5 Ways to Stay Informed in the Design Industry

With the overabundance of blogs, news outlets, and social media content, it’s hard to narrow this stuff down into the most relevant information. I’ve spent some time skimming through the nonsense and came up with a few great sources to keep you on top of your game and in the know.

01 | Linkedin Today

Perhaps the most useful tool to me is Linkedin Today. It’s hard to miss and you can find most of the headlines displayed on the Linkedin homepage. The great thing about it is its customizable features allowing you to pull from sources most relevant to you.

First, go to the Linkedin Today page (News > Linkedin Today) and click the image view button (next to the settings gear on the right.) As a visual person, I like to see imagery more incorporated into my news.

Now click the settings gear and follow the design button. The most underrated part of this page is the bottom where it says Follow Sources. This allows you to choose 3rd party news outlets like Co.Design, Adage, DesignModo etc. This is by far my favorite tool for consolidating multiple news sources onto a single page.

02 | Google Alerts

Ever wanted to know when and where people are using your name on the web? Google alerts allows you to enter key words that may be of interest to you and monitors when they’re used. If you’re planning on an interview, use this tool to learn about the latest company news and prepare yourself for questions you might be asked about them.

03 | 99U

Powered by Behance.net, 99U is an industry-specific news outlet covering all creative fields with the latest and greatest. The navigation tools are pretty helpful filtering different categories of interest including task management, self-marketing, hiring, creative blocks and leadership. Because it’s powered by Behance, its networking framework is stronger than most blogs covering similar topics.

04 | HOW

You may know HOW as one of the top arts and communications magazine, but what you may not know is that howdesign.com has many free resources available for non-subscribers such as information on self-promotion, freelancing, design job search tools and more.

05 | HOWU

HOWU is HOW’s university-like learning platform for those looking to take online courses in their field. You can take paid courses in branding, business, typography, etc. The courses are pretty specific so, for example, if you need to touch up on your UX skills, you could enroll in a course covering user experience design. Its a great way for those already working in the industry to learn on the side without college enrollment.

Beautiful day in Central Park!

Let it be fall. (Taken with Instagram)

visualgraphic:

Homer

(Source: pipinero)

10 Must-Have Tools for Any Graphic Designer

With the overwhelming, cut-throat, and ever-changing industry that lies ahead for many college grads (like myself), preparation and access to the best resources are key to landing a job and exposing your brand. Here are some tools that can help get you started.

01 | Behance.net & Prosite

Behance is perhaps the most helpful tool online for designers. It’s helped me gain great exposure and has started to evolve into a more social environment rather than a portfolio showcaser. Its platform lets you upload pretty much anything you’d want to show. It’s pretty easy to use and i’d highly recommend Prosite, their personal website builder. Prosite comes with a reasonable fee but if your’e used to uploading all of your stuff on Behance like myself, it will just sync your content over to your site.

02 | Cargo Collective

If you want a free alternative to Behance Pro, Cargo is the way to go. It serves as a basic platform for your portfolio and doesn’t cost anything. The catch is that you have to request a membership by giving reason as to why they should provide an account to you. Once accepted, you can customize your site with certain limitations, but all in all its a great tool if your’e on a budget.

03 | Tumblr

Potential employers as well as any other interested viewers want to see more than your designs. To present a well-rounded brand, you need an outlet for your voice. They want to know who they’re hiring, how they communicate, and their level of intellect. In my opinion, Tumblr is an easy and fully customizable way to do this. It also has great compatibility with other social network platforms you may want to link together.

04 | Pricing & Ethical Guidelines by the Graphic Artist’s Guild

If I were to recommend one essential book for graphic designers to have, this would be the Holy Bible of them. It covers everything in an easy to understand context from everything you need to know about legal rights, to how to successfully communicate with clients from first contact to the end of the client-designer relationship. It also provides outlines for basic contracts, common issues designers may face with clients, and advice to successfully market yourself. It covers any type of artist, but i’d mainly recommend it for anyone considering freelance design or photography. (Currently on its 13th edition).

05 | Dribbble.com

For those who enjoy showcasing work in progress, Dribbble (with 3 b’s) is a great place to do that. It’s more of a feedback platform than a complete showcasing like Behance or Cargo. It’s chock-full of logos, websites, and UI designs (mostly.) It also serves as great inspiration for those looking to design UIs. It’s network has exploded over the past couple years and its community can be a great source of feedback.

06 | Paypal

Most of us know it as the Ebay application that lets you manage finances online. It’s also a must for projects that require long distance communication and money transfers. When I send a client a bill, I create an invoice through Paypal and send it their way. It emails them a link to a form just like they were to be purchasing something online. This is secure, recorded, and more of a stable way to manage your payments with clients.

07 | FontExplorer X Pro

Everyone needs a good font manager, but choosing the right one is time consuming and stressful. I used to have Suitcase Fusion….way too many problems with program crashes and font cache errors. Then I switched over to FontExplorer X Pro. It does most of the thinking and organizing automatically, and isn’t a hassel to set up. Enabling and disabling fonts is a breeze and I haven’t looked back. It’s a great investment for the gabillions of fonts designers aquire.

