Brainstorming magazine | Issue 04

ISSUE 05 APRIL 2009

BIH edition - Printed in the BiH

6 EURO | 12 KM

brainstorming magazine Salke Lagumdžije 3 71000 Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina p: +387 33 471 326 p: +387 63 150 273 w: www.brainstorming.ba e: info@brainstorming.ba

Publisher DDS Idea is all Salke Lagumdžije 3 Hadžisulejmanova 10 71000 Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina p: +387 33 471 326 p: +387 63 150 273 w: www.ideaisall.com e: info@ideaisall.com Editor: Rusmir Arnautović | rusmir.arnautovic@brainstorming.ba Review editor: Ena Matković-Arnautović | ena.matkovic@brainstorming.ba Cover illustrator: DDS Idea is all "idea is all" is an digital design studio located in the Sarajevo area and serving clients worldwide.

We have experience in Branding, Identity Design, Web Site Design, Graphic Design, Multimedia and Print Production. Our work has been recognized by a number of clients in various industries for exceptional performance, expert advice and quality services in the fields of design, information architecture, branding and development.

INFO: http://www.ideaisall.com

We`re always on the lookout for new artist as well as established creatives - so if you`re interested in contributing to the magazine, please send some examples of your work to (e.) samples@brainstorming.ba

Welcome Web design is the skill of creating presentations of content (usually hypertext or hypermedia) that is delivered to an end-user through the World Wide Web, by way of a Web browser or other Webenabled software like Internet television clients, microblogging clients and RSS readers.

The intent of web design is to create a web site—a collection of electronic documents and applications that reside on a web ser ver/ser vers and present content and interactive features/interfaces to the end user in form of Web pages once requested. Such elements as text, bit-mapped images (GIFs, JPEGs) and forms can be placed on the page using HTML/XHTML/XML tags. Displaying more complex media (vector graphics, animations, videos, sounds) requires plug-ins such as Adobe Flash, QuickTime, Java run-time environment, etc. Plug-ins are also embedded into web page by using HTML/XHTML tags.

Meet the artists Meet the artists Alex Lataille

Meet the artists Lab Partners

Alex Lataille is a freelance photography manipulator, who resides in Connecticut, United States. He has been working on manipulations for over two and a half years, and at the age of 20, he is proving to be quite an impressive artist.

I really love how some artists have mastered retro illustrations! We've seen plenty of great designs, from Wall-e posters, to the Incredibles, passing through all things comic books. Retro illustration is everywhere, and the Lab Partners know how to do it.

Meet the artists Dave Johnson

Meet the artists Alexander Lataille

Oh my God. I actually thought I had already posted about this guy. Ok, not just some guy, but Dave Johnson. Dave who? Dave Johnson! If you don't know him, you should really google him just to know how great this artist is. He's one of the greatest illustrators out there.

We got a chance to introduce Alexander Lataille a few weeks ago.

His interesting manipulation style provided for unique feedback on his work. This week, we're taking the time to feature him and his artwork. Feast your eyes upon the work of a true graphic manipulator!

Meet the artists Denis Zilber

Meet the artists Mr. Singh

You probably already seen some of these around... and if you like artworks filled with creativity, colors and sense of humor, so I guess you probably liked what you've seen and you also probably wondered who was the artist behind those arts.

Wake up Mr Singh. Its not a statement, it is the name of the design studio of Karan Singh. He is an graduate of the University of Sydney with a Bachelor in Design Computing and now works as a freelancer. Most of the work showcased here are personal artworks for himself & for artgroups.

Is Your Business on the Web? | ISSUE 05 | 02

CONTENTS APRIL

Five Ways to Start a Freelance Business Right Now

Web development WEB DESIGN Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network) . This can include web design, web content development, client liaison, clientside/server-side scripting, Erwin Vantilan web server and network security configuration, and e-commerce development. However, among web professionals, "web development" usually refers to the main non-design aspects of building web sites: writing markup and coding.

Web development can range from developing the simplest static single page of plain text to the most complex web-based internet applications, electronic businesses, or social network services.

For larger businesses and organizations, web development teams can consist of hundreds of people (web developers). Smaller organizations may only require a single permanent or contracting webmaster, or secondar y assignment to related job positions such as a graphic designer and/or Information systems technician. Web development may be a collaborative effort between departments rather than the domain of a designated department.

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Have you been meaning to start freelancing on a part-time or fulltime, but keep putting it off because you think that starting a freelance business is too much work?

While it’s true that freelancing can be a lot of work, the good news is that you don’t have to do everything all at once. If you have a full-time job or do not need full-time freelancing income right away, you can ease into freelancing a little bit at a time–we’ll show you how to get started. (Even if you do need a full-time freelancing income, you need to start somewhere. This post can help you find that starting place.)

This post describes five easy steps that you can take right away that will put you closer to your freelancing dream. You can choose to start your freelancing business with just one, or all, of these steps.

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Most Creative Ads Series: Domestic Abuse Domestic violence can happen to anyone, regardless of age, gender, race, sexuality, wealth or geography, yet the problem is often overlooked, excused, or denied. Female is the worst victim in the disaster. Studies show that between one quarter and one half of all women in the world have been abused by intimate partners.

Worldwide, 40-70% of all female murder victims are killed by an intimate partner.

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- Printed in the BiH

APRIL 2009

BIH edition

ISSUE 05 6 EURO | 12 KM

Most Creative Ads Series: Beer I don't exactly know since when beer became so popular.

There are so many dominant multinational companies and thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries.

More than 133 billion liters (35 billion gallons) are sold per year, producing total global revenues of $294.5 billion since 2006. Beer is now the third most popular drink overall after water and tea, and is even regarded as social lubricant in many societies.

Where there is business, there are ads. Considering so many beer fans, we have collected some beer ads here for your view. Enjoy...

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Artist, Illustrators, Photographers, News Meet the artists David Mascha

Interview with Jurryt Visser

David Mascha is a Vienna based designer and illustrator. Since 2005, he has been working for several design studios in Vienna as well as developing projects for international clients, fashion and design labels, magazines and books.

Hi! My name is Jurryt Visser and I am a graphic designer and a digital artist.

The Netherlands is a really artistic country as well, maybe together with England the country where you need to be for arts. Everything around here is quite fashionable and art really 'lives' here.

Meet the artists Alex Trochut

Icograda Design Week in Vancouver 2010

Alex Trochut, based in Barcelona, is totally in love with type and illustration, thats why we love him so much. 1981 born and just graduaded from design university.

But he already has a very impressive design portfolio. Make sure to check out his website.

Design has the power to influence our core values, our identity, our expectations and our worldview.

Design brings clarity and enhances meaning. Design Currency 2010 offers designers, business leaders and government the opportunity to experience current design thinking.

Meet the artists Ars Thanea

Meet the artists Rafael Albuquerque

We are all aware of the great work that comes from the creative agency Ars Thanea and the team of Peter Jaworowski. Today they are sharing with us the case study of their latest work for Visa Signature, and you will get a inside look of how it was done step by step.

I just love to find out about great artists that live nearby. Rafael Albuquerque is a Brazilian illustrator from our home city, Porto Alegre. It's great to find such an amazing artist from our town.

Meet the Artist:

INFO: http://fatherofgod.deviantart.com

Alex Lataille Alex Lataille is a freelance photography manipulator, who resides in Connecticut, United States. He has been working on manipulations for over two and a half years, and at the age of 20, he is proving to be quite an impressive artist.

Meet the Artist:

Renan Molin

INFO: http://www.dmolin.com/

Renan Molin is a visual and communication designer from Curitiba, Brazil. He and other three friends had started a design studio 5 years ago, but somehow they decided that the best thing would be to keep up with their freelancer's career. By checking Renan's work we can tell you that they had, I mean, still have, a lot of talent.

e v i t a e r C s k r o w

Is Your Business on the Web? | ISSUE 05 | 10

Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network) . This can include web design, web content development, client liaison, client-side/server-side scripting, Erwin Vantilan web server and network security configuration, and e-commerce development. However, among web professionals, "web development" usually refers to the main non-design aspects of building web sites: writing markup and coding. Web development can range from developing the simplest static single page of plain text to the most complex webbased internet applications, electronic businesses, or social network services.

For larger businesses and organizations, web development teams can consist of hundreds of people (web developers). Smaller organizations may only require a single permanent or contracting webmaster, or secondary assignment to related job positions such as a graphic designer and/or Information systems technician. Web development may be a collaborative effort between departments rather than the domain of a designated department.

Web development as an industry Since the mid-1990s, web development has been one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In 1995 there were fewer than 1,000 web development companies in the United States, but by 2005 there were over 30,000 such companies in the U.S. alone. The web development industry is expected to grow over 25% by 2010. The growth of this industry is being pushed by large businesses wishing to sell products and services to their customers and to automate business workflow.

In addition, cost of Web site development and hosting has dropped dramatically during this time. Instead of costing tens of thousands of dollars, as was the case for early websites, one can now develop a simple web site for less than a thousand dollars, depending on the complexity and amount of content. Smaller Web site development companies are now able to make web design accessible to both smaller companies and individuals further fueling the growth of the web development industry.

As far as web development tools and platforms are concerned, there are many systems available to the public free of charge to aid in development. A popular example is the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP), which is usually distributed free of charge. This fact alone has manifested into many people around the globe setting up new Web sites daily and thus contributing to increase in web development popularity.

Another contributing factor has been the rise of easy to use WYSIWYG web development software, most prominently WebDev, Adobe Dreamweaver, Netbeans or Microsoft Expression Studio. Using such software, virtually anyone can develop a Web page in a matter of minutes. Knowledge of HyperText Markup Language (HTML), or other programming languages is not required, but recommended for professional results.

The next generation of web development tools uses the strong growth in LAMP, Java Platform, Enterprise Edition technologies and Microsoft .NET technologies to provide the Web as a way to run applications online.

Web developers now help to deliver applications as Web services which were traditionally only available as applications on a desk based computer. Instead of running executable code on a local computer, users are interacting with online applications to create new content.

This has created new methods in communication and allowed for many opportunities to decentralize information and media distribution. Users are now able to interact with applications from many locations, instead of being tied to a specific workstation for their application environment.

Examples of dramatic transformation in communication and commerce led by web development include e-commerce. Online auction sites such as eBay have changed the way consumers consume and purchase goods and services. Online resellers such as Amazon.com and Buy.com (among many, many others) have transformed the shopping and bargain hunting experience for many consumers.

Another good example of transformative communication led by web development is the blog.

Web applications such as MovableType and WordPress have created easily implemented blog environments for individual Web sites. Open source content systems such as Alfresco, Typo3, Xoops, Joomla!, and Drupal have extended web development into new modes of interaction and communication.

In addition, web development has moved to a new phase of Internet communication. Computer web sites are no longer simply tools for work or commerce but used most for communication. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter provide users a platform to freely communicate. This new form of web communication is also changing e-commerce through the number of hits and online advertisement.

