Post pobrano z: How Web Designers can Turn Talent into Recurring Revenue

Working as a freelance web designer has some serious perks: you meet a variety of interesting people, you (mostly) choose your own hours, and you can apply both your artistic side and your technical skills to helping clients get the most out of their web presence. At the same time, it has one major drawback: you can only bill for the actual work you do, and there are only so many hours in a day. Wouldn’t it be nice to set up a passive income stream or two that allows you to keep earning even while you sleep? Here, we present some proven techniques to do just that.

Start Blogging

People browsing the web are generally either looking for entertainment or trying to learn something. If you can share some of your skills in a way that will prove helpful to the latter kind, you can easily start a blog on your area of expertise. Once you have consistent traffic, repeat visitors and a mailing list, you can either use it to promote your personal brand or treat it as a money-making asset in its own right.

This isn’t to say that blogging successfully will be an instant payday for little work. Earning money this way requires at least six months of regularly posting interesting, informative content and not everybody is cut out for doing this. On the other hand, some people love to write and teach others. If this describes you, you can get an idea of what’s already out there by clicking here.

Design CMS Themes, Plugins and Templates

If you still use Wix or Jimbo to design sites for your clients, this won’t be for you just yet. If, however, you have a strong grasp of CSS, PHP and other lower level tools, there’s nothing stopping you from creating something once and selling it over and over again.

Be aware that users will be reviewing your product thoroughly and publicly, so make sure to test it and (especially) provide adequate documentation that even amateurs can understand. Themeforest and Template Monster are two of the marketplaces on which you can market your product.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing has developed something of a bad rep. Some people who saw it as a get-rich-quick opportunity were inevitably disappointed, while others use all kinds of user-hateful, black hat tactics to bait clicks. On the other side of the coin, some affiliate programs seem to have a little trouble calculating percentages, or allow vendors to market products without applying any kind of quality control.

Even so, there’s nothing wrong with the business model itself: Amazon and other online retailers allow you to do marketing on their behalf and pay you depending on the amount of success you achieve. Assuming some basic rules are followed, the customer’s interests aren’t compromised at any point.

Some people do make a living out of AM and even a good one. Don’t limit yourself to only the well-known affiliate programs: approach individual companies directly, or focus on specialized services that pay real money for qualified leads. The best payday loan affiliate program, for instance, pays as much as $230 per action.

Again, this kind of business requires time and effort to get off the ground. To learn a little more, spend a few minutes browsing around this site.

Become a Hosting Reseller

If you’re already selling website designs, you might as well up-sell hosting solutions to clients looking for a no-fuss, turnkey option. In fact, a little thought will show you a number of additional services you can offer your existing clients, from advising them on software choices to training their staff in digital marketing.

If you’re technically savvy and willing to spend a bit on the necessary hardware, you can set up your own server, or you can re-sell hosting services from one of the established providers. Hostgator offers good support, but there are literally hundreds of hosting companies that will be happy to have you market their products.

Vending Stock Images

People, including web users, are visual creatures. The choice of feature photograph can easily make or break a web page’s performance, and savvy digital marketers know this.

If you have a huge pool of photographs you own the licenses to, either from having taken them yourself or purchased the rights, it might be worth your while going through your collection and adding tags to each. They can then either be sold on websites such as Shutterstock, or you can charge for the service of searching for the “perfect” image on your clients’ behalf.

Write an Ebook

Even if you’re very familiar with the subject, writing an ebook of 10,000+ words is a non-trivial task. The good news: you only have to do it once for it to (potentially) keep earning money for years to come.

Self-publishing is often done in conjunction with running a blog: the blog can be used to market the book, the book increases the credibility of the blog, and both help to establish the author as an expert that people are happy to consult. One key thing to remember is that a narrow focus is often best. A book called “What Makes a Website Great” will be buried under hundreds of similar titles, but “5 Steps to Creating Great Websites for Restaurants” will appeal to at least some readers.

Write an App

If you know how to code, writing an app that solves whatever problem bugs you from time to time represents another potential source of passive income.

