Embedding SWF Files in a Web Page and PPT

Embedding SWF Files in a Web Page

Using FrontPage*

If you are using a tool such as FrontPage to create your web page, it can be as simple as using Insert|Advanced|ActiveX Control, select Shockwave Flash Object from the list (you may have to use the "Customize" button to add it on to your list), and set the "Src" and "Movie" properties to the URL for your SWF file. The results of this approach might not work for all versions of all browsers.

Using HTML

For better results (should work for recent versions of all popular browsers):

1. Paste in the following HTML code
2. Replace the bolded text with the URL of your SWF file.
3. You may also want to adjust the height and/or width parameters (or remove them entirely), or adjust other parameters which affect the appearance or manner in which the SWF file is played back.

NOTES:

• In place of a .swf file, you can use any URL which contains (or streams) Flash. For example, you could use a .asp script (with or without querystring) which performs rChart server streaming.
• It is possible to make the Flash background transparent by setting the WMode parameter to "Transparent" instead of "Window". This is supported on current IE browsers, but may not be supported on Netscape or older IE browsers.

Embedding SWF Files in a PowerPoint* presentation

You can embed a SWF file in a PowerPoint presentation by performing the following steps:

1. In PowerPoint, create a new slide.
2. Make sure the Control Toolbox is displayed (choose View|Toolbars|Control Toolbox from the application menu to turn it on/off)
3. From the Control Toolbox, select the More Controls icon.
4. Choose Shockwave Flash Object
5. Draw out a rectangle on your slide (the size can be adjusted later).
6. Right click on the rectangle you just drew and choose Properties
7. Under the Alphabetic tab, make the following changes:
   • Embed Movie: Change to TRUE
   • Loop: Change to FALSE (unless you want the movie to loop).
   • Movie: Type in the absolute path of your file (eg: C:\myfiles\mychart.swf)
   • Playing: Change to TRUE
8. Run the slideshow and go back to step 6 as necessary to make any adjustments

NOTES:

• Although the player includes a "Transparent" setting (using WMode), it has not been successfully tested from within PowerPoint (may not be supported).

*PowerPoint and FrontPage are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Getting inspired for Photography

You get these "I don't know what to do next..." phases? When you want to do some photography, but your creative ideas simply ran out... Well, I can tell you what I do. You should know that what works for me may not be right for someone else. I am more of a "street photographer", I don't direst my shots, don't plan them. I'm not into models or stills in particular and so I depend solely on inspiration.

1. Check out the weather.
When I have an idea what I want to take pictures of, it's easy.. I go there. When I have no idea what to shoot, I simply go without knowing where. I check the weather to decide on the general idea. Warm days (without clouds in the sky) are good for urban shots since I don't need the sky in the frame, and it's mostly shaded anyway. Warm days with nice clouds are perfect for IR or landscape. Colder days are great for nature, Macro and reflections (puddles of rain), and they are also good for indoor shots and moody landscapes. Think of nice places you know that can natch these conditions, and simply go. The world is moving, and all you need is watch it revolve around you.

2. Get the perspective of your sensor
So, now you know the direction you match the gear. Wide lenses for landscapes, tele lenses for nature, middle length for urban...
I love taking the lenses I plan on (not the whole bag) and limit myself to the gear. That gives me aim at what I look at and help me focus on a perspective looking at the world. Looking at everything without that focus can make me miss a few ideas. It's kind of limiting yourself to think like the camera, instead of the person you are. I always feel more focused as a photographer at seeing things, than I feel when I don't have the camera on me.

3. Watch and think before you shoot
Don't force yourself to shoot. Blend into your surroundings. Feel the tempo of what happens around you and things will look differently. Take some time to examine things from a wider point of view, and then start breaking it don to details, scenes, corners. For an example, look at a street and feel the commotion. Direction people go, people that stand, compositions, the way the light falls, advertising billboards, colors, shapes, patterns.. now break it down to what will happen if you focus on a someone if he passes the building in a exact second.. What if you take the tall building from a wide angle, including a bus stop from a low angle... So, take some time to look before you act.

4. Dare yourself to try it differently
You've seen something interesting? Good! Now try and think of the way to present it. If you present it exactly like you see it, it has to be really special not to look corny. I mean, that's the way everybody sees it all the time... So, take a second and think as a photographer. The angle changes a lot. Maybe go to a higher point of view, maybe a lower, maybe through a reflection, maybe against the light, and maybe with a different depth of field. The point is to challenge yourself to think differently because there is someone that you want to show it to, and you need to make him stop and think to make an impact.

5. And back to the first stage... your ideas
This is a very important stage for a creative photographer, one that wants his pictures to be more than beautiful and have a meaning. The ideas don't have to come from planned scenes. You have an opinion on things, a personal thought. How can you make it come to life through photography? That's maybe the hardest part, but when you figure this out - you are on your way to making a difference. People want to see ideas and opinion in photographs, and not only beautiful colors. When you look at something you want to shoot stop for a second. Think. How can I show it in a way it will show it is you that's taking the picture. A lot of who you are as a photographer hides in this.

Good luck
G

- Posted by Gilad on DA

digitalplayzone

Glossary of Printing Terms

I just came across this rather nice list of Printing terms. Very very handy for those folks who dabble in print design.

http://www.printusa.com/glos.htm :Click Here:

- thanx to Ryan Ford

Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine

Boat


Train


Helicopter

Find a whole world of architecture at the heritage and architecture centre.

Advertising Agency: EURO RSCG C&O, Suresnes, France
Creative Directors: Olivier Moulierac, Jérôme Galinha
Art Director: Nicolas Harlamoff
Copywriter: Alain Picard
Photographer: Denys Vinson
Published: September 2007

Ideas that live in your head.

Advertising Agency: JWT Singapore
Creative Director: Ali Shabaz
Art Director: Mikkel Kroijer
Copywriter: Andrew McKechnie
Illustrator: Otto Dickmeiss
Additional credits: Thomas Yang, Joseph Cheong
Published: October 2007

Brand building to attract and retain the best talent

- Punita Jasrotia / New Delhi

The IT industry being people-oriented, what differentiates the best from the rest is the “quality of human capital” in every organisation. While there is plenty of talent available, the difficulty comes in finding the talent with the “best fit” to the organisation. Potential employees would like to associate themselves with companies which have a “brand” of success, leadership, people development initiatives and also instill a deep sense of pride and commitment.
Not much effort has been made by organisations to improve their corporate image internally. However, with increasing global competition and a more mature work environment, Indian IT companies have also started looking at this facet of branding.

What is employer branding?

Employer branding is all about the company’s value in the market, a timeless process that in today’s scenario has gained even more significance. It is essentially a combination of the reputation of the organisation, the career offer and the corporate culture existing in the company.
Typically, there are two types of employer branding exercises. One is for prospective employees and the other for the current set of employees. In case of the former, the employer branding initiatives are targeted at building mindshare in potential recruits about the company as a preferred place to work. This can be in the form of communication through advertisements, third-party endorsements through the media or going to campuses. “Internal employees might not know about all the product or solution offerings of the company and it becomes necessary to inform and educate them,” says Mita Brahma, the head of Nucleus Software’s corporate HR department.

