Just Creative Design

Instant Inspiration + Student Mobiles

Published on Thursday, May 28, 2009 – 12:06 am | 40 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.

40 comments thus far »

Check me out in these magazines!

Published on Thursday, March 26, 2009 – 6:57 pm | 32 brilliant comments »

Back in January I wrote the cover article for Layers Magazine on the topic of ‘Negative Space’ and now I am back again, but this time in the form of a poster boy - well not that kind of poster boy.

If you have a quick look though the April/May edition of Layers Magazine you will find my little mugshot on one of their advertisements along with some of my CD artwork. See the image below.

You may also be interested to know you can test drive Layers magazine by grabbing a free copy over at their site or you could look through their last issue online.

Also, check me out in next months edition of the mag, I will be appearing in their “Instant Inspiration” section with an interview and a showcase of my work.

I will also be appearing in the Photoshop and Illustrator tutorial sections over the next few months of which I will post on here once they are available. Stay tuned!

Computer Arts Projects Magazine (Issue 122)

After posting this article, I was told by Chris Spooner (big thank you) that I’ve also been featured in Issue 122 of the Computer Arts Projects Magazine -  three times!

A big thanks to Chris Spooner for sending me the pics below.

The front cover of the magazine.

The inspiration directory page.

Tips for marketing yourself page.

Personal recommendation from Paul Wyatt! Thank you!

DG Magazine Portfolio

Update #3 - Just got word that my logo got approved for the “DG Portfolio 8″ magazine. See the pics below!

Front Cover

The page that I am on.

Close up of my logo.

32 comments thus far »

Photos From Thailand Trip

Published on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 – 10:26 pm | 49 brilliant comments »

Over the past three weeks you may have seen a bit less of me online and this is because I have been on a break travelling around Thailand with a friend of mine.

If you have read my about page you will know that I love travelling and as usual, with any of my major trips I share the photos with you and my Thailand trip is no exception.

These 80 odd pictures (from the 1800+ we took) don’t really sum up the trip in full but it does give you a small taste of what Thailand’s like. We visited Phuket, Bangkok, Phangan & Samui.

Enjoy. Read more »

49 comments thus far »

My Cover Article In Layers Magazine: ‘Negative Space’

Published on Saturday, January 10, 2009 – 1:20 am | 29 brilliant comments »

Back in November I was approached to write an article for Layers Magazine, the “How To Magazine For Everything Adobe” and luckily enough (thanks to some particular individuals) I landed the cover story for the 2009 January / February issue.

The article I wrote is titled “Designing With Negative Space” and it teaches you how to get positive results by making the best use of your negative space. Excuse the play on words.

I have a PDF version of the article for you here but if you want the rest of the mag you will have to buy it or if you want, you can trial a free issue of Layer’s too, however I think it will be a back issue.

Stay tuned for the May edition of Layer’s too, because I will be appearing in their Inspiration section with 3 full pages! And stay tuned for the Photoshop For Designers column in May too.

Below you can see photos of the front cover of the magazine as well as pics from inside.

Other Achievements:

You can read about my other achievements on my about page or my most recent achievements post.

29 comments thus far »

Christmas & My 21st Birthday Come At Once

Published on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 – 4:03 pm | 27 brilliant comments »

Back in October I announced me winning the ‘Best of Continent’ and ‘Best of Nation’ Wolda Logo Design Award for my Just Creative Design logo. Well today I received a little something in the mail from Santa Wolda, it was my trophies and award certificates!

Just so you know… “Wolda is the innovative graphic design awards scheme that rewards the best logos and trademarks designed throughout the world and the only award scheme endorsed by ICOGRADA and more than 100 other international design associations and schools”. Read more about Wolda and the judging process here.

This came at a perfect time, just two days before Christmas and four days before my 21st birthday… it was a great surprise!

On that note, I will also take this time to wish every one a jolly good Christmas and Happy New Year! And a festive season for those who do not celebrate Christmas!

Here are a few happy snaps of me and the trophies…

27 comments thus far »

$11,000 Prize Giveaway - Design Group Writing Project For Charity

Published on Friday, November 7, 2008 – 1:36 am | 122 brilliant comments »

Update: A total of USD$1620 dollars was raised and donated to the Blog Action Day Poverty Fund - thank you everyone for your support!

To celebrate my blog’s 1st birthday (November 7th) I have been working hard to put together this massive project for my readers, the design community and charity.

There is a total of 66 different prizes worth exactly $11,000 all up so there will be 66 lucky winners.

100% of all proceeds will go to the Blog Action Day Poverty Fund.

To Enter… Please Read Very Carefully

There are two ways you can enter and you can do both for a maximum of two entries per person. All entries will be checked before any prizes are given.

