Alex Mather’s new ebook ‘10 Steps to Powerful Online Self Promotion for Creatives‘ has just been released and it’s definitely worth checking out. I’m not here to ‘sell’ the book to you but seeing though it’s one of the most common question areas that I get asked about, I thought it was worth sharing.

• Click here to check out the book & judge for yourself*

An overview of what’s included in the book:

• How to establish a unique selling point, and become an outstanding, credible brand.
• How to build, promote and maintain the perfect online presence.
• How to set up, maintain and promote a niche blog.
• Setting up an effective mailing list.
• Setting up properly on various social media sites.
• Building large and relevant networks on social networking sites.
• Driving traffic to your sites in over 18 ways.
• Directly advertising your work for little or no money.
• Making use of online creative communities for promotion.
• Ideas on collaboration and joint ventures.
• Huge resource list aimed specifically at creative professionals.
• Maintenance.
• Much more.

The book is on sale for $27 for just three days (sale ends March 13th) and will then jump back up to $39 after the initial release. There is a 12 month money back guarantee too.

Anyway, you can make up your own mind by reading the official sales page*.

For those that do buy it, I’d love to hear your feedback.

*Affiliate

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I recently came across this series of short video clips taken from Saul Bass‘ documentary and this one really stood out for me: Making Money VS Quality Work. I highly recommend watching this short video.

The fact of the matter is, I want everything we do, that I do personally, that our office does, to be beautiful. I don’t give a damn whether the client understands that that’s worth anything, or that the client thinks it’s worth anything, or whether it is worth anything. It’s worth it to me. It’s the way I want to live my life. I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares. —Saul Bass

Hear hear — if only it was that easy.

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I recently got hold of Alex Mather’s new eBook ‘10 Steps to Powerful Online Self Promotion for Creatives*’ (review copy) and although I didn’t have time to read it front to back, I thoroughly enjoyed looking through each of the chapters and from what I saw, it was definitely worth sharing.

Update March 9th: Now on sale!

Click here to check it out*

Alex describes his book as “an in depth guide to effective marketing, winning regular clients and making sales using the Internet” and it has already received some great reviews from notable figures in the creative industry, some of the testimonials are listed below:

Mathers’ online book, “10 Steps to Powerful Online Self Promotion for
Creatives” is all you’ll ever need to become an expert yourself. He dispels
the outdated “filthy lucre” myth to which artists have long clung & replaces
it with the tools to give you confidence in your ability to promote yourself with integrity.

I’ve never encountered a more valuable or thorough guide to promotion.

Jerelle Kraus, Former New York Times Art Director and Author

Alex Mathers has mastered the methods for effective self-promotion in the creative world. As we all know, most creative talent goes unnoticed. In ‘10 Steps to Powerful Online Self Promotion for Creatives’, Alex provides invaluable insights that are practical and illuminate the path to getting the respect you deserve.

Scott Belsky, Founder of Behance, The 99%, and Author of ‘Making Ideas Happen’

…what truly makes ‘10 Steps’ a gem is the tremendous amount of common sense within this book, which further makes it a reliable and powerful reminder that gets you thinking…

Alex Goh, Founder and Director at Design Taxi

Get Your Discount

Although I can’t say much more about the book, I do highly recommend registering your email* on their website so you can decide later if the book is for you. By registering, you will also get a rather large discount once the book is launched on March 10th. It will be on sale for $39 to the regular public and $27 for those early buyers. Quite a small price for the valuable information inside.

An Interview with the author: Alex Mathers

Rather than just posting about the book, I thought a quick interview would give you a behind-the-scenes look at who and what Alex Mathers is all about.

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a freelance illustrator and designer based in London, UK and write two blogs. One is Ape on the Moon, which focuses on contemporary illustration styles and techniques, and the other is Red Lemon Club, a blog with discussions and interviews covering online self promotion methods for creatives. I have a background in geography at university, but decided to return to my interest in design when I finished the course. You’ll probably see my interest in physical geography coming through many of my illustrations.

2. Why did you decide to set up Red Lemon Club?

I put the site together after a year of freelancing with the idea of using the blog to share the knowledge I had accrued in learning about online self promotion methods. I knew there was little information available at the time aimed specifically at creative professionals in marketing themselves, and wanted to help the community as well as focusing my own efforts in promoting myself

3. What do you think the biggest difficulty that creative professionals face in promoting themselves?

I think there are two main issues. Firstly, in the face of increasing competition, creatives need to work more on making themselves unique and on building credibility as experts in their fields so that clients find them and take notice. Secondly, creatives lack the more technical know-how of using the most powerful tool available to them, which is the internet. They need a system to be able to use the web in such a way as to market themselves and their work in the most effective way possible.

4. Tell us some more about the book you have just finished.

The book is called ‘10 Steps to Powerful Online Self Promotion for Creatives*’ and has been six months in the making, based on a lot of previous research. The 223-page book is a no-fluff step by step guide detailing exactly how creative freelancers, but also professionals from all fields, can effectively use the internet to make big strides in their promotional efforts. This includes greatly increasing your chances of getting hired regularly by high caliber clients and making more sales. The book has received a lot of interest so far, and I’m very excited about it.

For a further insight into Mathers and his new upcoming book, check out his Q&A session over on his blog or register now to get your discount*.

Other Books I Recommend

• The Unlimited Freelancer* – I wrote a review of this book here.
• Digging Into Wordpress* – An extremely extensive guide to everything Wordpress.
• Recommended Design Books: Part 1, Part 2
• Recommended Logo Design Books

Recently Bought Books

• Logo Design Love Book by David Airey
• Box, Bottle, Bag by The DieLine
• MyOwnBusinessCard Vol 1. by Design & Design (my card appears in this one)
• Typeface: Classic Typography for Contemporary Design
• Smashing Book by Vitaly Friedman.

Does a book such as this interest you? How do you go about promoting yourself?

*Affiliate

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This post was written for the Carrot Creative blog and has been edited for display on Just Creative Design.

The New York Snowpocalypse couldn’t stop me getting to Boston to talk at the PRSSA “PR Advanced: Brand Yourself” conference at Boston University this weekend… a canceled bus just meant I had to get the train, a minor inconvenience for what was to turn out to be a great event.

Speakers at the PR Advanced event included representatives from JetBlue, Boston Red Sox, Dunkin’ Brands, Wholefoods and then myself representing Carrot Creative and Just Creative Design.

The talk I did was titled “The Art of Online Self Promotion: Branding, Blogging & Social Media” and it gave insight on how to create a strong personal brand identity, how to set up a blog & run it as a self promotional tool and how to build relationships across social media platforms… and then some.

It all turned out to be a huge success, considering the fact that all the Carrot Creative business cards & stickers had evaporated by the end of the talk, as well as my own. Student and teacher feedback was also another great indicator, as well as a few more offers to talk elsewhere, including an offer for regular weekly lectures.

A few attendees of the conference wrote up about what they learned from me and the conference as a whole. A select few are linked below:

• Branding Yourself ‘PR Advanced’ Wrap Up by Ginny Rose
• ‘PR Advanced’ Conference Wrap Up by Emily Forrest
• Branding Myself by Ellie Botelho
• Takeaways from PR Advanced 2010 by Emilie Toole
• The organiser of the PR Advanced Conference shares her experiences – Rachel Sprung

There are a few pictures up of the PR Advanced event here and 200 odd more here.

The #PRAdvanced hashtag turned into a trending topic on Twitter, which was made possible by the Q&A that was set up via Tweetdeck (such a great idea). There are a lot of great tips to pick up from that stream, so be sure to check it out.

Overall it was an extremely pleasurable experience, supported by awesome event co-ordination (Great job Chelsea and friends!), a plethora of talented speakers and most importantly, the extremely passionate students & teachers that gave a Saturday up to attend. Carrot Creative and myself thank you all for the support.

Also, thanks once again for my shiny thank you certificate. Similarly, thank you to those who provided public speaking tips on my last article, always appreciated.

Snow heart photo by kimberleyfaye.

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Public speaking is a daunting thought for the vast majority of us, so in the light of my upcoming presentations (more info at end of post) I thought I’d brush up on my public speaking skills, especially considering the talent of the other speakers. Below I’ve gathered some public speaking / presentation tips from some of today’s most experienced talkers.

In Cameron Moll’s article 20 tips for better public speaking, he states that:

“The art of speaking is roughly 51% entertainment, 49% meaty content.”

Your primary responsibility is to entertain a room full of people. This doesn’t necessarily equate to jokes and magic tricks, but it does mean that the content of your presentation, and the delivery of that content, should be compelling and engaging. Keeping the audience eyes’ on you rather than their laptops benefits both you and the audience.

Moll then continues on quoting other high profile speakers, such as Jeffrey Zeldman:

“Attendees will apologise for not understanding a talk, but will want an apology for a talk that’s too basic.”

Edward Tufte argues the same, as paraphrased by Phillip Kerman:

Match your presentation to the level of The New York Times or Wall Street Journal. Audiences don’t suddenly become dumber when they sit down to hear you speak — no reason to “dumb down” anything!

Master the 4 P’s of Presentations:

Similarly, in Ben Yoskovitz’s article 5 Phrases You Never Want To Hear In A Presentation he suggests that we should master the 4 P’s of Presentations:

1. Prepare.
   You might not need a word-for-word script, but prepare something. Make sure your story is compelling, entertaining and worth listening to.
2. Practice.
   You need to practice. Even veteran presenters practice. Make sure you at least read it out loud a few times to develop a good rhythm.
3. Pronunciate.
   You need to speak clearly. There’s no room for mumbling in a presentation. Let me toss another P in there – Project. Speak clearly and firmly to get your point across.
4. Participate.
   You should always try to engage your audience. The sooner they feel like they’re part of what you’re doing, the better.

Use a Framework of Some Kind

Chris Brogan, in his article ‘The Anatomy of Good Speech‘ suggests that we should use a framework of some kind:

I absolutely loathe the “I’m going to tell you this; I am telling you this; I told you this” method of presentations. We don’t watch movies that way. Only some books have a table of contents up front (fiction doesn’t do that often). It’s just not fun seeing the “Title, Agenda, About Me” method. We’re too used to it.

Instead, how about a framework like this (for example)?

• Ask your audience a question that frames the speech.
• Tell your audience how you’ll try and answer that question.
• Start with a personal or investigatory story.
• Drill down into the details of how the story applies to your presentation.
• Offer some takeaways or next-actions for this.
• Tell another personal or informational story.
• Repeat the drill down points, the takeaways, etc.
• Finish with a solid set of steps people can use to take action based on your presentation.
• Thread questions in earlier than the end.

This is one storytelling frame. You can do all kinds of other variations on the theme. For instance, what if you did something like this:

• Start with a question about a famous figure.
• Explain that your audience is there to help you figure out if that figure embodies the subject matter you’re covering.
• Ask them to consider the figure at every step in the presentation.
• And present…

Whichever framework you choose, make sure that you check in, frequently with your audience. Be sure they’re moving along with your presentation. If you see eyes glazing, react (either by livening up your speaking tone, or by noting where people start to glaze and fixing it in a subsequent effort). If you see enthusiasm, look at that person for inspiration. But always check in. Often.

Expert Presentation Tips

Continuing on from Brogan’s suggestions was this great list of presentation tips from Edward R. Tuftes, as summarised below:

• Never apologise
• Always provide a handout
• Audiences are precious: respect them
• Humour—make sure it’s on point, not nasty or gratuitous
• Do not use masculine pronouns—use plurals
• For complex information use: Particular, General, Particular
• Treat questions carefully
• Show your enthusiasm!
• Finish early
• Work hard
• Innovate
• Drink enormous amounts of water

Public Speaking / Presentation Tips & Resources

Below are some further resources to help improve your next presentation.

