Clementine Creative | Graphic Design & Stationery

Colour Inspiration 20.05.12

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sun, 20 May 2012 11:54:00 +0000

I've decided to start a new type of post here on Clementine Creative. It's called Colour Inspiration and I will regularly post inspiring colour palettes. You can use it in graphic design, web design, interior design, etc.

This one above is a soft pastel colour scheme. The photo is from Ideas Magazine.

Enjoy and please pin it to your Pinterest boards!

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5 Free Online Photo Editors

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:22:00 +0000

Online image editors work entirely online via your web browser. Why would you need an online photo editor? When you are away from your computer it is very convenient to edit photos online. It's also ideal for people who don't do a lot of image editing. No software has to be installed on your computer. Here is a list of 5 online image editors.

Picozu supports brushes, filters, cropping, actions history, dynamic windows, batch processing, curves, textures, and much more.

Splashup, formerly Fauxto, is a powerful editing tool and photo manager. With the features professionals use and novices want, it's easy to use, works in real-time and allows you to edit many images at once. Splashup runs in all browsers, integrates seamlessly with top photo-sharing sites, and even has its own file format so you can save your work in progress.

Photoshop.com. Quickly crop, straighten, adjust color, and fix other small flaws. Then add visual style with eye-catching filters, effects, and borders. New - Dodge and Burn tools, Crystallize effect, Pop Color and Auto Correct. You can even store your edited photos here and send someone the link to it.

Pixlr is a free online photo editor. Edit, adjust and filter your images. No registration, jump right in! It supports magic wand, clone stamping, lasso, dodge, burn, smudge, blur, red-eye removal tools and more.

With SumoPaint you can create, share and remix your images. It is the the "most versatile painting and photo manipulation application online". Currently it has more than 1 million monthly active users and a vibrant community.

Have you used any of these photo editors? What would you recommend?

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What You Need to Start a Design Business in South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:43:00 +0000

This blog post is mainly aimed at students who want to start their own freelance design business. Starting a graphic design business doesn't involve a lot of start-up costs. You can be an effective designer without having expensive equipment. Here is the bare minimum you need to start your design business in South Africa.

Desk and chair

Invest in a quality chair. Don't buy something cheap because you don't want back aches at the end of the day. You also need a desk/table that's big enough.

Computer

When starting out it's best to buy a desktop computer because they are cheaper. However, if you have the money you can buy a laptop (affiliate link). Laptops are lighter and easier to carry around, but you will pay more for a laptop than a desktop with the same specs.

Many designers use Macs but I personally prefer PCs because they are cheaper and most people in South Africa use PCs anyway. I know Macs look super cool, but when you start out you need to try to save money, not buy an expensive Mac just because it looks cool.

If you can't afford a new computer now, upgrade your existing computer with more RAM, a bigger hard drive, or whatever it is you need.

Software

Most designers use the Adobe Creative Suite. All you will need now is Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. But CorelDraw is very popular in South Africa because it's cheaper than Illustrator, plus you can use it for layout as well. So the bare minimum you need is CorelDraw and Photoshop.

If you can't afford to buy these all new, do what I did: search for the programs on Ebay or BidorBuy and try to win an auction.

If you do web design you will also need a text editor like Notepad ++. It's free and it colour codes your code.

You will also need a word processor and a spreadsheet program. You can start off with Open Office or Libre Office, which are open source software. You can type your letters in the word processor and do your invoices in the spreadsheet program.

Internet connection

There are many options including a 3G or wireless connections. Start with 1GB cap per month or so and see if it is enough for you. If you can't afford Internet right now, go to an Internet cafe or coffee shops with wireless connections.

E-mail account

Get a reliable e-mail account from Hotmail or Gmail.

Planner or organiser

When you start becoming busier you will need to write down deadlines in a planner. You can also put up a calendar on your wall. You also need a notebook to jot down ideas, make to-do lists and to make sketches.

More resources

Setting up the optimal work environment
How to effectively organize, manage and maintain your freelance design business
Starting a web design business
Starting a freelance design business

Is there anything I've left out? Please leave a comment!