Realistically, though, most apps tank rather than take off. Unless it’s something really simple, you’ll be investing a huge amount of time and money in building one, so do your market research beforehand and consider teaming up with somebody who has skills that complement your own.

Coffee Mugs and T-Shirts

If you’re occasionally struck by an idea for a visual design that’s bold, quirky and engaging, consider spending half an hour perfecting it in Photoshop and submitting it to one of the various fulfillment sites that are always hungry for new content. Success isn’t guaranteed, of course, but a couple of people have made good money in this way, and trying costs nothing.

Post pobrano z: Improve your SEO With These Web Design Tips

You can achieve better search engine optimization via better web design. Whether you currently have a site or plan on launching one, you’ll want to know what you can do. With that said, below are a few tips to get you off to a good start.

Web Design That’s Responsive

Your site needs to have a responsive design, because it allows your site to run smoothly on various devices, including iPads, Smartphones and so forth. A responsive website has a URL for its main site, as well as one for its mobile site. Don’t worry though because doing this is relatively easy and you will increase your external back-link count when you do it.

Fast Navigation

Your site needs to be easy and fast to navigate. As soon as your website’s users land on your site, they should have no issues finding what they’re looking for. Make sure the search bar is placed on the left top part of the page or in the middle of it. This makes it easy to find and use.

Semantic Layout

You want to have a semantic layout that is clean. The good news is this is easy to do, and it can improve your SEO. When you use certain HTML5 elements, then you will make it easier for Google to tell which content is not valuable and which content is valuable. This is really a minor thing, but you should still consider doing it.

Don’t Overdo It With JavaScript

When you design your site, you should don’t overdo it with JavaScript. Crawling issues can occur when you use too much JavaScript. Not only that, but many people don’t really like using a website that has JavaScript, especially if they are using their mobile phones. The best thing to do is to not use it at all, but if you do, then sparingly use it.

Variations Of Meta Tags

Meta tags are used to notify Google and other search engines of a site’s keywords, title and index rate. Before a website is ranked by Google, it will read the meta tags. Long tailed keywords tend to rank very well because of how specific and unique they are. A website has a good chance of ranking if it is specific.

Here’s a tip, look at your site to see if meta tags are missing. All pages should have meta tags. If tags are missing, then add them right away.

Remove Double Sidebar

The double sidebar is not in style and it just weighs down SEO efforts. Your website can work very slowly when you use double sidebars because they increase media files on a web page, as well as increase links. When a site has too many external links or images, then it will work slowly. Not only that, but most mobile devices don’t view sites too well when those sites use a double sidebar.

Either remove the sidebar or reduce it. There’s nothing wrong with having white space in the area after you remove it. So, go ahead and get rid of the double sidebar.

Keep Design Minimal

You can boost SEO by keeping your website design minimal. This is because the design is easier to understand and it is more straightforward. In short, if you want an SEO friendly website and an attractive design, then keep things minimal.

Here’s a useful tip, place your site’s menu in a visible place. This is the main source your users will use to navigate content. Keep things simple and don’t go overboard with your site’s design.

Accelerated Mobile Pages

Having a mobile website is not enough these days. AMP, short for accelerated mobile pages, is designed to enhance a site’s performance and it’s designed to make the mobile web better. Users are accessing content from various sources, therefore delivering content efficiently is important. This is why Google is now delivering content using AMP.

If a site adopts AMP, then Google will likely give it preference. Take advantage of this. You might be surprised at how much better your site will rank.

Images

According to this SEO blog don’t forget about your images because images come up in Google search results. Optimize your images by doing this such as using alt-tags, which describe what the photo is. You might be surprised at the results you get when you use alt-tags, but make sure the tags are relevant.

Another thing you can do is create a title for the image, as this shows up when the user hovers the cursor over it. Also, name the image file instead of keeping it generic. Include a keyword or two in the filename and separate words with a hyphen.

Color Scheme

The brand identity of a company should match the color scheme of its website. Colors can invoke feelings, so make sure you pay close attention to your site’s color scheme. The theme will be made up by up to three different shades of colors. However, even less is better.

Mint green, orange, purple, red and blue are trending colors this year. It’s easy to create your own color scheme with some of those colors. All you have to do is download a tool and you’re good to go.