• The Anatomy of Good Speech – Chris Brogan shares his tips & resources.
• Deliver A Speech Like Steve Jobs – A look at how ‘the man’ delivers his speeches.
• Edward R. Tufte’s Presentation Tips – As summarised above.
• Public Speaking Do’s & Don’ts – Great tips from LifeHacker.
• 10 Fail Proof Tips For Delivering A Powerful Speech – Very to the point tips.
• 20 Tips for Better Presentations – by Cameron Moll
• Training The Butterflies – An interview with Scott Berkun
• How NOT to use Powerpoint – A humorous, yet useful look at how NOT to use Powerpoint.
• Note & Point - A great gallery of high quality slide show presentations.
• Presentation Zen – A blog on public presentations.
• TED – See other speakers in action.

My Speaking Engagements

As mentioned at the beginning, the reasoning behind this post was in light of my two upcoming presentations, as outlined below.

PR Advanced: Brand Yourself - Saturday 27th February 2010

The first presentation, coming up this weekend is for the PR Advanced Brand Yourself conference, being held at Boston University. I’ve titled my talk “The Art of Online Self Promotion: Branding, Blogging & Social Media“. The other speakers include those from Boston Red Sox, JetBlue Airways, Dunkin’ Brands, Wholefoods and many more… just one of the reasons I needed to up my game. I am some what nervously looking forward to the experience.

Update 1/3/2010: The conference was a success!

You can read the wrap-up of the conference here.

NYC College Of Technology - Thursday March 4th

The second presentation, will be the following week and will be a bit less formal and is being held at the NYC College of Technology. The talk will be quite similar, with some Q&A at the end.

Update: March 8th

You can see some photos from my talk over on Facebook. A video will soon follow.

If you are interested in me doing a talk at your next event, please do get in contact.

Have you got any speech / presentation tips to share?

Sheep Wolf photo by Ajq82.

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I think this is a good question to ask yourself from time to time:

“Are you living virtually or virtually living?”

I’ve made it into a poster that you can download for free below. I’ve released the poster under a Creative Commons 2.5 license which means you CAN copy, print, distribute, edit, display, and use this work for any purpose under the conditions that you give me credit for the work and that you do not make money from it. It is free to edit for non commercial purposes such as creating wallpaper, home printing, etc.

>> Download A3 ‘Living Virtually’ Poster (700Kb)

You may also be interested in my free Logo Copyright Poster.

‘Living Virtually’ Flickr Group

There are many other ways to design such a phrase and I would love to see what you can come up with. Feel free to add your own ‘Living Virtually’ themed designs to the Living Virtually Flickr Group. Tag your creations with ‘Living Virtually’ and get creative!

$50 Printing Credit Promotional Giveaway

In the spirit of freebies, Next Day Flyers is also giving away a $50 printing credit that can be used towards any of the products they offer.

Next Day Flyers is one of the major players in the offset printing market and you will find they offer a slew of products including things you’d expect like business cards and postcards, but also things such as door hangers and greeting cards. They have two high end offset printing presses that crank out the work 24 hours a day which allows them to provide super quick turnaround time.

Simply join the Just Creative Design Facebook Fanpage and we will announce the winner there next week! For those already in the group, you’re automatically in the draw! The competition closes on the 3rd of March and you must be at least 18 years old. G’luck!

March 3rd Update: Contest Ended
Congratulations to Alex Bergin!

PS. Many people have asked how I set up a custom Facebook Fanpage landing page so just follow the tutorial linked.

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I have been researching different laptop covers, in particular, one for my Macbook Pro 17″. I sent out a tweet (follow me) asking for people’s recommendations and got inundated with replies. I thought I would share some of the most notable below. Excuse the pun.

Twelve South Book Book – $79.99

Speck Clear SeeThru Cover – $49.95 (the one I got)

BooqBags Taipan Sneak XS – $24.95

HardGraft Sling + Extras – €125

BooqBags Viper XL2 – $54.95

ColcaSac – $30

Compushell Ultra Rugged Aluminium Case – $269.95

Stealth Laptop Bag – £16.99

Rainer Spehl – €120-€260

Gelaskin Sticker – $29.95

Iron Man Decal – $20
Although not a case I thought this Iron Man decal was worth sharing. There are many more Macbook decals over on Etsy.

Laptop / Macbook Accessory Stores

Before you go about buying a sleeve or cover for your laptop, I recommend shopping around. I had a look through all of these places before making a decision:

• RadTech
• HardGraft
• Speck
• Golla
• Booqbags
• Incipio
• ColcaSac
• MyIncipio
• eBay
• FoofBag
• Tucano
• SFBags
• Gela Skins (Stickers)
• Etsy (Decals)

For even more check out this post: 80 creative ways to customise your Macbook.

Have your own favourite laptop case or cover? Let us know in the comments below.

Thank you to those who recommended the above macbook covers: laurentrisler, jenniferwilke, tomlewek, angela_vaughn, welshstew, jusuzuki, daxalexander, paper_leaf, inklestales, pxls2prnt, krzys, Mat Dolphin, Snow, Daniel.

• No related articles

Improve your skills and workflow by exploring these five oft-overlooked aspects of Illustrator and typography; the differences between optical and metric kerning, how to use the Glyphs panel, the use of Roman hanging punctuation, the correct use of dashes and how to edit the preferences to display large font previews… all tips worth knowing about.

1. Optical vs Metric Kerning

Throughout the Adobe CS, by using the Character panel, you can automatically kern type using metric kerning or optical kerning. Knowing which one to use and when is usually based on what font you are using and how many built-in kerning pairs it has within the font. For text, metric or auto kerning is usually recommended though if you are combining different fonts or type sizes, you might consider Optical settings as Illustrator will adjust the letter fit for you. Optical settings can often yield better results for display type.

2. Glyph Panel

The Glyphs panel, found in Illustrator and InDesign allows you to access a font’s full character set. You can find the Glyphs panel by going to Window > Type > Glyphs. Once open, create a text field and then double click on the glyph you wish to use. Another tip here is to explore the full family of a particular font as you will find that some glyphs only appear in Italics. Three families with beautiful glyphs include Minion Pro, Burgues Script and Bickham Script Pro.

You may also be interested in a tutorial I wrote for Layers Magazine: How to use the glyphs panel in Illustrator to create a font monster.

3. Roman Hanging Punctuation

Roman hanging punctuation is an oft-overlooked area of typography, though, in more cases than not, applying it will give the edge of your body copy a much cleaner line. By default this option is turned off, however, you can turn it on in the Paragraph tool panel. In the Paragraph tool panel, click the small arrow facing downwards (see pic below) to find the extra options and then click Roman Hanging Punctuation. You will find other extra options here, all worth exploring.

5. Large Font Previews

Choosing the right typeface for your particular project is not always going to be an easy task so why not make it a bit easier on yourself and bump up the sizing of your font previews. To do this, go to Edit > Preferences > Font Preview > Large. While you’re here you may want to explore the other options available in the preferences panel, something many designers overlook. It may just improve your workflow.

Hyphens Are Not Dashes

There are three types of dashes and they should be used for their appropriate purposes (admittedly I am pretty lazy with this). Below are the definitions and the ASCII codes needed to use each dash, along with examples.

The Hyphen – (-)
A hyphen is used to separate the words in a compound adjective, verb, or adverb.

eg.  “Re-read the subhead above.”

The En Dash – (–)
The En Dash is used to express a range of values or a distance.

eg. “My guess is 5–20 people will actually listen to this advice.”

The Em Dash — (—)
The Em Dash is used to give a sudden break in thought.

eg. “I was thinking about writing—what issue did you say this was being published in?

Update: 18.2.2010

“The MAC shortcut for an en dash is Alt + – and the shortcut for an em dash is Alt + Shift + -. For the PC it seems there aren’t any but some people set up ctrl + – for en and ctrl + shift + – for em in the required program. I find it has made my converting of dashes much easier and worth doing.” Thanks for the tip Mitchell Harris.

Computer Arts

This article was originally written for Computer Arts Magazine (Issue 170). Below are a few snap shots of the article in print.

More Typography Tips & Resources

• 30 Fonts That All Designers Must Know & Should Own
• The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time
• 27 Classic & Elegant Fonts
• 10 Commerical Fonts Every Print Designer Should Own
• Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Design
• 20 Typefaces To Start A Designer’s Career
• Free 27 Page Type Classification eBook
• Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why
• Top 5 Typography Resources

Have any more Illustrator / typography tips to share?

Passion Illustration by MaximusBill

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After two weeks voting on the Top 12 Logo Designs of 2009 the voting has now closed and we are pleased to announce the 2009 Logo Of The Year.

2009 Logo Of The Year: Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson commemorative logo – from a  short video clip shown on MTV.

Winner: Logo Of The Month September 2009
Credits: Agency; bbdo.de Executor; s-farm.de

2nd Place: Coffee

“Logo for coffee house Coffee CUP where high quality coffee is served. Notice that logo of coffee cup is made of letters “CUP”.” See it in use here.

Winner: Logo Of The Month May 2009
Designer: Jan Zabransky

3rd Place: Lochness

Loch Ness Partnership logo.

Winner: Logo Of The Month June 2009
Designer: Navy Blue Design Group (David Needham)

Poll Results

Thank you everyone for your votes! Also, please feel free to suggest a logo for your chance to win a Logo Of The Day (or maybe even the Logo Of The Year?) award.

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With the launch of Google Buzz I thought it would be a good time to let you know of all the ways you can connect with me and the resources I share.

• Google Buzz – Do you use Gmail? Add me here to join discussions in live time & to follow my articles and twitter updates.
• Twitter – Follow me here to receive many design related resources & links. By far the most active place I am on the web. Updated multiple times a day.
• Facebook – Join me here to stay connected & receive links I share. The second most active place I am on the web. Updated multiple times a day.
• Just Creative Design Facebook Fanpage – Join the fan club to get updates via Facebook on new articles I post on Just Creative Design.
• Logo Of The Day Facebook Fanpage – Join the fan club to get updates via Facebook on new logos I post on Logo Of The Day. Updated daily.
• Logo Of The Day Twitter – Join this if you prefer only to get Logo Of The Day updates, rather than all my other Twitter links. Updated daily.
• Just Creative Design Facebook Group – Join this group to promote your own articles or business.
• LinkedIn – Add me here to boost up your business networking profile. I highly recommend you set up a LinkedIn profile if you haven’t got one.
• Just Creative Design LinkedIn Group – Join this group to promote your own articles, ask questions and to discuss the business of design.
• StumbleUpon – Add me here to see what websites I deem worthy of a thumbs up.
• Delicious – Add me here to see links I think I’ll need to come back to later. Updated daily.
• Vimeo – Add me here to get updated whenever I make a video.
• FourSquare – Add me to here to see where I go in real life and tips I provide in those places. Probably only useful for those in the New York area.

If haven’t already, you should subscribe to Just Creative Design’s updates by RSS or Email.

You can also follow me through my site http://jacobcass.com which aggregates the above profiles into one easy location through the service Flavors.me.

Social Media Articles

• HOW TO: Get more brand exposure, traffic and sales using Facebook
• How To Get Clients Using LinkedIn
• Twitter Tips, Interview & The Benefits Of Using Twitter
• 10 Tips For Using Twitter To Grow Your Freelance Business
• How to get onto Digg’s FRONT page in 8 steps
• A Comprehensive guide to StumbleUpon: How to build massive traffic to your site

Stay tuned this month (or early March) for Just Creative Design’s total new redesign!

© Bee photo by Aitor Escauriaza.

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As a designer it’s not always easy to stand up for yourself… clients often have demanding requests, tight budgets and due to one reason or another, designers will succumb to taking on labour heavy jobs at heavily discounted rates. This does not have to be.