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Wedding Invitation Template {Free PSD}

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:47:00 +0000

Today I have a free Photoshop template for you to download - a wedding invitation.

The layers are all editable, so you can change the wording, fonts, colours and layout.

Colour mode: This file is in CMYK mode so you can print it professionally.
Bleed: 3mm bleed.
File size: 529 Kb
Dimensions: 5 x 7 " or 127 x 177 mm.

You need to install the following free fonts before opening the PSD:
DejaVu Sans
Delius Swash Caps

Download your free PSD wedding invitation template.

Show me your creations when you're finished! I hope you enjoy this PSD and if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

If you don't own Photoshop, check out my premium wedding stationery on Zazzle. It is super easy to edit the wording online and see the results instantly. All you need is a free account on Zazzle.

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My favourite design links 10/03/12

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:16:00 +0000

Here are some cool blog posts that I found interesting:
It's all in the (designer's) bag
We all know that designers are cool. They generally dress well, and have a good sense of style. I’ve also noticed that they tend to have cool bags – but what is inside of those bags? I know you are dying to know!! I asked several designers to snag a pic of what they carry around with them on a daily basis.

5 Ways freelancers can create a passive income
Passive income can provide a buffer to your cash flow for those times when clients are hard to come by. So, although it probably won’t make you rich, passive income is a great way for freelancers to obtain a bit of job security in a profession otherwise laden with uncertainty.

Logo design roundup Part 1 - Over 50 ways designers promote and brand themselves
This is Part 1 of the Logo Design Round-Up series. This ongoing series showcases a collection of logos and brand marks, self submitted by a bunch of freelance designers and creative folk in many creative areas. These designers use the logos to sell, promote, brand and market their various skills.

How to create a seamless background in CorelDraw
In this tutorial Anastasiia Ku will show you how to create a simple seamless background in CorelDRAW

13 Characteristics of outstanding blog design
There are plenty of sources available for designers who are seeking inspiration from high quality blog design, but it’s also important to understand specifically what will influence and determine the success of a blog theme design. In this article we’ll examine 13 characteristics that separate great blog themes from the rest.

Do you want to improve your graphic design skills?
Here are some ways in which you can be an updated designer and improve your design skills.
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How to make an inspiration board

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000

What is an inspiration board?

An inspiration or mood board can be used to gather all the pieces of photos, cards, fabrics, etc that inspire you. It helps you to flesh out ideas before starting a new project. An inspiration board can be a corner, a shelf, a wall, a noticeboard or any type of board where you can stick things onto. Paste anything on this board that you like. Putting an inspiration board together helps you organise your thoughts when you are distracted by too many stuff out there!

How do you put an inspiration board together?

Take ideas from anything. Look for pictures in magazines, books, and images you found online. Focus on the type of style that you like. Paste all of your collected items on your board. The more items you have, the richer the inspiration will be.

Inspiration boards can be very usefull in Interior, Graphic and Web Design. Interior Designers make a mood board before they start designing a new room. They gather photos of the type of furniture they want it the room, the paint colours, fabrics, etc. Graphic or Web Designers can also first make an inspiration board of all the things they like and the look and feel they want the design to have.

If you're planning a wedding, creating an inspiration board of how you want your wedding to look like can also be very helpful. Think of the colour scheme, the flowers, the style of dress you like, etc.

What can I put onto my inspiration board?

Collect textures, fonts, patterns, fabric, photos, art, flowers, paint swatches, postcards, buttons, wallpaper etc.

Your ideas will come much faster to you if you have an idea of what you like.

Where can I get inspiration from?

1. Fashion. Page through fashion magazines or go to a clothing store.
2. Stationery (gift wrap, postage stamps, letters, cards)

Man Made DIY

Jessica Jones

3. Fabric

Little Big Girl Studio

4. Art

How About Orange

Other places: nature ,industrial design, photos, jewelry

Examples of inspiration boards

Decor 8

Home magazine South Africa | special issue 2010

Blush Printables

Inspiration for my own logo

Home magazine South Africa | special issue 2010

Decor 8

Home magazine South Africa | special issue 2010

Decor 8

Bowties and Bliss

Decor 8

Zucker Monarchie

More resources on inspiration boards

Flikr Inspiration Boards
Web Designer Depot | Why mood boards matter
The Mix Creative | The perspiration of inspiration tips to get the ideas flowing
Wedding Bee | Create a mood board: the Photoshop way

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Put an image inside text with CorelDraw

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:08:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered how you get an image inside text with CorelDraw? We will be using CorelDraw's PowerClip. This easy and quick tutorial will teach you how.

