Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

I saw a contest being advertised the other day while using Facebook and thought I would share it with those who design, whether web or print design. Jean M Invitations and Accessories is holding a wedding invitation design contest until November 30, 2009. The top designer could win $1500. There is also a $500 runner up, and a third place prize of $250. Designers of any designs that are well liked, but did not win, could be offered $100 for their design. The designs would be placed on the Jean M Blog and others will be able to vote on their favorite.

It is a contest you can submit as many designs to, but if you do, you need to have a separate application for each. Just think, if you submit enough designs that they like, you might get more than just a $100. I know it is just wedding invitations, but it is great practice to round yourself in graphic design – to think outside your normal creative mind. Please read the rules for their submission criteria before you submit.

I have decided to include different types of artwork and some description as there are many types of art out there and not everyone is aware of the different styles. In this entry, it is all about chibi art. Chibi art is a genre of art that some associate with a type of anime drawing. Often the head is large and the body is small and somewhat deformed. No, it is not deformed in a way that is ugly, but deformed in a way similar to that of caricature art. This type is usually digitally drawn, painted (water color) or drawn on paper, scanned, and then colored in whatever the artist uses to edit the piece. Often it is denote cuteness.

Allwords.com defines chibi as:

1. a child-like character with exaggerated features, particularly in anime
2. a style of cartooning in which the characters are drawn to be very small and cute

I went out and found a selection of great artwork on DeviantArt that I think best conveys this style of art.

Queenie by celesse

Mei by Danime-chan

Puffy Puffy by kamiyoshi

Ellen Nightly Chibi by kawaiihannah

Chocolate box II by meago

Chibi by Miriamele

HJ: Natsu Matsuri by MoogleGurl

Sweet Lolita Heetteri by QueenofDorks

Chibi Fruit Ninja-Deidara by Red-Priest-Usada

My Lucky Star by trenchmaker

Cute enough? Have you heard of this style of art? If so, anyone you like that you would recommend to those who enjoy viewing this type of artwork?

Well, I won the WordCamp NYC logo contest by more than 50 votes on my individual piece. My entry was #2 (I will include a pic of it too – to get a larger view, right click to open in a new window.) However, they decided to go with 4 similar logos from several people.

This is a case of: Why bother to put a contest in the first place. The vote was given to the people and should have been followed as the contest said. Each of those logos were said to have been looked at and judged if it could be put on shirts and other printable material.

I could care less if those logos looked similar. So did many others. There were even other logos that included the city skyline and the Statue of Liberty. This was something that was given out to the public. Even major brands that hold contests do not mess with that unless they want havoc and wank on their hands. And whether or not they decide to hold rights, which I really see none in the original announcement about the beginning of the WordCamp NYC 2009 logo contest. The following comes from the link I just gave out for the contest’s announcement.

The WordCamp NYC organizers will make the final selection based on a combination of community votes and technical considerations (does the logo still look good at both small and large sizes, does it grayscale well, will it be easy to print on a t-shirt, etc.).

My logo was printable, good on grayscale and could be fine tuned (which I had planned on revamping and detailing better the skyline). So clearly it did not have any technical issues. I met the requirements.

It is the principal of the concept of allowing the public to choose who they liked the best and that should have been the winner. AND, even if it was not myself that won, by heck I would have still blogged about it and shared it with others because it is the right thing to do. I use to be in website competitions in 2003 and 2004 where the vote was up to the people for every stage, up to the annual finals that decided the Site of the Year. Never had this ever happened to anyone and it was done fairly.

Whether or not you voted, feel free to drop a line at the blog entry announcing the WordCamp NYC logo contest “winners”. You can either congratulate or voice your opinion on the unfair dealings. Although I am not sure if it would even help or hurt, I sent a letter to Matt Mullenweg over the situation. By the way, Matt was not running the contest, so please do not contact him. I already did.

This is something that needs to be addressed. I think it would be awkward to attend this event, which makes me feel like I am not welcomed to even come to the event in November by this executive decision.

