Filter Foundry - Gabbey Sloan-Walters-Parsons

PAD by: Gabbey Sloan-Walters-Parsons

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Gabbey Sloan-Walters-Parsons

Portfolio

Do You See What I Can See?
Through Lens Eyes
The Mirror Breaks

Profile Overview

I've been through the gamut, of galleries, studios, freelance vs. working for others. I taught accounting at the University of Oklahoma, in addition to teaching art, almost continuously throughout every other outside work I was doing at the time.

Trained by business education and experience, I am also, by talent and training, a natural artist, writer, and designer. I am and always will be an artist, and a teacher. I started teaching art classes when my babies were small, and ended as a professor at the University level. I have worked and accomplished in every medium possible in fine arts, sculpting, drawing, painting, book binding, leatherwork, engraving, and more.

Specialties
Design, Artwork of all kinds, graphic design, jewelry design.
At the opposite side of the scale, I'm also proficient in things such as financing,government setbacks,international trade, and international communication. My education includes a PhD in International Communications.
Art Collections (French, Russian), Literature

Applications: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Lightroom, Final Cut Pro
Creative Fields: Digital Art, Fine Arts, Sculpture, Photography, Video Production

City: Flower Mound	Personal Site: http://www.anightowlsarts.com
Location: USA	Work URL: http://www.thrulenseyes.zenfolio.com
Experience: 33 years, 9 months	Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/art.by.anightowl
Employer: Owner/Business	Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/glnart
Title: Chairman	LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=25894684&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
Status: Freelancing / Busy	Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/deviantartistabbey?feature=mhee

Personal Introduction

Hello,

I''ve done some of my introducing in the short bio above, but this gives me the opportunity to tell you more about me as a person, rather than a group of statistics. I've been an artist for as long as I can remember. Not just a visual artist, but also music, poetry, written are, and almost every kind of art you can imagine. My very earliest memories are of an art teacher who was also my kindergarten teacher (I was barely 5 years old). Mrs. Beaver taught me things about drawing, and light that I use to this day.

I'm also a learner, and a teacher and have always done both. Although, I have achieved the highest level of education that I need, I always want to be in some kind of a class learning something new. One of the hallmarks of my career, is that once I have mastered a skill, I tend to tire of it, and move on to the next, I can attribute this only to my desire to "learn and remember" all that I learn, and then to pass it on to others with the same drive to succeed.

I'm a mother, a grandmother, a wife, a daughter, and a friend to my friends. Of the entire list, I do believe that you can also be friends with your children, grandchildren, and parents. It is of utmost importance to me that I be, not a casual friend, but a true friend, who will be there when everyone else has gone home. Those are the qualities I seek in others, and the qualities I aspire to find in myself.

" .....I’m just an artist, a changeling,
An intellect by night
Writing poetry and painting
Fanning my own creative light.

I’m a collector and creator
Of the colors that I see
Ever striving to improve on
Works that now – are me.

I’m a rebel, always pushing
At the bonds that surround my life
Flying off to far off lands
To relieve my inner strife.

I’m a mother and a lover
I’m a tenderhearted soul
Walking gently on my pathway
Listening to my rock n roll."

Excerpt from poetry written by me (c)g.abbey 2010

Anightowl

Design Fields

My chosen design field varies with the time period in which I am working. At this time, I am working mainly in the various versions of Photoshop, stretching it to see what can be accomplished with Digital Art Work. I am including real life objects, then changing them into almost total digital works, with the original object as the basis of the series. For example, the series "Broken Mirrors" is a series of works that are all made from a series of photos taken of a real broken mirror. The final works in no way resemble either mirrors, or glass, much less broken mirrors, but the basis of all is that broken mirror. This kind of artwork is intriguing to me, and has been to others. Enjoy them, as the venue will change soon.

Favorite Applications

My favorite applications are pretty well set by now, although I am very open to learning new program.s For the purpose of this bio, here is a list of my favorite applications, in no particular order:
1. Adobe Master Suite - taking into account ALL of the modules
a. No discussion about Adobe is complete without taking into account the hundreds on plug ins available. My favorites are onOne Software and Topaz Suite.
2. Apple's Final Cut Pro
3. Microsoft's Office is just a little bit less useful than Apple's Pages program, and I do use it, but I only use it to be compatible with other users. My preference is, by far, Apples' Suite: Keynote, Pages, and Numbers.
4. I thorough enjoy and use regularly a small application called "Evernote".
5. Apple's Basic Line of Installed Apps, including iTunes, Quicktime, and the iCloud.
6. I love the ConnectNow Program sold by Adobe.
7. I'm having a little debate in my mind, whether I love Aperature more than Lightroom. At this point, I'm using both.

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We’re Giving Away 3 Personal Copies of the Impressionist UI Pack and $100 in Print Credits from UPrinting!

<a href="http://designmodo.com/">DesignModo</a> has invited us to host this giveaway for them, and since this is a great resource for us designers we just had to say yes! <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Impressionist-UI.jpg" /></center> <a href="http://designmodo.com/impressionist/">Impressionist UI</a> is the world’s biggest user interface elements pack, containing over 300 elements for web design that represent almost anythng one can imagine, divided into 5 pages. Here you can find Edit Boxes, Tabs, Buttons, Notification Windows, Menus, fast solutions for the Menu tabs, Windows, Backgrounds, Graphics, Sliders, Informational blocks and many others. All the elements have been done in Photoshop using Shapes, which means that all the elements can be zoomed in or out without losing quality. They can be used for web design, mobile interfaces or illustrations - it all depends on your imagination! <h3>How to Win!</h3> We will be trying out powering this giveaway using <a href="http://www.punchtab.com">PunchTab</a>, which also powers our design network’s loyalty program. We will be selecting 3 winners; the more entries you have, the better your chances of winning! Check out the app below to see all your options for entering the giveaway, how long we’re running it, and how many entries you currently have! (The app might not be visible to those reading this post from our RSS feed, so please click through to the actual post page.) EDIT: Our printing partner <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/?utm_source=youthedesigner.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ytdblog_post_0412">UPrinting</a> is adding $100 worth of print credits to each winner’s prize pool! We’ve updated one of the entry details, but all your previous entries are still valid. Of course, there’s no stopping you from submitting each entry more than once! <center></center> We’ve made a New Year’s resolution to amp up our contests and giveaways, and so far we’re following through with it very well. If you’d like to keep updated on our other contests/giveaways as well as our other juicy posts, make sure you <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner">subscribe to our blog feed</a>! <img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/seY1xjP6cJY" width="1" />

UPDATED: 1 DAY, 11 HOURS

Intertitles and Typography: How Typography Dictates a Film’s Mood

I’ve seen over a hundred films in the last two years, and most of them are some of the best I’ve watched in my life. Well, some of them were shown in cinemas while I was a toddler. After playing catch-up with films from the late 1960s onwards, I’ve seen a lot of decent, well-thought, and well-designed movie titles from these films in terms of both word choice and typeface style, and so decided to feature some of these films that glued me to my couch and featured or used noteworthy typography in their movie titles or intertitles. One of the few things I’ve learned from watching films (and taking note of the typography used in them) is the use of Period Typography. This type of typography is more of a continuity and props issue within the film. But for graphic designers who studied, appreciated, and used vintage typefaces in their works, you’d be happy to see where, how, and who used what type during the film’s supposed era. Here are four films where some interesting typefaces are used: Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961) <center><img alt="breakfast at tiffany's intertitles typography" class="size-full wp-image-24780 aligncenter" height="412" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/breakfast-at-tiffanys.png" title="Breakfast at Tiffany's - image from intertitles.tumblr.com" width="550" /></center> The font used in the film accommodates the film’s theme – a young country girl-turned-socialite trying to figure her way through the bustling life in the metro - because of the sense of class it exudes. Breakfast At Tiffany’s typeface is an interesting variation of the Bodoni typeface. This typeface has been around since the 18th century and was made by Giambattista Bodoni. It’s also interesting that Tiffany & Co. also uses a modified version of the Bodoni type, and must be the inspiration for the movie’s typeface; the only difference is that the company uses a combination of uppercase and small capitalization in their branding. Submarine (2010) <center><img alt="submarine film intertitles typography" class="size-full wp-image-24783 aligncenter" height="582" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/submarine-2010.png" title="Submarine - Image from http://www.typophile.com/node/83953" width="550" /></center> I’ve had my fair share of coming-of-age films in recent years, one of them being Submarine. It’s a feel-good film that follows a 15-year-old boy as he struggles to make choices for his love and family. Going into Submarine’s opening and title sequence, the typeface used is possibly a modified version the ever-famous Helvetica family of fonts. The font used is slick and functional, and modernist design-wise. It closely resembles Helvetica Inserat, a font made in 1957 that was primarily for use in the advertising industry. (I’ve also talked about Helvetica in some more depth in a <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/2012/03/28/helvetica-and-the-vignelli-canon-how-typefaces-ought-to-be-in-graphic-design/">previous post</a>.) The Helvetica-inspired font was made by British visual effects company, Framestore. The font mirrors other directors’ knack of using modern design elements into their films – Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick’s Futura, and Woody Allen’s Windsor. The font used may also refer to the director’s European roots and design influence. Across The Universe (2007) <center><img alt="across the universe movie intertitles typography" class="size-full wp-image-24785 aligncenter" height="228" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/across-the-universe.png" title="Across the Universe - Image from intertitles.tumblr.com" width="550" /></center> Across The Universe is my favorite musical, ever. It’s the only musical that has almost all of my favorite Beatles songs, plus the 70s setting makes me all giggly. More importantly, the film’s title features a typeface that looks like a cross between Courier and Constructa. The title sequence features a slab serif typeface that’s reminiscent of Courier but doesn’t look so mechanical, nor is it monospaced. Although the font lacks some of the attributes of the Courier, the typeface used on the film has the same smooth curve on the letters S and C which is not present in Constructa. Though slab serif fonts were widely used in typewriters, it was Courier that became the standard for fonts because of its monospaced design. The typewriter-reminiscent font used on the film is a possible reference to the film’s 1969 setting, a transitional time in word processing – from manual to digital processing. It can also be considered a proper period typography due to the film’s setting and cultural references. (See more about the use - and misuse - of period typography in movies <a href="http://www.ms-studio.com/typecasting.html">here</a>.) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) <center><img alt="The Royal Tenenbaums" class="size-medium wp-image-24782 aligncenter" height="232" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/royal-tenenbaums.png" title="The Royal Tenenbaums" width="550" /></center> The Royal Tenenbaums is a quirky film that I’ve watched a couple of times. It’s full of eccentric and funny characters, plus they’re all in one awesome yet dysfunctional family. On the typographic side of the film, the font used on the title sequence is most likely Futura Bold, based on the fact that Wes Anderson, the film’s director, uses it on all his title cards, though usually in yellow (Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick are also very partial to the font family, and who could blame them? Futura is beautiful). Though there’s a difference between the Os, the overall feel of Futura can be seen in the film’s title sequence. The Futura font was designed by Paul Renner in 1927. It has been used extensively by different companies and by the government, notably by IKEA in their advertisements and logos until 2010, and by NASA on the Apollo 11 plaque that was left on the moon. Today’s movies are very different from the black and white, silent films of yesteryears. Now we have explosive special effects, crazy animation, and almost seizure-causing colors. But with all these present and the addition of sound-on-film tech, typography in film has truly fallen down the drain… NOT! There’s a lot of activity going on within films these days that involve typography – from badass films like Inglourious Basterds (2009) to rom-coms like Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008), and in TV series like Mad Men. <center><img alt="inglourious basterds intertitles typography" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/inglourious-basterds.png" title="Inglourious Basterds intertitle - Image from intertitles.tumblr.com" /> (More delicious typographic examples from this movie <a href="http://underpk.com/inspirations/movies/nice-typography-from-inglourious-basterds">here</a>)</center> <center><img alt="nick and norah's infinite playlist typography" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/nick-and-norahs-infinite-playlist.png" title="Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - Image from intertitles.tumblr.com" /> (Feel free to recommend an in-depth post about this one that we can link here!)</center> <center><img alt="mad men typography" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/mad-men.jpg" title="Mad Men" /> (<a href="http://www.c2gps.com/blog/2009/10/05/mad-men-link/">Image credit</a> and <a href="http://www.marksimonson.com/article/236/mad-men-mad-props">related in-depth post</a>)</center> If you’re looking for more typography in film or television you can check these type and title sequence related websites: <ul> <li><a href="http://www.marksimonson.com/category/Son+of+Typecasting/">Son of Typecasting</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.artofthetitle.com/">Art of The Title</a></li> <li><a href="http://intertitles.tumblr.com/archive">Intertitles</a></li> Like this post? Make sure you’re <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner">subscribed to the blog feed</a> and/or <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/youthedesigner">following us on Twitter</a> before you go! <img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/EYxaVnuaItI" width="1" />

UPDATED: 2 DAYS, 7 HOURS

30 Groovy Gig Posters

When you’ve got 100+ bands in one city, chances are you’re going to miss a couple of gigs that you would have really enjoyed (had you known about them, at least). There are a billion places a poster might occupy, after all, but around 80% of the time those particular surfaces and what’s on them will get ignored. At this point someone might exclaim, “But there’s the Internet! Why waste money printing things out and waste time finding spots for ACTUAL posters where the vast majority of people might miss them?” Enter aesthetics. The image in Imaginary Poster 1 looks nice, but what’s with the neon Comic Sans? Imaginary Poster 2 would be okay, except the text looks like it was done in MS Paint with the airbrush tool. See, without aesthetics, the power of the Internet is moot. When you scroll down your Facebook feed, your eyes go immediately to the well-worded anecdotes, the beautiful images from a friend’s recent vacation, and-yes, this is where I was going to put it, how did you guess?-the awesome new gig posters announcing your favorite band’s next show. What makes a good poster, though? From minimalist vectors to surrealist illustrations, newspaper cut-and-paste to retro ticket-inspired, here are 30 examples of groovy, definitely eye-catching gig posters. <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24731" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/151202.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/151202_Allo_Darlin.html" title="View source">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24727" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/151147.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://gigposters.com/poster/151147_Hives.html" title="View source">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24730" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/151201.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/151201_Le_Dead_Projet.html" title="View source">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24726" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/151120.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/151120_Boombox.html" title="View source">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24713" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150490.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150490_Duke_Ukem.html" title="View source">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24729" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/151190.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://gigposters.com/poster/151190_Birdhand.html" title="View source">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24712" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150480.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150480_Said_The_Whale.html" title="View source">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24711" height="540" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/142568.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/142568_Brighton,_Ma.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24710" height="536" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/0023_Layer_84.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/126316_Appleseed_Cast.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24709" height="691" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/tubbytrousers-fornowwetoast.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://agimat.net/music/e120228.php#.T31-pTFDi8A" target="_blank">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24708" height="648" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/poster_by_beaucoupzero.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://beaucoupzero.deviantart.com/art/poster-33497970">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24707" height="622" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/dubplate_bside.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.kilo-kilo.com/dubplate-cubao-x">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24706" height="614" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/boombapfriday.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://ssonictv.blogspot.com/2012/01/events-this-week_30.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24737" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/112624.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/112624_Bon_Iver.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24738" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/84284.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/84284_Lynyrd_Skynyrd.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24703" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150627.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150627_Dj_Sir-ett.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-24702" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150608.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150608_White_Denim.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-24701" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150602.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.mazzaart.com/2012/01/new-poster-design-for-valley-of-vapors.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-24700" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150599.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150599_Lynx.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-24699" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150596.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150596_Orgone.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-24698" height="500" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150588-e1333641213590.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150588_Kristeen_Young.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-24697" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150569.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150569_Polar_Bear_Club.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-24696" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150531.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150531_Young_The_Giant.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24695" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150530.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150530_Mighty_Fine.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24694" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150522.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150522_Squidling_Bros..html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24693" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150508.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150508_Flowers_For_Whores.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24692" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150507.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150507_Stratosfunk.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24691" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150506.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150506_Big_Jay_Mcneely.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24690" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150491.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150491_Tortoise.html">View source</a> <center><img alt="" class="alignnone wp-image-24741" height="600" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/150956.jpg" width="450" /></center> <a href="http://www.gigposters.com/poster/150956_Sleigh_Bells.html">View source</a> I know some of you who like gig posters as much as I do like to keep them around as souvenirs, but sometimes their original material doesn’t keep well or gets damaged because of one too many rowdy nights. Just so you know, reprinting that gig swag (with permission from the right people, of course) on material like <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/canvas-printing.html?utm_source=youthedesigner.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ytdblog_post_0412">canvas prints</a> can not only save that art for longer, but even one-up the original poster’s feel too. And for those of you who actually print for gigs, our print partner’s also got a <a href="https://www.uprinting.com/campaign/up032712?nav=homebanner&utm_source=youthedesigner.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ytdblog_post_0412">free banner promo</a> going on (until May 7, 2012 at the moment) in case you’re interested. Like this post? Make sure you get a regular dose of You The Designer awesomeness by <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner">subscribing to the blog</a>, and maybe even <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/youthedesigner">following us on Twitter</a>. - Cadence <img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/n9evLNWr4rA" width="1" />