Growing importance

Employer branding has become more critical in today’s times, as most professionals are looking at a stable career and establishing a long-term relationship with the company. D K Srivastava, the vice president of HR at HCL Comnet says, “It is said that an unsatisfied customer tells ten people about his experience while an unsatisfied employee tells a hundred. Employer branding reflects the work culture in an organisation. Therefore, it is of much significance. Through right branding, the company can recruit the best talent and reinforce its positioning amongst its employees.”
A survey conducted by Hewitt Associates reveals that more companies are now focusing on employer branding to “attract employees” and keep them engaged. There is a direct correlation between an effective employer brand and achieving business success. It helps in retaining current employees, increasing employee satisfaction, attracting job candidates, and motivating employees in their work, which leads to excellent business gains. The purpose is to use the internal brand as the seedbed for aligning their people programmes to deliver significantly improved business results.
This is evident from some of the recent initiatives taken by organisations to make the workplace more employer-friendly and implement development concepts like “spiritual quotient” and “value-building”. Some companies have gone even further and appointed “internal branding consultants”, targeted to have a better relationship with their employees. For example, Texas Instruments, whose brand mantra is “conscious” and “consistent”, which gets reflected in all their activities, be it company journals, awards or regular meetings. HCL Comnet, whose brand value signifies “exuberance”, has developed a “Force of One” campaign that signifies innovative attitude and the ability to individually make a difference. Or Cognizant, whose employer brand is “Celebrating Work”, which gets reflected in its participative, empowering and transparent work environment.
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young on the other hand, likes to lay emphasis on both internal and external customers. “Paying attention to what matters to employees, and then delivering on that promise, keeps CGE&Y at the top of the list for the most talented employees,” says Atul Srivastava, who heads people relationship management at the company. “The greatest goal of Cap Gemini Ernst and Young is to be the ‘Employer of Choice’, a company that can deliver a wide range of career opportunities, a company known everywhere for its ability to develop top professional talent delivering work of top professional quality. We have used Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the basis for categorising retention programmes and selecting a broad range of programmes which can best address employee motivation and satisfaction issues,” says Atul Srivastava, the head of people relationship management at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young.
Commenting on the changing scenario, Arun Tadanki, the chief executive officer of Monsterindia.com, says that it also gets reflected in the kind of advertisements taken out by the companies. “Till recently, employment ads were just showing the job description of the vacancy. The focus in the last two-three years has shifted and is largely driven by the IT & ITES employers, to create a powerful image for the organisation as a “dream place to work”. In the ITES industry, the job of a customer service agent is more or less the same irrespective of the company he is working in. What differentiates one ITES company from another is largely its employer brand image. This depends on a whole host of factors like how successful the company is perceived to be; what is the vision and mission; what kind of work culture they have; what kind of career growth opportunities they offer, etc,” he says. On the contrary, Srivastava of HCL Comnet has a different viewpoint: “We expect to see more innovation within organisations to improve our corporate image. Training programmes, motivational classes, employee career plans have become a common phenomenon now days. These things are employee deliverables. What organisations would be aiming towards is not employee satisfaction but employee delight!”

Roadblocks

Pramode Sadarjoshi, the director of Human Resources, Cognizant Technology Solutions, points out that employer branding is not an easy task as it is a long-term process. “It takes tremendous effort and a strategic blend of logic and intuition in the brand-building exercise. The company has to have superior leadership, operational excellence and customer focus, and most importantly people-orientation in a genuine way, for the branding exercise to be successful,” he adds.
Companies have been focussing on more advertising than taking concentrated efforts in building relationships. According to “Riding the Wave” survey (conducted by the Career Innovations Research Group), the future might be in danger for those companies who may otherwise invest too much in mass media and little in personal contact programmes. As per the survey, the most believable forms of communication are not the advertisements, literature and websites, but the behaviour of employees and accounts of their own work experience. Srivastava of HCL Comnet states, “I believe that the most credible forms of communication are not the ads, literature and websites, but the behaviour of one’s own employees and accounts of their own work experience.”
Employer branding is a part of overall branding strategy of a company. For this to happen, the HR department should ensure that there is a constant flow of communication within the organisation and there is no conflict with respect to internal and external image. Both these factors are very significant. “Every single employee should buy into the vision, commitment and ethics of the company and should be a walking advertisement for the company. Doing a major employer branding exercise would be nothing if the company’s own employees do not believe what is being said,” says Sadarjoshi. Agrees R Shekar, the senior vice president and head HR, corporate strategy and business excellence of Polaris Software: “An organisation must adopt a concerted and focused approach to building and maintaining its reputation as a ‘Best Workplace’ and constantly work towards reinforcing this branding through continuous exercises.”
A typical branding exercise would involve identifying the USP (unique selling proposition) of the company and articulating the DNA of the company, highlighting the competitive advantages of this DNA and creating a consistent brand language across the organisation in all forums to all the constituencies. Says DK Srivastava, the vice president of HR at HCL Comnet, “The most significant aspect of any organisation is to realise its inherent values and the image that it would like to project to its audiences. The next step is to evolve the right messages and reinforce those values again and again. And the most important part is to act on what you say. Plain words can’t get a brand. A brand has to be built on action.”
Employer branding is however limited to bigger companies, with very few initiatives taken by smaller players.

Future course

As companies come up with innovative branding exercises this trend is expected to be very popular in the future. It would however entail a lot of effort from the top management. “What we have seen so far is just the beginning. Every company, no matter how small or new, would want to come out with a ‘niche’ image, brand, product or service. So there will be intense competition amongst all the players to get branded for something unique,” says Sadarjoshi.
Experts point out that the next couple of months will witness companies engaged in innovative methods to stay ahead in the race. These may include hiring image building experts to enhance the brand value, providing competitive compensation, enabling foreign postings with dollar salaries and stock options, or offering challenging work environment in cutting-edge technology areas.

Employer branding

Employer branding is a derivative of the following factors:

• Impressive and consistent track record in business leadership.
• Demonstrated investment in growth by way of future products, R&D spend, articulation of the roadmap ahead, and viable strategies.
• The organisation should clearly be perceived as a place where every employee could learn and develop skills in the latest technologies, concepts and knowledge areas.
• Aggressive, competitive compensation and benefits package.
• Transparent and merit-oriented performance management system, wherein the polarisation between various levels of performance is both visible and fair.
• Very high score on the leadership, business conduct and customer satisfaction, or any other parameter evaluated by an independent third party.

Typographer's ToolBox

This is a little resource for anybody interested in graphic design. Here, I will expel my knowledge in a very basic manner. Previous versions of the Toolbox have been quite wordy, so I'm going to try to cut down and get straight to the point.

Typeface Use
Use one typeface per design. If absolutely necessary, use 2. However, make sure each has a specific purpose. One might be for important information, the other might be for body copy.

Lorem Ipsum
Lorem Ipsum is dummy copy. It's filler just to see how a paragraph of type will look on a design. Check out [link] for a Lorem Ipsum Generator.

Design Software
The following is a list of design software and what it should be used for:

• Adobe Illustrator.

Use this for single-page layouts, logo design, illustration, typesetting. Do not use Illustrator for editing photographs, making website layouts, or making multiple-page designs. It gets a bit laggy when setting a big block of text, so use InDesign for the larger jobs.

• Adobe Photoshop

Use this for editing photography, drawing photographic imagery, and designing web-page layouts. Do not use Photoshop for typesetting, making document layouts, or multiple-page designs.

• Adobe InDesign

Use this for multiple page layout design. It can also be used for typesetting, but it does not have as many drawing capabilities as Illustrator. It's really best when you have a lot of text to set. Do not use InDesign for editing photographs or making websites.

• Macromedia Flash

This is ONLY good for animation/interfaces. It is functional as a website design program, but it requires a lot of additional coding knowledge that many creative people do not have. Do not use Flash for any print work at all. It is only good for web use.

• Macromedia Freehand

This program is comparable to Adobe Illustrator. It doesn't work exactly the same, but it can do a lot of the same illustration things. If you're comfortable with Freehand, by all means use it as you would Illustrator. However, be aware that it is not compatible with any Adobe programs, and is likely to be discontinued because of the recent acquisition of Macromedia by Adobe.

• Macromedia Dreamweaver

This is what I use for website compilation. I don't actually design the website here. Instead, I drag and drop elements and do some code editing. It's simple and fast, but not entirely necessary if you can write code by hand. It is also known for being a poor WYSIWYG, in that what it shows you is not always exactly how it'll look in a web browser.

• Quark Xpress

Do not use Quark for anything. Some people are happy with Quark, but I am wary to trust them. Quark is comparable to InDesign in many ways, but its usability is very low and it is not at all intuitive. All good printers have switched over to InDesign, so there is absolutely no reason to continue using Quark unless you're stuck in the stone age. Okay, that may have been harsh, but Quark has become dramatically surpassed by InDesign in every way. There's no reason to keep using a sub-par program.

• Final Cut Pro

This is for film/video editing. I prefer this program to After Effects, but the downside is that Final Cut Pro is only for Mac computers. Final Cut is the industry standard for film editing.

• Adobe After Effects

Comparable to Final Cut Pro, but a little more confusing. The interface is similar to most familiar Adobe interfaces, but it doesn't functional as well as it should and runs a little slower than I'd like. Still, it can do most everything Final Cut can.

