Just Creative Design

Graphic Design Group Writing Project still going ahead!

Update: Click the actual $5000+ graphic design group writing project here.

Ten days ago I called for sponsorship for a Massive Graphic Design Group Writing Project that I am holding and I am just letting you know that even after my problems, the project is still going ahead.

Please check out my call for sponsorship post.

What do prize sponsors get in return for sponsorship?

• 80 Photoshop Brushes – I have a huge collection of 80 royalty free photoshop brush sets that I will be giving to ALL sponsors. I will provide the link at the prize draw.
• More Subscriptions – You will get more subscriptions as people will subscribe to your blogs to gain extra entries into the prize draw.
• Blog Roll Adds – You will get onto peoples blogrolls as people will add you to gain extra entries into the prize draw.
• Link Love – The most valuable prize of all… blogs will link to your website to gain more entries into the draw. By writing an article you will also gain more exposure.
• 2 or more Links – I will give 2 links to your blog with the appropriate anchor text on the main blog writing article and also on the final prize draw post. These will be getting a huge amount of traffic.
• 9x Free 2 Months Advertisement on JCD –I will be giving away 9 free 16×16 advertisements to 9 random lucky people to be displayed on Just Creative Design.
• A chance to win all the other prizes that people put up for sponsorship.

Prizes Already Put Up For Sponsorship

• Electric Guitar - Yes! An Electric Guitar with all the equipment needed!! This was a sacrifice from Rafie from mohdrafie.co.uk, so he could focus more on design. A VERY generous sponsorship prize. More details will be included in the next post, but at this time I am still calling for sponsorship.
• 55 iStock Credits - PJ from WP-Premiums has offered this kind donation for a prize.
• Plus more but I’ll keep them a secret for now

Prizes Sponsored by myself.

• Logo design or blog header design by myself. If you are unaware of my designs, you can check out my portfolio)
• Go Media Vector Packs - Ultimate Vector Collection 1 - 597 Vectors royalty free. (Worth $523)
• Adobe Photoshop Brush Pack - A collection 80 royalty free photoshop brushes. View preview here.
• 2 Months Free Advertising - Nine 16×16 pixel squares on Just Creative Design. Check out my advertising page for more details.

Please check out my call for sponsorship page for more information on sponsoring this massive graphic design group writing project.

Call For Sponsorship - lots of FREE stuff for you!

Update: Click for the actual $5000+ graphic design group writing project here.

Today I am calling for sponsorship for a MASSIVE graphic design group writing project that I am going to be running next week. I am single-handingly going around to all the graphic design blogs (and lots of other blogs) to gain sponsorship for this project as well as this blog post. This is going to be huge.

The Project

I’ll tell you a bit about the project… Next week I will be calling all bloggers and readers out there who are interested in design to post an article on the subject of graphic design, By ‘Graphic Design’ I mean some sort of a post that gives advice, tips, resources lists or a tutorial on how to do something related to the field.

One post submission will gain you 10 points into the draw and there are many other ways to gain bonus entries as outlined below. I will go into this into more length when I actually post the project.

• Link to Sponsors (THIS COULD BE YOU) - For every 4 sponsors a blogger links to in any post they get 1 entry.
• Subscribe to blogs that have written an article - Gain 3 entries per blog.
• Write a blog post about the competition - Gains you 3 entries.
• Add sites to your blog roll - Add any of sponsors or author’s sites to your blog roll. 2 Entries per site added.

Update: Some people have been warning me of the dangers of running a competition as David Airey was penalised by Google for black hat seo however this was due to him asking for specific anchor text linking back to his site. I am not asking for any link backs at all, I am just saying that it would be nice to link back.

By having these bonus entry points, this will ensure that the link love will be spread around the graphic design world and blogosphere. And who doesn’t want link love?

During the project I will be adding all the links to one post and this is where we can view each others articles, make new friends and enjoy the link love. At the end of the project I will be drawing the prizes using a random number generator and this is where you come into the equation.

Sponsorship

I have put a lot of effort into organizing this project and I am asking for your support.

If you have anything you can put up for sponsorship this would be appreciated. If you are stuck for ideas: offer your services, vouchers, istock credits, magazine subscription, cash, anything at all that would appeal as a prize. Be creative. Or you could check out some prize ideas that were offered on David Aireys $4000 blog draw last September.