In this article I will show you how I personally ’stand up’ for my rates and how I ’sell’ the value of my design services, which in the end, means a better result for the client and a much more pleasant overall experience for the designer. Below you will find the original transcripts of a conversation between a recent client and myself. By providing this transcript, I hope to provide an example of just one way to stand up & sell yourself as a designer.

It’s also interesting (for me at least) to see how others run their business and seeing an email conversation between a client & designer is a rare insight.

Client:

Jacob,

I hope you are well. I appreciate you responding to me post vacation for you.

I was actually all set and had contracted two separate entities to create a logo, letterhead, etc. for the new direction of the business, at the start of the New Year. However, I have been disappointed and have decided not to use the designs.Therefore, I am looking for a design team – but now have a limited budget after paying these past two firms.

Are you able to do a logo design, with the end result of my business having 4 total variations to use? Also looking for letterhead and business card design. I like things super simple, classic. Clean. Nothing too graphicy or colorful. I am looking at a price at $X,XXX range.

Are you willing to take me on?

Thank you again for getting back to me.

Designer:

Hello XX,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune with the other agencies though unfortunately my price range will be above your budget of $XXXX (more in the range of $XXXX) for the logo design and stationery. I also have other client commitments for the next 2-3 weeks so unfortunately I won’t be able to start until then if you decide to go with me.

If you were having any hesitations about hiring myself as a designer here are some things to put you at peace of mind ensuring your investment goes into the right hands…

1. My clients come from all different backgrounds – if you notice my portfolio, nearly every logo design is from a different industry… this shows that I adapt my skills, research and process around the client’s needs and industry in a successful and effective manner. I adapt any design brief and ask questions until the real need of the business is discovered.
2. Understanding my clients background and and business is part of my thorough research process. You can read my design process in full here. This underlying process, as linked, ensures that every client gets what their business needs.
3. I have had plenty of positive feedback from a large array of clients showing how I adjust and adapt my skills for each project. Read some of my many testimonials here.
4. I have received numerous awards for my work in logo design and my work appears in design related books world wide. You can read more on my awards on my about page.
5. If for some reason you are unsatisfied with my work you may still leave without paying the final 50% of the project.

As mentioned before, if you have any further questions, please do ask. I guarantee you will not be disappointed with my work.

Thanks, I hope I have the pleasure of working for you and XX, it sounds like an exciting project!

Hear from you soon.

Client:

Jacob,

I have no hesitation on working with you. You were my first choice. I love your website, I love your designs. There is no questioning that. I have just spent all of my budget on this already. It was hard to free up an additional $XXXX. I can try for $XXXX but it will be hard. If I can get my accountant to free up $XXXX, are you able to work with this? 

You going on vacation, killed me! Haha. But I understand. This has been a nightmare process for me. I have business cards and letterhead that is about to be thrown away – very frustrating.

Let me know your thoughts.

Designer:

Hello XX,

Thanks for your kind words and good to hear you wish to work with me. I do understand your situation with your prior designers, and can feel for you there, however unfortunately as I do not lower the quality of my work, I can not lower my prices, even for situations such as yours.

As much as I would like to work on your project, I can only justify the prices as specified previously. If you wish to go ahead with the work, let me know and I will put together a formal proposal and send over my agreement. Let me know XX. Thanks for your time.

Client:

Jacob,

Thanks for speaking me about this. I am going to get with my people and see if they will free up the cash for this. You are definitely the man for the job.

Client: (2 Hours Later)

Jacob,

I wanted to write and let you know that I understand and respect your firm price with $XXXX. Quality of work is important as is price value. I hope to have this cleared by this week and or look at alternative methods to secure you.

It was really funny. I was just chatting with my cousin, who is a web developer in LA and I was chatting about you. I was showing him  your stuff and we stopped at the Vero logo. XX, my cousin, pulled up an article that you had written. He had remembered that logo and that piece you wrote. He is a fan of your work and said that I really need to make this work. I am pretty excited and doing everything I can with the finances to make it work.

Thank you for your correspondence. My business is so important to me and the new brand direction may identify my group initially, but I hope it helps define my quality in work over the following years. Thanks again.

To cut the story short, in the end the client did work out some more funds (the original “budget” was literally doubled) and eventually signed on for the project. I had stood up for my rates and it had paid off.

Although there are many ways to handle low client “budgets”, I’ve found being upfront and honest to yourself and your client is the best way to deal with it. You may not get the job in all cases but I can guarantee you that in the long term, you will definitely come out on top. You will have higher morale, have longer to work on projects, thus producing higher quality work and overall, have a much steadier income to work with. What do you think? Do you or would you have handled things differently?

Further resources on how to work with clients

• How to get your clients to say ‘yes’ to your designs
• How to talk to non tech savvy clients
• How to design for men and women

Red Light District Photo by Alex Piechta.

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These are the top 12 logo designs of 2009 as voted by you (the awards that won Logo Of The Month) on my other site Logo Of The Day.

What logo do you believe should win the 2009 Logo Of The Year? Cast your vote at the bottom of this post. Voting closes February 12th.

And just so you know, we are now accepting new logo submissions, so go & suggest a logo for a chance to win a Logo Of The Day award.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson commemorative logo – from a  short video clip shown on MTV.

Winner: Logo Of The Month September 2009
Credits: Agency; bbdo.de Executor; s-farm.de

Lochness

Loch Ness Partnership logo.

Winner: Logo Of The Month June 2009
Designer: Navy Blue Design Group (David Needham)

Talkmore

Talkmore uses symbology in the form of quotation marks to replace the letters A and E, creating a clever image that gives a graphical representation of the words and meaning of the brand. The touch of color enhances this effect making the logo stand out.

Winner: Logo Of The Month Nov 2008
(used this month as no posts were made during December 2009)
Designer: Nido

Coffee

“Logo for coffee house Coffee CUP where high quality coffee is served. Notice that logo of coffee cup is made of letters “CUP”.” See it in use here.

Winner: Logo Of The Month May 2009
Designer: Jan Zabransky

Butterfly

This is a logo for women’s underwear company. Student work.

Winner: Logo Of The Month November 2009
Credits: Sertac Aydogdu

Friedman Psychology

Logo design for Friedman Psychology Group.

Winner: Logo Of The Month February 2009
Designer: Mugar Mihai

Swan Songs

A “non-profit that fulfills musical wishes at the end of life”

Winner: Logo Of The Month July 2009
Credits: Macnab Design

Figure 9

“Figure Nine, Inc. is a small bookkeeping/accounting firm in the Indianapolis area. The logo will be used as the company mark on all marketing materials. The logo was to be clean-looking yet bold, and I wanted to convey Figure Nine’s association with number-crunching without being too blatant. Using a “9? as the g worked out well, and offsetting it in a bolder red makes it stand out so the viewer has to look twice.”

Winner: Logo Of The Month October 2009
Credits: Christian Elden

Arbeitskreis Vernetzung

The Logo is for a group (an organization) called “Arbeitskreis Vernetzung”, formed of 4 different social services in Germany and last had been used for an Event called “Tag der sozialen Dienste” (Day of social services). The logo shows 4 people looked at from above, forming a circle (or holding their hands) in an very reduced way. It stands for the 4 organizations the “Arbeitskreis” (Working-Circle (Workgroup)) is formed of.  It shows the unity of these 4 organizations and the “Teamspirit”, just like a football-team sticking together their hands, ready to achieve something. The perspective from above, stands for the fact, that the Group has a vantage point frome above when looking at problems to solve them.” ~ Dominic Rödel

Winner: Logo Of The Month April 2009
Designer: Dominic Rödel

Youth Forum

“This logo is made for Youth Forum, under the name “Forum of the future”. This forum will be held once or twice a year where the top notch people (including prince & princesses) will be hearing the problems of youth and then following it up to solve them.

Basically as per symbol: it is consists of speech balloons coming from four sides (problems or opinion from all sides). different colors : Different problems/opinions. Making shape and the focus is in the middle : means solution (not just useless discussion but with a shape.”

Designer: Sajjad Haider Syed

Jasmine Star Photography

Logo for use on the Jasmine Star Photography website.

Winner: Logo Of The Month for January 2009.
Designer: Nate Sees

Tap Project New Orleans

“Tap Project required that we align ourselves with the existing brand and create a logo for New Orleans Tap Project. This logo is a juxtaposition of the Fleur De Li, a symbol of New Orleans, and water droplets that allow children to have drinking water.”

Winner: Logo Of The Month August 2009
Credits: Zohrab Gevorkian

Cast Your Vote! [Voting Closed]

Thank you for your votes! Voting is now closed.

• The 2009 Logo Of The Year (13)
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• Winner Of The Free Professional Logo Competition (18)
• Why logo design does not cost $5.00 (240)

Some of you may have noticed this website and my other websites being down the past two weeks. Simply put, my old hosts did a runner on me… all of my websites and email stopped working and there was no one to contact for support, my hosts simply vanished. Luckily enough, I had a full back up from just before I left for my trip around the states which meant I had nearly all of articles and comments, bar from a few that I have now salvaged from Google’s cache.

It wasn’t easy restoring the websites as the databases were quite large and had to be uploaded using some crazy back end language that I had no idea how to use. I really owe everything to Kyle McDonald, a workmate from Carrot Creative, for restoring my websites so a HUGE thank you goes out to him! We’re now with the hosts Media Temple though we may have to upgrade our plan soon (just got an email this morning). There are still a few kinks we are working out but I presume everything will be back to normal on all three sites by Thursday this week.

Emails Not Received 11-22nd January

If you have sent an email to me anytime between the 11th and the 22nd of January, I have NOT received it so feel free to resend your email. My apologies for this, it has been outside of my control.

I <3 NY

Some of you may know I’ve just moved from Sydney to New York to start working full time for Carrot Creative, a new media marketing agency specialising in media strategy, design & development. To put simply, the past two weeks have been crazy amazingly great, bar from my hosts vanishing.

From the work (if you can call it that) we do during the day right through to the nightlife there really isn’t much time to sleep and for someone like myself, who doesn’t watch TV, this is awesome. From the bars, to the parties, to the gallery openings, movie premiers, concerts and so fourth, New York really does live up to its name of ‘the city that never sleeps’. I do <3 NY.

I <3 Carrot Creative

I also love where I work… The team that makes up Carrot, as seen above at my welcome party, are not just your work team but your weekend buddies too, which makes Carrot a very comfortable & fun place to work. Add that in with the opportunity to work with the world’s most vaunted brands and I must say, I consider myself very fortunate and am not taking it for granted.

Aside from the social aspects, I’ve also enjoyed learning how an agency works and some of the nifty programs / apps that keep it running smoothly (Jing, Basecamp, Adium, Cyberduck, Google Docs & Gmail) … though there is a lot more to learn.

On another note, this Thursday is Digital Dumbo #12 One Year Anniversary (unfortunately it’s already at capacity) which I am very much looking forward to:

Digital DUMBO was created to bring together the digital minds of DUMBO and the greater NYC area to network, showcase local talent, educate, and facilitate idea exchange. New to Digital DUMBO? Check out our Facebook page for past news coverage, photos and information! You can also follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.

Getting Back To Blogging

The good news now is that after nearly three months of no blogging, I’m refreshed and ready to go. I’m also in talks with a partner to help me run the site which if all works out, will mean more posts for you! And when the time allows, a site redesign! More info on that later.

Getting Back To Design

I’m also getting back to designing and have got some new clients lined up… I am currently (or soon to be) working on a packaging design for a natural energy drink, an identity design for a fitness company, a logo design for an internet faxing company, a logo design for a high frequency sound device that saves animals lives and a truck wrap design for enviro-friendly air cleansing system. It’s good to be back!