Choose a bold font and write out your text. It doesn't matter in what colour it is.

Import your chosen image.

Now click and drag the image with your right mouse button over the text. When you see a vertical line between two characters, release the mouse button. A menu will pop up. Choose "PowerClip Inside".

And there you go! That was easy.

So what if you want to move the image around? Just right-click on the text and choose "Edit contents".

When you are happy, right-click on the text and choose "Finish editing this level".

And if you want to remove the image from the text, right-click on the text and choose "Extract contents".

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New in my shop - 06/01/12

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:44:00 +0000

I've added a few more exciting products to my online shop.

There are printable bookmarks in English and Afrikaans...

And printable wall art...

If you see something you like, click on the "description" button to read more about it. If you want to buy it, click on the "add to basket" button. Within 24 hours of payment you will get your printable PDF delivered to your email address!

There is no limit as to how many times you can print it out. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Or you can read the FAQ page.

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Free Printable Christmas Gift Tags - Red and Blue

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:28:00 +0000

I have designed a set of four Christmas gift tags in red and blue.

Download, print, cut out and write your message on the back.

Download Christmas gift tags in English

Download Christmas gift tags in Afrikaans

Enjoy and please comment if you like them!

Places to advertise your South African business online

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:21:00 +0000

If you have just started a website, the easiest way to get more links to your site is to submit your business to directories. South African business owners can submit their websites to these directories to get a little more traffic. Getting sites to link to you will also give you a higher search engine ranking.

Aardvark
Ananzi
Bleet
Hotfrog
My Sheriff
Search ZA
SouthAfrican.za.net
RSA Search
Besigheidsgids
Cylex
Tuugo
EZ Search

The following are websites that allow you to post an advert about your business. You can also add your website URL.

Craigslist (here you can use HTML to write your advert)
OFM Classifieds (here you can use HTML to write your advert)
OLX

Gumtree.co.za is also a popular website to advertise your business. You can't add HTML though, but people can contact you through the website.

Do you know of any other South African sites to advertise your business on?

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Free Printable 2012 Calendar - Notepaper Theme

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:59:00 +0000

I have designed a free printable year-at-a-glance calendar for 2012. There are six months on each side, and there's a place to write notes on. Just laminate the calendar and write on it with a white board marker.

Preview:

This calendar has been downloaded over 2000 times!

Download this printable calendar in English (2.2 MB).

Download this printable calendar in Afrikaans (2.2 MB).

You might also be interested in this 12-page calendar available in my shop. Each month prints out on its own page.

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Attach a custom domain to your Blogger blog

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:01:00 +0000

Using a custom domain looks more professional and it can help you rank higher in search engines. This tutorial will help you publish your blog on a domain you already own, while still hosting your blog for free on Blogger.

Go to your domain registrar's website and login. Find the DNS management settings. I use Register Domain SA for domain registration and the DNS Manager is under the "Domains" box.

Next you will see a page where you can create records. First we want to create a CNAME record. Under "record type" choose CNAME. Under Name, type in www. Under host name, type in ghs.google.com. If there is a TTL heading, keep it as it is or type in 14400.

Now, create an A-record. This will link your naked domain (prettyrainbows.com) to your actual site (www.prettyrainbows.com).
Under "record type" choose A. Under Name, type in example.com (prettyrainbows.com). Under Host name, type in 216.239.34.21.

Well done, you've created an A-record and a CNAME record. Wait for at least an hour for your DNS settings to activate.

Login to Blogger and choose Settings from the drop-down menu next to your blog name.

