The 2012 Creative Freelancer Conference (CFC), held in Boston made a huge impact on me as well as many of the people I spoke with (readers can get the recap here) as evidenced by the number of them who were repeat attendees. This year CFC is set to take place in San Francisco, CA and promises more of the proven advice, inspiration and networking opportunities attendees have come to expect. We spoke with Ilise Benun; founder of Marketing Mentor... CONTINUE READING

But as Medusa evolved Espinoza moved beyond his original inspiration, adding elements such as redrawn ornate capitals, swashes and ligatures and a set of small caps “carefully designed to produce an all-cap setting that is stylistically harmonious with the classic copperplate script,…” As Espinoza explained in our interview, certain facets of calligraphic typefaces that lend them their beauty and grace can be compromised in the translation from calligraphy to typography, a fact that Espinoza was particularly mindful of in... CONTINUE READING

Add in the necessity of designing for multiple screen sizes and the entire process easily becomes a potential workflow nightmare, as Jacob Surber so aptly describes in his blog post “Designers have often taken the approach of creating several static comps, with the hopes of conveying their vision. Imagine a scenario where you are designing a site with a dozen pages, which will be consumed on a half-dozen screen sizes (between mobile, tablet and desktop). All of a sudden... CONTINUE READING

“Our development of Pro Tools was driven primarily by user feedback,” explained chief marketing officer, Jeff Titterton when asked what role user feedback played in developing Pro Tools. Titterton elaborated, “We interviewed hundreds of our advanced users and these features were consistently requested.” Notably among Pro Tools’ services are enhanced privacy features such as private contests, that are hidden from search engines and the general public—though still viewable by the 99designs community under a non disclosure agreement (NDA), and... CONTINUE READING

Usually design-related buzz around large-scale events like the Super Bowl is all about the ads, which ones hit the mark, which didn’t and how much did they cost. But there’s more design at work than in the ads shown between plays. There’s the design behind the events themselves. Every element of the event contributes to the viewer or participant’s experience. We interviewed Jared Sweet, an award-winning art director, show director, and creative director with 15 years experience and current... CONTINUE READING

Whether it’s a design firm sharing thoughts on a logo design, a photographer and retoucher reviewing notes on a beauty shoot or a couple collaborating with an interior decorator on their child’s room redesign—easy, intuitive visual collaboration can be elusive for any group working together on a highly visual project. We’ve all been there—endless e-mail chains with massive attachments, cumbersome PDF mark up or project management interfaces not designed with image sharing in mind. On the surface what might... CONTINUE READING

Now that the afterglow of New Year’s resolutions has faded excitement at the prospect of more time in the gym, better eating habits and becoming more organized may be waning. But before you (and I) throw in the towel here is one that I think designers will find inspiring and fun—Bill’s Design Talks. Organized by Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and made possible in part by the Adobe Foundation is, Bill’s Design Talks a conversation and presentation series that... CONTINUE READING

As many brand designers can tell you, the importance of creating a memorable, unique environment that reinforces brand character to external (consumers, clients, vendors) and internal (employees) audiences can not be overstated, especially for a global leader in digital media like Adobe. So, it was not surprising to learn from Cory Sistrunk, Principal at Rapt Studio, that after interviewing a number of design firms for design of their new Lehi, Utah campus Adobe tapped Rapt Studio, the award winning... CONTINUE READING

Good news for designers and marketers in 2013, in recently released hiring data from creative staffing agency The Creative Group shows that 33 percent of respondents surveyed reported that “they are looking to fill design or marketing roles in the first quarter of 2013”. The data gathered from a survey including more than 500 advertising and marketing professionals in the United States also showed that advertising executives made up a larger proportion of those intending to hire—51 percent versus... CONTINUE READING

Monday, January 7th marks the end of the Quay Brothers exhibit Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist’s Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) previously reviewed here. But apropos of the proverb “every ending is a new beginning” the exhibition will culminate in the United States premiere of the Quay Brothers’ new film, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Spanning multiple disciplines including animation, graphic design, illustration and film, the Quays work has a surreal, dreamlike... CONTINUE READING