Typesetting
Setting type is an important skill. So is spelling. When setting type, give it at least 5pt of tracking, and it's usually a good idea to give it good leading. Make the leading equal or 2pts higher than the size of the type, and you should be fine. Also, be sure to kern by hand. Kerning is adjusting the spacing in between individual letters, while tracking is the spacing in between all of the letters as a whole. Computers cannot kern well by themselves just yet, so it is up to designers to know how to do it.

Printing
Finding a good print source is important for any designer. Most offset printers are crap, so here are some things to look for:

1. Do they care about your project? If they treat your project like a hassle, don't give them your business.

2. Do they print using PMS (pantone) colors? A good printer will. This is also referred to as offset printing. A good offset printer will use Heidleberg printers.

3. Are they willing to work with you on the price? Good printers can give you discounts if you ask. They might not be huge, but every bit helps.

4. Nearby Location. It's a good idea to find a printer close to you. Don't use internet-based printing companies unless their printing locations is nearby. Why does this matter? You need to be able to go on press checks, and by living nearby you'll also save on shipping costs. If you can pick the work up yourself, why bother shipping?

5. Do they allow and encourage press checks? A press check is when you, the designer, visit the printer to see the status of your print run. Check to make sure the color is accurate, and there is no blurring or smudging. If your project is worth a lot of money, most printers will treat you to lunch as well.

6. Do they support InDesign? Most all reputable printers have switched from Quark to InDesign, but there are still a handful that don't yet support it. Don't bother using a company that doesn't support InDesign, as they are clearly outdated.

Two good printers in the Los Angeles area:
Typecraft - These guys print all of the stuff for AIGA. They're expensive, but they're damn good.
Digital Room - A small print house. They mostly say they do 4-color printing, but they can also do PMS. Prices are cheap, but they can be a bit of a hassle to work with. They require a credit card to begin work, and rarely return calls on time. You really get what you pay for, in terms of service.

Logo Design
A good logo is unique, looks good, is appropriate, and is very graphic.
So, to elaborate, the logo should not look like any other logo. It should be pleasing to look at. It should fit with the company it's supposed to be for. It should be able to scale up and down and still look the same (you shouldn't lose lines or shapes at small sizes).

Logo vs. Logotype
A lot of idiots have argued with me on this. A logo is an all-inclusive term used to refer to any symbol used to represent something. A logotype is a logo made out of type.
If you want to get more technical, a mark is the symbol portion of an identity. A logotype is the lettering portion. A signature is the entire identity system as a whole.

Be Simple
Keep your message simple. Don't overcomplicate the idea you're trying to convey. If your design looks good, but is conceptually weak, then you've failed in design. Design isn't supposed to just look good, it's supposed to give people a message quickly and clearly. This is why graphic design is referred to as a communication art.

Soliciting Work
If you know of a company that needs a new logo, don't go out of your way to tell them how crappy their logo is. Instead, have a meeting with the owner of the company. Talk to him about how you have some idea that could improve his business. Let him know how a new or appropriate identity could attract more people and make him look more professional. Do not hand him your design. Even if you don't want money, it's good to get in the habit of getting paid for your work. If he owns a restaurant, he can pay you in food. If he owns a car wash, he can give you some free car washes. Your design is valuable, so don't short-change yourself.

Should You Be a Graphic Designer?
Not all artists are graphic designers, but all graphic designers are artists.
Just because you can draw well does not mean you have the knack for design. A good graphic designer looks at intricate details, and understands that everything has meaning. A good designer also has the ability to see things through the non-designer's eye. If you've always had a preoccupation with colors and shapes, see if graphic design is something you might be interested in.

- by Ryan Ford on DA

Your Creative Life

Get A Life (And Other Remedies for Creative Atrophy)

When creative impulses are few and far between , designers often turn to outside sources for a boost. Whether it's hiking in the mountains, getting a tattoo or bringing your pet iguana to the office, this freedom to explore your inner child feeds your business finesse.

- by Jenny Pfalzgraf

Wouldn't it be great if you could go to a brain spa to get steamed and exfoliated of dead ideas, kneaded into shape and primed for creative brilliance? Imagine if, for the low, low price of $49.95, you could wrap yourself in a tinfoil cocoon, shed your inhibitions and, in a matter of hours, emerge as raw and unbiased as a newborn.

Unfortunately, there aren't any snake-oil cures for creative brain-block. Innovation can't be bought or patented that easily; if it could, we'd all be Einsteins. But you can clear your head of stagnating ideas—a condition Doug Hall refers to as "mental constipation" in his book Jump Start Your Brain. It all starts with the environment you call work.

Today's most enlightened design teams are embracing the fact that creativity gestates in weird and mysterious ways. Creativity is a byproduct of life—not just a 9-to-5 exercise. Smart companies are giving their designers the chance to have a life, with hopes of seeing a creative ROI (return on investment). Here's the scoop on some of the creativity boosters they endorse.

Exploring the Mind/Body Connection

Creativity is often described as a "muscle" that needs exercising to stay in shape. While this is true, it doesn't help to bench-press your creativity to death at the expense of your other body parts. Sometimes the best way to rejuvenate your creative prowess is to ignore it for a while and take in a good physical workout. "Fitness is a big part of our culture," says Rex Peteet of

Sibley Peteet Design in Austin, Texas. "One year, we all did a lot of mountain biking. Then we bought a Foosball table. Next we got hooked on Frisbee golf." The firm's designers are as adventurous with sports as they are with new projects. You can't help but wonder if there's a correlation.

At Tran Interactive Design Group, a Washington, D.C.-area multimedia boutique, exercise isn't mandatory—but it is subsidized. Soccer games, swing dancing, rafting, skiing and self-defense classes are factored into the firm's annual budget. "When people have fun, it's reflected in the energy they bring to their work," says Creative Director Hung Tran. "It's well worth the investment."

Some firms take the idea of sports therapy to extremes. Last year, the creative trio at MB Design in Bellingham, WA, expanded its horizons (literally) by climbing 10,778 feet to the summit of Mt. Baker in Washington's North Cascades. "It was a personal goal that each of us had," says owner Matt Barnhart, who footed the bill for the two-day excursion. "I wanted the office to do something as a team that was healthy and would create a sense of camaraderie." It worked.

"On the mountain, we were all roped together," says designer Sean Fields. "If you fell into a crevasse, you literally had to rely on the others to save your life. We all saw each other in a different way. When we got back to the office, I think we all felt more open to discuss new ideas and voice our opinions."

Getting Out in the World

Even if your studio is situated in a particularly swanky city, it's still only one point on the map. That's why Minneapolis-based Kilter Inc. sends its people to "walk" other cities to collect creative artifacts. A fully loaded sensory experience is good for stimulating new ideas.

Recently, the firm dispatched two designers to New York City to prepare for a re-branding project for Lidz, a Boston-based hat seller with 300 stores nationwide. "We wanted to study how consumers experience a brand in other places," says Kilter Creative Director Cynthia Knox. "So we sent two of our people to study retailers that are masters at defining the brand experience for the customer—companies like Starbucks, Ralph Lauren and the Gap." Kilter's explorers observed the latest trends, "took tons of pictures and lugged stuff back to present to the whole group."

Taking a more global approach to cultural anthropology, Peekskill, NY-based YOE Studio will soon swap staff members with an Australian design shop through an international exchange program. The three-month stint "down under" will broaden YOE's window to the world.

Escape from Reality

Then again, inspiration is sometimes readily available in your own backyard. At the Los Angeles arm of TBWA/Chiat/Day, designers don't even have to leave the office to get a change of scenery. The mega-agency recently moved into a 100,000sq.ft. warehouse that's anything but typical. Billed as an "advertising city," the space houses a full-length basketball court, an indoor park with trees, three-story cliff dwellings, and workspaces—called "nests"—designed to nurture innovative thought.

"There are lots of places to escape within the building," says agency spokesperson Jeremy Miller. "Of course, employees are allowed to leave at their leisure, too. They can do whatever they need to grow professionally. It's an extremely open environment that enables the creative process to happen the way it needs to happen."