Under the Publishing header you will see your current blogspot address. In this example prettyrainbows.blogspot.com is used. Click on "Add a custom domain".

First click on "Switch to advanced settings".

Now you can type in your custom domain (www.prettyrainbows.com). Click on save.

Well done! You now have your blog on a custom domain. If it didn't work, wait another day, or contact your domain registrar to help you.

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Clementine Creative shop launches!

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 17:48:00 +0000

I'm very excited to announce my new printable stationery shop.

A printable is a digital file that you can print on your own printer. I wanted to design things that are affordable and easy to use. I have started with 5 products so far, which include gift tags, 2012 calendar, birthday invites, birthday cards and recipe cards.

Later I will add wedding stationery, bookmarks, calling cards and prints for your home. Why don't you subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss out on updates?

I decided to open my own shop after seeing how popular my free printables are. After doing research I found that there is a market for these products. I couldn't find an online printable stationery shop in South Africa, so I might be the first! Some of my products will have a South African flavour, but most will apply to anyone, anywhere.

Have a look through my store and please send me your feedback!

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Design process of market day poster

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 09:20:00 +0000

In this post I will go through my process of designing a poster for a school's yearly market day. The poster had to be A3 in size and had to grab your attention.

As the school couldn't afford to let the posters be professionally designed and printed, they had to find sponsors. Poldaw Wind Pumps is a local business and they paid me to design the poster. The other sponsors were Afgri Frankfort and Studio Print.

Sketching my ideas

I first started sketching ideas in my notebook. I sketched what I wanted the words "market day" to look like, and how I wanted the layout to look like.

The pattern idea I got from a wallpaper I saw in a lounge.

Designing on the computer

Once I knew what I wanted to do, I opened CorelDraw and started designing. What I like about using a vector-based program is that the file size stays very small even if you work on a large document like an A3. If I worked in Photoshop, the file size would have been very large.

Colour choices

The organisers wanted the poster's background to be yellow with black text. Yellow on black / black on yellow is visible from far away. I made the frame with the pattern orange, because I thought it would give energy. Orange also evokes a feeling of fun. Read about the meanings of colour. I designed the pattern myself using spirals.

The colours I used were yellow, orange, green and blue. At first I only used the first three colours, but I put in some blue and it made the area around the header pop. Yellow, orange, green and blue work together because they are next to each other on the colour wheel.

Layout

The body text was aligned with guidelines so that each word fits into a specific space. I think it looks very neat and modern.

The final poster design

Here is a photo I took of the finished poster in a shop window. This poster was done in Afrikaans. The English meaning of some of the words you see there are: stands, demonstrations, school reunions and netball game.

This poster was a lot of fun for me to work on. Your comments are welcome!

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My favourite design links 13/09/11

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:12:00 +0000

My favourite links this week include: Valuable tips for marketing your freelance business, 10 common typography mistakes, the 50 things every graphic design student should know, 8 good design books, 10 free e-books for designers and tips for making more money as a graphic designer.

Valuable Tips for Marketing Your Freelance Design Business | Reencoded

When you’re working as a freelancer you know that the clients and projects rarely come by themselves. You have to work for them. In a market with competing designers all over the globe, it’s important to use your creativity and skills to land deals with as many potential clients as possible.
In this article I’ve listed 10 tips that should help you get closer to make a living as a freelance designer. I’m aware that not necessarily all these tips will fit everyone, but use your imagination and try to fit them to your business. Maybe these tips can also inspire you to come up with some tips of your own as well!

10 Common typography mistakes | The design cubicle

The goal of this post is to help designers and clients understand the importance of good type skills, while avoiding some of the common mistakes. Please keep in mind that most of these mistakes are subjective and can be changed varying on the project, goals or circumstances.

The 50 things every graphic design student should know | Jamie Wieck

From speaking to friends, colleagues and recalling my own experiences I’ve complied The 50, a list of 50 things I believe every graphic design student should know on leaving college. Some of these points are obvious, others less so – but all are brief, digestible nuggets of wisdom that will hopefully go some way to making the transition from graduate to designer a little bit smoother.

