But the creative individual is a dreamer, not always satisfied with their work or their position. There is always a need to be more, to do more.

I call this phenomenon “Creativism.” How do you know if you have it? Do you browse job boards at least twice a week? Do you look at ads and think of ways you could have done better? Do you find fulfillment only when you’re working on three or four projects at a time? Are you attending HOW Design Live?

Yes, if you’re attending HOW Design Live, you have Creativism.

The first hint is your interest in a conference that is five days long, has more than 100 different ways to extend your skills,  is made up of four distinctive conferences, and is hosting iconic graphic designers, identity creators and branders, many of whom have changed the world or expanded the role of design in the marketplace. Those individuals with Creativism won’t settle for learning about their own craft, they want to look for ways to do more, a true reflection of the goal of How Design Live.

If you haven’t registered for it, you still have time. Invest in your possibilities.

The Graphic Designer’s Career Resource Pack

Design touches every single area of business today. With so much opportunity, staying focused on you is even more important than ever before.

Organize your life’s work with the Graphic Designer’s Career Resource Pack now available at MyDesignShop.com, HOW’s official online store.

Included in the pack are popular career products: HOW Designer’s Career Guide, HOW’s Getting the Salary You Deserve and Planning Your Design Career, all immediately downloadable with purchase; 8 Critical Ingredients for a Success Graphic Design Career OnDemand Tutorial; and 50 Ways to (Almost) Get Fired, an MP3 presentation by Andy Epstein.

To take advantage of this learning opportunity at 76% off the retail price, visit MyDesignShop.com today. Invest in your future.

The post We Get You appeared first on HOW Design.

So please join us for a free online preview of one session at the Creative Freelancer Conference, June 6 @ 2pm ET to hear just that — a “from the trenches” session featuring four successful creatives who’ve been there, done that.

Each of them will share tips and strategies on how they run their businesses and you’ll discover what’s really working for today’s most successful freelancers. Sign up today and walk away with ideas and real world advice you can use immediately in your own business. Topics include:

• Wish You Were Here: How to stop dreaming and make your business goals happen with Jenn David Connolly of Jenn David Design
• Defining Your Business Principles and Building From Them with Jason Early of GruntMonkey.com
• How I F***ed Up As A New Freelancer (Even Though I Knew Better) with Jen Lombardi of KiwiCreative.net
• The #1 Reason Things Go Wrong Even When You’re Doing Everything Right with Erin Pheil of TimeForCake.com

BONUS: Sign up for this FREE webinar and receive a coupon good for the Creative Freelancer Conference in San Francisco, June 22-24, 2013! Sign up today.

The post Freelancers Share Their Best Business Practices
appeared first on HOW Design.

Denk sat and went through the notebook, carefully rereading all of his old teacher’s instructions and critiques. And, as he recently told The New Yorker, he had difficulty performing onstage for a week afterwards.

While playing, Denk would hear the teacher’s voice saying: “Better not play faster than you can think.” “Keep your back straight.” “Beware of concentration lapses.” This festered self-doubt.

Get more life and career lessons from Sam Harrison, opening keynote for this year’s InHOWse Managers Conference at HOW Design Live! Learn more and register now.

“Through several subsequent concerts, the voice lodged complaints and probed weaknesses,” says Denk. “Delivering opinions worse than any reviewer’s. It took me weeks to silence the voice and play normally again.”Denk’s experience dramatically demonstrates how internal judgment affects creativity and performance by acting as a breeding ground for self-doubt. Those long-ago words of criticism, once replanted in Denk’s brain, crushed his confidence and tamped down his talents.In my workshops for designers and others in creative industries, participants often reveal how negative voices in their heads stop them from expressing creativity. Sometimes they hear their own voice. Other times they hear the voice of a teacher, coach, parent, partner, boss or client. And listening to this internal negativity stops ideas in their tracks.As a designer, you’re no doubt familiar with having external sources take shots at your ideas. Although never easy to take, sideswipes come with the territory of being a creative person. But don’t double down on those negative noises from the outside by becoming the victim of your own internal voices.Here are five ways you can force out the naysayers inside your head

