Blog URL: http://www.elleandcompanydesign.com/blog/aspiring-designers

I particularly sought a blog that provided freelancing tips or even invoice design suggestions (I highly recommend researching this). Presently, I am finding myself in the freelancer’s world since graduating, having done branding for two small businesses and now I have a small commercial client with challenging demands. It is really making me think.

This blog, titled “Top 10 Tips for Aspiring Graphic Designers”, written by Lauren Hooker, provides a solid foundation for anyone starting out in the creative field. There are a lot of insights that speak to experiences I have faced in my short freelancing career. One being # 8: Being leery of working for free. This section described Lauren’s experience as being very frustrating but great for gaining experience. I have also found it helpful that if you are a student and unsure about compensation, ask that your payment be to add your client’s design to your portfolio. # 5: Educating your clients is another tip that speaks. The author writes about the importance to use your skill set to inform the client to help them (easier said than done when starting out), rather than to let them make terrible design choices. I am in that boat right now with a client. One mistake I made that is painful is never show your clients ANY of your working files of their projects in their presence, even to make a few tweaks. They may see a design that you purposely moved on from and want it.

The website design of the page, with the white space, the simple colors and beautiful use of the sans-serif headers adds to the authors credibility of being a designer. Each tip is labeled nicely that adds to the aesthetic and has enough content to help the reader understand its importance, supported with personal examples and clickable resources (one being about working for free by Molly Jacques) or bold information for emphasis, without losing the reader too much. I appreciate that the blog has a date stamp and that Lauren welcomes input from her readers, so others can read the comments for more advice.

Overall, this blog is a nice resource to have and these tips are still in effect today. I also wanted to share additional insight from my experiences to better help others make better professional decisions in their freelancing work.  I hope this helps.

By: Maurissa Keller

Okay, so first off I would like to say that I did a lot of searching for a “professional” blog in this field of work. There are tons of blogs out there but not many are very professional. However, during my searches I would always be brought back to this one. It’s called “Stopmotion Explosion Blog“. Every blog post is both fun to read and very educational. Each post is accompanied with videos to visually explain what they are talking about.

Most of the blog posts I’ve clicked on and read over have helped me learn something new about the stop motion world. They’re all packed with information. For instance, I clicked on a post titled “Feature: Moleskine – Game of Thrones Intro”. In the beginning of the post it talks about how paper can be used as a tool for stop motion animation. Immediately following that is a YouTube video of the work that is being talked about. It is a stop motion version of the Game of Thrones (T.V. show) intro scene. After showing the stop motion they show the original to compare the two. The paragraph following the two videos talks about how they used different lighting and colors to achieve the look they were working towards. At the end of the post they leave us with a video made by the creators of the the stop motion titled “Moleskine – Game of Thrones – Making Of”. That video physically shows us how they built each piece of the stop motion.

In another post, this one titled “Is The LEGO Movie Stop Motion or CGI?”, the author gives us all a question that he intends on answering. Throughout the blog post the author presents their research and makes comments on their findings.

By the end of the post we are given a clear and detailed answer of the initial question.

This blog does not have a traditional comment interaction feature as most blogs have. Instead you are able to use Twitter to communicate with the blog author. As well as Twitter, most of the linked YouTube videos can be commented on and have interactions with the content creators in that way. This blog gives reader numerous different insights into the world of stop motion animation.

By: Tevin Goddard

the blog to see    http://www.chasejarvis.com

The Chase Jarvis Blog is one of the best business and motivational resources in the field of creativity, whether you are a graphic arts student, a photographer trying to get their work out there, or an entrepreneur truly trying to do something different. I discovered the photographer Mr. Jarvis through YouTube by recommendation from YouTuber, Evan Carmichael. The channel turned out to be a hub for great content, interviews with world-changing creatives, from Arianna Huffington of Huffington Post, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin, to Sir Mix-A-Lot! I chose this blog to present for other students because I think they can benefit from the advice of prolific and impactful creatives to speed up their journeys or answer creative questions they have. I am really underselling Chase Jarvis himself he is a groundbreaking creative person in his own right.