Typical Areas Web Development can be split into many areas and a typical and basic web development hierarchy might consist of: Client Side Coding * AJAX Provides new methods of using JavaScript, (eg ASP.Net or PHP) and other languages to improve the user experience. * Flash Adobe Flash Player is a ubiquitous client-side platform ready for RIAs. Flex 2 is also deployed to the Flash Player (version 9+). * JavaScript Formally called ECMAScript, JavaScript is a ubiquitous client side programming tool. * JavaFX is a software platform for creating and delivering rich Web applications that can also run across a wide variety of devices. * Microsoft Silverlight Microsoft's browser plugin that enables animation, vector graphics and high-definition video playback, programmed using XAML and .NET programming languages.

Server Side Coding * ASP (Microsoft proprietary) *ColdFusion (Adobe proprietary, formerly Macromedia) Is Your Business on the Web? | ISSUE 05 | 12

* CGI and/or Perl (open source) * C Server Scripts (TrustLeap G-WAN, freeware) * Java, e.g. Java EE or WebObjects * Lotus Domino * PHP (open source) * Python, e.g. Django (web framework) (open source) * Ruby, e.g. Ruby on Rails (open source) * Smalltalk e.g. Seaside, AIDA/Web * SSJS Server-Side JavaScript, e.g. Aptana Jaxer, Mozilla Rhino * Websphere (IBM proprietary) * .NET (Microsoft proprietary)

executed and stored on a local client (in a web browser) whereas server side code is not available to a client and is executed on a web server which generates the appropriate XHTML which is then sent to the client. As the nature of client side coding allows you to alter the HTML on a local client and refresh the pages with updated content (locally), web designers must bear in mind the importance and relevance to security with their server side scripts. If a server side script accepts content from a locally modified client side script, the web development of that page shows poor sanitization with relation to security.

Client Side + Server Side

Security Considerations

*Google Web Toolkit provides tools to create and maintain complex JavaScript front-end applications in Java. * Pyjamas is a tool and framework for developing AJAX applications and Rich Internet Applications in python. * Tersus is a platform for the development of rich web applications by visually defining user interface, client side behavior and server side processing.

Web development takes into account many security considerations, such as data entry error checking through forms, filtering output, and encryption.

Malicious practices such as SQL injection can be executed by users with ill intent yet with only primitive knowledge of web development as a whole. Not only this, but scripts can be exploited to grant unauthorized access to malicious users trying to collect information such as email addresses, passwords and protected content like credit card numbers.

However lesser known languages like Ruby and Python are often paired with database servers other than MySQL (the M in LAMP). Below are example of other databases currently in wide use on the web. For instance some developers prefer a LAPR(Linux/Apache/PostgreSQL/Ruby on Rails) setup for development.

Database Technology * Apache Derby * DB2 (IBM proprietary) * Firebird * Microsoft SQL Server * MySQL * Oracle * PostgreSQL * SQLite * Sybase In practice, many web developers will also have interdisciplinary skills / roles, including: * Graphic design / web design * Information architecture and copywriting/copyediting with web usability, accessibility and search engine optimization in mind * Project management, QA and other aspects common to IT development in general The above list is a simple website development hierarchy and can be extended to include all client side and server side aspects. It is still important to remember that web development is generally split up into client side coding covering aspects such as the layout and design, then server side coding, which covers the website's functionality and back end systems. Looking at these items from an "umbrella approach", client side coding such as XHTML is 13 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

Some of this is dependent on the server environment (most commonly Apache or Microsoft IIS) on which the scripting language, such as PHP, Ruby, Python, Perl or ASP is running, and therefore is not necessarily down to the web developer themselves to maintain. However, stringent testing of web applications before public release is encouraged to prevent such exploits from occurring.

Keeping a web server safe from intrusion is often called Server Port Hardening. Many technologies come into play when keeping information on the internet safe when it is transmitted from one location to another. For instance Secure Socket Layer Encryption (SSL) Certificates are issued by certificate authorities to help prevent internet fraud. Many developers often employ different forms of encryption when transmitting and storing sensitive information.

A basic understanding of information technology security concerns is often part of a web developer's knowledge. Because new security holes are found in web applications even after testing and launch, security patch updates are frequent for widely used applications. It is often the job of web developers to keep applications up to date as security patches are released and new security concerns are discovered.

Web design Web design is the skill of creating presentations of content (usually hypertext or hypermedia) that is delivered to an end-user through the World Wide Web, by way of a Web browser or other Web-enabled software like Internet television clients, microblogging clients and RSS readers. The intent of web design is to

create a web site—a collection of electronic documents and applications that reside on a web server/servers and present content and interactive features/interfaces to the end user in form of Web pages once requested. Such elements as text, bitmapped images (GIFs, JPEGs) and forms can be placed on the page using HTML/XHTML/XML tags.

Displaying more complex media (vector graphics, animations, videos, sounds) requires plug-ins such as Adobe Flash, QuickTime, Java run-time environment, etc. Plug-ins are also embedded into web page by using HTML/XHTML tags.

Improvements in browsers' compliance with W3C standards prompted a widespread acceptance and usage of XHTML/XML in conjunction with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to position and manipulate web page elements and objects. Latest standards and proposals aim at leading to browsers' ability to deliver a wide variety of content and accessibility options to the client possibly without employing plug-ins.

Typically web pages are classified as static or dynamic: * Static pages don’t change content and layout with every request unless a human (web master/programmer) manually updates the page. A simple HTML page is an example of static content. * Dynamic pages adapt their content and/or appearance depending on end-user’s input/interaction or changes in the computing environment (user, time, database modifications, etc.) Content can be changed on the client side (end-user's computer) by using client-side scripting languages (JavaScript, JScript, Actionscript, etc.) to alter DOM elements (DHTML). Dynamic content is often compiled on the server utilizing server-side scripting languages (Perl, PHP, ASP, JSP, ColdFusion, etc.). Both approaches are usually used in complex applications.

With growing specialization in the information technology field there is a strong tendency to draw a clear line between web design and web development.

Web design is a kind of graphic design intended for development and styling of objects of the Internet's information environment to provide them with high-end consumer features and aesthetic qualities. The offered definition separates web design from web programming, emphasizing the functional features of a web site, as well as positioning web design as a kind of graphic design.

The process of designing web pages, web sites, web applications or multimedia for the Web may utilize multiple disciplines, such as animation, authoring, communication design, corporate identity, graphic design, human-computer interaction, information architecture, interaction design, marketing, photography, search engine optimization and typography.

* Style sheet languages (such as CSS and XSL) * Client-side scripting (such as JavaScript) * Server-side scripting (such as PHP and ASP) * Database technologies (such as MySQL and PostgreSQL) * Multimedia technologies (such as Flash and Silverlight) Web pages and web sites can be static pages, or can be programmed to be dynamic pages that automatically adapt content or visual appearance depending on a variety of factors, such as input from the end-user, input from the Webmaster or changes in the computing environment (such as the site's associated database having been modified). With growing specialization within communication design and information technology fields, there is a strong tendency to draw a clear line between web design specifically for web pages and web development for the overall logistics of all web-based services.

Accessible Web design To be accessible, web pages and sites must conform to certain accessibility principles. These accessibility principles are known as the WCAG when talking about content. These can be grouped into the following main areas. * Use semantic markup that provides a meaningful structure to the document (i.e. web page) * Semantic markup also refers to semantically organizing the web page structure and publishing web services description accordingly so that they can be recognized by other web services on different web pages. Standards for semantic web are set by IEEE * Use a valid markup language that conforms to a published DTD or Schema * Provide text equivalents for any non-text components (e.g. images, multimedia) * Use hyperlinks that make sense when read out of context. (e.g. avoid "Click Here") * Don't use frames * Use CSS rather than HTML tables for layout * Author the page so that when the source code is read line-by-line by user agents (such as screen readers) it remains intelligible. (Using tables for design will often result in information that is not.)

However, W3C permits an exception where tables for layout either make sense when linearized or an alternate version (perhaps linearized) is made available. Website accessibility is also changing as it is impacted by Content Management Systems that allow changes to be made to webpages without the need of obtaining programming language knowledge.

It is very important that several different components of Web development and interaction can work together in order for the Web to be accessible to people with disabilities. These components include:

* Markup languages (such as HTML, XHTML and XML) Is Your Business on the Web? | ISSUE 05 | 14

* content - the information in a Web page or Web application, including: - natural information such as text, images, and sounds - code or markup that defines structure, presentation, etc. * Web browsers, media players, and other "user agentsÂť * assistive technology, in some cases - screen readers, alternative keyboards, switches, scanning software, etc. * users' knowledge, experiences, and in some cases, adaptive strategies using the Web * developers - designers, coders, authors, etc., including developers with disabilities and users who contribute content * authoring tools - software that creates Web sites * evaluation tools - Web accessibility evaluation tools, HTML validators, CSS validators, etc.

History Tim Berners-Lee published what is considered to be the first website in August 1991. Berners-Lee was the first to combine Internet communication (which had been carrying email and the Usenet for decades) with hypertext (which had also been around for decades, but limited to browsing information stored on a single computer, such as interactive CD-ROM design).

Websites are written in a markup language called HTML, and early versions of HTML were very basic, only giving a website's basic structure (headings and paragraphs), and the ability to link using hypertext. This was new and different from existing forms of communication - users could easily navigate to other pages by following hyperlinks from page to page.

As the Web and web design progressed, the markup language changed to become more complex and flexible, giving the ability to add objects like images and tables to a page. Features like tables, which were originally intended to be used to display tabular information, were soon subverted for use as invisible layout devices. With the advent of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), table-based layout is commonly regarded as outdated. Database integration technologies such as server-side scripting and design standards like W3C further changed and enhanced the way the Web is made. As times change, websites are changing the code on the inside and visual design on the outside with ever-evolving programs and utilities.

With the progression of the Web, tens of thousands of web design companies have been established around the world to serve the growing demand for such work.

As with much of the information technology industry, many web design companies have been established in technology parks in the developing world as well as many Western design companies setting up offices in countries such as India, Romania, and Russia to take advantage of the relatively lower labor rates found in such countries.

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Website planning Purposing web design is a complex, but essential ongoing activity. Before creating and uploading a website, it is important to take the time to plan exactly what is needed in the website. Thoroughly considering the audience or target market, as well as defining the purpose and deciding what content will be developed, are extremely important.

Context Web design is similar (in a very simplistic way) to traditional print publishing. Every website is an information display container, just as a book; and every web page is like the page in a book. However, web design uses a framework based on digital code and display technology to construct and maintain an environment to distribute information in multiple formats. Taken to its fullest potential, web design is undoubtedly the most sophisticated and increasingly complex method to support communication in today's world.

Purpose It is essential to define the purpose of the website as one of the first steps in the planning process. A purpose statement should show focus based on what the website will accomplish and what the users will get from it. A clearly defined purpose will help the rest of the planning process as the audience is identified and the content of the site is developed. Setting short and long term goals for the website will help make the purpose clear and plan for the future when expansion, modification, and improvement will take place. Setting a goal practices and measurable objectives should be identified to track the progress of the site and determine success.

Audience Defining the audience is a key step in the website planning process. The audience is the group of people who are expected to visit your website – the market being targeted. These people will be viewing the website for a specific reason and it is important to know exactly what they are looking for when they visit the site.

A clearly defined purpose or goal of the site as well as an understanding of what visitors want to do or feel when they come to your site will help to identify the target audience. Upon considering who is most likely to need or use the content, a list of characteristics common to the users such as: * Audience Characteristics * Information Preferences * Computer Specifications * Web Experience Taking into account the characteristics of the audience will allow an effective website to be created that will deliver the desired content to the target audience.

