Designers Who Blog: Design, Illustration, Photography, Web, Advertising, Branding …

Creative Opera

Manda Szewczyk

There is nothing quite like opening an email from a talented blogger. Especially when they sharing a blog of the quality of Creative Opera.

Creative Opera features creative advice and inspiration for graphic designers and web designers.

Creative Opera is a blog for new designers, future designers, and anyone who loves design. Creative Opera posts are full of useful information, creative inspiration, and professional advice.

Because Manda spent years teaching design, many of her posts are targeted toward students and new designers. It is fantastic, however, when experienced designers stop by to add to the discussion by sharing their own experiences and advice.

Manda is hoping that Creative Opera will continue to grow as a collaborative environment where designers can find inspiration, lively discussion, and the advice and motivation needed to help them succeed in the design field.

Manda covers many subjects on Creative Opera, so I wasn’t sure whether to put her. In the Web design category, or in the Graphic design category? So Design it is.

Looking through Manda’s Popular section we have some beauts: Design Trends: Self Portraits, Beautiful Design Resumes & their Matching Portfolio Sites, and 7 Reasons Why All Designers Should Twitter.

So now we know that Manda twitters. And of course I twitter. Do you?

Enjoy…

Eric at ideasonideas

A reminder to pre-order Eric’s book

It’s been awhile since I’ve heard from Eric Karjaluoto, and now I know why: he’s been mighty busy.

I know I mentioned it the last post, but I’m getting close to releasing my first book. As such, I want to make sure that you’re in the loop. The upcoming book looks at how small companies can out-market bigger ones, which is a topic I’m quite excited about.

So if you want to stay in the loop, contact Eric asap. I know I will.

Drones at the karaoke lounge of design

Eric Karjaluoto is a dream of a design writer, and Drones at the karaoke lounge of design just might be one of his best articles ever.

The invasion of design has begun, fueled by an army of talented newcomers and low-cost offshore services. This new breed trades methodology for mimicry and by doing so radically undercuts pricing, sometimes even working for free. Like it or not, supply and demand in the design industry is undergoing upheaval. Worse yet, for design buyers it’s getting harder to differentiate between good and bad design.

The problem that we’re facing on both sides of the equation is that of confusion regarding the value in design. Unsophisticated design buyers approach design like they’re slapping a coat of paint on a crumbling shack. Uninterested in more substantive change, they dream that a quick-fix like a splashy new logo or website will magically remedy more “root” problems. (i.e.: product flaws, deficiencies in operations, or misaligned communications)

Be sure to read the rest at Eric’s Drones at the karaoke lounge of design.

Enjoy…

Pikaland

Amy Ng

Amy has a dream…

Pikaland is a blog about living the illustrated life — an art and illustration blog that’s a collection of beautiful things and inspirations that I stumble upon on the internet that’s made/designed by illustrators and artists, and is updated almost daily.

I also love thinking of new ways and projects where I can connect illustrators + artists with their audience, so the first one that I’m organising is the PikaPackage project. There are more in the works! ;)

Pikland is such a wonderfully written blog, head over to Amy’s about page for the full picture.

Enjoy…

Daniel Gross

Daniel has an interesting blog covering various angles of the design industry. He also has a great sense of humour. I mean, just check out the Sexy People Blog (a new one on me). I expected it to be a blog focused on taking the micky, but there are honest to goodness sexy people there. And some not so much, up to your taste really.

About: aNEW designs. A design and art blog that explores the passions of our professions.

On to the serious side is Daniel’s Posters of Conflict post, pointing to vads.

All good stuff… enjoy.

Design Intellection

David Yeiser

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to David Yeiser from Design Intellection.

About: Design Intellection is a blog focused on design and thinking. I’m a web designer who is trying to do his small part to make the web design profession better and more respectable. I focus on the usual suspects: typography, layout, colors, some marketing stuff, etc. I’m truly passionate about the process of design—the thinking in the beginning that boils the pot over into a fully-functional design. Now-a-days I like to say my design philosophy is “purpose follows form.”

I’ve already bookmarked his post Improve Your Typography with PHP, mainly to watch Jay cringe when I start messing with files.

Another post of interest is Questions to Ask a Web Designer. My favourite question on his list (and one I’ve never been asked) is ‘What’s your favorite part in the process?’

Also interesting are the WordPress Themes, now parked at Artisan Themes.

Enjoy…

Art Farm: Judith Hunt

When are designers, photographers and illustrators ever only designers, photographers and illustrators? Pretty much never, and that’s why I’m chuffed to share Judith Hunt’s Art Farm.

About: Illustrator & cartoonist, horticulture consultant, novice cook, herbalist, and farmer.

A blog about our herb, flower, and vegetable farm, the studio’s design and illustration work, thoughts on publishing and photography, cooking with the harvests from the farm, creative medicinal cures, and my “once in a blue moon” alternative creative jobs.

One of my favourite posts is A Whale of a Week. Could it be because I’ve had a whale of a week of my own?

Enjoy…

Thai Graphic Designer

While I am not a Thai Graphic Designer, the site, I am a Thai Graphic Designer is great fun. Organized by Practical Studio in associate with ThaiGa®, they are on Facebook – I am a Thai Graphic Designer™ – so if you are a Thai Graphic Designer too, be sure to join up.

Note: ThaiGa® is the Thai Graphic Designers Association, founded in 2003.

Discovered via: Nokhookdesign

Jesse DenHerder

working class designer

Working Class Designer is very simply a blog about my cultural perspective on design from a small northwoods town.

I like to write about good branding, freelance design projects, new clients, worthy causes, flea market treasures, and other various inspirations.

Check out Jesse’s work at Dil’s Home Foundation and Self Promotion.

enjoy…

Killed Ideas Blog

This morning, while still recovering from the Rod Stewart concert, I received an email from Siri, the Account Manager at Ammo, a Word of Mouth Marketing agency in San Francisco.

Ammo, with their client Blurb.com, has an exciting new project in the works.

The project, in a nutshell, seeks to collect the best “killed ideas” (creative that never saw the light of day).

Steve Hall of AdRants will be vetting and selecting the final 50 best killed ideas to appear in a book called Best Killed Ideas Vol. 1.

What a fantastic idea, as what old salt in the design industry doesn’t have a long list of killed ideas?

Because where there be clients, there be idea killers galore.

I’m now off to twiddle out my favourite been dead a long time ideas… how about you?

Netdiver’s Best of the Year 2008

Last year I was on time when Carole contacted me about their Netdiver: Best of 2007.

But a lot can happen in a year and this year I’m running late. And admittedly, running late could easily be my middle name for the whole of this year, so stay tuned.

Netdiver Best of the Year 2008 released!

Netdiver has just released the list of projects and whose talents have made a strong and lasting impression in 2008. We aimed to list 100 and just could not. So how about 110 because we feel they gave their 110% best!

Now in its 7th edition, the crop of the year is for us, the top of the year. Refresh your memory and (re)encounter new sources of design inspiration.

Looking though the array of sites, I chose what I believe are the best blogs of the the lot… (it’s what one does on a site called Designers Who Blog, right?)…

• Information Architects
• EffektiveBlog
• Veer: Ideas
• Funkbuilders
• DesignPorn

It only took me a short while to select the ones I fancied. As I was clicking and listening to all the music and watching my browser enlarge and bounce around, I just had to wonder how long it took Carole to choose Netdiver’s Best of the Year 2008.

I’m betting it wasn’t quick. Or easy.

I’m betting it was a whole lot of work putting it together.

So once again, way to go Carole!

Enjoy…