Just Creative Design

News & Connections

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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!

Kingdom of Cambodia

Over the past month I have been on vacation traveling across Asia (Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam) and as usual, when I return from any major trip I share some of the stories & photos with you.

Below you will find a select few photos from about 400 taken while in the Kingdom of Cambodia (Siem Riep & Phnom Penh). I will upload the Japan and Vietnam photos when I get a chance to go through them - I still have 1500 more photos to go through. Read more »

Aussie goes NYC

Back in April I was approached (via Twitter believe it or not) by Mike Germano, the president & creative director of Carrot Creative, a new media marketing agency located in Dumbo, New York City. Mike was seeing if I would be interested in working for Carrot Creative.

At first I didn’t take it as a serious job offer (seriously, who offers a job via Twitter?) however I thought I should follow it up. I had a look through the Carrot Creative website and then realised why they had contacted me via Twitter - they are a company that specialises in social media marketing. After looking through their rather creative website (check out their contact page) I replied to Mike via Twitter letting him know of my interest in the job.

Three days later, I still had no reply. I sent Mike an email. Nine days later, still no reply. I thought I would try one more time; I emailed Mike again. Two days later I had finally received a reply. We organised a time to speak via Skype (which was rather difficult seeing though we had a 12 hour time difference) and it went from there.

Forty emails later, and a few more Skype interviews I was ready to sign the contract… which I did in late June. I am happy, humbled and privileged to announce that I am now apart of the Carrot Creative team, starting January 2010.

I will be moving my whole life to live and work in NYC early 2010 - a huge but exciting move. At this stage, the move will be for at least one year.

Update 24/7/09:

Carrot Creative has just written a kind welcoming post on their blog.

Update: 21/8/09 - It’s official!

My US working Visa has been approved and my flights booked for January 2010.

About Carrot Creative

Carrot Creative is a new media marketing agency that “specialises in social media, application development, and user experience, all in the name of brand development”.

Some of their clients include: Weber Shandwick, Saatchi and Saatchi, Major League Baseball, JCPenney, The Onion, Pepsi, Unilever, Crayola and MTV.

One of the main reasons I chose to sign with CC was because of their fun, not-too-serious vibe. It’s obvious via their website and corporate communication that they are bunch of friendly and fun individuals - all of whom I look forward to meeting.

Carrot Creative also specialise in the areas that I am most interested in; social media, branding & new media so Carrot Creative seemed like the perfect fit.

The Plan

As for this blog and the other blogs, I do plan to keep them updated as much as I can while over in NYC, but for now I can not predict how often - I am hoping at least once a fortnight.

I still plan to freelance while over in NYC however on a much smaller scale and with much more focus on logo & identity design. My goal is to have fewer, but larger clients.

Also, if any of you are based in the NYC area, please do let me know… it would be nice to meet up with a few like minded individuals especially since I will be leaving my whole life behind in Australia.

Also, if you have any questions, comments or helpful advice I would love to hear from you. Thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point, it’s been a blessing.

Update: 25/7/09 - Thank you everyone who has emailed, messaged or Twittered their congratulations, tips and friendly advice. I really have been overwhelmed, I really do appreciate it! Thank you.

Photos From Thailand Trip

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 »

Just Creative Design’s 2008 Round Up

This is a round up of the past year’s articles along with some other interesting trivia, goals and future plans.

2008 Statistics

• 6778 Comments / Trackbacks
• 197 Posts
• 34 Comments / Trackbacks per article on average
• 15 Posts written per month on average
• 4,360,018 pageviews
• Average time on page: 2:40 on average
• 9910 (Highest Subscriber Count)
  

Top 10 Most Popular Articles Based On Traffic

These posts are mainly link bait posts that social media goes crazy for. Notice they all have numbers?

1. 92 Must See Creative Photographs
2. 99 Sites All Designers Must Know About
3. 30 Fonts That All Designers Must Know & Should Own
4. 192 Creative, Smart & Clever Advertisements
5. Top 7 Most Cliche Stock Images Used In Web Design
6. Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Design
7. 10 Reasons To Switch To Gmail
8. Why Logo Design Does Not Cost $5.00
9. How To Design A Logo - 5 Vital Tips
10. 15 Signs You’re A Bad Graphic Designer

Some Of My Favourites

Below are some of my favourite articles here on Just Creative Design.