Entry 1: Donate To Charity

To enter the competition you may donate to charity…. All money goes to the global fund that helps fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - some of the leading causes of poverty.

Instructions:

There are two options - via Change.org or via PayPal.

I have been told that sometimes a ’server error’ message is being displayed on Change.org, please be patient and try again at another time or use PayPal instead, the donate button is below.

Change.Org

If you choose to go through change.org money will go straight into the global fund account and will not touch my hands. If you do not have a credit card, you may choose to use PayPal. If you choose to use change.org the instructions are below.

1. Go to the Just Creative Design Blog Action Day Fundraiser Page.
2. Click the blue ‘Donate Now’ button.
3. Fill out the page, please donate a minimum of $5. (Heh, it’s only a coffee!) Ensure you leave a donation comment so your entry counts. You can donate from any country as long as you have a credit card, don’t get fooled by the billing address being US states.

PayPal

By request I have also set up a PayPal donation page. You can donate by clicking the donate button below. I will collect the donations here and then donate the funds to the global fund at the end of the project.

Entry 2: Write An Article (even without a blog)

For those of you who do not have a credit card or are limited in funds, there is another alternative, you can write an article - hence the design group writing project! I will compile all the entries at the end of the competition.

Instructions:

1. Write an article related to design. Even if you are not a designer, you could make a list of your favourite designs or list your favourite websites, books, photos? There are no boundaries… just relate the article some how back to design… be creative.
   
2. If you don’t have a blog go to step 3, if you have a blog, continue reading. When you post your article on your blog, ensure you leave a trackback to this post so I can track your article or preferably, link back to this article / home page in the first paragraph. Please make the post at least 500 words.
   
3. If you don’t have a blog, send me an article in a Word or HTML document to my email address. Ensure it is at least 500 words, with no slang and with your best spelling. I will post some of the best entries on this blog.

Deadline & How To Win

Entries will close November 22nd GMT+11. There will be 1 prize per person.

A list of all the people who have donated and all the people who have written an article will be compiled and then submitted into random.org where it will output a persons name with a prize number. This makes the selection totally random. Winners will be announced the same week.

Share The Love

• Stumble This Post
• Digg This Post
• Blog About This Fundraiser
• Add A Banner: I have made a 125×125 banner for you to place on your blog if you wish. If you do use the banner, please just link back to this article.

Prizes

Another HUGE thank you to all the sponsors on this project, it would not have been possible without you!

Anyway, these are all the prizes up for grabs! Ensure you browse the sponsor’s sites!

Olympus Evolt E250 Digital Camera from GetPrice.com.au
This digital camera is courtesy of GetPrice.com.au - the place to compare before you buy.
Value: $1200

Winner: Deborah M Ens (Please contact me directly)

Photoshop World Tickets, Scott Kelby Book Bundle, Layers Subscription, NAPP Membership
Courtesy of RC Concepcion, Host of Layers TV, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, and Kelby Training.
Value: $720 (Tickets & NAPP membership $600, Books $90, Layers Subscription $30)

Winner: Andrew Yee (Please contact me directly)

7x Books (each to different person) - Photoshop CS4 For Dummies, Aperture 2, Photoshop CS4 Digital Classroom
Courtesy of Natalie Lin from Wiley. A HUGE thanks to Natalie for getting these prizes to give away to 7 lucky readers. You too can get these books by going to the links below!

• 3x Copies of Photoshop CS4 For Dummies ($29.99 value per book)
• 3x Copies of Aperture 2 Portable Genius by David Schloss ($25 value per book)
• 1x Copy of Photoshop CS4 Digital Classroom ($49.99 value per book)

Total Value: $215

Winners: Please email Natalie and tell them what prize you have won, your address and show proof of identity - contact Natalie at [nlin AT wiley DOT com].

1. Photoshop CS4 For Dummies - Meryl Evans

2. Photoshop CS4 For Dummies - Elizabeth Fulghum

3. Photoshop CS4 For Dummies - Adrian Szefke

4. Aperture 2 Portable Genius - Tanner Christenson

5. Aperture 2 Portable Genius - Haroon Baig

6. Aperture 2 Portable Genius - Frank Hakl

7. Photoshop CS4 Digital Classroom - Xhilacom

Your Logo Cut Into HUGE Perspex Letters 80cm Wide (Wow)
Courtesy of Sander Baumann from Geveletters. To get what we mean by huge, check out their site!
Value: $600

Winner: JCM Enterprises

Total Blog Makeover
Courtesy of the very kind and talented Joni Mueller from Pixelita, a design studio based in Houston, Texas. The blog makeover can be for a WordPress, TextPattern, Blogger or Movable Type Blog.
Value: $650

Winner: Janette Toral

A Unique Web Theme for Either WordPress, PixelPost or a Straight XHTML page.
Courtesy of the very kind Kristarella, who runs a personal / design blog over at the very aptly named Kristarella. If you don’t want to change your site, customisation/optimisation of your current page can also be done.
Value: $300.