1. Write down what the voice tells you. Get the words out of your head and down on paper. Exposing internal judgment to the light of day diminishes its strength.
2. Repeat the voice’s words out loud while grinning. Keep saying the words out loud and keep smiling. Try laughing at the words — after all, internal judgment is usually more ridiculous than real.
3. Turn around the negative statement. If the internal voice says, “Your idea will never work,” turn it around to “My idea will definitely work.” If the voice says “Everybody will laugh at you,” turn it around to “I’ll laugh at me and not take myself so seriously.” If the voice says, “You don’t have the resources to do this,” turn it around to say, “I’ll find the resources I need to do this.”
4. Play some music. Not the sad, somebody-done-me-wrong stuff, but high-energy, upbeat sounds. Maybe even dance or plug in your ear buds for a quick walk — internal judgment hates lively exercise and will flee the scene.
5. Go explore. Internal judgment also abhors curiosity. There’s no room in its agenda for new books or blogs, unique restaurants or shops. Fill your mind with outside insights and crowd out internal judgment.

• Looking for tips to overcome a lack of motivation?

Resources to Improve Your Creativity

• Ready to enlist in Creative Bootcamp? Ten-Hut!
• In the November 2012 issue of HOW, Todd Henry shares tips to bring creativity to your design business.
• Looking for some creativity exercises? Get everything you need in the Ultimate Creative Workshop Collection.

The post 5 Tactics to Silence the Biggest Creativity Killer appeared first on HOW Design.

HOW: When did you first realize you wanted to be a graphic designer?

Evelio Mattos: The decision to shift from fine art to design was an evolution of my experiences. I began designing in Pagemaker in the early ’90s and never looked back.

HOW: What was your first job in the design field?

EM: Gopher! I got coffee and pastries and made copies for an advertising firm in Orange County. A few months into the job, the day came when they needed a fast turnaround on an illustration and the staff illustrator was unavailable.

HOW: What advice do you have for other designers aspiring to a similar career path?

EM: You don’t need to be everything to everyone. Having a laser-like focus in one area of design allows you to carve out your niche.

HOW: What’s been one of your most favorite projects?

EM: I will always have a place in my heart for our Juicy Couture Men’s Box. The production techniques we used to create the distressed look and feel of the box exterior came together so well that we’ve heard of clients purchasing them on eBay for their personal collections. So far, that box has been able to stand the test of time.

HOW: When you get stuck in a creative rut, how do you break free?

EM: I jump into a new project that one of our designers is working through and use their momentum to gain inspiration for my own projects. Nothing jumpstarts your creativity like seeing someone else making it look easy.

HOW: If you weren’t a designer, what would you be?

EM: Well rested!

HOW: Where did the idea for your session topic come from?

EM: The thing with design is that we separate ourselves from other parts of the business, such as finance, logistics and so on. Yet these departments’ decisions ultimately can impact your design. So why not include them up front?

This idea came to me after the last Dieline Conference I attended. During the conference we were all so inspired, but after the inspiration subsided and it was back to work as usual we realized that we left with less info than we actually thought. Also because design is so competitive, we left with many business cards, but no real connections—no one that we could call and ask questions, or look to for inspiration with confidence. I wrote to Andrew [Gibbs] and said, “If I were to speak, I would like to present something that designers both new and seasoned would be able to gain something from.” I wanted to present a tool that has worked for me, that may help someone approach a project differently and that maybe more successful. My hope is they’ll be able to look back on our discussion and use it to further their projects, and that it will give them a new way to approach their projects.

HOW: What are you most excited to share with session attendees in San Francisco?

EM: My goal is to be as transparent as I can. I feel that we as designers need to be more open with each other so that we may all learn. There’s a level of trust that can be attained from honest communication that even the lengthiest non-disclosure agreement can’t accomplish.

Meet Evelio in person at this year’s Dieline Package Design Conference!

The post Expert’s Corner: Evelio Mattos appeared first on HOW Design.

“What would you like to be when you grow up?”

When you were asked that question as a child, chances are you’d have said an astronaut or racing car driver or maybe a ballet dancer or a guitar player. Your young mind would have thought of a very clear singular and quite specialist route for a career, and later your educational route may also have encouraged that focus. The idea of being a jack-of-all-trades would have seemed very much like being a dabbling amateur.