On the opposite coast, YOE Studio shares this "otherworldly" philosophy. Located in a 19th century Gothic-revival castle overlooking the Hudson River, the company sports a picturesque facade. But when you go inside, all hell breaks loose. The studio—which caters to kid audiences via clients like Nickelodeon, Mattel and Disney—is self-consciously loony. The "corporate" conference room features Mickey Mouse-shaped furniture surrounded by treehouse wall murals. YOE's hot-pink bathroom doubles as a shrine for Barbie memorabilia; the green bathroom pays homage to Kermit and the gang from "Sesame Street."

"Our designers thrive in this unorthodox atmosphere," says co-owner Craig Yoe, a self-professed pop-culture addict. To discourage routines, Yoe summons his 21 staffers to impromptu readings of Dr. Seuss and to brown-bag lunch screenings of movies like Austin Powers. The team also benefits from weekly "Yell and Tell" sessions, in which "aliens" from the real world enter the castle and share their expertise. "We've invited illustrators, animators and even the town historian to come talk about what they do," Yoe says. Most recently, the company entertained a local tattoo artist. After discussing his craft, the artisan offered a live demonstration of his skill, using a willing employee as a guinea pig.

"The dichotomy here is that we're all still kids, but we treat everybody like adults," Yoe says. "We trust that everyone is going to do their work. I'm not interested in micromanaging—or really managing at all."

What's next for this off-the-wall studio? YOE is flying the entire staff to

London for a weekend of fun, bonding and British culture.

Getting Down and Dirty

Most designers don't enjoy the luxury of castle living. But many are finding other ways to channel bygone eras in the name of creativity. One rejuvenation practice that's increasingly popular is making art the old-fashioned way—without a computer, that is.

Six years ago, Nerve, a Cincinnati-based design firm, began hosting digital-free creative sessions known as "Crafternoons." "I wanted to work collaboratively and to make things with my hands," says founder Lori Siebert. Once the idea caught on, local designers began making bimonthly pilgrimages to Nerve (at the time known as Siebert Design Associates) to get a creative fix. Although their handmade items were routinely auctioned off to charities, participants left each session with something else to take home—creative inspiration.

"People were jumping in, and it was changing their lives," Siebert recalls. "It was amazing. They might not have sewn or sculpted in a year, but they'd resolve to start again. Another staff member and I started illustrating as a result. Illustration has since become another stream of revenue for our company."

Perhaps the best-known champion of handmade art is greeting-card giant

Hallmark. With a creative staff of more than 740 (the world's largest), the Kansas City, MO-based company churns out roughly 11,000 new and 8,000 redesigned cards per year, not to mention licensed products. Hallmark expects its employees to produce, but it also gives them the time they need to explore creative ideas without the looming pressure to generate deliverables.

Among its countless perks, the company offers workshops ranging from experimenting with traditional oils to textile art to blacksmithing to birdhouse-making. These are conducted during company time, and they aren't necessarily intended to produce salable items. Senior creatives at Hallmark have the option of embarking on independent study sabbaticals or "rotations" at the company's vast Rice Center facility and at its Kearney studio, a 300-acre working farm.

Last year, Hallmark illustrator Denise Chevalier took a four-month hiatus from her "regular" job with Shoebox Greetings to experiment with raku-fired ceramics, primitive rug-hooking, mosaic art, Native American seed beading and automata (mechanical sculpture). "I made a hand-powered wood sculpture with gears," she says. "When you turn the handle, this fox tries to catch prairie dogs that are jumping down into their holes. I also made one of a bear trying to catch trout leaping upstream. These projects challenged me to use my design sense, to carve and to assemble found objects. I also worked with color.

"For me, it was an exercise in renewal," continues Chevalier, a 22-year Hallmark veteran. "It wasn't really about the objects themselves that I was making. It was the problem-solving aspect that was really enlightening. It's a win-win situation for Hallmark and for me. I learn something new and, in the best possible scenario, something new may eventually appear in the card line."

During an age in which corporate loyalty is virtually unheard of, it's no wonder so many designers continue to log lifelong careers with Hallmark: They never get bored.

There's No Place Like Home

In the end, field trips and sabbaticals are only effective if the progenies can return home to a comfortable workspace and implement what they've learned. A studio whose environment isn't conducive to creative noodling will never get the most from its staff—no matter how often it sends them away for rehab.

When it comes to nurturing creativity, there's a lot to be said for stress control. Tran Interactive Design Group keeps its employees sane by offering alternative work hours (a 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. schedule lets staffers miss rush-hour traffic), plus a fully stocked fridge and a studio where pets are welcome. "We want people to come here focusing on work—not on the errands they didn't have time to run, or that they're hungry, or that they need to let the dog out," says co-founder Tran. "Also, having animals around is a good release. With dogs in the room, you can't take yourself too seriously.

Creativity is born when you're relaxed and having fun. Next week, we're going to bake homemade dog biscuits."

On the 100-acre campus of SAS Institute, a major software developer located just outside Raleigh, NC, staff designers enjoy a 36,000sq.ft. gym, unlimited sick time, free self-serve soda fountains and a bottomless supply of M&Ms (the company purchases roughly 23 tons per year). But for Lynn Scott, SAS manager of visual communications design, the cushiest benefit is free, on-site daycare.

"There's nothing that can compare to having your child well cared for while you're at work," says Scott, a single mom. "I've been appalled to attend design conferences where female design leaders have more or less said women have to choose between being a mother or mothering their work. No profession should support such a prejudice against women." Knowing that her son is in good hands, Scott is able to focus more intently on environmental graphics, ads, collateral materials, conference programs and being creative.

Taking Responsibility for Your Creative Muse

In the quest for creative fulfillment, it's always tempting to blame your clients if you're feeling impotent. This kind of self-imposed victimhood will get you nowhere fast.

Kilter Inc. avoids this slippery slope by not relying on clients to shape all of its creative pursuits. Under the name Kilter Industries, the company runs a product-development lab that produces, among other things, a groovy line of watches that the firm licenses to retailers and manufacturers. "We don't just wait for clients to give us directions," Knox says. "We brainstorm for really good product or packaging ideas, mock them up and try to sell the rights."

Not by coincidence, Kilter is following up its identity project for Lidz by designing a new line of hats for the company. "The interesting paradox with design firms is that you have all these great creatives working for you, but clients are the ones dictating needs and parameters," Knox says. "Product design creates a role reversal. It gives creative people the opportunity to execute the ideas that are in their heads."

In the end, creativity is what you make of it. Every few months, Nerve's designers leave the office and burrow into some serious soul-searching. "We want to help each person—not just as a designer, but as a person—determine what drives them," Siebert says.

In one recent exercise, Nerve staffers were challenged to create "image boards" representing themselves. "We asked each person to show how they envisioned the perfect workspace, the perfect client and the best sources of inspiration. You work with people every day, but you don't necessarily know what makes them tick," Siebert says. "We want to get at the essence of the way we think and the way we work. We want to marry clients to that ideal, not vice versa. We're now looking for opportunities that will reflect us. And we're going to proactively search out clients and projects that fit with that goal."

In The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell writes: "We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

"Follow your bliss."

Jenny Pfalzgraf works in Northern Virginia, lives vicariously through the creative types she interviews, and dreams of one day having a lifetime supply of M&Ms.

- HOW design

Get A Life (And Other Remedies for Creative Atrophy)

- by Jenny Pfalzgraf

Summary:
You're a creative person. But do you confine your creative energies to the office? If so, you're sort of missing the point: Today's most enlightened design teams are embracing the fact that creativity gestates in weird and mysterious ways. Creativity is a byproduct of life, not just a 9-to-5 exercise. Smart companies are giving their designers the chance to have a life, with hopes of seeing a creative ROI (return on investment). Here's the scoop on some of the creativity boosters they endorse.