Nubby Twiglet: 8 Design books that I love

There’s always an endless stream of internet design inspiration at our fingertips but the feeling of flipping though a book can never be replaced. Over the years I’ve gathered a small library of design books that I refer to on a regular basis and though all quite different, I consider many of these titles to be indispensable for varying reasons. I am by no means proclaiming these books to be the best out there; these are simply titles that I personally own and have found to provide great content.

10 Free e-books for designers | Web Design Ledger

The following ten books contain a wide variety of valuable information for web designers, ranging from HTML5 to a guide for managing your time. There’s plenty here to keep you busy reading for a while. Enjoy!

Tips for making more money as a graphic designer | Designzzz

Pursuing a career in graphic arts or graphic designing is one of the most popular branches in the world these days. From brochures, flyers and leaflets to detergent boxes, album covers, and food cans…graphic designing is truly everywhere. It’s good to know that there are some creative ways the graphic designers can employ to earn more money without much more effort and we can then reap maximum benefits out of our career.

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Google Plus

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:06:00 +0000

The newest and most exciting social platform has arrived. Google+ (Plus) is out on beta and you can provide feedback to them about what you think.

In Google+ you have the ability to add people to circles called friends, acquaintances, family, etc. You can of course rename these to anything you like. You can add people easily to circles using drag and drop. For example, drag and drop your colleagues in your colleagues circle, cool people in your cool people circle, etc. When you only want to read news about certain people, just click on the circle you've placed them in.

It is like Twitter in the sense that people can follow you, and you don't necessarily have to follow them back. This is unlike Facebook where you become friends with someone and they see your updates, and you see theirs.

Want to know more?

Here is what you should know about Google+
20 of the Best Google+ guides and tutorials to get freelancers up and running.
Hot Google+ tips for freelancers.

Google+ invitation

At the moment you can only get in by invitation. If you would like a Google+ invitation, feel free to contact me or leave a comment.

Free Google+ icons

Are you already on Google+? Here are some free Google+ icons from Matt Hodder and Bold Perspective.

You can also follow me on Google+. And don't forget I'm on Twitter and Facebook too where I share interesting links on graphic design.

What do you think of Google+ so far? Do you think it will replace Facebook? Please leave your comments below.

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What is a logo guidelines document?

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:20:00 +0000

In this post I will explain what a logo guideline is, what to include in a logo guideline, why it is necessary, in what format it should be and when it is developed.

A logo guideline can also be called identity standards manuals or brand guidelines. It is a document that provides guidelines to the people who will be using the logo (like other graphic designers and printers). It aims to keep the logo looking consistent across all mediums.

What do I include in the document?

Here is a list of things to include:

1. An introduction: which includes what a logo guideline is and...

Why a logo guideline document is necessary

It is important that the logo looks consistent and is handled appropriately. When a logo gets into the wrong hands someone might stretch or squash the logo, or use the wrong colours. Your client's brand will suffer even when inconsistent colour is applied to their logo.

2. The logo design

Show how the logo should look like:

3. Colours used (Pantone, CMYK and RGB equivalents)

Write down the Pantone colours you used, and what their CMYK and RGB values are.

Printers will use the Pantone colours when the logo will be printed on its own.
CMYK colours wil be used when the logo will be printed on a full-colour brochure (or any other full-colour designs).
RGB will be used for displaying the logo on the web.

4. Fonts used

Show users of this document what font(s) you used. This is now the company's main font and should be used on all their marketing materials to keep it looking consistent.

5. Alternative versions of the logo

Sometimes an alternative version of the logo needs to be used. For example, when used on a dark background, a light version of the logo will look better. So in this section show what the logo looks like in solid black, and white on a dark background. Also state what the file names are of these logos and where you saved it for the client.

Also give the colour palette of the colours you used for these alternative logos.

6. File name meanings

If you included the logo in different formats (EPS, PNG, AI, etc.) tell the user of the document what these formats are for.

Say that the JPG and PNG formats are for the client's own use (in fax sheets, letters, invoices, etc).
And the EPS, AI and CDR versions are for professional use (print workers, graphic designers).

