Starting out as a freelancer can be quite challenging when trying to create client relationships. Almost all of my work comes from referrals. If you treat a client right then they will return the favor. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to go into the meeting with a plan.  The way you approach a project determines how the client is going to value your expertise. If you go into a project without any direction you will probably end up wasting time during the development process.  There is nothing worse than revising your designs more times than necessary. It’s best to know what your client is thinking before you start. It’s your job to gather your clients thoughts and goals then translate them into a design solution.

“If you do not know what the problem is then you cannot provide a solution.”

These 18 questions to ask a client before design a logo will help you provide an accurate quote to your client. Things such as deadlines, usage, etc. you should take into account pricing. more…

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So, you’ve finally decided to launch your very own design blog? If you aren’t experienced in social bookmarking and actively following design news you may find yourself struggling. The most important thing I’ve learned is to post design related material which is informative and interesting to the people visiting your blog. If you cannot generate a few hundred unique visitors after submiting an article or two to just a few of these sites then I would suggest your change your game plan. The key is to provide timeless resources to your viewers. My first week I was only generating around 10 unique visitors a day to my design blog. After submiting to sites like stumble, digg, linkdin (joined an AIGA network), and reddit I noticed I was getting hundreds every hour. more…

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I actively follow designer blogs and sift through resources nearly every single day. Here is a list of graphic design websites that never fail to provide a wealth of information and inspiration. They are not in any specific order. more…

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• Graphic Design Evolving
• Design Tweets of the Week #5

more…

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• Design Tweets of the Week #5

“A logo is done in a second. It’s done in a second…and 34 years.”

Listening to a leading design talk about what inspires them can often inspire you. Paula Scher is a very influental designer who created the Citi Group logo on a napkin. more…

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If you are thinking about blogging you don’t want to overlook this video. I know it’s in depth but it covers just about everything you are thinking at the time you make that first article post. Get quality traffic on your blog site.

Tim Ferriss of 4 Hour Work Week talking about his blog experiences.

Learn the tricks of the trade from an experienced blogger. Tim Ferriss (writer at www.fourhourworkweek.com) gives a great presentation on blogging traffic in 2009 during an opening keynote at the last  San Francisco WordCamp, titled “How to Blog without Killing Yourself”. I know its long but if you have time and are serious about increasing your blog quality as well traffic its a great shortcut to avoid your own pitfalls while learning the blog game.

In the above video presention, the following topics are covered…

Enjoy the tips!

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So what makes a logo good? A good and effective logo should follow solid basic design principles, be functional, represent the company, and be unique.  Sound easy enough, right? I don’t think so. The process of designing a logo can very well define its outcome, however, unless you can defend the principles it could be very arbitrary. In this article I will try to break down the functionality of a logo so that it is not so variable. If you critique your logo design with these principles there should be little space to fail with your logo designs.

A good logo should be:

1. Appropriate
2. Simple (describable)
3. Memorable (unique)
4. Functional (scalable and effective without color)
5. Timeless

more…

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Paul Rand was a “business problem solver and an artist”.

In this video, Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple) discusses the great, (logo) designer, Paul Rand. Problem solve first, design later.

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Typographic logos to be inspired by.

Time to time I find myself needing a boost of creativity when working with type. After sifting through several logo sites I found some typographic logos that are very creative in my opinion. Hopefully many other people will find these ideas mind opening. Keep in my many of these are personal exploration projects. (made up designs) Nevertheless, logo exercises like these are good practice. more…

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This mixtape has been out for quite a while now but I’m posting it anyway. It seems there are not many places to download this entire mixtape on the web. Last time I checked the link was even broken Kid Cudi’s official website – www.kidcudi.com. (hrmm…) I still bang tracks off this cd almost every single day. Right now my download is missing the 50 second intro but I’ll look into adding that when I find it.

a kid named cudi mixtape

You can download the album here from limelinx.com

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