• Ultimate List of Blog Heading Templates & Titles for Blogging
• 28 Great Wordpress Plugins That I Personally Recommend
• The Ultimate List of The Best Logo Design Resources
• Logo Design Process For FITUCCI
• How and where to get paid freelance work while you are still a design student
• 7 Secrets You MUST Know To Give Your Blog The Edge
• 9 Of The Best Ways To Present A Website To A Client
• Why Logo Design Does Not Cost $5.00
• 10 SEO Rules for Designers
• The Secret Logo Design Process Of Top Logo Designers
• 30 Fonts That All Designers Must Know & Should Own
• How To Boost Your Creativity
• 2008 Design Trends: Top 7 Most Overused Elements & Techniques Used

What is your favourite article?

For a memory boost, check out the featured articles page.

Goals

For the new year I am aiming for 8000 new subscribers (500 a month). I kind of have to laugh when last year I set a goal for 1000 subscribers -  I am aiming a bit higher this time. I also want to get an internship or work experience at a design studio in Sydney. I also want to work more on my illustration and 3D design skills, the areas in which I think I could do with the most  improvement.

What are your goals? I need some ideas!

What am I doing now & later?

At present I have a few design jobs that I am working on… I am in the process of designing a luxury refillable water bottle for a client in the US, a logo for a supermarket in Curacao, a logo for a barn maker in the US, a website for a Wedding Florist & Decorator, a website for a Celebrant, a photography job for Tupperware and I also have got two separate leads for a vodka bottle design and also a rum based liquor bottle, plus about 5 other logo design leads which will hopefully come through. I may also be launching a new blog next year so stay tuned for that. Plus, I have a few other surprises

I have also lined up some writing gigs on Smashing Magazine, Web Designer Depot, VectorTuts, Freelance Folder and the UK Creative Pool.

On the lighter side of life, I have just come back from a week long holiday up our holiday house for Christmas, had my 21st birthday (had a cruise on Sydney harbour with dinner & drinks) and in January I am going for a week long road trip up to the Gold Coast (8 hours north) for a festival & holiday. I also have a two week holiday to Thailand scheduled for February. University will then start back in March and I will have to get back to the real life.

I have also booked a ski trip over in New Zealand in August 2009 so looking forward to that too. At some stage I also have to fit in a trip to China as well (was my 21st birthday present) and in 2010 I plan to go to Canada to work as a ski instructor on the slopes but we will see how that goes. In short, I will be a busy boy.

What about you? What are you working on and what have you got planned?

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

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 »

Tooting My Own Horn: My Latest Personal Achievements

As the identity designer Jeff Fisher says, “If I don’t toot my own horn, no one else will“, so in this article I am going to toot my own horn and show some of the achievements I have achieved recently. It just goes to show what you can achieve in just 9 months of being a design blogger.

The Best of Logo Lounge 5

Earlier this year I was contacted by Logo Lounge, offering me a free membership (usually $100) to their website, so of course I signed up and when I did, I also submitted some of my logo designs to their database. I never really thought anything of it until last week I got contacted by Logo Lounge letting me know that 2 of my logos are going to be published in their next book The Best of Logo Lounge 5. You can see these two logos above.

Featured Artist for Nokia

I have just been asked by Nokia to design a pair of headphones (the styling, not the actual product) for a new music site being launched by Nokia called Music Almighty however details are on the down low at the moment but stay tuned.

Enviro Shopping Bag For Walgreen’s Pharmacy

Walgreens is a massive pharmaceutical chain in the USA with over 7000 stores and I was recently commissioned to create a design for one of their ‘enviro’ bags. I am still awaiting word if it is going to be used on the Walgreen’s bags or with another similar but smaller company… exciting none the less where ever it gets printed.