Computer Arts Articles

Keep an eye out for Issue 171 of Computer Arts magazine as I’ve written one (or two) typography related article(s) that will be appearing in there. It’s on sale now.

SYA Website Now Online

Late last year I posted some of my recently completed work and amongst some of the work posted was the website for Sikh Youth Australia, which is my largest web project to date. At the time it hadn’t been coded but just last week it was launched. Some of the content still needs to be added, along with some other tweaks but in the most part, it’s completed. You can check out the site by clicking the image above. The coding was done by kiidesign.

Thank you!

Also, I wanted to thank the subscribers and visitors who have stuck around for the past 3 months, I appreciate it! If you haven’t already:

• Join the Just Creative Design Fanpage (keep up to date with my posts)
• Join the Just Creative Design Group (promote your own stuff)
• Follow me on Twitter (get design links tweeted daily)
• Befriend me on Facebook (stay connected)

I Heart NY Photo © Jesse Jacobs.

• Win A Free Logo Contest + Our Achievements So Far (73)
• Want to guest write on Just Creative Design? Now is your chance! (39)
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• The Past, Present & The Future (45)

It’s been a great break… I loved traveling across the USA, it truly is a remarkable country. I’ll be posting some photos when I get a chance to go through the 1400+ pics.

Today (5th Jan) I will be flying out from Australia to begin my new life (story here) in New York, where I plan to stay for 1 to 3 years, while working for Carrot Creative. I will still be blogging & freelancing on the side.

I’ve found a great spacious apartment to live in, with 4 other creatives (and a dog) who are currently attending Pratt Institute – we had a webcam meeting just yesterday and I consider myself very lucky to have found such a great place to live (and just in time). The apartment is right near by Pratt, in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn so if your in the neighbourhood just give us a yell, I’m always keen to meet new people!

I’m still busy going through the two months of backlogged emails and comments so please be patient while I slowly get through them over the next few weeks. After this is completed I will get back to regular blogging.

I was also asked by Carrot Creative to put together a short ‘n’ quick video for their blog, telling people a bit about myself and some of the reasons why I chose to work for Carrot Creative. I thought I’d share the video with you guys here as well… just try not to fall asleep zZZ, you’ve been warned.

Click here to view the video if you can not see it above.

Hope you guys had a great holiday break and I wish you all the best for the New Year!

Brooklyn Bridge Fireworks Image courtesy of look@j.

Comments

This article was originally published on January 5th 2009, however due to our hosts doing a runner on us we lost a number of posts and comments. I’ve salvaged what I could from Google cache. Below you can find the original comments.

1. Design Informer (@designinformer) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
2. Congrats on the new position at Carrot Creative Jacob! That’s amazing, you already got to travel across the USA. I haven’t done that yet, I live in California, but maybe someday.
3. Allen P. (@brickfieldmanor) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
4. Exciting! I hope to watch the video – when I’m not working too hard! Have a safe trip.
5. Kiren on Jan 5, 2010 said:
6. Again, congratulations on the new job and the big move. I hope one day I can work for a similar studio like Carrot Creative. You’ll be amazed on how time flies when your having fun, who knows what the future holds, maybe they’ll make a movie about you?:) Good luck and don’t lose the accent!!
7. Stella Mayfair (@stella_mayfair) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
8. Wish you the best in this new adventure!
   Hope you have some time to upload all the pics
9. rupam (@xhobdo) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
10. Hi Jacob
    just visit your blog and waiting for more design tips,works…love & regards
    Rupam
11. Lasitha (@crazylasi) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
12. Good to hear from you after sometime Jacob.
    I was following your blog for sometime now. and this is my first comment.
    Actually most of your posts almost all helped me a lot to think differently as a designer. logo designer. think creatively, so after reading few blog posts of you…(What makes a good logo?, How to design a logo, Logo design process, etc)

    thought of creating a LOGO for me and a logo for freelance that i am planing to do later… I got really good positive feedback for those logos that i have done. Those posts helped me a lot. Its Pleasure to hear that you are moving to a place that seems you likes a lot “Carrot Creative” (strange name though).

    Wish you all the best.

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

    P.S. I will add my new logos to your “logo of the day” site. will see whether you will accept it or not.

13. B. Jones on Jan 5, 2010 said:
14. I’m really enjoying your site. Easy read. Your mobile site is pretty cool. Like your work.
15. Mike (@thatdeadpixel) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
16. Good luck in NY! What’s with the 1-3 year timeframe you are giving yourself?
17. Tyler on Jan 5, 2010 said:
18. Good to hear your moving state side. Good luck on your new job. Killing it as usual.Cheers!
19. Lu (@Mitouch) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
20. Glad you enjoyed the US and i hope you get to see much more while living here, there’s tons of great stuff here. Hope the climate change isn’t too bad, just be sure to dress warm.Best of luck! ^_^
21. margishi on Jan 5, 2010 said:
22. Hey,Jacob…!
    happy new year!!
    love your wb-site..Really njoy!! nice work done..very creative.. : )
    Waiting for other graphics tips….
    And good wishes for ur big moove…. have safe trip!!Love n regards
    Margishi
23. Emily Cavalier (@EmilysPearl) on Jan 5, 2010 said:
24. Hi there, Jacob! Welcome to Brooklyn. You’re moving to my neighborhood – the best one here. So excited for you to work with CC. I think they’re a great crew. Give a yell on Twitter. Be happy to share some spots for you to check out locally.
25. JayPee on Jan 6, 2010 said:
26. Good Luck Jacob…
    If you can make it There – you can make it Anywhere! (Wish I said that)
    Thought I would send you some Sydney fireworks pix – to go with your Brooklyn Bridge ones.
    Enjoy the Big Apple
27. Julien (@juxyfr) on Jan 6, 2010 said:
28. Have fun in big Apple!
29. Mario (@ocondesign) on Jan 6, 2010 said:
30. Best of luck Jacob! Congrats on the new Carrot Creative gig.
31. Craig Scott on Jan 6, 2010 said:
32. That’s awesome man – well done!
33. Jacob Cass (@justcreative) on Jan 6, 2010 said:

    Thank you all for your kind words. I’m sitting here in Beijing waiting for my connecting flight to NY (still 4 hours to go). It’s bloody -15?c outside and even inside my hands are freezing! Annoying that Facebook and Twitter are blocked.

    Kiren,
    Haha, “Designer Down Under”… if that ever happens I know that’s the end of film!

    B. Jones,
    Check out mobify.com to grab your own mobile site. It’s quite easy!

    Mike,
    My Visa runs out in August 2011 though I can extend it 2 years more if need be. Those dates are not set in concrete, but just a rough idea. I hear many stories of people who don’t come back!

    Emily,
    Always up for advice, totally new to the area so I’m all ears! Always keen to meet new people too. Will give you a Twitter when I can (it’s banned in China, where I am atm).

    JayPee,
    The pic isn’t actually mine (see copyright info at bottom of post). I’ve seen quite a few Sydney fireworks pics (my bro and mother were in the city), saw on news as well – looks like it went off as usual!

34. Kamila – Darc Vanilla Design (@darcvanilla) on Jan 7, 2010 said:
35. Congratulations Jacob in your new life in USA :> Gosh, I envy you Well done!!
36. Melody (@sexidesign) on Jan 7, 2010 said:
37. Wow, pratt institute…I got accepted there for architecture some time ago–wish I took the opportunity but the costs are 45k per year..very cool though, congrats on everything–to continued success for 2010!
38. MieHanz (@MieHan) on Jan 7, 2010 said:
39. congrats on your new job in NY & happy new year!
40. Michael Martin (@problogdesign) on Jan 8, 2010 said:
41. Congrats on finally getting there Jacob! Hope you have a great time over the next few years!

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This is a guest article by Ana Paula Rodrigues*.

In difficult times people get creative — and creative people must find new ways to use resources wisely. Whether you work as an in-house designer at a large company, own your own design firm, or work as a freelancer, the recession has no doubt affected you or someone you know. Thus, creating a need to think outside the box in order to make, and ultimately save, more money .

Here are a variety of ideas to help you through this economic downturn.

1. Create a magazine club

Magazines are a great source of information and inspiration, but they cost money. One way that you can maximize a magazine subscription is to create a magazine club. You can start by contacting designers you know and invite them to meet once a month to exchange magazines and discuss articles. You can eventually grow the club to include other designers, making this an opportunity to network as well.

2. Add new skills for free

When you add a new skill to your toolbox you are opening doors to new opportunities. So why not learn it for free? If you search the Internet you can find many web sites, such as tv.adobe.com, where you can actually stream video and learn techniques directly from the experts! Another thing you can do is subscribe to podcasts like Pixel Perfect. The podcast hosted by digital artist Bert Monroy, offers fifteen minutes of professional and detailed advice on Photoshop and Illustrator tools, and the best part – it’s free.

You should also take advantage of free talks offered from design organizations like the American Institute of Graphic Arts or TED and tap into your local library to see what classes they offer. They may not offer a class on InDesign, but they may offer classes in Excel or Word, and if you’re not familiar with these programs this is a wonderful opportunity to learn.

Another way to learn new techniques is to get a part-time job working for a printer, photographer or another designer whose strength or focus is different than yours. The great thing about going this route is you are learning directly from a professional and getting paid.

3. Teach, tutor, type or talk.

If you can close your eyes and you’re able to recite all the short cuts in Photoshop, odds are you’re an expert. You should take your knowledge and become a, Photoshop “Profit” by teaching or tutoring. Shop your knowledge about particular design programs to local computer training centers, libraries, community colleges and organizations, or create a tutoring program from your own studio. You can also offer to create classes through your company, but check with human resources first. The advantage to tutoring or teaching is you’re helping people attain knowledge and you’re getting paid.

If you’ve been in the design business for a few years, you’ve probably experienced some fun and exciting, or aggravating and nerving, clients, employees, printers, illustrators, photographers etc., so why not write about it? The way you handled a particular situation can be an excellent opportunity for another designer to read and learn from your experience. You can write your article and shop it around to design magazines or design blogs , and if the article gets published you’ll get great exposure and possibly a paycheck!

You can also translate your experiences or expertise into a gig as a guest speaker. Create an informative and entertaining presentation and contact conferences , schools or design organizations to see if the content fits their needs. And don’t forget to check out magazines, organizations or conferences outside of the design world, since graphic design is incorporated into all types of business.

4. Advertise for $0 – Priceless

MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn are free networking vehicles to increase your visibility. Even though some of these sites cater more towards youthful socializing, you can still create a page with a portfolio and a list of skills and services you provide. Also, take time once a week and invite people to become “friends” and update them on any new projects you may be working on.

The hot “new” free tool for networking, marketing or micro-blogging is Twitter. (Twitter Tips here) You are able to write current updates on your profile page and have people follow your entries or “tweets”. You can use Twitter to market yourself by writing about current projects, design awards or a new promotion. The marketing opportunities are limitless with Twitter, except you’ll need to get to the point faster Twitter limits the word count to 140 words.

You can also create a video of your portfolio and upload it to YouTube or be a little more innovative like Kyle T. Webster who took viral marketing to another level by creating an original video called, “Original Design Gangsta ” which is very creative, not to mention very funny. The video ends with his Web site address, which helps drive traffic to his website.

Another way to promote yourself or your business for free is sending out a press release. While there are many sites that charge, there are also a number of them that offer the service at no charge. If you recently won a design award or landed a new account you should create a press release, and post it on your Web site. Also, send it to design magazines and send it to free PR sites like pr.com . Even though these sites offer premium services, they still offer free postings that are often picked up by Google News.