Content Content evaluation and organization requires that the purpose of the website be clearly defined. Collecting a list of the necessary content then organizing it according to the audience's needs is a key step in website planning. In the process of gathering the content being offered, any items that do not support the defined purpose or accomplish target audience objectives should be removed. It is a good idea to test the content and purpose on a focus group and compare the offerings to the audience needs.

The next step is to organize the basic information structure by categorizing the content and organizing it according to user needs. Each category should be named with a concise and descriptive title that will become a link on the website. Planning for the site's content ensures that the wants or needs of the target audience and the purpose of the site will be fulfilled.

Compatibility and restrictions Because of the market share of modern browsers (depending on your target market), the compatibility of your website with the viewers is restricted. For instance, a website that is designed for the majority of websurfers will be limited to the use of valid XHTML 1.0 Strict or older, Cascading Style Sheets Level 1, and 1024x768 display resolution.

This is because Internet Explorer is not fully W3C standards compliant with the modularity of XHTML 1.1 and the majority of CSS beyond 1. A target market of more alternative browser (e.g. Firefox, Safari and Opera) users allow for more W3C compliance and thus a greater range of options for a web designer.Another restriction on webpage design is the use of different image file formats. The majority of users can support GIF, JPEG, and PNG (with restrictions). Again Internet Explorer is the major restriction here, not fully supporting PNG's advanced transparency features, resulting in the GIF format still being the most widely used graphic file format for transparent images.

Many website incompatibilities go unnoticed by the designer and unreported by the users. The only way to be certain a website will work on a particular platform is to test it on that platform.

Planning documentation Documentation is used to visually plan the site while taking into account the purpose, audience and content, to design the site structure, content and interactions that are most suitable for the website.

Documentation may be considered a prototype for the website – a model which allows the website layout to be reviewed, resulting in suggested changes, improvements and/or enhancements. This review process increases the likelihood of success of the website. The first step may involve information architecture in which the content is categorized and

the information structure is formulated. The information structure is used to develop a document or visual diagram called a site map. This creates a visual of how the web pages or content will be interconnected, and may help in deciding what content will be placed on what pages.

In addition to planning the structure, the layout and interface of individual pages may be planned using a storyboard. In the process of storyboarding, a record is made of the description, purpose and title of each page in the site, and they are linked together according to the most effective and logical diagram type.

Depending on the number of pages required for the website, documentation methods may include using pieces of paper and drawing lines to connect them, or creating the storyboard using computer software.

Some or all of the individual pages may be designed in greater detail as a website wireframe, a mock up model or comprehensive layout of what the page will actually look like. This is often done in a graphic program, or layout design program. The wireframe has no working functionality, only planning, though it can be used for selling ideas to other web design companies.

Website design Web design is similar (in a very simplistic way) to traditional print publishing. Every website is an information display container, just as a book is a container; and every web page is like the page in a book. However, web design uses a framework based on digital code and display technology to construct and maintain an environment to distribute information in multiple formats. Taken to its fullest potential, web design is undoubtedly the most sophisticated and increasingly complex method to support communication in today's world.

For the typical web sites, the basic aspects of design are: * The content: the substance, and information on the site should be relevant to the site and should target the area of the public that the website is concerned with. * The usability: the site should be user-friendly, with the interface and navigation simple and reliable. * The appearance: the graphics and text should include a single style that flows throughout, to show consistency. The style should be professional, appealing and relevant. * The visibility: the site must also be easy to find via most, if not all, major search engines and advertisement media.

A web site typically consists of text and images. The first page of a web site is known as the Home page or Index.

Some web sites use what is commonly called a Splash Page. Splash pages might include a welcome message, language or region selection, or disclaimer.

Is Your Business on the Web? | ISSUE 05 | 16

Each web page within a web site is an HTML file which has its own URL. After each web page is created, they are typically linked together using a navigation menu composed of hyperlinks. Faster browsing speeds have led to shorter attention spans and more demanding online visitors and this has resulted in less use of Splash Pages, particularly where commercial web sites are concerned. Once a web site is completed, it must be published or uploaded in order to be viewable to the public over the internet. This may be done using an FTP client. Once published, the web master may use a variety of techniques to increase the traffic, or hits, that the web site receives. This may include submitting the web site to a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing, exchanging links with other web sites, creating affiliations with similar web sites, etc.

Multidisciplinary requirements Web site design crosses multiple disciplines of multiple information systems, information technology and communication design. The web site is an information system whose components are sometimes classified as front-end and back-end. The observable content (e.g. page layout, user interface, graphics, text, audio) is known as the front-end. The back-end comprises the organization and efficiency of the source code, invisible scripted functions, and the server-side components that process the output from the frontend. Depending on the size of a Web development project, it may be carried out by a multi-skilled individual (sometimes called a web master), or a project manager may oversee collaborative design between group members with specialized skills.

Issues By its very nature, web design is conflicted, involving rigid technical conformance and personal creative balance. Rapid technological change complicates acquiring and deploying suitable resources to maintain web presence.

Environment Layout is a double edged sword: on the one hand, it is the expression of a framework that actively shapes the web designer. On the other hand, as the designer adapts that framework to projects, layout is the means of content delivery. Publishing a web engages communication throughout the production process as well as within the product created. Publication implies adaptation of culture and content standards. Web design incorporates multiple intersections between many layers of technical and social understanding, demanding creative direction, design element structure, and some form of social organization.

Differing goals and methods resolve effectively in successful deployment of education, software and team management during the design process.

However, many competing and evolving platforms and environments challenge acceptance, completion and continuity of every design product.

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Collaboration Early Web design was less integrated with companies’ advertising campaigns, customer transactions, extranets, intranets and social networking. Web sites were seen largely as static online brochures or database connection points, disconnected from the broader scopes of a business or project. Many Web sites are still disconnected from the broader project scope. As a result, many Web sites are needlessly difficult to use, indirect in their way of communicating, and suffer from a 'disconnected' or ineffective bureaucratic information architecture.

Form versus function A web developer may pay more attention to how a page looks while neglecting other copywriting and search engine optimization functions such as the readability of text, the ease of navigating the site, or how easily the visitors are going to find the site. As a result, the designers may end up in disputes where some want more decorative graphics at the expense of keyword-rich text, bullet lists, and text links. Assuming a false dichotomy that form and function are mutually exclusive overlooks the possibility of integrating multiple disciplines for a collaborative and synergistic solution. In many cases form follows function. Because some graphics serve communication purposes in addition to aesthetics, how well a site works may depend on the graphic design ideas as well as the professional writing considerations.

When using a lot of graphics, a web page can load slowly, often irritating the user. This has become less of a problem as the internet has evolved with high-speed internet and the use of vector graphics. However there is still an ongoing engineering challenge to increase bandwidth and an artistic challenge to minimize the amount of graphics and their file sizes. This challenge is compounded since increased bandwidth encourages more graphics with larger file sizes. When faced with a large database and many requirements, a design group may throw far too much information for a server to manage. Alternative technology or additional structure (even another server or site) may be required to fit the demand.

Layout Layout types Layout refers to the dimensioning of content in a device display, and the delivery of media in a content related stream. Web design layouts result in visual content frameworks: these frameworks can be fixed, they can use units of measure that are relative, or they can provide fluid layout with proportional dimensions. The deployment flowchart (a useful tool on any design project) should address content layout. Many units of measure exist, but here are some popular dimension formats:

* Pixel measure results in fixed or static content * Em measure results in proportional content that is relative to font-size * Percent measure results in fluid content that shrinks and grows to "fit" display windows Proportional, liquid and hybrid layout are also referred to as dynamic design. Hybrid layout incorporates any combination of fixed, proportional or fluid elements within (or pointing to) a single page. The hybrid web design framework is made possible by digital internet conventions generally prescribed by the W3C. If any layout does not appear as it should, it is very likely that it does not conform to standard design principles, or that those standards conflict with standard layout elements.

Current knowledge of standards is essential to effective hybrid design.

The earliest web pages used fixed layouts without exception. In many business pages fixed layouts are preferred today as they easily contain static tabled information.

For the World Wide Web Consortium drawing up tomorrows layout conventions, new media types and methods are increasingly in the mix. It is a true double axiom that 'content is all about layout', and 'layout is all about content'. We could say that layout is what designers squeeze into available technology — content is the culture manifested in the layout. "Space' is the envelope holding layout and content together.

Space communicates style (layout appearance) to the target population. Understanding how to adapt space to this layout-content relationship is essential to web design. Every design's survivability depends on its sensitivity to emerging technology (within the cultures that its framework is servicing), and immediate acceptance depends on the layout or presentation of that content.

On every page, no content is more susceptible to changes and variations in standards, than space. While the professional designer casually admits that 90% of design code is used to adapt space, most of his current work deploys spatial manipulations being used to actively reshape Internet communication.

Fixed layout enforces device display convention, as viewers must set their display to at least a certain width to easily view content. This width can include display of corporate logos, cautions, advertisements and any other target content. Design frameworks for fixed layout may need to include coding for multiple display devices.

Conceptual barriers to adequate layout abound!

Presently layout is challenged by conflicting convention that makes it impossible to fit liquid and hybrid layout to the bottom corners of a display. Simply put, display device manufactures use the top right and/or left corners to display content.

Hybrid design maintains most static content control, but is adapted to textual publishing, and for readers, to conventional (printed) display. Hybrid layouts are generally easy on the eye and are found on most sites that distribute traditional images and text to readers. For some sites, hybrid design makes an otherwise cold text column appear warm and balanced. A good example of hybrid layout is Wordpress, where liquid design is now optional, and movie and auditory media is stretching the envelope.

For non-standard equipment, setting custom fixed layout to their device is still seen by some businesses as a means of increasing revenue, as they can sell a 'unique' display. This business approach, domainating the digital market at the end of the last century, is not so useful today. However, some would claim a decade behind schedule, CSS3 and HTML5 are finally taking the four penultimate display reference point seriously. Just in time for 3 dimensional vector layout to tangle designers' templates in conundrums!

Fluid design is useful where content is delivered to an 'unknown device' population. Appropriate liquid code displays images, text and spaces proportional to display size. Someone with a handheld can see view and interact with the same content as someone using a large desktop monitor. However, scaling of content for a variety of devices has more recently evolved with modern web browsers, allowing users to see the same layout across all devices.

A common misconception among designers is to assume their layout is liquid because initial space and text container widths are in percents. However, their 'liquid' framework, while adhering to focused conventions, failed to manage graphic content. A subsequent edit placing a large image on the page, destroys the page appearance. When managing a design framework, it is critical that layout address content, convention and user interaction.

Layout concerns As W3C conventions evolve, the use of design "space" is becoming less static and more fluid in its potential.

The result is that old layouts look ... old. In dealing with font layout, even expressed as ems, a static core cannot be escaped and often anchors most page content. However, as new standards are adopted by device manufacturers, viewers notice a wider spectrum of content and a greater interaction between and through content.