I am sponsoring hundreds of dollars worth of prizes… I am offering a free logo design or blog header design (check my portfolio here), The Ultimate Vector Collection 1 Pack from GoMedia* (597 vector pieces worth $523) and 2 months of free advertising.

What do you get in return for sponsorship?

For your kind sponsorship of course you will get something in return…

• 80 Photoshop Brushes – I have a huge collection of 80 royalty free photoshop brush sets that I will be giving to ALL sponsors. I will provide the link at the prize draw.
  
• More Subscriptions – You will get more subscriptions as people will subscribe to your blogs to gain extra entries into the prize draw.
• Blog Roll Adds – You will get onto peoples blogrolls as people will add you to gain extra entries into the prize draw.
• Link Love – The most valuable prize of all… blogs will link to your website to gain more entries into the draw. By writing an article you will also gain more exposure.
• 2 Links – I will give 2 links to your blog on the main blog writing article and also on the final prize draw post. These will be getting a huge amount of traffic.
• 9x Free 2 Months Advertisement on JCD –I will be giving away 9 free 16×16 advertisements to 9 random lucky people to be displayed on Just Creative Design.
• A chance to win all the other prizes that people put up for sponsorship.

If you are interested and have a prize for sponsorship for this huge project please don’t hesitate, give me a yell by email or leave a comment on my blog. If suitable, another good idea would be to request for sponsorship on your blog.

Lastly, if there is anything you need at all, at any time, please just ask, I would be happy to help.

I look forward to this project being a huge success for all!

Happy Blogging and all the best.

*Affiliate Link

Australia Day! - Test Your Aussie Slang

Today, is Australia Day! - our national day. Quoting the Australia Day website “January 26th, is the biggest day of celebration in the country and is observed as a public holiday in all states and territories.

On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what’s great about Australia and being Australian. It’s the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation.”

In otherwords, its an excuse for everyone to come together, have a bbq and have a few drinks. Anyway this is a fun post to test your Aussie slang, something we are kinda infamous for down here in Oz. Try not to scroll down for the answers as it just ruins the fun!

Match these Aussie Slang terms with their meanings.

1. Matilda

• a. Wife
• b. Swag
• c. BBQ
• d. Cat

2. Sanger

• a. Sausage
• b. Sandpit
• c. Sandwich
• d. Fire

3. Boomer

• a. Thunder
• b. Kangaroo
• c. Tin roof
• d. Gun

4. Willy willy

• a. Brother
• b. Milkshake
• c. Card Game
• d. Mini tornado

5. Togs

• a. Swimming trunks
• b. Long trousers
• c. Short trousers
• d. Underwear

6. Tinny

• a. Boat
• b. Cola
• c. Frying pan
• d. Pie

7. Jackeroo

• a. Marsupial
• b. Husband
• c. Station worker
• d. Machinery tool

8. Grog

• a. Sticky puddle
• b. Dog
• c. Bull
• d. Alcohol

9. Wedgie

• a. Painful
• b. Eagle
• c. Seasoned potato chip
• d. Pizza

10. Bonzer

• a. Suntan
• b. Coin
• c. Mate
• d. Good

Answers

1 - B, Matilda A Matilda is a swag, a roll of blankets and used as a bed when travelling. This name came about because The original Swagmen (they were always men) Treated the Swag as a wife, taking it everywhere, and it was their only companion most of the time. Thus came the saying “Waltzing Matilda” which simply meant Swagging, or “Roving”.

2 - C, Sanger - Sandwich, not much explanation here

3 - B, Boomer - Kangaroo, or specifically a large male, usually a red.

4- D, Willy Willy - A small tornado (though they turn in the opposite direction here) and are generally easily visible by the dust they carry.

5 - A, Togs - Swimming trunks, though in Australia they are more commonly known as “bathers” or “swimmers”.

6 - A, Tinny - A Boat, specifically a small aluminum vessel, usually with a small outboard motor. Tinny is also the term most commonly used for a can of beer.

7- C, Jackeroo Station Worker, most likely originating from a combination of “Kangaroo” and “Jack of all trades” . A female station worker is known as a Jilleroo.
8- D, Grog - Grog is the term for Alcoholic substances. ‘Booze’ and ‘Piss’ are also common terms.

9- B, Wedgie - being short for “Wedge-tailed Eagle” the most common eagle in Australia, and the largest.

10 - D, Bonzer - Bonzer is just really good! eg. That ute is bonza mate!