Page Load Time

Internet users want to browse sites quickly and they do not want to wait around for pages to loan. On average, five seconds is the time mobile users will wait before they move on. Desktop users wait an average of two seconds less. You can do things to speed up load time, such as not using JavaScript, using smaller images and enabling compression, as well as doing browser caching.

Do you want better SEO? The better your SEO is, the more traffic you will get. Keep the above web design tips in mind and before you know it, you will get better results with your SEO efforts.

Post pobrano z: Tips to make sure your app stays popular after launching

Your app is already on the market and it seems that users really accepted it. Your effort was worthwhile and you ensured some excellent feedback from customers who spare no words to recommend you. The next question is: How to keep this momentum and make sure popularity will be rising in future?

We’ve summarized some practical advice and methods that can maintain users’ interest in your app. The tactics are very diverse-from establishing a direct communication with the users to improving the first impression and the manner in which you’re using the benefits of different operating systems.

Launch Day is The Day

 

Day 1 is not simply introduction day – it is the highlight of your “marketing crescendo”.

Unless you decided to opt for a ‘soft launch’ or to introduce the app in a different country, this is the moment to rise and shine as much as possible.

This is when users open ‘four’ eyes to look at your app and when all bloggers/journalists ought to be writing about you. Make sure they know the essential information, such as location, advantages, and main functions.

Enable interested parties to give feedback and to attract new customers: make it possible through social media, blogs, forums, and hopefully real-life friendships.

Inspire other developers and make sure they throw in a comment or two on your side. Long story short. You need everyone to approve your design!

Still, you’re not expected to create the biggest buzz ever. Quality remains your strongest criterion.

Have a re-engaging plan

 

The initial aim of your marketing strategy, namely to promote your app in a way which will bring you many downloads, was successful. However, this is not enough to keep customers engaged. You have to improve usage and to motivate users to stay where they are.

As long as they are happy and satisfied, customers will repurchase your product and they will give you brilliant reviews. Basically, it means that your most important asset for attracting new customers are the ones you already have.

How could you do it? The best way to start is customer-orientated campaigns-you can address them with discounts, limited offers, and promotions through their emails, phones, or messages inserted within the app.

You can also make the app more personal/automatic-you can insert common keywords, individual messages, and action triggers so that the customer will feel you really care about his personal interests.

Communicate with your users

Google and Ipsos MediaCT conducted a research and concluded that the three main reasons why users choose to ignore an app are needs modification, lack of interest, and uselessness.

However, all of these problems change and can disappear with time. It is even questionable whether you can estimate the real needs and interests of customers at the beginning. That is why you need to communicate with them.

The best way to ‘extract’ information from your customers is to foster the so-called ‘VIP’ beta-testing community. These communities do not just need indicators – they track changes in users’ behavior and they help designers adapt to them. In addition, they can help you improve your app so that it will adapt to the new market conditions.

Creating your personal ‘VIP’ community is not complicated. Firstly, you need to select few users who rated the app lower than the others, and they had a specific attitude towards the design (made a comment, participated in a dialogue, etc).

Consider their comments and try to estimate how much time they spent using your application. Invite them to participate in the testing community and make sure your specific requests match their concerns. Remember to tell them that you appreciate their help, and soon you’ll discover you’re working with the best critics you can find.

Value depends on optimization

Insight into the functionality of your application is even better once it is officially launched. Take advantage of it!

Analyze the screen flows and the movement through your conversion funnels and you will discover new ways to expand your app and to increase its values. Is users’ behavior indicating that you need some UX/UI changes? Well, not that you know it, start working on it!

Can’t figure out what works and what doesn’t? Try experimenting. Follow some trends and use what others are using. If it doesn’t work, change the strategy.

Keep in mind that customer lifetime value optimization is your ultimate aim. The lifetime value is an essential metric for calculating the app’s ROI.

Lifetime value also indicates whether your app is worth to be used ‘forever’ and gives you incentives to improve it. Still, apps are different and they leave certain space for ROI improvement. Whatever your app looks like, try to increase its value to the highest extent possible.