How do you feel about this? What if it was your logo that clearly won?

I love to look at art and one of my favorite forms to look at and even dabble in is the art of vectoring. There are quite a few talented vector/ vexel artists out there. Of course, I could list a lot, but I did some digging beyond what I normally have access to and found 15 vector art pieces that really knocked my socks off. The images are merely slivers of the whole piece of artwork, and beneath each will list the DeviantART user’s name and the title of the piece as well as a link to be able to view the entire piece.

Pepper Vector by Artgerm

Baby on Fire by Beachblonde

Bondage Beauty by ChewedKandi

All The World’s A Stage by DarkExodite

Mustang Mach 1 by DaemonX

Vector Comic Project Colored by elflling

Saya Vector by Eye-crazy

Frangipani by Ikue

Cherry blossom by justa

Strawberry blonde pin up by kinkei

Vector Kid by Lawnz

Vector Art – In My Past Life by rames

Golden One by stlcrazy

Psychedelic Sunfall by surflogic

Geisha by vivalanat

What do you think? Did some of these pieces knock your socks off (not exactly literally, but I am asking if you were a bit impressed)? Do you recommend any vector artists and their pieces from DeviantArt that I have not listed?

Deciding to freelance is a big choice. It is not easy and often in the beginning, you will have to have a side job to supplement your income until you can be dependent enough as a freelancer. Even being a freelancer, it can be difficult. There are so many others outside in the same niche that it is very competitive. However, during your decision and right after you decide to become a freelancer, here are some things to prepare yourself for the freelancing mentality.

Prepare a solid portfolio. You might get excited and post everything in your portfolio, but your clients are looking for your creativity, versatility as a designer, and your overall product quality. Your portfolio is very much that first thing, just like a resume, that your client will be wowed by and want to use your services.

Make sure you have a good reputation. You might sell yourself short and degrade yourself, but as I have been told by Marcie Hill on As NOT Seen on TV, you should have faith in your work and be proud of it. Each piece of work should be of the same or greater quality than the previous product. Be knowledgeable in your field and able to break it down into simple terms for clients not as savvy in the subject. Be consistent and also do not procrastinate. While some of your clients may be lax, others have a time table in mind. Be professional and for complex projects, a contract may be necessary. Sometimes a contract is mandatory for clients who require a non-disclosure agreement- meaning that you cannot mention to anyone that you worked on their site.

Be prepared to brand yourself in a way that makes you unique enough to stand out. Do you have a certain way you design that is different? What kind of services can you offer? Do you only do web design, or perhaps you can develope complex websites from scratch? Mention that and how your way could help a client’s site pop. Remember, you are designing for another person and they have expectations of you. Your client has a direction they want there site to take and also goals to reach. Your design could make or break them. Make sure you are clear on your services so you do not have clients who are confused on what you offer for a price. Do not undersell, but also overselling can be as much as a killer. While you would like to make money, underselling could be not worth the time. Remember that your are charging for your time, and creativity, so be confident.

Always be on the look for new clients. You might have a few winning clients, but eventually one or all of them may decide to go with another designer. Do not rely on them as things change. It would not be because you are a bad freelancer, but that the person they chose could bring their website to the next level. Or, it could be the result of the economy. It happens, so you have to be prepared and make sure you are always open. It is not the end of the world if you lose a client unless you lost it because you were unprofessional.

Are you considering to dabble in freelancing? How have you prepared yourself? What other advice can you offer?

Have a love for words put together with an eye-popping design, or just fonts that are clean cut or smooth? Typography is fun, but there are people out there who have a passion for fonts. The art behind making fonts as well as designing words in a unique manner is done with careful and creative thought. Where one person may think a particular font is great, it may not be suitable for use in everyday design. Well, below are a five websites that I gathered that either may or may not be on your favorite sites to visit in regards to typography. Some are for entertainment, and others contain plenty of articles that will enhance your knowledge on typography.