On the top of the page you will see tabs to explore the website – select “projects” – then select the “chase jarvis live” box – scroll down through the list of interviews until you find the series of interviews Chase hosts called “30 days of genius”. I know this lots of work, but trust me, when you see the fantastic work that he’s put into asking questions to his interviewees you will have a leg up I promise. I recommend the interview with award-winning designer and creative director, Sefan Sagmeister and Marie Forleo who is a life coach and host of MarieTV.

The website is produced very well, I really like the small details, such as the screen loading icon being a spinning camera aperture and the simplicity of exploring the website with many links appearing as icons. Its made to match our iPhoney sensibilities.

You’ll also see pictures from Mr. Jarvis’ career, a podcast, blog posts and a link to his company CreativeLive where you can take courses to learn to do things.

-Daniel Martinez, 10.15.2017

Erin Outdoors:  http://erinoutdoors.com

Erin Outdoor’s blog contains stories, advice, and inspiration, as well as tips on gear for traveling and photography. The young blogger/photographer graduated with a bachelors in Visual Arts and Environmental Studies, and hasn’t stopped working hard since. In many of her articles there is a recognizable pattern of optimism and empowerment that urges others to challenge themselves to “live life like they mean it”. It is my dream to incorporate my creativity into traveling and when I read her blog those dreams feel so close to reality. I hope that others might find some sort of motivation or encouragement from this blog, or at least get the chance to see some of her amazing photos.

One of my favorite things about this blog is that there is an option to join her and other guides on trips to different parts of the world. If someone decides to join her on a trip there is a page on her blog with all the tour details. The site is decorated with high resolution photos from the blogger’s travels giving it a very original and simplistic design. The quality of information on this blog is very helpful in many ways. Repeatedly she posts about not giving up. Just keep working and keep trying. She also gives reviews on gear, information on where to get it, and things to expect in different cultures, creating a well rounded inspirational travel/photography blog.

https://hub.uberflip.com/blog/storyboarding-content

This blog is about storyboarding and offers a good amount of information on the topic. It goes over what is storyboarding and how helpful it is to the creative process. It saves you time and energy having a plan in the production process of media. It goes over every topic with storyboarding and explains how to make them and even has a printable worksheet to even help you make story boards yourself. I picked this topic because I love to draw, and i eventually want to have a career in storyboarding. I love the production side of media arts and if I combine the two you get storyboarding. The blog itself looks very well done. There are many buttons to click on and direct you to other blogs and topics. There is also a comment section that is very active. This site was the best looking and somewhat new blog I could find on the topic of storyboarding. The others didn’t seem well put together and didn’t have the information I was looking for. If you’re interested in starboarding or need help understanding what and how to get into storyboarding, I highly recommend this blog post. Thanks for reading!

The site that I have chosen is called Unurth Street Art, which can be reached easily through this link:

http://www.unurth.com/

I have chosen Unurth Street Art because it is an incredible expose of Street and public art from around the globe featuring murals, installation pieces, mixed media, sculpture, video, photography, essays, and colorful individuals. I have always been fascinated by any form of public art that exists out of the confining showcase of the art gallery and is free to influence the social culture of all who view it.

The site is incredibly huge and have spent hours and hours pouring through the site’s  contents and have seen no apparent end to it. It is an incredible source of every type of visual information about most any subject one can think of: politics, society, religion, imagination, decoration and you name it. All types are represented from as many different cultures as possible. Many of the artists that have work shown in the blog have written included biographies and essays about their art posted with their images. Anyone who has an interest in street/public art would find inspiration and influence from imagination and talents of amazing artists from everywhere around the world.

At first glance the blog site appears to be simple, but it is far from that. The main focus of the site is entirely on the artists and it is extraordinarily well arranged with vast amounts of visual and textual information. The main routes through the site are a basic feed, an artist index, and quick links to observe the works of extremely popular street artists such as Banksy.  The site also provides easy access to be able to comment on individual artists and specific pieces, with direct links to both Facebook and Twitter. Subscribing to the site is super easy with the subscription link posted on every page.