7. Dos and Don'ts

Show what is acceptable use and what is unacceptable.

Acceptable use might show how far other elements must be from the logo - called the exclusion zone:

Unacceptable usage is when the logo is squashed, stretched, elements are rearranged, different fonts are used, etc.

When is a logo guideline developed?

It is developed after the logo is finished. It can take some time to develop one, but it is very important to include this. When you email the finished logo to your client, send the logo guideline with it as well. Tell the client what a logo guideline is and how it could benefit their brand.

In what format is a logo guideline?

It can be in PDF format or you can print it for your client if you can deliver it to them.

Do you develop logo guidelines? What do you include in it?

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13 Handy Time-saving CorelDraw Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:56:00 +0000

In this post you will find 13 shortcuts or techniques that will help you save time when you work in CorelDraw.

1. Double-click the rectangle tool in the toolbox to get a rectangle that is the same size as your page.

2. To easily modify the tracking and leading of text, pick the shape tool; click and drag the handles you see until you are satisfied with your text. To increase or decrease the kerning, click and drag the white boxes to the left of each character.

3. To apply the same pattern to other objects, select the object that you want to apply the pattern to. Pick the Interactive Fill Tool (G) in the toolbox. In the property bar, click the Copy fill properties icon. A black arrow will appear. Click on the object with the pattern you want to copy. Your other object will be filled with that pattern.

4. Apply the same fill properties to other objects with styles. Right click on the object with the properties you want to copy. Go to Styles - Save style properties. Give it a name. Click on another object which you want to give that style to. Right click, choose Styles - Apply - and click on the name of the style.

5. To bring an object to the front, hold down Shift + Page Up. To send it to the back, hold down Shift + Page down. To send the object just one layer down or up, replace Shift with Ctrl.

6. To insert a symbol character (like a &), press Ctrl + F11 to bring up the Symbol character menu.

7. When you import an image and you want to center it on the page, import it and press Enter.

8. When an object is hidden and it is difficult to select, press Tab until a selection box appears around the object.

9. To repeat an action you did to another object, select the object and click Edit > Repeat (Ctrl + R).

10. You can quickly access the outline pen dialog box by double-clicking the outline icon on the status bar.

11. To quickly mirror an object, hold down Ctrl and drag a selection handle to the opposite side of the object.

12. To select all nodes on a selected curved object, pick the Shape Tool and click on Select All Nodes on the property bar.

13. To clean up a curved object of unescessary nodes, select all the nodes, pick the shape tool and click on Reduce Nodes on the property bar.

Do you have any time-saving tips you would like to share?

Related Posts
How to convert a bitmap to a vector with CorelDraw

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My Favourite Design Links 20/6/11

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:53:00 +0000

My favourite links this week include - how you can gain experience as a designer, 100 seamless patterns, brochure, headers and footers inspiration, how to clean up a logo, and design elements of a blog.

Tips for new designers to gain real world experience

In this article, Preston Lee guides new graphic designers with various tips and techniques on how to gain working experience in a ‘tough-to-start-out-in’ field. As a designer, you’ve certainly run into the classical blunder: You can’t get real design experience without a design job, and you can’t get a design job without real-world experience. This article lists several steps you can take to gain real-world experience as a new graphic designer.

100+ Seamless Patterns Great for creating website backgrounds

Seamless patterns are a great way to add interest and detail to a web design background. In this post we’ve rounded up over one hundred seamless patterns. You’ll find a wide variety of styles such as vintage, florals, and stripes. All of these are of very high quality so you can use them as is or use them as a foundation for your own background.

Tips and tricks for freelance graphic designers

Freelance graphic designing is an enjoyable professional field that allows you to work with freedom and much relaxation. However, managing your freelance operations is a hell of hard work that most of us do not learn until a very long time. Freelancing has its particular pros and cons that depend a lot on the freelance designer himself. There are many risks involved in freelancing business, which, however can be dealt with.

20 Brochure design examples - ideas for your print projects

20 Beautiful brochures you just have to see.

How to effectively clean up a logo in Illustrator with the pathfinder tool

Cleaning a logo is a must do. This isn’t something that you just pass on to someone else. Just like naming your layers before handing off the logo, this separates the men from the boys (or women from the ladies) and truly defines you as a good designer to work with or a great designer that gets recommended to others.