UPDATED: 2 DAYS, 12 HOURS

Wallpaper Calendar Freebie for April 2012: The Clash by Geno Arguelles

UPDATED: 1 WEEK, 2 DAYS

Stock Photos: Pros, Cons, Fixes, and Strange Examples

Stock photos may be indispensable design resources, but they are also very prone to design abuse. <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/addicted.jpg" title="Image from stock.xchng (http://www.sxc.hu/photo/546890)" /> Like this. (And hey, this post will also be adorned with a few stock photos too! Explanation’s in the next paragraph.)</center> <h3>The Pros of Using Stock Photos (and 1 Con)</h3> They’re here to stay because people actually look for them. There wouldn’t be so many stock photo websites, both free and premium, otherwise. Here’s a simple example: if you’re a blogger too, I’m sure you’ve had to resort to them a few times to preface abstract concepts you’re about to talk to your readers about, as well as to break the monotony between walls of text. Add to our number the people, both newbie and experienced, who’ve had to put a face on their website, a cover page for their newsletter, or just the right photo on their slideshow presentation at one time or another, and you’ve got a demand that goes by the millions. They’re convenient resources for when we need human faces or points of reference in our designs; the kind that can elicit a desired human response from the people we’re designing our creations for. A direct look right into your eyes paired with a winning smile, for instance, coming from just the right kind of person. Chosen based on what we’re looking for and what our general preferences are, as can only be guessed by the demographic we’re classified into. Whether we like it or not, we react to that. In a way that, oftentimes, is exactly how the people using the stock photos want you to. <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/bobby.jpg" title="Image from stock.xchng (http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1210450)" /> Like this…</center> <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/stock-photo-portrait-of-attractive-young-woman-25882375.jpg" title="Curiously enough it was harder to find watermark-free photos of girls with smiles that can match the guy's above." /> Or this.</center> Unless you’ve already seen that stock photo 14,378 times before. In other, completely different contexts. Maybe even on a website, in combination with a drab, simplistic template-based page designs and walls of text full of trite corporate jargon and meaningless generalizations. <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/stock-photo-collage.jpg" title="Image credits in the watermarks. /le lazy + plz to be using your sharp wits" /> Remember these? All of these?</center> <h3>More of the Cons of Using Stock Images</h3> Seeing stock photos used carelessly is like hearing canned lines from awkward pick-up artists, or getting automated voice prompts on the phone when you’re trying to reach a real person. I know those of you who’d rather not waste time choosing a few stock photos among thousands don’t like to hear this, but it’s the uncomfortable truth. That “good enough” stock photo you got in the first set of results may not fit the concept or emotion you’re trying to convey as well as if you searched longer (aside from the great likelihood that many other time-pressed individuals like you, in similar circumstances, may have chosen the exact same image before, the earlier you see it in the search results). If, at first glance, a person from your target audience looks at what you’ve made and immediately gets a gut reaction screaming “PHONY”, then you did it wrong, dear, you did it very wrong. It will also royally suck if you later find out that you broke a law or two by using the stock photos you chose ignorantly, and the site you lifted them from is now on your heels. (Hence, you will see that we did not take any chances with our demo image above.) <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/forsrs.jpg" title="Image from stock.xchng (http://www.sxc.hu/photo/555352)" /> Did you really think you could get away with that?</center> <h3>Fixing the Cons: How Not to Commit Stock Photo Abuse</h3> If you must use stock images, <ul> <li>Make sure you’re not using clichés. The stock photos used in the collage above are not the only photos you should avoid using in your designs; of course, you should also avoid using stock photos that are similar to them, in the sense that they also convey a similar, generic feel. Granted, sometimes you really have to use a photo of a call center girl, globe in the hand, or skyscraper in your design, but it should have to feel more real. There are other ways to make that image more interesting, but we’ll tackle those ways in another list below.</li> <li>Make sure your selected stock photo makes logical sense with the entire intent and purpose of the design. For example, if you’re making - or directing - a website design that you’re saying has to have a globe somewhere in it, is the business it’s representing actually international? Does its customer service come in several languages? If not, and you can’t reasonably justify why the globe should be there… well, maybe the globe shouldn’t be there.</li> <li>Check with <a href="http://www.tineye.com/">TinEye</a> to see if they’re already used too often. TinEye is a reverse image search engine that lets you upload your image or enter your image’s URL, and then shows you how many times that image has appeared in other sites. Chances are if you get results as many as - or more than - these: <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/tineye.png" title="Now -that's- abuse." /></a></center> You need to get another image.</li> <li>Search diligently; bookmark a few alternatives to that first image before you choose your final candidate. Give it at least fifteen to thirty minutes to get just the right image. If you weren’t able to find it by that time, you’ll at least have several options on hand to choose from, not just the first one you saw, on some site (or another?), using a search query you barely remember.</li> <li>Respect the power of gut feel. Even if you searched for and carefully selected that as-close-to-perfect-as-possible stock image after much time and deliberation, that amount of time may also have helped deafen you against what your gut feel is really saying, as well as given you reason to be biased towards that image because you worked so hard to get it. For the sake of the effectiveness of your design, make absolutely sure your image is giving you the right impression. Have a few unbiased people look at your creation and give you their thoughts of what they think about your chosen stock image within your design. Here I have to point out, before anyone else raises the issue in the comments, that there is a potential, and relatively popular, argument against making too much effort to make your creation aesthetically pleasing, and it is conversions versus creative standards. Like <a href="http://blog.kissmetrics.com/ugly-websites/">this post on KISSmetrics</a> or <a href="http://www.warriorforum.com/main-internet-marketing-discussion-forum/457184-overused-cliche-stock-images-please-stop.html#post4750368">this forum post</a> on a thread debating this same topic demonstrates, there are just some cases where aesthetics does not factor into the effectiveness of your design. And it is here I also point out that in the previous paragraph I said nothing about aesthetics being important when it came to making an impression. Just because we are designers does not mean we always need to make pretty, lovely, aesthetically pleasing things. We design things for certain purposes, whether our own, our clients’, or our employers’, and those purposes don’t always go with being aesthetically pleasing. If you have to produce something awful to get a desired response, then the more awful you get, the more effective you are. (Sorry, Steve Jobs fans.) — You know what, I can already feel some of you raring for a debate after that point of contention from here, so I’ll leave this sentiment here and move on.</li> <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/web-pages-that-suck.png" title="We don't want to be pretty. Really. That's the whole -point-." /></center> Just one example, though: the site Web Pages That Suck has a design that looks like it should nominate itself, and they do get a lot of email saying so. But what they don’t get is that it’s done <a href="http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/whyitsucks.html">on purpose</a>. Also, the stock photo caught in the screenshot is very appropriate, in several ways. <li>Make sure you acquire / have permission to use your chosen stock photos legally! I cannot stress this enough. Back when I was still a noob, I’d haphazardly lift images from wherever and use them however I liked, thinking attribution and all that would take care of itself, only to be called to my boss’s office later on and be told that the legal entity that owns the rights to the image I stole is threatening to sue. You do not want to get that feel, trust me!</li> </ul> This is supposing that everything else in the design is of good quality, functional, and makes sense, since if it’s not then you should probably be looking at several other articles too. If you can afford to use images that are not from stock photo sites, <ul> <li>Consider taking your own photos - hire someone, ask a friend, or do it yourself. Instead of searching for hours for that perfect photo to represent what you’re trying to convey, why don’t you just grab a camera and capture what’s in front of you yourself? (<a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/stocking">Stocking</a>, though, is a different thing altogether.)</li> <li>Illustrate. Many businesses have started catching on that their customers aren’t buying their stock photo splash pages as much as they used to, and have gotten better first impressions when they started using illustrations. Replacing photos of people with illustrations of people, for instance, helps the audience get over any unconscious biases about race, gender, perceived social status, etc., lets them view the overall design more objectively, and lets them appreciate the sentiment/overall concept of the design better.</li> <li>Stylize. Try a combination of photos and illustrations, play more with typography, or the like to give your audience a more unique experience.</li> </ul> <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/splash-page.png" title="Our very first newsletter's signup and giveaway splash page!" /></a></center> For example, consider our newsletter signup splash page. We could have easily featured stock photos of the prizes only and left it at that, but since we’re all design-oriented and think creatively, we knew adding that illustration above will make you more interested in signing up, for many internal, creative, designer-type reasons. Yes! Also, you should really <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/signup/">sign up for our newsletter and early-subscriber tablet giveaway</a> if you haven’t already - we’re naming the winner on the 15th. /shameless plug These articles/blog posts talk more comprehensively about alternatives you can use to stock images, you should check them out: <ul> <li><a href="http://boagworld.com/design/stock-photography/">Stop Using Stock Photography Clichés | Boagworld</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.creativeflavor.com/ext/blog/practice/211">Inspiring Web Design Imagery | Creative Flavor</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.radiiproduction.com/index.php/how-to-avoid-overused-stock-photos">How to Avoid Overused Stock Photos | Radii Production</a></li> </ul> <h3>Now that we got the serious stuff out of the way, uh, what were these stock photographers thinking?</h3> Maybe I’m just not up to date or it’s a secret only cool kids keep, but I don’t know <a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-12-most-baffling-genres-stock-photo-explained/">why these baffling stock photo genres exist</a> or <a href="http://gawker.com/5880077/i-cant-stop-staring-at-cyber-woman-with-corn">why we would imagine people in the future to have this kind of eye wear or love their fruits/vegetables this much</a>. The other examples listed <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/stock-photo-clich%C3%A9s">here</a> I can probably understand (“Eating salad is so awesome you can have fun doing it while you’re alone!” or “Technology is SO awesome I want to kiss it silly!”) but I really don’t get the deal about the apples. If you know why these things exist, could you help me - and the rest of us confused public - understand in the comments? Here are a few more examples here, if you don’t feel like clicking through to the links above right now: <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/man-holding-shoe.jpg" title="Maybe he keeps a mirror in it, to check if his hair's just right." /> “Heeey, this isn’t Aubercy! Where are the diamonds on this thing?”(<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-65660641/stock-photo-surreal-portrait-of-a-stylish-man-in-an-elegant-suit-and-shoes-in-hand.html">Link</a>)</center> <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/stock-photo-strange-woman-silhouette-in-goth-style-photo-51815077.jpg" title="I give up." /> The pursuit of beauty can take you to strange places.</center> <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/stock-photo-19702303-i-am-working.jpg" /> “I am working. Ribbit.” (<a href="http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-19702303-i-am-working.php?st=f6f1445">Link</a>)</center> <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/stock-photo-18866973-geek-businessman-holding-big-pencil.jpg" /> “Don’t worry, my lovely pencil, I’ll protect you from people with bad handwriting and amateur doodling skills…” (<a href="http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-18866973-geek-businessman-holding-big-pencil.php?st=f6f1445">Link</a>)</center> <center><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/eaten-by-her-work.jpg" title="Though admittedly, some days I feel just like this." /> “My work is eating me alive!” (<a href="http://www.thinkstockphotos.com/image/stock-photo-stressed-out-business-woman-getting-eaten-by/101778353/">Link</a>)</center> (There are more colorful examples of strange stock images out there, but they can be NSFW and I didn’t want to get you into trouble. Please think of the others too if you want to share your own examples in the comments!) Like this post? Make sure you’re subscribed to the <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner">blog feed</a> and/or following us on <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/youthedesigner">Twitter</a>. <img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/PyoZHhj9NAQ" width="1" />

UPDATED: 1 WEEK, 4 DAYS

Helvetica and the Vignelli Canon: How Typefaces Ought to Be in Graphic Design

I had my first brush with typography when I had a subject about freehand lettering in high school. In that class I was exposed to lettering and some of typography’s history. From there, I began admiring different type designs on printed material, from magazines (Ray Gun, Esquire) to posters (“Your Turn, My Turn” and “International Zeitung” posters) and, later on, films and documentaries featuring typography. Recently, I watched Helvetica (again), the 2007 documentary about the typeface of the same name. I found it very interesting as it is focused on the rise, effectiveness, and eventual ubiquity of the Helvetica typeface. It also provides, as you watch through the documentary, a guide on how typeface must be applied in graphic design and its related fields, i.e., advertising, marketing, and design in general. Helvetica approached design in a philosophical and psychological way. The designers interviewed for the film were notable personalities in design and typography. They shared different insights on the beauty of type and the functionality of Helvetica in particular. They explained the idea of the proper typeface: an immovable, firm object that floats in space, like air, infinite and unseen yet right in front of us. <center><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetica_(film)"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Helvetica-film.jpg" /></a></center> An interesting designer featured in the film is Massimo Vignelli. He’s a modernist designer known for his typography-centered designs in different media. His works include American Airline’s corporate identity, NYC’s subway signage, and DC Metro’s way-finding system, among others. Another contribution he made for design is the <a href="http://www.vignelli.com/canon.pdf">Vignelli Canon</a> (link goes to a .pdf file). The Vignelli Canon, a handy guide for pursuing typographic design or any design project, is a collection of personal principles that Massimo Vignelli has used throughout his career. It was initially set as a guideline for his design group, but was published later on to help young designers improve their trade. As a budding designer, I found the concepts and guidelines presented in the Vignelli Canon helpful with creating my projects. It’s a straightforward guidebook that can help designers establish or improve their design foundation. I read through it every now and then for inspiration on my projects. There are parts of the canon that I think are necessary for all designers. By designers, I mean designers from all industries, from fashion designers to architects. I consider Vignelli’s dedication to the purpose, consistency, and practicality of design as important factors for a design to be successful and functional. Just to give you a taste of the awesomeness you can find in the canon, and also to demonstrate how the canon also applies to typography, here’s why I personally consider three of the intangibles Vignelli mentioned to be important: <h3>Semantics</h3> Semantics in design simply pertains to the meaning of the end product. It could be the purpose of its redesign, or an upgrade of an old design. Even though it’s applicable to all design disciplines, semantics can easily be applied and seen in typography. <center><a href="http://www.sonofthesouth.net/uncle-sam/"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/uncle-sam.jpg" /></a></center> In design, semantics plays a valuable part in sending the message across to a target audience. A commonly used element for design semantics is the application of cultural iconography or symbolism that has strong connections to the target audience. Here, Uncle Sam is used as a patriotic symbol to recruit soldiers into the war effort. In typography, it’s all about the meaning and legibility of the design. How people easily read and understand a typographic design is up to the designer. That’s why a designer must first know the history of his project and the people he’s working with – from the company’s and their design’s history, up to their target market and audience. Once a designer learns these, he’ll be better able to create a product or graphic design that makes sense. <center><a href="http://www.vignelli.com/home/identity/aa.html"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/american-airlines.jpg" /></a></center> A great example of semantic design can be found in American Airlines’ branding, which has not changed much since its creation in the late 1960s. It has become an iconic design because of its recognizable elements – the words “American Airlines” used as one word and separated by the colors blue and red. These colors have been used for American Airlines’ branding because of its relevance to the company’s market and as a tribute to the U.S.’s colors. <h3>Syntax</h3> Syntax, when applied in design, is the overall consistency of the elements throughout a project. In design, syntax is applied to the process to create an overall design that is made up of complementing elements; this is just like how syntax in grammar is the selection and combination of the right words to create a consistent and clear message or thought. <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Hello-Couture-(with-Love-22)/781354"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/thats-haute.jpg" /></a></center> Graphic design acts as a communications framework that involves different elements of design in its creation. It is important that a design must be consistent, legible, and intelligible for it to be fully understood by the target audience. This is why modernists utilize as few elements as they can, which are type and negative space (or background). Once applied in typography, syntax provides the consistency that a design needs to send a clear and straightforward message to its audience. <center><a href="http://aigany.org/events/details/10NL/"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/times-square.jpg" /></a></center> Syntax in design can be seen in signages, maps, or navigational tools. A classic example can be found in NYC’s subway system signage. These signages use the Helvetica typeface, which gives the system a streamlined and consistent look. This consistency allows passengers and passerbys to navigate their way through the subway system easily. (Erratum: Turns out Vignelli did not initially specify Helvetica for the NYC subway signage, though it became that later. They specified a version of Akzidenz, which the image sample we have above is actually showing. Please see Scott Smyth’s comment below for more details.) <h3>Pragmatics</h3> In design, pragmatics is considered as the practicality of the design; its usability and functionality. If a design fails to be understood by the consumer or audience, it is useless regardless of the level of syntax or semantics applied to it. This is where the designer must compare his design’s intent with the results of his work to see if they have diverged or followed at least similar routes. <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Adidas-Neo-Branding/1519405"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/adidas-neo-branding.jpg" /></a></center> Aside from its consistency and purpose, a project must also be capable of standing alone, much like cultural icons, wherein a single part, e.g., weapon, hairstyle, clothing, etc., can be easily identified as part of the whole. Like how the trefoil logo (three stripes) is easily associated with the Adidas brand. The concept of pars pro toto (a part taken for the whole) can be used as an acid test for the pragmatics of the design. Pragmatics applied in typography transforms the design into a straightforward tool that we see in marketing and advertising. The concept of pragmatics in typography is to get the message across the consumer or audience without confusing them. Just to demonstrate to you how taken for granted pragmatics in typography is, here’s a completely wrong example of pragmatics in typography and see if it doesn’t make you roll on the floor with laughter: <center><a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/wrong-font-chosen-for-gravestone,9862/"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/james-morton.jpg" /></a></center> For more on the topic, you can check out Smashing Magazine’s <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/03/24/how-to-choose-a-typeface/">How to Choose a Typeface</a>. As a graphic designer, you are entitled to the privilege of creating something that can be monumental and that can move a person to do things – buy something, dispose of garbage properly, cross the street, know where she should go. It’s a designer’s job to inform the public, from channels like advertising and marketing to simple signs and symbols. It’s also a designer’s responsibility to create aesthetically pleasing pieces and help prevent visual pollution (a term used by Vignelli). As Vignelli said in his book, design is a language that must use proper grammar in the construction of phrases. A design, to be able to communicate and function properly, must be well thought of and researched before it can move forward. When creating a project or design solution, a designer must study the design itself and the things that may affect it, from the consumer to the manufacturer - and the designer himself. Like this post? 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UPDATED: 2 WEEKS, 2 DAYS

Preparing for Earth Hour: Vectors, Icons, Stock Photos, and Inspiration

This 2012, <a href="http://earthhour.org/">Earth Hour</a> is happening on Saturday, March 31st from 8:30 to 9:30 PM. Aside from the <a href="http://earthhour.org/page/get-involved/tools-and-downloads">tools and downloads</a> available on the official website, we thought we’d give you more comprehensive resources if you’d like to contribute with a more design-savvy flair! For those of you who need some reminding, here’s what Earth Hour is all about from the official website: “In 2008, the plan was to take Earth Hour to the rest of Australia. But then the City of Toronto, Canada, signed up and it wasn’t long before 35 countries and almost 400 cities and towns were part of the event. It said something compelling to the world: that the climate challenges facing our planet are so significant that change needs to be global. With the invitation to ‘switch off’ extended to everyone, Earth Hour quickly became an annual global event. It’s scheduled on the last Saturday of every March – closely coinciding with the equinox to ensure most cities are in darkness as it rolled out around the Earth. In 2011, Earth Hour saw hundreds of millions of people across 135 countries switch off for an hour. But it also marked the start of something new – going Beyond the Hour to commit to lasting action on climate change. And with the power of social networks behind the Earth Hour message, we hope to attract even more participation so we can build a truly global community committed to creating a more sustainable planet.” <h3>Vectors and Icons:</h3> Available in a variety of file types, these are some icons and vectors that we thought were most likely to be helpful for Earth Hour-related designs. <a href="http://www.vecteezy.com/miscellaneous/3842-free-set-of-vector-globes">Free Set of Vector Globes</a> <center><a href="http://www.vecteezy.com/miscellaneous/3842-free-set-of-vector-globes"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/free-set-of-vector-globes.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.vecteezy.com/skulls-bones/16059-tim-s-freebie-global-warming">Tim’s Freebie Global Warming</a> <center><a href="http://www.vecteezy.com/skulls-bones/16059-tim-s-freebie-global-warming"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tims-freebie-global-warming.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.allvectors.com/space-vector/">Space Vector</a> <center><a href="http://www.allvectors.com/space-vector/"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/space-vector.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.allvectors.com/vector-globe/">Vector Globe</a> <center><a href="http://www.allvectors.com/vector-globe/"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/vector-globe.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.greatvectors.com/2010/07/eco-light-bulb/">Eco Light Bulb</a> <center><a href="http://www.greatvectors.com/2010/07/eco-light-bulb/"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/eco-light-bulb.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.freevector.com/free-ecology-vector-icons/">Free Ecology Vector Icons</a> <center><a href="http://www.freevector.com/free-ecology-vector-icons/"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/free-ecology-vector-icons.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.freevector.com/ecology-icons/">Ecology Icons</a> <center><a href="http://www.freevector.com/ecology-icons/"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ecology-icons.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.freevector.com/ecology-vectors/">Ecology Vectors</a> <center><a href="http://www.freevector.com/ecology-vectors/"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ecology-vectors.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.allvectors.com/vector-switch/">Vector Switch</a> <center><a href="http://www.allvectors.com/vector-switch/"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/vector-switch.jpg" /></a></center> <h3>Stock Photos:</h3> Going for more realism? Here are some free choice pickings from <a href="http://sxc.hu/">stock.xchng</a>. Please click through each image to see possible restrictions to each image’s terms of use. <a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1259922">Old Light Switches</a> <center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1259922"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/old-light-switches.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1340751">Mundo</a> <center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1340751"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/mundo.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1237395">World Lamp</a> <center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1237395"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/world-lamp.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/743449">World Button</a> <center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/743449"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/world-button.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/359866">Lightswitch</a> <center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/359866"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/lightswitch.jpg" /></a></center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/619748">Light Bulb</a> <center><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/619748"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/light-bulb.jpg" /></a></center> <h3>Posters:</h3> Here are examples of Earth Hour related posters, for this year as well as the years past. <h4>Be.Also</h4> <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Earth-Hour-2012-Poster/3234635"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/be.also-earth-hour-2012-poster.jpg" /></a></center> <h4>Earvin Michael</h4> <center><a href="http://prinsipeearvin.blogspot.com/2012/03/earth-hour-2012-i-will-if-you-will.html"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/i-will-if-you-will.jpg" /></a></center> <h4>Isabel Roxas</h4> <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Earth-Hour-2012-Poster/3313276"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/earth-hour-2012-poster-isabel-roxas.jpg" /></a></center> <h4>Francois Hoang</h4> <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Earth-Hour-2011-Poster/1161093"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/earth-hour-2011-poster-francois-hoang.png" /></a></center> <h4>Korey Sahan</h4> <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/WWF-Earth-Hour-Poster/1578423"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/korey-sahan-earth-hour-poster-01.jpg" /></a></center><center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/WWF-Earth-Hour-Poster/1578423"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/korey-sahan-earth-hour-poster-02.jpg" /></a></center> <h4>Hunor Henter</h4> <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Earth-Hour-2010/465684"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/hunor-henter-earth-hour-2010.jpg" /></a></center> <h4>Linh Chi</h4> <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Earth-Hour-Poster-2009-Redesigned/202385"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/earth-hour-poster-2009-redesigned-linh-chi.jpg" /></a></center> <h4>Catalina Georgescu</h4> Turn the light off! And, for one hour, you can be whoever you want to be. <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/WWF-Earth-Hour-Campaign-2010/2591239"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/radu-georgescu-earth-hour.jpg" /></a></center><center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/WWF-Earth-Hour-Campaign-2010/2591239"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/marinela-dogaru-earth-hour.jpg" /></a></center> <h4>racuntikus</h4> <center><a href="http://racuntikus.deviantart.com/art/Earth-Hour-115907389?q=boost%3Apopular%20earth%20hour&qo=5"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/switch-off-your-lights.jpg" /></a></center> <h3>Creative Projects:</h3> Aside from posters, here are other printed mediums through which people spread awareness about Earth Hour in years past. <h4><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Panadol-Earth-Hour/1391109">Glow in the Dark Stickers by Panadol</a></h4> <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Panadol-Earth-Hour/1391109"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/earth-hour-panadol.png" /></a></center> <h4>T-shirt Concept</h4> <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Earth-Hour/1164003"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/emelie-halston-earth-hour-t-shirt-concept.jpg" /></a></center> <h4>Infographic Tees</h4> <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Earth-Hour-Infographic-Tees-Submission/3459321"><img alt="" src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/rizki-ratria-earth-hour-infographic-tees.jpg" /></a></center> <h3>Videos:</h3> Video campaigns for Earth Hour, from 2012 below! My favorite is the first one - you get to see Darth Vader’s softer side. (If you’re reading this post from our RSS feed, please click through to the post page to play the videos) <h4>For once, the Dark Side saves the planet</h4> <center></center> <h4><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/CHACON-Earth-Hour/593794">CHACON wireless interruptors</a></h4> <center></center> <h4><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/EARTH-HOUR-The-Great-Switch-Off/936542">The Great Switch Off</a></h4> <center></center> <h4><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/-WWF-Vote-Earth/2195011">Vote Earth</a></h4> <center></center> <h4>Moths / Don’t Be the Only One</h4> <center></center> Hoped you liked this collection! If you think there are other Earth Hour related resources we’ve missed, feel free to share their links in the comments. If you like this post but aren’t following us regularly yet, <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/YouTheDesigner">subscribe to our feed</a> or <a href="http://twitter.com/youthedesigner">follow us on Twitter (@youthedesigner)</a>! In case you need to get some Earth Hour posters or other materials printed, you may want to check out the <a href="http://www.uprinting.com/poster-printing.html?utm_source=youthedesigner.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ytdblog_post0312">15% discount on posters</a> our printing partner UPrinting has at the moment, as well as 20% off on select print products until April 2, 2012. <img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/-PDGrRaRpCQ" width="1" />

UPDATED: 2 WEEKS, 3 DAYS

Which Makes a Better Logo Design: Typographic or Symbol?

