<p>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.</p> <p><strong><a href="http://ff.fildry.com/sallyzou">Sally Zou</a></strong><br /> 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. <strong><br />Visit Sally at China Design Hub: <a href="http://ff.fildry.com/sallyzou">http://ff.fildry.com/sallyzou</a></strong></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/01.jpg" width="617" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/high1.jpg" width="617" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/airmax_lebron_vii_a01.jpg" width="617" /></p> <p><strong>Feng Haoyu</strong><br /> 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. <strong><br />Visit Feng at China Design Hub: <a href="http://ff.fildry.com/HGy8H9">http://ff.fildry.com/HGy8H9 </a></strong></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/origin_1.jpg" width="617" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/origin_7.jpg" width="617" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/origin_6.jpg" width="617" /></p> <p><strong><a href="http://ff.fildry.com/nodyoung">Nod Young</a></strong><br /> 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. <strong><br />Visit Nod at China Design Hub: <a href="http://ff.fildry.com/nodyoung">http://ff.fildry.com/nodyoung</a></strong></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/aNew-Wave-_01_600.jpg" width="617" /></p> <p><img alt="" height="617" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/01_Run_by_Nod.jpg" width="617" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://chinadesignhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Nod-Young-@-Nike-2_600.jpg" width="617" /></p> <p><strong> </strong></p>

<p><strong>The Benefits of Online Portfolios</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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!</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="/CptDooDlez"><img alt="CptDooDlez" src="/cache/pad_portfolio_thumbs/1331193843.04_detail_image.jpg" width="635" /></a><br /> From <a href="/CptDooDlez">Kevin Andersson</a> Filter Foundry PAD (online portfolio) <br /> <br /></p> <p><strong>Creative Supply and Demand</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.<br /> <br /> <a href="/Casiana"><img alt="Casiana" src="/cache/pad_portfolio_thumbs/1320570181.68_detail_image.jpg" width="635" /></a><br /> From <a href="/Casiana">Petrovan Casiana</a> Filter Foundry PAD (online portfolio)</p> <p><strong>Common Mistakes When Putting Together a Design Portfolio</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>First</strong>, 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.</p> <p><strong>Second</strong>, 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.</p> <p><strong>Another common mistake</strong> 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.</p> <p><strong>The most important thing</strong> 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.</p> </blockquote> <p>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. </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><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></p> <p><strong>Building a <a href="/pads/">Free Portfolio</a></strong></p> <p>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>.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p>

<p><strong>FF: Victor, tell us a little bit about your photography and your art.</strong><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> 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.</p> <p><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" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>FF: How did you get started with photo-realistic fantasy architecture?</strong><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> The whole transformation has taken place in about 5 years.</p> <p><strong>FF: Would you walk us through a typical project from location scouting to final render?<br /> </strong><br /> 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.<br /> I must admit that there’s a little journalist in me, so I tend to introduce myself into situations that normal people would reject</p> <ul> To give you an example:<br /> 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<br /> 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.<br /> </ul> <p>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.<br /> So, without a living experience, at least for me, Art is not possible.<br /> The rest is just a kind of routine process of computers, photography, city walks etc...</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><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" /><br /> <br /> FF: What software have you used and what's the advantages it bring to the table?</strong><br /> <br /> 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. <br /> As a 3D visualizer, I must say that VRAY changed my life because the Chaos Group technology implemented a big leap into Global Illumination.<br /> 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.</p> <p><strong>FF: When do you know a certain site is “prime” for 3D building?</strong><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> 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 ...)</p> <p><strong><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" /><br /> <br /> FF: Do you work with other architects?</strong><br /> <br /> 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.</p> <p><strong>FF: What projects do you have coming up in the near future?</strong><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> After this, we'll see...I have several projects that are on the waiting list, some of them based again on Tel Aviv.</p> <p><strong>FF: Who are your influences?</strong><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> So I must say it’s people. No architecture influences me as is comparable more restricted than what I do for obvious reasons.</p> <p><strong>FF: How does creating art compare to teaching?</strong><br /> <br /> 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.</p> <p><strong>FF: Can you give our readers some tips or advice?</strong><br /> <br /> Victor: Well...it’s hard to give advice as I don’t have any big message to say.<br /> 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?</p> <p><br /> Another thing I would say is: consume less, bring more. Feed the universe.<br /> That idea, thought or dream that you consider silly or stupid is instead the most valuable good you can share with all of us.</p> <p><strong>Victor's Filter Foundry PAD: <a href="/victorenrich/">/victorenrich/</a></strong></p>

<p>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.</p> <p><strong>FF: How would you describe your gallery’s mission and vision?</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="/robertneffson"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.meiselgallery.com/lkmg/imagesDB/neffson_NotreDame.jpg" width="635" /></a><br /> <strong><a href="/robertneffson">Robert Neffson</a></strong><br /> "<em>Notre Dame De Paris</em>", oil on linen, 52 x 74"</p> <p><strong>FF: Would you give us your expert definition of Photorealism and its subsets?</strong></p> <p>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:</p> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">      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.<br /><br />      "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.<br /><br />      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.</p> <ul> </ul> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="/tomblackwell"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.meiselgallery.com/lkmg/imagesDB/blackwell09.jpg" width="635" /></a><br /> <strong><a href="/tomblackwell">Tom Blackwell</a></strong><br /> "<em>Ralph Lauren</em>" , oil on paper and board, 10.25 x 13.25</p> <p><strong>FF: Tell about your current exhibitions.</strong></p> <p>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>.</p> <p><strong>FF: Do you have any words of wisdom for our artists and painters?</strong></p> <p>Learn to draw, and study 3000 years of art history. Don't worry about or bother with the past 2 decades or so.</p> <p><strong>FF: What do you look for when you view a new artist?</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="http://www.meiselgallery.com/lkmg/imagesDB/flack28_1.jpg" width="635" /><br /> <strong>Audrey Flack</strong><br /> "<em>Shiva Blue</em>" , 1973, oil over acrylic on canvas, 35 x 50"</p> <p><strong>FF: Why would an artist approach your gallery?</strong></p> <p>Because they are a fine realist artist and know we are the best gallery in the world in the genre.</p> <p><strong>FF: What artists would you recommend as inspirational?</strong></p> <p>That must come from within!</p> <p><strong>FF: What are your thoughts about current art movements?</strong></p> <p>Look to the best of the past for something of visual interest as far as painting and sculpture are concerned.</p> <p><strong>FF: How has the internet (digital art) affected gallery visits?</strong></p> <p>Digital art is just that. Digital….on the cloud. No gallery visits are needed. <br /> 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.</p> <p>sources: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/22/arts/art-view-is-quality-an-idea-whose-time-has-gone.html?pagewanted=all"><br /> http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/22/arts/art-view-is-quality-an-idea-whose-time-has-gone.html?pagewanted=all</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/762693/Photo-realism">http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/762693/Photo-realism</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.meiselgallery.com">http://www.meiselgallery.com</a></p> <p> </p>

<p><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<br /> <br /> 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 <strong><em>Beauty Is Embarrassing</em></strong>.</p> <p> </p> <p>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 <em>Pee-Wee’s Playhouse</em>, 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.</p> <p>And <em>Beauty</em> has pumped some life back into the world of documentary filmmaking.</p> <p>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 <em>Playhouse</em> 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Aesthetically, the film is perfectly paired with its subject matter.  <em>Beauty</em> 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 <em>The Interrupters</em> 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.</p> <p>Overall, the film is a purely must-see documentary.  <em>Beauty</em> 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, <em>Beauty </em>is not at all embarrassing.  On the contrary.  It’s nothing but pure entertainment.  Beautiful in every possible way.</p> <p>Links:<br /> <a href="http://beautyisembarrassing.com/">Official Movie Website</a>: http://beautyisembarrassing.com/<br /> <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/<br /> <a href="/waynewhite/">Wayne's PAD</a>: /waynewhite/ <br /> <br /></p>

<p><em><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.<br /> </em><em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Sharp"><br /> </a></em><strong>FF: Would you tell us a little bit about your style of photography?</strong><br /> <br /> Soon: Experimental & innovative. I like to try new shooting methods on varied subjects.</p> <p><strong>FF: What are you currently working on?</strong></p> <p>Soon: Underwater Photography</p> <p><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></p> <p><strong> FF: How did you get started in photography?</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>FF: What are your favorite cameras (digital and film)?</strong><br /> <br /> 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 )</p> <p>Digital will have to be Phaseone system and the DSLR for hi speed motor drive actions</p> <p><strong>FF: What inspires your work?</strong><br /> <br /> 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.</p> <p><br /> <strong>FF: What inspired you to make liquid photography your signature and where did it start?</strong><br /> <br /> 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 <br /> never really know what to expect until it's be processed , in this case after it's been shot.</p> <p><strong>FF: How important are touch-up programs like Photoshop in your final product? </strong></p> <p>Soon: Photoshop is essential to achieve a conceptual look that the client require. For example forming a word make up of liquid.<br /> <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></p> <p><strong>FF: Who are your favorite photographers and why?</strong></p> <p>Soon: Steven Meisel and Paolo Roversi for their lighting techniques, and the connection they make with their subjects.</p> <p><strong>FF: What do you do when you are not behind the camera?</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>FF: Any tips you could share about macro photography?</strong></p> <p>Soon: A good sharp lens is key, especially when shooting close up (i.e. jewelry)</p> <p>Soon: Cheers!<br /> <br /> Links to Soon's work:<br /> <a href="/SoonTong/">Filter Foundry Pad</a>: /SoonTong/<br /> <a href="http://www.calibrepics.com/">Official Website</a>: http://www.calibrepics.com/<br /> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Soon-Tong/131030140306221">Facebook</a>: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Soon-Tong/131030140306221</p>

<p><em><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. </em></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>FF: How would you describe your artistic style? </strong></p> <p>Liam: I honestly have no idea! <br /> 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!</p> <p><strong>FF: What are your favorite hobbies and how do you like to spend your free time? </strong></p> <p>Liam: I generally try to find a way to bring the things that I love doing for fun into a <em>practical </em>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.</p> <p><strong>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? </strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>FF: Which comic book series did you have the most fun working on and why? </strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>FF: Can you tell us a little bit about switching from illustrating to writing (challenges and rewards)? </strong></p> <p>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<em> very</em> 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! <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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!</p> <p><strong>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? </strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>FF: Which medium do you prefer to work in Digital or Traditional and why? </strong></p> <p>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...</p> <p><strong>FF: What are your favorite software programs when working in Digital Format and what do you like about them? </strong></p> <p>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. </p> <p><strong>FF: What motivated you to pursue your career in Concept Art? </strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>FF: Thanks. </strong></p> <p>Liam: You're very welcome.<br /> <br /> Some links to Liam's work:<br /> <a href="/LiamSharp">Filter Foundry Pad</a>: /LiamSharp<br /> <a href="http://www.liam-sharp.com/">Official Website</a>: http://www.liam-sharp.com/<br /> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Sharp">Wiki Page</a>: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Sharp</p>

<p><strong><span>Fede Ponce</span></strong> 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.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/27739818">Click here to see the breakdown</a>.</p> <p><strong>When someone asks you what do you do, what is your "canned" answer?</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong> Describe your work:</strong></p> <p>A: <span>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.</span></p> <p><strong>How did you get started in the business?</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><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" /></p> <p><strong>Your demo reel is pretty insane, How important is your demo reel for showcasing you talents and getting gigs?</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong> Tell us about a pivotal moment for you so far in you career.</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>What are your "go-to" tools of the trade (software/hardware/other) right now?</strong></p> <p>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</p> <p><strong>What are you currently working on?</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>Do you also have a personal passion project that you are working on?</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>Tell us some of the artists you have enjoyed working with in your career.</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>Tell us an artist whose work has inspired you recently.</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p><strong>And finally, impart a little wisdom for the young artists out there… anything you want.</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>If you know someone who should be showcased on Filter Foundry's Featured Artists, please email us their name and contact information.</p>

<p><em>Filter Foundry caught up with Silicon Valley veteran <strong>Brett Lovelady</strong>, 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: “<strong>Chief Instigator</strong>.”<br /> </em><br /> <strong>Brett:</strong> 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.<br /> <strong><br /> FF: Astro has a very "cool" image, both with Studios and with Gaming, how would you describe the work of both businesses?</strong><br /> <strong><br /> Brett:</strong> 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.</p> <p><img alt="" src="http://www.astrostudios.com/dispatch/_depot/project_image/927x491/ce15580dc176bacdaa2ad44dac13af47.jpg" width="600" /><br /> <br /> <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.<br /> <strong><br /> FF: How do you guys find fresh creative talent?</strong><br /> <strong><br /> Brett:</strong> 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.</p> <p><img alt="" src="http://www.astrostudios.com/dispatch/_depot/slideshow/927x232/41a044944ce8164a169008d6e99cd63e.jpg" width="600" /><br /> <strong><br /> FF: Do you ever find resumes tucked into your classic mustang’s windshield wiper?</strong><br /> <strong><br /> Brett:</strong> 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.<br /> <strong><br /><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?</strong><br /> <strong><br /> Brett:</strong> 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.<br /> <strong><br /> 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?</strong><br /> <strong><br /> Brett:</strong> 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. <br /> <br /> [For example,] we’ve thought we were done, in the can, going into production and we find out, <em>oh wait</em>, 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.</p> <p><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. <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <strong><br /> 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"?</strong><br /> <strong><br /> Brett:</strong> 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 <span style="background-color: white;">KeyShot </span>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. <br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <strong><br /> <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?</strong><br /> <strong><br /> Brett:</strong> 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. <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <strong><br /> FF: Brett, for those who are looking to venture into I.D., can you offer some recommendations and tips? </strong><br /> <strong><br /> Brett:</strong> 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. <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <strong>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?</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>Brett:</strong> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.</p> <p>For more sample from Astro Studios visit their PAD: <strong><a href="/astrostudios/">/astrostudios/</a></strong></p>

