Just Creative Design

Instant Inspiration + Student Mobiles

Published on Thursday, May 28, 2009 – 12:06 am | 41 brilliant comments »

In each issue of Layers Magazine they run a spot called Instant Inspiration which is where they “showcase an established commercial designer and pick their brain in an effort to gain insights on the creative process and inspiration in general.”

I was fortunate enough to be chosen for the May / June edition of the magazine and below you can find the short interview along with some quick pictures of the mag. You can also view a PDF version of the 3 page spread here.

At the bottom of this article you will find some student mobiles - curious?

What’s the “method to your madness?”

I have a 2.4-GHz Dual Core PC, dual monitor setup, cordless keyboard, Logitech MX Revolution mouse, and I use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Dreamweaver. I also do some 3D work in Cinema 4D and Xara3D. The rest is basically pen and paper.

What inspires you?

I never have just one source of inspiration. Every project has different needs so I go to different sources depending on what is needed. For example, for a Web Design I would look for inspiration online; however, if I were after some print design inspiration I would look offline. I also make use of the website www.delicious.com - a search engine that many designers use for bookmarking. I’ve also compiled a list of my own inspirational resources that I share on my blog.

On Layers magazine:

I think the diversification of Layers is what makes it stand out. It really does cater to everyone, which is needed these days. Designers need a large range of skills to be able to work across a variety of mediums.

What are you working on now?

At present, I am working on five logo designs, two websites, an environmentally friendly glass water bottle design, two vodka bottle designs, a liquor bottle design, a 60-page logo design ebook, and a comic book illustration (in collaboration). I am also constantly working on my three personal websites/blogs: Just Creative Design, Logo of the Day, and Logo Designer Blog .

What has been your crowning achievement so far?

I believe my blog Just Creative Design would have to be my biggest achievement. To have a subscriber base of over 16,000+ readers who want to read what I have to say is, to me, quite astonishing. I send out a big thank you to all of my readers — you really do inspire and drive me to learn more and more! Thank you again!

Any advice?

Don’t undervalue your work. Seek criticism, not praise. Always keep learning—do this by reading books, magazines, blogs, and by practising. Collect and share things. Teach others. Never give up. Keep practising. Again, keep practising!

Mugshot

My mugshot also appeared for a second time on their “Instant Inspiration” page which is a page near the back of the mag that gets people to subscribe to Layers mag.

In the same issue of Layers magazine, you will also find the tutorial How To Make Your Next Website Design POP that I posted about earlier this week. I also wrote the Layers cover article; Negative Space back in April.

Stay tuned for more because I will be appearing in the next two editions of Layers with some Illustrator tutorials.

Student Mobiles

Moving on from magazines to mobiles… not mobile phones - mobiles - the old fashioned ones. You know the ones you stared at for hours when you were a baby?

Well, first year design students at my University had to create a creative mobile based on the design process of a logo. I actually remember doing this assignment two years ago when I was in first year (in my final year now) so it was quite surreal to come back and see my own logos being used for the assignment.

In total there were three of my own logos being used for the assignment (2 of my JCD logo and 1 of the Ultimate Potential logo). I also noticed Chris Spooner’s Vivid Ways logo being used.

Below you can see a few amateur snaps from the the exhibition. The first picture is a shot of the exhibition with all of the student’s mobiles hanging from the roof.

Below you can see a student’s interpretation of my Just Creative Design logo design process.

Below you can see a close-up shot of how the student has depicted the design process (using icons).

Below you can see a student’s interpretation of Chris Spooner’s Vivid Ways Logo. Spooner’s logo was also awarded Logo Of The Day earlier this month.

Below you can see a student’s interpretation of my Ultimate Potential logo. It is made out of wooden boxes, which is a rather creative way of representing the process.

Below you can see a not-so-creative interpretation of the infamous I Heart NY Logo. The mobile doesn’t depict the process (ie. the purpose of the assignment) but anyway, thought it was worth showing.

Your comments are welcome, as always.