Do your own research

App Stores may be an excellent choice, but they are not the only means you have. Try to do your own Google research and believe us – the results will be incredibly surprising.

For instance, let’s assume you have a music-related app. Google ‘best music apps’ and you will get a lot of interesting results.

The initial five results you’ll get are proven quality blogs you could contact to feature your application. If you manage to bring them on your side, you have nothing to worry about anymore. App featuring will ensure you’ll have the following lasting benefits:

• Exposure
• Target Traffic
• Mighty link building
• Excellent rating and reviews

Don’t forget the importance of first impressions

Statistics are not on developers’ side – more than 23% of users abandon apps after just one use. What you need is the opposite-you need a popular app that will keep them engaged. The best way to do that is to provide a long-lasting, brilliant first impression.

Experienced developers make users aware of the importance and usefulness of an app from the very first moment. Users need to know the app is functional and it serves a specific purpose. Real use examples or factual data is a very good approach in the case.

We understand this can be tricky and challenging (especially if the app is a pay-per-view one, or if it requires a specific action in order to run). However, you can still think of an original solution to keep users engaged. 

Be prepared for modifications

As good as it is at the beginning; don’t expect an app to stay static and to keep its success. Regardless of the type/purpose, your app has to follow the evolution of users’ behavior.

It can be very challenging. You may be requested to expand audiences, value paths, or to redefine the purpose of your app.

Some of the modifications may happen unexpectedly and you will be forced to act very fast. Therefore, don’t lose focus. Track changes and expect the unexpected. The more careful you are, the more ideas and plans will come to your mind.

You’re not done with marketing

Marketing is essential before launching an app, but that doesn’t mean you have to forget about it once the app is released. You need to have a clear overview on how the app is working and to continue promoting it. Your customers need to be aware of improvements, and they should never stop discussing and sharing your work.

We summarized the most important tips and long-term methods for maximizing retention, increasing daily usage, and attracting loyal customers; and we highlighted that they don’t happen simultaneously.

You are the one who has to employ them in the service of your final goal so that customers will know you care about them and their ever-changing needs and demands.

Post pobrano z: Design deals for the week

Every week, we’ll give you an overview of the best deals for designers, make sure you don’t miss any by subscribing to our deals feed. You can also follow the recently launched website Type Deals if you are looking for free fonts or font deals.

Delicious Bundle of 29 Fabulous Handwritten Fonts

Your typeface toolbox is going to need a serious expansion with this delicious Mighty Deal packed with a mix of 29 Fabulous Handwritten Fonts! You’ll get a wide range of styles from calligraphy to modern to wavy, not to mention a slew of OpenType Features to increase your font flexibility even more!

$9 instead of $456 – Get it now!

The Tremendous Font Bundle

This massive bundle includes 60 fonts from 30 different font families with a huge 95% off the RRP

$24 instead of $438 – Get it now!

MEGA Bundle of Bundles – Includes 105 Design Products

You might want to sit down for this one. This Mega Bundle is a mighty collection of 7 bundles, from Inventicons, packed with creative collections featuring Photoshop Brushes, Vector Icons, Fonts, Seamless Patterns, Presentations and Actions. It sports more than 4,000 unique elements to not only massively beef up your artistic toolbox, but arm you with everything you need to create just about any project under the sun.

$19 instead of $705 – Get it now!

57 Premium Fonts from Mellow Design Lab

It’s time to expand your already fabulous font collection! With this Mighty Deal from Mellow Design Lab, you’ll get 57 high-quality, professional fonts for 1 ridiculously low price. With styles ranging from Script to Display, you’ll also get plenty of OpenType features and an extended license to ensure you’re set to design away til your heart’s content!

$9 instead of $956 – Get it now!

75+ Breathtaking Watercolor and Floral Elements

The true magic in this deal is how incredibly easy it is to add magnificent beauty to your latest project. With the Magic Ombre set from Julia Dreams, you’ll get an astonishing collection of watercolor elements and individual florals. Frames, wreaths, patterns, ombres and more combine into a colorful and floral extravaganza just perfect for everything from wedding invitations to wrapping paper.

