Graphic Design Archives - Just Create Awesome

Should You Become a Freelance Graphic Designer?

Should You Become a Freelance Graphic Designer?
If you want to become a graphic designer you have to decide whether becoming a freelance graphic designer or an in-house graphic designer is the right career choice for you.

Being a freelance graphic designer means that you will have a lot freedom but also increased responsibility you may not have if you are a graphic designer working for a company.

As a freelance graphic designer you will also have to interact directly with clients and take ownership and responsibility for all aspects of your work. If you’re a more introverted or shy person this can be uncomfortable or stressful for you.

In that situation you may be better off working as a graphic designer for a company or agency rather than being a freelance graphic designer, so there is a buffer between you and clients.

There is no right or wrong answer as to being a freelancer or working as an in-house graphic designer, but you have to be self aware when deciding what graphic design career pathway is best for you in your journey.

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Roberto Blake

Roberto Blake is a Creative Entrepreneur helping individuals and brands share and monetize their messages. He is a contributor to several publications including Creative Pro and Print Magazine and is a 2016 HOW Design Live Speaker.

robertoblake.com

Starting a Graphic Design Business

Starting a Graphic Design Business is very different than being a Freelance Graphic Designer. Freelancers have to think about the Business side of Graphic Design, but they don’t necessarily have to run every aspect of the business or incorporate, deal with payroll or outsourcing.

Building a Graphic Design Business means thinking about how to sustain the business even if you don’t have Graphic Design Clients, which means diversifying revenue, having recurring income and knowing what all of your yearly expenses are.

Freelancers have more freedom where this is concerned and it is also the reason the lifestyle is more feast or famine. Running a Design Business means positioning for long term stability.

Graphic Design businesses can take many forms and may not all be service oriented.

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Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledge. Affiliates are: Amazon, BHPhotoVideo, MyFonts, 1and1, Bluehost and Lumoid.

Roberto Blake

robertoblake.com

When Is It Okay to Use Design Templates?

When Is It Okay To Use Graphic Design Templates?
Beginning Graphic Designers often wonder if it is okay to use templates. I hear a lot of Graphic Designers with experience give some of the worst advice about this, overplaying the “value of originality” with no accounting for the context of the situation.

As a graphic designer, you should NEVER depend on templates. But using them, making your own and understanding when to use them is part of the Business of Graphic Design.

Romanticizing certain ideas instead of a focus on practicality dooms many designers in their career.

Here are some helpful templates for different graphic design needs you might have:

Mutli-Purpose HTML Theme http://bit.ly/startuprrHTML
Avad WordPress Responsive Theme: http://goo.gl/kllctn
Bootstrap Landing Page Template: http://goo.gl/rf14h4
Stationary and Branding Mockup: http://goo.gl/JUFU1L
After Effects Logo Reveal: http://goo.gl/OLruQ7
Broadcast Motion Graphics Package: http://goo.gl/CEk2pt
Digital Magazine Template: http://goo.gl/bxwjWS
Trifold Brochure Template: http://goo.gl/0337Z6

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Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledge. Affiliates are: Amazon, BHPhotoVideo, MyFonts, 1and1, Bluehost and Lumoid.

Roberto Blake

robertoblake.com

Responsive Web Design Explained in 3 Minutes

Responsive Web Design Explained
Web Designers are obsessed with Responsive Web Design and it’s ability to optimize website for multiple devices instantly.
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Responsive web design (RWD) is an approach to web design aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing and interaction experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices (from desktop computer monitors to mobile phones)

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My YouTube Setup
Nikon D3300 http://amzn.to/1vUnnca
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Zoom H1 Recorder: http://amzn.to/1Qumh32
TakStar Shotgun Mic http://amzn.to/1waIDjp
Zeikos Tripods 2X http://amzn.to/1IXJGEJ
SP Lighting Kit http://amzn.to/1GftjSU
Lexar HR2 Workflow Hub http://amzn.to/1ED3Xln
Lexar SR2 SD Card Reader 4X http://amzn.to/1Gvj0hi
Lexar Memory Cards 32GB 5X http://amzn.to/1ED4x2o
Transcend Memory Cards 32GB 8X http://amzn.to/1Gvj8NQ
Seagate Desktop Backup http://amzn.to/1desv86
Editing Software Adobe Premiere Pro CC

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Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledge. Affiliates are: Amazon, BHPhotoVideo, MyFonts, 1and1, Bluehost and Lumoid.

Roberto Blake

robertoblake.com

WYSIWYG Web Design Explained in 5 Minutes

WYSIWYG Web Design Explained in 5 Minutes
What is WYSIWYG Web Design? It means “what you see is what you get”. It’s visual way of designing websites vs doing it purely with coding like HTML and CSS.

In this video I explain WYSIWYG. Many traditional coders are against taking advantage of WYSIWYG at all, but when working with others particularly clients, this not only has advantages, but is practical from a business standpoint.

This is not to suggest you shouldn’t also learn HTML and CSS but that you might benefit from understanding visual tools as well. Particularly when time is of the essence.

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Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledge. Affiliates are: Amazon, BHPhotoVideo, MyFonts, 1and1, Bluehost and Lumoid.