41 comments thus far »

Beware of the Net Trademark Registration Scam

Published on Monday, May 25, 2009 – 2:44 pm | 41 brilliant comments »

I have recently been contacted by a domain registration company (HK N R S) from Hong Kong who said that I would lose my domain name if I didn’t register it with their “net trademark” system.

At first I took this quite seriously however after a bit of googling I found that I am not the only one who has received an email like this. Anyway, I went along with their ploy to see how it would fold out and below you can see some of our email communication… thought I would share this with you guys so something like this does not happen to you.

You may also want to read about my experience of being banned from my own website or David Airey’s experience of being hacked via the Google Email Phishing Filter Scam.

Dear Just Creative Design,

HK N R S Ltd creates high-impact and professional services for intellectual property right of users. Our center protects company profile and their internet products information by protecting net trademark and domain name.

An organization submitted a formal application to our auditing department to apply for this word “justcreativedesign” as their net trademark on 14 May,2009.

According to the above facts, I send you this Attorney Letter to confirm the ownership rights for this net trademark. We checked that you are real trademark owner. This is why we inform you. You have a priority to register the net trademark. If you give it up, the applicant will get the registration and own it legally for ever. I request that you must make a confirmation in fifteen business days. Fifteen days are our auditing period from the day you receive this letter.

If you wish to gain further information about HK N R S Ltd, its activities and net trademark information, you may view web site at www.hkh.hk.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation about this matter.

Sincerely,

Schacter.ji
Schacter.ji@hkh.hk
www.hkh.hk
HK N R S Ltd

I then replied:

Hello Schacter.ji,

I confirm that justcreativedesign and the trademark is owned by me and I have the ownership rights to it.

Please do not sell or give ownership of this to anyone else. Can you please clarify what you mean by this phrase: “You have a priority to register the net trademark.”? Do I have to register it?

Thanks.

Regards,
Jacob Cass

Then they replied:

Dear Jacob,

Thanks for your reply.

We know you are the trademark owner, so you can register earlier than the applicant. Registering is good for you. Net trademark and trademark are different. Trademark is registered under the government’s check and ratify. If any organizations and individuals didn’t register, you can register. Net trademark can be registered and used openly in the world. First register first get.

In this situation, I offer two ways to deal with this matter:

1.use law to protect your own intellectual property rights. Start a lawsuit against applicant and pass the court’s rule. But it needs lots of time and money.

2.ask us to register for you to protect. You are the trademark owner, so you have the priority to register the net trademark.

Usually we suggest clients choose the second way. Thinking of time and money, the second way is the best.

In accordance with the regulation of our country, we are working for the protection of intellectual property with our clients. Net trademark is part of intellectual property rights, so I strongly suggest that you register to protect this net trademark. If you confirm to register, I will send an application form to you. If you have any questions or requirement, please contact me.

Best regards,

Schacter.ji

I then replied:

Hello,

Can you please send through this form and what country is this for?

And what actually are we registering, just the name “Just Creative Design?”

Regards,
Jacob Cass

They then replied:

Dear Jacob,

Now I send you the registration procedure and service fee.
The price is 1118USD/one/5years, 2000USD/one/10years, 3680USD/one/20years.

The registration process of net trademark as follows,
1, You confirm to register this net trademark. Then we will send an application form includes a remit account number to you.
2, Fill out application form and send it back to us by E-mail.
3, Once getting your payment, we would immediately repeal the third-party’s application and start your registration. The registration will be finished within 15 business days. After that, we send you net trademark registration certificate.
Please contact us if you have any questions.

PS:Sorry. I can’t offer the applicant’s information because you are not our customer now.

schacter.ji

I have not since replied. I will update this page if anything else comes from it.

Have you ever experienced something like this? Please do share.

41 comments thus far »

Just Creative Design Goes Mobile

Published on Friday, May 22, 2009 – 12:00 pm | 13 brilliant comments »

Thanks to the generosity and help from Mobify, Just Creative Design now has a mobile version. This means you can read JCD’s articles on your iPhone or mobile device while having the pages & images load up to 7 times faster. See some of the screenshots below if you haven’t got an internet enabled phone or use this site for a rough emulation (type http://m.justcreativedesign.com as the address).