Additionally, when you do pro-bono work it’s usually a win-win situation for you, as well as the non-profit organization you are serving. Besides being a tax write off, it can also be a great way to advertise your design services to others. You can ask to include your Web site address on the materials you created, and have a link on their Web site.

Being published in a design book is another way you can garner recognition and exposure. Publishing houses such as Rockport Publications (www.rockpub.com) or Crescent Hill Books (www.crescenhillbooks.com) are always looking for material to include in their latest book. The wonderful thing about their “Call for Entries” is they’re usually free. You should check their Web sites regularly and enter your work.

5. Sell Yourself

Go through all your design books , equipment and chachkas to pick out things you no longer want or need. If the pile includes working or valuable items, then sell them on eBay. Remember, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

If you photograph , illustrate or paint in your free time, then turn your hobby into an additional revenue stream. Sell your work in galleries or on your Web site, and upload your images to stock houses like iStock to reap the financial rewards of a popular image. Another way to profit from your creativity is to upload your images onto Web sites like cafepress.com that sell and print images on t-shirts, mugs, hats etc.

Taking Inventory: If you take the time to evaluate how every aspect of your business is run, you will find there are hundreds, if not thousands of additional ways to save and make money. From lowering the heat and wearing an extra sweater, to using ceramic mugs instead of purchasing disposable cups, all of these little steps can help make a bad situation just a little bit better. If you would like to share your tips on saving or making money during this recession please leave them in the comments below.

*About the author: Ana Paula Rodrigues is an award winning designer who has been working in New York City for over 13 years. Ana has worked extensively in publishing, advertising and marketing.

This article was originally published on Talent Zoo and has been republished on JCD with permission.

Comments

This article was originally published on November 29th 2009, however due to our hosts doing a runner on us we lost a number of posts and comments. I’ve salvaged what I could from Google cache. Below you can find the original comments.

1. Vitezslav Valka on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Hello sir, I’m just curious, but are you online? Preparing new articles? Thank you and good luck!

2. Callum Chapman on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Great article Ana!

3. Jacob Cass on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Yes I’m back, trying to get things all up and running again. Was left high and dry about 2 weeks ago (hosts disappeared).

4. Erik Shultz on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Advertise for $0 – Great advice to self promote.

5. stephanie on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   that’s really good advice! thx for sharing.

6. Vadim on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   American Institute of Graphic Arts link is broken

7. Jeremy Bolton on Jan 20, 2010 said:

   Great article. The economic times eventually effects us all. I know I have started feeling it. I think the suggestion about gaining new skills is a great way to use this time. I also suggest doing a search on iTunes for design podcasts. Many of them feature great design tutorials and all for free.

8. Mark Brand on Jan 21, 2010 said:

   Faced with no luck, many of my fellow classmates have returned to school for their master’s degree. Sounds like a good use of time to me.

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With over 300+ million members worldwide, Facebook is 2nd most trafficked site in the world, sitting only behind Google. With stats like these, it’s no wonder businesses are turning to Facebook for marketing.

With the right set up, you can effectively use Facebook to gain more brand exposure, traffic and sales and in this article I’ll guide you through how I personally use Facebook to do this, along with some other alternatives.

See First Hand Examples

Before going on you may want to see some examples first hand of how you can use Facebook as a promotional tool. Below you will find my pages.

• Add me as a friend on Facebook.
• Join the Just Creative Design Facebook Group – you can promote your own services, links and design work in this group.
• Join the Just Creative Design Fan Page to keep up to date whenever a new article is published.

Set Up Your Profile

Let’s start at the basics, you’re going to need a Facebook profile. I’ve personally got two profiles, one for business and one for private life. The choice here is yours but you must realise that your followers are going to see photos from you on the weekend, along with other personal details. For this reason, I keep both private and business lives seperate, though I do make my business profile a bit personal too.

You could also split your one profile into two by utilising Facebook’s lists and privacy settings. How to do this is explained in the article How to use facebook for professional networking.

After setting your profile up, ensure you get a vanity URL which is a personalised address. ie. http://facebook.com/justcreative

To read more about the basics of Facebook you can read this guide and also this great article on how to build your personal brand on Facebook.

Fill Out Your Profile + Add Links

This may sound like common sense but not everyone does it. Fill out all of the fields that Facebook provides, taking special note of the sections that get the most visiblity (as highlighted in the picture above). You can see on the left side of my profile I’ve linked to my three websites, along with my other social networking profiles (Twitter & LinkedIn).

As for your own profile picture, ensure that it is the same picture you use on the rest of your profiles. As you can see the picture I use for Facebook is the same I use for my website and other social accounts.

You could also get creative with your Facebook profile picture and also be sure to check out this article on how to optimise your facebook presense.

Set Up A Fan Page

After you have set up your profile you will want to set up a “fan page” (see mine here) for your business. A fanpage is essentially the way your client base can keep in touch with your business – basically a Facebook version of your online presence. As quoted in Mashable’s Facebook Fan Page Guide, a fan page provides a place to provide:

• An overview of your company
• Website and contact info
• Press releases
• Videos
• Blog RSS
• Twitter updates
• Company news and status
• Customer interaction

To set up your fan page, log in to Facebook, scroll to the bottom and click on Advertising. Then click Pages and Create a Page. Select the type of business you own and start filling in all the details. The more info you add, the better your page will be and remember: Google thinks highly of Facebook in its search engine results. Ensure you set up a vanity url for your fan page.

For some examples of great branded Facebook pages, have a look at these 5 inspiring case studies and this article on the elements of successful Facebook Fan Pages.

Below you can see an example of how users have interacted with a blog post that was posted to my Fan Page.

Set Up A Group

You may be wondering, why do you need both a fan page and a group? In short, they both engage with users in different ways. The group allows users to interact on a more personal level where as the fan page is more focused on your business & brand. For further clarification, read this article on what’s the difference between Facebook Pages & Facebook Groups?

Anyway, you can set up a Facebook Group here. As an example you can see the Just Creative Design group here. Notice how users have added photos of their work, linked to their profiles and other news? Just another way users can interact with your brand.

Automise Your Twitter & Facebook Promotion

After you have set up your profile, fan page and group, you will want to automise as much of your marketing as possible to save time and hassle.

Feed your blog to Twitter & Facebook: Whenever I write a new blog article, I’ve set it up so an automatic tweet goes out to all my Twitter & Facebook followers. I’ve done this via the use of the Twitter Feed service though there are many other options.

Send your tweets to Facebook: This may not suit everyone however the way I use Twitter is basically to share quality links with others, which in turn brings more followers, thus maximising the visiblity and exposure of my brand.

Whenever I send a tweet, I’ve got it set up (short tutorial for set up here) for all my tweets to go to Facebook as well. This allows interaction on both platforms. For example, see a recent tweet that went to Facebook below.

There is also a Selective Twitter Status Facebook App that allows you to choose which tweets get sent to Facebook.

Something else worth mentioning is the tool called TweetLater which allows you to pre schedule Twitter posts in advance. Very handy for promotion while your away. For more Twitter tips, visit this Ultimate Twitter Guide.

Promote Your Facebook Pages

In short, getting traffic and exposure from Facebook is relative to how you use it, how you promote your profiles and how you go about integrating Facebook with your other marketing efforts.

I always keep this in mind: do to others as you would like done to you because what goes around, comes around.

I also recommend reading this article: 9 rules of facebook promotion for small business.

More ways to promote using Facebook

There are many other ways to implement Facebook into your online marketing. Although I have not yet ventured into these areas, they are defintly something to consider.

• Paid Facebook Advertising
• Get Facebook Widgets / Badges for your site or blog
• Integrate Facebook into your site using Facebook Connect
• Build Facebook-enabled iPhone apps
• Create an application that runs inside Facebook

For even more Facebook resources see this massive list of 100 Facebook tools and tips.

Conclusion

Your Facebook promotional efforts will be ongoing, so plan to dedicate a few hours each week to getting new fans and updating content. You’ll quickly appreciate the instant ability to connect with customers and future customers through this valuable social media tool!

Think of your Facebook profile as a digital asset and grow the equity in that asset over the rest of your life. Also be sure to monitor your brand’s reputation.

If you have any further Facebook promotional tips, questions or comments please leave them in the comments below.

Comments

This article was originally published on November 2009, however due to our hosts doing a runner on us we lost a number of posts and comments. I’ve salvaged what I could from Google cache. Below you can find the original comments.

1. Shurandy Thode (@shurandythode) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Great post! Nice tips, I’m definitely going to have a look at some of them on my facebook account.
2. Geeee (@geeee) on Nov 25, 2009 said:very detailed and informative post as usual but I think that setting up your twitter to post to your FB account is not necessary anymore because most of the desktop applications can post separately to multiple account either fan page or personal account like TweetDeck & Seesmic. Thanks again for the good effort; you keep adding more value to our career
3. Preston Lee (@prestondlee) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Great post, Jacob. Thanks for sharing! Branding in general is something we all need to worry about whether via facebook or other means.Perhaps your readers would also be interested in this post:

   “Three brand awareness tips from the pros”

   Cheers!

4. Ricky Salsberry (@rickyaustin) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Wew hoo – I made it in a screenshot!Nice post.
5. David Korona (@DKRM) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Lots of great pointers here, definitely a reference when I publish a Fan Page. Thanks for the post.
6. Mike Hallaron (@mh1webdsign) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Good stuff Jacob and timely. Just launched our FB business page and still learning new ways to make the page more useful. I agree with your point that it’s best not to overplay the promotions while seeking fan count. Our plan is to continue to add content and attract more fans. It’s more about a pull strategy than a push strategy. As fans grow we’ll gently begin periodic fan emails. Thanks!
7. Abounding (@abounding) on Nov 25, 2009 said:I love the tips, especially about automation. That is a really important point for people who are producing content for multiple sites/accounts. Busy people need to maximize efforts and publish as widely as possible.
8. Kamila – Darc Vanilla Design (@darcvanilla) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Very good post. I was about to write similar I’ve just launched my Darc Vanilla Design fan page and I’m still learning how to make it more attractive to potential readers.
   Facebook is indeed a great tool to quickly increase traffic on the website. Who of you designers don’t have facebook fan page integrated with your blog – I suggest to do it right away.
9. Dave Sparks (@dsparks83) on Nov 25, 2009 said:Hi Jacob, another informative post although managing two accounts it is actually against Facebook user policy – no matter what the usage of the account is.
   http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=721

   Facebook recommend setting up a page for your business and encouraging users to follow that which is what my company has done http://www.facebook.com/armitageonlinesolutions. It’s not quite the same but it does the job and stops you falling foul of facebook’s user policies.

10. Ann Edwards (@annedwards) on Nov 26, 2009 said:I already spent over 30 minutes on Facebook because of the 2nd section. Lol.Great post, as always.
11. Kiren on Nov 26, 2009 said:I like your Facebook page because you blend business with your personal stuff, which I think is the right way to go. So many people just post random links to articles with no social interaction.
12. Aaron (@photoshopcandy) on Nov 26, 2009 said:Great article. Thanks for sharing.
13. frankzhu on Nov 26, 2009 said:nice article for me ,thank you very much
14. The Pro Designer (@theprodesginer) on Nov 26, 2009 said:Hey Jacob, this is a really great post, another area which people do not take advantage of enough is adding a landing page on facebook. So when someone lands on my facebook page, they go here: -Landing Page – http://www.facebook.com/thepro…..7146470109

    Free Web Graphics Page – http://www.facebook.com/thepro…..4949752878

    Hope you find it useful!

