By MacNessa, on June 22nd, 2010%
There are a couple of ways to generate a harmonious color palette.
There are several great reasons why you would want to do this:
- Creating a card, which uses a photograph
- Buying new soft furnishes for a room which is a blank canvas – and knowing which photographs are going to be on the walls (e.g. match the throw pillows to the red in the photo etc.)
- Designing a website, and using one of the clients photographs as inspiration
- Digital scrapbooking – this one is the biggest no-brainer, knowing which papers and embellishments (even though they’re digital) to use as accents/backgrounds etc.
Anyhoo the reasons why are pretty self explanatory, and they are such fun tools to play with! Plus, having great free tools like this on the web is like finding loose diamonds because they are so valuable to us as designers and color enthusiasts.
Here’s the first one:
Color Palette Generator from DaeGraeve
and this is how it works…
You simply enter the URL of the photo in question (think for a moment of the multitude of photographs you may have already stored on line through the likes of flickr, Drop Box or Photo Bucket etc and click the button that is humorously entitled ‘Color-Paletify’
Then the second option that you can play around with all for free and without having to register anywhere is here at:
Color Hunter
Then there is another free one at Big Huge Labs, who have a multitude of fun cool stuff that you can skillfully avoid work with, by playing around with (although it will still feel like you’re being productive), over there:
That’s a pic of Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett from Robin Hood…the cool thing with the Big Huge Labs tool is the fact that you can download your palette as an adobe swatch file and plug that sucker right into photoshop. Easy Peasy, and boy do I like easy.
Last, but certainly not least is the color palette generator from Color Lovers. Though the use of this one is also free, it requires registration beforehand, but the great thing about creating your own account is that you’re able to save your palettes to your profile and either share them, or save them for later use. Remember that anything saved online – is better than saving it on your hard drive particularly if it’s a) free and b) if you’re on a computer prone to crashing (though this is only pertinent to windows users, because all good designers should be on a Mac anyway!
Have fun playing – and remember to click the *links* that I’ve created, NOT the pictures to visit the websites mentioned. Cheers!
By MacNessa, on March 16th, 2010%
As a graphic designer who works from home, I need to consider various things when it comes to moving house/office.
In fact I’m going to be moving office/house at the end of next month. There’s so much to think about in terms of downtime required, for packing, shipping and unpacking.
At this stage it’s just a simple move across the same suburb, so I shouldn’t have more than a day’s downtime, maximum. My Internet Service Provider has coverage in the same area, so I had quite the chuckle when I called them yesterday to confirm this fact, and asked them what the procedure was to move my service, and the techie said to me, “You unplug your router at your current house, and when you get to the new house, you plug it in to the electrical outlet.” I mean literally. Well. Duh. So okay, no paperwork required, other than a simple change of address.
It is of course the perfect opportunity for me to revisit my Ultimate-Mac-Office series of posts, in order to set up my new home office on the other side. Oh what I could do with unlimited funds!
I already have the iMac, now I just need, say flooring that lights up as you walk over it (think Barbarella in the 21st Century), various Sci-Fi related doodads adorning the walls, possibly even the decal from Think-Geek of the original deck of the Starship Enterprise on one wall, and of course, the door to the office must swish across just like spaceship door, with the accompanying “shish” noise. In the future, when I finally open my boutique ad agency, you can bet your buns that there will be a large flat panel screen set into the wall, right where the Enterprise’s ‘on screen’ display is on the bridge.
Don’t you wish your girl friend was geeky like me?
Oh well, until the Powerball finally goes my way, I will make do with what I have, and be inventive and creative with upmarket patio furniture that I’ve zhooshed up for the purpose and just enjoy every minute of this job that I love so much.
One thing I can do, to geekify my space, is get a couple of these throw pillows.
Check this out:
 Click to Visit The Etsy Store
Seriously!?
How cool are they!?
By MacNessa, on March 15th, 2010%
 I had a client referred to me by a contact.
She was in the market for a web design (a wordpress theme for a blog). She dutifully emailed me with her preferred colours and existing logo. We struck up a rapport and kept the chatting light and easy (this is the only way I will do business). We talked about more than just work related things. I suppose it helped that we had a lot more in common, given that we’re both wahms.
I offered to redraw her logo for free, as part of the web design package. Thus far, things have worked out so beautifully. She is happy with her designs, and we have built up a relationship of trust. She paid my first invoice within minutes of me emailing it to her.