It was really easy to set up the mobile version of JCD through Mobify’s dashboard… the interface behind the scenes of Mobify is quite easy to use and I had the mobile version of JCD customised within 20 minutes of signing in to their site.

The only real problem I had was trying to create my own domain name (http://m.justcreativedesign.com rather than http://jcd.mobify.com) as I had to change my DNS CNAME records which I had to contact my hosts for.

However in saying that, the support of Mobify was very helpful - in many cases I had a response to my questions within a few minutes or if not, a few hours.

Mobify also offer a variety of CMS plugins that automatically directs users on a phone / mobile device to the mobile version of the site rather than the full site which is pretty handy (if not essential).

Oh, and you get your own icon too which is useful if people want to create an icon shortcut to your website on their phone homescreen (see screenshot below). You can also track the mobile traffic stats through Google Analytics.

Anyway, the good news is that Mobify are currently offering this service for free, so maybe you want a mobile version for your site?

For those who want a do-it-yourself alternative, there are also a number free Wordpress plugins out there (that I haven’t tested) ie.  Mobile Press & dotMobi (not associated with Mobify).

When I asked Mobify how they differed from plugins such as these, this was their reply:

Mobify is a universal mobile design environment… Plug-ins like this one aren’t bad, but they look very simple and make your site look like any other site with that plugin. Usually they only support the very basic functionality (posts, comments) so any 3rd party modules you have are unusable.

With Mobify our intention was to build a tool with the simplicity of Photoshop, that allows you to literally do anything for mobile. In the future we will see if we can migrate more of our features down into the plugin space, right now our plugin is for redirection only.

So yeah, we’re just a different approach to the mobile problem!

So yeah, up to you which route you go, but I recommend Mobify.

iPhone Screenshot

iPhone Homescreen Screenshot

(Thanks to @retinart for the screenshot below)

Blackberry Screenshot

Nokia Screenshot

Have you made your website mobile friendly? If so, how did you go about doing it?

13 comments thus far »

How To Make Your Next Website Design Pop

Published on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 – 4:00 pm | 54 brilliant comments »

Web design is one of those areas that when done right, you know it. It looks polished, refined and generally, just well done - it pops! There are a number of ways that you can achieve this and that is by ‘polishing’ off your design. Here we look at some of the ways to do just that.

1. Layout The Fundamentals

Before you go about making your website pop, you first must have your basic fundamentals in place. By this stage you would have done the research, laid out your website appropriately and done most of the basic design work… but you have not yet done ‘the polish’. In this tutorial we are looking at some techniques put in place for a chocolate delivery website; however, these techniques can be applied anywhere.

On another note, you may also like to read about the logo design process for the UKE logo you see below.

2. Check Alignment & Spacing

Alignment and spacing in web site design creates order, organises the page and groups parts of the website for easy navigation. In the screenshot below you can see the guidelines in place ensuring everything is aligned (the grid is from www.960.gs). Notice how the logo and all of the text is left aligned? Also, take note of the even spacing around the boxes and text. Use the guidelines in Photoshop to ensure all of your elements are aligned which can be done by dragging ‘rulers’ from your rulers tab. Press Ctrl+R to turn rulers on.

3. Apply Anti-Aliasing To Text

Something that is often over looked when designing for the web is the use of Anti-Aliasing in your text. For those who don’t know, anti-aliasing is the technique of minimising distortion artefacts. There are a few ways to minimise this distortion in your text but the best way is to make use of your ‘Character’ panel. You can choose between None, Sharp, Crisp, Strong and Smooth. The best way to see what works best is to experiment as different fonts and sizes will yield different results; however, the Sharp setting usually prevails.