$9 instead of $15 – Get it now!

Post pobrano z: How to balance your freelance business with your personal life

For most people, embracing a freelancing career looks challenging because it doesn’t offer any safety in terms of income at the end of the month. For others, the challenge doesn’t come from the money side, but from balancing work with life.

In fact, when companies hire freelancers, they often expect high flexibility they would not get from an employee. This is why you should be careful as a freelancer, to make sure that your work life is not affecting your personal life in a negative way.

Don’t work from home all the time

Working at home is great, I do it most of the time. However, if you do it all the time, you may go insane, especially if you have children. If you live in a city, it’s very likely that you have coworking spaces available at a reasonable price not too far from your home. This way you get to meet people, change your environment, and be forced to stop looking at cat videos because somebody may pass behind you and judge you.

Log off regularly

Social media has made the technology even much more addictive than it was previously, it also totally blurred the line between work and life. Can you really separate your email inbox between work and life? I doubt it… Can you block notifications for emails and all other social media, yes you can! Unless you work in a medical field with regular emergencies, I doubt you really need to check your phone all the time.

Socialize (in real life)

Whether you work from home or from an office, you need to take some time every week to socialize with your favorite people. It can be family, friends, or pets, take some time off work and interact in real life with other people. Of course, while you do so, try to really be with these people, don’t be constantly checking social media (I’m looking at you, millennials)!

Learn to say no

If you always say yes to everything, some of your clients will eat you alive. No, they will no literally eat you alive, but they suck up all of your energy little by little. Learn to figure out what requests are reasonable and to say no to others, it’s for your own health.

Set your rules and stick to it

This goes with the point above, but it’s worth repeating as it’s one of the biggest issues many freelancers face. Be organized and have a plan, it will make it easier to say no because you will know what is part of the plan or not.

Set realistic goals

You know how we (freelancers) always make fun of clients who come up with totally unrealistic expectations, usually with a ridiculously low budget? Well, we shouldn’t make fun of them too much, because I see way too many freelancers planning their day with a schedule like programming two WordPress plugins, finish that client website, work on that side project, cook some healthy meals, and do sport for one hour in the evening. You need to be more practical and set realistic goals, only this way you get a chance to be satisfied at the end of the day. You should know it, low self-esteem is not good for freelancers.

Post pobrano z: In April 2018, Minsk will become the creative capital of Europe

Being a moderator of avant-garde ideas since the times of Kazimir Malevich and Marc Chagall and even containing the word “white” in the very name of the country, Belarus has become the motherland of International advertising festival WHITE SQUARE – one of the leading creative festivals in Eastern Europe annually welcoming over 1000 entries and 700 delegates from 30 countries of the world.

High level of Festival’s organization, jury team, entries and awards has been many times recognized by brightest representatives of professional community, including global creativity ranking The Gunn Report.

Promoting creative solutions worldwide WHITE SQUARE has been included into new global creativity ranking AdForum Business Creative Report that will help the players of ad market all around the world to track top agencies and best projects in sector of services.

On April 19-21 in Minsk WHITE SQUARE will celebrate its tenth anniversary. Call for entries is open on official website adfest.by under the slogan CAUSE WE CAN inviting communications, marketing, branding, digital agencies from all around the world to show the level of their creativity.

Entries are accepted into 6 contests consisting of 17 nominations. The entries will be judged offline by five teams of international jury consisting of recognized leaders of European communications industry.

Early birds are provided with discounts till February 28.

WHITE SQUARE is organized by Association of Communications and Marketing Agencies of Belarus ACMA, member of EACA National Associations Council.

For more detailed information please go to adfest.by or contact the Directorate of the Festival via konkurs@adfest.by.

SUBMIT ENTRY

Post pobrano z: A’ Design Awards & Competition – Call for Entries

It’s that time of the year again, applications for A’ Design Awards are open, so if you plan on getting more exposure and maybe awards, you should register here.

A’ Design Awards is a major international event for the world of design. The competition, which takes place every year in the wonderful city of Como, Italy, aims to attract the attention of the medias and designers world-wide. The competition takes great designers and promotes them both online and offline. It provides a fair and ethical platform for all designers and studios.