Roberto Blake

robertoblake.com

How to Become a Better Web Designer

How To Become a Better Web Designer
Becoming a Web Designer is about more than Learning HTML Code or WYSIWYG Tools. It’s not about your favorite app or editor.
Checkout More Graphic Design Videos: http://goo.gl/1yqkNK

At it’s core Web Design is about building a Website that has to perform a task. That might me the Website has to sell a product or service or market and idea. Your clients can’t afford for you to be romantic and caught up in your own idea of what Web Design is.

To become a good or great Web Designer, you have to understand actual Design and on some level Marketing. You have to understand what a good website looks like and how to build one. Which means learning to copy and reproduce the best websites out there in order to learn the process.

Many artist will tell you that they learned by drawing what they saw, not using their imagination. Some even learned by tracing to the muscle memory down to be able to draw in that style or make those types of shapes naturally. That is part of the process of the work.

Studying good web design, mimic good web design, deconstruct and analyze good web design, then when you understand, you can execute on good web design from scratch yourself.

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Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledge. Affiliates are: Amazon, BHPhotoVideo, MyFonts, 1and1, Bluehost and Lumoid.

Roberto Blake

robertoblake.com

The Logo Design Process Explained in 5 Minutes

The Logo Design Process Explained in 5 Minutes
Checkout More Graphic Design Videos: http://goo.gl/1yqkNK

Understanding the Logo Design Process is not only difficult for clients but often for Graphic Designers as well.

In this video I will explore the Logo Design process in a straight forward way to help you understand what goes into the design of a logo and how involved it can be.

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My YouTube Setup
Nikon D3300 http://amzn.to/1vUnnca
Audio Technica ATR2100 http://amzn.to/1ECRn18
Neewer Lapel Mic http://amzn.to/1waIfBu
Zoom H1 Recorder: http://amzn.to/1Qumh32
TakStar Shotgun Mic http://amzn.to/1waIDjp
Zeikos Tripods 2X http://amzn.to/1IXJGEJ
SP Lighting Kit http://amzn.to/1GftjSU
Lexar HR2 Workflow Hub http://amzn.to/1ED3Xln
Lexar SR2 SD Card Reader 4X http://amzn.to/1Gvj0hi
Lexar Memory Cards 32GB 5X http://amzn.to/1ED4x2o
Transcend Memory Cards 32GB 8X http://amzn.to/1Gvj8NQ
Seagate Desktop Backup http://amzn.to/1desv86
Editing Software Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Recommended Web Hosting
Blue Host http://goo.gl/or3zpx
1and1 http://goo.gl/el9jPo

Mailchimp Email Marketing http://eepurl.com/bugUyT

Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledge. Affiliates are: Amazon, BHPhotoVideo, MyFonts, 1and1, Bluehost and Lumoid.

Roberto Blake

robertoblake.com

Asus F555LA Graphic Design Laptop Review

Asus F555LA Graphic Design Laptop Review
(My New Design Laptop) http://amzn.to/1bO0PFI
[Update 08/21/2015] They made a slightly newer version: http://amzn.to/1NK8Lpi ASUS X555LA-MS51

You can get this same laptop for around $570 with 8GB of Ram 1TB of HDD and Intel 4400HD Graphics and the 5th Gen i5 Processor.

This is perfect on a budget for Graphic Design Work and YouTube Video Editing! This has been able to handle the Adobe Apps without being sluggish and it will only get better with Windows 10.

So this doesn’t feel that much heavier overall than the Macbook Pro, it’s also super thin for a Windows Laptop and takes advantage of a slim DVD drive.

The ice cooling technology means that it stays cool both when my hands are resting on the laptop while working and in my lap. It’s also one of the most quiet laptops I’ve used.

Recommended Asus Graphic Design Laptops:

Asus ROG High Performance http://amzn.to/1AluqCc
Asus 13in Zenbook http://amzn.to/1G4Kd9e
Asus F555LA (My New Laptop) http://amzn.to/1bO0PFI
Asus X555LA http://amzn.to/1G4KDwo (Very Similar but Newer)
Asus N550JK http://amzn.to/1FvsBTp

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Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledge when they sponsor something, Amazon, BH Photo and My Fonts links are affiliate links and other links are usually just my website or a blog or something, if that bugs you well the content is free so ;P

Joshua Choppy

5 Gadgets Every Graphic Designer Needs

5 Gadgets Every Graphic Designer Needs
Graphic Designers use a lot of different tools to get their work done. Here are some the tool every graphic designer needs at some point.
Listen to the New CSAT Podcast: https://goo.gl/SEQmn8

Wacom Drawing Tablet
Wacom Intuos Pen Touch Small http://amzn.to/1SP234g
Wacom Intuos Pro Pen & Touch Medium http://amzn.to/1BQnG0f

External Hard Drive
WD My Book http://amzn.to/1SP28Fi
WD My Passport http://amzn.to/1FDMX8A

Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix S2800 http://amzn.to/1SP2c7T
Nikon D5500 http://amzn.to/1NgThbz

Headphones
Audio Technica ATH M20 http://amzn.to/1GB6IOT
Amazon Basics Earbuds http://amzn.to/1e7cLDT

Mobile Tablet
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10inch http://amzn.to/1SP2rzZ
iPad Air 2 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O…

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Joshua Choppy