<p>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:<br /><strong><br /> 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?</strong><br /><em>People in Motion by Bogaert</em><br /> <br /> <strong>When we met, you were working from Hollywood, how did painting in "the states" affect your work?</strong><br /><em>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.<br /> 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.</em><br /> <br /> <strong>It is my understanding that you travel a lot, does the location change how you work or what you paint?</strong><br /> <em>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 . </em><br /> <br /> <strong>Is there a series you are currently working on or planning on working on?</strong><br /><em>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></em><br /><br /><strong>Do you ever collaborate with other artists?</strong><br /><em>No till now</em><br /> <br /> <strong>Can you share with us an artist or two that inspired you?</strong><br /><em>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? </em><br /> <br /> <strong>Impart some wisdom for the young artists on filter foundry who are reading this and looking to follow in your footsteps:</strong><em><br />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.<br /></em><br /><em>If you do it do it for LOVE. <br /> All little children are artists, Don't Grow Up . <br /> Don't get to deep in the system. <br /> Smell the terpentine.</em><br /> <br /><strong>PAD: <a href="//Bogie/">/Bogie/</a></strong><br /><br /></p>

Give those inspiration glands a good old jolt with today's hot design shot. Jim McCauley's ready with milk and sugar

The latest sketchbook by Lapin has been launched alongside a gallery exhibition of his work in Barcelona

Adobe has lifted the lid on the next versions of After Effects CS6 and Premiere Pro CS6 at the National Association of Broadcasters event, which is currently taking place in Las Vegas

What's cooking? It's another delicious platter of great design, all served up for you by Jim McCauley

Ate too many chocolate eggs? Today's inspirational collection from Jim McCauley will make you feel all better!

Our landmark 200th issue on sale in the UK today!

1995's king of digital photomontage gets the profile treatment in the first issue of Computer Arts

If you're allergic to excellent design and motion work, you'd better stay well away from today's inspirational selection

Download Deux Cents, as featured on our issue 200 cover, for free.

Continuing our issue 200 celebrations, here’s the lead news story from issue 1 of Computer Arts

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<p> <br /> </p> <p>Agency: Cossette Vancouver<br /> Creative Director: Rob Sweetman, Bryan Collins<br /> Art Director: Addie Gillespie, Mia Thomsett<br /> Copywriter: Addie Gillespie, Mia Thomsett<br /> Producer: April Haffenden</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/o6ak_Jtl6EQhWR3v52gztwbtNNM/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/o6ak_Jtl6EQhWR3v52gztwbtNNM/0/di" /></a><br /> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/o6ak_Jtl6EQhWR3v52gztwbtNNM/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/o6ak_Jtl6EQhWR3v52gztwbtNNM/1/di" /></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:wF9xT3WuBAs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:wF9xT3WuBAs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=IW7lQVQ_3IM:XoUC-oPD70A:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> </div>

<p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="fiat_originalparts_1.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=fiat_originalparts_1.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/fiat_originalparts_1t.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="fiat_originalparts_2.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=fiat_originalparts_2.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/fiat_originalparts_2t.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p></p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="fiat_originalparts_3.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=fiat_originalparts_3.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/fiat_originalparts_3t.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p></p> <div class="posttextbox"> <p>“Just one non-original part changes the whole story.”</p> <p>Agency: Leo Burnett, Sao Paulo, Brazil<br /> Creative Director: Marcelo Reis</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6xaG65eCDNetGKNKom9N5e7bv3k/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6xaG65eCDNetGKNKom9N5e7bv3k/0/di" /></a><br /> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6xaG65eCDNetGKNKom9N5e7bv3k/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6xaG65eCDNetGKNKom9N5e7bv3k/1/di" /></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:wF9xT3WuBAs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:wF9xT3WuBAs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=SAM1H6Xq1NM:iEGvLMBaeI4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> </div>

<p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="colgate_plax_eyecover.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=colgate_plax_eyecover.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/colgate_plax_eyecovert.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p></p> <div class="posttextbox"> <p>Agency: Y&R, South Africa<br /> Chief Creative Director: Graham Lang<br /> Executive Creative Director: Rui Alves<br /> Copywriter: Nkanyezi Masango<br /> Art Director: Ntobeko Ximba<br /> Account Director: Shannon Weber<br /> Photographer: Bryan Traylor</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/YTS7jipNNwTHjfLgvevW4zkfiWo/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/YTS7jipNNwTHjfLgvevW4zkfiWo/0/di" /></a><br /> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/YTS7jipNNwTHjfLgvevW4zkfiWo/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/YTS7jipNNwTHjfLgvevW4zkfiWo/1/di" /></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:wF9xT3WuBAs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:wF9xT3WuBAs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=I0ivDvtGq80:WGKEg9fo4mI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> </div>

<p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="pedigree_bus_bag.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=pedigree_bus_bag.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/pedigree_bus_bagt.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p></p> <div class="posttextbox"> <p>For the month of March, dog walkers won’t have to worry if they forget to bring poop bags to Trinity Bellwoods Park, in Toronto, Ontario, thanks to Mars Canada Inc.’s latest PEDIGREE® bus shelter campaign. To help promote PEDIGREE® Chicken & Rice+ Dry Food with prebiotics, Proximity BBDO in Toronto developed the first-ever bus shelter ad that also dispenses poop bags. The idea was simple: When it comes to healthy digestion, the proof is in the poop. People walking their dog can grab a bag and put it to use. Most importantly, they can also give some thought to the quality of their dog’s “back end performance” while doing so.</p> <p>Headline in photo: Help keep your dog regular.</p> <p>Agency: BBDO, Toronto, Canada<br /> Creative Directors: Gagne/Dave Stevenson<br /> Art Director: Rebecca Dunnet<br /> Writer: Shiran Teitelbaum</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NbdbFKELypohdKXuL-4Mv9Wyzq8/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NbdbFKELypohdKXuL-4Mv9Wyzq8/0/di" /></a><br /> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NbdbFKELypohdKXuL-4Mv9Wyzq8/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NbdbFKELypohdKXuL-4Mv9Wyzq8/1/di" /></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:wF9xT3WuBAs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:wF9xT3WuBAs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=6vuKzvAPSV0:tQAk36kZyb4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> </div>

<p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="planet_kids_invite.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=planet_kids_invite.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/planet_kids_invitet.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p></p> <div class="posttextbox"> <p>Brief: Planet Kids, Bangalore’s leading playschool chain wanted an invite to announce their Annual Day celebrations. This invite would be given to students and their parents. The objective was to create excitement around the event and get their kids buzzing. Oh, and of course the invite had to be cost-effective.</p> <p>Solution: So we decided to create something out-of-the-ordinary, something that would engage their students and get them to transfer the buzz onto their parents. And voila, the ‘hand puppet’ invite was born out of a mere sheet of A4 sized paper. We then went on to create five unique characters so as to encourage greater curiosity, creativity and playfulness among our tiny TG.</p> <p>Agency: Happy, Bangalore, India<br /> Executive Creative Director: Kartik Iyer<br /> Chief Creative Officer: Praveen Das<br /> Creative Director: Carl Savio<br /> Illustrator: Nalisha Chouraria<br /> Art Director: Shatrughan R<br /> Copywriter: Megha Ramesh</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tefVF5C72KF-RVgivZSL9KS2Bp0/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tefVF5C72KF-RVgivZSL9KS2Bp0/0/di" /></a><br /> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tefVF5C72KF-RVgivZSL9KS2Bp0/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tefVF5C72KF-RVgivZSL9KS2Bp0/1/di" /></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:wF9xT3WuBAs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:wF9xT3WuBAs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=3HoxfVutKj4:f0fmIxfSZ3I:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> </div>

<p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="Cia_Athletica_1.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=Cia_Athletica_1.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/Cia_Athletica_1t.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="Cia_Athletica_2.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=Cia_Athletica_2.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/Cia_Athletica_2t.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p></p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="Cia_Athletica_3.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=Cia_Athletica_3.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/Cia_Athletica_3t.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p></p> <div class="posttextbox"> <p>“No more fat excuses”</p> <p>Agency: DDB, Brasil<br /> Client: Cia Athletica<br /> Title of Ad: No more fat excuses<br /> Creative Diretors: Sergio Valente, Marco Versolato, Gustavo Victorino, Moacyr Netto.<br /> Copywriter: Rafael Zoehler<br /> Art Director: André Vervloet<br /> Illustrator: Gustavo Victorino</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QDTGJN9BWw_FU_2JIE9JUAoVNnI/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QDTGJN9BWw_FU_2JIE9JUAoVNnI/0/di" /></a><br /> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QDTGJN9BWw_FU_2JIE9JUAoVNnI/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QDTGJN9BWw_FU_2JIE9JUAoVNnI/1/di" /></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:wF9xT3WuBAs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:wF9xT3WuBAs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=uesrhKKjPsE:b_Zc3VPxOrE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> </div>

<p> <br /> </p> <p>This advert for the Guardian’s open journalism, screened for the first time on 29 February 2012, imagines how we might cover the story of the three little pigs in print and online. Follow the story from the paper’s front page headline, through a social media discussion and finally to an unexpected conclusion. Some of the best work I have seen in a long time.</p> <p>Agency: BBH, London, UK</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C7tcXxEcnz8eBxMi4_fV-XGSYFw/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C7tcXxEcnz8eBxMi4_fV-XGSYFw/0/di" /></a><br /> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C7tcXxEcnz8eBxMi4_fV-XGSYFw/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C7tcXxEcnz8eBxMi4_fV-XGSYFw/1/di" /></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:wF9xT3WuBAs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:wF9xT3WuBAs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=7GWb966C-WI:ngkdd5txp74:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> </div>

<p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="spit_extra_strong_1.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=spit_extra_strong_1.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/spit_extra_strong_1t.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="spit_extra_strong_2.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=spit_extra_strong_2.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/spit_extra_strong_2t.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p></p> <form action="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php" method="get" name="ad_form"> <input id="ad" name="ad" type="hidden" value="spit_extra_strong_3.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/SINGLE_AD_PAGE.php?ad=spit_extra_strong_3.jpg"><img src="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/images/spit_extra_strong_3t.jpg" width="350" /></a></form> <p></p> <div class="posttextbox"> <p>Spit is an international brand that provides professionnal fixing solutions. The campaign highlights the robustness of Spit products through 3 strong and funny visuals that express the brand competitive advantage.</p> <p>“SPIT, extra strong fixings.”</p> <p>Agency: Euro RSCG 360, France<br /> Creative Director: Hugues Pinguet, Stéphane Morel<br /> Art Director: Quentin Delachaux<br /> Copywriter: Stéphane Le Frapper</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EcT_1OAh9ssGCwYuRG_m49rVQBE/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EcT_1OAh9ssGCwYuRG_m49rVQBE/0/di" /></a><br /> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EcT_1OAh9ssGCwYuRG_m49rVQBE/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EcT_1OAh9ssGCwYuRG_m49rVQBE/1/di" /></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:wF9xT3WuBAs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:wF9xT3WuBAs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=tlyINDOCgqw:Z6X2qXikFZc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> </div>

<p> <br /> </p> <p>“Expert in children smiles”</p> <p>Agency: Euro RSCG 360, France<br /> Chief Creative Officer: Hugues Pinguet<br /> Creative director: Jean-Louis Goineau<br /> Art director: Sabrina Leva</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/n29f1m4DnR9HyFEVwgRkF998JOM/0/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/n29f1m4DnR9HyFEVwgRkF998JOM/0/di" /></a><br /> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/n29f1m4DnR9HyFEVwgRkF998JOM/1/da"><img border="0" ismap="true" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/n29f1m4DnR9HyFEVwgRkF998JOM/1/di" /></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:V_sGLiPBpWU" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:qj6IDK7rITs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=qj6IDK7rITs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:wF9xT3WuBAs"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:wF9xT3WuBAs" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?a=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Advertising/designGoodness?i=Nx4PJLzalto:tgn4pyrLk9g:gIN9vFwOqvQ" /></a> </div>