Change is the name of the game in the digital world. Digital creative skill sets constantly need refreshing, and the platforms work is seen on by users changes at an astonishing rate. Keeping up with all the tech advances is a job in itself. This is certainly the wrong industry to be in if you can’t embrace change both in and around you. The key to success is to understand that you need to be flexible and become a specialist generalist—in other words, a digital creative who can diversify. Painting yourself into a corner by sticking with one niche, specialist skill is a dangerous choice when it comes to future-proofing your career as a digital creative. Core skills combined with a more generalist approach to digital make you a much more attractive proposition to an employer. It makes sense for an agency to want to put together a team of digital creatives with core competencies who can branch out rather than a team of one-trick ponies who work in a siloed fashion. This “silo” or “pipeline” way of working is where one individual does their specialist bit and then passes it onto another who in turn passes it onto somewhere else. It’s a specialist creative conveyor and one that misses out on two essential ingredients for creative working: collaboration and understanding.

Award-winning creative director, writer and filmmaker Paul Wyatt

If you’re a designer working on an interface layout, then having a working knowledge of how it needs to be built and fluidly designed to work on different devices and platforms will save time when it goes into development. You’ll also be able to work collaboratively with the developer, as you’ll understand his concerns and he’ll be able to see where you’re trying to get to with the layout. Okay, this might sound a little bit idealized for the real world, but at least you’ll both have enough knowledge of what the other does in order to create a level playing field so you can thrash out a solution together.

The convergence of relatable skills between these two areas—design and development—is evident in the new breed of creative technologists, where developers and creative come together. It’s a perfect pairing when you come to think of it, as coding is as creative a pursuit as pixel pushing but is rarely thought of as such because it’s notoriously hard to show a client that a coder has been creative with code. It’s much easier to engage them with a well-designed interface that they can see and mutter over.

It’s important for creatives not to see creativity and technology as two separate things. Programmers, coders and creatives need to come together at the initial project kickoff meeting and ask, “What can we do together?” At this point, it becomes truly creative and unrestricted by the knowledge of just one person.

Not so very long ago, designers could produce a Photoshop design and throw it over to a developer who would then be tasked to make all the “magic buttons” work. And more often than not, it would be bounced back to the designer because the function or a tech spec hadn’t been figured out before the design was completed. These days because of budget and time restrictions, the creative tech needs to be figured out right from the get-go. This is where the new wave of creative technologists are coming from, which is pretty much a fancy term (and probably a cooler one) than a specialist-generalist.

What we shouldn’t forget is that dipping your toes into different media and skill sets is also fun. Yes, fun. It’s not a dirty word. If you’re not of the opinion that your creative education ceased when you left university, then learning new stuff can be the best part of the job.

Relatable skills

Being a specialist-generalist in the digital creative world is about having an understanding and working knowledge of key areas that relate to your core skills. If you’re a designer of interfaces, then knowing how a user interacts by touch compared to a pointing device and what that means to your design is a relatable skill. If you’re a motion graphics designer, it would make sense to understand how your animations could also be formatted to be seen on television rather than just the web, should the need arise to port them across from one medium to another.

Learning on the job

Education doesn’t end on the last day of university or college. It’s only the start. There are so many learning opportunities in the creative industry, you’ll find that even if you’ve completely specialized at university you’ll be acquiring new skills as soon as you become involved in projects. You could go from being somebody who was graphics oriented to becoming involved in conceptualizing, storyboarding and animating. As soon as you start collaborating, you begin to understand what another creative does and the processes they follow. If you’re savvy, you’ll also ask lots of questions—not too many to be annoying but enough to learn how your fellow creative works. This is where flexibility is so important. Sticking your hand up and saying, “Hey, I’m the graphics guy. I do graphics and that’s that” won’t earn you any favors.

Working in creative isn’t like being an accountant or a butcher. You don’t stop doing it when you go home. It’s a career that’s a little obsessive. It’s with you all the time as you make connections between shape and form and ideas. Everything can inspire you, and that creative restlessness will encourage you to want to learn to make things out of digital nothingness. It’s the absolute joy of the job that at the start of the day there’s a blank page and by day’s end there’s an idea on the page in words, code or visuals. You’ll naturally become more of an all-rounder the longer you work in the industry, which in turn makes you and your creative talents more marketable.

Learn more about fostering a successful career in web, app, multimedia and broadcast design in The Digital Creative’s Survival Guide by Paul Wyatt, available now from HOW Books.