If you are interested in the million other phrases that us Aussies have, check out Aussie Slang. You’ll have a good laugh at some of them.

Tutorial: How to print blog articles the smart way.

Do you ever want to read an article while going to work or while on public transport?
Do you ever want to save an article for future use? Pin it up on your wall?

Then this is when you need to print blog articles - but how many of you have been doing it the smart way?

Yes, I know all of you will be saying “You just press File, then Print.” or maybe the smart arses out there, Ctrl+P or Apple Key+P but no, this is not the best way to print blog articles.

This article will show you 2 smarter ways to print, which will save you on paper waste and ink - aka, save you money. In this example we can get a 10 page print job down to just 2 pages (or even just 1 if you have a duplex printer).

The Old Not-So-Smart Way

First off, let’s compare the way the majority of people print their blog articles. Most people would go to the article they want printed and then press Print either from the menu bar (as above) or by the keyboard shortcut CTRL + P or APPLE + P.

If you printed the old way, it would print the header of the website, the side bars and even the advertisements (see image above). Using the 11 Essential Tips to Writing a Tutorial page as an example, using the old way, it would take 10 pieces of paper (without the comments) to print the whole article which is in turn wasting paper and ink.

The Smart Way

There is an alternative to just pressing print and this is by using the ‘Print Range’ or ‘Print Selection’ function available in all printers. This smart way will get the pages down to just 4 pages or if you have a duplex printer (prints on both sides of the paper) just 2 pages.

How To Do It?

1. Highlight the parts of the page you want selected.

To do this left click at the start of the article heading and hold down your mouse button & drag down to highlight all of the text and/or images that you want to be printed. Notice the grey highlight in the image above. This is what is going to be printed.

2. Go to the usual way you print and click File, Print or press CTRL + P or Apple + P but stop there.

3. Find the ‘Print Range’ area in your print dialogue box - see picture below. The example I am using is for a Canon Printer but your printer may be different.

4. If you have a duplex printer go to step 5 if not, Click OK or Print and hey presto, you save 6 pages of paper.

5. Duplex: If you have duplex printing, try to find in your print options, a tick box that has ‘Duplex Printing’ or ‘Double Sided Printing’ and make sure this is ticked. The location of this tick box is different on every printer so this goes beyond this tutorial, but check your printer manual.

The Smartest Way to Print

There is an even smarter way to print but it is a bit more time consuming and you also must have a Word editor such as Microsoft Word. Using this way I managed to get everything into just 2 pages, or just 1 page if you have duplex printing. This way is saving you 8 or 9 pages of paper.

How To Do It?

1. Highlight the parts of the page you want selected.
To do this left click left Click at the start of the article heading and hold down your mouse button & drag down to highlight all of the text and/or images that you want to be printed. This is what is going to be printed.
2. Open your Word editor and press Paste (Ctrl + V). This will paste the article or your selection into your word editor.
3. If using Microsoft Word Go to File, Page Setup, change the Margins to 1cm on all sides. See image.

4. Go through your article and delete any images that you do not wish to have.Change the font size to what ever you find readable.

5. If you have a duplex printer go to step 5 if not, Click OK or Print and hey presto, you save 8 pages of paper.
6. Duplex: If you have duplex printing, try to find in your print options, a tick box that has ‘Duplex Printing’ or ‘Double Sided Printing’ and make sure this is ticked. The location of this tick box is different on every printer so this goes beyond this tutorial, but check your printer manual.

Inspiration

This article was inspired by Vivien’s article Blog Feng Shui which told me how bloggers can create print friendly blog articles by CSS. Vivien told me how not everyone knew about the method of selection printing and that is why I have written this tutorial for DailyBlogTip’s Blog Writing Project on Tutorials.

3 More Great Tutorials:

• Optimize your Blog Post for Google - Tips that you might not have heard by Shankar.
• Effective Linking With Your Old Post in 10 Steps by Dexter.
• Protect Your Blog And Counter Copyright Thefts by Tibi

Support and Questions

If you have any questions or support feel free to ask. Is there anything I missed or some other way for smarter, quicker, more resourceful printing? Thanks.

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Happy New Year + New Year Resolutions

Just another quick friendly post wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Hope you guys have got some new year resolutions sorted out as well. Mine include improving and learning new things for this blog, improving my graphic design skills in general and also illustrator and photoshop and going to the gym (more often).

May 2008 bring you the best.