15. Naomi on Nov 27, 2009 said:Great post, great information. Thanks.
16. Michael Martin (@problogdesign) on Nov 27, 2009 said:Nice post! I’ve set up a Fan Page for Pro Blog Design and so far, it’s gone down pretty well! Haven’t quite made the jump to a personal profile as well. For now, I’m keeping that to just people I’ve met. Not sure how I’d keep up with it all otherwise (And I won’t even imagine how you do both plus a group!)
17. Cort on Nov 28, 2009 said:Ive been thinking alot about this topic lately.
    Thanks for the suggestions!
18. Rebecca Wong (@rwsdesign) on Nov 29, 2009 said:Great Article! So much to learn and so much to do! Thanks for the tips!
19. Autonomy (@autonomydesign) on Nov 30, 2009 said:Thanks for the tips Jacob, great post!
20. Bradley Pearce (@bradleypearce) on Dec 1, 2009 said:Ha, just noticed we have the same birthday. Great article and advice as always
21. Laurent JOUVIN (@migratedesign) on Dec 1, 2009 said:Thanks for this post Jacob. I have been using Facebook as well for my business for the past 6 months (http://www.facebook.com/MigrateDesign). It has definitely helped my main site (http://www.migratedesign.com) and increased traffic. The result is a better ranking within search engines.
22. Tyler Maynard on Dec 2, 2009 said:Great info Jacob. Social-Networking sites are great for exposing your business. Big or small, there is nothing like free media outlets!
23. logo design (@bruceslogos) on Dec 2, 2009 said:Thank you for sharing and that was a useful tips and most of us is using facebook as form internet marketing promotion
24. Mindy (@mindysteen) on Dec 3, 2009 said:Hi Jacob, excellent post. I will definitely be referring back to this one.Any idea if there’s a way to make the automatic Twitter posts update the fan page, but not your personal page? I’ve tried this so many times, but I haven’t been successful. I tend to use Twitter just for professional stuff, and don’t want those tweets on my personal facebook (my non-design friends don’t care about the CSS link I posted).

    Thanks, as always. Excellent stuff.

25. A Design Student (@rmdesignstudent) on Dec 3, 2009 said:I think this is a really great post! Really helpful, and just goes to show what you can actually do with social networking sites. Thanks Jacob. Please read my blog and follow me on twitter.
    rmdesignstudent@me.com
26. Benjamin Rama on Dec 4, 2009 said:yeh FB is gonna be big with brands as GV and From the couch had th e forsight to see
27. Hesham @ FamousBloggers (@FamousBloggers) on Dec 7, 2009 said:I have some difficulties on changing my photo at Facebook for branding reasons, but I think it’s better to do it now before more time pass and there will be no return back! thanks Jacob for this awesome post!
28. Goji on Dec 8, 2009 said:Great post, great information!
    Thank you.
29. Jeromy on Dec 10, 2009 said:Thanks for the tips, especially about protecting your brands reputation.
30. Facebook Application Developers (@facebokguru) on Dec 11, 2009 said:Well don Jacob, you don very well. I have also try to explain this process by slides. If visitors like to see this too.
    http://www.slideshare.net/face…..a-facebook
31. Facebokguru (@facebokguru) on Dec 11, 2009 said:This article is great, however some new things are added in the following slide.
    http://www.slideshare.net/face…..a-facebook
32. Stephen Emlund (@stemlund) on Dec 11, 2009 said:This post is a great resource for how to successfully get yourself or business on Facebook.One thing I might suggest to anyone wanting to customize their Facebook fan page even more: Install the Facebook app called ‘Static FBML’. It allows you to add multiple tabs to your page where you can place custom HTML. I’ve not implemented it yet, but you can find more info on Static FBML is here – http://www.facebook.com/note.p…..9520642788

    Has anyone used Static FBML?

33. Chotrul Web Design on Dec 13, 2009 said:Yeah, as mentioned in several comments, thus far I’ve kept my professional life well clear of Facebook, which is strictly for social activity. It’ll be interesting moving the former into the latter, so that my web design and seo work doesn’t suffer from whatever quirkiness there is in my private life .. much food for thought in your article … many thanks for that!
34. Marja Bonn (@bonweb_tweets) on Dec 15, 2009 said:Great article, once again!
35. Dan on Dec 17, 2009 said:Great Stuff! I’ve debated on whether or not to Twitter but the automation helps.
36. viettel adsl on Dec 18, 2009 said:Great info Jacob. Social-Networking sites are great for exposing your business. Big or small, there is nothing like free media outlets!
37. Azterik Media (@Azterik) on Dec 18, 2009 said:Excellent article. This information is really helpful, I have to say I was slow to warm up to using Facebook for business but it really is a traffic driver. With the correct cross promotion of Facebook, Twitter and your main website it can be a real boon to overall business. Thanks for posting these tips!
38. Benjamin Rama on Dec 18, 2009 said:yeh twitter only has 11 million users which is really nothing compared with 200 million – i had a fan page but cant find it anywhere so ill make new one – its just a new way to communicate with your readers and with people whic is really important – there arent too many ways to do this apart from comments its very faceless, happy holidays anway
39. High Internet Savings Account on Dec 18, 2009 said:Great articles, It is right that facebook is the most popular site and its traffic is very high.
40. Eko Setiawan (@camp26team) on Dec 19, 2009 said:This information is very useful for us, we just make a fan page, and try to give the best for the customer.
41. Amna on Dec 28, 2009 said:Great Post! very comprehensive. Thankyou!
42. Bob on Jan 1, 2010 said:Great article.
43. Anime (@anassin) on Jan 2, 2010 said:Thanks a lot! I am going to use this!

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After two strong years of blogging, I’ve decided to take two months off to go traveling. I will be monitoring my three sites throughout this time, but there will be very limited (if any) posts throughout this time.

I am off for a road trip across 22 states of USA for 6 weeks then back to Australia for a 2 week family holiday / Christmas. I then fly back to New York to start full time work at Carrot Creative of which, I hope to continue to blog on a fortnightly basis. I also plan to keep running Logo Of The Day and to a lesser extent, Logo Designer Blog.

Birthday, Graduation & Moving Out

I’ll also be turning 22 years old during my time away, graduating from University, moving out of home (and country) and making the switch from PC to Mac, so it’s all happening!

Judging Roles

I’ve also just been selected to be a part of the judging panel for the 2010 Annual Design Awards along side David Carson, Matthew Walker (ESPN Art Director) and more. More info on that next year.

Update Jan 24th: I’ve chosen to pull out of this judging role due to conflicts of interest.

I’ve also been chosen to be on the judging panel for the 2nd year running for the Project Never competition, a competition that judges the “best rejected designs”. I am also judging “the best websites of the world” over on The CSS Awards and continue to judge logos for my other site, Logo Of The Day.

Computer Arts Articles

Also, keep an eye out for Issue 171 of Computer Arts magazine as I’ve written two typography related articles that will be appearing in there.

Interview

I’ve also had the pleasure of being interviewed for the website Your Hidden Potential, a website that showcases entrepreneurs under 27 years of age. You can read the interview here.

Happy Festive Season!

I’ll take this time to wish you all a great festive holiday season and a Happy New Year!

The Value Of Taking Time Off

I’ll leave you with this video by Stefan Sagmeister about the value of taking time off. Make sure you check out the last minute for a good laugh.

Thanks for your continued support and Bon Voyage!

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Comments

This article was originally published on November 15th 2009, however due to our hosts doing a runner on us we lost a number of posts and comments. I’ve salvaged what I could from Google cache. Below you can find the original comments.

1. Marco (@marcofolio) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Totally understand it man, you go enjoy your vacation! Just make sure come back after these 2 months and start writing awesome articles once again .And don’t forget to take pictures along the way!
2. Ebi Atawodi (@ebiatawodi) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Yay! Of all the things I’ve always wanted to say to you “Get a Mac” so so happy about that of everything you’ve said! All sounds great! Love Sagmeister, time off is crucial I think to stay sane and give your brain a juggle!Have fun Jacob!
3. designfollow (@designfollow) on Nov 15, 2009 said:very usefulthanks
4. NBK (@nguyenbk) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Bon Voyage Mr. Cass! You’re truly an inspiration, and I wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors. Have lots of fun on your Vaca across the States. And remember, it’s just the beginning. Go wherever instinct takes you, and embrace every moment, NOW.
5. Devlin (@devlindonnelly) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Have a great trip! If you itenary deviates and you make to Seattle let me know & we can show you the city.
6. Mario (@ocondesign) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Good luck with your trip to the US and with your new job. I’m glad to hear you are making the switch to a Mac.
7. Design Informer (@designinformer) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Glad to hear about all the great things you are doing Jacob. Very impressive that you are able to do so many great things at such a young age.By the way, let me know when you get here in LA and maybe we can get coffee or something.

   Are you doing the entire trip by yourself?

8. Chris Gabriel (@trampish) on Nov 15, 2009 said:Drop me a line if you’re in NYC and would like to grab a drink. We’ll call it a business meeting and write off the bill
9. Sharon dowdy (@crimsontweets/prior crave2create) on Nov 16, 2009 said:Okay, Im exhausted just reading this article. No wonder you need a break! I wouldnt mind a break like that myself. Im glad to hear that you are moving into MAC land. Hopefully your travels will be bringing you to Tennessee. It’s called “God’s country” if you havent heard. I think you would love it. Be careful and have FUN!
10. matthijs on Nov 16, 2009 said:Great overview, and definitely a nice list of all the things you managed to do. I would say a nice holiday is fully deserved. Enjoy it!
11. Katrin Eiermann (@keiermann) on Nov 16, 2009 said:Thanks for your awesome blog and have a fantastic trip. I did that trip though the US (by car and with the let´s go budget guide) years ago, it´s worth it! Take care!
12. Jessica on Nov 16, 2009 said:Congratulations! You are extremely talented and I can’t wait to read more about your design journey in the future. Jessica-Seattle
13. daphne (@dainen) on Nov 16, 2009 said:Have fun Jacob! Looking forward to your return and can be predicted that you’ll have much up your sleeve from the months off.Hope you have a great getaway
14. Callum Chapman (@callumchapman) on Nov 16, 2009 said:Haha it’s all happening at once! Hope you have an awesome time! I think you have too much money if you can go travelling for 6 weeks, move out, AND get a mac! I’ll be following what you’re up to! Take care!
15. Carlos on Nov 17, 2009 said:Good luck Jacob!I’m a similar situation, while you’re moving to USA in January, I’ll be moving from Peru to Australia.
16. Nadia on Nov 17, 2009 said:Congratulations! Have a nice trip! Hope you will enjoy the United States.
17. Briana on Nov 17, 2009 said:Hope you enjoy my hometown of Albuquerque! It looks like an organized trip, but feel free to email me if you’d like ideas for things to do. Have fun, Jacob!
18. Kiren on Nov 17, 2009 said:Have a great trip and don’t forget about the little people:) I love this site, it’s become so addictive, what am I going to do for two months?
19. Raja Sandhu (@rajasandhu) on Nov 17, 2009 said:Thanks for all you do, and all that you will do brother, enjoy the time off!
20. mariadelsol on Nov 17, 2009 said:buena suerte!!
    i would love see these pics it will be a wonderful travel …… thansk for all by now im learning here…..gook luck enjoy byeeee
21. Cort on Nov 18, 2009 said:In case I don’t see you when you pass through…WELCOME TO UTAH!
22. intext pools on Nov 18, 2009 said:have a nice and safe trip! (wow! two strong years of blogging )
23. Taz on Nov 19, 2009 said:Welcome to the U.S.! Hope Chicago is on your list of places to visit!
24. Damon on Nov 20, 2009 said:Too bad you won’t be coming to Ohio, I’d show you around.. too bad there is nothing to see here!!!Good luck man, you deserve it!
25. Laurent JOUVIN (@migratedesign) on Nov 24, 2009 said:Have fun and come check us out if you’re in LA!
26. w3planting on Nov 25, 2009 said:what can be most exciting thing then visiting the new places around the world!!! cool man , have a nice trip
27. Andrea on Nov 25, 2009 said:Congratulations! Have the best of time! I´m your fan I admire you and I get really inspired of knowing all the thigns that u achief every day, I´m studing design too and about a year ago this was the first design blog I´ve ever visited and based in this one I have known so much more blogs, and webs, and all the best design world on the internet.
    Love your blog, your posts and your love to design and as the others say don´t forget about us!
    Take pictures!!

