Just Creative Design

Instant Inspiration + Student Mobiles

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.

“Jacob, Our Top Twit”

A journalist from The Herald (Newcastle’s local newspaper) contacted me earlier this week and asked me a few questions (find below) for an article based on Twitter (follow me). The next day a photographer came around and took a few snaps.

Two days later I went to the Newsagency to pick up the local newspaper to see if my article was out (they didn’t provide me a date) and I was more than surprised to see my mugshot on the front page, I really wasn’t expecting that.

The reason they chose me for the article was because of this Newcastle Top Twitter’s list put together by Gordon Whitehead however they probably should have had used Hugh Jackman as the Twitter poster boy - he has over 133,000 followers.

Anyway, you can see the image of the front page below and then below that, the article itself. There is also a slightly adjusted online version of the article on The Herald website.

Don’t you just love all the puns… “All-A-Twitter”, “Life’s Tweet”, “Finally, it’s OK to be a real twit”, “Jacob, our Top Twit”.

Twitter Interview Responses

Below are my original replies in response to the questions put forward by the journalist - you will find some great Twitter tips here. They only ended up using one quote from these replies but I thought it would be good to share my responses none the less.

Why did you join?

I originally joined Twitter back in June last year however I didn’t start using it properly until a few weeks after I joined as it took me a while to grasp onto the concept… it also took me a while to see the true benefit however I am 100% truly glad that I did, the benefits have been enormous.

For those just starting out with Twitter, I recommend this Ultimate Twitter Guide and this Twitter Resource Guide.

How often do you use Twitter?

Whenever I have something to valuable to share, say or promote which is probably about 5 times a day, maybe 4 days a week, give or take.

What do you use it for?

I use Twitter to find useful information shared by the other Twitter users. I also use Twitter to promote and share my own articles which in turn promotes my services (logo, branding, web and graphic design) thus bringing in potential clients.

How did you get so many followers?

I run three websites including quite a popular design & creativity blog called “Just Creative Design” which gets over 10,000 visits a day. I have built these websites up over the past 15 months which is where a lot of my followers come from, however it is not easy to keep followers…you must ensure that you do not spam, nor be too “me me me”, it’s all about sharing and being authentic and down to earth.

What’s some of the funniest / weirdest / common / uncommon things you’ve found on Twitter?

On Twitter there is a function that allows you to save your favourite tweets and I have got quite a few however rather than sharing all of them I will share the weirdest thing I have found… someone invented a Twitter device that you plug into the soil of a plant… the plant will then Twitter to you when it needs watering. Genius or just plain weird? You decide.

Do you see it having the potential to overtake Facebook or become yet another way to stay in touch?

Facebook and Twitter are both very different social networks originally built for different purposes however Facebook is implementing many changes to take on Twitter, but for now I think Twitter is still stronger in terms of networking, marketing & socialising. Facebook is more for keeping in touch with your “real” friends in my opinion but obviously this can vary from user to user. Twitter users seem to be much more tech savvy.

On a side note, a while back I also wrote an article called “Exposed: Facebook sends more traffic than Twitter” - it isn’t so true for me now but Facebook may work better for you in terms of Traffic.

Why should someone join Twitter..how will it change / enhance their life?

Everyone joins Twitter for different reasons, and before you go tweeting your life away you should establish what and why you are going to be using Twitter. Whatever your passion or interest, there is no doubt going to be someone else tweeting about it and you can join in too… Share your tips and resources and they will share theirs. You really have nothing to lose.

Being Newcastle’s top Twitter is a pretty good achievement, how do you attract your followers and how personal do you get with your posts. Are you worried about revealing too much about yourself to strangers?

I run three popular websites where I write articles mostly focused on design which in turn brings in visitors to my site where I have links to add me on Twitter (such as this). Most of my followers are those interested in design seeing though I am a designer myself but gaining followers all depends on your industry and how you use Twitter. I don’t get too personal with my Tweets as that is not what I am using it for, however I do share my achievements and current work and that is as personal as I get. eg. I may share an article that I am reading online but I don’t share what I am having for dinner.

