Graphic Design Tattoos

When it comes to tattoos million of people have them all over there bodies. And for many when you think of a graphic designers you think of tattoos, it's one profession that people occasion tattoos with. Now I have no tattoos, in short story its because I have a hatred of needles and it just not something that I see myself doing in the future. That doesn't mean that I don't like to look at them and my favorite to look are tattoos that show graphic design like themes or have an art like background. So below are some of my favorite tattoos that are perfect for any graphic designer.

And for people like me who may not want to take the plunge and get a real tattoo here is a website that sells removable tattoos that may just help you fit in with the real tattoo crowd. Click here to find out more.

Way to Push the Creative Boundaries

Here are some simple ways to push your creative boundaries. These steps can help you figure out what helps the mind tick tock and keep the ideas flowing. Follow the steps and the ideas will follow.

{1} Share Your Work

If you don't know where to start, it's here. Whatever creative projects you want to undertake, start by sharing your work and pointing yourself in the direction of others who share your interests, says Austin Kleon, 2014's SXSW keynote speaker and author of Show Your Work! 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered. It can be small, it can be incremental—just get it out there.

"The technology is really important, and we all have tools that turn us into media producers now," says Kleon. "But what's more important is attitude and spirit, that attitude of jumping into the world you want to join and making your own thing."

{2} Take a Road Trip

Earlier this year, a group of Pinterest employees pitched their bosses the idea of taking Pinterest on the road, largely to promote a new location-based Pinterest feature called Place Pins. Their boss responded with a simple image: a classic Winnebago, only with the Pinterest logo where the iconic "W" would be. They called it the "Pinnebago," a name that stuck. And while the trip was a great marketing move, it also unlocked new ideas within the team.

{3} Create a Surprise Journal

Julia Galef, president of the Center for Applied Rationality, runs courses for individuals and companies like Facebook and the Thiel Foundation about the science of decision-making, so it makes sense that she is keen to understand her own personal thoughts. Her technique? The Surprise Journal. She keeps this journal with her at all times, writing down when something surprises her and why.

For example, she noticed she was surprised that both older and younger people were attending her workshops, because she assumed people would self-segregate by age. She was surprised that her students would mention a concept from one of her colleague’s classes, because she didn’t expect that idea to be very memorable. "I started thinking about surprise as a cue that my expectations were wrong," she says. Once you start to understand your own faulty assumptions, it creates a space to generate new ideas that address things as they actually are.

{4} Get a Weird Side Gig

For the past seven years, editor and designer Brian McMullen had a dream creative job as the senior art director and one of the senior editors at literary and humor publisher McSweeney's. He founded and ran the company's award-winning kids' book department, McSweeney's McMullens, helped to launch food magazine Lucky Peach, and oversaw much of the creative direction of a brand known for its unique and dynamic visuals. And in his spare time, he's a Lyft driver.

"Lyft has offered me a drastic change of pace and scenery," says McMullen. "I think it's probably useful for all creative people to put themselves into new and strange situations from time to time."

{5} Learn How to Brainstorm the Right Way

Stumped for ideas? You might just not know how to brainstorm.

"As sexy as brainstorming is, with people popping like champagne with ideas, what actually happens is when one person is talking you're not thinking of your own ideas," Leigh Thompson, a management professor at the Kellogg School, told Fast Company. "Sub-consciously you're already assimilating to my ideas." To avoid these problems, Thompson suggests another, quieter process: brainwriting, or having everyone write down their ideas beforehand and share them in an orderly way.

{6} Don't Try So Hard

Forcing yourself to be creative backfires every time, says Karin Hibma, one half of the legendary design firm CRONAN, founded in the early '80s and known for naming products like TiVo and Kindle. Learn her unique approach to getting away from the everyday and letting ideas flow.

{7} Get Serious About Your Coffee

It may sound frivolous, but Circa CEO Matt Galligan devotes a good chunk of his mornings to making coffee. It's a routine that's paid off in helping him intensely focus. So whether caffeine is your muse, or something else, take it to the next level.

{8} Hire Other People With Outside Passions

FiftyThree has a one-to-one engineer-to-designer ratio, and an interestingly holistic approach to hiring: Every employee should excel at something outside of their job responsibilities. This model helps light people on fire about their own ideas and collaborate more effectively to make them happen. When creativity is institutional, everyone is better off.