Winner: Anca Foster

Sumo Omni Chair + Lounge + Love Seat + Floor Pillow (Girl Not Included)
Courtesy of Andrew Milligan from Sumo Lounge, a website offering seriously awesome urban lounge gear. Andrew has been marketing his Sumo range by contacting blog authors and offering them a free Omni Chair in exchange for a review (over 500 reviews so far) … and let’s face it, who wouldn’t want one of these? There is a sale on now and on top of that there is free shipping too. Check out Sumo! NB: This is not part of the prize pool.
Value: $150

2x PSD to XHTML / CSS Conversions
Courtesy of Jay of Creative Cranes, a new intuitive design studio. You can follow Jay on Twitter too.
Value: $45/h up to $1000.

Winners:
1. Lori Kasbeer
2. Harley Alexander

$100 Gift Voucher For Threadless Tshirts
Courtesy of Bob Nanna from Threadless, an awesome designer submission t-shirt shop.
Value: $100

Winner: Jessica Garner (Please contact me directly)

Blog / Site Review with Design Critique by Vivien
Courtesy of Vivien from Inspiration Bit, a unique & inspirational design blog. Vivien’s reviews are not the normal type of review, she really gets under the hood of your design. See what I mean here.
Value: $400

Winner: Daniel Cavanaugh

1 Year Shuttle-Bus Subscription to Freshbooks Invoicing
Courtesy of Mitch Solway from Freshbooks, an online invoicing application, and our site sponsor.
Value: $168

Winner: Brian Lovin

Bgears b-Enspirer Theatre Quality 7.1 Channel Sound Card
Courtesy of Angie Bowen from Arbenting, a blog on creativity and design.
Value: $120

Winner: Marco Folio

300 Premium Textures from ColorBurned
Courtesy of Grant Friedman from ColorBurned, a great design resources blog and shop.
Value: $70

Winner: Pedro Panduro

Custom Logo Design by NetBramha Studios

Courtesty of Aashish Solanki from NetBramha Studios, a design studio based out of Bangalore, India.

Value: $300

Winner: Jeffrey Jose

2x Design Prints from 3 Lambs Design (via Etsy)

Courtesy of Amy of 3 Lambs Designs. You can get any two 8″ x 8″ or 8″ x 10″ prints, including shipping.

Value: $75.00

Winner: Camille Good

1x FlickR Pro Account For One Year
Courtesy of the very kind Joni Mueller from Pixelita, a design studio based in Houston, Texas
Value: $25

Winner: Michael Wheaton

LoveClub Coupon
Courtesy also of James Deer, from ThemeLovers, a new site offering great themes. The Loveclub coupon gives you unlimited access to every theme on offer on ThemeLovers.
Value: $499

Winner: Synergetek S.A.

$25 Gift Voucher For Amazon
Courtesy of the talented Meryl K Evans from Meryl.net. Meryl really is a ‘Content Maven’, just read her about page.
Value: $25

Winner: Jeff Wolff

2x Designer T-shirts from Design By Humans (Split Into 2 Prizes)

Courtesy of Design By Humans, an awesome designer tshirt submission site and affiliate sponsor of this site. Check out some of my favourites here.
Value: $60

Winners: (Please contact Jason at jason AT designbyhumans DOT com with your address and proof of identity.)

1. Angelina Dominguez

2. Jonathan Illig

1000 Business Cards from UPrinting
Courtesy of Gino Orlandi from Uprinting, a quality online printing service based in the USA that prints business cards among many other things. Shipping free only in USA and Canada.
Value: $50

Winner: Ryan Williams (Please contact Gino at gino AT youthedesigner DOT com)

5x Anistock Yearly Subscriptions
Courtesy of Brian O’Connell from Anistock, a multimedia haven… Anistock has 7.8 million photos, clip art, fonts, graphics and more. You can win access to all this for one year!
Value: $500 ($99 each)

Winners: Please contact Brian at brian AT anistock DOT com

1.Tanya Nichols

2. Caroline Murphy

3. Eli Burford

4. Ben Redington

5. Adam Holt

1 Year Website Hosting from URLuscious
Courtesy of Faryl Zaklin from URLuscious, a website hosting service for small businesses.
Value: $80

Winner: Brian Yerkes

26 iStockPhoto Credits
Courtesy of Olga Mizrahi from ohso! design, a web design and graphic design studio based in Long Beach California.
Value: $35

Winner: Mohd Rafie

125×126 Advertising on LogoDesign.org for 6 Months

Courtesy of the generous George Ryan from Logo Design.Org

Value: $600

Winner: Faryl Z

30 Minute Coaching Consultation on Organisation & Productivity
Courtesy of Kris Rowlands, a Professional Organisation and Productivity Consultant.
Value: $50

Winner: Julie Walker

10x T-Shirts from Advertees
Courtesty of Steve from Advertees, a promotional clothing company. You may choose any make or style from the site (preferably organic) printed in water based inks with a design of the winners choice in up to 3 colours and sizes. Shipped to wherever in the world.
Value: $280

Winner: Jared Fraser

25 High Resolution Exclusive Custom Made Textures

Courtesy of Alexander Hommel from High Resolution Textures, a website offering high resolution textures. The winner can choose the category and will receive 25 custom made hi-res images in return.