By Jason Dallas

(picture did not take see site for details)

https://pegfitzpatrick.com/blog/

This is a main blogsite with sub-sites on various social media and how to’s. Example:” Pinterest says the maximum number of hashtags you can use is twenty. The number of hashtags isn’t the most important piece – it’s more important that you choose relevant, on-topic hashtags for your content. Don’t just add twenty because they recommend it. I’m going to test four – five hashtags on my pins.”- Peg Fitzpatrick

She has many more subjects. However, you must be a member to post to this blog which stinks. The information I got from the site helps me with some questions I have on social media. There are even tutorials on a video feed that explains each step in the social media arena. I, personally am resistant to social media, but this site address some of my fears and I might consider trying Pinterest as my first social media outing. A fear is my ex’s finding me and trashing my reputation on a social media site and hindering my chances for a job since most employers check that stuff now a days. It is a constant fear of what they might say out of spite. So careful monitoring of your name on social media might protect you down the road and save you a disappointment down the road at a job interview.

    FormFiftyFive: https://formfiftyfive.com

FormFiftyFive is a blog about design and allows designers to showcase their creative work. It does not only consist of graphic design but photography, movies and videos, technology and music as well. I have chosen this site because the first thing someone will see is ten tabs with different labels which makes it easier on a newcomer to find what they are looking for. The second label is “Showcase” and it is exactly that. The blog isn’t afraid to showcase other’s work and this allows viewers to easily find inspiration. The blog’s main purpose is for people to find inspiration through showcased work. After personally being on the site, I can confirm that it runs smoothly and isn’t difficult to find anything.  When you find an artist or piece of creative it isn’t difficult to find more information. FormFiftyFive provides links to the artists’ website where, for example, you can look deeper into someone’s portfolio. After being on the site it is easy to understand their emphasis on finding inspiration and is like that because it is put together well and runs smoothly. Everything about this blog is to help bring inspiration to others and show people new pieces of creative work to explore and learn from.

 This ‘Beautiful Oregon’ blog is the work of Tim Giraudier. A nature photographer who captures many of Oregon’s most beautiful sights through the lens of his camera. I mean it’s not hard to find beautiful places here in Oregon, but his photography brings me so much more pride and joy to be able to call this beautiful state my home. This blog includes 10 plus galleries of our state’s wonders. It’s a very easy site to get around and explore. Although I wish it was more sleek and clean; as I believe the more simple things are, the easier it is to focus on the big picture. Throughout this site Giraudier keeps little journal excerpts paired with images to keep us visually connected. It is a well kept and up to date site. The latest post was the 10th of this month on a almost clear night over the south Willamette National Forest of a very clear and detailed photo of an almost fullish moon. Not only does he provide journal entries, but upcoming events. Featured now on his blog is the Eugene saturday market.  I’m assuming he sells his prints there.  I’d recommend this site to anyone reading this. We all live in oregon don’t we? Support your local photographers.

 https://beautifuloregon.com/ 

Alex Wild: The Diversity of Insects

Website: http://www.alexanderwild.com/

I chose this blog because I find insects and photography separately very fascinating, and this is the perfect mashup of the two. However, the man behind this site isn’t just a photographer, he has a Ph.D in Entomology as well. Alex Wild (the blogs’ creator) is well known in the scientific community as well as the photographic community and has done work with National Geographic, Popular Science, and BBC Wildlife; just to name a few. He also has a blog dedicated to just ants specifically, you can find it here. A good resource of this website is to be entertained by his photography, but also learn a bit as well by reading the pictures’ captions’. Another good resource of this blog is the fact that every photograph you see, you can purchase a print of it online. I think the blog is very sleek and well produced, with its vivid photos against the black background, everything pops quite nicely. The navigation of the site is also nice and simple, all of your options are on the left bar of the page, and to fullscreen a photo, you just click on it. The quality of information is great; it doesn’t give you excess, unnecessary info. If you read the captions, the “About Alex” page, and any other directory; you get important information that’s short, sweet and to the point. I highly recommend this blog if you like wildlife photography/nature photography, and like to see the slightly-scientific side of photography.