The post Becoming a Specialist Generalist: The Multidisciplinary Digital Creative appeared first on HOW Design.

• Ease of maintenance: Since the type is web-based (not contained within images), you can easily edit and update it.
• Lower cost: Because sites like this are easier to maintain, they cost less to own. Site owners will appreciate this as they maintain the site over the coming years.
• Better for SEO: The text on these sites is easy to index, giving you real search engine optimization benefits. This helps you maximize traffic to the site without additional work.

Done well, using web-safe fonts as the focus of your site design is not only practical but extremely beautiful. I find it really refreshing how beautiful good, old-fashioned text on the web can look these days. On we go to the 15 great examples of web typography:

EngineCreative.co.uk

This first example is definitely minimalist, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. A restrained use of color and type results in a gorgeous site that’s dead simple to use. The site clearly communicates the company’s personality and work.

Get a better understanding of user experience design with today’s live design tutorial How to Define the ‘User’ in User Experience, presented by Jose Caballer.

MINGGroup.net

The MING Group website has very little in the way of supporting graphics: The focus is on the text. Normally designs like this tend to feel forgettable to me, but this one has a dash of awesome sauce that makes it stand out. I love the animated rollovers on the home page and the smooth drop-down menu. These simple things help the design feel fluid and perfectly polished.

TheMavenist.org

This is by far the simplest and most minimal of all these site designs. There isn’t an overwhelming framework for the site. Instead, a very straightforward design sets the text-based content at the forefront. But the design isn’t simple or ignored; the text is polished to perfection and a work of art all in its own.

LocalHero.com

Microsites like this are a fantastic place to put web-based type to work. Products like this tend to need updates frequently, and having a site that’s simple to tweak is important. Why burden yourself with a design that’s time-consuming to update? No need when type can be this tasty.

CapsicumMediaworks.com

This creative agency’s site has more of a standard design—it’s more visually rich and relies on extra images. But still the vast majority of the text in the site is web-based. This means the site not only looks great, but it can easily be updated and maintained and it’ll have a longer lifespan.

SiteSpring.co

This site has marvelous hierarchy: If you scan this site, it’s easy to understand the different levels of importance in the content. This ensures users can quickly absorb the main points of the site and dig into the ones that matter most to them.

Mixforms.com

The text is gorgeous and beautifully styled—it has an almost print-like quality. Frankly, I had to double check whether this site’s text was image based. But as it turns out, the only image-based text is in the main logo. The supporting visuals make the site a gorgeous container for content to live in.

HVAnimalHospital.com

This beautiful example demonstrates that text-centric design isn’t just for designers. This site caters to a diverse audience, and its text-based design lets the site’s visitors find the information they need. On sites like this, it can be tempting to create overly thematic designs. But this site demonstrates how functional such a site can be when it focuses on communication and elegance instead.

MeltMedia.com

If an agency claims to have “Interactive Superheroes,” it only stands to reason that they would embrace the medium they work with. This beautifully styled site is firmly rooted in basic web elements and makes no effort to distract from its roots. However, the typography used clearly demonstrates their visual skills and how perfectly they meld them with the web. Seems like a good sales pitch to me.

EleventhEdition.com

All the text in this site is web-based except for the title. It has a poster-like quality with its center-aligned layout; the end result is a site that’s simple and to the point. It feels totally natural and totally cool.

KitchenSinkStudios.com

In this typography collection, this site is by far the most decorative example. The contents of the page are rendered in multiple fonts, but it’s all entirely web text. That ensures the text will get indexed in search engines and can be tweaked or modified at a moment’s notice.

PremiumPixels.com

This site has to change whenever the company releases new themes. Instead of relying on visuals that must be generated for each new product, they went with an easy-to-update type-focused design.

Editd.com

Considering that the site focuses on fashion, it’s surprising that it heavily relies on text for its design. While the design does include some images, the vast majority of the content is pure text.

get.gaug.es

A common place to find the text-centric approach is in the software industry, and it’s a great match. The simple layout helps the site focus on the product, and the web-based text makes it easy for the site to grow with the company.

BrunoMarinho.com

For the web portfolio of an individual who specializes in front-end code and design, it makes so much sense to leverage the most fundamental elements in powerful ways. The type is of course web-based, but it feels anything but plain.