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Domestic Abuse Domestic violence can happen to anyone, regardless of age, gender, race, sexuality, wealth or geography, yet the problem is often overlooked, excused, or denied. Female is the worst victim in the disaster. Studies show that between one quarter and one half of all women in the world have been abused by intimate partners. Worldwide, 40-70% of all female murder victims are killed by an intimate partner. Over the years, several actions have been taken to prevent the weak away from domestic violence. Some commonweal organizations even advertise to warn the public. Here are some advertising examples, have a view and pay more attention to those who are suffering domestic violence.

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Logo Design A to Z - C Some time ago we began a series of posts on logo design. Our goal? To cover as many logos as we can until the end of the year... we started with logos starting with A, today is all about C's. We've been seeing some great logos, and we wish to have you guys with us along this design journey.

Chilup

Club 2008

Crown

Centerwave

Collective Opinions

Chez Savior

Component

Caravan center

Core

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Countingcrows

CMYK

CityCliq

CastlePrint

Chilidog

Crazy

Creativetouch

Cycliner

Cropd

Co

Colortrail

Coing

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Five Ways to Start a Freelance Business Right Now and get your feet wet. That’s what this post is for.

Are you ready to start freelancing? If so, then it’s time to move up to the starting line and get ready to go.

Here are five easy action items that will jumpstart your freelancing business: 1. Develop an online presence as a freelancer. You can’t get work as a freelancer if no one knows that you are available for projects. One of the best ways to let people know that you freelance is through your blog or portfolio site. If you don’t have a website already, it’s time to set one up.

Have you been meaning to start freelancing on a parttime or full-time, but keep putting it off because you think that starting a freelance business is too much work?

While it’s true that freelancing can be a lot of work, the good news is that you don’t have to do everything all at once. If you have a full-time job or do not need full-time freelancing income right away, you can ease into freelancing a little bit at a time–we’ll show you how to get started.

(Even if you do need a full-time freelancing income, you need to start somewhere. This post can help you find that starting place.)

This post describes five easy steps that you can take right away that will put you closer to your freelancing dream. You can choose to start your freelancing business with just one, or all, of these steps.

Easy Steps to Start Your Freelancing Business Many experts will advise you to plan the start of your freelancing career carefully. You’ve probably read some of those articles. We’ve even published a few of those articles here on Freelance Folder. In general, they offer a lot of good advice.

While we are definitely not against planning and being careful, at some point you need to stop planning and start doing. You need to jump in to the freelancing pool 25 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

2. Add freelancing availability to your social media profile. For many freelancers, one of their best sources of clients is the people they already know. If you keep in touch with friends, family, former classmates, or colleagues through social media then you need to make sure that your social media profile includes the fact that you are willing to take on freelance work. Also, many organizations now use social media to recruit freelancers for projects.

3. Build a professional profile on a bidding site. While bidding sites may not always offer the best opportunities, if you understand how they work it is possible to land some good jobs there. Remember, many successful freelancers got their start by first finding work on a bidding site. When your profile is complete, don’t forget to bid on some projects.

4. Find freelance job opportunities online and apply for them. You can use online tools such as iGoogle to search for and find online job postings. The more projects that you apply for, the more likely it is that you will be selected for a project. (Repeat this step of searching for and applying for jobs online frequently.)

5. Offer to do something for free. While typically working for free is not a very good idea, when you are just starting out as a freelancer taking on a project that you can use for your portfolio and as a sample of your work is not always a bad thing. Also, getting involved in a project (even a gratis one) can help get you into the mindset of a freelancer and give you the momentum you need to keep going. In addition to the suggestions that we’ve made in this post, you might wish to know some more details about getting started as a freelancer. Remember, the steps that you just took got you started. To succeed it’s also important to continue to learn and apply that knowledge to your freelancing business.

Most Creative Ads Series:

Beer I don't exactly know since when beer became so popular. There are so many dominant multinational companies and thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries.

More than 133 billion liters (35 billion gallons) are sold per year, producing total global revenues of $294.5 billion since 2006. Beer is now the third most popular drink overall after water and tea, and is even regarded as social lubricant in many societies. Where there is business, there are ads.

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Meet the Artist:

Justin Maller

INFO: http://www.justinmaller.com

Justin M. Maller has updated his portfolio with a redesign to compliment over twenty new pieces of personal and commercial work, including campaigns for Verizon, ESPN and Crooks & Castles. We are huge fans of Justin so nothing better than a post featuring his new works.

Meet the Artist:

Mario Wagner

INFO: http://www.mario-wagner.com

Mario Wagner was born in 1974 and works as an artist and illustrator in San Francisco/USA and Cologne/Germany.

His unique illustrations and artworks are commissioned by the most popular magazines like Playboy and the New York Times Magazine or clients like Adidas or Cheerios. Wagner’s work is made analog, he uses old magazines, scissor, glue and acrylcolor, even for his about 6,5 feet large artworks. His work was already shown in numerous german and international exhibitions including the SCOPE.

Meet the Artist:

David Mascha

INFO: http://davidmascha.com

David Mascha is a Vienna based designer and illustrator. Since 2005, he has been working for several design studios in Vienna as well as developing projects for international clients, fashion and design labels, magazines and books. David Mascha had his work participating in exhibitions around Europe and Asia. He is also part of the DEPTHCORE collective.

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How to Build a Six-brained Blogger

Stultifying. As a desk jockey at a series of big corporations I became increasingly numbed by the chaotic indifference of the budget sentinels to creativity. Big business, small minds, shackles of policy and chain gang mentality – all in pursuit of the shiny coin. Ironic, then, that any enterprise staffed by more than 20 ever rendered shareholder satisfaction.

But there was a reason why some businesses became titans, some withered and others touched the stars – and it had nothing, and everything, to do with the boss.

The creative catalyst stirring hearts and heads was hidden out of sight to many. It was the board of directors, a hydra-headed entity comprising experts 39 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

from the world of enterprise.

While most companies of scale had these regular gatherings, what set the winners apart was the guy in charge and his humility in throwing status aside to listen and act on what his board had to say. Together, this band of innovators rocked the world of business with fresh ideas.

Remarkably these meetings are still derided in the most part as a waste of time, a hand forced by constitution while the obvious advantage of free-thinking is banished before it begins.

More incredible still, you can have your own dynamite board of directors. Right now. And it doesn’t need to

cost you a cent/penny, but for your time well spent.

It was Benjamin Franklin who first coined the concept of a Mastermind Group. Centuries ago he figured that gathering a bunch of people from different backgrounds with a common goal – mutual success – would rock the party. The ‘junta’ was born, which later became through Napoleon Hill what we know today as the Mastermind Group.

So you blog, and you want to grow engagement and foster deeper relationships your community. You talk to other bloggers regularly.

Time to start your Mastermind Group…

1. Choose six people from different blog backgrounds.

Go for a real mixture; with diversity comes the most amazing range of thoughts. Think of the event as your very own focus group, no vol-au-vents required.

2. Formalise a monthly meet-up. Don’t do what I did, and use DimDim – because only three people can speak at a time. Hotswapping people in is like being a telepathic DJ. Go the Skype conference route if yours is a globespanning get-together.

3. Set some house rules – timing is critical. Some may deviate unnecessarily, change subject or start storytelling to excess. Use Egg Timer or a klaxon.

4. Find a common theme to get the ball rolling. It could be scheduling posts, or the most effective way to get visitors to sign up to your newsletters. Ask everyone to share a success they’ve enjoyed in the past month, or a useful website or RSS feed they’ve discovered.

5. Round the virtual table, with each member in turn talking about a challenge with their blog. Use your collective experience and insight as a group to tackle these challenges – and be amazed how much knowledge you have, and learn.

6. Finish the session with another round-the-table where each member recounts the most important lesson they learned, and how they plan to implement it in their business or blog.

7. Follow up with some notes so everyone has a record of what they’ve discovered, and their focus for the month ahead.

8. Create a Google Wave (ask me if you need an invite) for continued conversation to maintain the magical momentum from the meeting. Collaborate on a Group calendar to organise the next meeting.

9. Share the moderation duties. Once everyone has had a turn you’ll each have learned how the game works – and be compassionate in adhering to time limits.

You’ll quickly find out, despite the best efforts of The Office, that there really is an ‘I’ in team. In fact, there are three: Insight. The experience of your fellow Masterminders to help you understand more about building relationships with your community, or proven ways to blog better.

Insight is virtually infinite, but there’s no better forum for gaining the advantage than likeminded people all focused on mutual success. Fancy drowning in a flood of incredible insights and ideas? You need a Mastermind Group.

Ideas. Got some fragmented pieces of genius you need to patch together? A Mastermind Group is the glue you need to crystallise your efforts. What’s more you’ll have wisdom on-tap and a ready font of constructive feedback to help you gauge whether the idea will make you the darling or devil of your community.

Inspiration. The greatest source of creativity is outside our comfort zones. Outside our conventional realm.

Mastermind Groups introduce us to new ways of thinking, and often philosophies and strategies that we’d never entertained. Enthusiasm and passion go a long way to driving a ballistic blog, but it’s this third I that really sets your relationship building finesse from the rest of the pack.

What are you waiting for?

Welcome to Team You, six brains rooting for your continued success…

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Advertising Agency: TBWA/Paris, France Creative Directors: Eric Holden, RĂŠmi Noel Art Director: Mohamed Bereche

Beginner’s Guide: Stepping Into WebDesign Industry Perhaps you've got some experience in the web industry but unsure what to do next. Or perhaps you are new to web design and you’re just starting out. Whatever the case, you are not alone. There are many others like yourself who are still feeling their way around in the dark.

The web design industry is a big machine. Whatever dreams you may have of becoming an established designer might seem close to impossible. Especially since you run the risk of facing major problems like the lack of financial stability, lack of clients and jobs, and insecurity due to the lack of confidence in getting jobs etcetera. However, take heart. Nothing is impossible, but also know that nothing is easy. If you are a new designer hoping to make a name for yourself in this industry, here are a few useful tips to help you keep afloat.

Your First Foray into the World of Web Design You probably have many questions and concerns as a newcomer. Regardless of your background, knowledge or skill, you might still feel at a loss as to where to begin. It all comes down to the individual.

There is no right or wrong in regards to how to, or whether you should even become a web designer. However, like any other career path, you must have drive and passion to succeed and be at the top of your game in the industry. If you have a degree, don’t be complacent; having a degree doesn’t automatically mean that you will have a successful career in web design.

In order to be successful, one must always be willing to continue learning. We continue learning every day of our lives. A web designer especially, will continuously learn something new because he or she can never know everything about web design. With the rapid advancement of technology, it is necessary to constantly update yourself in order to keep up with the latest trend or technology and succeed in this field. This is where passion for the industry and the drive to excel come in handy. Self improvement is a must for all web designers.

Becoming a freelancer might come across as an easy path to take. If you have the technical skills, having the freedom to work when it suits you sounds like a great idea. But is it really? There are plus and minus points to being a freelancer. However, most experienced web designers will advise any newcomer that it is best to work for someone else first.

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years and projects there will teach you many things necessary to survive when you’re out there on your own.

Working for others will allow you to learn how to communicate with clients without the pressures of messing things up while handling every aspect of the job. Also, working for someone else ensures that you have a stable income and be able to focus on the creative aspects and developing better technical skills of the job.

Portfolios – The Doorway to Success Every web designer’s must have is a good portfolio to showcase their abilities. If you can’t even create a decent portfolio to advertise what you can do, how can you instill confidence in potential clients that they can entrust their projects with you? Put lots of effort into building a good portfolio website and your hard work will pay off eventually. Design software doesn’t come cheap. As a newcomer, you might not be able to afford a professional version of various design software.