I Love Typography is more of a journal, but a lot can be learned behind the scenes. Like in web design, this is a great little niche for typography lovers to get more for their fix.

Typographica contains reviews on typeface, book reviews, and more. If it is about typography, this site has it.

We Love Typography is a site that allows you to take pictures, or make graphics, and then share it with others.

Use Typography is a site that showcases websites that use good typography practices. Anyone can submit, but not all are featured.

Of course, I had to give something for those still who are newbies in typography – WebTypography or as it is titled The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web.. However, I think for those who are die hard fans and practicians of typography, this is a great reference manual.

Are you a fan of typography? What sites do you visit and enjoy that are strictly about typeface, fonts, or designing with words?

Sometimes simple is the way to go, especially when you are a person not into all the frilly graphics that could bog down your site’s load time. Below I am listing 10 layouts that I found in the WordPress Theme Directory that are simple and sleek, worthy for those who are trying to find the perfect layout for their simple preferences.

The iNove theme is very sleek and contains a nicely designed navigation reminiscent of Mac. The layout has a very Web 2.0 feel too.

Carrington Blog theme is by Alex King has a great code. The layout is very clean, and set up with a great navigation that goes by hierarchy and works almost like a drop-down.

The simpleX theme is an extremely basic two-column layout with tabbed navigation. This layout has a lot of potential for those who like to work with a basic theme and adapt it with their own design. This layout also has a drop-down hierarchy like the Carringtion Blog.

The Titan theme has a lot of clean lines and whitespace to balance out a site. Even attention to the image boards leave this layout as something anyone might want to use.

The StudioPress theme is a simple three-column layout that has a tabbed navigation. The rounded corners throughout the layout making this layout very charming.

The Tropicala theme is a very lightweight blog that contains a parent and a subparent navigation. The lines are crisp and you can either keep or interchange the main graphic for your own.

The Red Time theme has a few interesting elements like a place to either put an introductory paragraph or put a featured topic and even has the courtesy of including a cute Twitter bird so people can click to follow you.

The Stardust theme boasts that it is handcoded for accessibility. Its simple gradient graphics make it very clean and sleek.

Librio theme definitely does remind me a bit of the Mac OS X Leopard.

TweetMeBlue theme is made by the same creator of Red Times. It contains a clean navigation and even makes room for those wanting to use the WP-PageNavi plugin. This layout offers a small place at the top of the site for featuring posts.

Are there other layouts you think that should be on this list that you think are simple and sleek…and of course… free?

I was feeling in the mood to do something outside-the-box with a roundup article. Some web and graphic designers have an odd, but interesting style… or as the title of this article says – otherworldly. Each of the sites featured below contain something pertaining to the world or environment and are done in a unique way. Some of the sites are featured because of their layout, some for the work they have done, and some – a little bit of both.

DesignSpasm is a portfolio by Sean Geng. If you roll your mouse over some of the graphics, they move, literally giving the page a unique and spacey feel.
One of his designs I liked from his portfolio was his water color effect.

Smriyaz is home to Mohamed Riyaz, a freelance designer from the United Kingdom. His layout features several well done and inspiring photographs. His main page has a photo of a foggy day that it just about looks mystical.

Kinetic Shadows is literally a jungle! From top to bottom, this is every wild person’s dream. If you check it out, be sure to check out the detail of the Seymour look-a-like (Little Shop of Horrors.)

Visual Elixir really is an elixir of design eyecandy! This portfolio by Jim Gunardson contains a lot of illustrations that rock!

Design Disease has a simple but eypopping under-the-sea look. By the way, Design Disease gives out a few of WordPress themes that are well done too!

Studio7Designs is a diverse portfolio that encompasses everything about the natural environment. What I liked first thing was stepping in and seeing their
vector graphics. They are quite unique!

Joolz is the portfolio of Julien Morel. Julien’s site may be simple, but his portfolio packs a punch with abstract graphics that are really bizarre and inspirational at the same time.

Are there any portfolios that you have seen that you believe should be on this list?