A well-designed logo is a unique combination of business and art. With an assortment of well-chosen variables, it conveys the type of business, as well as the corporate philosophy, and is often the first and most essential element of any branding initiative. Why? Because it’s the first thing your consumer sees. And it either grabs their attention or it doesn’t. There are three main types of logos: typographic, symbol or a selective combination of the two. And these design choices have a tremendous impact on brand identity. As a result, they represent the starting point for the creation of any effective logo design. But the elements you select are largely determined by the specifics of your organization. <h2>Using Typographic Logos</h2> As the name implies, a typographic logo is comprised solely of letters, numerals or similar font-based characters. Vastly different than type appearing in standard print, these characters are formatted to serve as graphic elements that stand on their own by varying size, color and typeface. <center><a href="http://vi.sualize.us/view/74141a7b6970760d4ee92de732f94f6e/"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/coca-cola-logo.jpg" /></a></center> Most often, a typographic logo is used to impart the brand name of an organization. Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Google and Levi’s would be prime examples. But to use this type of logo effectively, the company’s name should ideally be short and self-explanatory. In these instances, typographic logos are extremely helpful when trying to establish a memorable brand name. <h2>Using Symbolic Logos</h2> The first thing to understand when considering a symbolic logo is the nature of an image. Symbols are used to convey a complex idea in a direct, instantly-translatable way. Often created by mixing graphic images, a symbol can be constructed from basic shapes or specific conceptual representations. For example, you’d be hard-pressed to find people in the world who were unable to describe and instantly replicate the Nike “swoop.” But as with typographic logos, symbols by themselves are not suited to every organization. Typically reserved for companies with brand names that are long, complex or difficult to pronounce, graphics work extremely well to differentiate those products or services in the marketplace. In the same way, symbols can be used to distinguish brands that have a common sounding name or unite a broad portfolio of sub-brands under a single banner, as is the case with Nike. <center><a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Nike-2010/625755"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/nike-revamp.jpg" /></a> Image from Jordan Metcalf’s <a href="http://www.behance.net/gallery/Nike-2010/625755">“Nike - 2010″</a> project on Behance</center> The one catch with using a symbol is that it requires a larger marketing investment to educate the consumer, defining its specific meaning and, more importantly, fostering a favorable impression. <h2>Combining Typographic and Symbolic</h2> One of the basic requirements for creating an effective logo is simplicity. And this is especially crucial when combining typography and symbols. Ideal for new businesses, this style of logo includes concise text – often boiled down to one or two words – and is paired with a simple, ordinary image or basic shape. But ‘basic’ doesn’t mean ‘plain’. The choice of image has to be strong enough to single out the brand among its competitors. <center><a href="http://vi.sualize.us/view/5372fac8f7a0f3282cfa2c68fb2cb52b/"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/puma-logo.jpg" /></a></center> A great example is the Puma logo. Including the brand name and the trademark cat leaping over the typographic elements, this logo is unique in that it’s become a known commodity, allowing the logo itself to appear as any of the three types: plain type, symbol or a combination of the two. <table> <tbody> <tr> <td> <h3>About the Author</h3> Dylan Mazeika is an online writer with a background in marketing and small business. He enjoys writing articles and guest posts on the latest business and design trends, and helping business owners with their <a href="http://www.freelogoservices.com">logo design</a>.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Featured image found on <a href="http://www.logodesignlove.com/20th-century-trademarks">Logo Design Love</a>. <img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/VR3qEFq0bqw" width="1" />

UPDATED: 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS

UPDATED: 1 MONTH

To Use or Not to Use a CMS

As web designers, we all are aware of the importance of CMSs. Simply put, a CMS helps in managing the website in an efficient manner. If you are running a photo gallery, a blog, a news site or any similar website that requires constant updates, nothing beats the ease which a CMS such as <a href="http://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a> or <a href="http://drupal.org/">Drupal</a> can offer you! Therefore, modern day CMSs have made the otherwise-mundane task of running a website very simple. To quote from <a href="http://typo3.com/">Typo3</a>: <blockquote>“If you can use a computer, you can manage the content for your website.”</blockquote> However, oftentimes, in our bid to employ CMSs for website management, chances are that we might end up over-doing the use of CMSs. In this article, we discuss when to use, and when not to use a CMS. <h2>When Should You Use a CMS?</h2> <center><a href="http://vi.sualize.us/view/c953cb1414dbe48060688c39ca77b9c5/"><img src="http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/confused.jpg" /></a> Image from <a href="http://vi.sualize.us/view/c953cb1414dbe48060688c39ca77b9c5/">vi.sualize.us</a>.</center> To begin with, if you are running a blog or a gallery, don’t bother reading any further. You NEED a CMS, period. Similarly, if your website needs to be updated regularly and/or is run by a group of users, a CMS might suit your purpose. Using a CMS also ensures that you save your time (and eventually, efforts). You no longer need to hard-code your website in HTML or CSS – the CMS takes care of everything. Just install it, and you are presented with a neat administration panel that lets you tweak, modify and run your website in the manner you deem fit. Furthermore, with the availability of numerous themes, templates as well as plugins/extensions, a CMS can be made to accomplish virtually any task when it comes to web design. Using a CMS for clients also makes sense – not all of us are gifted with tech-savvy clients all the time, and more often than not, most clients will have a hard time figuring their way out with hard-coded sites sans CMS. CMSs also offer excellent editorial control over your content, and better user management for your website. Lastly, many CMSs provide SEO out-of-the-box. Of course, you can always ensure that your hand-crafted HTML pages conform to SEO norms and beat even the most search-engine friendly CMS out there! However, CMSs again save time in this aspect – you do not need to worry much about SEO. At the most, you’ll just have to tweak a few settings initially. <h2>When Shouldn’t You Use a CMS? </h2> or <h2>When Should You Hard-Code Your Website? </h2> <center><a href=" Image by <a href=" Generally, manually designing your website’s pages should be considered as an option for static websites with few pages that are rarely updated. You can add personality to your website, and you are limited only by your creativity — in other words, you need not be bound by a CMS. When you decide to write extensive code for your website, you can pay attention to every minute detail – a blessing for small websites (and a curse for larger ones, pun unintended). Since you are no longer restricted by platform-specific limitations, you can design and craft individual components of the website manually. Another point to consider should be security. Most CMSs release new updates/fixes/patches on a regular basis; however, on a generalized level, a CMS invites more hackers than a hard-coded website. Most importantly, hard-coding your website, though time-consuming initially, also brings down the time and efforts required in maintenance of the website in the long run – there are no CMSs to update or plugins to uninstall. You design your pages, you publish them, and you drink coffee! <h2>So, the Verdict is…</h2> <center><a href=" Image by <a href=" Well, to be honest, the answer to this question is simple – it depends on your needs! As stated above, if your website has dynamic content, a CMS will be mandatory in most cases. If, however, you’re running a site with mostly static pages that are not updated very frequently, you can definitely consider coding the website yourself and thereby saving the recurring efforts required in running a CMS. <img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/YouTheDesigner/~4/8_-P-Ifw0uo" width="1" />

UPDATED: 1 MONTH

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Front-end Developer / Creative Coder at DigitalKitchen Seattle

<img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-23895" height="180" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/dk.png" title="dk" width="640" /> <h2>Company: <a href="http://thisisdk.com/" target="_blank">DigitalKitchen Seattle</a></h2> Location: Seattle, US Category: Creative Code Type: Full Time <h2>Description</h2> Seattle FRONT-END DEVELOPER [ THIS IS DK ] DIGITALKITCHEN is a creative agency and production studio. We think and we make. We are designers, filmmakers, writers, technologists, and conceptualists of unknown origin. We solve creative problems as a multi-disciplinary collective that is unique to the industry. We rely on discipline, experimentation, perspective, and laughter as key ingredients to a great creative product. We very much love what we do—and thankfully so do many of the kind judges of the FWA, Cannes Lions, Shorty Awards, One Show Interactive, Webby Awards, and plenty others. [ THIS IS WHAT WE DO ] Creative mischief for progressive brands and entertainment properties: http://thisisdk.com/work [ THIS IS WHO WE WANT ] A creative coder who thrives in a small-group environment; your work demonstrates not only a clean, modern sensibility of interaction design, but a level of visual literacy, as well. Must be proactive, collaborative and low-maintenance. Having a point of view about your work is essential. [ THIS IS WHAT WE\'RE ASKING ] Desired attributes - Minimum of 3 years of experience in a creative agency or studio - You have a strong passion and interest for web and new technologies - You are a problem solver who always seeks the most effective solution and loves technical challenges - You can function independently and work well within a team - Experience engaging in rapid prototyping and iterative product development - Be proficient at technical writing/editing - Possess strong interest for design, user experience, interface architecture and animation Technical skills - Strong knowledge of HTML, CSS and Javascript - Strong knowledge of Flash and ActionScript3 - Familiar with HTML5 APIs and CSS3 features - Have worked with Javascript frameworks like JQuery, Three.Js and Backbone - Experience working with web services and APIs like Twitter, Facebook Graph, Instagram or Google Maps, for instance - Understanding of Object-oriented programming - Understanding of AJAX - Experience developing within a team and using version control like Git or SVN - Have working knowledge of server-side languages like PHP and MySQL - Experience with standard CMS tools Other technical skills that are not necessary, but will be considered - Have working knowledge of mobile software development (iOS, Android) - Have working knowledge of physical computing (Arduino) - Have working knowledge of OpenFrameworks, Processing or Cinder - Have working knowledge of Node.Js [ THIS IS HOW TO APPLY ] If you feel you are a strong candidate, submit a link to your resumé & portfolio describing your involvement with each project featured to: [email protected] Absolutely no phone calls, please. No recruiting agencies please. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of submissions, we are not able to reply to each individual applicant. You will be contacted if you have been selected for interview. For other DigitalKitchen openings :: visit http://thisisdk.com/careers :: follow @MrGoodNotGood <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=vDsMyQBluh8:MGcWzTURQIE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=vDsMyQBluh8:MGcWzTURQIE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=vDsMyQBluh8:MGcWzTURQIE:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=vDsMyQBluh8:MGcWzTURQIE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=vDsMyQBluh8:MGcWzTURQIE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=vDsMyQBluh8:MGcWzTURQIE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=vDsMyQBluh8:MGcWzTURQIE:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=vDsMyQBluh8:MGcWzTURQIE:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=vDsMyQBluh8:MGcWzTURQIE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/vDsMyQBluh8" width="1" />

UPDATED: 0 MINUTES

Fish – A tap essay for iPhone by Robin Sloan

<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/fish_typeessay00.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-23890" height="287" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/fish_typeessay00.jpg" title="fish_typeessay00" width="640" /></a> Created by Robin Sloan, a writer and media inventor from San Francisco, ‘Fish’ is a tap essay iPhone application, a short but ‘heartfelt manifesto’ about the difference between likingsomething on the internet and loving something on the internet.?<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/iphone/fish-a-tap-essay-for-iphone-by-robin-sloan/?utm_source=feed&utm_campaign=rss-mo-more&utm_medium=rss">Continue reading.... Fish - A tap essay for iPhone by Robin Sloan</a><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=rmONPEZtaf4:uWtPRl_MkJ8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=rmONPEZtaf4:uWtPRl_MkJ8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=rmONPEZtaf4:uWtPRl_MkJ8:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=rmONPEZtaf4:uWtPRl_MkJ8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=rmONPEZtaf4:uWtPRl_MkJ8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=rmONPEZtaf4:uWtPRl_MkJ8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=rmONPEZtaf4:uWtPRl_MkJ8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=rmONPEZtaf4:uWtPRl_MkJ8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=rmONPEZtaf4:uWtPRl_MkJ8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/rmONPEZtaf4" width="1" />

UPDATED: 1 DAY, 5 HOURS

InfObjects by Johannes Tsopanides – Shaping objects by CO² emissions

<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/infobjects_bowl.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-23868" height="426" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/infobjects_bowl-640x426.jpg" title="infobjects_bowl" width="640" /></a> InfObjects by Johannes Tsopanides is a project that uses generative design to visually describe the CO² equivalent, the energy content and price of dishes and their ingredients. Data about the product is parametrically transformed into shapes: the CO² is illustrated by ozone-holes, the energy by the growth of roots and the price of an edible by higher or lower levels within the object<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/processing/infobjects-by-johannes-tsopanides-shaping-objects-by-co%c2%b2-emissions/?utm_source=feed&utm_campaign=rss-mo-more&utm_medium=rss">Continue reading.... InfObjects by Johannes Tsopanides - Shaping objects by CO² emissions</a><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=cuiUpfCbagg:bc4HjoWaYhc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=cuiUpfCbagg:bc4HjoWaYhc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=cuiUpfCbagg:bc4HjoWaYhc:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=cuiUpfCbagg:bc4HjoWaYhc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=cuiUpfCbagg:bc4HjoWaYhc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=cuiUpfCbagg:bc4HjoWaYhc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=cuiUpfCbagg:bc4HjoWaYhc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=cuiUpfCbagg:bc4HjoWaYhc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=cuiUpfCbagg:bc4HjoWaYhc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/cuiUpfCbagg" width="1" />

UPDATED: 1 DAY, 18 HOURS

Creative Technologist at Hill Holliday

<img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-23855" height="180" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/HH_LOGO_HORZ_3D.jpg" title="HH_FRONT_1-6_OUTLINED" width="640" /> <h2>Company: <a href="http://www.hillholliday.com/" target="_blank">Hill Holliday</a></h2> Location: Boston, US Category: Technologist Type: Full Time <h2>Description</h2> We are currently seeking talented creative developers who can hit the ground running and who enjoy the challenges of working on building dynamic, web-based applications, mobile, android, iOS, and social media applications for high profile clients. In collaboration with Information Architects, Strategic and Creative teams, you will bring digital ideas to life that will elevate our Clients’ brands. The ideal candidate is innovative, creative, and driven with an insatiable thirst for technical knowledge. Please have: • A portfolio of elegantly coded websites. • Strong motivation and flexibility needed to function in a fast-paced environment. • Demonstrated ability to be and self-sufficient within a team and to lead those more junior. • A breadth of technical experience including expert knowledge of current, cutting-edge front-end technologies, and the ability to develop robust solutions to include support for legacy browsers/platforms. • Strong understanding of the web development process, including: requirements gathering, information architecture, application design, quality assurance and deployment. • A desire to get things done in an elegant, efficient manner. Technical Skills We Seek: • Expertise in Flash, HTML/HTML5, CSS/CSS3 • Expert knowledge of popular social platforms (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) • Strong knowledge of mobile web development practices • Flash AS3 scripting experience - experience with code-based animation • Knowledge of WCAG Web Accessibility standards • Knowledge of development SEO best practices • Experience integrating front-end code with dynamic, database-backed web applications • Experience integrating front-end templating with CMS systems like WordPress, Drupal, or Expression Engine • Experience with source control solutions, such as Subversion and GIT Experience: • 2-3 years web development experience • Prior experience in an advertising agency or similar creative field preferred. • Bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent experience . About Hill Holliday We are a self-made, came-from-nothing agency, and because of that, we take nothing for granted. At the heart of our culture is performance. If we don’t deliver, we don’t have clients. We work on big, demanding, complicated pieces of business, and we hold on to them for an average of eight years — some for much, much longer. Why? Because at our core, we are family. We take care of our own, both our employees and our clients. We offer unparalleled account service backed by smart, effective creative designed to move our clients’ businesses forward. We work very hard to protect what we have. What do we have? Over 850 people who bring unbeatable talent and expertise to every area of communications — strategy and planning, advertising, digital and social, media planning and buying, and branded content on behalf of industry leaders like Verizon Wireless, Bank of America, Liberty Mutual, Dunkin’ Donuts, Major League Baseball, (RED), John Hancock, Oxfam America, Chili’s, CIGNA, Great Wolf Resorts, and Novartis <a href="http://www.hhcc.com/careers/" target="_blank">www.hillholliday.com/careers/</a> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=Fcm3OVxV4jU:pg6uCvWepGs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=Fcm3OVxV4jU:pg6uCvWepGs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=Fcm3OVxV4jU:pg6uCvWepGs:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=Fcm3OVxV4jU:pg6uCvWepGs:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=Fcm3OVxV4jU:pg6uCvWepGs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=Fcm3OVxV4jU:pg6uCvWepGs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=Fcm3OVxV4jU:pg6uCvWepGs:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=Fcm3OVxV4jU:pg6uCvWepGs:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=Fcm3OVxV4jU:pg6uCvWepGs:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/Fcm3OVxV4jU" width="1" />

UPDATED: 1 DAY, 21 HOURS

Titan, and Beyond the Infinite – Jean-Pierre Aubé visualizes an epic descent

<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/titan_02_640.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-23739" height="339" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/titan_02_640.jpg" title="titan_02_640" width="640" /></a> On January 15th, 2005, after a 7 year and 3,2 kilometer piggyback ride through space, ESA’s Huygens probe detached from the Cassini orbiter and parachuted into the thick atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan. Two years later the Montreal based media artist Jean-Pierre Aubé parsed the scientific data the probe sent back to Earth into a video installation that reimagines the historic descent in Kubrick vision<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/processing/titan-and-beyond-the-infinite-jean-pierre-aube-visualizes-an-epic-descent/?utm_source=feed&utm_campaign=rss-mo-more&utm_medium=rss">Continue reading.... Titan, and Beyond the Infinite – Jean-Pierre Aubé visualizes an epic descent</a><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=-hUwofm-ueQ:o4MJLpagNB8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=-hUwofm-ueQ:o4MJLpagNB8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=-hUwofm-ueQ:o4MJLpagNB8:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=-hUwofm-ueQ:o4MJLpagNB8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=-hUwofm-ueQ:o4MJLpagNB8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=-hUwofm-ueQ:o4MJLpagNB8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=-hUwofm-ueQ:o4MJLpagNB8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=-hUwofm-ueQ:o4MJLpagNB8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=-hUwofm-ueQ:o4MJLpagNB8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/-hUwofm-ueQ" width="1" />