Design Graphics Magazine Design Competition Commendation

Earlier this year as part of our university course we had to enter the Design Graphics Magazine Cover Design Competition. The results were released a couple of weeks ago and I made it onto the commendation list which means my work is now published in the Art & Design Education Resource Guide 2008 which gets distributed around Australia to every design college and university and goes on sale in newsagents. You can see my cover design to the left and the book on the right.

My Work Appearing In These Books

I have been contacted a few times over this year asking to submit some of my designs into graphic design books so I thought I may as well and what do you know, it paid off. You can check out some of my work in these books coming in 2009:

• Graphic Design Down Under (ISBN: 978-3939998099) - Euro 14.95
• Logo 2 (ISBN: 978-3-939998-17-4) - Euro 19.95
• Best Package Design (ISBN: 978-3939998099) - Euro 19.95
• Graphic Design 2 (ISBN: 978-3939998099) - Euro 19.95
• Label Design (ISBN: 978-3939998099) - Euro 19.95

• Art & Design Education Resource Guide 2008 - $19.95 (out now)

PhotoshopUserTV, Kelby Training & Layers Magazine

Just last week I got a recommendation from PhotoshopUserTV (mentioned at 36m 40s) which is a an internet based TV program which is sponsored by such big names as NAPP, iStockPhoto, Epson and Adobe. From that little spot, I  got the job of doing a logo design class for Kelby Training and also the opportunity to write an article for Layers Magazine or PhotoshopUserTV (my choice), so stay tuned for that also.

Interviews

I can not count the number of interviews I have given over the past few months, both to students via email and also on other blogs but these are some interviews I have had over the past few months.

The top 3 links below were only published this week so they are tingling with freshness.

• Creative Blogger Interview with Alex CharChar from RetinArt. Alex also did the creative pencil shavings image above.
• Jacob Cass Interview: “Design really comes down to passion.” on Design Interviews
• Interview with Jacob Cass on Adubzeedo (posting in the next few days)
• Graphic Design Interview with Jacob Cass on JCD
• Interview with Jacob Cass on InkBlog
• How I Raised $5000 in Sponsorship on Group Writing Projects
• Web / Graphic Designer Group Interview on Vandelay Design

Live University Lecture to India

Last week I did a live lecture to a graphic design University class in India via webcam. I spoke about logo design, branding and blogging and I also answered questions from the students (mainly aged 18-19). I actually tried recording the lecture however it was very disjointed as we had to swap from Skype to MSN twice due to connection problems, so unfortunately I can not show you the video but it went well none the less. They even want me back again.

Photoshop For Right Brainers Book Cover Design

I was asked by by John Wiley & Sons if I would like to be a featured designer for their design contest trying to come up with a front cover design for their new book Photoshop For Right Brainers by Al Ward.

Even though I am against spec work, I was offered 4 books worth up to a maximum of $600 to be one of the featured designers. I would like to know what people think of me being a featured artist, condoning a design competition - keeping in mind that $600 worth of books is on the line. I am still yet to confirm if I will participate.

Subscribers / Stats

Just Creative Design now has a total of 167 posts, 19 pages and 4600 comments. On average each article has 27 comments.

We have received over 1,200,000 Unique Visitors, and over 17,000,000 hits using up 3900GB of data since we started.

I suppose getting 7000+ subscribers in 9 months is a worthy achievement also, even if it just a number.

Future Plans

As you may know, I love travelling and adventure and have been to over 30 countries already but this time I am going to see more of Australia. In a few weeks, me and a few university mates are hiring a camper van to travel to the middle of of Australia to see Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) which should be a good 2700km road trip. I am looking for a few guest articles for my time away so if you are keen, please contact me.

I also plan to go back to Canada in 2010 for 4 months for a working holiday skiing the slopes which I am looking forward to also (and saving for).

A Big Thank You

A big thank you to all of the generous people who have donated $6000+ worth of prizes to Just Creative Design and myself over the past 9 months. Donations have included such things as an electric guitar, logo designs, memberships and so fourth. I will be having another huge competition soon, so keep your eyes peeled and if you want to get a prize donation in early, you know where to contact me.

I also want to thank all of the commentators and readers that make up Just Creative Design as it is those that make Just Creative Design a better place.

Well there you have it, my horn has been tooted.