Life cycle of a website - an experience

It feels really great, when you get associated with the complete life cycle of a website – strategize – design – develop – market – develop – make money. I am sure that many of you have experienced this awesome practice and many are just starting. And there are a lot more people who are not directly associated with this whole process. Here is one of my experiences that may help you understand it from an implementer’s perspective.

7 Essential design elements of a blog

Any Blog requires certain design characteristics to ensure the users remain as satisfied and engaged as possible. With the recent popularity of social media, expectations from blogs are higher than ever before. Any user would expect to immediately do a Facebook ‘like’ upon reading a good blog article today! By this of course we are speaking of a feature. How about design elements? They are just as important, although some of you may be unaware of the reasons! A user expects a design that places images and text in an easy to follow manner. We’ve put together eight pointers, which we believe help fine-tune your blog design.

35 Inspiring headers and footers

Headers and footers are extremely important in web design, as we mentioned last year, they are powerful sections of a website and it’s very important that you take good care of them while putting together your site. From clean and minimal to colorful and illustrated, you can really get your viewers attention with beautiful and well designed headers and footers. Check out some inspiring examples we’ve gathered.

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Tea Party Postcard Invitation - Free Printable

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 11:35:00 +0000

I have designed a pink postcard invitation that you can use for a tea party.

Download, print it out and write your message on the back, stick on a postage stamp and write down the address.

It is available in English and Afrikaans. Click on the image to go download!

Related Posts
Free Printable season-themed calendar for 2011

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Paint in colour on a black and white photo

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Mon, 30 May 2011 09:42:00 +0000

In this Photoshop tutorial, the technique that we are going to use is called hand-tinting. We are going to start off with a colour photograph, turn it black and white and paint an object in colour again. Pick a photo and think so long of the object/objects that you want to keep the colour of.

Open a photo of your choice in Photoshop.

We are now going to convert it to black and white. Go to Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Black and White. Give it a name if you like.

In the Adjustments tab you can make the colours in your black and white photograph lighter or darker. I'm going to make the water lighter, so I'm taking the Cyan slider and dragging it to the right.

When you're happy with your photo, we are going to hide the black and white layer. Click on the eye icon next to the black & white layer in your layers palette.

Pick your Magic wand or Quick selection tool (Shortcut - W). I'm going to use the Quick selection tool, because I'm going to select an object with different colours. Select your object or the shade of colour.

Now, hide your selection by pressing Ctrl + H.

Turn on the visibility of the black and white layer again.

Pick the brush tool. Make your foreground colour black and set the opacity to 100%. You can lower the opacity if you like.

Start painting on the place you made your selection earlier and you'll see the colour coming through. You don't have to worry about going over the lines, because it is only going to paint inside of the lines of the selection you made.

And there you go!

Make your own - I would like to see it! Just attach it in the comments.

Related Posts
How to make a Photoshop brush

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My Favourite Design Links 24/5/11

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:31:00 +0000

I have decided to start a post to give out links that I find helpful, and that I'm sure others will too. "My favourite design links" will be posted every now and then. Check out these first six articles that are definitely worth reading!

14 Facebook applications to encourage fans engagement in 2011

Coincidentally last month, a reader wrote in and requested for ideas in increasing fan base and fans engagement on their page wall. During my research, I came across Appbistro, a market place for facebook page applications that saved me a lot of time in discovering new applications when I logged in as my Social @ Blogging Tracker page.

How to work from home - Rob Cubbon

I swapped the office cubicle for the spare room two years ago and I’ve never looked back. However, working from home isn’t as simple or as easy as it sounds. It certainly helped that I’d spent two years “easing myself in” – working at home temporarily whilst freelancing at other offices part time.

10 Easy steps to get more traffic to your blog

The blogosphere is a huge and very busy world with more than 100 million blogs and it is still growing. While blogs around the world attract an insane amount of traffic the competition is still very tough. Essentially it means that you have to stand out and teach yourself some basic traffic generation skills just to be noticed and that you need to learn the techniques used by professional bloggers and Internet marketers to build a high traffic and potentially very profitable blog based business.