When creative impulses are few and far between , designers ofte turn to outside sources for a boost. Whether it's hiking in the mountains, getting a tattoo or bringing your pet iguana to the office, this freedom to explore your inner child feeds your business finesse.
Wouldn't it be great if you could go to a brain spa to get steamed and exfoliated of dead ideas, kneaded into shape and primed for creative brilliance? Imagine if, for the low, low price of $49.95, you could wrap yourself in a tinfoil cocoon, shed your inhibitions and, in a matter of hours, emerge as raw and unbiased as a newborn.
Unfortunately, there aren't any snake-oil cures for creative brain-block. Innovation can't be bought or patented that easily; if it could, we'd all be Einsteins. But you can clear your head of stagnating ideas—a condition Doug Hall refers to as "mental constipation" in his book Jump Start Your Brain. It all starts with the environment you call work.
Today's most enlightened design teams are embracing the fact that creativity gestates in weird and mysterious ways. Creativity is a byproduct of life—not just a 9-to-5 exercise. Smart companies are giving their designers the chance to have a life, with hopes of seeing a creative ROI (return on investment). Here's the scoop on some of the creativity boosters they endorse.
Exploring the Mind/Body Connection
Creativity is often described as a "muscle" that needs exercising to stay in shape. While this is true, it doesn't help to bench-press your creativity to death at the expense of your other body parts. Sometimes the best way to rejuvenate your creative prowess is to ignore it for a while and take in a good physical workout. "Fitness is a big part of our culture," says Rex Peteet of
Sibley Peteet Design in Austin, Texas. "One year, we all did a lot of mountain biking. Then we bought a Foosball table. Next we got hooked on Frisbee golf." The firm's designers are as adventurous with sports as they are with new projects. You can't help but wonder if there's a correlation.
At Tran Interactive Design Group, a Washington, D.C.-area multimedia boutique, exercise isn't mandatory—but it is subsidized. Soccer games, swing dancing, rafting, skiing and self-defense classes are factored into the firm's annual budget. "When people have fun, it's reflected in the energy they bring to their work," says Creative Director Hung Tran. "It's well worth the investment."
Some firms take the idea of sports therapy to extremes. Last year, the creative trio at MB Design in Bellingham, WA, expanded its horizons (literally) by climbing 10,778 feet to the summit of Mt. Baker in Washington's North Cascades. "It was a personal goal that each of us had," says owner Matt Barnhart, who footed the bill for the two-day excursion. "I wanted the office to do something as a team that was healthy and would create a sense of camaraderie." It worked.
"On the mountain, we were all roped together," says designer Sean Fields. "If you fell into a crevasse, you literally had to rely on the others to save your life. We all saw each other in a different way. When we got back to the office, I think we all felt more open to discuss new ideas and voice our opinions."
Getting Out in the World
Even if your studio is situated in a particularly swanky city, it's still only one point on the map. That's why Minneapolis-based Kilter Inc. sends its people to "walk" other cities to collect creative artifacts. A fully loaded sensory experience is good for stimulating new ideas.
Recently, the firm dispatched two designers to New York City to prepare for a re-branding project for Lidz, a Boston-based hat seller with 300 stores nationwide. "We wanted to study how consumers experience a brand in other places," says Kilter Creative Director Cynthia Knox. "So we sent two of our people to study retailers that are masters at defining the brand experience for the customer—companies like Starbucks, Ralph Lauren and the Gap." Kilter's explorers observed the latest trends, "took tons of pictures and lugged stuff back to present to the whole group."
Taking a more global approach to cultural anthropology, Peekskill, NY-based YOE Studio will soon swap staff members with an Australian design shop through an international exchange program. The three-month stint "down under" will broaden YOE's window to the world.

Escape from Reality
Then again, inspiration is sometimes readily available in your own backyard. At the Los Angeles arm of TBWA/Chiat/Day, designers don't even have to leave the office to get a change of scenery. The mega-agency recently moved into a 100,000sq.ft. warehouse that's anything but typical. Billed as an "advertising city," the space houses a full-length basketball court, an indoor park with trees, three-story cliff dwellings, and workspaces—called "nests"—designed to nurture innovative thought.
"There are lots of places to escape within the building," says agency spokesperson Jeremy Miller. "Of course, employees are allowed to leave at their leisure, too. They can do whatever they need to grow professionally. It's an extremely open environment that enables the creative process to happen the way it needs to happen."
On the opposite coast, YOE Studio shares this "otherworldly" philosophy. Located in a 19th century Gothic-revival castle overlooking the Hudson River, the company sports a picturesque facade. But when you go inside, all hell breaks loose. The studio—which caters to kid audiences via clients like Nickelodeon, Mattel and Disney—is self-consciously loony. The "corporate" conference room features Mickey Mouse-shaped furniture surrounded by treehouse wall murals. YOE's hot-pink bathroom doubles as a shrine for Barbie memorabilia; the green bathroom pays homage to Kermit and the gang from "Sesame Street."
"Our designers thrive in this unorthodox atmosphere," says co-owner Craig Yoe, a self-professed pop-culture addict. To discourage routines, Yoe summons his 21 staffers to impromptu readings of Dr. Seuss and to brown-bag lunch screenings of movies like Austin Powers. The team also benefits from weekly "Yell and Tell" sessions, in which "aliens" from the real world enter the castle and share their expertise. "We've invited illustrators, animators and even the town historian to come talk about what they do," Yoe says. Most recently, the company entertained a local tattoo artist. After discussing his craft, the artisan offered a live demonstration of his skill, using a willing employee as a guinea pig.
"The dichotomy here is that we're all still kids, but we treat everybody like adults," Yoe says. "We trust that everyone is going to do their work. I'm not interested in micromanaging—or really managing at all."
What's next for this off-the-wall studio? YOE is flying the entire staff to
London for a weekend of fun, bonding and British culture.
Getting Down and Dirty
Most designers don't enjoy the luxury of castle living. But many are finding other ways to channel bygone eras in the name of creativity. One rejuvenation practice that's increasingly popular is making art the old-fashioned way—without a computer, that is.
Six years ago, Nerve, a Cincinnati-based design firm, began hosting digital-free creative sessions known as "Crafternoons." "I wanted to work collaboratively and to make things with my hands," says founder Lori Siebert. Once the idea caught on, local designers began making bimonthly pilgrimages to Nerve (at the time known as Siebert Design Associates) to get a creative fix. Although their handmade items were routinely auctioned off to charities, participants left each session with something else to take home—creative inspiration.
"People were jumping in, and it was changing their lives," Siebert recalls. "It was amazing. They might not have sewn or sculpted in a year, but they'd resolve to start again. Another staff member and I started illustrating as a result. Illustration has since become another stream of revenue for our company."
Perhaps the best-known champion of handmade art is greeting-card giant
Hallmark. With a creative staff of more than 740 (the world's largest), the Kansas City, MO-based company churns out roughly 11,000 new and 8,000 redesigned cards per year, not to mention licensed products. Hallmark expects its employees to produce, but it also gives them the time they need to explore creative ideas without the looming pressure to generate deliverables.
Among its countless perks, the company offers workshops ranging from experimenting with traditional oils to textile art to blacksmithing to birdhouse-making. These are conducted during company time, and they aren't necessarily intended to produce salable items. Senior creatives at Hallmark have the option of embarking on independent study sabbaticals or "rotations" at the company's vast Rice Center facility and at its Kearney studio, a 300-acre working farm.
Last year, Hallmark illustrator Denise Chevalier took a four-month hiatus from her "regular" job with Shoebox Greetings to experiment with raku-fired ceramics, primitive rug-hooking, mosaic art, Native American seed beading and automata (mechanical sculpture). "I made a hand-powered wood sculpture with gears," she says. "When you turn the handle, this fox tries to catch prairie dogs that are jumping down into their holes. I also made one of a bear trying to catch trout leaping upstream. These projects challenged me to use my design sense, to carve and to assemble found objects. I also worked with color.
"For me, it was an exercise in renewal," continues Chevalier, a 22-year Hallmark veteran. "It wasn't really about the objects themselves that I was making. It was the problem-solving aspect that was really enlightening. It's a win-win situation for Hallmark and for me. I learn something new and, in the best possible scenario, something new may eventually appear in the card line."
During an age in which corporate loyalty is virtually unheard of, it's no wonder so many designers continue to log lifelong careers with Hallmark: They never get bored.