However, there are options you can consider. You can take advantage of a fully functional 30-day trial version of Photoshop. A more permanent alternative could be to use Photoshop Elements or to purchase a second hand version of the more pricey software in the market today.

Not every designer can be good at both design and coding or programming. However, learning how to code and how to translate your designs for the web by reading online tutorials and books is a reflection of the dedication and passion you have for the field. Your willingness to learn and to upgrade yourself is an essential trait that will be attractive to both employers and clients alike. If coding is not your strong point, it can of course be outsourced. However, that would defeat the purpose of striking out on your own as a freelancer when you still need to rely on others to complete the jobs you take on.

Yes, your portfolio must be creative and give others a sense of your personality and style. However, you must not forget that it is first and foremost a showcase of your work and your skills. Prospective clients will need to see your previous work to be able to determine if they like what you can offer them. Prepare to be judged. Your portfolio will be one of the key deciding factors as to whether potential clients hire you or not. The problem

with design or any creative field is that everything is subjective. Not everyone’s likes and tastes are the same. We are all entitled to our personal opinions. As such, not everyone will like your work. Learn to accept criticism and how to differentiate between the constructive criticisms from the negative ones. A designer must be able to handle criticism to grow and improve.

Blog Your Way to Recognition Blogs are a popular trend at the moment. They are easy to create and maintain. In fact, having an online blog can work to your favour to support your creditability and to connect with your audience. With the many resources available to help you create a blog, the real question is not how to create a blog as a web designer, but why it is useful. Blogs, short for web log, are basically an online journal or diary. People keep blogs for various reasons. Some use blogs to advertise their business and boost sales; others use blogs to network, or purely for personal reasons and purposes.

Web designers can use blogs to support their portfolio and to promote themselves as designers. It is also a very good way to boost search engine rankings. Each time you publish an entry, you increase the likelihood of your blog being discovered. This will in turn help you to be recognised as a designer. It is also a good way to allow your clients to get to know you better and to determine if you are a person worth working with. It is not just important to be a good designer. You must also be a person of good character in order to attract potential clients to trust you and seek you out to handle their projects. As such, ensure that the quality of your blog is relevant and interesting to readers so that you will gather a following and make a name for yourself.

tutorials. There is so much to learn and doing tutorials can help you improve yourself and you may even pick up some cool tricks while doing so.

Offline inspiration come in the form of print work, design books, magazines and even newspapers and brochures can help give you some fresh ideas.

Listening to music, talking to people, catching up with family and friends will also help you to relax and take a break from all the stress of a “creative block”. In fact, sometimes, all you need is a nice warm shower and you will find that when you relax and slow down, your mind gets a boost and you will regain your creativity and inspiration again. Still stuck and in need of more ways to find your muse?

The First Hurdle – Finding Clients You will meet all sorts of clients. Not all of them are hard to deal with, but some of them can be extremely difficult to work for. When faced with a difficult client, take it as a learning experience. They will help you to become a better designer and person. If you can professionally deal with difficult clients, other clients who are not like them will be a joy to work with. Finding work when you are new in town will be tough. Start by letting friends and family know that they can rely on you to help them with a website just to get the ball rolling in your new career path. Approaching small local businesses is also a good way to start. Some experience is better than no experience at all. Landing a job is just one hurdle.

Freelancing is like a marathon with many hurdles to jump through. The next hurdle is the discussion of quoting your fee. Setting a price to charge a client can be a complicated process. However, it is something every freelancer must face.

The Second Hurdle – Naming Your Price

Unblocking Creative Blocks Writers get writers block. Web designers are also susceptible to some form of “creative block”. As a newcomer, if you are facing a lack of creativity for the first time, it might be even harder for you to regain your momentum and find your muse. Even with experienced designers, it is a constant challenge to be inspired and creative and it is not unheard of for even the best designers to occasionally face a lack of creativity. The good news is that this “creative block” can be conquered and there is a cure for it.

The medicine is not the same for everyone. There is no one way to fix a “creative block”. However, there are several methods and cures one can try to get out of one. rawling on the net help may be of some help. The net is a massive library of inspiration you can tap into to overcome a “creative block”. When you see something that attracts you and engages with your mind, those creative juices might just start flowing again. Often times, when you are not overly focused on a subject or problem, you will be find that the solutions become clear as day. You can also try doing some online

As a newcomer, it would be very difficult to charge the same rates as an established designer or a small agency would. In order to break into the market, some new designers will under charge clients so that they can land the job and gain some experience. However, there are designers who feel doing so can put you in a bad light and you might only end up getting a bad reputation. The better option is to estimate the cost based on the requirements of the project. Knowing what the client wants and how many hours you will need to finish the project will help you determine the adequate quote to offer clients.

Success – A Reachable Goal Patience is a virtue worth having and a much needed trait freelancers should have. Don’t expect to gain recognition overnight or just after writing one guest article. You reap what you sow; the harder you work and the more effort you invest, the better your chances are of succeeding in this industry. If this industry was easy, everyone would be in it. Regardless of the road ahead of you, I hope this article has been a source of inspiration and will help you with the days ahead.

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Convincing Your Clients to Use Open Platforms You might have heard this metaphor before in some form: "Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants." It means that a person making something new can benefit from work that already exists, leveraging and understanding the labor of people who have done it before them. I found out that this saying is old, almost a thousand years old—Isaac Newton popularized it.

So when I hear clients say they don’t want to use open platforms because of reasons such as: * They’re inferior to paid software * They’re insecure because they’re open * There’s no good support for these products I often wonder why they can’t see the seemingly apparent reasons for using open platforms.

Open platforms have many benefits to small and large businesses alike, but many decision makers fear the concept of open source.

But I do soon realize that clients—who probably aren’t as intimate or vested as I am on web systems (closed or open)—require a bit education on what open systems really are and how they can use them to their advantage.

In this article, I’ll discuss ways in which open platforms can meet the business objectives of your clients and 47 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

allow their project to stand on the shoulders of these giants.

Why Open Platforms Rule: Their Community Open platforms have communities that come prepackaged when you adopt them into your business.

Most clients are trying to build a fanbase around their product, or at least, they want more eyeballs. Open platforms give them the capability to engage with an already-established community.

At the bare minimum, they can use the platforms as a conversion tool, although too many clients stop there.

Budgetary Savings Money. This will hit decision makers where there heart lies: in their wallet. Open platforms are often free or lowcost. Maintenance and support are cheaper because you leverage the collective power of the community that surrounds the project. Getting support for open software comes in the form of people who’ve been there and done that.

Development time also decreases. Adopting an open platform often comes with years of work and thousands of combined development hours put into them. Two heads are better than one, as they say.

It’s a good idea to note that, we the designers can sometimes get thirsty for a good fight. We think we might be able to make a better mouse trap. But can one person, or a even a small team, compete with the work of thousands? And even if they can, is it a smart move to reinvent the wheel?

Uses of Open Systems

Another point to make is that just because you use a platform doesn’t mean you need to embrace the entire platform or even how it is suppose to work.

Here are just a few examples and case studies you can use when trying to convince a client to go the open platform route.

If you live in the Bay Area (in California), you should check out a restaurant called Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe in Emmeryville. The food is good, but what I love about this restaurant is their marketing. They made a mini documentary and used Vimeo, a free video hosting provider, to host it. They were then able to take that video and use it as an ad on a local news website.

If you have a popular site that show a lot of pictures? You can offload parts of it to Flickr. The bonus is that Flickr users who find your photo on Flickr might be enticed to visit your site.

So not only did they get the documentary to live inside a community of videos, where it can be admired as a mini-doc, they can also use it as a novel ad that stands out against all the other hyper-intense mini-flash ads.

Streaming video? Offload that to YouTube. Even if you still present the content on your site, you can still use the open platform, and you get the community benefits of having your videos publicly accessible in a larger site such as YouTube.

Oh, and they also get the benefit of free bandwidth.

You Don’t Need to Adopt the Platform in Its Entirety

Pacifying Concerns about Product Support and Security Support and security are the bell-weather arguments against open systems.

First, security is not an inherent problem in open systems.

Just because a system is open doesn’t mean it’s insecure. This argument is bolstered by the many reports of hacked websites and systems, which often turn out to be incorrect implementation, bad security practices, or end-user error (but it’s so easy to blame technologies that have the word "open" as a feature).

In fact, open systems not being secure is very far from the truth. Take for example the Linux operating system.

Bugs and security flaws are found at a much quicker rate than in its closed-sourced counterparts.

Security isn’t something you can buy; it has to be practiced. There are programs out there that are better at informing the community of security concerns.

Drupal is a great example of an open source system that has a strong security concern. If your client is security-conscious, do an audit. Demonstrate use in security-concerned areas, but don’t let them dismiss the system out of hand just because it’s "open".

Support is easy. Open systems have vendors that sell support, if one needs it. Closed and proprietary system support—especially those with a small user base—don’t have many alternatives to obtaining thirdparty support. Often, you are tied to the mercy of the vendor.

When talking about open web systems such as YouTube, you can always take your stuff elsewhere, like Vimeo, if the solution doesn’t work in your particular case.

Whitehouse.gov The Obama administration has been outspoken about being transparent. One way they have backed that up is to embrace the best software solutions for the job.

Whitehouse.gov, a site that needs to be secure because of its nature, has decided that Drupal, an open source content management system, is good enough for them.

While the Whitehouse.gov isn’t a super secret website, I am sure they have security concerns, and they still decided to use Drupal.

There is a secondary win here as well, when you talk about transparency and including the public in the process, it’s nice to see that the Whitehouse puts its weight behind a system that is built in an open fashion.

Bonus points: they post an awful lot of videos on YouTube.

Justin Bieber I can’t say that I am a big fan of his music but I can’t deny that he is popular. He didn’t become popular because he built a website. He went where the people are, on YouTube, and built a community around himself in YouTube. This is how a young man—who would have never been seen or given a shot if he went with a more traditional route— landed himself a recording gig.

You might wonder what a 13 year-old pop artist has to do with your clients, but they actually have a lot in common. If you have ever worked for a startup or brand new company, they are looking to get press and more eyeballs on their wares. They often feel that their best chance at making a splash is to build a catchy website or to build a community on their site. They are blind to the fact that it’s super hard to build a community.

So, just like Mr. Bieber went to where the people are, your clients shouldn’t be afraid of it either.

Is Your Business on the Web? | ISSUE 05 | 48

Brainstorming is the successful monthly spin-off of DDS “Idea is all”. Each issue gives you an in-depth guide to a different creative subject, and future issues will covere themes such as print design, web design, Photoshop, typography, packaging, creative advertising, and how to start your own design business. Inside every edition, you’ll find great step-by-step tutorials and tips from the best digital artists in the business, showcases and profiles of upand-coming talent and established creatives, as well as explorative features on the subject in hand.

Why Advertise on brainstorming.ba and brainstorming magazine?

Creative ads: Food

Meet the Artist:

Jason Salmon INFO: http://www.jasonsalmon.com/ Jason has many year experience on Photoshop and is happy working with other Photographer/Artist doing digital Retouching/Manipulation for them.