If you are not familiar with the awards, you may want to check out the categories of the competition. Here are my personal favorite:

1. Communication design

Graphic design, web design, and many other design categories are part of this communication design category. The best place to submit your work if you are a graphic designer.

Bengal Classical Music Festival by Shafiqul Alam.

2. Industrial design

A large category that includes other small categories within the field. Some of the best industrial design work you’ll get the chance to see.

Binhi by Ito Kish, awarded last year.

3. Product design

Whether it’s beverages, pet supplies, or disposable products, product design is everywhere and often unseen because we aren’t paying attention. This category share the best of product design.

Hulumao Diamond Bed Cat Toy by Shih-Chang Hsiao & Yu-luen Huang.

4. Advertising

The best of creative communication, shared in this cool category.

Calendar 2017 “The Year of Roaster” Calendar by Thach Nguyen Nguyen.

5. Photography

Photography can be an art, especially when used beautifully.

Waves Entropy Digital Art by marta moretto.

6. Good Service Design

A big category that encompasses a lot of design types.

A TRANSFORMATION FORMULA Cultural engagement by TEKIO

And much more…

Yes, there are many more categories to register in the competition, just take a look for yourself.

There are a lot of benefits to taking part in the awards, such as taking part in the international exhibitions, being in the yearbook, benefiting from the PR, or inclusion in the world design rankings, among others. Oh! Did I mention the design prizes?

The Jury

Before entering any competition, it’s good to know a little about the jury and the selection process. A’ Design Awards is very transparent regarding this, just look at the jury and process here.

Ready to enter?

If you are convinced that your company or yourself could benefit from entering the competition, just register here. The deadline for registration is February 28, 2018, and the results will be announced on A’ Design Awards and on Designer Daily on April 15.

Post pobrano z: Your Complete Guide To Photograph Paper: Which Images Suit Which Paper?

If you’re new to photography it’s a little difficult to know where to start when it comes to printing your work. You have to think about paper quality, weight, finish, size, the lot. And with so many options out there it can be tough to get it right first time.

You’ve also got to think what is your work to be used for and where is it going? Naturally, many different options will have many different costs, so whether you’re printing for a business or purely for yourself, it’s worth costing up first.

You’ll find a number of price comparison and review sites to compare different brands. You can read here to find out more about those, but for the meantime, these are the factors you need to think about when it comes to printing your photographs…

Inkjet v Laser Paper

Most people will generally stick with Inkjet these days as the quality is much higher but laser will give you a speedier print and will be a little bit cheaper.

The quality won’t be anywhere near that of Inkjet however, with the levels of print less accurate and therefore lessening the definition of an image.

If you’re wanting high quality, which we’d think you are, Inkjet is most certainly the place to begin.

The Finish of Paper

The finish of the paper you buy is one of the most important things to consider when printing your photographs. There are a number of different types you can get, the most common being matt, glossy or satin.

Matt: This will have no gloss to it at all and is one of the cheaper types to buy. You’ll regularly see it in brochures and mass-produced flyers for that very reason. There’s nothing wrong with that and if you’re printing in bulk it’s probably one of the more cost-effective papers.

If you’re printing in black and white it’s a wise choice too as glossy can sometimes make an image look a little tacky and lack that bit of quality.

Glossy: Glossy prints are the most common out there and the chemical coat helps protect the image as well helping the smaller details really stand out. Do be aware though, if you’re planning on showing the images in anywhere which might have glare, the shine off them could make them difficult to see.

Satin: You’ll get a really nice finish on a satin image and sits halfway between a matt and gloss paper.

It’s a happy medium and is a little more subtle than a glossy finish, making it a good option for black and white images. If you’re not sure on whether to go matt or glossy, satin is probably a safe bet for you.

Quality of Paper

Budget will largely dictate this and it goes without saying the better quality papers will cost more. Your standard paper will have a cast coated receiving layer, which will produce less quality images than micro and nano pores receiving layers, used by professional photographers.

