mind articles provide the design and innovation community with perspectives on industry trends, emerging technologies, and global consumer culture. design mind also features interviews with high-profile thought leaders, along with contributions from external writers, designers, and photographers.

The design mind Web site is regularly updated with fresh video, blog, and event content.

The print issue of design mind is published three times per year.

5.07.2010

Drop Cap Inspiration

Daily Drop Cap
The Daily Drop Cap is an ongoing project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Each day (or at least each WORK day), a new hand-crafted decorative initial cap will be posted for your enjoyment and for the beautification of blog posts everywhere. To use a Daily Drop Cap on your site or blog, follow the instructions in each post and read about the usage limitations. Daily Drop Caps should be used in blog posts only and not for personal logos or branding. Daily Drop Caps cannot be used in any printed materials or stationery. Enjoy!

5.06.2010

idsgn (a design blog)

idsgn

idsgn is a new blog about the things we see and enjoy (or sometimes hate) as designers.

We like to talk about graphic design, branding, typography, and sometimes we might post a video or two. Grab our RSS feed and follow us on Twitter where we post the extra bits that don't make it here.

Type Blog

Type for you.

Typeforyou is a blog on typography.

4.30.2010

let's all find awesome jobs

kevin fanning: store: let's all find awesome jobs
Unlike my other books, Let’s All Find Awesome Jobs is not fiction. It’s also not magic, or lifehacks. It’s a concise, practical, and hopefully entertaining guide to the incredibly frustrating world of job searches.

It’s for people just entering the working world for the first time, people who have jobs but want to find better jobs, and for all of us who still don’t know what we want to be when we grow up.

We deserve awesome jobs.

3.20.2010

Online Drawing Tool

flame | peter blaskovic | escape motions

Flame is a painting program, it belongs to my 'I am Artist' experimental project. I think with tools which inspires you, everyone can be an artist. You can try it here, change different brush settings and paint your own flame paintings. When you change background from black to white, palette changes from additive to subtractive and the feeling of the painting is very different. It's not easy to explain all brush parameters, so I leave this for your experimentation.

3.13.2010

RateMyProfessors

Funny and enlightening article about the site.

The Medium - RateMyProfessors.com. - NYTimes.com

AT ANY RATE
RateMy Professors.com, which started in 1999, is a lovable relic of Web 1.0. With more than 10 million quirky, untrustworthy reviews, it’s going strong. Read it like a novel, watch it like MTV, study it like sociology. Just don’t base any real decisions on it.

3.11.2010

Graphic Design Internship Info Links

These are packed with useful info to help you in the process of finding a great internship. Read thoroughly & make notes. :)

A guide to internships — AIGA | the professional association for design

How to Land a Great Internship for Graphic Design

Welcome to Graphic Design Internship

Graphic design intern jobs | Simply Hired

Film and TV Title Competition at SXSW!

South by Southwest to Honor Film and TV Title Sequences - NYTimes.com
Next week in Austin, Tex., the South by Southwest festival will honor the winners of a film and television titles competition, a rare move to recognize those miniature stories and graphics displays that surround the opening credits before the real story unfolds.

3.09.2010

More AIGA advice for design students

<em>Transitions</em> e-newsletter — AIGA | the professional association for design
Welcome to Transitions, an e-newsletter created for AIGA student members to help in their education and eventual transition to the workplace as a professional designer. Although not currently published, It includes straightforward articles on subjects of interest to students; provides personal reading lists about the transition from the perspective of famous designers; and offers references to other materials on our website you may find useful.


Hasn’t been published in quite a while, but still some very good information.

Transitioning From Design Student to Designer

After School Special: Advice for Emerging Designers — AIGA | the professional association for design

Great advice for graduating students from the AIGA. Be sure to read the comments!

3.06.2010

Great design from designers.

Supermarket - Great design. Straight from designers.

Similar to Etsy only a little more designy.

Design Research Resource

AIGA Design Archives
The archives of AIGA serve to identify, preserve and make available records of enduring value. AIGA’s aim is to make conditions suitable for access and to support research that will add to the literature of design and to safeguard its legacy.