UPDATED: 2 DAYS, 4 HOURS

Resonate – Platform for Art and Technology

<img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-23729 alignnone" height="320" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/anbbcopy-640x320.jpg" title="anbbcopy" width="640" /> Last day in Belgrade in January 2011 and I receive a call from Maria and Jelena to quickly meet and have a quick chat before I head back to London. One coffee, two coffees and plenty of cigarettes we agree to do a festival - as simple as that. I don’t think I have ever made an important decision so quickly that has cost me endless hours of work but has had such an amazing satisfaction from seeing it through<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/events/resonate-platform-for-art-and-technology/?utm_source=feed&utm_campaign=rss-mo-more&utm_medium=rss">Continue reading.... Resonate - Platform for Art and Technology</a><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=QyLuZGVYUok:2aFBw6koggw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=QyLuZGVYUok:2aFBw6koggw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=QyLuZGVYUok:2aFBw6koggw:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=QyLuZGVYUok:2aFBw6koggw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=QyLuZGVYUok:2aFBw6koggw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=QyLuZGVYUok:2aFBw6koggw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=QyLuZGVYUok:2aFBw6koggw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=QyLuZGVYUok:2aFBw6koggw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=QyLuZGVYUok:2aFBw6koggw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/QyLuZGVYUok" width="1" />

UPDATED: 2 DAYS, 22 HOURS

Physical Cellular Automata – Time Lapse by Jan Vantomme

<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/celulara.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-large wp-image-23707 alignnone" height="480" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/celulara-640x480.jpg" title="celulara" width="640" /></a> Jan Vantomme aka “vormplus”, designer based in Ghent-Belgium, created this time lapse movie of him making a physical cellular automata piece made from plastic pixels. What is particularly enjoyable are the two types of logic that engage the viewer; one being the celular automata itself and the other Jan’s method of putting it together. It makes you wonder how far apart are these, if at all. I am also pretty sure the video would work as well in reverse<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/processing/physical-cellular-automata-time-lapse-by-jan-vantomme/?utm_source=feed&utm_campaign=rss-mo-more&utm_medium=rss">Continue reading.... Physical Cellular Automata - Time Lapse by Jan Vantomme</a><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=zlIyqjkeySI:eBerEK2Heg0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=zlIyqjkeySI:eBerEK2Heg0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=zlIyqjkeySI:eBerEK2Heg0:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=zlIyqjkeySI:eBerEK2Heg0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=zlIyqjkeySI:eBerEK2Heg0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=zlIyqjkeySI:eBerEK2Heg0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=zlIyqjkeySI:eBerEK2Heg0:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=zlIyqjkeySI:eBerEK2Heg0:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=zlIyqjkeySI:eBerEK2Heg0:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/zlIyqjkeySI" width="1" />

UPDATED: 3 DAYS, 18 HOURS

The Global Pursuit of Happiness – Boris Petrovsky’s army of 520 Lucky Cats

<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/scripts/the-global-pursuit-of-happiness-boris-petrovskys-army-of-520-lucky-cats/attachment/thearmyofluch_1_640x375/" rel="attachment wp-att-23518"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-23518" height="375" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/TheArmyOfLuch_1_640x375.jpg" title="TheArmyOfLuch_1_640x375" width="640" /></a> Is there such a thing as too much luck? Boris Petrovsky’s installation The Army of Luck that recently premiered at Art Karlsruhe 2012 leaves you with no less than 520 waving Maneki Neko (=lucky) cats to find out. Mounted on a massive 8m wide and 3m high altar and operating like a 520 pixel cat-matrix, Petrovsky’s hauntingly happy army parades a variety of arm gestures (political, military or casual) and – like a giant golden mirror – echoes up to 40 character confessions dropped into a wish box<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/scripts/the-global-pursuit-of-happiness-boris-petrovskys-army-of-520-lucky-cats/?utm_source=feed&utm_campaign=rss-mo-more&utm_medium=rss">Continue reading.... The Global Pursuit of Happiness – Boris Petrovsky’s army of 520 Lucky Cats</a><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=FW81zptP9d4:kAfK5cekpKw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=FW81zptP9d4:kAfK5cekpKw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=FW81zptP9d4:kAfK5cekpKw:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=FW81zptP9d4:kAfK5cekpKw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=FW81zptP9d4:kAfK5cekpKw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=FW81zptP9d4:kAfK5cekpKw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=FW81zptP9d4:kAfK5cekpKw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=FW81zptP9d4:kAfK5cekpKw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=FW81zptP9d4:kAfK5cekpKw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/FW81zptP9d4" width="1" />

UPDATED: 4 DAYS, 1 HOUR

iOS Developer at Rocket Chair Media

<img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-23620 alignnone" height="180" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/rocketchair.png" title="rocketchair" width="640" /> <h2>Company: <a href="http://rocketchairmedia.com" target="_blank">Rocket Chair Media</a></h2> Location: NYC, US Category: Coder Type: Freelance <h2>Description</h2> Startup Electronic Narrative Company looking for a freelance iOS developer to begin work on an iPad application ASAP. The developer will work directly with the creative director and will be responsible for executing all software and technical requirements of the project’s concept and design. As an iOS expert, your input is encouraged and your creativity is required to solve any expected or unexpected technical and design challenges along the way toward innovating the reading experience for tablet platforms. Think of yourself as a vital part of the team, because we certainly do. Compensation will be a flat fee commensurate with experience. We know how important you are to us and we want to treat you that way – and pay you that way – with the hope of this becoming a fulltime position in the future, should you be interested. Responsibilities: • Work with creative director to create an iPad application that matches the design and concept • Develop, test and maintain the iOS application • Find and solve any problems or bugs with the application • Provide estimates for technical efforts Requirements: • Expert knowledge of Objective-C • Understanding of “Dynamic Tiling” (similar effect to Google Maps). Experience with this is preferable. • High level of expertise with memory management in iOS • Experience with Cocoa Touch • Prior experience developing production iOS apps. • Interest in pushing the iPad/tablet platform to its limit – and maybe a little beyond • Demonstrated ability to find unexpected, creative solutions to software, hardware, and all other problems • An interest in storytelling of any kind is absolutely a plus, but not a requirement • Creative, focused, results-oriented, self-motivated, resourceful problem-solver with strong communications skills So if you’re interested, talented and full of ideas get in touch with us! Send [email protected] a resume, some notes about yourself and links to portfolio work when you do, please. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=PI-iZXHvTjM:A-11KLhSjhY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=PI-iZXHvTjM:A-11KLhSjhY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=PI-iZXHvTjM:A-11KLhSjhY:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=PI-iZXHvTjM:A-11KLhSjhY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=PI-iZXHvTjM:A-11KLhSjhY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=PI-iZXHvTjM:A-11KLhSjhY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=PI-iZXHvTjM:A-11KLhSjhY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=PI-iZXHvTjM:A-11KLhSjhY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=PI-iZXHvTjM:A-11KLhSjhY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/PI-iZXHvTjM" width="1" />

UPDATED: 6 DAYS, 17 HOURS

Faith Condition 2012 by Lukas Franciszkiewicz – An ‘out-of-body’ experience..

<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/faitcondition00.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-23571" height="426" src="http://www.creativeapplications.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/faitcondition00-640x426.jpg" title="faitcondition00" width="640" /></a> Faith Condition by Lukas Franciszkiewicz is a project that attempts to address the understanding and applications of technology within the religions circles of current “media society”. Lukas is interested in the transformation of religion and technological reproduction of the religious phenomenon of an ‘out-of-body’-experience. The initial aim was the manipulation of human self-perception by blurring the boundaries between the real and a virtual body. Derived from these experiments, Lukas experimented with few scenarios for a disembodied sense<a href="http://www.creativeapplications.net/objects/faith-condition-2012-by-lukas-franciszkiewicz-an-out-of-body-experience/?utm_source=feed&utm_campaign=rss-mo-more&utm_medium=rss">Continue reading.... Faith Condition 2012 by Lukas Franciszkiewicz - An ‘out-of-body’ experience..</a><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=kayjnBtkwA8:pq9qXeOO75Q:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=kayjnBtkwA8:pq9qXeOO75Q:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=kayjnBtkwA8:pq9qXeOO75Q:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=kayjnBtkwA8:pq9qXeOO75Q:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=kayjnBtkwA8:pq9qXeOO75Q:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=kayjnBtkwA8:pq9qXeOO75Q:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=kayjnBtkwA8:pq9qXeOO75Q:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?i=kayjnBtkwA8:pq9qXeOO75Q:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?a=kayjnBtkwA8:pq9qXeOO75Q:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/creativeapplicationsnet?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/creativeapplicationsnet/~4/kayjnBtkwA8" width="1" />

UPDATED: 6 DAYS, 23 HOURS

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Featured Blog: China Design Hub

Our friends at <a href="http://ff.fildry.com/chinadesignhub">China Design Hub</a> (CDH) have been covering original design and art from China for a few months now and have shared with us a couple of inspiring new artists. The blog, that features art from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, has been showcasing different creative industries from industrial and architecture to interior and fashion. Their goal is simply to shake off the negative light and biased view toward Chinese Design. Here are 3 talented artists that caught our attention. <a href="http://ff.fildry.com/sallyzou">Sally Zou</a> Sally is a Shanghainese born in 1986 and started picking up art, design and advertising after displaying a big interest in the art field since a child. After working at the advertising agency McCann-Erickson, she joined W+K Shanghai as an intern in 2006 to participate in numerous design projects and visual productions. Sally officially became Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai’s graphic designer and digital artist in 2007, and went on to work on visual works for Nike, Converse and Umbro. One of the projects she worked on, “W+K BOOK III”, won a merit at One Show 2009. Sally is also a member of the design collective- MMRB and has been working on several art collaborations, and increasing her presence in the design industry as well by emerging 3rd place in the Cut & Paste competition held in Shanghai. Recently, she was the only Chinese female individual to be selected by Yen magazine, Australia’s no.1 independent magazine for women as one of the top 100 female artists in 2009. Visit Sally at China Design Hub: <a href="http://ff.fildry.com/sallyzou">http://ff.fildry.com/sallyzou</a> <img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/01.jpg" width="617" /> <img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/high1.jpg" width="617" /> <img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/airmax_lebron_vii_a01.jpg" width="617" /> Feng Haoyu The original design lasts for a reason. People looks at the same object over time and gives it different meanings. A polka dot pattern has its origin, the same applies to any design, product and object. This is a project to find the origin of design, product and object,to discover their meaning in different time period. and to find new interpretations of original design and object. Visit Feng at China Design Hub: <a href="http://ff.fildry.com/HGy8H9">http://ff.fildry.com/HGy8H9 </a> <img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/origin_1.jpg" width="617" /> <img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/origin_7.jpg" width="617" /> <img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/origin_6.jpg" width="617" /> <a href="http://ff.fildry.com/nodyoung">Nod Young</a> Nod Young is a visual artist specializing in digital design and visual arts, whose unique style and extraordinary insight have been well recognized. In his works, Nod mixes Chinese cultures with various elements, avant garde and traditional, always trying to break down the boundaries. As an artist, his works have been widely exhibited around the globe, from the UK to Spain, Finland to Singapore, the US to South Africa. Nod hopes to bring changes to life, through art and creativity that are able to influence the world and enrich people’s sensations. Nod has also gained commercial success and worked with many international clients, including NIKE, Adidas, Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Nokia, Microsoft, Mercedes, Li Ning, FIAT, Green Peace. He is also actively involved in a lot of art-related projects as an independent designer, and is planning to publish a portfolio book together with Tsinghua University Press at the summer of 2012. Visit Nod at China Design Hub: <a href="http://ff.fildry.com/nodyoung">http://ff.fildry.com/nodyoung</a> <img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/aNew-Wave-_01_600.jpg" width="617" /> <img alt="" height="617" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/01_Run_by_Nod.jpg" width="617" /> <img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Nod-Young-@-Nike-2_600.jpg" width="617" />

UPDATED: 0 MINUTES

The Benefits of Online Portfolios

The Benefits of Online Portfolios There are many advantages to developing an online portfolio, including convenience, diversity, and affordability. When presenting a portfolio, it is important to be as efficient as possible in order to both keep prospective employers interested, as well as to give yourself the best opportunity to succeed. Many creative professionals prefer online portfolios because of how convenient they are to create. Instead of endless time spent printing and organizing a hand held portfolio, you could spend all of your time designing it into something truly unique before the simple process of uploading your work onto the internet. Updating your portfolio online is also much more convenient with this method. If you want to slightly change a project, you can do so simply by re-uploading it as opposed to worrying about reprinting. It is much easier to deal with problems that arise when working with digital files as opposed to hard copies. Printing and reprinting costs can add up quickly, not to mention the costs associated with additional portfolio supplies. This fact makes online portfolios much more affordable and cost effective than their physical counterparts. Another convenience of an online portfolio is that you can easily include works from different professional fields. Perhaps your portfolio combines painting, photography, and graphic design, all of which would be very hard to display in a single portfolio. Online portfolios allow more diversity because there is not only more space available, but because everything can be presented on screen in a clean and organized fashion. This allows you to upload everything you want, while viewers sort out what they want to see. Creating a portfolio on the web can also impress viewers with your digital skills. Creating and maintaining a web portfolio presents many opportunities to show off HTML, Flash, or Java expertise, as well as proving your ability to work using an online platform. Many online portfolios even include an extensive resume and history of education, making it easy for employers to get all the information they need in a single convenient location! <a href="/CptDooDlez"><img alt="CptDooDlez" src="/cache/pad_portfolio_thumbs/1331193843.04_detail_image.jpg" width="635" /></a> From <a href="/CptDooDlez">Kevin Andersson</a> Filter Foundry PAD (online portfolio) Creative Supply and Demand While being an artist or a creative professional may have been considered a risky move at one point, the growing need for design and creative services has been apparent over the last few years. Visual professionals, good ones at least, used to be few and far between, but recent trends suggest that the rules of supply and demand are taking their toll on the industry. Creative professionals are graduating in bigger and bigger classes as the years go by, creating a huge pool of qualified potentials making a grab for available jobs. Design portfolios are being [e]mailed to advertising and marketing firms on a daily basis as people hope to turn their creative dreams into reality. The creative supply is there, but the problem is that as universities produce more designers, there is less demand for design services. The job market is getting increasingly more competitive, and many employers and hiring managers have noticed a shift in the quality of design portfolios. There has been a noticeable increase in mimic designers, who lack creative depth but are very good at manipulating existing popular designs. Trade schools are even providing creative programs now, meaning that the level of experience, education, and passion that used to characterize art students is slowly being dissolved. Upon viewing portfolios it is difficult for companies to accurately assess the talents of the applicant. Because they are being swamped with online portfolios, as well as physical copies, it is getting harder to find real value when sifting through it all. Similarly, the value of a designer to the hiring company is getting confused as companies struggle to use their designers to their full advantage. Many people inaccurately think that design services consist of a logo and a pretty poster, but that is far from being true especially as the industry continues to expand. The future of design professionals, especially those graduating in the near future, is cloudy. The relationship between designer and hiring company is facing a lot of changes as supply and demand continue to take their toll. <a href="/Casiana"><img alt="Casiana" src="/cache/pad_portfolio_thumbs/1320570181.68_detail_image.jpg" width="635" /></a> From <a href="/Casiana">Petrovan Casiana</a> Filter Foundry PAD (online portfolio) Common Mistakes When Putting Together a Design Portfolio Many creative professionals don't give themselves the opportunity to shine because they make too many mistakes when putting together their portfolios. This article will discuss a few key tips to remember in order to create successful and effective design portfolios. <blockquote> First, don't use outdated materials. Unless it is a really high-profile project, it's better to show your recent work. A good rule of thumb is to use assignments created within the last three years unless you have something older that is incredibly relevant to a project you’re after. Second, an online portfolio is a great thing to have, but many employers will want something they can hold in their hands. In order to meet the demands of all types, it is best to provide the option of both types of design portfolios. Also, bring a sample that you can leave behind when you go on your interview to give the company something to remember you by. Another common mistake is not tailoring the portfolio to the needs of the client. Customize your portfolio online and in print in order to engage the hiring manager and show that you have done your research. Also remember that when you build an online portfolio you will not want to turn off viewers with long loading times. Design portfolios should be impressive, but not require so much space that no one sticks around to view them. The most important thing to remember is to keep your portfolio organized. No one wants to look at a sloppy book, or a sloppy web page. Printed copies should look fresh, and if your portfolio contains bulky items be sure to carry them separately. Don't let a few items compromise your whole portfolio. </blockquote> Keep these things in mind and it will be a breeze to create effective design portfolios. The competition in this industry is getting fiercer as every graduation day passes, so it is often necessary to go the extra mile to help yourself stand out in the crowd. <a href="/pads/"><img alt="Pads" border="1" height="316" src="http://filterfoundry-media.s3.amazonaws.com/blog_images/Article01_FF_Screencap_Pads.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="635" /></a> <a href="/pads/">Filter Foundry Featured PADs </a> Building a <a href="/pads/">Free Portfolio</a> In the current economy, many people are struggling to find work. It can be even more difficult when applying for a job requires putting together an expensive portfolio, as is the case for many creative professionals. Lucky for them (and you!), however, there are many ways to go about building a <a href="/pads/">free portfolio</a>. The best way to create a <a href="/pads/">free portfolio</a> is by exploring all of the various ways to make a portfolio online. Unlike a printing shop, the internet’s options are available for free. Not only that, but an online portfolio is incredibly convenient because it can be viewed by anyone at any time. There are a number of online methods that will allow you to build a <a href="/pads/">free portfolio</a>. The first is by going through a host site. Many web service providers allow others to create sites within their server for free, and many even specialize in building an online portfolio. These sites also provide easy upload services, which will allow you to organize your work neatly. They also provide basic layout and color spread options, while also offering you the opportunity to customize the layout to your liking. Those with expertise in HTML or Java applications may prefer to use their own design, especially if they want to market these services. There are many benefits to creating a <a href="/pads/">free portfolio</a> this way because it will introduce you to a whole network of creative professionals. Many of these sites allow users to interact with each other, offering feedback or advice on how to enhance your portfolio online. In addition, some even offer job listings so that you can put your <a href="/pads/">free portfolio</a> to immediate use! There can be many benefits to investing money into a portfolio, but there are many effective strategies you can take advantage of when this isn't an option.