4. Add a 1 Pixel Stroke

Something that really makes a difference in making a website pop is the use of 1 pixel stroked borders and lines. These stroked borders really add that extra crispness to the design as it gives extra contrast to the surrounding elements and gives the design more depth. Notice the zoomed-in screenshot below; see the inner purple lines that run alongside the inside of the boxes? You can add these 1 pixel borders by using your stroke option found in the ‘Blending Options’ panel. This technique also works great for large text.

5. Add Subtle Gradient Effects

Gradients are popping up everywhere in web design and for a reason - they add depth and real aesthetic to the design. Unlike print design where gradients seem flat, on the screen they make a design come alive. Notice the slight dark to light purple gradient in the screenshot below? Also take note of the slight transparency. These effects give the design a new dimension, making the image come off the screen so to speak. Use the ‘Blending Options’ in Photoshop to create these nice subtle (emphasis on subtle) effects.

6. Add Subtle Drop Shadows

Used in conjunction with the gradients and stroked borders is the use of subtle drop shadows. Once again, these shadows add a new depth and dimension to your design as it makes the different elements on the page play against each other so that they pop out at you. Notice in the screenshot below; the logo, text and boxes all have subtle drop shadows applied to them which break them away from the other elements. You can use the Photoshop ‘Blending Options’ to achieve these effects - but make sure you use them in moderation.

7. Have a Hierarchy & Call to Action

When someone first visits your website what is the first thing they are going to do? Is there a clear hierarchy of what to read or do first? What is the purpose of the site? These are all questions that you should have considered at the start of the project however now is a good time to go back and reflect on these decisions. Can you adjust the colours, size or position to achieve better results? Notice in the screenshot below that the call to action on the UKE website is the ‘Pick a Basket’ button which is placed conveniently after the main opening slogan.

8. Colour Correction & Sharpening

In web design, photos, icons and images are usually quite prominent so you should ensure that they are of the utmost highest quality. Check the color balance, sharpness and contrast of each image and make certain that it balances with the rest of the page and other images. A good way to do this is to make use of Photoshop’s ‘Levels’, ‘Unsharp Masking ‘ and ‘Curves’ functions.

9. Less Is More.

In web design, the old saying goes, “less is more” (in most cases). After completing your web site design, have a break and come back to it.

• Is there anything that you can remove, fix, replace, move, change or edit?
• Does one element take up to much space or draw too much attention?
• Are there too many colours?
• Does the site balance?
• Is there consistency?
• Can I make use of more white space?

10. Summary

Next time you set out to design your next website you can ask yourself these questions…

• Have I got the basic fundamentals in place?
• Can I improve my alignment or spacing?
• Have I used the appropriate anti-aliasing?
• Can I sharpen my images or text with strokes or borders?
• Can I give more depth to the page by using gradients or drop shadows?
• Is there a clear hierarchy with a call to action?
• Are all of the images colours corrected, balanced and sharpened?
• And last of all, ask yourself this… does the website pop?

11. Recommended Web Design Reading

• How To Elevate Your Website Design Process & Results
• From PSD To HTML: Building a Set Of Website Designs Step By Step
• 10 Principles of Effective Web Design
• 5 More Principles of Effective Web Design
• 10 Web Design Usability Issues You Should Be Aware Of
• Applying Devine Proportion To Your Web Design
• 8 Useful Tips To Help Your Website Convert
• 10 SEO Rules for Designers

and for lots more recommended web design reading, just search “web design” on Smashing Magazine or view the Interface section on PSD Tuts.

Pictures of Layers Magazine

This tutorial was originally written for Layer’s Magazine May / June edition. Below you can see a few quick snaps of the above article in Layers Magazine.

Have you got any other tips on how to make your next website design pop?

54 comments thus far »

The Past, Present & The Future

Published on Sunday, May 10, 2009 – 8:21 pm | 45 brilliant comments »

This post is a general overview of what I have been up to, where I am at and where I am going in the short future.

agIdeas 2009

This past week I have been down in Melbourne for the 3 day design conference agIdeas and it was simply awesome… I learned so much and was awe inspired by the quality and passion behind all of the speakers who had so much knowledge & insight to share.