Meet the Artist: Lab Partners INFO: http://labpartners-sf.blogspot.com/

I really love how some artists have mastered retro illustrations! We've seen plenty of great designs, from Wall-e posters, to the Incredibles, passing through all things comic books. Retro illustration is everywhere, and the Lab Partners know how to do it.

These pieces are pretty sweet, really worth taking a look. Also, there's their portfolio, where Ryan Meis and Sarah Labieniec share all their work with everyone. You should all visit them, and check all their work out! I hope you all enjoy these! Cheers. ;)

Meet the Artist:

Paul Hollingworth Since I've first seen his work I really admire him. Paul Hollingworth is a graphic designer , photographer & illustrator from England. Take a look at his artworks, which are very clean, simple but very powerfull & well-thought. Thanks Rik for showing me one of my new favourite artists.

INFO: http://www.paulhollingworth.com/

Meet the Artist:

Ben Heine INFO: http://benheine.deviantart.com/

Ben Heine is a Belgian painter, illustrator, portraitist, caricaturist and photographer. His galleries are filled with great stuff and he can walk beautifully between several art directions, creating amazing pieces in any way he goes.

Ben studied graphic arts - and worked as a graphic creator for 8 years - and sculpture and also has a degree in journalism. Besides all that he also speaks French, English and Dutch fluently, and some bits of Polish, Spanish and Russian. So don't worry about language issues when you decide to get in touch with him. ;)

Meet the Artist:

INFO: http://devilpig.deviantart.com/

Dave Johnson When I was younger, one of my all time favorite Superman comics mini-series was the Red Son. I loved those books... and later I found out that Dave Johnson had done the covers for them. I instantly faved that guy forever.

He's done some great works for both Marvel and DC, and many great indie works... anyways, you should REALLY check out his portfolio to see ALL his kickass work. I hope you like it! Cheers. ;)

Meet the Artist:

Carmelo Di Lorenzo

INFO: http://www.casadedesenho.com.br/

Carmelo Di Lorenzo is an art director, designer and illustrator, from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Carmelo worked with Adhemas Batistas, one of his greatest influences, a few years ago and now he is working as Senior Art Director at Wunderman. Also he decided to put more time into illustration and design. Most of his ideas are inspired by guys like Adhemas, Douglas Alves and old school animators from Disney.

42 Fresh And Well Designed Logos for Inspiration A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition. Logos are either purely graphic (symbols/icons) or are composed of the name of the organization (a logotype or word mark).

Below you’ll find a collection of 35+ new and amazing logo designs to inspire you. Amazing creative methods, colors, shapes, and typography make these logos deserve all attention. Hope you will produce some unique ideas of your own !

Writers Mail

Wavycafe

Word Refuge

Scoot

Winkycup

Movie Magix

65 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

ScaredClient

New House Community

Royal Pens

Mysore Dasara

MilkyMug

Melodyhome

Layered Pixels

Mailhouse

JoeFarmer

Gentlemen`s Writer Club

Crown Airlines

Equesterian Clothing

Is Your Business on the Web? | ISSUE 05 | 66

EcoIdeas

Ecopup

Filmaps

Cheeky mail

Ecofuel

Carrotape

Can Film Festival

Colorfruit

Centro Books

Big Office Guys

BeepSheep

Banana moon

67 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

Baby Veggie

Apmos

Archiver

Antartica

Airtisitc

Solar Swipe

Tsunamovies

Coastal Gardens

Cinema cafe

Care Cruiser

Cebrace

Complete Outdoor Rooms

Is Your Business on the Web? | ISSUE 05 | 68

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Meet the Artist: Hamish Blakely INFO: http://www.hamishblakely.com

A painting should speak for itself. As Fritz Lang, the great Austrian film maker and director of “Metropolis” stated, “When a director makes a film and it doesn’t express what he wants to say and he needs to give an interview to explain to an audience why and what; he is a lousy director.” I certainly don’t suggest an Artist be aloof or even this dogmatic, as I have enjoyed countless discussions with collectors that have left me with a vivid and refreshed perspective of my work, but it is a striking remark that applies to Art; a painting should grab the viewer without an essay or speech, leaving further explanation supplementary rather than vital. Where possible, my own thoughts should recede to allow space for the views of the audience.

Design Currency: Icograda Design Week in Vancouver 2010 Cur�rency\ The state or quality of being current; general acceptance or reception; a passing from person to person, or from hand to hand.

Design has the power to influence our core values, our identity, our expectations and our worldview. Design brings clarity and enhances meaning. Design Currency 2010 offers designers, business leaders and government the opportunity to experience current design thinking. Reshape your understanding of the value of design.

About the event International Conference This 2-day event will maximise the opportunity for interaction between presenters and delegates. An invited list of international experts will lead the presentations, conversations and workshops.

Design Keynote This evening event will present thought-leadership on how design is shaping, and being shaped by, our global community.

Graphex 2010 Graphex, Canada's national awards programme, has been celebrating the best of visual communication in Canada since 1977. Based on the credo that good design is good business, it showcases exceptional work that drives client success. The Design Week closing will be a celebration of Graphex 2010 award winners.

Design Trade Fair Discover the latest products and services from manufacturers, retailers and our event partners. Delegates, presenters and sponsors will have free access to the Design Trade Fair.

INFO: www.designweekvancouver.ca

Meet the Artist:

Denis Zilber

You probably already seen some of these around... and if you like artworks filled with creativity, colors and sense of humor, so I guess you probably liked what you've seen and you also probably wondered who was the artist behind those arts. So here we present you Denis Zilber, a very talented artist from Ramat Gan, Israel who is into illustration/animation and have some pretty nice artworks at his portfolio. His caricatural style makes his artworks really fun to admire.

We will present here a selection of some of Denis' work and we really recommend you to check out his portfolio and his blog for further artworks and info. I hope you like the selection. Enjoy. :) INFO: http://deniszilber.com/

Meet the Artist:

Tim & Bram Vanhaeren Tim & Bram Vanhaeren are both very talented graphic designer based in Kapellen, Belgium. You are probably familiar with their work, we have already featured some of their works here on the Wallpaper of the Week and Daily Inspiration, therefore, nothing better than a post about Tim and Bram.

INFO: http://www.into1.be/

Interview with:

INFO: http://www.jurgt.nl/

Jurryt Visser

Hello, Jurryt! Now, you are from Holland. In itself, the Netherlands is a rather artsy country where many, many famous artists have come from. Tell us about yourself, and, if so, how has the Netherlands’ reputation for artists such as Van Gogh, Escher, Kooning, and so on, influenced you to create digital art?

Hi! My name is Jurryt Visser and I am a graphic designer and a digital artist. The Netherlands is a really artistic country as well, maybe together with England the country where you need to be for arts. Everything around here is quite fashionable and art really 'lives' here. Without any doubt, the environment, commercials and attitude of the people influence me greatly in everything I do with design. The Dutch history is full of art as well. Think about van Gogh, who inspired me a lot when I was younger. He had a great style which no one appreciated, but still very unique in that time.

Besides the historical and modern famous artists, the history for example with the VOC (Verenigd Oost Indisch Compagnie) inspired me as well. It still does. The Dutch have been all over the world and left their fingerprints basically everywhere. It's the same what I want to do. I want to go to Indonesia to stay there for a long time, to focus and dedicate myself to make unique arts which can be related to the Dutch history as well. So to come back to your question if the Netherlands inspired me in what I do. Yes, it did and still does.

You are now 20 years old. When did you start graphic design, and what motivated you to do so? You mentioned van Gogh as being an influence when you were younger.Where did you begin?

Well, at a very young age I started drawing and people said I had the feeling for it. I never did something with it, 79 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

because I just didn’t know you could make work out of it.

Years later, when I was, I think, 14, I started to go to the graphic design university and I gained so much interest when doing "my own thing". I had some teachers with who I could philosophize about arts, design and being an entrepreneur, so within 2 years, I was sold by arts. My last 2 years at school, was more free time than school. I almost didn’t go to school at all, because I had my own clients and I prefer being alone when I make digital arts.

Finally in 2007, I had my first 'piece' online, which seemed to be getting popular with many people. That was really cool and motivated me to develop myself further. Van Gogh inspired me, besides mentioning his style, in the way no one ever appreciated his work. But now, everyone adores his work. It motivates me to keep trying to be unique, even if the "mass" of the people don't appreciate it. Eventually you are the one who makes something unique everyone likes.

You have a rather unique style of art that you create.

Tell us about it, and how you developed it. Also, if you could, briefly relate how you go about creating such images?

Thank you. It started several years ago. I told a teacher of mine: I want to create something that combines and balances photography with digital arts perfectly. He was laughing a bit and wasn't really serious about this. I always looked up at this teacher, because he has a certain reputation which everyone wants to have in his line of business. But because he was a bit "good luck", it motivated me to just do it and show him and everyone else that I can do it. I wanted to prove myself. I devoted several hours playing with this idea and eventually I had my first art piece which balances photography with digital arts, I think, quite good. In that time, I received a lot of positive comments about the style, that I wanted to try more, bigger, better quality. I came with some pieces which were not really good, but others were really loved by the people as well. I asked a friend of mine to make a photo in this pose. He did this. After tweaking the image in Photoshop the best I could back then, I started to illustrate it in Illustrator. I was rather amazed I was able to design this and opened my eyes to try to do it even better. Many people already have mixes of digital arts and photography, photography with digital arts elements in it. I wanted to make the perfect balance between them.

A while back you showed me a picture you created of a panda bear. What made you design that, as you said it was experimental?

Um, because I am very busy with my work, doing graphic design for clients, I almost haven’t any time to do digital arts as well. I was bored, had some spare time and wanted to draw something. Just for fun. But why a panda? I don't know for sure. As you know I love Asia and in Asia there are pandas. For some reason pandas really adorable, but they are still bears.

You have mentioned to me in the past that you work about 80 hours a week, all graphic-design related work. Tell us about that, and any goals you have for the future.

Yes, I work as a Creative Director at the design agency I work and besides that I have my own international business running. Besides digital arts, I really enjoy designing a brand identity, website, or any other print media. As long as I am the designer and the one who makes the graphic decisions. With my own business, I want to go all over the world. I'd like to see a great verity of cultures, arts, corporations... and food! With my own business I'm planning to go to Indonesia next year. I first want to stay in Singapore, Jakarta and of course other places to get inspirations. I will stay there for at least one year and want to work there. I still have clients here in the Netherlands who are willing to go further with me, even when I am in Indonesia. That says something. I already have a designer here in the Netherlands who is willing to freelance for me here. After 1 or 2 years, I want to go to China and / or Japan. Feeling, tasting, seeing their way of working and thinking. Helping people there with arts from a Dutch designer. I want to show the people all over the world that nothing is impossible as long if you want it. If I want to go to Indonesia and other countries, I will do that. I will blog about it, I will work for it. With this, I hope to inspire people to look further then just their own country, or state. There is so much more about arts and design than we think we know.

Beyond historically influential artists like we’ve talked about, who are some modern-day designers that you enjoy watching? You are a part of the slashTHREE artgroup, you contribute to deviantART, as well as the Behance network. What about people you see here on the internet?