UPDATED: 6 DAYS, 17 HOURS

Featured Artist: Victor Enrich

FF: Victor, tell us a little bit about your photography and your art. Victor: I’m a 36 year old Photo Artist, from Barcelona. My college education was in the School of Architecture, as that was supposed to be my profession. However, and due to the fact that since early years of my life there was always a computer at home, in particular, because of the job of my father and, in combination with that fact that most of the times, in my childhood, I enjoyed playing alone, using my imagination, I started to get in touch with several kinds of rudimentary CAD packages, which for me, where the best extension of my hand-made drawings and sketches. With time, I developed some skills in Computer Graphics but just for my own fun. In the university years, I found out that I had already developed some valuable skills for architects to communicate their projects so I began to accept commissioned works from my school teachers, who with time, became my permanent customers. Being considered and recognized professionally was definitely a good thing, but not good enough as a very important part of me was totally misused in my commissioned projects, which was my imagination. That is why I decided to quit 15 years experience of freelance works, as well as a long and stable list of customers and move to a totally unexpected and uncertain future within the world of art. <img alt="" height="495" src="http://victorenrich.com/wp-content/uploads/037_027MANUELA_01_BOXMETA.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="495" /> FF: How did you get started with photo-realistic fantasy architecture? Victor: Moving into art is not such an easy step, you need something to say, an inspiring source and...at least one technique or way of expression. I somehow, found out that I had the 3 of them...so, in a way, my 15 years in freelancing, in the end served me to dominate a tool, with which do whatever I would like to. So the step from commissioned to creative works was not difficult in terms of know-how... It was more difficult in terms of accepting a new economical situation, or overcoming the fear of bad critics or even worse, total anonymity. At first, between project and project, some time was dedicated to art, those were tough times as, after long days in front of the computer for a customer’s deadline, I only had energy to leave the office and take some rest...but I stayed. Then, with time, I started to dedicate more and more time to creative works until the day I decided to not accept any more commissioned works. The whole transformation has taken place in about 5 years. FF: Would you walk us through a typical project from location scouting to final render? Victor: Any project starts with a living experience. A conversation, a commercial, a trip, a dinner with friends, a moment of solitude...anything is welcome. I must admit that there’s a little journalist in me, so I tend to introduce myself into situations that normal people would reject <ul> To give you an example: I spent the last 2 years of my life in Tel Aviv, Israel...surrounded by Jews. I community that, the more I know them, the more I love them For several circumstances I was forced to leave the country, I got deported, went to jail and in jail I met incredible interesting people who I interview for over 5 days. I met false prophets living in caves, Colombian refugees escaping death from the Narco, Nigerian priests performing out loud Afro-Christian ceremonies in our 8 sq meter cell 4 times a day...and so on. </ul> Now I live in Munich, Germany, the former cradle of the Nazi movement and I’m sharing flat with a religious Muslim husband born in the Gaza strip...I bet most of my Jewish friends would refuse me for that...or maybe not. So, without a living experience, at least for me, Art is not possible. The rest is just a kind of routine process of computers, photography, city walks etc... <img alt="" src="http://victorenrich.com/wp-content/uploads/036_026DUCKS_01_BOXMETA.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="495" /> FF: What software have you used and what's the advantages it bring to the table? Victor: I must admit that, with my age, I’m a bit old fashioned in terms of software choices. I use mainly <a href="/mudbox/">Autodesk</a> software, because I feel comfortable with them, I know all the bugs and I can perform fast. These packages are AUTOCAD and 3DSTUDIO MAX with VRAY. As a 3D visualizer, I must say that VRAY changed my life because the Chaos Group technology implemented a big leap into Global Illumination. I also use Rhinoceros when it’s time to dig deeper into weird shapes as we all know that AUTOCAD has its limitations as a 2D-born package. FF: When do you know a certain site is “prime” for 3D building? Victor: Generally I shoot tons of pictures with my camera, in order to have a vast range of choice. Some pictures don’t [turn out] as good as I want, or the central subject is not clear enough for me. Sometimes, instead, it’s totally clear for me that I want to shoot a building so I start to investigate ways to get a nice shot, specially from unusual points of view. I contact people, [make] some phone calls, or if necessary I sneek into [buildings and construction sites], so there’s a bit of adrenaline in it...which I love. So, in the end, it’s a combination of facts that make a picture be finally selected to the next stage...it’s like a casting somehow. This selection is very important as the following 3D tasks applied on it will take at least one month...I can’t permit myself to throw away a month work (it has already happened to me ...) <img alt="" src="http://victorenrich.com/wp-content/uploads/032_022TUNA_01_BOXMETA.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="495" /> FF: Do you work with other architects? Victor: Not anymore, at least in commissioned projects. I work with them in terms of conversational meetings, discussions or any other subject related to architecture which can be valuable for me to get inspiration. FF: What projects do you have coming up in the near future? Victor: Now I’m working on a project that will involve the Munich cathedral. I can’t [disclose] more about it as it will be published exclusively for an important magazine in London. After this, we'll see...I have several projects that are on the waiting list, some of them based again on Tel Aviv. FF: Who are your influences? Victor: Everything influences me. From an old homeless man playing, under a porch, extremely beautiful classical music with his rotten violin but right after peeing in “his” corner behind to an Indian guy I met recently who travels the world by bike spreading his message. So I must say it’s people. No architecture influences me as is comparable more restricted than what I do for obvious reasons. FF: How does creating art compare to teaching? Victor: Teaching first of all is a social act. Doing my pictures is an individual act. In order to keep my insanity under control, both acts must be there. I love teaching, probably more than doing art. FF: Can you give our readers some tips or advice? Victor: Well...it’s hard to give advice as I don’t have any big message to say. I would only try to invite everybody to investigate in his or her own fears and try to overcome them, reaching unexpected limits of self knowledge without forgetting that any single direction we take in life, left or right, has a price to pay...so the first question one should ask himself should be: Am I ready to pay that price? Another thing I would say is: consume less, bring more. Feed the universe. That idea, thought or dream that you consider silly or stupid is instead the most valuable good you can share with all of us. Victor's Filter Foundry PAD: <a href="/victorenrich/">/victorenrich/</a>

UPDATED: 1 WEEK, 2 DAYS

Featured Gallery: Louis K. Meisel Gallery

A vanguard of the art movement know as <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/762693/Photo-realism">Photorealism</a> and proprietor of the <a href="http://www.meiselgallery.com">Louis K. Meisel Gallery</a> in SoHo, Louis K. Meisel has made art his life. His 1996 book <a href="http://www.meiselgallery.com/LKMG/publications/">The Great American Pin-up</a> came across our desk and we contacted Mr. Meisel to get his insight on his specialty. FF: How would you describe your gallery’s mission and vision? My focus after inventing the word PHOTOREALISM in 1969 and assembling a number of artists under that genre has been to represent, present , promote and collect the finest post modern, art history making realist painters and sculptors in the world. I believe I have done that. <a href="/robertneffson"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.meiselgallery.com/lkmg/imagesDB/neffson_NotreDame.jpg" width="635" /></a> <a href="/robertneffson">Robert Neffson</a> "Notre Dame De Paris", oil on linen, 52 x 74" FF: Would you give us your expert definition of Photorealism and its subsets? The Photorealists use the camera, film, digital devices and now computers to gather and assemble the images they will use make paintings. The imagery and composition is POST POP….NOT academic. They have the greatest technical ability ever seen in art. That of course is frowned upon as politically incorrect because very few have the skills and DISCIPLINE to do it and are therefore excluded from "sharing the wealth" . The word "quality" which DOES apply to the Photorealists is racist and sexist according to Michael Brenson: At the opening of "The Magicians of the Earth," the gigantic exhibition of contemporary art in Paris last summer, I mentioned to another American art critic that I found the selection of Western artists troublesome. I also said that some of the non-Western artists were not very good. "Ah, the quality issue," she said, with a wary smile that told me in no uncertain terms that this was an approach to the show she wanted no part of. Ah, the quality issue! Unlikely as it may seem, this common, everyday word has become a lightning rod for a stormy debate in the art world. Swirling around it are arguments over the virtues of form versus content, Western values versus non-Western values, men versus women. Although the debate might seem a parochial one, confined to art and academic circles, it is affecting not only the art of today but also the thinking of an entire generation. There may be no more divisive word in the art world just now. Perhaps no word inspires more devotion among its supporters and more anger among its detractors. Perhaps no word exposes more deeply the present conflicts about art, standards, multiculturalism and American culture in general. <ul> </ul> <a href="/tomblackwell"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.meiselgallery.com/lkmg/imagesDB/blackwell09.jpg" width="635" /></a> <a href="/tomblackwell">Tom Blackwell</a> "Ralph Lauren" , oil on paper and board, 10.25 x 13.25 FF: Tell about your current exhibitions. The galleries in SoHo and 57th Street continue to show the finest post modern realist painting and sculpture in the world. Up and coming, <a href="/tomblackwell">Tom Blackwell</a>, <a href="/robertneffson">Robert Neffson</a>, <a href="/raphaellaspence">Raphaella Spence</a>, <a href="/bertrandmeniel">Bertrand Meniel</a>, and POP artist <a href="/melramos">Mel Ramos</a>. FF: Do you have any words of wisdom for our artists and painters? Learn to draw, and study 3000 years of art history. Don't worry about or bother with the past 2 decades or so. FF: What do you look for when you view a new artist? Innovation in PAINTING and Sculpture in the area of realism. Skills and DISCIPLINE and an indication of the hard work it takes to be a REAL ARTIST, not one who sells piss and elephant shit. <img alt="" src="http://www.meiselgallery.com/lkmg/imagesDB/flack28_1.jpg" width="635" /> Audrey Flack "Shiva Blue" , 1973, oil over acrylic on canvas, 35 x 50" FF: Why would an artist approach your gallery? Because they are a fine realist artist and know we are the best gallery in the world in the genre. FF: What artists would you recommend as inspirational? That must come from within! FF: What are your thoughts about current art movements? Look to the best of the past for something of visual interest as far as painting and sculpture are concerned. FF: How has the internet (digital art) affected gallery visits? Digital art is just that. Digital….on the cloud. No gallery visits are needed. OR yes, some do wish to have scans sent from which they want to buy art. I am old fashioned. My collectors have to and want to stand in front of the art they are considering. In my gallery art is acquired by those who LIKE what they see, want to take it home and display it in their homes and enjoy LOOKING AT IT. Not common in today's so called art world. sources: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/22/arts/art-view-is-quality-an-idea-whose-time-has-gone.html?pagewanted=all"> http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/22/arts/art-view-is-quality-an-idea-whose-time-has-gone.html?pagewanted=all</a> <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/762693/Photo-realism">http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/762693/Photo-realism</a> <a href="http://www.meiselgallery.com">http://www.meiselgallery.com</a>

UPDATED: 3 WEEKS

I know you are but what am I?

<a href="">Filter Foundry</a> had the pleasure of being the official social partner for <a href="http://beautyisembarrassing.com/">Beauty Is Embarrassing</a>, the Neil Berkeley documentary of emmy award winning artist <a href="/waynewhite/">Wayne White</a>. Premiering at the SXSW Festival this year, this documentary has drawn accolades from the film, music and interactive communities. Take a read at what Joshua Brunsting had to say about the film and then go out and watch it. ~MAC How does one become a multi-time Emmy award winning artist from such humble beginnings as being born in the mountains of Tennessee? Well, just ask beloved cartoonist/set designer/sculptor/voice actor/painter Wayne White, or just watch the new documentary looking into the life of this artist, entitled Beauty Is Embarrassing. Directed by Neil Berkeley, the film looks into the rather eventful life of this artist, who became a cartoonist in New York, only to become a founding creator of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, and now the painter of some of the most well received sarcastic word paintings around. White has lived one of the most interesting lives an artist can live, and while his work may not be considered the highest form of visual art, often getting scoffs from “pretentious” art critics, it has garnered White a large amount of fame, and also pumped some humor back into the stuffy world of art. And Beauty has pumped some life back into the world of documentary filmmaking. Structurally, the film is a standard biography. Looking into every aspect of White’s life, the film thrives when our lead is on screen, giving us his story, from his mouth. White is a massively charismatic figure, who has lived an equally interesting life. From cartoonist to Playhouse creator, this man has worn a million different hats, living what very much can be defined as a modern life. Given today’s economic landscape, White has lived the life of what many people of this generation will ultimately live. Going from job to job, hoping to make some sort of splash somewhere, and White is the perfect example that this is not just some sort of pipedream, but with the right focus, something palpable. The interviews here are also quite entertaining. Featuring bits with the likes of Mark Mothersbaugh, Matt Groening and Todd Oldham, the film proves that while White’s name may not be the best known, his influence and impact is felt around the world. Also featuring interviews with White’s family, friends, and loved ones, the film is a touching ode to a man who signifies a lost era of purely and viscerally creative people. Aesthetically, the film is perfectly paired with its subject matter. Beauty features some really great cinematography, and has a kinetic sense of style that fits like a glove alongside its subject matter. Using archival and home footage, the film gives us a great look into this artist’s life, and the world in which he both helped create, and subsequently lived in. Sure, the film lacks a sense of pure importance, something that films like The Interrupters and other beloved documentaries have featured, but it is the film’s sense of joy and child-like wonder that make it not only a pertinent bit of filmmaking, but one that will have people absolutely hooked. Overall, the film is a purely must-see documentary. Beauty does lack the politically or sociologically relevant subject matter of many modern documentaries, but what the film may lack in cultural importance it makes up for in both pure entertainment value and a level of relevance that is shockingly palpable. One of the most engaging documentary features in a very, very long time, Beauty is not at all embarrassing. On the contrary. It’s nothing but pure entertainment. Beautiful in every possible way. Links: <a href="http://beautyisembarrassing.com/">Official Movie Website</a>: http://beautyisembarrassing.com/ <a href="http://criterioncast.com/2012/03/10/joshua-reviews-neil-berkeleys-beauty-is-embarrassing-sxsw-2012-review/">Joshua Brunsting's Film Review</a>: http://criterioncast.com/2012/03/10/joshua-reviews-neil-berkeleys-beauty-is-embarrassing-sxsw-2012-review/ <a href="/waynewhite/">Wayne's PAD</a>: /waynewhite/

UPDATED: 1 MONTH

Featured Artist: Soon Tong

<a href="/SoonTong/">Soon Tong</a> is one of the leading visual artists in the world. His craft: experimental photography that captures "sublime images of liquids frozen in a fleeting moment.” His Aquatic series caught the attention of our readers and we asked him for a few short answers to some of your more pressing questions. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Sharp"> </a>FF: Would you tell us a little bit about your style of photography? Soon: Experimental & innovative. I like to try new shooting methods on varied subjects. FF: What are you currently working on? Soon: Underwater Photography <a href="http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/225941_131046286971273_131030140306221_212427_4510678_n.jpg"><img alt="" src="http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/225941_131046286971273_131030140306221_212427_4510678_n.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="550" /></a> FF: How did you get started in photography? Soon: My 1st camera is a point & shoot compact camera that I used to shoot animals at the zoo almost every week. After secondary school , my dad encouraged me to take up a basic photography course, where I learned how to process film and print my own photos. That got me really hooked on photography. FF: What are your favorite cameras (digital and film)? Soon: My favorite film camera is the Nikon F90 which I still have . What I love about it is that I can use different film stock in it to give me very different effects. ( B/W, infrared red, colour slides, etc ) Digital will have to be Phaseone system and the DSLR for hi speed motor drive actions FF: What inspires your work? Soon: Interesting images that I come across or interesting articles read. These inspire me to come up with my own concepts. Its really exciting when I get something different and interesting out of it. FF: What inspired you to make liquid photography your signature and where did it start? Soon: I was working on a series of liquid images and I was experimenting with the dynamics of impact on liquid. I was most fascinated with the interesting shapes that liquid form. It's a bit like film where you never really know what to expect until it's be processed , in this case after it's been shot. FF: How important are touch-up programs like Photoshop in your final product? Soon: Photoshop is essential to achieve a conceptual look that the client require. For example forming a word make up of liquid. <a href="http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/224686_131046320304603_131030140306221_212429_5261178_n.jpg"><img align="left" alt="" border="0" hspace="10" src="http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/224686_131046320304603_131030140306221_212429_5261178_n.jpg" vspace="10" width="300" /></a> FF: Who are your favorite photographers and why? Soon: Steven Meisel and Paolo Roversi for their lighting techniques, and the connection they make with their subjects. FF: What do you do when you are not behind the camera? Soon: I'm always keen to learn something new. Recently I took up salsa dancing which thoroughly enjoy. Next on my list is horseback riding. FF: Any tips you could share about macro photography? Soon: A good sharp lens is key, especially when shooting close up (i.e. jewelry) Soon: Cheers! Links to Soon's work: <a href="/SoonTong/">Filter Foundry Pad</a>: /SoonTong/ <a href="http://www.calibrepics.com/">Official Website</a>: http://www.calibrepics.com/ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Soon-Tong/131030140306221">Facebook</a>: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Soon-Tong/131030140306221

UPDATED: 1 MONTH, 1 WEEK

Featured Artist: Liam sharp

<a href="/LiamSharp">Liam Sharp</a> is a British artist, writer and publisher. He made his debut in the late 1980s drawing Judge Dredd for 2000ad. He later moved to Marvel UK, where he drew the best-selling Marvel UK title ever, Death's Head II. Thereafter he began working mainly in the United States on books as diverse as the X-Men, the Hulk, Spider-Man, Venom, Man-Thing (for Marvel Comics), Superman, Batman, and The Possessed (for DC Comics and Wildstorm), Spawn: The Dark Ages (for Todd McFarlane and Image) and Red Sonja for Dynamite comics. FF: How would you describe your artistic style? Liam: I honestly have no idea! What I might be associated with - detailed, gritty realism, or over-blown testosterone-fuelled mayhem - isn't really indicative of who I am. My book <a href="http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/218125">'Dead Apes in the Snow</a>' (you can still download a free digital copy of it from <a href="http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/218125">here</a>) probably demonstrates that best! There's all sorts of stuff in there that hasn't been seen, and probably represents me better. I'm a sucker for the progressive work that came out of Europe and the underground comics in America in the 1970s, and the genius work done in the more mainstream companies in the eighties - artists like Moebius, Druillet, Corben, Liberatore, BWS, Wrightson, Sienkiewicz... the giants of the industry to me - that's what I aspire to. I'm a big old broth of all of those guys! FF: What are your favorite hobbies and how do you like to spend your free time? Liam: I generally try to find a way to bring the things that I love doing for fun into a practical place - mainly because that way I can justify doing it! I have a family, three kids, and I'm the co-founder [of <a href="http://www.movingbrands.com">Moving Brands</a>] (with CEO Ben Wolstenholme) and CCO of a new company in Berkeley, <a href="http://www.madefire.com">Madefire</a>, so my time is very limited and precious! It always is, though, when you're a freelancer, which I have been for 25 years. I used to write a lot for pleasure, but in the end it got very serious and resulted in a novel. I have another coming out early next year too, and a load of short stories published in various places - many online. Writing is a huge passion. I also make a lot of music - either singing in bands, playing my guitar (badly) or composing on Garageband or Logic. <a href="http://mamtor.amazingtunes.com/users/mamtor">Music</a>, I would say, is my biggest obsessive hobby - though it's been a good six months since I last did anything substantial. FF: With such a successful career so far, what wisdom can you share with upcoming illustrators who would like to try and follow in your footsteps? Liam: Tenacity! That, and keeping your mind and eyes wide open. Know your limitations, and realise that the more you learn the less you know. it never gets easier so be prepared for a long slog mostly doing work that other people want you to do. Also - and key - make time to find space for the things you love to do, and keep creating for it's own sake. FF: Which comic book series did you have the most fun working on and why? Laim: Different books for different reasons. Death's Head because of the people I met at that time - including my wife - and because I fell in love with the characters in the book. Manthing because J.M.DeMatteis was a JOY to work with and we pushed the envelope, creating something truly original I think. Event Horizon because it was a kind of rebirth, and put me the other side of the desk for a change - a valuable lesson! Gears of War because it's my most consistent work to date. Aliens: Fast Track to Heaven because I got to do everything on that one, the writing, pencils, inks and colours. And my current work for Madefire, Captain Stone is Missing... because I co-created it with my wife and I think it may well be the work of my career, combining all the things I've learnt along the way. FF: Can you tell us a little bit about switching from illustrating to writing (challenges and rewards)? Liam: I don't really think about it as switching because I always did it, it was always a part of my life and something I made time for. But there comes a point when you have to ask yourself how serious you are. I asked myself and found that I was very serious about it. In many ways I think I may be a better writer than I am an artist - certainly it represents 'me' rather better than my art - which tends to be a bit macho - though not through any design on my part. I just tended to get the jobs Simon Bisley passed on! That said, my novel <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/God-Killers-Machivarius-Point-Other/dp/0954999886/ref=sr_1_25?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330371913&sr=1-25">God Killers</a> is pretty full of 'doom' as one reviewer put it! The next book is entirely different. Very personal, and nothing remotely like anything I've ever had published before. It's the bravest thing I've created I think - though it's also very odd. It's called Paradise Rex Press, inc. and China Miéville has written an amazing introduction to it. Very humbling as he's one of my all time favourite authors. Writing is far more freeing than art in that you can, if you wish, cover more ground. You can depict scenes in a matter of sentences that would take months to render in paint. You can be more abstract, and you invite more participation from the reader - they see it with their own mind's eye, and as we're all subjective that's likely an extremely varied set of perceptions. I love that aspect. And I love being able to confound expectations. I also love the chance elements, where a character seems to rise, unbidden, from some dark corner of your imagination - a newly liminal force, that sits at the centre of what your doing and usually makes it's purpose clear when you hit a snag in the plot and realise that if you hadn't created this unexpected, unplanned character you'd be completely stuffed! FF: Do you have a routine or a system that helps your creative flow. How do you find inspiration and get yourself in the creative zone? Liam: If I'm struggling with a page of art I find that composing something on my keyboard helps. I'll alternate, even down to fifteen minute bites, one to the other. When drawing gets that tough it's not a good place to be, but I find that if I keep going, no matter how difficult I'm finding it, then I get much further by the end of the day than I expected I would. I've even done some pages that turned out amongst my best, though I didn't enjoy a moment of the act of making them. The music-making creates a sense of satisfaction in an otherwise stultified and frustrating day, and that makes for a better mood in general! Sometimes I find writing has the same effect - though I'll usually take a couple or three hours out to do that. There are weeks, though, when all I really want to do is write, and often my biggest frustration is not being able to do that. FF: Which medium do you prefer to work in Digital or Traditional and why? Liam: I really don't have a favourite medium - they all produce such a variety of results! I do love the speed and freedom of digital art, but there's nothing like chasing oil paint around a canvas... FF: What are your favorite software programs when working in Digital Format and what do you like about them? Liam: I'm very much a Photoshop guy. It's just so deep and versatile. I could use it every day for the rest of my life and still never use all it's features. Everybody I know uses it differently. It's an amazing bit of software. FF: What motivated you to pursue your career in Concept Art? Liam: Again, it found me - as comics did. I thought I'd be an illustrator or book cover artist, not a comic artist. Nothing in my career has been planned, I've just pivoted my way through life, and changed direction when an opportunity presented itself. But just because nothing was planned doesn't mean I didn't pursue the things I love to do - such as my writing. And though I didn't expect to draw comics I very much loved them. Again, though, I thought the place I'd end up doing comics (once I'd started in 2000ad) was in Europe, and as it turned out it's mostly been America! I never saw that coming at all. FF: Thanks. Liam: You're very welcome. Some links to Liam's work: <a href="/LiamSharp">Filter Foundry Pad</a>: /LiamSharp <a href="http://www.liam-sharp.com/">Official Website</a>: http://www.liam-sharp.com/ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Sharp">Wiki Page</a>: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Sharp