Who do u follow on Twitter?

I follow over 11,000+ people so that would be quite a huge list, but I make use of the application called Tweetdeck (highly recommended) and in this application you can make “groups” so you can choose a select few that you really want to follow. This allows you to filter out the noise of the other 11,000+ people you are following.

Don’t forget to follow me. Also add yourself to this uber list of designers / creatives / geeks to follow on twitter if applicable.

How has Twitter enhanced your life?

My work exhibited at Melbourne Museum

Back in early April I announced that I would be attending two Australian design conferences, one called Semi Permanent (that I reviewed here) and another called agIdeas which is in May.

Well the agIdeas conference (sold out) also had a side design competition called agIdeas NewStar that allowed you to enter some of your previously designed work for judging to see if it would be worthy for exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. Well I entered, and have just got word that my work got short-listed and will be appearing at Melbourne Museum! (For those not familiar with Melbourne, it is Australia’s second largest city.)

The NewStar exhibition will be on at Melbourne University from 24 April to 24 May (10am to 5pm). I will also be in Melbourne from May 4th till May 7th so if you’re in the area and want to say hello, please do let me know!

More info about agIdeas 2009 NewStar

agIdeas NewStar is an awards program for design students and new graduates. The Collie Print Trust Award’s the winner with a 2 week international scholarship including flights, accommodation and 2 weeks work experience at one of the following studios: (Ahn Sang So Korea, Browns UK, Guerilla Games The Netherlands, OJ South Africa, Pentagram USA, Prologue USA, SeymourPowell UK).

agIdeas NewStar Exhibition is part of the Designed to Inspire program at Melbourne Museum. The program offers public recognition of the work of talented emerging and practicing designers. The role of the museum is to increase design literacy in the general public, to broaden national and international awareness of the quality and diversity of contemporary Australian design, and to enhance Victoria as a centre of design excellence.

Entered Pieces

You were allowed to submit as many entries as you wanted however each entry had to have 3 pieces in it. I only submitted one entry (with 3 pieces inside) and you can see them below. I assume all three pieces will be on display at the museum as I haven’t been told otherwise.

FITTUCI Custom Windows & Doors Logo Design

Description: FITTUCI Custom Windows & Doors is a comprehensive source for superior custom doors & windows. They specialise in luxury state of the art doors & windows. The logo depicts an illusion of either windows or doors.

I wrote about the design process of this logo in full here.

Wedgetail Premium Citrus Vodka Bottle & Packaging

Description: Brand and identity development, 3D rendering, packaging and photography for Wedgetail Distillery’s Premium Citrus Vodka Premix alco-pop marketed towards 18-25 year olds.

I wrote about the design process of this project in full here.

Photoshop For Right Brainers

Description: Book cover design for a book targeted towards creatives who wish to use Photoshop for photo manipulation. The illustration depicts a man’s right side of the brain and the vertical text forces the viewer to tilt their head to the right to read the name of the book (hence right side of the brain). The word Photoshop also depicts an exclamation mark.

I was approached by John Wiley & Sons (one the world’s largest book publishers) to design this book cover back in September last year.

Check me out in these magazines!

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.

Wolda 2008 Annual Arrives

Back in October 2008 I announced winning two major logo design awards - the ‘Best of Continent’ and ‘Best of Nation’ for my Just Creative Design logo (the logo you see at the top of this blog)…

and then in December I announced receieving the actual awards in the mail of which you can see below…

And just today, the actual book arrived in the mail… it is a great little publication and a real keeper! Below you can find photos of the book and my logo being showcased (got onto 3 pages which was great!)

Wolda is now accepting entries for the 2009 Wolda Annual so get in before the first deadline of June 31st.

My Cover Article In Layers Magazine: ‘Negative Space’

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.

Christmas & My 21st Birthday Come At Once

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…