{9} Plan a Field Trip

Three times a year, management at The Via Agency surprises their employees with "go dos," shorthand for "get out, do things," and they're part of a larger effort to promote creativity. The ad agency operates under the theory that creativity comes from having a life outside of the office. "We have found some of our most productive afternoons are after we've done a spontaneous go do," says president Leeann Leahy. "The energy level is raised for the rest of the day."

{10} Don't Get Caught Up in Perfectionism

Legendary animated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki can't stand to see his own creations, lest he get caught up in his own mistakes. His solution? Move onto the next project. "Making films is all about—as soon as you're finished—continually regretting what you've done. When we look at films we've made, all we can see are the flaws; we can't even watch them in a normal way. I never feel like watching my own films again. So unless I start working on a new one, I'll never be free from the curse of the last one."

{11} When All Else fails, Drink

Back in 2012, when Bespoke Post was just a startup with handful of people, it began as many new businesses do: with conversations around beer. The gang met for a weekly happy hour at Lolita Bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which offered pints of better-than-average brews for $3. Like at a lot of companies founded by young folks—like a lot of companies, period—booze found its way into Bespoke Post’s DNA early.

http://m.fastcompany.com/3040037/most-creative-people/11-simple-ways-to-push-your-creative-boundaries

{ The Art of Mixing Typefaces }

{ The 10 Commandments of Typography }

Courtesy of: Designmantic.com

{ Basic Rules for Graphic Designers }

When it comes to graphic design their are some thing that everyone should know, and here are those ten things to keep in mind.

{1} Look outside of design for inspiration

Other visual disciplines can offer a new perspective. Instead of only looking in our specific field, go to photography exhibitions, fashion shows, old movies and look at what excites you. This will help you to avoid simply copying whatever is already being done (because if you do so, whatever you make runs the risk of being old-fashioned by the time you're finished).

{2} Form follow function 

Before you begin designing anything, learn as much as you can about who the design is for (or targeted towards), what it is intended to do, what it is meant to convey, and how it will be manufactured/produced. Consider treating the design like a person, and ask what the person's favorite film, color, or magazine is. The design will be shaped by these answers and the more you know, the easier it will be to get started.

{3} Save versions, save layers 

As you work and revise your designs, remember to keep the various layers and early iterations, even if you have 10 versions in one day. That way, if you make a mistake or change something drastically later, you can go back to it. At the end of a project, you can get rid of these old files and clean up your files (good practice so that you can easily find things later). However, you might also find that one of those early versions of the design make a good basis for a different project, so if you have the memory, stash those early files for a little while.

{4} Simplify 

Have a reason for every design element. Use as few typefaces, lines, shapes, frames, colors, even case (i.e. upper and lower), as possible. This doesn't always mean going for a minimal approach, it just means understanding what everything you're doing is conveying. In a ridiculous number of projects, three colors are all you'll ever need, and two of them are already chosen (black and white), so you usually only need to find one color. In business, that color is usually blue or red. 

{5} Use a grid 

Be aware of how every element relates to every other element. Grids are obviously essential when you're laying out a book, magazine, or web page, but there is also an invisible grid of alignment linking every visual element around us. When you break the grid and allow elements to tilt or straddle two columns, do it aggressively so that it is clear that it is a conscious choice. 

{6} Make mistakes 

Allow yourself to try things out, see what works that you didn't expect to work, give your eyes new things to look at in your own work. If you do like your mistakes, then make it a big enough "mistake" that it is clear that you did it on purpose. E.g. If you use a broken line, break it repeatedly. If you angle an image, make it more than 5º, if your colors clash, make them clash a LOT, etc.

{7} Brainstorm

Discuss and share your initial designs. Even if you don't use any of their input, simply talking about the options and explaining your work will spark new directions for you. Know your own feelings about the design and be clear with yourself about what works for you and what doesn't. You don't need to argue about the work, you can just take on their input and use what is helpful to you.

{8} Don't strecth a font 

Typeface design is a very skilled, time-consuming job, so you don't want to break them. If you want a headline to be taller and thinner, look for the condensed version of a font (or conversely, the expanded version for wider looks). While you may not think that anyone can see when the weight of a descender is out-of-balance, everyone can see it. They might not know what they see that makes the design look cheap and untrustworthy, but on a subliminal level, they see it.