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<p>Like with any life changing decision, there are pros and cons to the decision to work for yourself. One such con is the responsibility to handle your retirement by yourself. If you aren’t careful as a freelancer you could be setting yourself up for financial ruin later on down the road. The burden of establishing your retirement fund rests entirely on your shoulders. In this post I hope to offer insight into different retirement planning options that can establish a safe financial future for freelancers in any industry.</p> <p><span id="more-67602"></span></p> <h2>1. Save Early</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67698" height="380" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Save-Early.jpg" title="Save Early" width="570" /></p> <p>The most important thing to keep in mind when planning for retirement is that the earlier you start saving money, the more comfortable your retirement will be. You should begin making contributions to your retirement as soon as possible so more interest can accrue. In order for me to illustrate the importance of starting early let me give an example:</p> <p>Freelancer A and Freelancer B are both 20 years old and make $55,000 per year. Freelancer A read this article and decided to start making contributions of $5,000 per year to his retirement fund starting that year. Freelancer B unfortunately did not read this article and bought a car instead. Five years later, B decides he should probably start contributing to retirement, at $6,500 per year. They both want to retire at age 65, and can both secure interest rates of 5%. By age 65, A has $798,500.78 saved up, whereas B only has $785,198.53. Notice how Freelancer B tried to compensate for missing those five years of saving by increasing his annual contribution by $1,500 each year and still came up short compared to A? Interest adds up fast.</p> <h2>2. Save and Don’t Spend</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67699" height="342" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Spend-or-Save.jpg" title="Spend or Save" width="570" /></p> <p><em>Image by <a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1091760" target="_blank">svilen001</a></em></p> <p>The next tip may seem obvious, but watch your spending. Mint.com has received a lot of good press, and that’s for a reason. Seeing how you are spending your money graphically can really help you see just how much money you are wasting. I was taking a look at where I was spending money, and I used to spend way too much money on coffee and restaurants. It’s incredible how much money you can add to your retirement fund if you cut out impulse buys and other unnecessary spending. Let me provide an example:</p> <p>If a freelancer really likes Subway and eats a $5.00 sandwich there three times a week and also loves Starbucks and gets a $4.00 cup of coffee there three times a week , that adds up to $27.00 per week, or $1404.00 per year. Now imagine if this hardworking freelancer only ate out and had coffee once per week instead; the freelancer only spends $468.00 for an annual saving of $936.00. Again, with a 5% interest rate over 45 years, if that $936.00 is put to your retirement fund each year it comes out to $149,479.35 by retirement age, and that is no chump change.</p> <p>Ultimately, there’s two ways to spend money. Investing it or wasting it. Live within your means, and invest in your future. Don’t waste money on things you don’t need, except for on occasion. That said, be sure to reward yourself a little bit if you land a huge contract or accomplish something big; it’s good for morale.</p> <h2>3. Choose Investments Wisely</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67700" height="321" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Investment-Choices.jpg" title="Investment Choices" width="570" /></p> <p><em>Image by <a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/993257" target="_blank">svilen001</a></em></p> <p>In order to actually accumulate interest on the money you put aside for retirement, you will need to invest it. There are a wide variety of investment opportunities available to freelancers, and they can be as conservative or risky as you’d like. As with anything else in life, higher risk investments have potential to yield much greater returns in comparison to conservative investments, but are you willing to stake your retirement on an investment? I’m not the person to answer that. The decision is yours. Here are some options you have for retirement investing:</p> <h3><strong>IRAs</strong></h3> <p>IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts) are often misunderstood. IRAs should be thought of as a collective investment account for retirement. Essentially once your money is in your IRA, you can invest it however you’d like. This includes stocks, mutual funds, CDs, annuities, and bonds among others. The IRA is basically an umbrella account that decides how your investments will be taxed. There are different types of IRAs available, and it is up to each individual to decide the best option for their circumstances. Here are a few options:</p> <p><strong>The Traditional IRA:</strong></p> <p>The Traditional IRA allows you to defer taxes on payments made into the IRA until you withdraw the money when you retire.</p> <p><strong>The Roth IRA:</strong></p> <p>The Roth IRA is another type of retirement account, but instead of paying taxes upon withdrawal, you pay taxes on your contribution.</p> <p><strong>The SEP (Simplified Employee Pension) IRA:</strong></p> <p>The SEP IRA is great for freelancers, because it is a retirement plan that works for self-employed people. It allows your business accounts to make pre-tax contributions to your personal retirement account. You as an individual cannot make contributions personally, however. Of course, taxes will have to be paid upon withdrawal. These accounts are often used to supplement either a Roth or Traditional IRA.</p> <p>Now that I’ve covered three of the main types of IRAs that might interest a freelancer, I will discuss some investment options within the IRAs. Keep in mind; you will want to diversify your investment portfolio to minimize risk. Make different types of investments. Own some long-term stocks, some microcap stocks, and a few CDs (Certificate of Deposits) instead of just a lot of long-term stock investments for example. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, because if that basket drops you will have a hard time retiring.</p> <h3>Personal Stock Investing</h3> <p>Stock investing can be very risky if you’re not very familiar with the stock market and how trading works, but don’t let that scare you away. It is worth learning about. Generally, if you decide to invest in mature companies that send shareholders nice dividends, your risk will be significantly lower than if you were to invest in a microcap company in hopes that it will be the next Apple or Google. Whichever route you take, cut losses before they get too big and take profits when you can. Be disciplined and don’t “marry” a stock, or you will lose a lot of money.</p> <p>One thing I want to caution readers on is a common stock manipulation scheme called a “pump and dump”.  Promotion companies are paid by sleazy companies to tout their stock ticker through emails, phone calls, and mailers in order to create more demand. As any economics course will teach you, where there’s more demand and less supply, prices increase. As the prices increase in what is known as the “pump”, insiders and more experienced sell shares as the price per share reaches a peak. With big time selling, the supply goes up and the demand goes down. This is known as the “dump”, and it in turn decreases the share price significantly; sometimes even in a matter of minutes. This causes inexperienced investors to lose all of their initial investment, and leaves them confused. Please do not buy a stock that you read about in an email unless you know exactly what you are doing, even if it looks really appealing. It is almost definitely a scam.</p> <h3>Certificates of Deposit (CDs)</h3> <p>CDs are generally a safe investment to make because they are FDIC insured up to $250,000. With CDs, you put a principal payment down, and a bank offers you a fixed interest rate until the maturity date. At the maturity date you get your initial investment back plus interest. You get to decide when the maturity date is when you make the initial deposit. The longer the term length of the CD you pick, the higher the APY (Annual Percentage Yield) will be. You can withdraw your principal at any time, but you will lose accumulated interest. If you can avoid touching your money, CDs will offer better returns than savings accounts in the long run.</p> <h3>Bonds</h3> <p>Bonds offer many options, from treasury bonds to corporate bonds; it’s wise you do a lot of research to fully understand the different possibilities. Essentially, a bond is an offering from a company or entity that allows investors to finance a project. It’s like a loan from an investor to a company or entity. Rating agencies help individual investors to decide if a bond investment fits within their risk tolerance. Investors require a higher return for riskier bond purchases, so the riskiest bonds will have the highest yields, but also the highest chance of defaulting.</p> <h3>Mutual Funds</h3> <p>A mutual fund is a large pool of money collected from many individual investors and managed by professional money managers. The nice thing about mutual funds is that they allow individual investors to gain access to a highly diversified portfolio that is managed by a financial professional, so it can be fairly safe. There are different mutual funds with varying levels of risk, so again, it comes down to how much risk you are willing to take on. There are many funds out there. Some of the more popular ones imitate the major stock indexes, like the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and NASDAQ. Stock indexes give a close representation of the movement of the entire stock market. Research any mutual fund you are thinking of investing in very carefully, and decide if it fits within your risk tolerance level.</p> <h3>ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds)</h3> <p>ETFs are securities that are designed to follow an index, but are tradable like a regular stock. ETFs offer great diversification, but they also allow you to short sale, which is essentially betting that a stock will decrease in price instead of increase. Be careful with short sales, as they are very risky. I recommend doing a lot of research on short sales and practicing them with virtual money before actually taking a short position with real money.</p> <h2>4. Establish Goals and Meet Them</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67702" height="353" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Goal.jpg" title="Goal" width="570" /></p> <p>Retirement starts with planning. Your first step is to establish how much money you will need to survive after you retire, and then you have to figure out how much money you will need to save each year to reach these goals. Retirement is not something you should procrastinate on. Get on the ball. Plan and contribute early, or you will not have a smooth retirement. Here are some tools I recommend to help plan for retirement and keep track of goals:</p> <p><a href="http://mint.com" target="_blank" title="Mint.com - A Great Financial Planning Resource"><strong>Mint.com</strong></a> – Mint is a powerful tool that provides graphs of how your money is spent. It will help you monitor and reduce unnecessary buying. It will also allow you to easily track the balance of your retirement accounts at all times.</p> <p><a href="https://www.google.com/advisor/home" target="_blank" title="Google Advisor - Compare CD Interest Rates and More"><strong>Google Advisor</strong></a> – Google Advisor is a nice little page that Google set up to help users easily find the highest interest rates available on CDs and other accounts.</p> <p><a href="http://bankrate.com" target="_blank" title="Bankrate - Set Goals and Make Calculations"><strong>Bankrate.com</strong></a> – Bankrate has calculators to help you decide the amount per year you should contribute to your retirement funds in order to retire with the amount of money you want to have. It would be easier to use the calculators on this site than to try to figure the calculations out by yourself, because Bankrate’s calculators use the most recent rates for its numbers.</p> <p><em>Disclaimer: The author is not a financial professional, and you should do your own due diligence while looking into retirement options. Be sure to talk to a professional financial advisor to help plan your retirement. This is not something that should be taken lightly.</em></p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=ECIHCr1s_wU:JrUo22blyE0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=ECIHCr1s_wU:JrUo22blyE0:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=ECIHCr1s_wU:JrUo22blyE0:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=ECIHCr1s_wU:JrUo22blyE0:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/ECIHCr1s_wU" width="1" />