UPDATED: 1 MONTH, 2 WEEKS

Featured Artist:Fede Ponce

Fede Ponce is a 2D-3D artist from California, hailing from Mexico via Canada with scholastic roots from Pasadena's Art Center. His work came to our attention and we had the opportunity of asking him some questions. Take a look at his latest montage of work and what he had to say when we spoke with him. <a href="http://vimeo.com/27739818">Click here to see the breakdown</a>. When someone asks you what do you do, what is your "canned" answer? A: It's tough to pinpoint what I do, and even harder to describe it exactly because of the nature of the work. It also depends on who is asking. A lot of people are absolutely clueless about our industry so I just say "Designer or Director". But if I get into it I'll ramble for hours, I love what I do. Describe your work: A: My work day starts at concept meetings. Trying to solve a client's need. If this stage has already been resolved and a client is bringing me in for execution, then I sit with them and figure out pipeline needs, what the best team will be etc. Then I sit down and let the magic happen. How did you get started in the business? A: It's actually a pretty cool story. I started out studying classical painting and sculpture. I did the whole thing. I started at the Art Center in Pasadena, then I went to Europe and did master paintings at El Prado and the Tate Museum. It was a pretty cool feeling to roam around looking for art. After I came back I decided to switch majors [and] product design because that was the only major teaching 3D at the time. I started out doing 3D illustrations for print for the gaming industry. At the time, 3D was a very powerful tool over traditional. I did that for a couple of years and then I moved on to theme park design, then motion graphics, then VFX and now I just roam around industries. I love it all. <img alt="Fede Samples" border="0" hspace="6" src="http://media.filterfoundry.com/blog/Artist_Fede_Sample.jpg" style="border: 0; float: right;" vspace="6" /> Your demo reel is pretty insane, How important is your demo reel for showcasing you talents and getting gigs? A: Thank you! Well first thing is first, though most of the work there is mine it all comes from being exposed to great talent and hard working colleagues. The most important thing about the reel is the breakdown. It's all a collaboration so you need to have a breakdown. Tell us about a pivotal moment for you so far in you career. A: The day I switched from traditional to digital. I got a lot of flack form colleagues who thought using the computer was cheating. To me it always has been a tool. What are your "go-to" tools of the trade (software/hardware/other) right now? A: I work with Maya, Real Flow, Zbrush, and the Adobe Creative Suite. I rented a very powerful PC for my corp, though I ended up buying it and super charging it. Even though it was already a beast. But I am equally comfortable on a Mac or Linux What are you currently working on? A: Resting from 2011. It was a great year. I am super charged and inspired, 2012 looks amazing to me. I have some personal things on the works and a few offers for full time work. Do you also have a personal passion project that you are working on? A: Oh Yes!! I've been working on 3 personal projects for the last 7 years. I cant wait to get them done and see them on the big screen. Tell us some of the artists you have enjoyed working with in your career. A: That's a tough one. I have been really lucky and worked with TONS of great artists. I think what made them amazing was the combination of talent and great personality. Sometimes you meet creative geniuses but they are dicks.. and cant collaborate. Nobody needs that. I have a few colleagues I can give a shout out to though: Jesse James jones Jr., Claudia Yi Leon, Carlos Flores, Saul Rangel, Sean Koriakin, Dimitri Loginowski, Tomasz Opasinski Alex Mapar, John McMorrough, Kevin Lau, Cameron Walser, Francisco de la Torre, Kevin Walker, Shane Suckenheim, Richie Sandow, Francis Camacho. These guys are all amazing people and terrific artists. Tell us an artist whose work has inspired you recently. A: I go back to basics, I try to stir clear from motion graphics and VFX work. I don't like to be exposed to the same imagery that everyone is. You know? Then at some point it all becomes self referenced work or a bad Xerox of something else. You go to a site and someone says, "we want that but in yellow"...etc.. So I look at the masters and I try to keep up with futurists and industrial designers, form follows function that always stuck with me, less is more..yada yada. I look at a lot of infographics. I gravitate toward fine arts and strangely enough I derive most of my style from a verbal narrative, so I read a lot. Words are like a fuse that gets my imagination going. And finally, impart a little wisdom for the young artists out there… anything you want. A: This is a good one. I remember when I first started I always valued myself even when I sucked. I never ate shit from anyone. Meaning I did my homework and researched pay, my rights etc...I took that with me all along. I knew where I was with my art, if it wasn't good enough I knew it and I would stand by it, I never hid it. If I created something awesome I would forget about it as soon as possible. I won a few things here and there, but all those prizes are in the trash can now. Its always good to win something but I don't get to attached. Some words for a young commercial artist would be, yes you are an artist first but you are also a businessman..its weird, we are entering an age where one compliments the other beautifully. A strong sense of business will give you character and direction to pursue your artistic dreams in a sustainable manner. Another thing would be don't believe what you hear, "that you have to pay your dues", or that someone is a god in the industry. Follow your intuition about your career and make your own mistakes. Have a rich life because creativity spawns from a rich social life, not from sitting around in the computer looking at some one else's art. Finally, remember that everything you do [has] a consequence, sometimes invisible and sometimes visible and immediate. Everything you do affects you, but also the industry. If you don't negotiate properly and bring your value down, you will bring everyone else's value down. when I go into a new gig, I give my best always, for me and for everyone else that will come after me. We truly are all connected. If you know someone who should be showcased on Filter Foundry's Featured Artists, please email us their name and contact information.

UPDATED: 1 MONTH, 4 WEEKS

Featured Design Company: Astro Studios

Filter Foundry caught up with Silicon Valley veteran Brett Lovelady, Founder/CEO of <a href="http://www.astrostudios.com/">Astro Studios</a> in San Francisco, and picked the juicy parts of his brain. Pull up a chair and lets start with his title: “Chief Instigator.” Brett: I’ve been a classic fire starter, someone who gets big ideas quickly, rallies a lot of people, gets them all talking, cross connecting, gets all the big ideas out, formulates it, and gets out of the way. I’m not really into tending fires, I’m better at starting them …just sort of felt like the right title compared to CEO or President or something else. FF: Astro has a very "cool" image, both with Studios and with Gaming, how would you describe the work of both businesses? Brett: I started <a href="/astrostudios/">Astro Studios</a> in 1994 so it’s 17 years old, going on 18. We’re hitting adulthood, coming out of our adolescence. <a href="http://www.astrostudios.com/">Astro Studios</a> is a design firm at heart. We're basically a design service business, [we] work with many different clients from around the world. <a href="http://www.astrostudios.com/">Astro Studios</a> is really the hub of everything, all things Astro, design driven and [it] works with a mix of lifestyle, technology, design, people, projects, and programs. <img alt="" src="http://www.astrostudios.com/dispatch/_depot/project_image/927x491/ce15580dc176bacdaa2ad44dac13af47.jpg" width="600" /> <a href="http://www.astrogaming.com/">Astro Gaming</a> started 6 years ago producing [the] commercialization, if you will, of the Astro brand into premium products in the video gaming space. It’s really based on gaming experiences and gaming culture. I would say it's a mix of game play, technology, experimentation and invention to improve video gaming, really creating a lifestyle and a brand around that. FF: How do you guys find fresh creative talent? Brett: We look for talent via our network with other creatives, we’re also at schools. We’re online tapping into central media, sites like <a href="">Filter Foundry</a>, the Coroflots and the other folks out there. There’s a lot of cross drops. Sometimes you drop a note on LinkedIn or Facebook. You’d be surprised where it comes from sometimes. We’ve been around long enough that we get hit by the best of the best wanting to showcase their talent. So fortunate in that regard, that talented people [just] show up at the door. <img alt="" src="http://www.astrostudios.com/dispatch/_depot/slideshow/927x232/41a044944ce8164a169008d6e99cd63e.jpg" width="600" /> FF: Do you ever find resumes tucked into your classic mustang’s windshield wiper? Brett: You know, it’s been a few years. Mustang’s in the garage, a little too far away. We’ve had people standing out front with a portfolio in-hand waiting to come in. We get a lot of those “hey I’m visiting for the day. I’m from France, so let me show you my work.” Those things happen a lot still. <img align="right" alt="" height="232" hspace="5" src="http://www.astrostudios.com/dispatch/_depot/project/291x232/aee1b445356659e490d9a216feaecfd6.jpg" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" width="291" /> FF: Asking who is your favorite client is probably like asking a parent to pick a favorite child, but...what are some of the fun projects your team has worked on? Brett: I think one of our favorites, has been (for the last 15 years) <a href="/astrostudios/728/nike-slingshot-golf-irons/">Nike</a>. Phenomenal company quite honestly. Our first program with them was all of their digital watches: [their] first electronic products. Since then we’ve been sort of a scout team, if you will, doing advanced concepts and helping them break into new categories year in and year out. They’ve been a pretty amazing client. We [did] their first golf clubs, some of their first soft goods, their first hockey helmet and a lot of things that people don’t see because they’re in the advanced concept. We love a lot of our other clients, but <a href="http://www.astrostudios.com/projects/archive/?client=nike">Nike</a> has a special place for us because they do a lot of things really right, they go pretty deep, they try to sell real performance products. It’s a good source of work inspiration for our crew. FF: Since not every project goes by the numbers, how you handle a problem is important. Can you share any hair-raising experiences that my readers might find inspirational? Brett: Since we start every project with a problem statement, I think [it’s] sort of inherent in the business. I think, in "specific projects" there’s a few things that have happened more than once: changes have been made in a program last minute. A big part of our job is to hold onto the original design intent and to solve our problems. [For example,] we’ve thought we were done, in the can, going into production and we find out, oh wait, there’s a new battery, there’s a new display or there’s a new material we want you to use. “We need you guys to scramble, dive in, fill a team of people… and come up with a new solution overnight.” Meanwhile, our engineers will be on a plane and by the time they land we want the solution in their hands so that they can go to the manufacturer and change the tools so they don’t miss the marketing window. <img align="left" alt="" height="232" hspace="6" src="http://www.astrostudios.com/dispatch/_depot/project/291x232/82c7e71b34e633195695533d823517bb.jpg" style="float: left; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" width="291" />You have to be really reliable and flexible and hopefully you have enough tricks up our sleeve and a “little magic sauce” to sprinkle on things to figure out how to get to the other side of this problem. A lot of it has to do with the fact that you bring teams of people together with different experiences and disciplines as well. I like to think of us as the <a href="http://www.redadair.com/">“Red” Adair</a> of design sometimes. “Red” Adair puts out oil fires that no one else can, and we do that quite often where clients will come in and tell us “this is good but not great. What can you guys do to make this great?” Or “We’ve got a limited amount of time with a limited budget but can you guys pull rabbits out of hats, help us find something.” We look at that as a challenge, our job. It’s what we do as designers for hire. FF: Does a particular software program or suite help in the creative/production process? What are some of the Astro team's hardware and software "can't-live-with-outs"? Brett: A lot of the stuff is classic software. You got Alias, SolidWorks, Rhino, 3D packages [for] modeling and development, layered in Photoshop, Illustrator with classic illustration tools. There are some interesting rendering packages like KeyShot and another one I can’t remember off the top of my head. We experiment with them all the time. After Effects for motion graphics [and] some of the guys know Flash. It depends on what story you’re trying to tell. Most of our guys are very fluid with both mac and pc and kind of go back and forth between them. [We use] multiple big displays, tablets for drawing and sketching, [and] lots of hi-res mice. Whatever tool will help them free their creativity. The guys still rely on hand sketching, white boards and scanning all those in (whether it’s photos or papers in their notebook.) A lot of the good old pen and paper… It’s crazy… We’re trying to keep it alive. <img align="right" alt="" hspace="5" src="http://dqau2yyaezwn4.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/2/small_image/975x800/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/s/r/sr3_b_skull_side_621x800_3.jpg" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" width="290" /> FF: We have many gamers walking our virtual halls, what new products can we look to seeing on the shelves soon? Brett: The “hover chair” for gaming is something we’ve been working on for a long time but not sure if that’s going to hit marketing anytime soon. We’re working on really great wireless solutions for gaming, an amazing <a href="http://www.astrogaming.com/">wireless gaming headset</a> that will be coming out in the coming months. We don’t talk about it a whole lot because we don’t want to overpromise too early. Gaming audio, in other words the audio that’s embedded in the games, is pretty amazing. It’s really movie quality. Most people still listen to games on crappy TV speakers or PC speakers that aren’t hearing everything so once they start [using] headsets, we’ve found most people just don’t go back. So we’re going to continue with the audio side of the business. FF: Brett, for those who are looking to venture into I.D., can you offer some recommendations and tips? Brett: Learn to sketch and learn the tools. That’ll be the foundation of learning your craft, and the craft of industrial design. Then take those and transform them into physical experiences. Do the modeling; make physical things to solve for physical people or tangible environments. Make sure you spend enough time in all of those areas: the sketch phase, the computer phase, and the physical modeling phase. Understand how your products are defined and how they’re sold and the whole supply chain of how they go from your end to the retailer shelf or to the consumer’s hands. Think about designing that whole experience. FF: And finally, can you give me 'the short list' of people or companies you think are doing innovative work in design and that inspire you? Brett: For me, it’s that constant feeding of all [the] different forms of media. People outside of our disciplines, I probably find a little more interesting than folks inside of the same things that we’re doing day in day out. To name names might be a little difficult. I’d rather stay out of that side of it but there are all sorts of different people who produce things on a daily basis… classic architecture and fashion for example. Seeing people take existing tools and create new experiences out of them. Like the people who created Microsoft / Xbox Kinect, as an open platform created all kinds of new experiences for people that weren’t necessarily for profit but because they wanted to experiment. I think you see a lot of open source experimentation going on. I think that’s really healthy. For more sample from Astro Studios visit their PAD: <a href="/astrostudios/">/astrostudios/</a>

UPDATED: 2 MONTHS, 1 WEEK

Featured Artist: Bogaert

I met <a href="//Bogie/">Bogaert</a> many summers ago in Hollywood while visiting a friend. At the time Bogie was working on his <a href="http://www.bogaertstudio.com/musicseries/index.html">Music Series</a>. His flat was a bare bones bohemian art loft with only the essentials: every color imaginable in tube form, canvases, brushes, cigarettes, an amazing coffee maker that looked like it came from outer-space, and a 'fridge made for one. With <a href="http://grooveshark.com/#!/search?q=The+New+Latinaires">The New Latinaires</a> in the background I got to see how "the magic" happened. Bogie is no longer in Los Angeles, once the wind changed he blew with it but he continues to paint and shares some of his work and insight with us today. I shot him a few questions: I always like to start with this question since it helps us get an insight into you, How would you describe your work in one short sentence? People in Motion by Bogaert When we met, you were working from Hollywood, how did painting in "the states" affect your work? I became a painter in the states. I arrived in LA as a designer and that's how I got my work permit, there was some sort of an adventurous playfullnes in the air and also the people I met were open and curious. LA - Miami Beach - NYC , it was all eye candy and interacting with people was fairly easy. All the elements to keep the artist creative. Moving from state to state was (each time) discovering a new world. It is my understanding that you travel a lot, does the location change how you work or what you paint? It's not really traveling, I just move. When I stay to long in one place, after a while, things start to run smooth. I tend to go on automatic pilot. I become a bit lazy and bored. When I move to a new place, all my senses and emotions work again . It gives a lot of energy. When I lived in New York I got sucked into the city and my work was not all that great, but years after I left , I made some great New York paintings . Is there a series you are currently working on or planning on working on? I am working currently on the POP PORN series, 32 oilpaintings depicting pornography as popular culture. With this series i want to take porn out of the shadow and make it more or less tasteful, acceptable and funny. For each painting I designed a different wallpaper backdrop, refering to the fetish the characters are playing out. I posted the full series on <a href="http://www.bogaertstudio.com/" rel=" " target="_blank">www.bogaertstudio.com</a> Do you ever collaborate with other artists? No till now Can you share with us an artist or two that inspired you? There are so many great artists dead and alive, impossible to pick one out, well there's one guy I know about today making great feel good stuff: Takashi Murakami. I like the worlds he creates, I want to go live there, but is it good art? Impart some wisdom for the young artists on filter foundry who are reading this and looking to follow in your footsteps: Who cares if you do it for the money. The world is saturated with images. Invent the missing image. Borrow and steal. Pay somebody in China to work it out. You sign it. Start to twitter. If you do it do it for LOVE. All little children are artists, Don't Grow Up . Don't get to deep in the system. Smell the terpentine. PAD: <a href="//Bogie/">/Bogie/</a>

UPDATED: 3 MONTHS

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JUST™ A Competition

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Nb7NYrWF_NezxNcgjglUP8PrMK4/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Nb7NYrWF_NezxNcgjglUP8PrMK4/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Nb7NYrWF_NezxNcgjglUP8PrMK4/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Nb7NYrWF_NezxNcgjglUP8PrMK4/1/di" /></a>With my <a href="http://justcreative.com/2012/02/29/just™-rebranding/" title="JUST™ Rebranding!">recent rebrand</a> and <a href="http://justcreative.com/2012/03/21/just-launched/" title="JUST™ Launched">website update</a>, came a few nifty features and one of them is the ‘hidden’ drop down menu in the top right corner of the website. On each reload, there is a new slogan that is displayed, such as: <ul> <li>JUST™ Amazing</li> <li>JUST™ Be Happy</li> <li>JUST™ Did It</li> <li>JUST™ Drop That Bass</li> <li>JUST™ Believe</li> </ul> There are already a good handful being rotated up there, but I thought it would be great to have JUST™ Creative readers be able to have their own one up there. So be creative, and leave your “JUST™ ____” idea in the comments below, and you could win some awesome gear as outlined below. Please keep submissions between 1 and 5 words and enter as many times as you would like! <h3>Win Free Design Swag!</h3> <a href="http://typographyshop.com/make-the-logo-smaller-large-mens-t-shirt.html"><img alt="Make The Logo Smaller" class="size-full wp-image-9510 alignnone" height="375" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Make-Logo-Smaller.jpg" title="Make-Logo-Smaller" width="540" /></a> Patrick King, of the awesome <a href="http://typographyshop.com" title="Typography Shop">Typography Shop</a> has put up some cool graphic design & typography related prizes such as the ‘<a href="http://typographyshop.com/make-the-logo-smaller-large-mens-t-shirt.html">Make The Logo Smaller</a>‘ t-shirt & mug featured above. I’ll be selecting the best 3 submissions and winners can choose any in-stock t-shirt or mug from the shop. The competition is open to all countries, but mugs can not be shipped out of the USA. Winners will be emailed & also announced on this post, on April 17. Good luck and I look forward to your entries! <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreative.com">JUST™ Creative</a> and should not be found elsewhere. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=heSJe3vreQ8:0ejYCtnl6Tc:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 1 WEEK, 3 DAYS