    LAQODESIGN?

28. Gavin (@gwipDesign) on Dec 3, 2009 said:Sounds like a great trip, looks like you’ll be passing by my neck of the woods. Hope you have fun!
29. Sam Logan (@sjlwebdesign) on Dec 13, 2009 said:Hi Jacob,I hope the travelling is going well, I’m insanely jealous of your itinerary. Good luck with the new job when you get back too.

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I’ve been pretty busy of late so I thought I should show you what I have been up to. Here a small showcase of my most recent work along with a brief description of each.

Sikh Youth Australia Website

This is my largest and most recent website to date. It has been built from scratch and is currently in coding by Kiidesign (Now completed: Sikh Youth Australia), using Expression Engine as the CMS. It will feature a rotating article slide show, an article accordion (similar to the left side bar of this site) and a nice drop down CSS Menu along with loads of other user interactivity. The right side bar & footer will be on every page of the site.

Oke Rum Liquouer

This was a full branding job for a Jamaican rum liquouer / cocktail that has been in development for several months now. Work included the identity design, bottle design and a 3D render mockup. The bottle is soon to be manufactured.

Scott Barnes Digipack Album

This is an album cover for Scott Barnes, an musician from just outside Washington DC. The album art plays on the themes of fire and revolution. It is to be printed in January after his EP has been mastered.

Logo Copyright Poster

This is a personal project that I have been working on. The poster features the (reversed) logos of the top 100 top global brands of 2009 as ranked by Interbrand, formed into the shape of the copyright symbol. The bottom right text says: “Good artists copy, great artists steal” ~ Pablo Picasso.

The idea behind the poster was to question the blurring lines between art, design and copyright. Can one just take a whole series of others work, put it into a new shape and call it art? Or is it design? I think Picasso’s quote also draws on similar thoughts… what’s the difference between copying and stealing? What is the secret to creativity?

Anyway, you can interpret as you wish. You can download this free as a PDF here.

Keep Calm and Stay Safe Letterpress Poster

This poster was part of a campaign that was running at Newcastle University raising awareness of student safety. I utilised the use of letterpress to create a poster inspired by a British motivational poster from 1939, titled “Keep Calm and Carry On”.

In the bottom left photo, you can see how I have cut away at lino for hours on end to create the letter forms. Blood, sweat and tears went into this one… well maybe not tears, but certainly blood.

Learnworks Identity Design

This is the rest of the identity design for the Learnworks logo that I posted about a few weeks ago. Learnworks provides on-site training, books and e-learning courses. I also had the fun job of designing their Word and Powerpoint templates.

MEGS Identity Design

MEGS is a program being developed by the NSW Department of Education and Training, TAFE and the University of Newcastle. It aims to bring students to Universities across the State. MEGS stands for “Making Educational Goals Sustainable”. The concept behind this piece was to show the cross roads of life and also to show the concept of bringing students into University… plus X does mark the spot.

Love Christ, Love Life

This was a recent piece of work completed for University for an advertising campaign promoting the life of Jesus. The use of the heart and Christ symbols create a powerful message.

Beolchi Rangel

The identity design for Beolchi Rangel, a business management consulting business based in Brazil. I wrote up a process of how I made this logotype over on Logo Designer Blog.

Morning Fog Album

This was an experimental piece for a fictional client. I was experimenting with mark making, ink, paper and sponges and I really liked how some of the marks came out, so I decided to make it into an album cover.

Experimentation

This was another experimentation with many different mediums – chalk, crayon, pencil, oil pastel, biro, soft pastel, charcoal and digital manipulation. Thought it came out pretty cool, could see it on a club flyer or album cover.

Dr. Reg Edward Logo Design

Dr. Reg Edward is a British doctor who uses innovative targeted regional anesthetic techniques to target pain rather than putting patients on highly potent drugs. The concept is based on targeting the pain, hence the crosshair, however there is also a hidden + symbol inside the negative space.

Opus Grex Logo Design

This is the logo design for a new website that is soon to launch. All I can say is that the site will be a place for people to go to “collaborate on problem solving”. Opus Grex is latin for “the work of the crowd”.

Alexandre Mantacheff Identity Design

This is the logo design for a high end art & antique gallery established in New York who is operating under it’s Parisian endorser’s name of Alexandre Mantacheff. The shape you see in the middle is actually an oil tower from back in the 1880’s, as per the client’s request.

Ford Logo Redesign

This was a personal project, my take on redesigning the current Ford logo.

Biotechnology Logo

This is the new identity design for the Undergraduate Biotechnology Program at The University of Newcastle.

Business Organiser Logo

This is a logo design for a business coach / consultant that organises other people’s businesses via the use of better systems, layouts & management. A minimalist, near zen-like approach was taken here with emphasis on O for organisation. The rest of their identity is still in the works.

Comments, constructive criticism and questions are welcome, as always.

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Twitter just recently introduced Twitter lists, a helpful way to better organise the tweets of those you follow. Twitter lists also allow you to find interesting groups of people to keep track of via the use of others recommendations.

After much research looking into other Twitterer’s lists and via the use of Listorious, I’ve compiled these ten design twitter lists that are definitely worth following.

No Blab, Just Design Links

A list of Twitter profiles that only post high quality design links and have very little to no other ‘daily life’ tweets. An alternative to your RSS feed reader.

Top Design Blogs

Lists the twitter profiles of all of the top design blogs. Includes such blogs as Smashing Mag, Web Designer Depot, Logo Design Love, I Love Typography and many more. This is a list curated by @behoff who has some other high quality lists worth checking out.

Must Follow Web Designers

Lists the most socially active best web designers in the industry. Includes such names as Paul Boag, Cameron Moll, Fabio Sasso, Vinh Le, Jo Phillips, Johnathan Snook, Jason Santa Maria and many more.

Typography

Follows all the typography related heros, apps and resources that you will need. Also be sure to check out @ilovetypography’s typography lists.

Ad Agencies

The top ad agencies of the world compiled into one big list. Includes names such as OGILVY, Big Spaceship, BBH Labs, Ogilvy Worldwide, Leo Burnett, TBWA\Worldwide, McCann Erickson NY, Draftfcb, Critical Mass, Scholz und Friends, etc.

Logo Design & Branding

This lists the top branding agencies and twitter users that post links to high quality logo & branding resources. A must for logo design lovers. Also be sure to check out this twitter list of freelance logo designers.

Illustration & Illustrators

Lists the leading illustrators in the industry. List curated by @grainedit who also has some other great lists worth checking out.

Agencies & Studios

Lists many of the leading agencies and studios on twitter. Includes names such as Critical Mass, The Duffy Agency, BBH New York, Saatchi Design, Fantasy Interactive, booneoakley,InterbrandNY, firstborn, The Martin Agency, Richard Lent and many more.

Creatives To Watch

This is a list put together by @Behance which compiles a great list of high quality designers & illustrators from around the world.

Designers

If you just want to follow a general range of designers & creatives, this twitter list is for you. A lot of rubbish talk but hey, they all like design. Be sure to check out the rest of @freelancefolder’s lists.

You can view all the lists I follow in my profile. Also check out this massive list of designers to follow on Twitter.

Do you have a twitter list recommendation?

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I recently wrote an article for Freelance Folder about how to get more subscribers by adding an email subscription box and within the comments, Troy Peterson left a great tip on how to optimise the copywriting to maximize subscription signups and I thought it was worth sharing…

One thing that will improve your signups as well, is to replace “Subscribe” with “Get Updates”.

Many people tend to associate “Subscribe” with some type of commitment. This is typically carried over from the old days of Magazine subscriptions, where people had to commit for a year and pay a price.

Even with the name “free” on it, people are still hesitant.

I recommend trying “Get Updates by Email” or “Get Updates by RSS”.

Of course, it’s always good practice to do a before and after testing to find the best results: but, it’s well worth the small effort to make the changes.

Below you can see how I have worded my new subscription box, along with a few other minor adjustments.

Update 6/11/09: I’ve slightly updated the copy to what is seen above.

Could it do better? What’s your opinion?

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Logo design is arguably one of the hardest parts of graphic design though with a little insider knowledge, you may find it’s not so difficult after all. By understanding what makes a “good” logo and the principles behind effective logo design you will be on the right track in no time. In this tutorial you will be guided through the logo design process, from initial brief right through to delivery while being given vital logo design tips along the way.

For the sake of this tutorial we will be creating a fictional logo – for now I’ve gone with a logo that reflects the first and last letters of my name – J & C. Through the use of negative space and a few nifty Illustrator tricks we will combine these characters (J & C) to create an iconic logo design. At the end of the tutorial, you may find that your own initials can be used too.

Skills you will learn by doing this logo design tutorial:

• How to use Adobe Illustrator to create a logo
• What makes a good logo
• Principles of effective logo design
• The logo design process

You will need:

• A copy Adobe Illustrator CS3+ or any another vector editing program
• 30 minutes of time
• This EPS File OR the Helvetica Neue 83 Extended typeface.

Logo design tutorial:

1. Before we head straight into creating the logo you must understand what a logo is, what it represents and what it is supposed to do. A logo is not just a mark – a logo reflects a business’s commercial brand via the use of shape, fonts, colour, and / or images. A logo is for inspiring trust, recognition and admiration for a company or product and it is our job as designers to create a logo that will do its job.

2. But what makes a good logo? A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic, simple in form and conveys an intended message. There are five principles that you should follow to ensure that this is so: In no particular order, an effective logo is simple, memorable, timeless, versatile and appropriate. An example of a logo that achieves all these things is the Apple logo.

3. Now that we know the basic principles behind logo design, we should begin the logo design process. In the real world we would be given a brief, have to do research, brainstorming, etc. though for the sake of this tutorial we are creating a fictional logo design based on my initials, J & C. For now, open the jc.eps file that you can download here.

4. In this EPS, you will find the completed logo and also the outlined version of the J&C. I’ve used the typeface Helvetica Neue 83 Extended with 82pt type so if you have this typeface you will not need the EPS file. You will be needing the Pathfinder tool panel too, so go ahead and open this up. Go to Window > Pathfinder. I also find working in the Typography Workspace is the best for logo design. Go to Window > Workspace > Typography to set this up.

5. If you are using the font directly (not from the EPS), you will need to outline your text as this will turn your text into movable objects. To do this, right click on the text and click ‘Create Outlines’. After you have done this, you are up to where the CD users start off. Now you will have to ungroup your characters – to do this, select the text, right click, click ‘Ungroup’.

6. Now we are going to turn the ampersand into 3 objects rather than just one. To do this we must release the original path of the ampersand. To do this, select the ampersand, right click and then choose “Release Compound Path”. You will notice the two counters of the ampersand go black – this shows that it is now in 3 pieces.

7. From here we are going to turn the ampersand into negative space, ie. using the white space to create an object. To do this, select the ampersand and turn it to the colour white using the swatch panel. Take note not to turn the two inside counters white. Now select the two counters and the ampersand, right click and press “Group”.

8. Now that we have the logo all set up, it is time to position the ampersand. Using the select tool, select the ampersand. Position the ampersand over the J and it should look something like above. Align the left side of the ampersand with the left vertical side of the J, ensure that the J is not broken into two parts.