These will produce the best results as the ink dries instantly producing the perfect image. It’s worth paying the extra money if you plan on showcasing your photographs. If they are for your own personal collection however, there’s no reason why you can’t use standard cast coated receiving layer paper.

The same applies to paper weight. Paper is measured in GSM and the higher the GSM the weightier the paper will be. In some cases this can be really useful, for example if you’re displaying your work, but it’s not worth getting overly hung up on.

It may not have any effect on the quality of image, unless you opted for really thin paper, but it will increase the images durability which can be important. It’s probably best to think of it like this. A brochure will get thrown away at the end of a season or set period. A portfolio of work will need to last a lifetime.

Post pobrano z: How to become a better graphic designer

Everywhere we go, we engage with graphic design.  Designs speak to us through advertising, billboards, restaurant menus and Christmas and anniversary cards.  When we watch television or look up information online, designs speak to us and influence our moods.

As we engage with the world, we engage with the work of designers.  Their work motivates us and has a subconscious impact on us every single day.

No matter where you are in your design career, you are probably constantly changing, evolving and seeking to improve.  A good designer is always improving his or her skills.  This guide assists you with tips to develop your talent.  Use it and you’ll train both your eye and your aesthetic abilities in order to become a better graphic designer.

Take a reflexive approach to your recent work

Have a look at the projects you have completed in recent months. Even though you may have taken a critical eye while working on your project, you’ll still gain new insights. With a little time and distance, you’ll be able to see your work through new eyes.

Have a look at areas where you excelled.  What skills are you happy with?  Then consider what you would do differently next time, and where you think you would be able to improve.  You can use these insights to develop your skills for new projects.  This will assist you to learn and evolve as a designer.

And if you’re designing posters, release them online before selling them, and ask for feedback. If you can’t have an objective opinion about them, others will.

Seek feedback

Although you have your own critical eye and can reflect on your work, you will also gain a lot from the insights of others.

Seek feedback from clients, other designers, and product users.  It isn’t always easy to incorporate (or hear) feedback, but if this feedback is constructive, it will assist you in developing your skills as a designer.

Explore the talent

Studying the work of talented designers may assist you with developing your own skills.  Explore the decisions they have made in creating their projects, and the design techniques they have incorporated into their work.

How did they use layout, background space, harmony, hierarchy, contrast, colour, and typography?  Considering their choices could give you inspiration for your own work.

If you already have designers that you admire, take some time to explore their work in detail.  You can also find excellent work on sites such as Dribbble and Behance.

Take Tutorials to develop your skills

There are many different online that you can use to develop your talents.  If you have spare time, you can follow a tutorial that will help you develop your talents or expand your skills.

Identify an area you would most like to learn about and follow an online guide.  It is very likely that you will be able to find an online guide which will give you just what you need.

Make it personal

Making use of design in your own life will give you an opportunity to develop your skills.  Whether you would like to design t-shirts, work on a blog, develop an e-commerce site or create illustrations or storyboards for a community theatre project, the possibilities are endless.

Personal projects allow you to develop your designs without any time limits.  You will be able to experiment; make your own decisions and take the project in any direction you choose.  You will be able to explore new knowledge along the way.

Personal projects can be both small or large, and your level of involvement will be up to you.  You can spend as much or as little time on the project as you choose.  If you develop a product, you will be able to use it to supplement your income.  Many designers have used affiliate programs, products or advertising in order to create a significant income.

Take part in a challenge

Taking part in a challenge will assist you with developing your skills.  One popular choice is to re-design the design materials for a company, charity or NGO.

While your design might not always will, you can assist the company in solving design problems by making decisions according to client needs.

The brand doesn’t have to be popular.  You could even make the choice to re-design a site you think could do with improvement, simply for the fun of it.  This will help you to gain helpful experience.

Take a class

 

Whether online or offered by a design school, there are a number of classes which will assist you with building skills or expanding your design repertoire.

Classes take time, and online courses often offer the opportunity at your own pace.  Choose the skills which would be most valuable to your work and give yourself the opportunity to learn them.

Join a social media network

Social media networks like Twitter give you the opportunity to explore new designs, meet new designers and network.  You can learn new information in short chunks, find inspiration and follow talented designers.