I'm not sure if I really enjoy 1 designer in particular. I enjoy their works and just random work I see. I have respect for many artists and digital artist. For example, I have major

respect for Anton Corbijn. The way he get things done and his vision about arts and life are really good. And for business like, I enjoy Armani. The way he reached the top. Really inspiring. I don't think someone should get totally crazy about 1 person. If you are like that it is so much harder to create something that is your own. I think people limit themselves when they focus too much on others.

You mentioned that you wanted to blend photography and digital work perfectly. What inspires the pieces you create, pieces like “Boss”.

Everything actually. Sometimes just music, other times movies, my mood, etc. Also talking to people about arts an design, about your goals, it motivates and inspires to create a new piece. Boss was inspired by a movie. Not sure what movie, but I had this idea to catch the movie's atmosphere in this piece. It is really mysterious and you are able to create your own story behind it.

Personally, “Soul” and “Reality” are some of my favorite pieces from you. Tell us a little about them, what inspired you, and how you went about creating them.

Both are actually really personal. After "Portrait", "Reality" was my first bigger art piece again. I wanted to show, as I want in all of my works, the difference between "Reality" and "Fiction". Someone wants to get out of the reality, or out of the place you want are living in right now. It hurts and people don't like it when you try to, but everyone has thought about it. “Soul” was made for slashTHREE and has basically the same concept as my other work: getting out of reality. To get out, it's so hard and painful.... and you have to do it all by yourself like in our society…individualism. And they are great pieces indeed. There are a million other things that we could talk about here, but our interview has gotten pretty long.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy 80-hours-aweek schedule to talk with us! It has been great talking with you.

Do you have any last statements you wish to make?

Think positive, live day by day, set your goals and make sure you got the will to reach them. That is life at its best.

Meet the Artist:

Alexander Lataille INFO: http://fatherofgod.deviantart.com/

His interesting manipulation style provided for unique feedback on his work. This issue, we're taking the time to feature him and his artwork. Feast your eyes upon the work of a true graphic manipulator!

Meet the Artist: Marcelo Souza INFO: http://m-souza.com/

Marcelo Souza is a 3D Animator/Generalist from Brazil with more than 12 years of experience working at all stages of the production pipeline. From the pre-production to the final compositing. Passing through the modeling, rigging, shading, lighting texturing, animation, editing and post production of the piece. As he says"In Brazil we are not able to work just on a single step of the production". We have to work always as 3D Generalists."

Meet the Artist:

Alex Trochut Alex Trochut, based in Barcelona, is totally in love with type and illustration, thats why we love him so much. 1981 born and just graduaded from design university. But he already has a very impressive design portfolio. Make sure to check out his website.

INFO: http://alextrochut.com

Meet the Artist:

Mr. Singh

INFO: http://www.wakeupmrsingh.com/

Wake up Mr Singh. Its not a statement, it is the name of the design studio of Karan Singh. He is an graduate of the University of Sydney with a Bachelor in Design Computing and now works as a freelancer. Most of the work showcased here are personal artworks for himself & for artgroups. So prepare yourself for pure Singh designs

Meet the Artist:

Iain Crawford

INFO: http://www.iaincrawford.com/

Iain Crawford is a beauty and fashion photographer based in London that has a pretty impressive portfolio. His images are beautiful, colorful, creative and full of style... Some of them have a retro felling while others are modern and contemporary. Among his clients you can find names as Lancome, Max Factor, Givenchy, L'Oreal, Vogue and many other. Iain's work is really amazing and the images are very eye catching, so take your time to enjoy them.

Meet the Artist:

Rafael Albuquerque Porto Alegre. It's great to find such an amazing artist from our town. He has some kickass illustrations, really worth checking out. For more of his work, you may visit his portfolio at DeviantART. You may also follow him on Twitter (portuguese / english)! He'll appreciate it. I hope you all enjoy these. Cheers! ;)

INFO: http://rafaelalbuquerqueart.deviantart.com/

Interview with:

Alex Cornell INFO: http://alexcornell.com/

photography, so it was a pretty quick jump to get into design. When the band parted ways after graduation, I moved the California to get a Master's in design at the Academy of Art. Now I'm here in San Francisco and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. Maybe New York City one day, or Tokyo, but San Francisco while I'm getting things started.

Tell me about your job at ISO50. How did you become a writer and what are the topics you talk about?

Alex Cornell is a San Francisco based, musician, designer & blogger for the famous design blog ISO50.

He has a very clean and simple, but powerful, style which often reminds me of posters from the 80's. In this interview he will tell us a lot about how he became a musician/designer and how this complements with his job as a blogger.

I had always been into fashion and photography, so it was a pretty quick jump to get into design.

First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time to provide abduzeedo.com with this interview.

Please tell us more about your background and what made you become an artist?

I got into design through music and didn't start practicing formally until about 2.5 years ago. Up to that point I focused exclusively on music while I was in school. Technically I majored in psychology at Duke, but most of my time was spent playing in my band at the time (Running Lights) or as a solo act. I would frequently create promotional graphics for my bands and always enjoyed doing so, without realizing it was a potential career. I had never heard of graphic design until I bought Print magazine at Border's after band practice. I had always been into fashion and 93 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

I've worked at ISO50 for two years now. I started out helping Scott around the studio with various design and music related things here and there, just helping out where I could. Over the years my responsibilities have changed; now I run the production side of the print business and am a full time contributor to the blog. A while back I posted a process report on the blog about one of my projects at school. I really enjoyed it and Scott and I figured it could be interesting to continue to do posts of this kind, to bring a student perspective to the blog voice. I try and split my time between short burst posts (like FFFFOUND with little bits of opinion) and longer feature type posts. When I got into design, Scott was one of the only artists whose work I was familiar with.

Since that time, my two biggest idols have always been John Mayer and Scott Hansen. The fact that I work with one of them on a consistent basis is completely unbelievable. I am extremely fortunate to be a part of the ISO50 machine.

You are also doing music! What kind of music do you create? How does that complement with your job as a designer?

Having the ability to bounce between the two creative mediums is endlessly satisfying. When one side hits a dead end, I can switch gears and keep the creative gears turning. My mood is highly correlated with my artistic output. If I'm not working I'm not happy (though I have to like what I'm working on, sometimes logo projects can drive me absolutely out of my mind). The music I play is Pop Music, straight up. I learned the guitar first, and come from a jazz background, but I like pop songs. And I mean that in the most literal sense -- as in the music is popular. While I've been in SF, I've been splitting my time about 85% design and 15% music.

Given this, I don't have a lot of time to write at all. Most of

what I do is cover music on Youtube. This is nice because it's quick and easy on my side, and still allows for maximum exposure and the building of a fanbase for when I am ready to make a more original driven push.

Describe what your typical day might look like!

Typical day always starts at 9am. Sometimes earlier if I have a meeting, but usually get going around 9.

Breakfast consists of cereal, yogurt, and a granola bar and the New York Times. I am ALL about this routine and try to keep it intact everyday; it's very comforting. After breakfast I take care of what I call "The Nonsense". This is stuff like paying bills, making phone calls, and meetings. I do not like this part of the day, but it's good to get it out of the way otherwise I can't focus. After lunch (which is always some variant of a turkey sandwich) I start either A) working at ISO50 B) working on freelance work C) going to school or D) going on an adventure.

My week is usually divided into three or four parts; it's always some combination of school, work, music, and ISO50. I have become fairly good at keeping multiple projects afloat at once, but I try and keep it to three or four at max. After dinner I usually waste a little bit of time and then go to the gym. Somewhere in there I'll play piano or guitar and sing for about 1-2 hours. Late night is always reserved for blogging and/or finding cool things to blog about. I go to bed at 2am at the earliest, usually closer to 3. Every once in a while I will take the day off and go on an adventure. My friends in San Francisco and I have become quite skilled at having adventures.

I've become a master of balancing the work/play combination since graduating college.

Could you describe for us your typical 'start to finish' workflow when working on a design and what tools of trade, both hardware and software, do you use?

First the tools of the trade. I have a sketchbook which I loathe, but it usually starts the process in some shape or form. I work on a quad core Mac Pro and use Illustrator, Photoshop, Final Cut, and InDesign. Periodically I'll dip into Dreamweaver and Flash. I'm planning a trip to Blick to buy some painting supplies for an upcoming project.

All of my music work is done with a shotty condenser mic and Logic Pro. When I start on a project, I usually just sit and think for about an hour. I try and think about what would be fun and what would get me really excited. I hate doing things that are boring or expected and this brainstorm process usually helps eliminate those options. I always start with the concept side of the equation and then decide where to take it visually afterwards. Concept is at the core of just about everything I do. Once I have a few ideas I'll pick three or four design books to go through and search for "cool bits". Maybe I'll find a cool color palette here, and a nice typeface there. Kind of like a guided inspiration session based on my predictions about how the project will go.

Then I will usually design something completely awful.

Of course at the time I think it's amazing...but it's terrible.

I'll look back at the beginnings of old projects and get really embarrassed. I'm not at a point yet where I can just sit down and crank something out quickly. I work fast overall, but I need to know which direction I am pursuing conceptually and visually before I can execute. Once I get something I am happy with I'll usually pass it by my roommate who can give me the ever illusive "virgin eyes" critique. After that I'll take a long break -- go to the gym, play music, acquire useless toys (most recently a Nerf arsenal) -- then come back and see if the design is still appealing to me. If it is after one day, I keep it and move on.

How does your job as an artist and designer influence your life? Do you feel that you see things around you differently for example?

I find that the most pervasive quality that carries over from my artistic live to my everyday is life is an obsession with detail. I'll find myself spending inordinate amounts of time deciding between different types of lampshades, for example, or oatmeal.. pretty much everything I do becomes a "process". I get so used to working carefully, methodically, and efficiently, that I feel the need to carry that way of behaving over to every part of my life. Finding an apartment took about 7 months. I haven't bought a pair of shoes in two years because I haven't found one that meets all my visual criteria (and I have a size 14 shoe...). Absolutely see things differently.

Once again , thank you very much for the interview.

As a final word, do you have any tips for upcoming artists and designers?

The best advice I have ever heard is in this video.

Changed everything for me. The other piece of advice that really hit home for me was from Chuck Klosterman.

I saw him speak at Duke one semester and someone asked him afterwards "how do I get where you are?" (as in, how do I become a successful author too). He laughed at this question and explained that detailing every step he took to get where he was would be completely pointless. There is no way things would unfold the same way and trying to replicate his career would be futile. His advice instead was just to "be ready". Sounds basic but there was more to it than that.

His point was to constantly be ready to take full advantage of any opportunity that comes your way.

The most basic example of being "ready" would be to have a website where you can show people your work.

What happens if you run into Michael Bierut and you don't have a website to send him to? You aren't ready!

What happens if your website gets reblogged by Perez Hilton and you haven't updated your contact info! You aren't ready! It sounds basic but I am constantly AMAZED at how few students I see that are "ready". It's like they are willingly making it impossible for someone to hire them. Constantly shooting themselves in the foot. Of course in the end it all comes down to the quality of your work, but you have to work to maximize your potential. Be ready.