<p>If you are running a blog on a self-hosted platform, chances are you’re using either <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a></span></span> or perhaps <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://drupal.org/">Drupal</a></span></span>. There is no denying the fact that both of these CMSs have excellent capabilities. They are ideal for many different genres of website. However, at times, when all you need is a small personal weblog, running Drupal is a bit overkill. In other instances, when the need of the hour is a no-nonsense and nimble CMS, WordPress might seem a bit bloated to some users.</p> <p>If this is the case for you, <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://habariproject.org/">Habari</a></span></span> might be the CMS meant for your blog. <span id="more-67137"></span></p> <h2><strong>First Look</strong></h2> <p>Habari is a blogging CMS with a modular, object-oriented core. With that said, Habari, unlike WordPress, is not everyone’s blogging platform. If you are planning to create a video blog or a photo blog, Habari may not impress you. It caters to the traditional blogger – and it does its job well.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67141" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Habari -- The Blogger's CMS" class="size-full wp-image-67141" height="130" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/habari-main.png" title="Habari -- The Blogger's CMS" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Habari -- The Blogger's CMS</p></div> <p>Habari supports multiple database back-ends including MySQL, SQLite and PostgreSQL. There is support for Atom feeds, and the plugin repository contains importers for WordPress blogs.</p> <p>However, the USP of Habari, as we shall soon see, does not lie in its blogging prowess (seriously, of the features mentioned in the above paragraph, <em>which one is new?</em>). Habari’s main forte is its minimal and swift operation – the CMS comes with an admin interface which is reduced to the bare minimum.</p> <p>Before we decide the pros and cons of Habari as a CMS, we shall evaluate it under different categories.</p> <h2><strong>Interface, Usage and Performance</strong></h2> <p>The first thing you’d notice once you login to Habari’s back end is the ‘clean’ look and feel. The interface is neat, with the navigation menu sitting nicely in the upper left corner. Just like WordPress, Habari presents you with a Dashboard once you log in. By default, it shows details such as number of Posts, Comments, logged in Users, etc.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67140" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Habari presents you with a Dashboard after login" class="size-full wp-image-67140" height="259" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/habari-dashboard.png" title="Habari presents you with a Dashboard after login" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Habari presents you with a Dashboard after login</p></div> <p>You can use keyboard shortcuts to navigate in the admin panel – ‘Q’ for Dashboard, ‘M’ for managing existing articles, ‘C’ for comments’, ‘N’ for New Post, ‘A’ for tags, ‘T’ for themes, ‘P’ for plugins, and so on. Of course, if you are editing an article, such shortcuts become void for the duration you are using the Editor.</p> <p>Speaking of editing an article, the New Entry Editor is plain simple. There are no excessive elements – in fact, it resembles WP’s Editor (after you maximize the latter to full screen).</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67139" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Habari's Article Editor sports a minimal and clean look" class="size-full wp-image-67139" height="412" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/article-editor.png" title="Habari's Article Editor sports a minimal and clean look" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Habari's Article Editor sports a minimal and clean look</p></div> <p>Along similar lines, the Options page too is rather minimal and, to a great extent, empty. It lets you enter basic info about your blog, time and date, language, and other similar settings.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67142" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Habari has a simple Options page" class="size-full wp-image-67142" height="385" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/options.png" title="Habari has a simple Options page" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Habari has a simple Options page</p></div> <p>In the My Profile section, you can edit your details – name to be displayed, password, Gravatar address (you can also use an image hosted elsewhere by placing its link).</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67144" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="User Settings Page in Habari" class="size-full wp-image-67144" height="464" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/user-settings.png" title="User Settings Page in Habari" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">User Settings Page in Habari</p></div> <h2><strong>Extensions, Plugins and Themes</strong></h2> <p>Habari comes with several themes and plugins to its merit. However, most of the addons are developed in-house and/or by the community. So if you are looking for Premium Theme Stores resembling those of WordPress, you’re in for disappointment.</p> <p>Among plugins, you also have the likes of Akismet and Defensio to secure your website, importers for platforms such as WordPress and Serendipity to import your previous data, as well as many others.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67143" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Habari is backed by several community driven plugins" class="size-full wp-image-67143" height="337" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/plugins.png" title="Habari is backed by several community driven plugins" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Habari is backed by several community driven plugins</p></div> <h2><strong>Community and Support</strong></h2> <p>Habari has its own <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/habari-users"><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">user</span></span><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> group</span></span></a> and <a href="http://wiki.habariproject.org/en/IRC"><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">IRC</span></span><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> channel</span></span></a>. The <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://wiki.habariproject.org/en/Getting_Involved">community</a></span></span> is quite dedicated and the CMS has a loyal user base. However, the size of the community is rather small as compared to most other CMSs. This can be attributed to the fact that the CMS is still in its infancy (the latest version being 0.8). By the way, the frequency of updates is awesome.</p> <h2><strong>The Good and Bad</strong></h2> <p>Before we pass judgment, let’s sum up the advantages and disadvantages Habari.</p> <p>Pros:</p> <ul> <li>Extremely nimble and easy to use</li> <li>No-nonsense, minimal interface</li> <li>Dedicated community</li> <li>Good documentation and support options</li> <li>Support for multiple databases</li> <li>Ideal for regular blogging</li> </ul> <p>Cons:</p> <ul> <li>Relatively younger</li> <li>Small user base</li> <li>Not meant for photo/video blogs</li> <li>Few third-party developers</li> </ul> <h2><strong>The Verdict</strong></h2> <p>So, is Habari worth it?</p> <p>Definitely yes!</p> <p>If you are looking for a CMS with a clean interface for your blog, you should surely consider Habari. Unlike WP, Habari does not try to do many things – its target audience includes regular bloggers, and it serves them well. Yes, the CMS can indeed make use of few Premium themes and plugins, but all in all, it has all the ingredients to power an average-sized blog.</p> <h2><strong>Links</strong></h2> <p><a href="http://habariproject.org/en/"><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Habari </span></span><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Home</span></span><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> Page</span></span></a> | <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://demo.habariproject.org/">Demo</a></span></span> | <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://wiki.habariproject.org/">Wiki</a></span></span></p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=UtZeD4cBx5E:nIz5YYYFJYc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=UtZeD4cBx5E:nIz5YYYFJYc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=UtZeD4cBx5E:nIz5YYYFJYc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=UtZeD4cBx5E:nIz5YYYFJYc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/UtZeD4cBx5E" width="1" />

<p>Close the window right now if you don’t know who is The Rock! He follows ZERO users and is being followed by over 2.5 millions users <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/TheRock" target="_blank">on Twitter</a>. As a side fact, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DwayneJohnson" target="_blank">his facebook page</a> has 6.4 million likes. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwayne_Johnson" target="_blank">His wikipedia page</a> is full of praises for the legend and YouTube is flooded with his videos. The Rock is simply the most important reason behind WWE’s social media success just because of his engaging twitter habits. He forces his fans to “Bring It” in every aspect of their life and people go mad when they read a reply (he replied to me too) from “The Rock!” himself on twitter. A Hollywood superstar, a Twitter superstar, a Facebook superstar, a bestselling author and of course the WWE superstar - the Rock has come a long way all on his own. Today I will dig into the human side of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in order to understand how he keeps Twitter trending.</p> <p><span id="more-67835"></span></p> <h2>He replied to me within 2 minutes!</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67839" height="299" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/reply-to-me.png" title="reply to me" width="570" /></p> <p>Yes! That isn’t a fake screenshot. I sent a tweet on Twitter before I started working on this article. I tagged Dwayne and pat came the reply. Let me just bask in glory for sometime before I move on to the rest of my article.</p> <h2>His quotes are simply over-the-top</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67843" height="200" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/devil-says.png" title="devil says" width="570" /></p> <p>My fingers are itching to write about Dwayne’s recent success in Wrestlemania 28 but sadly, this ain’t an article about Wrestlemania. Rather, this one is about how smart (actually how honest) Dwayne is on Twitter. When you go through his tweets then you will notice a pattern and a purpose. All that he wants is to spread love. The beast is all about commitment to fans and he is doing that so well.</p> <p>Before we move on, let us fall in love with few more tweets from Dwayne:</p> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67847" height="200" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/spoken-word.jpg" title="spoken word" width="570" /></p> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67848" height="198" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/champs.png" title="champs" width="570" /></p> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67849" height="215" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/dream.png" title="dream" width="570" /></p> <h2>He replies “Instantly”</h2> <p>At times celebrities give up on their Twitter accounts and let agencies control it for them. They don’t want anything messy to destroy their names and their status. What I can infer from such an act is that they are dumb enough to run away from reality. Look at this man, The Rock! He will reply to his followers all by himself. You can feel The Rock in his replies. You will fall in love with him and he will love you back instantly.</p> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67854" height="330" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/replies.png" title="replies" width="570" /></p> <p>Dwayne enjoys Twitter because it gives him instant feedback and helps him stay connected with his fans on the move. The Rock also uses Twitter to encourage and motivate his followers. And, oh boy, they do get motivated. Look at me. I haven’t slept all night and it is 7:00am while I am writing this article. He is crazy and so are his fans.</p> <h2>He Tweets at 3 AM</h2> <p>The Rock! has the habit of getting up between 3 AM and 5 AM for five days a week as he loves to train while the sun is coming up. It is this time at 3 AM while the world is sleeping when The Rock! sends out tweets that go viral. See, it is the commitment of this man towards his fan and his work that makes him tick. Can’t you see that?</p> <h2>He has attitude!</h2> <p>The Rock follows no one on Twitter! Isn’t that something? And, guess what? This attitude goes well with his profession where the champ is always in the arena, fighting! His tweets and his replies are full of energy and attitude. He will throw it on your face so that you realize how important life is for you. His tweets make sure that you are up and on the move during every second of your life. He can even make you feel energetic while you are fast asleep. He is truly The Rock! And, he has attitude which rocks. Hell Yeah!</p> <h2>It is HIM on Twitter</h2> <p>As I said before, The Rock! isn’t like other celebrities who take help of their entourage in order to sent “safe” tweets. The Rock controls his Twitter account all by himself and all the tweets that land up on Twitter smell of his fingers. It is this personal touch that literally forces his followers to indulge in sessions with him. If it wasn’t for the reality of The Rock! on Twitter then I don’t think his popularity would have been whatever it is right now on Twitter.</p> <h2>He organizes Rock Talk!</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67860" height="360" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/rock-talk.jpg" title="rock talk" width="570" /></p> <p>Rock Talk is another idea of The Rock! that indulges his followers into chat sessions. The Rock! willingly sets apart time and during this Rock Talk all he does is send replies to the questions that his followers post for him. It is simple and it works. People love his answers and the amount of time he spends with them on Twitter. Why won’t they follow him and fall in love with him? I don’t see one reason.</p> <h2>The Take Aways</h2> <p>See, I agree that you might not be a celebrity and this will be one major hurdle between you and a huge followers count. But, the path to Twitter success is very simple. Really.</p> <ul> <li>Reply to people’s tweets and tell them how cool they are.</li> <li>Indulge in regular connections with people who matter to you.</li> <li>Retweet their tweets and tell them that their tweets were informative.</li> <li>Be their online friend.</li> <li>Leave tweets that motivate people.</li> <li>Occasional fun is always invited by everyone.</li> <li>Be strong and committed.</li> <li>Tweet regularly without any huge breaks as this leads to follower turn offs.</li> <li>Give time to those who are following you.</li> <li>Lastly, be honest! Please.</li> </ul> <h2>Conclusion</h2> <p>The Rock! is one of the very few celebs on Twitter who are themselves. He is part of the very rare breed of Twitter users who worship the basic idea behind the 144 character social networking website. He is honest and makes you on the top of the world. Basically, he is everything that a celeb on Twitter should be. And, if you aren’t following The Rock then you are really missing out on some of the very motivational tweets. To wrap up, you get to read incredibly inappropriate, but funny, dirty joke right on your Twitter timeline.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=_usSeNiXZrI:aqliqdXFq2o:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=_usSeNiXZrI:aqliqdXFq2o:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=_usSeNiXZrI:aqliqdXFq2o:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=_usSeNiXZrI:aqliqdXFq2o:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/_usSeNiXZrI" width="1" />

<p>A portfolio is a collection of documents, works, progresses and basically everything you’ve done and want to show off. The point of a portfolio is to assist you in the process of presenting your skills, knowledge and experience. A portfolio has the aim of showing who you are in a short but detailed form. It’s important to always have a portfolio as you never know what kind of job opportunities you may have in any unexpected moment. That doesn’t mean you have to create one and carry 5 copies of it with you — instead, you can always keep it online!</p> <p><span id="more-67171"></span></p> <p>Anyone can create a portfolio but <strong>online portfolios</strong> are mostly used by IT workers, such as designers and developers. This group represents the biggest part of portfolio-owners on the internet. In this article we will try to explain the key points of any <strong>successful portfolio</strong> and analyze the mistakes made which really drive clients from your online portfolio.</p> <h2>Your Domain Name</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67173" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/img-1.png" width="570" /></p> <p><a href=" <p>This is the most basic mistake which can be made. If you consider yourself a professional, you must keep the domain name professional as well. The best idea would be using your name and surname as the domain name as it’s neither too personal nor crazy or strange. It will only say that it is your personal page, and that’s exactly what you want to achieve. <em>The bad part may be the unavailability of the domain name.</em></p> <p>In 2011, <a href="http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/01/17/internet-2011-in-numbers/" target="_blank">300 million websites</a> were created and each of them used a unique domain name. If finding suitable domain name is an issue then you should think about other possibilities as well. You may reduce your name or surname to one letter only, or, you may use a common word like “studio”. While no-one will judge you for using any extra word in your domain, it’s not a good practice to use a word like “studio” in your domain name if you actually don’t own a studio and work by yourself. It may make clients think that you are trying to portray yourself as bigger than you are. You may also use words which represent you or anything that may come to mind, but be sure not to let your imagination invent some strange and creepy names!</p> <h2>Bad Domain Pick</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67176" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/img-2.png" width="570" /></p> <p><a href="http://godaddy.com">Image Source</a></p> <p>It is a very bad practice to use adjectives in your domain name, especially the ones which would describe yourself. It is the client’s job to decide whether your designs are really amazing and you are a “talented designer” or you aren’t. You shouldn’t think for your clients and impose your ideas to them.</p> <h2>Good Domain Pick</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67177" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/img-3.png" width="570" /></p> <p>While we already said that using adjectives in domain names isn’t a good idea, I should admit that <a href="http://visualidiot.com" target="_blank">Visual Idiot</a> has done an amazing job choosing a domain name. It’s actually his nickname which makes him popular in the design community. It would be strange using the word idiot in any domain name, but, you’ll immediately forget about it as the site loads. The stunning work VI has done will make you admire him and his skills. I can actually say that his domain pick is perfect and it doesn’t make him appear in a negative space at all.</p> <p><strong>Suggested Reading - </strong><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/tips-before-registering-domain-name/" target="_blank">6 Must Read Tips Before Registering A Domain Name</a></p> <h2>Layout</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67178" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/img-4.png" width="570" /></p> <p><a href="http://www.45royale.com/" target="_blank">Image Source</a></p> <p>Another key element which makes a big difference is the quality of your portfolio layout. The first impression matters much, that is why you should always try impressing your clients from their first moments being on the website. Your layout must be the one which will impress your potential clients. You can’t convince someone that your work is amazing and they should hire you if your own website lacks quality. A visitor won’t ask or seek for the prices you offer, or your portfolio if your website won’t have at least a decent look. Minimalism is totally accepted in your designs but you shouldn’t confuse <strong>minimalism and simplicity</strong>. You don’t want your site to look poorly designed and lack basic functionality. Your website’s quality should never be second rate to your work.</p> <h2>About Yourself</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67181" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/img-5.png" width="570" /></p> <p><a href="http://ormanclark.com" target="_blank">Image Source</a></p> <p>People like to know as much as they can about someone they may hire for a job. Before it goes deep into communication and several mails, it is very good to let your visitors know you from the beginning. This doesn’t mean you must post everything from your medical cart to parking fines.</p> <p>You shouldn’t go too deep into personal life stories, but you should at least provide your name, and details about your professional studies and experience. Obviously this information shouldn’t be located in random places and the best location for it would be an <strong>“About” page</strong>. There have been <a href="http://sixrevisions.com/content-strategy/about-page-guidelines/">several discussions</a> on how to create great About pages so that your visitors won’t leave, at least not because of a poorly written About page.</p> <h2>Two More “Obvious” Mistakes</h2> <ul> <li><strong>Live-Chat -</strong> These services were invented with the purpose of helping customers on e-commerce websites where instant help is needed. In theory, live-chat widgets can be present on your website, it’s actually an unnecessary element, but it depends on the specifics of your website. A team, or a medium-large design studio could implement live chat if they have the right person and time to answer all the questions which may occur, however, if you are a lone freelancer there is no point implementing this time-consuming feature as all the questions could be asked by using the contact form and your job is not answering live chat questions.</li> <li><strong>Inefficient Use -</strong> Another mistake you may be doing is using your portfolio inefficiently. I do not want to say that you should squeeze juice out of your portfolio — what I want to state is that you shouldn’t confuse it with a blog or other personal website. Everything has it’s aim and you shouldn’t mix two different things into one. Your thoughts about Joe’s shoes shouldn’t be near your work examples and your CV. You can always set up a blog on your website, but it should be a different page/category. While this is admissible, you shouldn’t talk about Joe’s shoes on it either. Why? Because most of your eventual clients are not interested why Joe has chosen sneakers instead of boat shoes. I can say that having a blog on your portfolio website won’t hurt you if the discussion and posts are work related. <strong><em></em></strong></li> </ul> <h2>Conclusion</h2> <p>To sum up, a great portfolio consists of 4 basic parts: domain name, layout, information about yourself and the structure of your page. Each part of it must be well thought out and planned. You don’t want to miss something which you may regret later. Every small detail should be taken into consideration because your portfolio is how you present yourself to strangers. These strangers may want to hire you, and the ultimate goal of a portfolio is to showcase your work, and get more work. In case you need someone to have a look at your design and give you some feedback, you can always ask for some on <a href="http://dribbble.com" target="_blank">Dribbble</a>, <a href="http://forrst.com" target="_blank">Forrst</a> or <a href="http://www.conceptfeedback.com/" target="_blank">ConceptFeedback</a>!</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=BuPH4nyqmyM:kVLaUFXgTsE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=BuPH4nyqmyM:kVLaUFXgTsE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=BuPH4nyqmyM:kVLaUFXgTsE:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=BuPH4nyqmyM:kVLaUFXgTsE:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/BuPH4nyqmyM" width="1" />

