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Category: Inspiration

Inspiration

50 Things Every Creative Should Know

By Jad Limcaco
July 8th, 2011
Creativity
5 Comments

I ran across this excellent project that was created by designer and Illustrator, Jamie Wieck. The project consists of a list of 50 things that every creative should know. Also, each point on the list comes in 144 characters or less so you can share it through Twitter. There's also a fun, quirky illustration that accompanies each point.

Designing for the Mind

Do you know what makes a design good? Is it merely an opinion, or is there something more to it? Breaking design down seems like such an abstract thing. Even the designers who are able to create thought-provoking work seem purely talented and have natural abilities that can’t really be nailed down to a process. But what if there were principles that captured why design and art worked the way that they do?

Increasing Innovation with Hack Nights

By Andrew Rossi
July 8th, 2010
Skills, Workflow
20 Comments

If you work at an agency or design house, chances are that most of your time is spent working on client projects. After months of bending over backwards to meet your clients’ demands, work may start to get a little stale. At this point, it’s okay to become a little selfish and ask yourself: “When was the last time that we have done something for ourselves?”

Seriously. When was the last time that an idea was expressed that interested everyone within earshot? When was the last time that the thought of a side project made you excited? If you can’t remember when that last time was, or worse, you have never taken part in a company side project… well, you might have a little problem.

The Process Behind Good Illustration (Part 3)

In Part II I started a list of some personal process-oriented thoughts on illustration—more specifically about some ways to help broaden the creative process and make its execution more effective. In this Part III, I'll wrap up the list in the same vein as Part II's, with a few more of my thoughts on the subject.

Once again, while I hope these tips strike the right chord with readers from all creative fields and levels, I share them partially because many of them are still so freshly new in my head, and I can recall vividly their having planted themselves there during my time as a student. That said, there's plenty more learning to be done on my end as well, and I invite you to share your responses and your own additions to the list in the comments, no matter what corner of the creative world you are from.

The Process Behind Good Illustration (Part 2)

In Part I we skimmed the surface on a few points regarding when an image becomes an illustration. But, of course, this knowledge isn't very useful if we don’t know how to apply it to our work when the pencil hits the paper! Or, stylus hits the tablet, whatever it is you do.

In this second part of the article, I'd like to share some of these practices that have been invaluable to me as an illustration student, and ones that I will carry with me for a long time to come.

The Process Behind Good Illustration (Part 1)

“Art” is something philosophers have spent centuries trying to define, sadly with no satisfactory result (a debate that is far beyond the scope of this article). But illustration, while it covers a broad range of image-making, does have very distinct meanings, and it is very different from just artwork.

In this two-part article, I’d like to share some tenets behind what I think good illustration is, and what I learned about the process and technique behind how to execute it. Hopefully some fellow aspiring illustrators out there will find some of these helpful — or maybe even identify with some as part of their own process, too!

Awesome Mother’s Day Designs

By Jad Limcaco
May 9th, 2010
Events
40 Comments

It's been a while since I've posted an inspiration post and I thought I would do one today. Well, I have something special for this post. As we all know, today is Mother's Day (in the US, not sure about other countries). Mother's Day happens once a year and it's a day when we celebrate and recognize mothers and motherhood in general. In this post, I've gathered up some awesome Mother's Day designs for your viewing pleasure.

The Basics of Business Card Design

By Brett Davis
April 8th, 2010
Design, Workflow
91 Comments

A business card in some cases is the most important marketing piece that a company will have. It has the potential to make or break business deals, and is just as important as the way you present yourself during a first impression. In this post, we will cover some of the basics such as typography, layout, object placement and printing standards when designing a business card.

Before you move too far into a fresh design, printing standards should always be considered. Most printing companies now require files to have appropriate bleeds and margins or your might get an email to upload new files and in some cases, incur extra fees. To correctly set up your design, you need to download or create a template. There are two ways to establish what type of template you are going to use, and that is whether you are going to have image bleed or not. Bleed is the area in which an image runs off the edge of your design. If your image doesn't bleed then your job just got a little easier. Use a 3.5×2 document. If you are using bleeds, then make sure your template is set up with a 1/8" margin outside the printable area. You can download a sample template here.