She has since come back to me for a business card design, packaging label design, swing tag design (at reduced design rates), and of course the initial web site design is still in progress. I’m not sure if her type of business would require a design for promo keychains, but you can be sure, if she needs them, that I will offer her good rates and that I will make sure that she is happy with my work.
It all comes down to finding a solution for everyone. If we constantly seek to provide the best solution for all concerned, then everybody stands to benefit. If governments kept their policies this simple, a lot more people would have housing and electricity and access to good medical care.
Coming back to the graphic design business for a moment, I just wanted to point out that by not taking a ‘design prima-donna’ view point, as so many designers do, I’ve been able to gain a wonderful client who has already recommended my services to another friend. I consider myself blessed and lucky.
By MacNessa, on January 13th, 2010%
Freelancers, designers, wahms, tell me… What are your best work hours?
For the past week, I have been really focused on working on my network of blogs and on generating quality content. This means that a single blog post can take anything from 4-6 hours to do from start to finish.
Sometimes I work on them for longer, days even, designing some related custom graphics etc and generally tweaking and retweaking the layout until I’m happy with it.
In the past I have always found that getting up early, like around 4am has worked really well for me.
I get up, put the old fluffy slippers on and shuffle through to my home office and put in a solid 2-3 hours before my kids or husband even wake up.
This week however, I’ve just been too tired to get up in the morning, looking like I seriously need the best eye cream that the world has to offer, but of course the work still needs to be done.
My youngest son is back at school after the holiday break, but my older son is still here, and taking up a lot of my day time hours. I love being able to spend time with them, but as every freelancer or wahm will tell you, that it is a constant distraction. No matter how many times I take some time out with him, I’ll get back to work having set him up with a fun task to do, and bam, he’s right back at me clanking, shooting, spinning in the chair next to mine and just generally making noise directly around me and making it nearly impossible for to concentrate on a single word.
So I’ve been staying up late nights instead.
I’m finding it even easier than getting up early lately. Maybe because of the increased caffeine in my diet? I don’t know, but I’m getting to bed around 23h45 and last night was just after midnight. I feel better if I push myself to do this, because then I can just tumble into bed afterwards, it’s not like then I have to get out of my pj’s and rush headlong into my day.
As for fun activities, today I set my son up with MS Paint, on my husbands old PC laptop.
I was *astounded* at what he came up with. I showed him a couple of the tools and how to ‘fill’ and then left him to it so that I could get back to work.
After about 20 minutes of blessed, peaceful silence, I heard the words, “Look here Mommy!” and I turned from my iMac to see what he’d made.
How old do you think he is?
He-is-just-four-years-old.
Did you see the smoke coming out of the chimney and everything?
Four.
I think I’m going to be out of job in a few months at this rate.
Kids, they amaze you all the time.
So back to my original question…what hours of the day do *you* work at your optimum capacity?
By MacNessa, on January 11th, 2010%
Graphic River is one of the Envato marketplaces.
A unique group of websites that cater to the graphic designer, and creative techies in general. There is something for every level of designer, and even digital scrapbookers.
Each piece offered for sale is vetted before it’s allowed into the marketplace to ensure that it meets with appropriate standards, and that there are not too many of the same type of item. I can literally spend hours looking at stuff, being inspired by some of the amazing work, and planning my purchases for the next month. They have a great way of cataloging the work, so that when you find a designer whose style you like, you can view all of their work and add your favourites to a bookmarks folder for viewing later.
Aside from the graphic river section there are other marketplaces (all linked by one user name and password) offering audio files, flash files, code snippets, video files, web themes and more and the payment method is via Paypal or by depositing ahead of time using Paypal, or credit card.
Whichever way you swing it, it’s a great place if you are a creative person, and looking for inspiration or bits and pieces for a project.
By MacNessa, on January 1st, 2010%
Most designers will know, that the urge to create is mostly overwhelming. A bit like ones desire to say, breathe, or maybe eat. But not necessarily in that order! So this morning, I find myself just having a go at making a blogger background.
I think I may have spent exactly 2.6 seconds making this one, so really, it’s not my best work, or even near the standard that I would create for someone who commissioned a special background, but it’s all fun and games, and hey, it’s the 1st of January so I’m really just amusing myself, whilst writing down my goals and plans for this year.