<p>I am sure all of us have a lot of work to do during our freelance workday or even during the full-time agency job. But I am also sure that most of us have side projects as well. While some can be beneficial for your pocket and experience, sometimes you just want to develop your own tool, write a blog post or design something for friends or do some pro bono work. After eight hours of work, it is highly unlikely that you want to continue doing the same thing at home, so the question is how to manage doing both while still remaining motivated and focused on the goals. Moreover, if talking about what catches our attention all the time - money - personal projects are not usually the ones that put cash in our pockets.</p> <p><span id="more-66852"></span></p> <p>If we look at the issue from the other perspective, it’s easy to spot designers or developers who only focus on client work and forget side projects entirely - even if they would actually like to create something on their own. While working more and more for money, the time for side projects is less and whereas this helps us grow in the business and drives our career forward, it doesn’t allow us to experiment with our ideas and achieve success on our own. And let’s face it, it doesn’t make us excited and motivated either.</p> <p><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-66969" height="379" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/hobby.jpg" title="Hobby" width="570" /></p> <p><em>Image by <a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1364888" target="_blank" title="Hobby">onetwo</a>.</em></p> <p>Finding a balance between personal and paid work is a crucial skill designers and developers need nowadays, therefore in this article we will cover some tips on the issue and, hopefully, by the end of it you will know which way to take from now on.</p> <h2>The importance</h2> <p>We covered why both concepts are important for us, but let’s explore the topics a bit more.</p> <p>Working full time is not only important for paying the bills (although this might be the real reason behind it), but also for our careers. Having a lot of experience in the industry can only be an asset and will drive you forward whenever you need - it will now and then even land you that dream job if you are good enough.</p> <p>But the downside of it is that you don’t really create anything for yourself. Everything you work on goes to a client who uses it and besides being able to show it off as your work, you will never get close to that project again. Doing work for others is not always going to make you enthusiastic and will in most cases only be work for money. The lack of real enthusiasm will kill your motivation at some point in time and we all know this is not beneficial.</p> <p>Your client work may suffer because you don’t dedicate time to personal projects. Now I am not saying this is the case all the time, but the thought behind it might be:</p> <blockquote> <h4>Why work on each pixel to be perfect when the client will not notice anyway, and I will not be able to use the work afterwards?</h4> </blockquote> <p>There are lots of debates about this on the web and I will not take part in them; the only thing that I can assure you of is that working for yourself will always end up with better results.</p> <p>People who are dedicated to a cause or a project often deliver work at a better quality. Money is not always the most important factor. I know lots of designers who would give up their non-exciting jobs for being able to work on something they like for the minimum amount of money they need. And I know some of you think the same.</p> <p>On the other side, spending way too much time working on personal projects or pro bono work is highly unlikely to bring you the money you need to survive, much less tuck some away for new gear. It will keep you in better spirits, but on the other hand money is important too.</p> <p><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-66971" height="391" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/work.jpg" title="Work" width="570" /></p> <p><em>Image by <a href=" <p>The bottom line is that while we need clients to pay for our work and keep us financially happy, we also need side projects which keep us enthusiastic and excited. This is the balance all of us need to reach.</p> <h2>Finding the balance</h2> <p>If you are a freelancer, there will be times when there is no time for side projects at all. We are all aware of them. And it is totally understandable! I do not think doing both every day is the solution. Paid work has to be prioritized and finished first. If you aren’t ahead of schedule, don’t think of side projects.  This is my rule, I don’t start personal projects if the work I should have done is not finished. Case closed!</p> <blockquote> <h4>There is no problem in putting paid projects back in the queue, if the deadline is not approaching fast, so you can work on something personal. But doing too much of this can get you behind schedule and this creates problems, as work projects need priority in most cases.</h4> </blockquote> <p>There is, however, time for side projects whenever you are ahead of schedule. If there are no deadlines you have to meet in the near future, you should have enough spare time. Some tips to find the right balance could be the following:</p> <h2>Check the finances</h2> <p>Client projects are the ones bringing you the big bucks. They pay the rent, the bills, the holidays and the taxes. They have to be your main focus, I can’t stress enough about how important this is. If you know that by the end of the month you need a specific amount of money, work for it. That is your goal for the month.</p> <p>Working on your personal projects can also be considered kind of a <em>vacation</em> from the client work. You may even find yourself feeling relaxed while working on something you enjoy. If you think it relaxes you, do it in the afternoon - use an hour or a specific amount of time before going to sleep. This way you have something to look forward to every morning. I have a better suggestion though…</p> <h2>The 1/7 rule</h2> <p>There are seven days a week, five working days. Using one of them for personal projects is something I personally enjoy doing. This will help you focus on your client work and make you look forward to the specific day when you take on your side projects. Working on them will be like a holiday for you - as they will allow you to relax.</p> <p><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-66970" height="428" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/satisfaction.jpg" title="Satisfaction" width="570" /></p> <p><em>Image by <a href=" <p>This method might be better than the first one because you will make a clear differentiation between personal and paid work. Monday - Thursday only paid work and Friday side projects, for example. This means four days when you work entirely on your paid projects, then one for the rest. I think it sounds quite fair.</p> <h2>Instant inspiration</h2> <p>Sometimes you might get hit by instant inspiration, which doesn’t happen too often. If the deadlines for the client projects aren’t looming over you, then move on to your side projects and work there. Afterwards, use the allotted time for side projects to get back on track with the paid work. This way you ensure that you deliver quality projects both for your clients and for whoever it is you are working for when working on extra projects.</p> <p>We talked a lot about side projects. When talking about doing something you enjoy this doesn’t necessarily mean designing. You can maybe blog, take pictures, learn to cook or something else. Working on side projects doesn’t mean doing the same type of work as you do between 9 and 5, but doing something that relaxes you and keeps you motivated and focused. The bottom line is that whatever hobbies you have, you can combine them with working on your full-time job and still end up doing both properly.</p> <h2>Conclusion</h2> <p>I’ve heard many people say side projects are a waste of time, as they do not always bring you good money. It’s not always about money. Actually, once you have the minimum financial success you need in order to live a decent life, it is not about money anymore. Personal satisfaction is very important in our lives and if you don’t aim reaching it, you career will suffer too.</p> <p>If you are open-minded you will notice side projects can only be beneficial to your career and you will start finding time for them in your schedule right away. None of us is so busy that we don’t have time for personal projects anymore. Time can always be found, all we need is the will to do it.</p> <p>Until next time… how do you combine your side projects to the paid work you do? Do you have a better way or some other suggestions on the topic?</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=1Bzo4Nt1J3g:xDtUH-fAQcw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=1Bzo4Nt1J3g:xDtUH-fAQcw:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=1Bzo4Nt1J3g:xDtUH-fAQcw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=1Bzo4Nt1J3g:xDtUH-fAQcw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/1Bzo4Nt1J3g" width="1" />