More resources related to web typography:

• Jason Cranford Teague’s on-demand design tutorial, 6 Steps to Better Web Typography
• Above the Fold—Understanding the principles of successful web design by Brian Miller
• Type on the Web—on-demand design tutorial with Ilene Strizver

The post 15 Awesome Examples of Web Typography appeared first on HOW Design.

Are You Ready to Freelance?

Even if you’re a designer, writer, illustrator or website developer working for a company, I’m willing to bet that you’ve done some freelance work on the side. I’ve yet to meet a creative person that didn’t have numerous projects going at once. It typically starts with a friend or a former colleague interested in getting just a few things done and before you know it, you’re working nights and weekends on it. Often the best part of freelancing is that it is completely different from your regular job and diversity is the heart of designing.

Your first “friendly” freelance job probably did not include a contract or proposal. You were hired and a price agreed upon with a handshake. Unfortunately, you didn’t realize the job creep that would be involved and you vowed next time to put it all in writing. Setting up boundaries through written proposals is a great way to keep a positive relationship with your clients.

Ilise Benun, co-founder of Marketing Mentor Toolbox and founder of Creative Freelancer Conference has developed, “Proposal Bundle for Designers: 25 Resources for Project-Winning Proposals,” a guide to preparing proposals specific to graphic design, logo creation, book promotions, marketing and rebranding collaboration and more.

In addition, Benun provides a pre-proposal checklist that includes following up on potential projects and what to do if you are not chosen.

There is also a bonus section on responding to RFPs (requests for proposal) and a webcast where Benun discusses proposals that get noticed.

To learn more about this incredible bundle, visit MyDesignShop.com

Landing High Profile Projects

by The Creative Group, excerpted via HOWDesign.com

If you frequently find yourself getting passed over for premium gigs, despite having similar skills and experience as your colleagues, it’s time to boost your visibility. You might think your strong work speaks for itself, but in more cases than not, you have to toot your own horn to gain recognition and move your design career forward. Here are some tips on getting noticed and securing choice assignments:

1. Step up to the plate. Develop a reputation for stepping up when others stand back. Be the first person to throw your hat in the ring when the boss needs someone to assist with a difficult new project (like rolling out a new collaboration tool), even if it falls beyond the scope of your job description.

2. Make your voice heard. Your bright ideas won’t help your employer—or you—if you’re unwilling to take risks and share them. If you have a plan that could trim expenses or attract new clients, go public with it. Also, stay on management’s radar by regularly pitching potential solutions in staff meetings and brainstorming sessions. Companies prize innovative thinkers and confident communicators, not wallflowers and shrinking violets. (You don’t have to yell the loudest in order to be heard)

3. Highlight and quantify your contributions. Quietly hunkering down and doing a good job behind the scenes is commendable, but it’s not enough to further your design career. Don’t assume your manager is keeping track of your contributions. Instead of waiting for your annual review to roll around, apprise your supervisor of your most notable achievements on a regular basis.

4. Network internally. Many designers think of networking in terms of developing outside connections for job-hunting purposes. But expanding your reach internally is just as important to your career. Try to establish strong relationships with colleagues in all areas of your organization. Sign up for cross-departmental initiatives, attend company-sponsored events, and generally aim to be an outgoing member of the team.

5. Keep growing. Ambitious designers who demonstrate a commitment to learning have a distinct edge over those who stagnate. Make it known you’re always looking for ways to expand your skills. From brownbag lunch seminars to e-learning classes, take advantage of the professional development opportunities your employer offers. Join professional associations, read trade publications and attend business and design conferences, like HOW Design Live, to keep up with the latest trends. Then, share insights with your boss and coworkers.

*******

Ilise Benun will be a keynote at HOW Design Live’s Creative Freelancer Conference. Register Now

The post Freelance Proposal Templates appeared first on HOW Design.

via Inside the Magic on Youtube.

Once an image is captured, it is sent to a 3D printer to create the figurine. 

via Disney

Back in August, Disney did the same D-Tech Me 3D promotion, but this time young girls could be princess statues:

Your Stormtrooper “experience” as Disney touts it, includes the design, application, printing and creation for just $99.95, plus shipping and tax.

What do you think about this ‘Me’ design? Cute or Creepy?

The post Cute or Creepy: You are a 7″ Stormtrooper appeared first on HOW Design.