There it is for those of you who are interested, by all means go and grab the larger size for your backgrounds if you want it. Consider it my New Years Day Freebie! If you do use it, please link to this post, or tweet it or something, not too much to ask for something free eh?
So I find myself at home on New Years Day, and naturally, when home, will be at the iMac. But this is a time of year when many find themselves on family holidays, especially in the Southern Hemisphere where we are enjoying really great Summer weather. In fact, I would go so far as to say that so many people are on the roads right now either going to their destination, or returning home, that it is probably a good idea for them to have a decent motorhome warranty or they may find themselves in a pickle if they have a prang!
Lastly, speaking of motorhomes and caravans, I’m going to the Top Gear show at the Grand West Arena later this month, and can’t wait to see Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond in real life. Going to be awesome! Especially if they blow something up!
By MacNessa, on September 24th, 2009%
Standard Rates For Graphic Design
By Marcus Peterson
Graphic designing is a profession where the raw material is creativity and the output is art. Calculating the work done in terms of money most of the times becomes an arguable issue. The fiscal calculations of a project depend on many aspects, though rough but different standards are established for various types of graphic designing.
Web site designing costs can be broken down to depending on the type of site, wherein sites are classified as low end, mid range and high-end sites.
A low site offers a 2-4 pages content and uses existing graphical themes or sock graphics are purchased. The designing package does not provide any animation page or any database interaction feature. The standard rates of such low-end site range approximately from $500 – $2000. On the other hand a mid range website costs approximately $2000 – $ 5000.
The website includes 5-7 pages of content out of which some is developed. In addition, the designer provides with 2-4 original graphics and a standard layout with some customization. Animation includes JavaScript mouse over changes but data interactions are not provided.
A high-end website involves a high cost and the standards range from $5000 – $10,000. A designer provides 12 or more pages of content, or even contents that are pragmatically/dynamically generated. The design has a unique layout and extensive graphics with navigation schemes. The animation is often done in JavaScript, Animated GIFs, Dynamic HTML, and Flash. In addition, designers also provide with SQL or Flat File database interaction.
The services of most graphic designers can also be calculated in hours. For instance the standard rates for basic graphic design are approximately $ 80 per hour, for custom graphic design $160 per hour, for 3-D graphic design $250 per hour, and for prepress correction and graphic adjustments $ 80 per hour.
Such types of calculation have greatly simplified the rate and cost problems of designing projects, as the designer is getting paid rationally if a certain project requires more time. Similarly, a client can give work in contracts that are based on hours.
Graphic Design provides detailed information on Graphic Design, Graphic Design Schools, Graphic Design Jobs, Graphic Design Companies and more. Graphic Design is affiliated with Graphic Artist Salaries.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marcus_Peterson
http://EzineArticles.com/?Standard-Rates-For-Graphic-Design&id=429015
Technorati Tags: graphic design
By MacNessa, on September 10th, 2009%
Every now and then I come across a truly helpful site, and this one feels like I just hit the motherload!
As a freelancer myself, I’m constantly on the lookout for ways to improve my workflow, increase my clientbase, market myself more effectively etc.
Every post is just loaded with information on various types of software from billing to project tracking to time management, to linking me up with other sites that are helpful to freelancers.
It is well worth checking out, if you have time – because you will be there all day going through the archives finding all sorts of buried treasure!
Please note that this is NOT a paid review.
By MacNessa, on September 2nd, 2009%
Because I couldn’t ignore the top half of the planet, in all my smug Springiness from yesterday.
Because it’s about 13 deg Celcius outside and I’m not feeling very Springish today.
Because Design is a totally obsessive pastime that I could not and do not wish to stop doing under any circumstances.
I give you, the Northern Hemisphere Autumn Free Blog Button! You can grab the code here, or find it later on my freestuff/blog buttons section by using the navigation bar across the top of the page. Enjoy!
By MacNessa, on August 19th, 2009%
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Graphic Design really does touch SO many parts of our lives!
I stand in a store, the post office, the mall, the airport, literally anywhere, and I am bombarded by a gazillion examples of good (and bad) graphic design.
Everything from giant lightboxes, to signs on ABS board, to cardboard displays, to just about anything that bombards the eye with colour and type. Am I the only one who gets excited by this?
This world of design, and graphic design in particular never fails to thrill me with it’s diversity, and reach. Awesome!
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