7 Facts and Myths of HTML5

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7c35EcVZP2g4nbFp8kZFk691ve8/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7c35EcVZP2g4nbFp8kZFk691ve8/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7c35EcVZP2g4nbFp8kZFk691ve8/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7c35EcVZP2g4nbFp8kZFk691ve8/1/di" /></a>This is a guest article contributed by <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/104914829730501706316/posts?rel=author">Vail Joy</a>. <img alt="HTML5" height="405" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/html5.gif" title="HTML5" width="540" /> As Opera evangelist Bruce Lawson puts it, “<a href="http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2010/09/23/html5-the-facts-and-the-myths/" title="HTML5">Everyone’s talking about HTML5</a>”. It’s perhaps the most hyped technology since people started putting rounded corners & gradients on everything. In fact, a lot of what people call HTML5 is actually just old-fashioned DHTML or AJAX. Mixed in with all the information is a lot of misinformation. HTML5 is simply a new set of standards, semantics and rules for coding website markup that can take advantage of several new “native” browser features such as offline storage, multi-media playback and a small level of interaction. Much of what we see on HTML5 websites that is really cool or innovative isn’t the actual markup, but a combination of CSS3 and jQuery, both themselves new and exciting standards evolving right alongside HTML5. As designers, we tend not to fuss about with code and semantics and JavaScript this or that, but whether your expertise is in identity and print design or includes a little of web design, expanding your comfort zone to include the fundamentals of these new technologies is necessary to stay competitive and sharp in our crowded industry. For now, let’s dispel some myths about HTML5 to pique your interest. There are several HTML5 resources at the bottom for those of you who want to learn more. <h3>Myth #1: HTML5 was invented because Apple stopped supporting Flash .</h3> Apple seems to get blamed for everything, but while HTML5 has some amazing solutions for mobile, it was not created to meet the demands of the iPhone. In fact, Opera and Mozilla got together back in 2004 to try to solve the problem of a messy web, defining seven principles for good design. Their goal was simple – propose these principles to <a href="http://www.w3.org/2004/04/webapps-cdf-ws/papers/opera.html">W3C</a> as a roadmap for a sleeker, faster, better HTML standard. The principles covered aspects such as backwards compatibility, error handling, practicality, open development and avoiding device-specific profiling. It wasn’t until 2006 that the proposal was accepted, and in three short years a new spec was drafted, closed and made ready for use. <h3>Myth #2: HTML5 won’t be ready till 2022.</h3> I’m not even sure how this myth began circulating, but the working draft was closed – meaning nothing more can be added or significantly changed – in 2009. Because it has been driven by Opera and Mozilla from the start, it may even reach W3C’s Candidate Recognition this year, as almost the <a href="http://developers.whatwg.org/">entire spec</a> is supported by both browsers. Even still, you can use HTML5 right now and rest assured it will degrade gracefully and work in older browsers with the inclusion of some lightweight JavaScript, all the way down to complex Canvas implementations. All current browsers support HTML5. What you need to be careful of isn’t the markup, it is the CSS. Even with pre-made CSS resets intended to help out older browsers, design built around CSS3 can fall apart in older browsers unless you take care of the details. <h3>Myth #3: HTML5 requires CSS3.</h3> It makes the most sense to use semantic class names and CSS3 declarations when building something with HTML5, but it isn’t a requirement. HTML5 is just markup, so it gets along just fine with CSS2 styling, but what it does require is complete styling for all presentational elements of your design. In other words, the HTML5 spec <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/html5-diff/#changed-attributes">removes attributes and tags</a> that control the look or style of any element, and is no longer tolerant of inline styling. The browser is now the supreme governor of how your site is rendered and what rules you need to abide by when creating layout with your markup. For example, in HTML5 you need a “display:block” declaration for each HTML5 element for them to be understood properly in IE8 and earlier. In short, HTML5 needs styling to look good, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be CSS3. <h3>Myth #4: HTML5 ruins accessibility.</h3> On the contrary, HTML5 is built around <a href="http://justcreative.com/2012/01/25/designing-websites-for-the-blind/" title="Accessibility & Integrity">accessibility</a>. While drafting the spec, utmost care was taken to ensure each element works with WIA ARIA landmark roles. These roles are specialized attributes added to your tags that allow accessibility devices such as screen readers to better interpret the site’s flow and content better. Converting a site to HTML5 may ruin the accessibility if these roles aren’t understood and implemented properly, but that won’t be the fault of the markup! See <a href="http://justcreative.com/2011/01/26/an-introduction-to-font-accessibility/" title="An Introduction to Font Accessibility">font accessibility</a>. <h3>Myth #5: HTML5 will kill Flash.</h3> <img alt="HTML5 Gloves" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9418" height="274" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/html5-gloves.gif" title="HTML5 Gloves" width="540" /> The fact is that Flash is still used by several million websites and developers world-wide. The misconception was born, once again, from the high profile fallout between Adobe and Apple and the rapid adoption of HTML5 audio and video for application and mobile development as a result. However, though HTML5 is great for low volume video playback, full HTML5 support requires two or three times the encoding chores of Flash support and still lacks many critical features currently available in plug-in based technologies. Currently, sites like Vimeo and YouTube use HTML5 technology largely for technology’s sake, and will not be moving away from Flash too rapidly. Developer Viki Hoo points out several other reasons why Flash will be around awhile in her compelling argument <a href="http://speckyboy.com/2012/01/19/what-else-does-html5-need-to-defeat-flash-part-1/" target="_blank">here</a>. But let’s get back to Flash with regards to web design. In that context, we are likely to see a rapid switch from Flash to HTML5 in the coming years. HTML5 is easier to learn and use, even for those of use without a high level of JavaScript mastery. It doesn’t require a 3rd Party plugin to work, loads faster and is extremely mobile friendly. So it isn’t that HTML5 will kill Flash, it’s that it will dominate the mobile design and development market. <h3>Myth #6: If I add the new HTML5 doctype to my site, it is now HTML5.</h3> It will be HTML5 as far as the browser is concerned, but HTML5 is more than a doctype. It is a full set of best practices, semantics and layout elements such as <header>, <nav>,<section>,<article> and <footer> that will make your website truly take advantage of the new capabilities of the browser and validate as HTML5. Naturally, adopting the new doctype is a step in the right direction to adopt HTML5, but it is important to learn what really makes an HTML5 website HTML5 before buying into an app, theme or platform that claims it is built with HTML5. Adobe’s new Muse app is a perfect example of this myth in action. You must also take into consideration the number of elements and attributes that have been depreciated in HTML5 and review your existing markup to ensure the best chance of compatibility. <h3>Myth # 7: I’ll get more chicks/jobs/cash/respect if I use HTML5.</h3> Mastering HTML5 probably won’t get you voted the sexiest man or woman alive; although it <a href="http://html5doctor.com/block-level-links-in-html-5/">seems to have worked for Bruce Lawson</a>. It is also not enough to get your foot in the door at a lucrative digital agency. In the end, your design skills and attention to detail are what will make you successful. With that said, learning about and adopting new technologies quickly does take passion and perseverance, which are both admirable traits. Your peers will probably respect you more if you use your knowledge to help them, or <a href="http://hakim.se/">can achieve something new and great.</a> <div class="supertagline"> Designers should care about HTML5, but mastering it should be driven by a love of the principles it was based on and not an ideal of fame and riches. </div> For those who want to get their feet wet with HTML5 but don’t have much coding chops, you may like to check out <a href="http://www.wix.com/html5/now-on-wix?utm_campaign=se_gb_HTML_justcreativedesign.com/" title="Wix">Wix</a>, who recently launched “the first full-featured HTML5 website builder” on the web. It’s basically a tool that helps you create completely custom websites without mucking about with styles, scripts and markup – unless you want to. <h4>Recommended HTML5 Resources:</h4> <ul> <li><a href="http://developers.whatwg.org/introduction.html">HTML5 Spec at WHATWG</a></li> <li><a href="http://vimeo.com/5810449">Opera’s Bruce Lawson on HTML5</a></li> <li><a href="http://html5doctor.com/why-designers-should-care-about-html5/">Why designers should care about HTML5</a></li> <li><a href="http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/everything-you-need-to-know-about-html5-video-and-audio/">Everything You Need to Know About HTML5 Audio and Video</a></li> <li><a href="http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/html-5-canvas-the-basics/">HTML5 Canvas: The Basics (Opera Developer Community)</a></li> <li><a href="http://html5please.us/">HTML5 Please</a> helps you out with recommendations for polyfills and implementation so you can decide if and how to put each of these features to use.</li> <li><a href="http://caniuse.com/">Can I Use</a> provides extensive browser compatibility and support information for CSS3, HTML5 and more.</li> </ul> Do you have any HTML5 tips or resources to share? <hr class="thin" /> <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/104914829730501706316/posts?rel=author">+Vail Joy</a> is a professional writer, designer and developer with a vibrant background in music business, photography and social media. When she is not contributing her expertise to blogs and e-zines, she is building <a href="http://www.wix.com/html5/now-on-wix?utm_campaign=se_gb_HTML_justcreativedesign.com/" title="HTML Websites">HTML websites</a> and slaying dragons for Obox Design. <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreative.com">JUST™ Creative</a> and should not be found elsewhere. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Cm9pT9mO5ek:-N08qAGaWe8:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 2 WEEKS, 3 DAYS

JUST™ Launched

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pb0_8vDVYto0FXC_qMuN9YEadvg/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pb0_8vDVYto0FXC_qMuN9YEadvg/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pb0_8vDVYto0FXC_qMuN9YEadvg/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pb0_8vDVYto0FXC_qMuN9YEadvg/1/di" /></a>After a soft launch on <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/justcreative/status/182195367276847104" title="Twitter">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/justcreative/posts/176922372426119">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://plus.google.com/103500063550994023248/posts/RMeSFRaXHki">Google+</a> yesterday, I am now ready to share with you the <a href="http://justcreative.com/2012/02/29/just%e2%84%a2-rebranding/" title="JUST™ Rebranding!">new JUST™ Creative</a> responsive web site. <img alt="Just Launched" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9365" height="453" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/just-launched.gif" title="Just Launched" width="640" /> Feel free to explore and let me know your thoughts. Below is a quick outline of some of the features found throughout the site. <h4>Website Info & Features</h4> <ul> <li>Built using <a href="http://wordpress.com" title="Wordpress">WordPress</a> and the <a href="http://getskeleton.com/">Skeleton Boilerplate</a></li> <li>Web fonts (<a href="https://typekit.com/fonts/proxima-nova" title="Proxima Nova">Proxima Nova</a> and <a href="https://typekit.com/fonts/droid-serif" title="Droid Serif">Droid Serif</a>) served by Typekit</li> <li>Hosting by <a href="http://mediatemple.com" title="Media Temple">Media Temple</a></li> <li>Responsive design with 5 viewport sizes (resize your browser to see this in action). Features Retina Display optimised images.</li> <li>Custom designed by myself in Photoshop & Illustrator, using the <a href="http://960.gs/" title="960 Grid System">960 Grid System</a></li> <li>Developed by <a href="http://danrose.me/" title="Dan Rose">Dan Rose</a> with HTML5 and CSS3 (<a href="https://github.com/craigwaterman/Hoodie" title="Hoodie">Hoodie Framework</a>). Portfolio functionality from Reaction (<a href="https://twitter.com/makedesign" title="Make Design">Brandon Jones</a>), developed in part by <a href="http://craigwaterman.com" title="Craig Waterman">Craig Waterman</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://justcreative.com/portfolio/" title="Graphic Design Portfolio">Filterable gallery portfolio</a> with multiple layouts (see icons on right of portfolio page)</li> <li>Logo rollover over effects on main navigation</li> <li>Dynamic drop down photo which reveals my bio (in sidebar on article pages)</li> <li>Dynamic ‘To Top’ button to easily get to the top of the page, displayed when needed</li> <li>jQuery vertical accordion menu for the mobile drop down menu navigation</li> <li>jQuery / CSS article sidebar for easy navigating</li> <li>jQuery transition slide effects</li> <li><a href="http://blog.jonphillips.ca/2012/01/17/ads-and-responsive-web-design/" title="Responsive Ads">Responsive ads</a> so they are displayed on all view ports</li> <li>Hidden pull down menu to view recent work and more (Find it?)</li> <li>Threaded comments on new posts</li> <li>Highlighted author comments</li> <li>Hidden track backs / backlinks that you can reveal</li> <li><a href="http://www.google.com/cse/" title="Google Search">Google Custom Site Search</a> for accurate and quick searching</li> <li><a href="http://www.no-margin-for-errors.com/projects/prettyphoto-jquery-lightbox-clone/">prettyPhoto</a> integration for showing photos in a Lightbox</li> <li>Large footer that can you can hide or show depending on your preference</li> </ul> <h4>Still To Do</h4> <ul> <li>Add a dynamic slider on the home page (will also work with touch gestures)</li> <li>Add more portfolio items</li> <li>Fix speed problems across the server. (Having troubles with this, as I believe it is related to memory / apache - something I am not well versed in).</li> <li>Fix bugs as they are found</li> </ul> <h4>Bugs / Suggestions / Feedback</h4> If you find anything that looks out of place, or have a suggestion please do let me know. Please note your browser and it’s version when sending, thank you! <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreative.com">JUST™ Creative</a> and should not be found elsewhere. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=QyicwP995y4:uMB3oR9d0Zo:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 3 WEEKS, 1 DAY

Logo Design Process Podcast

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9rBqoBH7Yycn4lYRuu2mCz-u7qA/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9rBqoBH7Yycn4lYRuu2mCz-u7qA/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9rBqoBH7Yycn4lYRuu2mCz-u7qA/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9rBqoBH7Yycn4lYRuu2mCz-u7qA/1/di" /></a> <a href="http://thedeependdesign.com/podcast/logo-design-process-jacob-cass/" title="Logo Design Process Podcast"><img alt="Deeply Graphic Podcast" class="size-full wp-image-8754 border" height="350" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/podcast.jpeg" title="podcast" width="500" /></a> A few words from <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/wesmcdowell" title="Wes McDowell">Wes McDowell</a> about a recent Podcast I did with Deep End Design… - Last week I had the pleasure of being able to sit down with Just Creative’s Jacob Cass and talk logo design. Sure, we happen to be on opposite ends of the country, but through the magic of Skype, we made it work. I am a co-host of “The Deeply Graphic DesignCast,” a podcast for graphic & web designers, and the idea of talking shop with Jacob was just too good to pass up. So I asked if he would like to join us for our next episode, and he graciously agreed. The result is a pretty compelling listen. Jacob’s episode, which is all about the logo design process is now live and available for free download on iTunes. He gives a lot of great insights into his process, as well as client relations and how he prices his jobs. If you are a fan of Jacob’s work, then you won’t want to miss it! <a href="http://thedeependdesign.com/podcast/logo-design-process-jacob-cass/" title="Logo Design Process Podcast">Listen To It Here</a>. <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreative.com">JUST™ Creative</a> and should not be found elsewhere. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=9OF3aloJMmw:F30ejLFqWQE:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 1 MONTH

How To Get More Mileage Out of Twitter by Repurposing Content

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9qLTQInQsxG__D6cN0_igcG9EBI/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9qLTQInQsxG__D6cN0_igcG9EBI/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9qLTQInQsxG__D6cN0_igcG9EBI/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9qLTQInQsxG__D6cN0_igcG9EBI/1/di" /></a><img alt="Twitter Milage" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8718" height="350" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Twitter-Milage.jpg" title="Twitter-Milage" width="500" /> This is a guest article contributed by Brad Shorr. - Smart marketers squeeze every possible benefit out of their digital content. But even top-notch companies overlook opportunities to repurpose Twitter content, which is unfortunate because Twitter is generally regarded as a somewhat frivolous medium. It doesn’t have to be, if you think outside the box. So for the purposes of this post, let’s think outside the tweet and take a quick look at five ways to get a lot more value out those 140 little characters. <h2>1. Use Tweets As Testimonials</h2> <img alt="Twitter Testimonials" height="250" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/twitter-testimonials.png" title="twitter-testimonials" width="500" /> From time to time, people may give you unsolicited praise on Twitter. If you monitor your brand, you can catch these tweets and “favorite” them so they will be handy whenever and wherever you need credibility-building testimonials. <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/justcreative/favorites">@justcreative</a> is a good example of someone who uses this favoriting method. Among the many places to display testimonial tweets: <ul> <li>Website home page</li> <li>Interior site pages connected to the tweet’s content</li> <li>PDF literature</li> <li>A custom Facebook tab</li> <li>Email signatures</li> </ul> You’re only limited by your imagination — and since this blog’s community includes a lot of designers, my guess is you’ll come up with better ideas than these in a matter of minutes. See <a href="http://justcreative.com/2009/08/18/funny-inspirational-tweets/" title="Funny and Inspiration Tweets">some of your favorite favorited tweets here</a>. Finally, if you don’t have unsolicited Twitter praise — solicit some! There’s nothing wrong with asking your Twitter community for feedback, help, or an occasional plug. I’m sure you’d be quick to do it for others if you liked them and believed in what they do. <h2>2. Put Tweets In Presentations / Sales Material</h2> <img alt="Tweet Quote" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8714" height="250" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tweet-quote.png" title="tweet-quote" width="500" /> As part of their content strategy, most companies tweet about the benefits of their products and services. They may also post astute comments on important industry developments and issues. If you favorite these tweets and organize them, you can later display them in Keynotes/PowerPoints, webinars, PDF literature, and on relevant site pages. The advantages of displaying this information in the form of tweet images: <ul> <li>Tweets are visually engaging and spark interest.</li> <li>Displaying tweets is still a bit of a novelty, which makes your presentation stand out.</li> <li>Tweets provide a subtle element of credibility, since many will regard them as published and therefore authoritative data points.</li> </ul> A big benefit of doing this, by the way, is that it will improve the quality of your tweets. We tend to be more thoughtful about what we say if we know it may be used “in print” later on. <h2>3. Use Tweets for Internal Knowledge Building</h2> <img alt="Twitter Content" height="332" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/twitter.jpg" title="twitter" width="500" /> If a expert I’m following on Twitter says something insightful on say, <a href="http://justcreativedesign.com/2009/06/30/seo-tips/" title="SEO">SEO</a>, I’ll shoot a link to that tweet over to our Director of SEO. This sort of thing can help keep everyone on the team being — and feeling — up to date and in the know. Sharing knowledge via tweets can be accomplished in a more organized fashion, by favoriting tweets by topic and emailing a digest of the links to the appropriate person. This technique works very well when a lot of team members are not on Twitter very much or at all. Because of that, circulating a digest of your own tweets also can be helpful; your team as well as your Twitter community should see your own great Twitter content. This is how I try to communicate information from Twitter. These are a couple tweets about social media I grabbed that are tremendously useful: <ul> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/merylkevans/status/170178390001852417" target="_blank">What Others Like and Dislike about Your Tweets</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/RobynMcMaster/status/170174726197624832" target="_blank">Women Value Reciprocity More than Men</a></li> </ul> Sure, I could just as easily link to the articles rather than the tweets, but I think it helps for people to see the source and sometimes, the commentary. <h2>4. Feed Tweets Into Your Website</h2> <img alt="Twitter Widget" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8715" height="250" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/widget.png" title="widget" width="500" /> You may have seen business sites that display a real-time feed of five or 10 of their tweets, <a href="http://twitter.com/about/resources/widgets" title="Twitter Widget">usually done via a widget</a>. This is a great idea in terms of sparking interest, as we’ve already talked about. However, if you want to do this, be careful about what you tweet. For example, if your live feed displays a lot of random, silly tweets, it could confuse visitors and turn off potential customers. What some people do to get around this is create a separate Twitter page that is exclusively for tweeting information around a particular product or service or department. For instance, a company could feed its customer service Twitter page tweets into its site’s customer service landing page. I like this idea a lot in terms of content relevance, but managing multiple Twitter accounts does have its complexities, so proceed carefully. Another possible way would be to use #hastags, but this <a href="http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/social-media/twitter-hashtag-campaign-backfires-by-unhappy-customers/">could backfire too</a>. <h2>5. Feed Tweets Selectively Into Other Social Networks</h2> <img alt="Twitter Import into Facebook" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8716" height="250" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/twitter-import.png" title="twitter-import" width="500" /> I’ve written elsewhere about the dangers of <a href="http://effectivemarketer.com/2012/01/31/the-danger-of-automatic-feeds-in-social-media/" target="_blank">overfeeding your social media accounts</a>. However, selective and strategic feeds can relieve some of the content-production burden and strengthen your reputation across all of your social platforms. The “secret” of smart feeding is understanding the nature of your communities on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, and whatever other networks you are active on. For example, I know a couple of things about my LinkedIn connections; first, a lot of them are not social media-savvy, and second, they are interested in high-level information. Knowing this, any tweets I feed to LinkedIn will be non-technical and relevant to business owners, leaders and managers. On the other hand, our agency’s Facebook page draws a lot of people who are interested in “how-to” marketing tips, so any tweets I feed to it will be on the technical side. Probably the biggest takeaway from all of this is to be a strategic tweeter. There are many ways to repurpose Twitter content, but you won’t be able to take advantage of them if all you’re doing is haphazardly dashing off tweets. <h3>More Twitter related articles:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/the-ultimate-guide-for-everything-twitter/">Ultimate Twitter Guide</a></li> <li><a href="http://justcreative.com/2009/04/26/jacob-our-top-twit/">Twitter Interview & Tips with Jacob Cass</a></li> <li><a href="http://justcreative.com/2009/11/09/twitter-design-lists/" title="Twitter Design Lists">10 Twitter Design Lists to Follow</a></li> <li><a href="http://justcreative.com/2011/02/23/simple-engagement/" title="Simple Engagement">The Power of Simple Engagement on Twitter</a></li> <li><a href="http://justcreative.com/2008/10/20/designers-to-follow-on-twitter/" title="Designers on Twitter">List of Designers, Creatives & Geeks on Twitter</a></li> </ul> How do you re-purpose your Tweets? <a href="https://plus.google.com/102318046680468697385?rel=author" target="_blank"></a> - <a href="https://plus.google.com/102318046680468697385?rel=author" target="_blank">Brad Shorr</a> is Director of Content and Social Media for Straight North, a leading <a href="http://www.straightnorth.com/search-engine-optimization" target="_blank">Chicago SEO firm</a> working with clients in very tough B2B niches such as <a href="http://www.bluepay.com/processing-services/solutions/payment-gateway" target="_blank">credit card payment gateways</a>. He has been an active blogger and social media participant since 2005, and writes frequently on content strategy, SEO copywriting and social media topics. Photos by: Shutterstock and <a href=" <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreative.com">JUST™ Creative</a> and should not be found elsewhere. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=0dMbdi0kAPw:KbuW7xJ1-o4:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 1 MONTH, 1 WEEK

JUST™ Rebranding!