There's No Place Like Home
In the end, field trips and sabbaticals are only effective if the progenies can return home to a comfortable workspace and implement what they've learned. A studio whose environment isn't conducive to creative noodling will never get the most from its staff—no matter how often it sends them away for rehab.
When it comes to nurturing creativity, there's a lot to be said for stress control. Tran Interactive Design Group keeps its employees sane by offering alternative work hours (a 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. schedule lets staffers miss rush-hour traffic), plus a fully stocked fridge and a studio where pets are welcome. "We want people to come here focusing on work—not on the errands they didn't have time to run, or that they're hungry, or that they need to let the dog out," says co-founder Tran. "Also, having animals around is a good release. With dogs in the room, you can't take yourself too seriously.
Creativity is born when you're relaxed and having fun. Next week, we're going to bake homemade dog biscuits."
On the 100-acre campus of SAS Institute, a major software developer located just outside Raleigh, NC, staff designers enjoy a 36,000sq.ft. gym, unlimited sick time, free self-serve soda fountains and a bottomless supply of M&Ms (the company purchases roughly 23 tons per year). But for Lynn Scott, SAS manager of visual communications design, the cushiest benefit is free, on-site daycare.
"There's nothing that can compare to having your child well cared for while you're at work," says Scott, a single mom. "I've been appalled to attend design conferences where female design leaders have more or less said women have to choose between being a mother or mothering their work. No profession should support such a prejudice against women." Knowing that her son is in good hands, Scott is able to focus more intently on environmental graphics, ads, collateral materials, conference programs and being creative.
Taking Responsibility for Your Creative Muse
In the quest for creative fulfillment, it's always tempting to blame your clients if you're feeling impotent. This kind of self-imposed victimhood will get you nowhere fast.
Kilter Inc. avoids this slippery slope by not relying on clients to shape all of its creative pursuits. Under the name Kilter Industries, the company runs a product-development lab that produces, among other things, a groovy line of watches that the firm licenses to retailers and manufacturers. "We don't just wait for clients to give us directions," Knox says. "We brainstorm for really good product or packaging ideas, mock them up and try to sell the rights."
Not by coincidence, Kilter is following up its identity project for Lidz by designing a new line of hats for the company. "The interesting paradox with design firms is that you have all these great creatives working for you, but clients are the ones dictating needs and parameters," Knox says. "Product design creates a role reversal. It gives creative people the opportunity to execute the ideas that are in their heads."
In the end, creativity is what you make of it. Every few months, Nerve's designers leave the office and burrow into some serious soul-searching. "We want to help each person—not just as a designer, but as a person—determine what drives them," Siebert says.
In one recent exercise, Nerve staffers were challenged to create "image boards" representing themselves. "We asked each person to show how they envisioned the perfect workspace, the perfect client and the best sources of inspiration. You work with people every day, but you don't necessarily know what makes them tick," Siebert says. "We want to get at the essence of the way we think and the way we work. We want to marry clients to that ideal, not vice versa. We're now looking for opportunities that will reflect us. And we're going to proactively search out clients and projects that fit with that goal."
In The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell writes: "We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
"Follow your bliss."
Jenny Pfalzgraf works in Northern Virginia, lives vicariously through the creative types she interviews, and dreams of one day having a lifetime supply of M&Ms.

-HOW Design.

Guide to Typography Video

This is a great video that explains the basics of Typography and the anatomy of type in under 2 minutes!

This guide to typography video was directed and animated by Boca and Ryan Uhrich

Quotes From the Typography Video

“Typography is what language looks like” - Ellen Lupton

“A good typographer is someone who communicates a point of view with skill and imagination and makes the type taste good” - Jeffreyy Keedy

Volkswagen Van - carrying capacity

Volkswagen Van came up with this brilliant idea to promote its carrying capacity as against many other cars:

Who Designs Those Google Logos?

Dennis Hwang is the man behind the Google Holiday Logos. Dennis Hwang is a graphic artist from Korea and designed his first logo for Google back in 2000.

Dennis Hwang is currently in charge of all of Google’s webmasters, but still helps design some of the logos.

To see a great list of all the Google holiday logos you can go here: Google Holiday Logos and Events

12 Tips for Design Business

1. Always Get Paid

Be sure to get a deposit before starting a project and never send the final files until the remaining balance has been paid.

2. Don’t Work For Chicken Scratch

Don’t low ball yourself. At first its tempting to take jobs for low prices, but sooner than later you will need to make sure you are charging enough to cover all your expenses.

3. Make Everything Clear

Establish a time line and any other project specifications and deadlines upfront.

4. Get it all in Writing

Save all your emails and get anything you can in writing; such as clients signing off on projects and project agreements.

5. Save Everything
Save all your receipts and print out anything you buy online for tax purposes.

6. Organization is Essential

Be as organized as possible. Keep a folder for every project and client and clean your office and computer at least once a week.

7. Backup, Backup, Backup!

Back up all of your files and then back them up again.

8. Behave in Professional Manner

Be honest, helpful and never leave a client unhappy. Referrals are a big part of business and happy clients will recommend you left and right.

9. Don’t Overwork Yourself

Stick to your normal office hours. If you work from home its easy to get caught up working and making phone calls late at night and clients will get used to this.

10. Never Stop Networking
Network with other designers, programmers and other skilled people. This will enable you to outsource work and get help when you need it.

11. Never Stop Marketing
No matter how busy you are at the current time you never know when a dry spell might come along. Always keep promoting your business site and never stop looking for new clients.

12. Knowledge is Power
Never stop Learning. You should always be building up your list of bookmarks, blogs, websites and other resources so you can be on the top of your game.

Choosing a Good Domain Name

If you're starting a new web business, you're going to need your own domain name. Your business name will usually BE the domain name (and you probably shouldn't choose a business name without checking first to see if the domain is available for it). But there's more to choosing a good name than just finding one that's available. Here are some tips to choosing a good domain name.

1. Use a .com

While there are a number of other top-level domains (tld's) you can buy domains for, .com is the preferred extension for any business. Some browsers will autocomplete .com, so if someone enters "yourname" in the browser location bar, they'll automatically be sent to yourname.com.

.net is a good second choice, if you can't find an available .com that you like. Most other tld's are not appropriate or too difficult to say (see #3, below).

2. Shorter is Better

It's a lot easier to type (and say) shorter domain names. And if you're giving your domain name to customers, they're going to be annoyed if they have to type a really long name into their browser. It's much easier to type joeswidgets.com than joessuperwidgetfactory.com.

Try to stick with names that are 10 letters or less in length (not counting the .com extension).

3. Be sure you can say the name without having to spell it out for people.

If you meet customers in person, speak to them over the phone, go to trade shows, or otherwise ever have to tell someone your domain name, consider how easy (or difficult) it is to say the name you want to use. Do you have to spell it out for people because the name isn't spelled like it sounds? In particular, names using "ph" (instead of f) or "y" (instead of i) in the name might be problem areas. Similarly, a name like Flickr or Zoomr or any other name where "er" has been replaced with "r" will have to be spelled out, at least until it's become so popular that everyone knows how it's spelled.

Also, while you can use dashes in your domain name, you probably shouldn't, unless you're prepared to register both the dashed and un-dashed versions. (I registered both dot-o-mator.com and dotomator.com for this site.)

4. Search for your prospective name on Google.

If you want to make it easy for people to find your site, then choose a name that has few existing matches in Google... the fewer the better. That way when people search for your site, yours will come up first in the search results. Whereas if there are already 2.3 million matches for the name you want to use, it's going to be very difficult for people to find you via search.

Enter your search terms Submit search form

5. Use a distinctive name.

Your domain name should be memorable. "37 Signals" is more memorable than something like "Web Tech Systems". A popular trend among dotcom companies is to combine words (or partial words) into a new, made-up name (Flickr, YouTube, Feedburner). Start with a word that has some relevance to your company's product or service, then try adding on endings and see what comes up.

Some words (such as "web", "tech", "net", "systems", "technologies") sound a bit tired, and are likely unavailable anyway. Try choosing fresher-sounding words. Thesaurus.com is a good place to search for words that have similar meanings. You can use Dot-o-mator to combine words into a list of potential domain names, then check them all at once to see if any are still available.

6. Avoid trademarks

Try to avoid using names that include well-known trademarks. For example, if you register a domain name with "Amazon" somewhere in the name, you'll soon be receiving an email from Amazon.com's legal department asking you to surrender the name.