<p>Basically, typography is the art and technique of arranging typefaces for communication purposes. In other words, typography is a simple arrangement in order to transmit a message, while good typography is the attention to visual accuracy and details, even the small ones. Typography started when writing appeared. The most simple arrangement of letters was also some sort of typography. Nowadays, typography is an element we see everyday and everywhere — Prints, Books, Newspapers and letters, TV and Web. Even the foremost websites were caring about typography, and were trying to improve it as much as possible with the resources available at that time.<span id="more-66855"></span></p> <h2>Web Typography</h2> <p><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/handy-guide-proper-typography-design/attachment/img-1-6/" rel="attachment wp-att-66859"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-66859" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img-16.png" title="img-1" width="570" /></a></p> <p><a href=" <p>Web typography is just one of the most recent branches of the general typography concept. While images can also transmit a message, most of the content available on websites is made up of text, that is why so much attention has been given to web typography lately. While planning and designing a web page, typography isn’t less important than the visual hierarchy, selection of correct colors, functionality and many other features. We should never under-estimate the importance of web typography, nor think that it plays a minor role for a great user experience.</p> <p>Anyone who strives to have amazing typography must understand that print typography and web typography are totally different things. While some principles may be the same, web design is a totally different “environment”. Both print typography and web typography have their own rules and guidelines which must be respected. A crossing of these two may result into mixing different principles which almost have no chance to exist together.</p> <h2>Hierarchy</h2> <p>While you may already be familiar with hierarchy in web design, you may feel that there is a hierarchy in typography as well. Hierarchy in typography will give you a starting point for reading the text displayed. This is quite important because you always want to deliver your message correctly and you want your readers to understand it properly. Lots of websites don’t have this issue anymore but you should keep it in mind, so your website doesn’t appear on a one-century-old websites’ list.</p> <h2>Spacing Issues</h2> <p>While there are really very few websites with typography hierarchy issues, there are quite a lot with spacing issues related to their typography. As there must be a logic in spacing between all elements on a website, so there must be a logic in your typography spacing as well. You may want to get familiar with a few terms like: Leading Size, Kerning, and Tracking.</p> <p>Leading Size is the tool which allows you to increase or decrease the whitespace generated between the text rows available. You can <a href="http://uxmovement.com/content/increase-text-leading-for-easy-reading/">read here</a> why increasing it will help your readers reading your text. Kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a font with the aim of achieving a more pleasant visual look. By using the Tracking tool, you can achieve almost the same effect, the only difference between Tracking and Kerning being the space generated. While tracking generates an equal amount of space between each character, kerning adjusts the space based on character pairs.</p> <h2>Colors and Color Palette</h2> <p><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/handy-guide-proper-typography-design/attachment/img-2-4/" rel="attachment wp-att-66862"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-66862" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img-23.png" title="img-2" width="570" /></a></p> <p><a href=" <p>The colors in typography don’t specifically mean the color of your text which is usually of one color, instead they mean the over-all colors used on your website. All the colors and graphics used on the site will represent a “background” for your text, that is why you should be careful with the colors used. They must always fit the color of your typography, and should never obfuscate your text. You can also experiment with bigger-sized typography (also called as macro typography) to achieve better results. Defined in a simple way, macro typography is the use of bigger-sized text for attention-grabbing purposes. It is usually not longer than 1-4 words that is why it is important to keep it as short and correct as possible. It may be followed by some heading-sized text under your key message, but it’s not as important because that isn’t the focal point on your site, while big-sized text is.</p> <h2>Examples of Macro Typography in Websites</h2> <h2><a href="http://www.thepurplebunny.com/">Purple Bunny</a></h2> <p><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/handy-guide-proper-typography-design/attachment/img-7-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-67078"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67078" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img-71.png" title="img-7" width="570" /></a></p> <h2><a href="http://matt-hall.co.uk/">Matt Hall</a></h2> <p><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/handy-guide-proper-typography-design/attachment/img-8-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-67079"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67079" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img-81.png" title="img-8" width="570" /></a></p> <h2><a href="http://viljamis.com/">VS</a></h2> <p><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/handy-guide-proper-typography-design/attachment/img-9-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-67080"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67080" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img-91.png" title="img-9" width="570" /></a></p> <h2>Font Pairs</h2> <p>Font pairing is the process of combining 2 or more typefaces with the aim to create a nice combination. While this sounds interesting, for beginners it is a hard job. Choosing one font, or a few fonts that are nice is well, but when your aim is to combine 2 fonts to achieve a perfect paring, it is much harder then it sounds in theory. Font Pairing has the aim to reduce the flatness which may be created while using one font choice, even with different styles. It would be a good practice to use one font for all headlines you may have while the other one for simple paragraphs. There is even a great <a href="http://bonfx.com/the-big-book-of-font-combinations/">book by Douglass Bonneville</a> with thousands of font pair combinations for those who’d like to see ready examples.</p> <h2>Contrast of Size/Weights</h2> <p>It would be a big mistake if  you make your fonts non-differentiable. As you already know, it is very important to use a pair of fonts in order to have decent typography, and not some uniform text. Even if you have found an amazing font pair, you shouldn’t forget about setting correct sizes and weights for your fonts. Setting unsuitable weights and sizes will basically ruin your pair as it will become hard to understand that you have used different fonts. Your fonts should never be lost in the background because of similarity, incorrect size or mismatched background color.</p> <h2>Font-Replacement Methods</h2> <p><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/handy-guide-proper-typography-design/attachment/img-3-3/" rel="attachment wp-att-66866"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-66866" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img-32.png" title="img-3" width="570" /></a></p> <p><a href=" <p>The old times are gone when designers had to use only fonts available on user’s computers or even images with text so they would see the correct font. As technology evolves, HTML5 is starting to get over flash, and there are a lot of amazing tools which would let you replace any font they have in the collection, without making your users install any specific font in order to view the text correctly.</p> <h2>@font-face</h2> <p>@font-face replacement method is one of the easiest methods. It has been introduced only a few years ago. It is really easy to implement as there is no more messing around with Javascript and jQuery code while you are installing it. It only relies on CSS, and takes addition of a few strokes of code to be up and running. The only con which font-face may have is that rendering is interpreted in different ways by different browsers. Using the latest versions of browser should minimize this problem, but, anyway it’s on the horizon and we mustn’t forget about it.</p> <h2><a href="http://www.google.com/webfonts">Google Fonts</a></h2> <p><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/handy-guide-proper-typography-design/attachment/img-4-4/" rel="attachment wp-att-66870"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-66870" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img-43.png" title="img-4" width="570" /></a></p> <p>Even though Google released its font directory only in 2010, it already has almost 500 font families. Google Fonts API is being widely used because of its simplicity and trust the company has built itself overtime. The only con Google Fonts has is its lack of really qualitative typefaces. Even if Google offers full font families, they don’t have those premium-looking fonts which would make your website stand apart.</p> <h2><a href="https://typekit.com/">Typekit</a></h2> <p><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/handy-guide-proper-typography-design/attachment/img-5-4/" rel="attachment wp-att-66873"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-66873" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img-53.png" title="img-5" width="570" /></a></p> <p>Typekit is a well known service which has been used a lot over the years. It has become really popular because of its huge font collections. It has almost one thousands fonts and most of them are looking amazing. Typekit got popular because it offers those premium @font-face solutions that Google doesn’t offer. Launched in 2009, it also got some popularity being founded one year earlier than the Google Font directory. The only con which troubles some of its potential clients is the paid subscription method. It is a yearly fee you have to pay, besides this, you are also limited to a specific number of page views per month and fonts per website, depending on your plan.</p> <h2><a href="http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fontface">FontSquirrel</a></h2> <p><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/handy-guide-proper-typography-design/attachment/img-6-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-66876"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-66876" height="350" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img-61.png" title="img-6" width="570" /></a></p> <p>The best thing about FontSquirrel is that it has lots of fonts available which are used widely and it is absolutely free. It is being loved for the number of nice fonts it provides and the absolutely free usage on as many websites as you would like. FontSquirrel even allows you to use a @font-face generator which lets you create your custom kit @font-face fonts.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=19AKycY-AME:msoMtnx4Ogc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=19AKycY-AME:msoMtnx4Ogc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=19AKycY-AME:msoMtnx4Ogc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=19AKycY-AME:msoMtnx4Ogc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/19AKycY-AME" width="1" />

<p>We are all aware of just how fast the Internet grows. The American search engine giant, Google, reports that more than 1 trillion websites were indexed in 2008. Twenty years ago Google only indexed 15,000 new URLs per year. In a stunning <a href="http://mashable.com/2011/06/19/how-many-websites/#17199How-Big-Is-the-Web" target="_blank" title="How Big Is The Web?">report from Mashable</a> last summer we found out that 150,000 new URLs are created daily. While it is nearly impossible to figure out the exact number of web pages out there, it is clear that <em>mammoth</em><em> </em>is the right word to use to describe the internet in 2012.</p> <p><span id="more-67233"></span></p> <p>Out of the 150,000 URLs created daily, there is a high chance many of them are blogs. The blogging industry has evolved a lot in the past 10 years. In 2000 blogs were rare and didn’t exist on the same scale they do now. Very few actually believed that blogging could become it’s own industry with rules, guidelines, competition and involving a fairly decent amount of money.</p> <p>One of the largest issues of the industry is the reduced number of people who can access those available funds. Big companies always prefer to advertise on big, serious and successful blogs than on smaller, personal ones. Launching a blog doesn’t automatically make you successful and you need to take some steps and put in a serious amount of work to even reach the state where you can fight for good money. By reaching those heights, however, not only will your financial success be guaranteed, but also a tremendous reputation in the industry is an added advantage.</p> <h2>What’s the topic?</h2> <p>One of the most difficult tasks is to choose a niche. And I think that if you can’t find a topic within few minutes, just off the top of your head, you are headed for problems. In my opinion blogging should not be done for money, but for something you are passionate about. Having a personal blog where you tell people what kind of cereals you ate in the morning might be fun for your mom and neighbors, but it will not attract interest from the companies. Very few bloggers without a specific topic are worldwide or even nationally successful. A targeted topic such as design, IT or sports would probably work best.</p> <p><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67237" height="380" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/writing.jpg" title="Writing" width="570" /></p> <p><em>Image by <a href=" <p>More importantly than choosing a topic is being passionate about it. You can’t write about something you don’t personally enjoy. The alternative would be to hire people to write, but let’s face it, how probable is it for your investment to pay off? Probably very low. I would only start to hire people to write on my blog after it is already quite successful and has a chance to survive in the crowded industry. Spending lots of money for a blog in the beginning is not something I would recommend.</p> <p>The domain name should also be relevant to the topic you discuss and if you need some tips about how to choose the best possible domain name (which can and will be a hassle, believe me), you can read <a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/tips-before-registering-domain-name/" target="_blank">Tips for Registering Domain Names</a>. <em>Don’t make it too long and keep it easy to remember.</em></p> <h2>Hosting</h2> <p>While this is a small step and might seem unimportant, using a reliable hosting company is something you should look for if you want to have a successful blog. Keep in mind that downtime will not make you more popular. There are not too many things more annoying than trying to access a web page that is down. This will make your readers less interested if you show a lack of professionalism in this regard.</p> <h2>Know your competitors</h2> <p>Carefully studying the others in the industry, especially the direct competitors, is something I would start doing right away. You need to get a feel of how the successful blogs manage out there if you want to own one of them. Knowing who it is you are up against can’t do any harm now, can it?</p> <p>It would be a good idea to follow their activity for a period of time and pay attention to how they do everything, from the length and structure of their posts, publishing times and the way they interact with their followers. Even you interacting with them - and this way creating a network - might help you later on. Although pretty much everyone fights for the limited amount of money available in online advertising, bloggers help each other and are usually part of the same network (look at the Smashing Magazine Network - blogs that would normally compete with each other are driven by same <em>umbrella</em> <em>community</em>.).</p> <p>Interacting with the followers can bring you much more than just good debates. I often get article ideas from your comments here on 1WD, which I appreciate a lot. But this way I consider I give you something back for your involvement with the community. So make sure you keep your users engaged and write articles that create debates and encourage further discussions.</p> <h2>The design</h2> <p>Blogs are mainly created to share information - but so are newspapers, television websites and online magazines. And they all need to look good. Without forgetting your main goal (writing) you need to think of a good design. Now you might not be a web designer and might not be able to develop a theme for yourself; no problem. There are lots of marketplaces on the internet where you can purchase a premium theme which is bug-free and supports the latest version of WordPress (I assume there is no question about what CMS to use - if there is, forget about it now and go for WordPress). If nothing suits you (although I think this is quite impossible), you can hire a designer, but this will probably eat lots of your financial resources.</p> <p><strong>Suggested Reading -</strong> <a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/wordpress/wordpress-theme-free-or-premium/" target="_blank">Choosing a WordPress Theme: Free or Premium?</a></p> <p><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67235" height="346" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/blogging.jpg" title="Blogging" width="570" /></p> <p><em>Image by <a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/577027" target="_blank" title="Blogging">Moriel</a>.</em></p> <p>The need for a good design is big and you can see it all over the place. Blogs and online magazines opt for redesigns quite often - and even spend thousands of dollars on new visual concepts, identities and layouts. So if the big players use fine tuned designs to their advantage, it must be something worth trying, right?</p> <h2>Content is King, SEO is the Court Jester</h2> <p>Ok, quite far from the truth, but it works well for a subtitle. You can read a great piece of advice on this <a href="http://blog.nj.com/business_101/2010/10/content_is_king_-_seo_is_the_court_jester.html" target="_blank">from Michael Giaimo</a>.</p> <p>The bottom line of his article is that while SEO is important, it still is less important than the content. Before starting to think about high page rank and clicks on Google make sure the content will keep the visitors returning. There is no need in investing money in advanced SEO strategies if the users will leave your page immediately after reading the first article title.</p> <p>SEO is not to be neglected and I am aware of this - and so should you. The only thing I am saying is that there is something else you should think of before going for a SEO specialist. It is maybe debatable and I would like to hear your opinion on this in the end.</p> <h2>Have a strategy</h2> <p>There would be no football without a goal. There is no successful business without a strategy. A blog is a business like any other and it should be treated as one. Think of how many posts you want to publish a day/week, the length of the articles, the images you will use, the style and so on. In the end this is what will describe and categorize your blog.</p> <p>Having some spare articles to publish if needed is something that I did many times in my blogging days. When posting often it does happen that you are not available for a day or two and there you go, your followers get nothing from you. Write some articles in advance and always schedule them. Here at 1WD we have articles scheduled for almost a week in advance, which gives us a huge advantage over competitors who don’t adopt this style.</p> <p>It is also a great idea to keep a posting schedule, as readers will create a habit around your blog. Another reason for having posts scheduled in advance - users expecting content will always get it, regardless of your availability at the moment.</p> <h2>Run a social media launch campaign</h2> <p>Start creating a Facebook and Twitter page before launching the blog - this might help you raise some awareness over the launch and make people excited. You also need to make sure you maintain the social media accounts, nothing looks worse than a company with an inactive Facebook page. I know starting form zero followers is tough; and probably the first 100 are the toughest to get. But keep in mind all pages start from zero and yet they can reach millions. Time is your best friend in blogging. You need to wait in order to be successful, as this can only be achieved through hard work over a longer period.</p> <h2>Be ready!</h2> <p>Blogging is a tough business. Make sure you know what lies ahead of you. Countless hours of work, lack of proper sleep during many nights, motivation issues and frustration are coming and going in the industry; but it is quite impossible to reach success without passing through these stages.</p> <p><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67236" height="428" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/opinion.jpg" title="Opinion" width="570" /></p> <p><em>Image by <a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/503227" target="_blank" title="Opinion">guil</a>.</em></p> <h2>Conclusion</h2> <p>Don’t create a blog only for money. Money should be the final prize and achievement, your passion for the topic should be the main reason you invest time and financial resources on it. Readers can feel when a blogger is not passionate about the subjects he is covering and they will not return. You don’t want to be one of the unlucky bloggers. Think twice before launching a blog and think even more about its topic, your motivation and willingness to commit to your cause.</p> <p>Until next time… do you have a personal blog? How well do you think you maintain it and why? Do you set some rules for yourself and some guidelines for the blog? Do you pay people to write there, turning a blog into a small business of itself?</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=xGPkhub0X_4:VTrxau204Is:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=xGPkhub0X_4:VTrxau204Is:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=xGPkhub0X_4:VTrxau204Is:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=xGPkhub0X_4:VTrxau204Is:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/xGPkhub0X_4" width="1" />