3.03.2010

2010 Interactive Annual

Communication Arts - 2010 Interactive Annual

Interactive Annual 16 Winners

This year’s winners were selected, by our distinguished jury, from a group of entries including Web sites, Kiosks, CD-ROM projects and mobile devices. The 39 winning projects are showcased below, and in further detail in the March/April 2010 issue of Communication Arts magazine.

2.25.2010

Evolution of Type Taste

My Evolution of Type Taste from Grade School to Present
A catalog of my evolving typography likes through time. I didn’t include all of the crappy display fonts I liked in college because it’s just way too embarrassing.

2.11.2010

myPANTONE

myPANTONE for iPhone and iPod Touch

Who says you can’t take it with you? Not Pantone. Now with the myPANTONE for iPhone and iPod Touch app you have access to a variety of PANTONE® color libraries and the ability to build color palettes and share them with colleagues and clients. myPANTONE offers graphic, web, fashion and apparel designers a way to take PANTONE colors with you wherever you go. Can’t remember what a color looks like, now you can have Portable Color Memory™.

1.29.2010

Develop Your Language Skills

Develop Your Greatest Skill – Language - Stepcase Lifehack

Powerful Writing

8 Qualities of Powerful Writing - Stepcase Lifehack

Creative Inspiration

YouTube - Ira Glass on Storytelling

This American Life's Ira Glass on taste, ability and creative development: "Most everybody I know who does interesting creative work went through a phase of years where they had really good taste but they could tell what they were making wasn't as good as they wanted it to be." This is just wonderful: watch it.
via Design Observer

Graphic Design History

Lester Beall | American Graphic Design Pioneer

Multi-touch Interaction Design

LukeW | New Multi-touch Interactions on the Apple iPad
During Apple's 90 minute unveiling of the iPad this week, a lot of new multi-touch interactions were shown off. But they went by fast. So as a service to digital product designers everywhere, we took the time to extract 8 minutes of new user interface demos from the iPad keynote. Now you can quickly just catch the UI in action on Apple's new native iPad and iWork applications.

1.26.2010

INSPIRE

INSPIRE - A publication from the Adobe Experience Design team

Great resource on design innovation & best practices.

1.25.2010

Feltron 2009 Annual Report

Nicholas Felton | Feltron.com

"Each day in 2009, I asked every person with whom I had a meaningful encounter to submit a record of this meeting through an online survey. These reports form the heart of the 2009 Annual Report. From parents to old friends, to people I met for the first time, to my dentist… any time I felt that someone had discerned enough of my personality and activities, they were given a card with a URL and unique number to record their experience."

1.07.2010

Opposing Viewpoints on Designers & Code

ignore the code: Designers are not Programmers
"There seems to be a growing sentiment that interaction designers, visual designers and UI designers need to know how to write code...
I disagree with this notion. In fact, I believe that being able to program can be a negative attribute for people who are responsible for designing the user experience. Designers who know how things are implemented or, even worse, who have to implement their own designs are in danger of impeding the quality of their designs. They are tempted to take code into account when they should be concentrating on the best possible user experience."


Designers Who Are Technical: The More You Know, The Better Your Work — Flyosity: Mac & iPhone Interface Design
"A user experience designer designs the user experience, obviously... but is it really that obvious? What's the user experiencing when we say 'the user experience'? On the web, there are many things that contribute to the user's overall experience using the website or application:

* Look & feel of the application
* Ability of the user to accomplish the tasks they set out to accomplish
* The overall perceived speed of the website or web application
* Expectations being met. If a user thinks X will happen and it doesn't, there's a gulf of execution"

1.05.2010

Communication Arts - 2009 Advertising Annual

Communication Arts - 2009 Advertising Annual
The past year was a difficult one for advertising. Despite the challenging climate, we were pleased to still see some creative risk-taking in the entries submitted.

“Not surprisingly, the most innovative work is in the online and integrated categories,” said juror Paul Little. “People are inventing what's new and that’s exciting. It doesn’t always work but at least they're trying.”

“I'm always amazed at how talented people can reinvent even the most well-worn categories,” said juror Helene Cote. “It was great to see much more integrated, conceptual thinking that went beyond traditional media.”"