So save your money and choose a more unique (and trademark-free) name.

7. Should you buy an existing name?

What if the domain name you really want is taken? The cheapest solution is to choose something else. But if you have your heart set on a particular name, you can try buying it from the current owner. There's no guarantee you'll be able to acquire the domain, and even if the owner is willing to sell, it could cost you anywhere from a few hundred to many thousands of dollars.

If you still want to try, here's how to proceed. First visit the domain name in your browser and see if anything is there. If the owner is looking to sell the domain, it might already have a link to where you can make an offer.

There are also sites like Sedo.com that offer domain names for sale. You can browse through their inventory of existing names, or make an offer on any domain:

Search the largest database for used domain names

You can also view the whois results for an existing domain. Look for the owner's email address, and try contacting them directly.

8. Keeping your name

Once you've found a domain name, you'll have to register it with a domain registrar of your choice. (I prefer Dotster, as they're reasonably priced and have good customer service.) Be sure to provide a valid e-mail address when you register the domain; your registrar will e-mail you when your domain is about to expire and remind you to renew. If you're using a spam filter, be sure to allow mail from your registrar to pass through. If you change e-mail addresses, be sure to update it with your registrar as well. I've seen plenty of cases where someone moved and never got the renewal reminder mail, so their domain expired. Renewing an expired domain is costly (there's a $99 fee for that now).

If your domain expires and you don't notice it until a month or two later, your domain might already be owned by someone else. (Expired domains go back into the pool of available domain names after a ~40 day redemption period). Reacquiring your domain at that point could be extremely expensive, if not impossible... so remember to keep your domain registrations (and contact information) current.

9. Domain Spam and Private Registrations

Unfortunately, when you register a domain, your e-mail address will be visible to the world via the whois data. This can result in a lot of unwanted spam. Most domain registrars offer something called "whois privacy" or "private registrations" (usually for a small additional fee); this service will obscure your e-mail address in whois results, but still keep your e-mail linked to your domain in your registrar's database (so they can still send you renewal reminders). If you're concerned about spam and/or don't have a good spam filter, you may want to use the privacy option.

- dotomator.com

99 Useful Resources for Graphic Designers

I have used every one of these resources as a graphic designer and website developer and have hand picked all of these resources based on their usefulness and overall quality. I hope you find these resources as useful as I do! Enjoy!

Organizations

1. www.gag.org
The Graphic Artists Guild promotes and protects its members and is committed to improving conditions for all graphic designers and the whole industry. They also produce the well known Graphic Artists Guild Handbook which is an essential part of any designers library.

2. www.aiga.org
AIGA, the professional association for design is dedicated to protecting and advancing design and its importance to society. AIGA now represents more than 19,000 designers through national activities and local programs developed by more than 55 chapters and 200 student groups.

Design Tournaments

3. www.cutandpaste.com
Cut&Paste is a world wide live digital design tournament that goes on every year in multiple locations award prizes to the worlds best anonymous designers.

Generally Useful

4. www.lipsum.com
This is a pretty famous site within the design community; you can generate dummy text on this site to put into your designs until the real copy is available.

5. www.alexa.com
Alexa is a traffic ranking site that is widely used to research other sites. It’s not the most accurate tool but it has become common place and your Alexa rank is often a variable when determining advertising costs or site popularity.

6. www.csstype.com
An incredibly useful site that shows you exactly how web fonts will look on your screen.

7. www.brandsoftheworld.com
This is the ultimate branding library with thousands of the worlds most famous and popular logos. Great for researching corporate identity.

8. www.blogsearch.google.com
An easy way to weed out site and just find blog on the topics you are interested in.

9. www.digg.com
Digg.com is a great place for offbeat news and can be in indispensable weapon in your arsenal of traffic getting tools. You can submit well written articles to dig and if it is dugg a lot and becomes popular it can bring in a substantial amount of traffic to your website for free.

10. www.bloglines.com
Bloglines is a great way to organize all the blogs you read into one place instead of having to visit a bunch of different websites and is a good time saver.

11. www.mozilla.com/en-US/
Arguably the best web browser out right now. I use it for most of my web browsing but don’t forget the other browsers when it comes to optimizing your website. Not everyone uses the same browser.

12. www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
This is my favorite email client to use. It’s simple, efficient, and easy to use with solid email alert features. Very handy if you get important emails often.

13. www.adobe.com
Home to the well known design software we all know and love. Good site to check out once in a while for updates and help regarding software such as Photoshop and illustrator.

Networking & Freelance Work

14. www.craigslist.org
Craigslist is one of my favorite forums to use. There are tons of new design jobs and gigs added every day but the competition is stiff so bring your “A” Game.

15. www.getafreelancer.com
If you are looking for an affordable but professional coder this is the place to go. Freelancers bid on projects you post.

16. www.facebook.com
Facebook is growing incredibly fast and is a great way to network with other people and advertising your design services. Many professionals are moving to facebook over other social networking sites.

17. www.myspace.com
Myspace has tons of potential when it comes to snagging freelance gigs or networking. They have a decently active classifieds section that you can use to market your work.

18. www.linkedin.com
Linkedin is a very popular site for professionals and is a valuable networking tool.

19. www.krop.com
Krop.com has a database of jobs for designers, artists, and developers with an instant and easy to use search feature.

20. www.coroflot.com
Corofloat.com is a site where you can promote and host your design portfolio, search for jobs and post to hire some one.

Stock Photography

21. www.istockphoto.com
This stock photography site has incredible photographers and even better prices for illustrations and photos. It will make your life way easier as a designer and has many other benefits such as making money selling your illustrations and photography, networking with other design professionals, promoting your portfolio site, access to active forums and much more!

22. www.corbis.com
Corbis is one of the leading stock photography sites with millions of images online, featuring historical, fine art, business, technology, celebrity, travel, sports and nature photography.

23. www.shutterstock.com
Shutter Shock is a subscription based stock photography site with over two million royalty-free stock photos available.

24. www.bigstockphoto.com
Big Stock Photo lets you upload and download low-cost digital stock photography. They have well over a million photos organized into categories.

25. www.gettyimages.com
Getty Images offers a large searchable collection of rights-managed or royalty-free images and films. Getty Images is a great site if you are looking for current event and public figure related photography.

Color & Charts

26. kuler.adobe.com
Kuler is a useful site to go to find color themes for your projects. Users can submit their own themes to be rated and you can search for many type of color themes.

27. www.colourlovers.com
Colour Lovers is a great site with user submitted color palettes and even cooler is their blog that creates color palettes based on each blog posts at the end of every post.

28. www.logoorange.com

Nice chart that converts PMS colors to CMYK and RGB color codes for you.

29. www.ideo.com
This extremely useful but simple web safe color chart lets you easily see exactly how different colors will look on your screen.

Inspirational Sites

30. www.cssbeauty.com
CSS Beauty provides its users with a database of well designed CSS designed sites, as well as news and happenings related to the CSS Community.

31. www.thecoolhunter.net
The cool hunter looks for the coolest and craziest stuff from around the world. Be sure to check out the design and art sections on the site.

32. www.logopond.com
The Logo Pond is a great site to go to if you are looking for inspiration while designing a logo. You can even submit your own logo designs to be voted on and reviewed. Good way to get exposure for your studio or freelancing portfolio.

33. www.go2web20.net
The Web 2.0 Design style is the big thing right now and many websites are redesigning their look to get with the times. This awesome site has a massive collection of all the new web 2.0 logos and links the websites.

34. www.cssvault.com
CSS Vault has a collection of spectacular CSS websites and resources including: Articles, Demos, Layouts, Tutorials, and more.

35. www.stumbleupon.com
After selecting topics of interest you can stumble upon quality sites related to those topics. I have found countless amazing sites doing this and not only is it great for finding new sites but it can be a killer way to promote and drive traffic to your own portfolio site or blog.

Portfolio Sites

36. www.altpick.com
Altpic.com is a great portfolio website for artists and designers where many people come searching for the best oif the best. It is a great place to showcase your designs and talent.

37. www.portfolios.com
Portfolios.com is a portfolio search site where viewers can easily browse through thousands of free artist and designer portfolios.