08 | Linkedin

Although a quite obvious necessity, many designers steer clear from it because they see it as something too conservative and not related to their profession. Although that may be true in some cases, Linkedin’s purpose isn’t necessarily a platform to showcase your work in, rather a tool that gets you seen and adds to your professional relevancy. As a designer, many of your clients or even employers may not be involved in an artistic community but this is a way for both sides to bridge a potential business opportunity.

09 | Kuler by Adobe

Think of it as your color expert. Kuler makes it easy to find top rated color palettes created by users as well as yourself. It provides a flexible interface for adjusting a palette, extracting a palette from an image, and exporting palettes for use with Adobe programs. It’s free but requires an Adobe account for certain features.

10 | Dropbox

Dropbox is a useful tool for cloud storage. It makes it easy to drag and drop files into the designated Dropbox file installed in finder which then syncs to the cloud (instead of having to go online and upload everything.) You can access your account and files from any other computer as well as mobile devices. It gives you a certain amount of storage for free that can be expanded without cost if you tell a friend. I think its a more reliable alternative to a jump drive.

My pup Taz. Adorbs.

There is no design without discipline. There is no discipline without intelligence.” ~Massimo Vignelli

Trendy Type: 5 Awesome Typefaces Used in the Industry

Neutraface

Inspired by 1940’s architect, Richard Neutra, Neutraface encapsulates a strong art deco feel with modern design. The typeface was created by type foundry House Industries and comes in various display/text weights.

Blender Pro

Designed by Swiss type developer Nik Thoenen, Blender Pro is a highly geometric typeface used more in publication design than digital. It holds a lot of character and i’ve used it in brands for DJ’s nightclubs and websites.

LL Brown

Created by Urs Lehni & Lex Trüb, LL Brown comes in 4 weights and has been used in many famous designers’ works. It has been featured in various publications and communicates a classic, mature tone. It works well with classic fashion and retail brands.

Conduit ITC

Conduit is a great typeface for publications, having a friendly tone but also strong enough to hold on its own. I personally love Conduit at a larger scale to show its interesting form that can sometimes disappear when used as body type.

T-Star Pro

If you’re looking for a great condensed typeface, look no further. T-Star is a great face for body copy and headlines. I’ve seen it used in many website designs, info-graphics and in ad designs.

10 Tips for a Great Logo

From my experience in building brands over the years, i’ve found that logos became my strong point. If you follow these tips of what make a great logo, I assure you that you’ll like the end result. (oh and this is my first post! wooot.)

01 | Keep it simple

From the pressure of logo importance comes the mindset that it has to be EVERYTHING. The thing is, it can be everything without excessive detail and colors. A good tip to work with is if a logo can be applied to different colors and scales, it will help you in the long run.

02 | Type relationships mean everything

There are so many instances where typefaces don’t relate to logos at all. This communicates a disconnect with the brand and may lessen the value. Pay attention to features in the logo that compliment things such as serifs, curves, white space etc.

03 | Be comfortable with your white space

Having white space around a logo isn’t being plain, if anything, it compliments the strength of the design (if the logo can hold up to this promise.) Never plaster a logo onto a canvas close to the edges where it takes up most of the space.

04 | Originality is key

Most obvious to good designers is having a strong concept behind the logo. Arrows, circular corporate logos, and literal executions are boring. Instead give the viewer something to think about as they take it in. This may not exhaust much of their time to think, but the seconds they do it in may influence a positive reaction to the brand.

05 | The fewer colors, the better

Overuse of colors create tension. Find a palette and stick with it. Great logos usually only have 1-2 colors in them and never need more. Plus it costs a company more to use multiple colors in their logo every time they need it printed.

06 | Check your grid

Accidental asymmetry and curves that are slightly off show more than you’d think. Make sure you use as many guides and geometrics as you can until the result is absolutely perfect. This shows strength and value in your finished product.

07 | Keep it universal

Keep in mind where your logo is going. Save the complicated edges, backgrounds, shadows, and glows for bar flyers. There are many mediums that a client may want to use with their logo such as rubber stamps, merchandise, and stationary. Exporting this to companies requires specific guidelines and a poor result is greater with a complicated logo.

08 | Timeless design is good design

Creating a logo that will last a client years may benefit opportunity for future projects with that logo. The longer you can keep a client using your logo, the better grasp you will have to future work with them.

09 | Scaling matters

A logo scaled to the size of your thumb can look aesthetically different than one on a billboard. Minor adjustments in white space might need to be considered in this case to communicate the same result at all sizes. Provide a client with different versions for different sizes if this applies.

10 | Give it a test run

Viewing your logo on different mediums before its published can really make or break it. Print it out in different sizes, or colors. Preview it digitally on a phone, computer, or ipad if those mediums apply to your client. Don’t forget to add a trademark symbol (™) to all of your logos to ensure your creative protection. Don’t just slap it on either. Make it visible but not distracting.