<p>User Experience, Responsive Web Design and similar terms have made such a serious impact on the lives of web designers that they have almost forgotten the core of website design - User Flow. <em>I hope that we, the web designers, remember that website design is not just about “how it looks” but also about “how it works”</em>! It is easy to get sentimental with your passion - website design - which forces you to jump right into the website design phase without considering the end user expectations. Website designers concentrate so much on the information architecture of a website that they tend to forget the user flows that are the basis of all conversions benefiting the website. We can either give up on end user just for the look (and all other silly adjectives) of our website or start giving priority to <strong>User Flows</strong> in order to increase the returns from the website.</p> <p>So, once you have made up your mind that you will break the shackles of information architecture, aesthetic looks, <a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/freebies/auto-completion-scripts/" target="_blank">user experience</a>, responsive design and other silly terms then you can start reading further. It is time to <strong>design user flows</strong>.</p> <p><span id="more-66191"></span></p> <h2>Know Your Goal!</h2> <p>Oh please! Can we have a new sub-heading?</p> <p>Actually, I know that “Know Your Goal” thing is an obvious subheading to start with but it fits well in this scenario. See, you cannot start designing user flows unless you know what you are going to design for. This is when it becomes important for designers to sit with their client and understand the basic purpose of the overall design. Are they looking for sales or are they looking for a page which they can get the visitors to sign up for their email list?</p> <p>See, web designers must understand that the questions mentioned below <strong>aren’t the reason</strong> why you are designing a website:</p> <ul> <li>Do you like the new design?</li> <li>How is the new layout?</li> <li>What do you think of the latest UI improvements? Are they impressive?</li> </ul> <p>Clients might target positive answers to these questions but sooner or later they will understand that their positive reactions are good for nothing. At the end of the day conversions matter for any website and if the new design isn’t bringing in conversions (in whatever beneficial format) then the newness of the website is worthless.</p> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-66676" height="300" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/know_your_user.jpg" title="know_your_user" width="570" /></p> <p>Henceforth, next time when you have a website design project, think of the user flow which is going to benefit the overall design. Two major pointers that will help you keep a check on actual user flow and how to design for them are:</p> <ul> <li><strong>The business purpose of the website</strong> - These will decide the respective action that you will want the website visitor to take in order to help the client achieve the business purpose.</li> <li><strong>The user’s objectives</strong> - This is more like for-the-user tactic where the user flow is all about the user. Here the purpose of designer is to understand what exactly will the user look for from the website, their desires and their needs? At the end of the day it is all about satisfying these desires of the end-user.</li> </ul> <h2>Your User Is Your Goal. Explore Them!</h2> <p>We are discussing the <em>importance of User Flow</em> for a website henceforth it has to be the user who will make or break the website. The job of the website designer is to understand the users and their requirements. One needs to start with a detailed study of every possible website requirement and the kind of final product that the client is expecting. Some of the example user objectives to get you started are:</p> <ul> <li>Finding specific content.</li> <li>Buying a product.</li> <li>Buying a gift for someone (which is different from buying a product for yourself).</li> </ul> <p>Now, the hidden business objectives for which clients would want to launch a website that covers such user based requirements will be:</p> <ul> <li>Increase subscriber base.</li> <li>Sell specific product.</li> <li>Earn leads.</li> <li>Get the product promoted on social networking sites with the help of user only.</li> <li>Create a database of contact details.</li> </ul> <p>A website designer who clearly understands the requirement of both parties (user and end client) will have a sure advantage over those designers who <em>aren’t putting importance on user flow.</em></p> <h2>Define the Start and End of Your User Flow</h2> <p>User Flow is a state diagram of sorts which defines the path that the user will follow when it visits a particular website. We must understand the initial point from where the user starts and where their should end. It is these two points between which the website designer will have to carve his own space that will give the requisite comfort to the user.</p> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-66677" height="300" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/users_like_kids.jpg" title="users_like_kids" width="570" /></p> <p>Typical mediums via which a user can enter your website are:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Subscriber Emails</strong> - Users can come from a newsletter email that is sent to them.</li> <li><strong>Social Media</strong> - Users can use your links in the social media world to land on your website.</li> <li><strong>Paid Advertising</strong> - Google AdWords campaigns and other similar paid advertising methods are an important way to guide users to your website.</li> <li><strong>Organic Search Queries</strong> - Google Traffic (which results from organic search queries on Google) is an important source for website traffic.</li> <li><strong>Referral Links or Press </strong><strong>Publications</strong> - Users can come to your website via various blogs ( and other similar sources) that are talking about you.</li> </ul> <h2>Important Questions to Consider</h2> <p>When designing User Flow it is important to understand that detailed analysis of the requirements is a must. In order to get a clear picture of what users will be looking for, web designers must conduct in-depth interviews of their customers. Look, anybody can collect information that is nothing but speculation, but that is not how a website user flow is designed. Making stuff up as you go will take you nowhere.</p> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-66678" height="300" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/water_flow.jpg" title="water_flow" width="570" /></p> <p>So, take a printout of the following questions and add a few more from of your own. Then start answering each of them in as much detail as possible:</p> <ul> <li>What unique features of your website or product are most appealing to the end-user?</li> <li>Which kind of user would want to use these features?</li> <li>Why would they want to use these features?</li> <li>Are there any other desires that these users have?</li> <li>What sort of problems are they facing in fulfilling these desires?</li> <li>What kind of questions do they have about your website or product?</li> <li>What are their hesitations?</li> <li>What kind of information will they want if they plan to take any action?</li> <li>How can you touch the user emotionally so as to make them perform the desired action?</li> </ul> <h2>Present Crystal Clear Information</h2> <p>I have always preached about being “Crystal Clear”. No matter what we are up to, we must understand the importance of Crystal Clear Information. I agree that most of us are here to earn a fortune and we are all very much determined to do anything that will help us reach that goal, but this should not mean that we start deceiving the end user just for a few extra dollars.</p> <p>The purpose of User Flow is to fill in the gaps that are left while designing a website. This is done by following a detailed User Flow which covers every small pointer that concerns the user. See, the goal of a website designer is to shape the thought process of the user in a manner that they are determined to perform the action for which the website was designed. It is about optimizing every step which the user will perform in order to sell your product. Below pointers will help you shape the thought process of the user:</p> <ul> <li>Every step (or webpage) that the users visits must present a very clear picture of what the whole setup is about and how it will benefit the user if they perform the next action.</li> <li>Give the user detailed information and give them the offer to grab extra benefits if they perform the desired action. Also, make sure that these benefits are worth the user’s time.</li> <li>The information presented must be easy to digest and the user should not feel like they might just get tricked.</li> <li>Minimize the amount of friction that users face while moving forward. Look, if you ask for extra information from the user then it might just act as a turn off and they might hop to another window. Get the picture? Don’t ask users to perform actions that are of no benefit to either side.</li> <li>Present very clear approaches to next steps so that users aren’t confused of what needs to be done.</li> </ul> <h2>Further Reading</h2> <p>User Flow is a science in itself and it cannot be mastered after reading just a couple of guides. It is a time-consuming process and requires web designer’s diligence to reap positive results. Below, we present you with more guides that can help you approach User Flow in a smarter fashions:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/hotel-booking-from-start-to-finish/" target="_blank">Designing Hotel Booking From Start To Finish</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://www.websequencediagrams.com/" target="_blank">Web Sequence Diagrams</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://productplanner.com/" target="_blank">Product Planner</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/tools-for-sketching-user-experiences/" target="_blank">Tools For Sketching User Experience</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://experiencinginformation.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/customer-journey-mapping-resources-on-the-web/" target="_blank">Customer Journey Mapping Resources</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/09/the-value-of-customer-journey-maps-a-ux-designers-personal-journey.php" target="_blank">How Customer Journey Maps Are Being Used In Boeing</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flow-The-Psychology-Optimal-Experience/dp/0061339202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332691096&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://www.alistapart.com/articles/designingforflow/" target="_blank">Designing For Flow</a>.</li> </ul> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=M0y7GQGTn4Y:x_WQXlqR5Qk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=M0y7GQGTn4Y:x_WQXlqR5Qk:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=M0y7GQGTn4Y:x_WQXlqR5Qk:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=M0y7GQGTn4Y:x_WQXlqR5Qk:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/M0y7GQGTn4Y" width="1" />

