Just Creative Design

20,000+ Subscribers - Comment To Win!

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A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
~ Lao Tzu

20,000 subscribers… it’s just another milestone but that’s no reason to let it go unnoticed. With help from a few generous sponsors, Just Creative Design is holding a small competition to celebrate & thank you for being part of the journey.

Thus far, there has been just under 300 articles and over 10,700 comments left on Just Creative Design so once again, I thank you for your support.

What Can You Win?

• 2x PSD to XHTML Conversions from Snobby Slice. ($299 each)

Winners: Alexander Koolen, Kevin Gamble

• Motion +61 DVD from Heavy Backpack. ($39)
  A DVD collection of work from some of today’s leading creative talent in broadcast, motion graphics, animation, film and effects; all working in the Australian industry.

Winner: Andrew Odri

• $150 to spend at RSRVS.com. ($150)
  Your to download any choice of typefaces, stock and images.

Winner: Steven

• 500 Free Business Cards from our affiliate UPrinting. Shipping not included. USA only. ($30)
• Get 10% off printing by using the affiliate link.

Winner: Snowpato

2x One Year Shared & Reseller (RS2) Hosting Plans from RockStar Communications. Plan details here. ($120 each)

Winners: BebopDesigner, Frank

To Win

To win one of the prizes, simply leave a comment telling us what articles you like / dislike most on JCD and / or what you think could be improved.

All winners will be drawn at random and announced in this post on the 19th of September.

Update: 19th September

As I haven’t had a chance to go through all of the comments (very overwhelmed by the response) I will announce the winners on the 20th or 21st. Feel free to enter until then.

Update: 21st September - Competition Closed

Congratulations to the winners! Please find the winners names under each prize. Thank you everyone for your kind comments & suggestions!

Thanks again and good luck.

News & Connections

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

This is a general update of my future plans, articles I’ve written elsewhere and links to connect with me.

It’s Official - I’m Moving to NYC!

I posted about my new job in NYC at Carrot Creative a few weeks ago though only on the weekend did I get my US Working Visa approved. Everything is set (except accommodation) and the flight is booked for January 2010 which is when I will begin work. An exciting move indeed!

Articles Written Elsewhere

I’ve written a rather extensive article on Vital Tips for Effective Logo Design over on Smashing Magazine.

In the latest issue of Computer Arts magazine (Issue 166), I wrote their feature cover article on Cross Media Design including tips for using Photoshop with Illustrator, Dreamweaver and InDesign. The tips for After Affects, Premiere & Flash were written by someone else. The magazine is on sale now. Stay tuned for the next issue of CA too, as I’ve written a logo design tutorial.

I’ve also got an article in the latest issue of Layers Magazine (August/ September Issue) that goes through the design process for my Vero logo and bottle design. I’ve previously written for Layers, including the cover article Negative Space back in January and an Illustrator tutorial on ‘How To Create A Font Monster‘ in July. I was also featured as their Designer In The Spotlight in the May / June issue.

I will post each of the articles on this blog after the magazines go off sale.

Connect With Me

• Add me on Twitter
  On Twitter, I post design links on a daily basis and keep you up to date with what I am up to in the design world. No pointless rabble.
• Add me on Facebook
  For those that prefer Facebook or just want to befriend, please do!
• Add me on LinkedIn
  Join my business networking profile.
• Browse my bookmarks on Delicious
  I use Delicious on a daily basis, why not share?

Just Creative Design

Join the JCD Facebook Fan Page to get updated each time I write a new post!

Join the JCD Facebook Group. You can leave links to your own portfolio & promote your own designs!

Favourite JCD on Technorati - Not sure how many of you use Technorati but the link is here anyway!

Logo Of The Day

For those of you who do not know, Logo Of The Day is my other website which features a new logo each day…

Logo Of The Day is now on Twitter so you can get updated each time a new logo is posted. Follow Logo Of The Day on Twitter.

Become a Fan of Logo Of The Day on Facebook to keep updated on Facebook.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

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.

Just Creative Design Goes Mobile

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?

The Past, Present & The Future

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.

April Fools! (No more Comic Sans!)

Of course I would never swap Just Creative Design to Comic Sans (see original post here)! It was an April Fools Joke! Comic Sans is one of the world’s most hated (and loved) fonts of all time. Ensure you refresh again (press Ctrl+F5) to change back.

In case you are not aware, “April Fools” is a day celebrated in many westernised countries where you play practical jokes on each other… even Google takes part.

Anyway, it seems I did trick quite a few - here a few quotes from Twitter, Facebook & the original post.

“Comic Sans??? It is really over used. I love your site (and logos) but not a huge fan of the Comic Sans. :(”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Don’t used the most killed font of all-time! This is SO elementary for such a knowledgeable guy like yourself. Please switch it.”

“What the f***!”

“Love your site, love your work. As for the font choice…it will have to grow on me. Keep thinking creatively and keep leading the field. I think you are one of the most talented designers out there right now.”

“Lmfao! Good one. I actually fell for it.”

“omg i was FREAKING OUT until i saw the comments and remembered its april fools. oh man, well done.”

“I was thinking in my head “Really, Comic Sans??! Has Jacob finally derailed? I thought Comic Sans was forbidden in the design community?!” LOL good thing I read the other comments! You got me.”

“Fell for it last year, not again!”
(hehe, yup I played the same joke twice! - I was tempted to do papyrus this year but couldn’t go past Comic Sans again!)

For those that missed it, you can see a lovely screen shot below.

Happy April Fools everyone and congrats to those who didn’t get fooled!

Just Creative Design Switches To Comic Sans

UPDATE: This was an April Fools Joke… see this post in case you missed it! I thought 6 hours was enough!

You may have noticed some small changes to Just Creative Design, we’ve swapped from using Helvetica as our main font, to the much loved Comic Sans. If you don’t see the changes press CTRL+F5 to refresh the page.

I feel that it gives the site a much friendlier, fun feel… do you like the new changes? Let me know your comments below.

On another note, there have been a lot of new subscribers of late (just passed 14,000 for the first time today) so I will take this time to welcome you to Just Creative Design. If you wish, you can read more about me here or add me on any of the social sites below…

• FaceBook - Social community. I am very active here.
• Join the Just Creative Design Facebook Group.
• Twitter - A mini blog. I am very active here.
• LinkedIn - A business networking website.
• StumbleUpon - Things worthy of a thumbs up. I’m very active here.
• Digg - Websites I find useful and great. I’m very active here.
• Technorati - Favourite our blog on Technorati.

Thanks everyone, enjoy your week!