Is Your Business on the Web? | ISSUE 05 | 94

Meet the Artist:

INFO: http://calliopie.deviantart.com/

Calliopie

Heather Hermann, aka Calliope at DA, is a 21 years old Costume/Character Illustrative Designer and Conceptual Artist, Actress/Model and Professional Dancer that currently lives in Las Vegas, NV. Heather attended the Las Vegas Academy and graduated with a diploma in AP Visual Arts and Photography. She also has been a dancer for fifteen years, professionally for nine. Was a principle dancer in the Kravenko Ballet Company and a student in the Royal Academy of London Ballet, which for me is pretty impressive, since I also have a small dance background.

Effen Vodka – Yeah That’s Right… Effen Vodka!

Advertising Agency: Euro RSCG, Chicago, USA Creative Director: Blake Ebel Art Directors: Amanda Butts, Rei Young, Blake Ebel Copywriter: Elyse Maguire Photographer: Tony D’Orio Retoucher: Scott Giannini

Otrivin Nasal Spray – The Pleasure of Breathing

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Warsaw, Poland Creative Directors: Blanka Lipińska, Max Olech Art Directors: Magdalena Nowakowska, Johan Pasternak Copywriter: Łukasz Gromkowski Art buyer: Jakub Winiarski Photographer: Jacek Kołodziejski, shootme.pl

g n i r Sp p u n a e l c

The spring is a great time, isn’t it? :) At my house I always spend a lot of time cleaning the house, washing windows and doing some extra cleaning after a long winter. As a freelancer/creative I’ve started a tradition on cleaning up in my computer-related things this time of year as well. Except this, I also do a lot of stuff specially in spring which helps me stay organize in the whole year. Here are some of my tips on how you can do the same!

If you are a creative mind that often leaves you with quite a lot of files, folders, software you’ve tried and so on. The spring is a great time for cleaning up a bit all over the line. It usually gets hotter and sunnier, the snow starts to disappear(if you live in a colder area like me) and you often get some extra inspiration and energy. I think this is a great time to use some of that extra energy on cleaning up. Not only does it feel good to have things nice and tidy but it will also help on your productivity when you do this.

I hope these tips I’ve collected can help you out a bit and if you have some tips of your own

0 3

1. Look through files and folders Take the time to look through all those files and folders you’ve created the past months. Finished projects don’t need to be shortcut-ed on your desktop. Usually these folders can have a lot of reference material you don’t need anymore or files that were never used.

2. Update Data Make sure all your contact info is correct in your portfolio, signatures and so on. You should also take some time to make sure that all your contacts are up to date both on your computer and your phone.

3. Uninstall software you don’t need anymore If you have tested out new software or used certain apps for various projects that now are finished, its time to uninstall them to make room for new ones. Your computer will thank you ;) 4. Check for updates on “everything”

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Do various programs ask you if you want to update in the middle of you working with things so that you constantly click “remind me later” ? Now is the time to get it done. Check for updates on all software you have and get it over with. Not only will this stop “annoying” warnings and update-messages but it will also give you a more stable system. Win-win situation coming up.

5. Look for programs you need Maybe you’ve spent a lot of time thinking of programs or extensions you should have installed but never took the time to. Use those extra minutes to find what you feel you need it being new skins, browser extensions or pure software. My advice is to also get a time management app if you don’t have one yet :)

that you make or that you get automatically when you’ve ordered something. Some of these are actually useful while others are useless and annoying. Take this opportunity to unsubscribe to the ones that just annoy you.

11. Bookmarks Cleaning up in your bookmarks can be quite a task but in many cases it can help speed up your browser and make things easier to find. Make folders for various links you need to keep, look through them and delete the ones you never use.

12. Paid subscriptions Do you have any paid subscriptions that you don’t use or have been thinking of cancelling? Get it done!

6. Archive files and tag them 13. “Read it later”s Look through files you have (that you still need) and arrange them into archives. Pictures and such should be tagged to find them easier later.

7. Earn money/share unused files If you make drawings, write scripts, create logos, make buttons and such things there’s a good chance you have lots of these that never made it any further than the drawing board. Now is the time to look through them. If you think any of them can be of use to other creatives there are many ways to share them. If you have high quality photos taken by yourself that never came to use you can try upload them to stock-sites and earn some money of them. Or you can upload to other sites where they can be shared for free, like for example deviantART or Flickr. The possibilities are many. Wouldn’t it be great if others could make use of these files that you spent hours and hours making? There are many sites where these different kinds of work can be uploaded so try explore the options.

8. Update your portfolio With all the projects you have finished it’s time to go ahead and update your portfolio. Many articles have been written with good tips depending on your niche so go ahead and google them if you need new inspiration on how to make your portfolio as professional and attractive as possible. My#1 tip on portfolios is to make sure you show the versatility of your work.

Maybe you have a button in your browser to store articles you want to read later or have a lot of bookmarks lying around that you’ve meant to read for ages. Clean them up aswell.

14. Clear out emails I myself tend to keep all emails that I think can be useful to have later on. When I do the spring cleanup I take a look through my oldest emails and delete the ones I don’t need anymore.

15. Clean up your virtual desktop The desktop itself can be quite cluttered after months of hard work. Remove all those shortcuts you don’t need anymore and all the files you’ve saved that should be somewhere else. Changing your wallpaper can also be quite refreshing. Start off the spring by giving yourself a new work environment. Find a nice new wallpaper that has a fresh feeling to it, maybe you even have some artwork of your own that you can use?

16. Defrag You probably defrag your hard drive regularly, which you still should. But after having done all this cleaning up and moving of files you should finish it off by giving your drives a good old full defrag. This way files will be stored more efficient and the drives will work faster for you again.

9. Unanswered mails 17. Automate things Do you have any unanswered mails that you havent had the time to respond to and such? Do it now. The sight of an empty inbox will leave you with a good refreshed feeling if you’re used to the mailbox being all filled up.

This can be a lot of things that you’ve been meaning to do but never took the time to. Schedule backups or scannings, make a Photoshop action for something you do often or just some sort of adjustments you’ve wanted to do to your routines.

10. Unsubscribe to newsletters 18. Change passwords During a year there are emails/newsletter subscriptions 101 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

Every now and then you would for obvious reasons want to change passwords. Do it now. Make sure you know the passwords to all your services and store them safely.

19. Finances

something else you haven’t finished. It may take a few hours to get on top of things but it’ll feel great when you’re done!

24. Throw away stuff that doesn’t work

If you have unsent invoices, get them out. Make a system in your finances with everything that involves. Put all your receipts where they should be, do you have overdue bills to pay yourself? And while you’re at it have a look at your expenses. Maybe you should set aside more money to save for something you need or for taxes. Are there areas where you can cut down on expenses?

Throw all those old and dry pens and markers that aren’t working anymore. The old mouse that will never be used again shouldnt be hanging out in your creative area.

Same goes for broken cds, rulers and staplers.

20. Evaluate yourself Take some time to have a look at what you have done the past months. Write down things you feel have been succesful and things that haven’t been quite like you planned. This part of the process can be very valuable.

Give yourself a pat on the shoulder for the good things you’ve done, and try to find ways to improve on the areas that weren’t as succesful. As a rule you would want to keep good habits and break bad ones. It’s that simple. But you need to think things through to be able to figure out how to do just this. Be honest to yourself and it will pay off in the year to come.

21. Set goals for the coming months Planning is essential. And it’s always easier to plan and know what you want when you aren’t in the middle of everything. Take the time you need to write down your goals and how you want to be the coming months.

Goals like “getting more done” and “being better at taking care of yourself ” are good goals but remember to also have some more specific goals that can be measured. Then it’s easier to see if you really succeeded or not when you have your next evaluation.

25. Treat yourself with something new Buy a new plant, a picture, blinders, a new pen you’ve wanted or something else for your workspace that you need and/or want.

26. Clean the office Empty the recycle bin, change the curtains, clean all spaces of your office.

27. Get rid of old papers and magazines Cut out articles you want to keep and throw what you don’t need anymore.

28. Redecorate if needed Maybe the office space itself could do with some adjustments. Moving the desk a bit, painting a wall or getting a new cabinet can do wonders to both your creativity and your productivity.

29. Stock up Make sure you have fresh new notebooks, paper to print on, enough pens and pencils, ink for the printer and other things that you use a lot of.

30. Take a break!

22. Hardware needs TLC too It isn’t only the software part of your equipment that needs your care, this also goes for your hardware. Blow off you keyboard and clean the mouse. Make sure everything is clean and working properly. This is also the time for renewal if needed. If you have a hard drive that has been acting up recently you should consider getting a new one or at least getting it fixed BEFORE it crashes and takes with it hours of work you’ve done. If you have cables that aren’t working properly or other things that just have things about them that annoy you or don’t work properly – get new ones or get them fixed.

23. Finish things Most of us have old projects lurking somewhere that we always are going to “finish next week”. Make that next week this week. Make new room in your mind for fresh new things by finishing off the old ones. Maybe its article ideas you’ve been meaning to send for reviews, pictures you’ve ment to print out or upload somewhere, art you’ve made that you want to submit somewhere or

If you’ve spent hours or maybe days spring cleaning you should end the whole session with taking a time-out.

Go for coffee or lunch somewhere or just do something you love to do and give yourself a pat on the back for cleaning well done!

These were my 30 tips for the spring tasks. Obviously you would want to keep on top of things and organize more than once a year. But if you take the time for a real spring cleaning where you do everything that’s needed and clean up in all those things that have been unfinished for so long it will be easier to keep it up on a regular basis. Make sure you do these “spring cleaning” routines again in not too many months. If you do these things only a couple of times a year at least have routines that make them easier to follow-up.

Thanks for reading and good luck! :)

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Book Review: Making Ideas Happen Most creative professionals have no problem coming up with ideas.

In fact, too many ideas is more often the problem rather than too few. Where we usually run into issues, though, is in the follow-through.

How do we take the brilliant ideas that we come up with on a daily basis and see them through to completed projects?

That’s exactly what the book Making Ideas Happen

by Scott Belsky (the founder of Behance) aims to teach us.

He’s spent years studying the habits and methods of successful creatives who have a knack for following through on their great ideas and bringing them to fruition. He presents this information in a way that is both easy to understand and easy to implement.

The book starts out with an overview of how organization is often viewed by creative types as counter-productive to the creative process. Making Ideas Happen aims to disprove this theory, and to show why incorporating a bit of organization can go a long way toward following through with your ideas.

From there, it digs into the practicalities of setting up an organizational system that works within your existing creative workflow. There’s a definite slant toward using the Action Method (developed by Behance), but most of the principles discussed could be adapted to a custom productivity system.

Taking action is stressed throughout the first part of the book. Action steps are touted as the key to managing and completing any creative project. And the author has plenty of research and anecdotal evidence to back up what he’s saying. He’s also big on developing and customizing your own system.

Making Ideas Happen is scheduled for release April 15, 2010, and can be preordered through major booksellers.

INFO: http://the99percent.com/book 103 | ISSUE 05 | Is Your Business on the Web?

Meet the Artist:

Ars Thanea

INFO: http://www.arsthanea.com/

We are all aware of the great work that comes from the creative agency Ars Thanea and the team of Peter Jaworowski. Today they are sharing with us the case study of their latest work for Visa Signature, and you will get a inside look of how it was done step by step.

brainstorming magazine Salke Lagumd탑ije 3 71000 Sarajevo Bosna i Hercegovina p: +387 33 471 326 p: +387 63 150 273 w: www.brainstorming.ba e: info@brainstorming.ba