<p>When it comes to choosing a CMS, there are a lot of options to choose from. One can go with traditional ones, such as <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a></span></span>, <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://drupal.org/">Drupal</a></span></span> or <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://joomla.org/">Joomla!</a></span></span> Alternatively, one can opt for a hosted solution too.</p> <p>Hosted CMSs tend to be quite popular with designers. While they may not be able to compete with self-hosted ones in terms of scalability, they have several advantages of their own. Apart from included hosting, they also come with A+ grade support from the CMS manufacturer, and thus you know that if something were to go wrong, you won’t be left feeling lost. Secondly, most of them feature intuitive interfaces to help you develop websites easily.<span id="more-67191"></span></p> <p>Apart from that, almost all hosted CMSs come with Reseller Tools – you can re-brand and re-sell the websites you create to your clients. Thus, using a hosted CMS allows designers to not just work in an easy manner but also gain a residual flow of income. You have ready-made hosting, support and CMS deployment at your service – all you need to do is create websites and receive payment! Also, almost all hosted CMSs nowadays offer a free trial, so you can try before you buy.</p> <p>In this article, we take a look at some of the major hosted CMSs. However, before we take the plunge, it is worthwhile to point out that this article, for the sake of clarity, mentions CMSs that project themselves as Content Management Systems in the proper sense of the term. Thus, awesome services such as <span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://wordpress.com/">WordPress.com</a></span></span> have been left out (although WP.com offers WordPress as a hosted solution, it projects itself as a blogging tool and not a regular CMS).</p> <h2><strong>1. Agility CMS</strong></h2> <p>Agility CMS lets you manage your content and create websites in a snap. The CMS comes with its own Content API. You can also use Agility CMS to manage websites built with ASP.NET</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67193" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Agility CMS" class="size-full wp-image-67193" height="189" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/agility-cms.png" title="Agility CMS" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Agility CMS</p></div> <p><strong>Pros:</strong><strong> </strong>Great Rich Text Editing, support for JSON API and ASP.NET.</p> <p><strong>Cons:</strong><strong> </strong>Bit overpriced, may seem too sophisticated for some clients.</p> <p><strong>Pricing:</strong><strong> </strong>Basic Plan at $200 per month (includes two content editors).</p> <p><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.agilitycms.com/">Website</a></span></span></p> <h2><strong>2. LightCMS</strong></h2> <p>LightCMS is a CMS specifically meant for designers. You can create a free website with 3 pages, but if you wish to resell and create unlimited websites, you’ll have to opt for the paid plans. The CMS does not have the typical Admin Dashboard – instead, it features in-context editing, that is, you can edit your website simply by clicking on the respective regions.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67200" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Light CMS" class="size-full wp-image-67200" height="207" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/light-cms.png" title="Light CMS" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Light CMS</p></div> <p><strong>Pros:</strong><strong> </strong>e-Commerce Tools, Reseller options, special plans for web designers.</p> <p><strong>Cons:</strong><strong> </strong>Needs better documentation.</p> <p><strong>Pricing:</strong><strong> </strong>Basic Plan with 1 GB storage at $19 per month.</p> <p><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.lightcms.com/">Website</a></span></span></p> <h2><strong>3. Squarespace</strong></h2> <p>Squarespace is another hosted CMS that lets you create a blog, website or portfolio. The CMS offers excellent templates, stats and specialized features for particular websites such as photo galleries.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67205" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="SquareSpace" class="size-full wp-image-67205" height="262" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/square-space.png" title="SquareSpace" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">SquareSpace</p></div> <p><strong>Pros:</strong><strong> </strong>Awesome apps for iOS and Android, Importers for WP, Blogger and others.</p> <p><strong>Cons:</strong><strong> </strong>Virtually nil</p> <p><strong>Pricing:</strong><strong> </strong>Standard Pack at $8 per month (billed annually) with 500 GB bandwidth and 2 GB storage</p> <p><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.squarespace.com/">Website</a></span></span></p> <h2><strong>4. HiFi</strong></h2> <p>HiFi lets you create websites with zero design constraints. It offers a slick API and intuitive interface.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67198" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="HiFi" class="size-full wp-image-67198" height="323" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/hifi.png" title="HiFi" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">HiFi</p></div> <p><strong>Pros:</strong><strong> </strong>Excellent SEO settings, easy to use interface.</p> <p><strong>Cons:</strong><strong> </strong>Plans should be limited in terms of bandwidth instead of pages.</p> <p><strong>Pricing:</strong><strong> </strong>Starter Plan for $19 per month (maximum 25 pages).</p> <p><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.gethifi.com/">Website</a></span></span></p> <h2><strong>5. Adobe Business Catalyst</strong></h2> <p>Adobe Business Catalyst is an all-in-one platform for building websites, online stores and managing businesses. As the name suggests, it is useful only if you have enterprises and businesses as your clients. Apart from content management, BC can also help you with turn-key eCommerce, CRM, email marketing and other similar tasks.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67192" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Adobe Business Catalyst" class="size-full wp-image-67192" height="330" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/adobe-business-catalyst.png" title="Adobe Business Catalyst" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Adobe Business Catalyst</p></div> <p><strong>Pros:</strong><strong> </strong>Ideal for businesses and organizations.</p> <p><strong>Cons:</strong><strong> </strong>May not suit the needs of non-businesses.</p> <p><strong>Pricing:</strong><strong> </strong>The Basic+ Plan is available for roughly $12 per month. It includes 1 GB of storage and 1 TB of bandwidth, along with hosted emails.</p> <p><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.businesscatalyst.com/">Website</a></span></span></p> <h2><strong>6. Webvanta</strong></h2> <p>Webvanta lets you build websites with ease. You can embed functionality such as blogs, photo galleries, slideshows, forms, etc. As a designer, you also have the option to become a partner and re-brand the CMS. For end users, there is a free plan with limited functionality.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67209" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Webvanta" class="size-full wp-image-67209" height="184" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/webvanta.png" title="Webvanta" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Webvanta</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Special plans for designers, priority support, monthly webinars.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Pricing on the higher side.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Starter Plan at $149 per year (includes Premium Hosting).</p> <p><a href="http://webvanta.com/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>7. Webpop</strong></h2> <p>Webpop is another cloud-based hosted CMS for designers. Unlike others, Webpop does not offer unwanted abstraction and instead allows you full HTML and CSS control. In fact, Webpop’s pricing plans too are modeled around designers’ usage – Personal, Freelance and Agency!</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67208" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Webpop" class="size-full wp-image-67208" height="339" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/webpop.jpg" title="Webpop" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Webpop</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Excellent stats and analytics, gorgeous layout.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Virtually nil, though it can use a limited features’ Free Plan.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Personal Plan is at $19 per month, which allows you to have 1 GB storage, 5 projects and 1 client/collaborator.</p> <p><a href="http://www.webpop.com/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>8. Edicy</strong></h2> <p>If Webpop is meant for designers, Edicy caters to end users. It offers out of the box SEO, responsive templates and layout, and support for building multilingual websites (native support, that is – you don’t have to do the translation).</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67197" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Edicy" class="size-full wp-image-67197" height="258" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/edicy.png" title="Edicy" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Edicy</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Multilingual features, Competitive pricing.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Edicy’s own website seems to be slightly slow in loading (compared to others).</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Pro Plan at $9 per month, with 5 GB storage (Free Plan also available).</p> <p><a href="http://edicy.com">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>9. Shopify</strong></h2> <p>Shopify is a hosted CMS meant for creating e-commerce websites and stores. It provides you with all the functionality you need to run your e-commerce website, such as product/inventory/customer management, payment gateways and even fraud detection.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67203" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Shopify" class="size-full wp-image-67203" height="271" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/shopify.png" title="Shopify" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Shopify</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Ideal for running an e-commerce website, good tools for designers.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Not useful for non-e-commerce sites.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Basic plan at $30 per month with 1 GB storage and unlimited bandwidth.</p> <p><a href="http://www.shopify.com/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>10. Magento Go</strong></h2> <p>Magento Go is another hosted solution for e-commerce websites. Basically, it is the hosted version of the famous e-commerce web application <a href="http://magentocommerce.com/">Magento</a>.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67201" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Magento Go" class="size-full wp-image-67201" height="304" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/magento-go.png" title="Magento Go" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Magento Go</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Terrific features for e-commerce stores.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Awkward pricing (after 800 MB, the next storage option is 5 GB, with no other price point in between).</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>‘Get Going’ Plan at $15 per month with 200 MB storage and 4 GB bandwidth.</p> <p><a href="http://go.magento.com/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>11. Highwire</strong></h2> <p>Yet another e-commerce CMS, Highwire lets you manage orders, customers, products and marketing in an easy manner. As a designer, you have full HTML and CSS control, and as an end-user, you have unmatched e-commerce tools at your service! There is also a free ‘Facebook’ Plan for users.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67199" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Highwire" class="size-full wp-image-67199" height="309" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/highwire.png" title="Highwire" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Highwire</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Awesome stats and analytics, good tools for e-commerce.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Can use a better documentation.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Bronze Plan at $19.95 per month (unlimited features, but your sales volume cannot exceed $1500 per month).</p> <p><a href="http://www.highwire.com/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>12. SolidShops</strong></h2> <p>SolidShops is a solution for e-commerce stores. Bored of e-commerce already? Well, SolidShops is different from the rest in the sense that it focuses on designers, not end users or store owners. The feature set is mere essential, and the focus is on simplicity. Also, it offers full design control.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67204" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="SolidShops" class="size-full wp-image-67204" height="327" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/solidshops.png" title="SolidShops" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">SolidShops</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Meant for designers of e-commerce websites.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Simplicity in features may not suit everyone.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Basic Plan at $29 per month with 100 MB storage.</p> <p><a href="http://www.solidshops.com/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>13. Volusion</strong></h2> <p>Volusion is a hosted CMS meant for (yes, you guessed it right) e-commerce websites. It offers several beautiful templates, management tools for orders, customers, products, as well as many unique features such as email newsletters, customer wishlists, daily deals, etc.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67207" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Volusion" class="size-full wp-image-67207" height="277" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/volusion.png" title="Volusion" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Volusion</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Many unique features for e-commerce websites.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Needs better documentation.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Steel Plan at $19 per month with 1 GB data transfer.</p> <p><a href="http://www.volusion.com/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>14. Concrete5</strong></h2> <p>Concrete5 is primarily a self-hosted CMS like Drupal and WordPress. However, they also offer hosting and thus, Concrete5 can be run as a hosted solution too. Speaking of the CMS, Concrete5 is easy to use, features many unique elements and can power many different genres of websites, from enterprise entities to blogs. I once did a two-part review of Concrete5 <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/2012/01/18/an-introduction-to-concrete5-cms-part-i/">here</a> and <a href="http://www.youthedesigner.com/2012/01/23/an-introduction-to-concrete5-cms-part-ii/">here</a>.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67195" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Concrete5" class="size-full wp-image-67195" height="332" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/concrete5.png" title="Concrete5" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Concrete5</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Awesome CMS with in-built Sitemaps, Stats and SEO.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Slightly expensive (CMS itself is free, but the hosted version isn’t).</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>$45 per month with 5 GB storage and 25 GB bandwidth.</p> <p><a href="http://www.concrete5.org/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>15. Breezi</strong></h2> <p>Breezi is a visual CSS Editor and edit-in-place CMS meant for designers. It offers great control over style, useful apps, powerful WYSIWYG, custom tracking codes, integration with Google Fonts Library, and several other features.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67194" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Breezi" class="size-full wp-image-67194" height="320" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/breezi.png" title="Breezi" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Breezi</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Interesting set of features, good support.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Still in BETA, so may not be everyone’s cup of tea.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>$12 per month.</p> <p><a href="http://breezi.com/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>16. CushyCMS</strong></h2> <p>CushyCMS is a simple CMS meant for designers. It is versatile and swift in operation and offers several features.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67196" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="CushyCMS" class="size-full wp-image-67196" height="326" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/cushycms.png" title="CushyCMS" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">CushyCMS</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Extremely easy to use.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Features may seem limiting as compared to others.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Pro Plan at $28 per month (Free Plan also available with limited functionality).</p> <p><a href="http://www.cushycms.com/en">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>17. Vae Platform</strong></h2> <p>Vae Platform is an integrated CMS and e-commerce solution along with redundant hosting. It includes support for shopping carts, newsletters, analytics, etc. Also, the CMS offers full support for PHP, CSS, MySQL, and Subversion. It also comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67206" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="Vae Platform" class="size-full wp-image-67206" height="210" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/vae-platform.png" title="Vae Platform" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Vae Platform</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Perhaps the best pick for e-commerce websites.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>May seem expensive if you do not need the advanced features.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Solo Plan at $299 per month which allows hosting 10 websites.</p> <p><a href="http://vaeplatform.com/">Website</a></p> <h2><strong>18. PageLime</strong></h2> <p>PageLime is a CMS meant for designers. It offers reseller tools and support for mobile devices. We did a detailed review of PageLime <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com//design/pagelime-web-designer-cms/">here</a>.</p> <div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_67202" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="PageLime" class="size-full wp-image-67202" height="275" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pagelime.png" title="PageLime" width="570" /><p class="wp-caption-text">PageLime</p></div> <p><strong>Pros: </strong>Reseller tools, iPhone app.</p> <p><strong>Cons: </strong>Feature set not as advanced as other CMSs in this league.</p> <p><strong>Pricing: </strong>Professional Plan at $19 per month which allows you to have 50 websites (Free Plan with limited functionality also available).</p> <p><a href="http://pagelime.com/">Website</a></p> <p>With that, we come to the end of this round-up. Do you use a hosted CMS? If so, feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments.</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=rE7xJo1cjiU:z3JWU_HMttY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=rE7xJo1cjiU:z3JWU_HMttY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=rE7xJo1cjiU:z3JWU_HMttY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=rE7xJo1cjiU:z3JWU_HMttY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/rE7xJo1cjiU" width="1" />

<p>April has just begun and how do we celebrate it? With an awesome giveaway by <a href="http://www.inkthemes.com" target="_blank">InkThemes</a>! Today you will learn about InkThemes and their awesome premium theme Colorway which costs $45, but for 3 of our loyal readers it will be given absolutely for free! Now, isn’t that amazing?</p> <p>What are you waiting for? Read on!</p> <p><span id="more-67476"></span></p> <h2>The Lucky Winners!</h2> <blockquote> <ol> <li>Dhiraj</li> <li>Elaine Harman</li> <li>Grimaldo</li> </ol> </blockquote> <h2>The Prize</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67477" height="514" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/inkthemes-colorway.jpg" title="inkthemes-colorway" width="570" /></p> <ul> <li>Colorway comes with 8 color schemes, which makes it pretty flexible to your design tastes</li> <li>It has a built-in image and video slider</li> <li>Templates for Contact Us page and Gallery</li> <li>Ajax-based admin panel</li> <li>Tons of customization options</li> <li>Video and PDF documentation</li> <li>Access to Members Area</li> <li>PSD file</li> <li>Forum support</li> <li>Theme updates</li> </ul> <p><a href="http://www.inkthemes.com/wp-themes/colorway-wp-theme/" target="_blank">Click here to learn more!</a> | <a href="http://inkthemes.com/wpthemes/colorwayhotel/" target="_blank">Demo</a> | <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/colorway" target="_blank">Colorway Lite</a></p> <h2>Sample Uses</h2> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67478" height="661" src="http://cdn1.1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Inkthemes-Demo.png" title="Inkthemes Demo" width="506" /></p> <h2>Want to become a Member?</h2> <p>InkThemes currently has 17 premium themes available, and over the months it will continue to grow. All themes are elegant and are very easy to install, pretty flexible, and purchasing a theme or a membership automatically grants you access to their Members Only section with lifetime support.</p> <p>You can either <strong>purchase one theme for $45</strong> <strong>or be a member and get them all for only $125</strong>!</p> <p>Don’t forget to check their <a href="http://www.inkthemes.com/pricing/" target="_blank">pricing details</a> and benefits!</p> <h4>Are you an affiliate marketer?</h4> <p>InkThemes offer a high commission rate of 50% per sale. <a href="http://www.inkthemes.com/affiliates/" target="_blank">Become an affiliate</a> and start earning passively with the help of InkThemes!</p> <h2>How to Win</h2> <p>To win, all you have to do is:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Like</strong>, re-<strong>Tweet</strong>, <strong>Pin</strong>, and tell everyone about this post</li> <li><strong>Comment</strong> about what you think of Colorway (use a valid email address so we can contact you)</li> <li>Don’t forget to check out InkThemes on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/InkThemes" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/inkthemes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> to be updated whenever a new promo is available!</li> </ul> <p>Winners will be selected randomly using Random.org. Announcement will be made a week from now.</p> <p>Go start sharing!</p> <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=HkiuxseRgFw:yegnSMCK7EI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=HkiuxseRgFw:yegnSMCK7EI:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?a=HkiuxseRgFw:yegnSMCK7EI:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img border="0" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/1stwebdesigner?i=HkiuxseRgFw:yegnSMCK7EI:F7zBnMyn0Lo" /></a> </div><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/1stwebdesigner/~4/HkiuxseRgFw" width="1" />