Make a mood board

Mood boards allow you to understand the colors, styles, and choices you are making at the moment, and what is informing your current aesthetic.

By creating a mood board, you will be able to see your current inspirations at a glance, allowing you to reflect on where you are currently and where you would like to be going as a designer.

Volunteer

Although you always want to get something back for your work, assisting a local charity or non-profit will help you to develop your design skills.

You can find a brand or charity that you resonate with and offer them the opportunity to update their look.  You’ll learn new skills and feel altruistic at the same time.

Visit an art gallery or museum

Many designers find inspiration from work that is displayed online.  However, by going to an art gallery or museum, you’ll be able to explore the work of talented artists.  This might help you to find tips or ideas for your own work.

Viewing a range of art will enable you to expand your perspectives and bring new areas of creativity into your designs.  Explore how the artist creates atmosphere, the line and flow within the paintings or drawings, and how the artist creates areas of interest.  You can use some of these techniques in your own artwork.

Use colors with intention

When working with colors or color combinations, use them purposefully, in order to create a mood or a meaning for your audience.

Colors send a message.  Greys may be associated with intellectual skills, while navy is often a corporate color, and pink is a color enjoyed by young girls.  An accounting firm may suit navy blue branding, while a logo for unicorn parties may suit pinks or pastel colors.

Blues are often thought of as calming colors, while reds evoke images of passion.  When creating a design, use color to send a message.  When designers use colors with intention, it tells the reader that they have come to the right place.  Careful color consideration is a part of good design.

Summary

Ask yourself what you have done as a designer to improve upon or expand your work?  How have you chosen to move forward?

What aspects of your work are strongest, and where would you like to develop?  These are questions designers ask to assess where they are coming from and where they might be going.

Just as design is constantly changing and evolving, so are the tools and techniques used in the industry.

Continued learning and experimentation assist you with learning new skills.  This will keep your design practice new, fresh and up to date as you continue to learn and evolve as a graphic designer.

Post pobrano z: Design deals for the week

Every week, we’ll give you an overview of the best deals for designers, make sure you don’t miss any by subscribing to our deals feed. You can also follow the recently launched website Type Deals if you are looking for free fonts or font deals.

Fontfabric Font Bundle of 90+ Fonts

If you’re looking for a great set of fonts, this Fontfabric Font Bundle is sure to put a big fat smile on your face! That’s because with just 1 deal, you’ll get yourself more than 90 different fonts! You’ll get yourself some of the greatest Sans and Art fonts around. These 18 unique font families are delivered to you all in an .OTF file format. What’s even more amazing is that thanks to this Mighty Deal, you can save more than 95% off the regular price!

$29 instead of $1208 – Get it now!

Take Full Control of Email, Social and SEO with All-In-One Marketing Automation Platform

No need to spend a fortune hiring a full marketing team to promote your website. Instead, just grab hold of this All-In-One Marketing Automation Platform from Maax Market! Through an easy-to-use interface, you’ll have full control of all your marketing needs from email to social media to SEO! You can even analyze your data in real time.

$87 instead of $687 – Get it now!

57 Premium Fonts from Mellow Design Lab

It’s time to expand your already fabulous font collection! With this Mighty Deal from Mellow Design Lab, you’ll get 57 high-quality, professional fonts for 1 ridiculously low price. With styles ranging from Script to Display, you’ll also get plenty of OpenType features and an extended license to ensure you’re set to design away til your heart’s content!

$9 instead of $956 – Get it now!

Quickly Transform Vectors or Text into Realistic Sketches with Super Sketch

Have trouble sketching out a stick figure? Not to worry. Even for the least artistic designers out there, you can achieve results with Super Sketch! This amazing Photoshop Action instantly transforms your logos, vectors and even text into a realistic sketch appearance. Simple to use, with just a few clicks you can play around with the organized layers to customize and combine the perfect sketch appearance for your designs.

$9 instead of $15 – Get it now!

The Delightful Bundle Vol II

Jam packed with 25 fonts from 20 different font families, this amazing font bundle comes in at JUST $0.80 per font.

$19 instead of $299 – Get it now!