{9} Track your time 

Simply write down how much time you spend on each project each day. Be aware of how long it takes you to design something, even if you're not charging anyone by the hour. Knowing what you're capable of will help you in the future, when you're choosing what kind of project to focus on, what kind of work to look for, how to get the most out of your skillset, and where you need to strengthen your focus.

{10}  Share knowledge 

Nearly everything I learned, I learned from working with friends and colleagues. We didn't even necessarily on projects together, but sometimes just because they recommended a website or a book, or simply from working in the same room together and talking about how we do things. It could be as basic as learning a keyboard shortcut to do something (which, incidentally, you should try to learn now because it will save your wrists in the future, as will learning to get comfortable with using a mouse with your left hand - another thing a colleague suggested), or as big as learning about a new design style which could transform your career. Go to free classes, talks, etc, and read about design for fun. Get books out of the library, put up posters, keep packaging, immerse yourself in designs you like and let them become part of your life.

http://soyabean.com/blog/2013/2/12/some-basic-rules-for-graphic-designers?utm_source=CMblog&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=stayingcreative

{ Tips to Stay Creative }

When it comes to staying creative and coming up with ideas it can be hard. So the next time your in a creative slump here are some tips on how to stay creative and do so with a positive attitude. 

{1} Always Carry a Notebook and a Pen

Creativity and inspiration can strike at any time, and often they like to reveal itself at the most inconvenient moments. Whether it's walking home from work, cleaning out the car, or buying groceries -- sometimes just a noise, image, or person can inspire an amazing idea. Without a notebook handy, those brilliant ideas can just disappear into thin air.

{2} Doodling and Creative Journals 

Doodling is meant to be a completely subconscious activity where you simple put pen/pencil to paper and start drawing. It's basically the act of creating something while your mind is focused elsewhere. Maybe these doodles will spark a new idea or creative project...who knows? The world is your canvas, so let yourself go into creative mode completely, and see where your imagination takes you.

{3} Surround Yourself with Creative People 

When you surround yourself with creative people who are motivated to expand their horizons, you will discover that you are constantly learning. A group of creative friends can help you see things from a different perspective and be a sounding board for you to bounce your own ideas around. These kinds of people will challenge you intellectually and creatively, helping you to grow and think differently about your work and the world around you

{4}  Embrace Recommendations 

If someone suggests a book, class, or movie that you should check out...there's no harm in checking it out. Taking their idea for a spin might just give you a fresh perspective and a new way of looking at things.

{5}  Follow Through on an Idea 

Have you ever started on a project completely overcome with excitement, and then for some reason your enthusiasm petered out? It could be because something else came up or because you simply lost interest. If this happens more often than not, try changing the project, make it different, or approach it from a new direction. Use your creativity to make the project enjoyable. Then, not only will you finish a project, you will have thought of a creative way to finish it where you enjoy it completely.

{6} Work on Your Creativity Daily

Your physical muscles only continue to get stronger when you continue to work at making them stronger. The same goes for your creativity. You have to continually train and work on your creative muscles to get them tough, strong, and read to rock n' roll.

{7} Know the Rules First, then Break the Rules 

When you're trying to create something new and innovative, it's good to know what's already out there so you can move in a different direction, or adapt and change to make a new twist on existing ideas. Before you can be truly innovative and creative you need to immerse yourself in everything else that's already been done. Not only will you become more knowledgeable about the art, design, and creative community, but you'll see how you would change certain pieces and do things a little differently.

https://creativemarket.com/blog/2013/07/02/7-tips-for-staying-creative?utm_content=buffer0bc16&utm_medium=social&utm_source=CMfacebook&utm_campaign=buffer

{ Reclaiming Your Weekend }

{ Staying Creative the Easy Way }

{ A Day in the Life of a Designer }

{ Getting into the Right Piece of Mind }

{ The Simple Way to Become Successful }

It's almost too simple.

{ Graphic Design Hacks }

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8XmKmrSVJk

{ An Intro to Typography }

{ Adobe Illustrator Hacks }

{ How Bad Is It: Graphic Design }

{ Photoshop Hacks }

{ The History of Pantone Color }

{ Intro to CMYK and Printing }

{ CSS Puns }

I have recently just started to really get a grip on CSS coding, so when I found  some CSS puns I could resided sharing them on here.  So without further or do here are some of my favorite CSS puns.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/funny-css-puns/?utm_content=buffer4d1b7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=CMfacebook&utm_campaign=buffer

{ Papyrus The Other Hated Font }