As solopreneurs, many of us feel like we need to do it all. We try to wear all the hats, including the ones that don’t fit us so well. We feel like if we ask for help, we’ll appear inexperienced or incapable. But don’t underestimate the value of asking for help—no matter where you are in your career.

Last year, I read an article that changed my mind about asking for help: You Already Know The Right People For Your Business. In it, Caroline Ceniza-Levine explained that entrepreneurs already know the people who can help them succeed: they simply need to reach out to their existing network.

This made sense to me. I knew a lot of smart, successful people. So when I had a business question or needed advice, I started reaching out to people I knew. And guess what: I got answers! It made me realize that people—especially small business owners—are genuinely interested in helping each other (especially freelancers and members of the CFC community -- check out the active LinkedIn Group here).

So why try to wear all the hats? Got a question or problem? Reach out to a fellow solopreneur, former boss, colleague. I can almost guarantee you’ll find an answer.

The CFC Conference (June 22-24 in San Francisco) is a great place to ask for help. Reach out to a fellow solopreneur or speaker and you just might find that next great idea for your business. You can still get $50 off with "ILISE" promo code.

The post Freelancers, do you ask for help? appeared first on HOW Design.

I’m certainly not trying to diminish any of the 100 included, I just have a soft spot for the unsung heroes. Daniel Graf, Director of Google Maps for Mobile is #5 on the list and acknowledges that tapping into his team’s creative energy is what catapulted Google Maps to the number one position on iTunes.

The Google Maps application was a staple on iPhones since it launched. Last year, Apple announced Google Maps was being replaced by an Apple map app. Thanks to Graf and his team, that decision was the best thing that ever happened to Google. (Close to the best).

In the Fast Company article, Graf talks about the importance of ongoing dialogue. “While I had no experience with maps, I’ve always been focused on creating simple experiences,” he says. It was that goal that led Graf to consistently go to his creative team.

“We had design reviews every single day, down to the pixel. Everyone in the room, from the product team to the design team, would discuss features. At first you might think, What a waste of time. But that hour a day is the reason why, when you read the reviews and use it yourself, the product seems so polished.”

The redesign proved brilliant. It gave Google the ability to include more local ads and earn more revenue. Within hours of its release in December of last year at the iTunes store, it was number one.

Says Graf in the Fast Company story, “Three years ago, Google wouldn’t have done products like this.”

Integration and collaboration between in-house teams made the difference, and took Apple by surprise in the process.

*******

Want to Inspire your in-house team? The In-House Designer’s Resource Pack gives you seven ways to step up your A-game at just $34.99 (76% off the retail price.) Here’s what you get:

HOW SINGLES: In-House Overhaul - Learn how the National Parks Conservation Association’s in-house design team motivated their creative team to push the limits of design to become 2013′s Best in Show for in-HOWse designer team.

HOW SINGLES: In-HOWse Design Awards 2013 - Do competition winners bring out the enthusiasm in you. More importantly, does it give you ideas? Take a look at the winners for this year’s In-HOWse Design Awards.

Metrics & Trends In-House Designers Need to Know – Take time to review the results of Cella, InSource and The BOSS Group’s annual survey of in-house designers. See if your challenges and successes are the same for others in your field.

The Secret of Project Management for In-House Designers - Led by Daniel Shutzsmith, this podcast will help you set up a successful workflow from start to finish and organize your creative team.  

From Order-Taker to Business Partner, Changing the Corporate Attitude Toward In-House Designers -Bob Calvano guides in-house managers through making a creative team transformation, including snatching up the best projects typically going to agencies. “If you want the work that goes to the agency, then you need to position your team like an agency, make a transformation, and shift everyone’s mindset in the company—the design team included.”

The Corporate Creative: Tips and Tactics for Thriving as an In-House Designer - Are you looking for a book that can help you communicate with management in terms they will understand; work seamlessly across departments; motivate your team; manage your internal clients; and perhaps even cut through the red tape typically associated with in-house projects? This book has the answers.

Caffeine for the Creative Team by Stefan Mumaw, Wendy Lee Oldfield - Mumaw and Oldfield offer 150 exercises to inspire group innovation, clear out the mind and focus on the task of creating brilliant creative designs. For that kind of goal, a few exercises are essential.

The post Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People appeared first on HOW Design.