Unfortunately I didn’t take many notes over the three days so I can not give much of a review of what was said however I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience… from hearing the masters talk about their craft right through to the free beer, pizza and parties. My favourite talkers were Sean Cummings, Stefan Sagmeister, Tobias Frere-Jones, John Marsden, Étienne Minuer, Michale Persson and Stanley Wong.

For those interested in attending a similar design conference (I highly recommend it) here is a great article that lists many US and international design conferences.

Calling For Guest Posts

Would you be interested in writing an article for Just Creative Design? If so, please send me an email with what you have in mind. I need to have the completed article before 24th May. All topics are welcome.

Travel Plans

The reason I am calling for guest posts is because I am going to go travelling for 2 months and won’t have the time to write enough posts for my time away.

For those interested, I am heading to Japan for 10 days, Cambodia for 6, Vietnam for 16 and then I will have 1 week back in Australia and then will head over to New Zealand for 10 days for a snow boarding trip.

If you have read my about page, you may know that I love traveling and have shared my experiences many times here on JCD. This trip will be no different and I will share some of the photos when I return.

These are the other places I have been for those interested: Belgium, Canada (British Columbia, Whistler, Blackcomb, Big White), USA (California, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Las Vagas, Florida), Denmark (Copenhagen), United Kingdom (London), Fiji (Nadi, Suva), Finland (Suomi), France (Paris, Bordeaux, Nice), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway (Oslo), Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sweden (Goteborg, Stockholm), Vanuatu, Spain (Pamplona, Barcelona), Monaco, Italy (Rome, Capri, Vienna, Venice, Florence, Sorrento), Vatican City, Greece (Corfu), Austria, Germany (Munich, Heidelberg), Liechtenstein, Switzerland (Jungfrau Mountain / Lauterbrunnen), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Norfolk Island, Hong Kong, Thailand (Phuket, Bangkok, Samui), Vietnam, Cambodia (Siem Riep & Phnom Penh), Japan.

NYC Creative Studio Job Offer

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be offered a job in New York City by a creative director at a new media marketing agency. I have put forward my interest in the job and am currently in talks with a few contacts over in NYC to see if we can make the move a reality, considering such things as payment, accommodation, visas, etc.

If everything works out I should be over there at the end of this year.

Update:  July 24th 2009 - It has been confirmed, I am leaving for NYC, January 2010.

As for the future of JCD and my other blogs Logo of the Day and Logo Designer Blog… who knows? Things eventually have to come to an end but I don’t have plans for doing anything like that just yet… I think I will just have to post less frequently.

Other News

Bottle being manufactured in China

Above is a 3D mock-up for a sustainable, refillable glass water bottle that I designed for a Miami based water company a few months ago. The bottle is currently being manufactured in China and I am eagerly awaiting to see the final product in a few weeks. I am quite excited about this project and can’t wait to see the results which is why I am sharing the mock-up with you now.

I will write up about the design process (similar to my Vodka bottle design process) once I get the product in my hands and the professional photographs come through from the client in the US.

I will then proceed to complete their identity (website + promotional material) which I am also looking forward too.

Jobs I am currently working on

Below are some of the projects I am currently working on:

• Liquor Bottle Design (for a Jamaican rum based liquor)
• 4 Identity Designs + Stationery
• Logo Design eBook
• Newcastle Fashion Week Identity + Promotional Material (Pro bono work)
• Comic Strip (in collaboration with 3 others at University)
• Vector Toy Character Illustration (University work)
• Creativity Speech (University work)
• Vero Website / Promotional Material (soon)

I am currently taking work for August.

Layers magazine 3 page spread

If you have a look in the latest issue of Layers Magazine (May/June) you will find a three page spread of me and my work (page 26). I give a shout out to you (my readers) so keep an eye out for that too.

I have a PDF copy of the spread here but I have not received the tangible copy just yet… once I do I will take some pics and post them up in a new blog post.

Sky diving

I should also mention that I am going Sky Diving this weekend… just incase I don’t come back. Eek. Update: Survived and the photos are on my Facebook page.

45 comments thus far »