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cs9PffEkNZcG9AflaA9p-SGYzfs/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cs9PffEkNZcG9AflaA9p-SGYzfs/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cs9PffEkNZcG9AflaA9p-SGYzfs/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cs9PffEkNZcG9AflaA9p-SGYzfs/1/di" /></a>In the <del>next few weeks</del> (<a href="http://justcreative.com/2012/03/21/just-launched/" title="JUST™ Launched">The site is now live!</a>) I will be launching my brand new responsive website, along with a new domain, business name, <a href="http://justcreative.com/2012/01/07/a-new-profile-picture-an-upcoming-re-brand/">profile picture</a>, brand and logo. My old business name ‘Just Creative Design’ will be replaced by ‘JUST CREATIVE’ and the domain name will also change to http://justcreative.com which I bought off a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersquatting" title="Domain Squatter">domain squatter</a> a few months back. In fact, you are already on the new domain name! <h3>Erasing The Pencil</h3> <img alt="JCD Logo" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8695" height="250" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/jcd-logo.gif" title="jcd-logo" width="500" /> It is sad to announce that I will be dropping my <a href="http://justcreative.com/2008/04/24/logo-design-process-of-just-creative-design/">award winning</a> & often plagiarised JCD pencil logo. (Did you ever see the J,C,D or pencil in the logo?) It’s a real shame to leave it behind, but it’s time to move on to brighter pastures. I felt I needed a new look, one that was more more modern, professional, clean, streamlined and with personality. With this said, today I wanted to give a sneak peak into the new brand look coming for JUST CREATIVE. <h3>JUST™ Created</h3> <img alt="JUST CREATIVE Logo" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8696" height="250" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/JUST-CREATIVE-LOGO.gif" title="JUST-CREATIVE-LOGO" width="500" /> You can see the new logo above, and below in context on my new ‘Luxe’ business cards, courtesy of <a href="http://moo.com/share/x59skg/">Moo</a> (10% off link). You will also notice my new email address which is jacob[AT]justcreative[DOT]com. <img alt="Just Creative Business Card" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8697" height="300" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/justcreative-business-card.jpg" title="justcreative-business-card" width="400" /> Below is an <a href="http://dribbble.com/justcreative/projects/32001-JUST-Creative" title="Just Creative">earlier teaser</a> poster based on the new look and the familiar Keep Calm poster series. You can <a href="http://bit.ly/justcreateandcarryon" title="Just Create Poster">download the A3 sized poster for free here</a> if interested. <img alt="Just Create and Carry On" height="706" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/just-create-and-carry-on.jpg" title="just-create-and-carry-on" width="500" /> More surprises to come with the website launch so stay tuned. Feedback always welcome! <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreative.com">JUST™ Creative</a> and should not be found elsewhere. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZQFLuykA7g0:SwoIhHur-80:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 1 MONTH, 2 WEEKS

New Web Design Work

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0dxwICkDaP0uX1XAddMe7GL3dwE/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0dxwICkDaP0uX1XAddMe7GL3dwE/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0dxwICkDaP0uX1XAddMe7GL3dwE/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0dxwICkDaP0uX1XAddMe7GL3dwE/1/di" /></a>I often share my new work via <a href="http://twitter.com/justcreative">Twitter</a> but often forget to share on my blog so I thought I’d share some of my recently launched website designs. Each site has been developed by <a href="http://ammirati.com">Ammirati</a> unless otherwise noted. You can click on the images below to view each live site. <h3>Ammirati</h3> This is the website of the agency I work at in New York and I was responsible for comping out the mobile views. Check out the site and while your there, re-size your browser. Great team effort from the guys at Ammirati; a hat tip goes out to David Roach, Patrick Drury & John Vitelli for bringing the responsiveness to life. Next month I’ll be launching a responsive version of my site, with a <a href="http://justcreative.com/2012/01/07/a-new-profile-picture-an-upcoming-re-brand/" title="Upcoming Rebrand">brand new look</a> so stay tuned for that. <a href="http://ammirati.com" target="_blank" title="Ammirati"><img alt="Ammirati Responsive" class="alignnone wp-image-8665 border size-full" height="372" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/ammirati-responsive.jpg" title="Ammirati Responsive" width="500" /></a> <h3>FXDD Masters Live</h3> FXDD Masters Live is a conference held in different locations around the USA, teaching others about foreign currency exchange. <a href="http://fxddmasterslive.com/" target="_blank" title="FXDD Masters Live"><img alt="MastersLive" class="alignnone wp-image-8666 border" height="494" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/fxdd-masterslive.jpg" title="MastersLive" width="500" /></a> <h3>Flywheel</h3> I posted about this <a href="http://justcreativedesign.com/2012/01/31/flywheel-takes-off/" title="Flywheel">last month</a>, but here it is again… <a href="http://flywheelsports.com/" title="Flywheel">Flywheel; The ultimate stadium cycling experience</a>. Development done by Flywheel. <a href="http://flywheelsports.com" target="_blank" title="Flywheel"><img alt="Flywheel" class="alignnone border" height="342" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/FlywheelHome-500x342.jpg" title="Flywheel" width="500" /></a> <h3>Streetfighter</h3> This is the website for the game ‘Streetfighter x Tekken’ where users can pre-order the game for the PS3 or XBox. I was involved with the pre-order & gem grid pages only. <a href="http://www.streetfighter.com/us/sfxtk/order/special-edition"><img alt="Streetfigher" class="alignnone wp-image-8680 border" height="693" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/streetfighter.jpg" title="streetfighter" width="375" /></a> <h3>Upcoming Work</h3> I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great people & brands (Jerry Seinfeld, Vitamin Water, OMEGA, Sweet’N Low to name a few) over the past 7 months at Ammirati and I look forward to sharing those projects once launched. Some soon, some quite far off. Comments are always welcome. <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreative.com">JUST™ Creative</a> and should not be found elsewhere. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=ZErHYkIK31Y:f4T7qy5Blhg:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 1 MONTH, 3 WEEKS

Scope Creep – How to avoid, manage & kill it.

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sCta4wC_j5sNT4Jl5bSk4_TlaIQ/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sCta4wC_j5sNT4Jl5bSk4_TlaIQ/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sCta4wC_j5sNT4Jl5bSk4_TlaIQ/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sCta4wC_j5sNT4Jl5bSk4_TlaIQ/1/di" /></a><img alt="Scope Creep" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8648" height="250" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/scope-creep.jpg" title="scope-creep" width="500" /> Scope Creep. No it’s not that guy that’s been sitting in the corner of the cafe staring at you. In fact, if you don’t know how to deal with scope creep, it could be much worse. Scope creep, put simply, refers to uncontrolled changes in a client’s project scope. For example, a typical scenario could be when you’ve finished your design project to the original specifications and then the client emails you with a dozen different new changes and ideas. That is scope creep. The scope of the project may get bigger, but the budget may not. The problem is that clients may not know what they want the finished product to look like until the design project is nearly over, so they make last minute changes and then you’re loaded with an extra day’s work, but not an extra day’s pay. If you didn’t prepare for this with a contract up front, and the client is constantly changing their specifications, politely warn them that you limit your revisions to a certain number, so they are aware that whilst you are willing to be flexible, any additional changes will meet an additional charge. After all, you may have to work on multiple projects at one time and more time spent on one project cuts in to the time you will spend on another. <h3>So how can you deal with scope creep in the future?</h3> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/justcreative/contract" title="Contract">Make a contract</a>. Before starting any project you should always sign a contract with the client, where you lay out your terms. It doesn’t need to be too long or detailed but you do need to outline your working conditions. This should include limits within the project scope and anything outside that will be subject to extra charges. You could sign a completion document with the client, which states that the project is complete and that any further work will be charged at an hourly rate. Although <a href="http://www.alistapart.com/articles/pricing-strategy-for-creatives/" title="pricing design work">hourly rates are not always the best</a>, scope creep at an hourly rate could benefit both you and your customer in terms of over all time and money spent. <a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/clients/4-ways-to-kill-scope-creep/" title="Kill Scope Creep">Four other ways to kill scope creep</a> are to say: <ol> <li>Glad to help, here’s a new estimate.</li> <li>I can’t make that deadline.</li> <li>I can, but…</li> <li>No.</li> </ol> How do you deal with scope creep? - <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-76943263/stock-photo-mr-angel-with-white-wings-creepy-character-portrait.html?src=20eed69b24e5753d6dc8a8ad55ecf63e-1-24" rel="" title="Angel photo">Angel photo</a> & <a href="http://www.twago.com/expert/Freelance/Freelance">g</a><a href="http://www.twago.com/expert/Freelance/Freelance">raphic design freelancers</a> from <a href="http://shutterstock.com">Shutterstock</a>. <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreative.com">JUST™ Creative</a> and should not be found elsewhere. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=AvaG4g3Yx9c:uSL8bKqdOoU:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 1 MONTH, 4 WEEKS

6 Creative Ways to Use Delicious Bookmarks

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xMcDOAKmj_0cEcw6wKKfWsLMOIg/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xMcDOAKmj_0cEcw6wKKfWsLMOIg/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xMcDOAKmj_0cEcw6wKKfWsLMOIg/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xMcDOAKmj_0cEcw6wKKfWsLMOIg/1/di" /></a><a href="http://www.delicious.com/justcreative/"><img alt="Delicious" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8593" height="367" src="http://justcreativedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Delicious.jpg" title="Delicious" width="500" /></a> This is a guest article contributed by Rebecca*. - <a href="http://delicious.com">Delicious</a> is a popular social bookmarking site which you can use for saving your favorite website links. The process is termed as bookmarking. This will enable you to share your bookmarks among others as well as allow you to browse bookmarks of other users’. Tagging and search tools help you in browsing as well as organizing topics of interest. It enables you to both create multiple tags and tag sites with manifold keywords. Every tag produces a page with all website links associated to it. You can share each of these pages with others simply by providing them the URL, such as <a href="http://www.delicious.com/justcreative/" title="Delicious">Jacob’s bookmarks</a> here. With bookmarks being hosted on Web instead of on your desktop, you can access these anywhere provided you have access to internet. There are a couple of reasons for using delicious. Here is a list of few creative ways for using delicious bookmarks. <h3>1. Organize Things You Want To Do</h3> Your list may be endless like places you desire to visit, restaurants to try, ideas for several projects you desire to complete or begin books you wish to read and things you desire to accomplish. Sorting out your list at one place will help you to accomplish your goals. The social bookmarking site makes it easy to access your lists wherever and whenever you need them. <h3>2. Bookmark Your Social Networking Profiles</h3> Following the explosion of social networking sites, it is indeed simple for creating profiles on several that you often have the tendency of forgetting of returning and visiting them. As a result bookmarking each of your social networking sites at delicious will undoubtedly help you in keeping track of all the sites as well as easily sharing them provided you so desire. To add to it, registering your social networks at delicious will also offer <a href="http://justcreativedesign.com/2009/06/30/seo-tips/" title="SEO Tips">SEO</a> benefits as delicious operates as backlinks for all your profiles. <h3>3. Organize Portfolios of Inspiration</h3> You can use delicious for organizing art, articles and photographs on the web as well as create diverse categories for varied types of works. The bookmarking process to <a href="http://www.delicious.com/justcreative/inspiration" title="Inspiration">share inspiration</a> among others is hassle free. Instead of sending people to numerous sites for viewing content, you can send them on one page, where every link is listed at one place. <h3>4. Use RSS to Bookmark your Guest Articles</h3> You can also use the delicious RSS feeds for creating customized portfolios. You can use it as your own writing portfolio by separating guest posts from that of article directory entries via exercising the feeds for your bookmarks tagged with articles and guest post. <h3>5. Organize Your Backlinks</h3> Delicious can be used for keeping track of backlinks for your website. In this social bookmarking site, you can tag the backlinks by type, topic or quality for keeping track of varied categories. <h3>6. Bookmark Articles To Read Later</h3> One of the most obvious reasons for using delicious is for organizing contents you encounter daily for future use. It is indeed a tough job for reading each great blog post which is shared with you via other social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The best solution is to bookmark these for later so each time you are searching for some information on a topic; you will have a wonderful and systematic compilation of most preferred pages and articles to choose from. Delicious is an outstanding mean for archiving information from the internet, discovering useful and new sites and tracking hot topics. Its collective intelligence constantly adds & reviews, as well as filters new information. The community enables you in finding some of the finest resources on the internet devoid of having to struggle through all the junk. This social bookmarking site also offers you centralized management system to systematize information from the net. Do you have any other creative ways to use bookmarks? What other bookmarking services do you use & recommend? - *Rebecca is a blogger by profession, besides this she is fond of <a href="http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/3d-games-10-selling-prices-reviews-rating/" title="3D Games">3D Games</a>. <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreativedesign.com">Just Creative Design</a> and should not be found elsewhere. Related Articles: <ul class="st-related-posts"> <li><a href="http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/03/12/what-is-the-best-social-media-marketing-website/" title="What is the best social media website? Digg, SU, Delicious, Reddit … or? (Wednesday, March 12, 2008)">What is the best social media website? Digg, SU, Delicious, Reddit … or?</a> (43)</li> <li><a href="http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/08/08/what-blog-posts-bring-in-the-most-readers/" title="What blog posts bring in the most readers? (Friday, August 8, 2008)">What blog posts bring in the most readers?</a> (40)</li> <li><a href="http://justcreativedesign.com/2011/07/22/using-social-artistry-for-inspiration/" title="Using Social Artistry for Inspiration (Friday, July 22, 2011)">Using Social Artistry for Inspiration</a> (101)</li> <li><a href="http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/10/27/the-power-of-being-an-active-twitter-member/" title="The Power Of Being An Active Twitter Member (Monday, October 27, 2008)">The Power Of Being An Active Twitter Member</a> (28)</li> </ul> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=Ai76yyVZRXA:o2fQv-vHpig:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 2 MONTHS

6 Creative Ways to Use Delicious Bookmarks

<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/--029uaIHMaYwk30XIyEqZ84z4Y/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/--029uaIHMaYwk30XIyEqZ84z4Y/0/di" /></a> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/--029uaIHMaYwk30XIyEqZ84z4Y/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/--029uaIHMaYwk30XIyEqZ84z4Y/1/di" /></a><a href="http://www.delicious.com/justcreative/"><img alt="Delicious" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8593" height="367" src="http://justcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Delicious.jpg" title="Delicious" width="500" /></a> This is a guest article contributed by Rebecca*. - <a href="http://delicious.com">Delicious</a> is a popular social bookmarking site which you can use for saving your favorite website links. The process is termed as bookmarking. This will enable you to share your bookmarks among others as well as allow you to browse bookmarks of other users’. Tagging and search tools help you in browsing as well as organizing topics of interest. It enables you to both create multiple tags and tag sites with manifold keywords. Every tag produces a page with all website links associated to it. You can share each of these pages with others simply by providing them the URL, such as <a href="http://www.delicious.com/justcreative/" title="Delicious">Jacob’s bookmarks</a> here. With bookmarks being hosted on Web instead of on your desktop, you can access these anywhere provided you have access to internet. There are a couple of reasons for using delicious. Here is a list of few creative ways for using delicious bookmarks. <h3>1. Organize Things You Want To Do</h3> Your list may be endless like places you desire to visit, restaurants to try, ideas for several projects you desire to complete or begin books you wish to read and things you desire to accomplish. Sorting out your list at one place will help you to accomplish your goals. The social bookmarking site makes it easy to access your lists wherever and whenever you need them. <h3>2. Bookmark Your Social Networking Profiles</h3> Following the explosion of social networking sites, it is indeed simple for creating profiles on several that you often have the tendency of forgetting of returning and visiting them. As a result bookmarking each of your social networking sites at delicious will undoubtedly help you in keeping track of all the sites as well as easily sharing them provided you so desire. To add to it, registering your social networks at delicious will also offer <a href="http://justcreative.com/2009/06/30/seo-tips/" title="SEO Tips">SEO</a> benefits as delicious operates as backlinks for all your profiles. <h3>3. Organize Portfolios of Inspiration</h3> You can use delicious for organizing art, articles and photographs on the web as well as create diverse categories for varied types of works. The bookmarking process to <a href="http://www.delicious.com/justcreative/inspiration" title="Inspiration">share inspiration</a> among others is hassle free. Instead of sending people to numerous sites for viewing content, you can send them on one page, where every link is listed at one place. <h3>4. Use RSS to Bookmark your Guest Articles</h3> You can also use the delicious RSS feeds for creating customized portfolios. You can use it as your own writing portfolio by separating guest posts from that of article directory entries via exercising the feeds for your bookmarks tagged with articles and guest post. <h3>5. Organize Your Backlinks</h3> Delicious can be used for keeping track of backlinks for your website. In this social bookmarking site, you can tag the backlinks by type, topic or quality for keeping track of varied categories. <h3>6. Bookmark Articles To Read Later</h3> One of the most obvious reasons for using delicious is for organizing contents you encounter daily for future use. It is indeed a tough job for reading each great blog post which is shared with you via other social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The best solution is to bookmark these for later so each time you are searching for some information on a topic; you will have a wonderful and systematic compilation of most preferred pages and articles to choose from. Delicious is an outstanding mean for archiving information from the internet, discovering useful and new sites and tracking hot topics. Its collective intelligence constantly adds & reviews, as well as filters new information. The community enables you in finding some of the finest resources on the internet devoid of having to struggle through all the junk. This social bookmarking site also offers you centralized management system to systematize information from the net. Do you have any other creative ways to use bookmarks? What other bookmarking services do you use & recommend? - * <div></div> <div>Rebecca is a blogger by profession, besides this she is fond of <a href="http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/3d-games-10-selling-prices-reviews-rating/" target="_blank">3D Games</a>. She is quite interested in tech related stuff and is currently hunting for a cool <a href="http://www.designbuzz.com/entry/10-interior-design-software-tools-web/" target="_blank">interior design software</a>.</div> <hr /> © This article is copyright of <a href="http://justcreative.com">JUST™ Creative</a> and should not be found elsewhere. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:D7DqB2pKExk"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?i=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:D7DqB2pKExk" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?a=zvdQbeCJgmo:SJjiNHQyx_Q:I9og5sOYxJI"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/JustCreativeDesignBlog?d=I9og5sOYxJI" /></a> </div>

UPDATED: 2 MONTHS

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