38. www.deviantart.com
DeviantART is a large community of artists and designers who share their work with each other via an online portfolio. Many digital artists and illustrator flock to this site and you can even buy prints of your favorite artwork.

Design Magazines

39. www.printmag.com
PRINT magazine is a very famous bimonthly magazine about visual culture and design.

40. www.howdesign.com
HOW Magazine covers many areas of design such as the business aspect, new technologies, up and coming designers and is a place for creative inspiration.

41. www.idonline.com
I.D. magazine is an International design magazine that covers products, graphics, environments, interactive media and other design related areas.

42. www.computerarts.co.uk
Computer Arts is an informative site with free downloads, tutorials, galleries, competitions, a published magazine and much more.

43. www.maclife.com
MacLife.com provides news and analysis of the popular Apple products and also has daily blogs from Mac Life magazine editors and a nice selection of articles to read.

44. www.pcmag.com
This magazine is definitely handy for any designer. The hardware we use is the back bone of most of our work and PC Magazine has solid reviews of the leading equipment. I always look up products on their website before I buy anything.

45. www.pcworld.com
PC World is a great place for Computer and Internet news and information, Resources, how-tos, downloads, products and more.

Fonts

46. www.dafont.com
Dafont is an easy to use free font site with a large collection of fonts to download it. It has been around a while and is updated often with new fonts.

47. www.urbanfonts.com
Urban Fonts is new to the font world but has quickly established itself as a leader in the free font community. It has an excellent design and is right up there with dafont.com in my book.

48. www.fontshop.com
Font Shop offers great font collections on CD, free fonts, downloadable fonts, typography tips and more.

49. www.linotype.com
Linotype has a massive collection of the most popular and well known fonts available for download. They also have a font lounge with many interesting font related resources.

Tutorials

50. www.pixel2life.com
Pixel2life is one of the largest tutorial search engines on the internet providing great tutorials to graphic designers and programmers.

51. www.good-tutorials.com
Good Tutorials is a massive tutorial website with tens of thousands of tutorials for Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, and more.

52. www.w3schools.com
If you need to brush up on your coding skills then this is the place to go. The information is accurate and up to date and its def worth taking all the tutorials.

53. www.tutorialoutpost.com
Tutorial Outpost has a vast collection of thousands of tutorials for Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, 3D Studio Max, and more!

Photoshop Brushes

54. www.brusheezy.com
Brusheezy is a very useful site with lots of great sets of free brushes varying in style.

55. www.psbrushes.net
PS Brushes is home to over 500 Photoshop brushes that are all free to download and categorized for easy searching.

56. www.getbrushes.com
Get Brushes has sets of Photoshop brushes made up of various swirls, ornamental designs, and flourishes. flowers, dots, circles, and various other ornamentations.

Printers

57. www.4over4.com
4over4 is a good balance between quality and affordability and can handle most of the print jobs you would require.

58. www.modernpostcard.com
Modern postcard is known for its quality printing but can be a bit pricey compared to other sites. If you are looking for top notch printing though look no further.

59. www.vistaprint.com
Vista Print provides custom full color printing services. You can print business cards, Christmas cards, stationery, postcards, magnets, brochures, address labels, and even more.

60. www.clubflyers.com
Club Flyers is an easy to use online printing service with many options available and fast shipping times.

61. www.alocalprinter.com
If you are looking for a way to help the environment as a graphic designer then check out the new age of eco friendly printing.

Blog Hosts

62. www.wordpress.com
Wordpress is my blog host of choice. It’s free and easy to set up on a server and there are tons of great themes and widgets available to use. I use Wordpress for all my blogs.

63. www.blogger.com
Blogger is another very popular blog host. It has many of the same features Wordpress offers.

64. www.twitter.com
Twitter is a surprisingly fun, easy to use and useful site when it comes to letting people know what you are up too.

65. www.squidoo.com
Squidoo is an easy way to put up a quick and free website page about any topic you want. It is very popular in the affiliate marketing industry.

66. www.tumblr.com
Tumblr is another super easy blogging tool that is very similar to Squidoo and twitter and just as good as both of them.

Blogs

67. www.designobserver.com
Design Observer is a well respected site in the design community that features writings related to all aspects of design and culture.

68. www.lifehack.org
This great site is dedicated to hacking your life by providing you with tips and tricks to get things done quickly by automating, organizing and increasing your productivity.

69. www.ilovetypography.com
I Love Typography is a great web site devoted to typography, type, fonts and typefaces of all kinds. If you love typography you will enjoy this site.

Web Hosting

70. www.hostgator.com
Host Gator is a well known, reliable and affordable web hosting company. They have a wide range of hosting services to take care of all your websites bandwidth needs.

71. www.godaddy.com
Go Daddy is one of the biggest and most affordable web hosting and domain registration services. They have excellent customer service and quality servers. It is also very easy to mange you domain names and this is important if you have a lot of them.

Web Design Forums

72. forums.digitalpoint.com

This is one of the biggest and most popular programming forums around; there are many thread topics raging from coding and servers to search engine optimization and graphic design. It’s a great place to ask questions, find help or promote your services.

73. www.webmasterworld.com
This is a very active and informative forum on the world of web design. It is a great place to learn and have questions answered.

Graphic Design Forums

74. www.graphicdesignforum.com
This is a discussion forum dedicated to all topics related to graphic design.

75. www.graphic-design-forum.com
This is another active design forum that allows you to chat about graphic design and post designs for a review.

76. www.steeldolphin-forums.com
This is a fine art and graphic design forum where many users showcase their work and discuss fine art and graphic design with fellow community members.

Keyword Research

77. www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com
This is an extremely important free tool for keyword research. If you don’t use this tool before you launch a site or blog then your missing out. They also have a more extensive paid version.

78. www.wordze.com
This is another powerful keyword research tool.

79. www.google.com/trends
Google Trends is another good way to research keywords. Some keywords tend to be seasonal so you can check to see if certain keywords tend to fluctuate traffic wise at certain times of the year.

Search Engine Optimization

80. www.seomoz.org
SEOmoz serves as a central hub for search engine marketers worldwide, providing education, tools, resources and paid services related to search engine optimization and marketing.

81. www.thirtydaychallenge.com
This is probably one of the most informative sites I have ever come across in terms of search engine optimization. It literally changed my life.

82. www.seroundtable.com
SEO Roundtable reports on interesting threads taking place at the SEM (Search Engine Marketing) forums. They also write many articles on the topic of search engine optimization and marketing.

Advertising

83. www.google.com/adsense
Google Adsense is a powerhouse in the advertising industry. If you are looking for an easy way to monetize our website or blog then you will definitely want to check this site out.

84. www.adbrite.com
Adbrite is a popular and easy to use text link advertising website where you can buy text link spots or make money by selling advertisement space on your site.

85. www.adengage.com
A place to buy and sell text link ads on popular websites related to your website or blog.

86. www.text-link-ads.com
This is another very popular and easy to use text link advertising site where people can easily purchase advertising space on your blog or website.

Computers & Electronics

87. www.apple.com
Apple computers are a standard in the design industry and they are a great choice if you are looking for an alternative to personal computers.

88. www.newegg.com
I love checking new egg for products because of their fair prices and customer reviews.

89. www.tigerdirect.com
Another great site if you are shopping for anything electronic. They have affordable prices and a wide selection of products to choose from.

90. www.amazon.com
Amazon is fast and reliable and is my favorite online store to buy books from. Delivery is always top notch.

Art Supplies

91. www.dickblick.com
Dick Blick Art Materials has been providing artists with the best supplies since 1911. They have a huge selection of merchandise and good prices.

92. www.pearlpaint.com
Pearl Paint is one of the world’s largest discount art suppliers and has a vast selection of art supplies at very affordable prices.

93. www.aifriedman.com
A.I. Friedman is another great business that has been serving the artist community for over 70 years. Their products range from basic art supplies to studio equipment and furniture.

Graphic and Web Design Books

94. How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul
By Adrian Shaughnessy

95. Thinking with Type
By Ellen Lupton

96. About Face: Reviving The Rules Of Typography
By David Jury

97. Graphic Artists Guild Handbook
By Graphic Artists Guild

98. HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Sixth Edition
By Elizabeth Castro

99. Bulletproof Web Design
By Dan Cederholm

- youthedesigner