Value: $75

Winner: David Klein

$40 Voucher to Spend at DealExtreme

Courtesy of Marco Kuiper, who also freelances as a graphic designer. This voucher you can spend on any gadget at Deal Extreme, which let me tell you is a lot!
Value: $40

Winner: Michael Kristof

$150 to spend on ThemeForest / FlashDen / AudioJungle
Courtesy of Collis T’aeed, the man behind many, many websites.

• FlashDen - The best place to get awesome Flash components.
• AudioJungle - A new audio marketplace.
• ThemeForest - WordPress and Template marketplace.

Value: $150

Winner: Kristen Oaxaca

Please email your username from one of the sites above & proof of identity to Collis at collis AT envato DOT com.

12 Large Woodgrain Photoshop Brushes
Courtesy of Curtis McHale. Each brush is around 2000px square at 300ppi and is only available through Just Creative Design.
Value: $24

Winner: Thanh Pham

4x Single License $79 Theme Coupons for ThemeLovers
Courtesy of James Deer, from ThemeLovers, a new site offering great themes. Period.
Value: $316

Winners:

1. More Guitar

2. Andi Berekely

3. Piyusg Agarwal

4. Paticia Lupien

30min Design Consultation with Logo Designer, David Airey
Courtesy of David Airey… you should know him by now, if you don’t, fly over to his blog now!
Value: $50

Winner: Melanie Fox

1x FlickR Pro Account For One Year
Courtesy of the very kind and talented Lauren Krause from the awesome design blog Creative Curio.
Value: $25

Winner: Maria Colomy

Static Banner Ad Design by iDesign Studios
Courtesy of the kind Selene Bowlby from iDesign Studios, a very talented designer with a studio & blog based in Florida.

Value: $100

Winner: Lucy Beaman

Islamic Design Package & Tour
Courtesy of Mohd Rafie, the man who donated an electric guitar last competition.

1. Book - Title: Islamic Design: A Genius for Geometry by Daud Sutton.
2. A3 poster. Title: “Pedulikah Kita” Do we care?
3. Mini poster by ISAC Studio.
4. 3 Islamic design stock photos.
5. Free admission to the Design Museum, London
6. 10% off any merchandise at the Design Museum shop.

Value: $50

Winner: Zac Hill

1x T-Shirt from TurnNocturnal
Courtesy of the kind Matt McInerney, who runs the store Turn Nocturnal. I have one of their shirts and the service was awesome, highly recommended. The winner may choose any shirt and size up to $20. Postage is included up to $10.
Value: $20

Winner: Dennis Garcia

234×60 Advertising on Lost & Taken for 3 Months
Courtesy of Caleb Kimbrough from Lost & Taken a blog with many high resolution textures.
Value: $90

Winner: Francois Anselmo

Choice of 1 Premium Wordpress Theme from ANYWHERE
Courtesy of the generous Penny from WP Premiums. Your choice is from any premium shop on the internet up to the value of $100.
Value: $100

Winner: Paul Stevens

$25 Amazon Gift Voucher
Courtesy of River Girl (Bari) from Ask The Boater. You can follow River Girl on Twitter too!
Value: $25

Winner: Jason Slater

1 Hour of Website Updates
Courtesy of Eric Benoit from Ebenoit, where he freelances as a graphic and web designer.
Value: $100

Winner: Truong Nguyen

122 comments thus far »

Photos From My 4300km (2670 Miles) Road Trip Around Australia

Published on Monday, October 13, 2008 – 9:00 am | 41 brilliant comments »

Over the past 2 weeks I have been traveling around Australia on a 4300km (2670 Miles) road trip in the Australian outback and as usual after I return from any major holiday, I share some of the photos with my readers.

Those who came on the road trip consisted of myself and five Norwegian University friends (3 designers, 1 architect and 1 nurse) and we started our journey in Newcastle where we caught the train down to Sydney (3 hours) where we picked up the rental camper vans… from there, our road trip began.

Rather than going through the whole trip I will outline some of the highlights by showing some photos with a small caption underneath each photo. We had 1600 photos all together but here are just a few in no particular order. Enjoy.

Read more »

41 comments thus far »