5 Common blogging tips that aren't true - Rob Cubbon

Although I’m far from being an expert, I sometimes feel uneasy when I see certain blogging “rules” that don’t seem right to me. Here are the 5 pieces of blogging advice repeated again and again that I would really question the wisdom of.

Logo design process and walkthroughs for Vivid Ways - Chris Spooner

I recently finished up a project with Scott McIntyre of Vivid Ways and Jon Phillip of Spyre Studios. My part in the project was to work on a new logo design for the Vivid Ways website and brand. Here’s my design process and a walkthrough of how the final logo is created in Adobe Illustrator.

Tips on using a website builder to create your professional website

Finding new clients is an inevitable part of being a freelancer, but it can be even more time-consuming when you are not yet established. The phone, email, word-of-mouth, and networking are all tools for client acquisition. But, a website is the only channel that continues to attract clients while you sleep and underpins all your other marketing efforts.

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What are bleed and crop marks?

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Sat, 14 May 2011 09:40:00 +0000

In this article I will tell you all about bleed and crop marks. These two terms are used when you design for print. Setting up your file correctly before going to print is very important. I hope that graphic design students or anyone wanting to learn more about print design will find this article helpful. If you can explain it better, be sure to leave a comment!

What is bleed?

Any image that runs to the edge of your page needs to be bled off. The bleed area is the area that extends beyond the safe area. You need to include a bleed area because the paper is likely to shift when it gets printed and it can cause white borders around your image. The bleed area is just excess image that gets printed, but it gets trimmed off.

How much bleed is required?

Usually 3mm bleed is required but it can also be up to 5mm. Ask the printer how much bleed they require if you are not sure.

How do you setup a document with bleed?

So let's say you are designing a business card that requires bleed. A business card might be 90mm x 50mm.
You need to add 3mm to the top, bottom, left and right sides. So you need to add 6mm to 90mm. And 6mm to 50mm. Your final document size that you need to create is 96mm x 56mm.

To remind you where the final printed piece will be, draw guidelines and position them 3mm inwards on each side.

The safe area

The safe area is where all your important elements like text should go. No important elements should go outside the safe area. This is also called the live area.

What are crop marks?

Crop marks are small lines that show where the actual document is and where the paper needs to be trimmed by the print worker. Crop marks are usually hairline thickness and are set in Registration black (C100 M100 Y100 K100). Crop marks can also be called trim marks.

How do you setup crop marks?

To setup crop marks for CorelDraw, simply publish the document to PDF. When asked to give your PDF file a name, click on Settings first. Click on the Prepress tab and only check crop marks. To setup crops in Illustrator and InDesign, read this very helpful article by Chris Spooner.

Resources

To learn more about bleeds, crops and print design, read these articles:

Preparing artwork for print | Rob Cubbon
How to setup files for printing | The Design O'Blog
10 Tips to make your design files print-ready | Graphic Design Blender
Design guide for print | David Airey
Printing and prepress basics | vectortuts+
Printing prepress dos and don'ts - Graphic Design School

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New in my portfolio: May 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Tue, 10 May 2011 09:21:00 +0000

I have added 2 new logos and a business card to my portfolio

Plus I have a new section: Personal work.

As you can see I love the Eiffel tower!

I would like to hear your comments.

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Free Printable Mother's Day Card

noreply@blogger.com (Carmia Cronjé) — Mon, 02 May 2011 12:07:00 +0000

Here is a postcard-themed Mother's Day card that you can download and print out.

Dimensions: 150mm x 117.5 mm or 5.9 " x 4.6 ". It prints out onto one page. Just download, print out and fold in half. It is blank on the inside.
Download your free Mother's Day card in English (PDF file).

Below is the Afrikaans version:

Laai jou gratis Afrikaanse Moedersdagkaartjie af (PDF).

You might also like these premium printable Mother's Day card available in my shop.

What are you doing for your mum this Mother's Day?

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