9. From here, using the select tool, select the C, right click on it, go to Arrange > Send To Back. This moves the letter C behind the other two letters and is necessary for the next step.

10. Select the letter ‘C’ with the move tool and position it underneath the white ampersand. I’ve positioned the ‘C’ just where it meets the middle of the ampersand as outlined with the red arrow above. Zoom in to 6400% and ensure that it is exactly in line, not just close, but exact. Precision is required in logo design.

11. You will notice that the ampersand doesn’t cover all of the C and leaves an unsightly jagged edge at the bottom, as pointed to by the red arrow. To get rid of this you will have to select the Direct Selection tool, click once on the ampersand and then once one the bottom right node. Zoom in as much as you can and drag out the node in a diagonal straight line.

12. You may think that this is the completed logo design though it is not. Although it looks exactly like the finished logo, the ampersand is still white which means when placed on another background other than white, the ampersand shows as white, as shown in the example screenshot above.

13. To counter this what we have to do is use the pathfinder tool to cut out the ampersand from the other letters. We need to make three ampersands to be able to do this. Select the ampersand and go to Edit > Copy and then Edit > Paste In Front. Repeat this twice. You will not be able to tell but there are now three ampersands there.

14. Grab the selection tool, select the top ampersand and then while holding shift, click the ‘J’. From here we want to use the Pathfinder window to cut it away. While they are selected choose the Minus Front option from the pathfinder palette. At this stage it looks like it has not done anything but it has.

15. You will have to repeat the same steps as above but for the letter ‘C’. Select the ampersand, and while holding shift, click the letter ‘C’. Choose the “Minus Front” selection from the Pathfinder palette to cut away the ampersand from the ‘C’. It will still look nothing has changed but it has.

16. There is now one ampersand left. Click on this using the selection tool, right click and click ungroup. This will allow you to select the three parts of the ampersand. Click on the large part of the ampersand and press delete. The shape of the logo is now complete. Highlight the four parts of the logo, right click and click group. This will ensure the logo stays as is.

17. After the logo shape has been completed, you will want to fine tune it and experiment with colours and typefaces. I’ve shown some variations for you just to give you an idea of what you could do, though experimentation & comparison is the key here.

18. After you have finalised the logo design, you would essentially deliver it to the client in a variety of formats including eps, pdf, tiff, jpg, gif and if you’re feeling nice, you may want to include a FavIcon too. Now that you are done, try to see if you can do it for your own initials too.

Computer Arts Photos

This logo design tutorial was originally written for Computer Arts, Issue 167. Below are some snap shots of the tutorial in print.

Update: 4/11/09

Computer Arts has just posted the PDF version of the tutorial to their website.

Recent articles I’ve written elsewhere:

• Vero logo design process from start to finish in Layers Magazine
• How to create a vector font monster using the glyph panel in Layers Magazine
• Get more subscribers with an email subscription box on Freelance Folder

For more logo tutorials visit this page of 70+ logo design tutorials.

If you have any questions or comments, please do leave them in the comments below.

• Winner Of The Free Professional Logo Competition (18)
• Why logo design does not cost $5.00 (240)
• When is a logo too simple? (43)
• What makes a good logo? (85)

Inspired by Von Glitschka’s simply awesome Zazzle store, where I just recently bought his Tickles “Evil Clown” t-shirt, I thought I’d see how opening a store of my own would go. You never know, right?

Though before I did that, I thought I should wait to check out the quality of Zazzle’s products and overall service. I didn’t have to wait long – just 5 days after ordering I received my shirt (and I’m down in Oz). I was also pleasantly surprised at the high quality of their products, especially considering their very competitive pricing.

Anyway, I’ve compiled a few products for you below, though the best thing about Zazzle is that you can customise the product to anything you want – ie. you keep the same graphic and then you can change its sizing, spacing, alignment or even change the product itself to a women’s hoody or mouse pad, among hundreds of other products.

If you want to take a look at my store, click here or click on any of the shirt photos below. All the shirts are on sale from a small $12.95.

Sultan Of Sultans

‘Sultan of Sultans’ means King of Kings and is a mixture of elements relating to this theme. Lion (King of the Jungle), Crown (Symbol of Leadership) and Space (King Of The Universe).

Excelisor Bot

This little robot is created entirely out of the Excelsior typeface. I recently wrote a tutorial for Layers Magazine on how to create your own font monster if you’re interested. There is an angled version (1st pic below) or a straight version (2nd pic below). Remember you can change the t-shirt colour to anything you like! You can also change the sizing, alignment, etc.

Just Creative Design Logo

This one I am really curious about but I thought I’d chuck it in anyway. Judging by some of the emails (one marriage proposal so far), you just never know.

Love Christ, Love Life

Although I am not a Christian, this was a recent piece of work I completed for University for an advertising campaign promoting the life of Jesus (as above). After I shared it on Twitter I had a couple of requests to actually make it into shirts, so I thought why not. Here are a few combinations below:

The below version features a small logo on the back, as well as a larger version of the “Love Life” text on the front.

Comic Sans?

This little character, like the Excelsior Bot, is created entirely out of Comic Sans. The idea is that he is saying “What!? Comic Sans?”.

Below is a version without the text.

Lightning Bolt

This is a minimalist retro t-shirt design of an electric lightning bolt coming down from the skies above.

Love Life

Similar to the other Love Life shirts, but without the cross.

My Zazzle Flash Store

You can scroll through the products using the Flash application below.

If you find anything else in my portfolio you would like made into a product or if you have any requests at all, just let me know and I will put something together for you. Anyway, interested to see how this goes.

If you have your own store, tips or suggestions, please share in the comments below. Thanks!

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With such a plethora of choice it may be hard to find the right designer for your specific needs. Below is a short guide to help you make the right choice when choosing a logo designer. These points could also be useful when hiring a web designer, graphic designer, or any designer for that matter.

I don’t want this post to come across as self promotional, however, I’ve linked to my own examples to show you how I personally communicate to potential clients the value of my design work. For other designers, I hope this in turn, gives you an idea of how you too can communicate the value of your work.

In no particular order:

1. Experience

Previous identity projects will give you a good idea of what skill level your designer is at and what you can expect though this is not to say that a new designer can not produce top quality results – this point has to be considered with all of the other points mentioned below, in which case a strong portfolio is probably the best indicator.

For examples of some quality identity design, please check out Logo Of The Day, where Jeff Fisher and I feature a new talented logo designer every day.

2. Positive Testimonials

Have they got positive testimonials from past clients and colleagues?

Ensure you check the testimonials validity which can be done by looking for a web address or even by emailing the company. It’s a good idea to check if the company even exists.

3. A Thorough Design Process

Do they have a logo design process in which they follow or are they simply producing logos like fast food? A typical process does not take under 48 hours to complete which is why I wrote the article How NOT To Design A Logo which tells you to avoid design contests, logo factories, etc.

Think for how long your logo design will be in use – would you want that to be designed (let alone researched) in under 48 hours? Logo design is not a take away food store and this is why logo design does not cost $5.00.

There is no ‘typical’ time frame as every client will have different needs but for small and medium businesses a rough guide would be around 2 – 6 weeks.

4. Awards Won / Published Work

Have they won any awards for their work? Is their work published in any books or magazines? How recognised are they in the industry?

5. A Strong Portfolio

How strong is their portfolio?   What is the make up of real to ‘fake’ logo designs? When I say ‘fake logos’ I refer to the logos made for fictional companies, rather than for real clients.

6. Price

The costs of the service is usually quite evident of what you are going to receive. In most cases, you will get what you pay for but don’t take price as the only indication.

How much does a logo design actually cost? In my experience, this is the most frequently asked question and the hardest to answer. This is because every company has different needs… the best approach is to draw up a customised quote for each individual client.

7. Design Affiliations

Are they affiliated with any design associations or publications? This is a good indication of how dedicated they are to their craft though is not at all essential.

As an example, I am a member of NAPP – The National Association of Photoshop Professionals and Logo Lounge, an online gallery for logo design professionals. Other affiliations could be AIGA, HOW or even a local design group.

8. Great Customer Service

Do they respond to your emails quickly? How do they communicate & present themselves? A designer should provide great customer service throughout the whole process, from the initial email right through to after sales support.

9. Business Professionalism

Attention to detail, trustworthiness, strong communication skills and time management are all vital and go hand in hand with great customer service.

10. Appropriate Questions

A designer should ask a variety of questions to find out your needs in relation to your business goals. Questions should revolve around the companies history, target market, competitors, company goals, etc. For an example of the questions asked, check out my logo design questionnaire.

In summary

These are 10 things you should take into account when choosing a logo designer:

1. Proven Success & Experience
2. Positive Testimonials
3. A Thorough Design Process
4. Awards & Published Work
5. A Strong Portfolio
6. Price
7. Design Affiliations
8. Great Customer Service
9. Business Professionalism
10. Appropriate Questions

Do you have any further points to add?

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

• Winner Of The Free Professional Logo Competition (18)
• Why logo design does not cost $5.00 (240)
• When is a logo too simple? (43)
• What makes a good logo? (85)

As part of this year’s Blog Action Day focusing on climate change, I have Simon Owens from CARE come to talk to you about the effects of climate change and what you can do to help. I’ll pass you onto Simon now…

Climate change is not only about melting ice caps and polar bears. Climate change is about people.

Swinging weather patterns are creating disasters on a scale that human civilization has never before witnessed. For the world’s poorest people the ones least equipped to deal with its effects climate change is devastating their crops, livelihoods and communities.

“Climate change is worsening the plight of those hundreds of millions of men, women and children who already live in extreme poverty and it threatens to push hundreds of millions more people into similar destitution,”

says CARE International’s Secretary General Robert Glasser.

“A concerted international response to this unprecedented challenge is required if we are to avoid catastrophic human suffering.”

CARE is working toward a world where poor people can create opportunity out of crises like climate change. But the current reality is that climate change makes poor people even more vulnerable.

For instance, agricultural production will likely decline in the poorest countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Less reliable rainfall will likely affect planting seasons, crop growth and livestock health and lead to increased malnutrition. In other parts of the developing world, flooding will likely further diminish the quality of already-marginal soil and could cause outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery.

Climate change also is hurling many poor families into “Catch-22″ situations. For example, they may select crops that are less sensitive to rainfall variation, but also less profitable. As incomes decline and people are not able to eke out a living, children are forced to leave school, assets are sold off to afford essentials, malnutrition rates increase and large-scale migration ensues. The end result? Deepening poverty for tens of millions of people around the world.

What Must Be Done?

At the international level, negotiations to develop a new treaty to guide global efforts to address climate change will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark in just a couple weeks. The United States must help lead those efforts, and forge a strong agreement that caps emissions, stops global warming and responds to the effects already in motion. We must do this for the sake of all of humanity.

What can you do to help?

First, you can make a tax-deductible donation to CARE to help poor families access the tools and education they need to adapt to the effects of climate change, make efficient use of their existing resources and overcome poverty for good.

Second, if you live in the Unites States, you can write your senators and urge them to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, a critical step toward U.S. leadership in tackling climate change. U.S. leadership is critical to making the Copenhagen negotiations a success.

Third, you can join the CARE mailing list to be kept up to date on CARE’s activities and other ways you can take action in the days counting down to Copenhagen.

To donate, take action and join our e-mail list, please visit http://www.care.org/climate.

Thank you once again Simon. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

• Blog Action Day: Stand Up To Poverty, October 15th (5)
• Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change (8)
• Save The Earth Campaign – 100% of all proceeds go to charity (10)
• I Will Donate 10 Cents For Every Comment That Is Left On This Post To Help Rid The World Of Poverty (248)

“There are now about as many different varieties of letters as there are different kinds of fools.” Eric Gill

Choosing a font for a project isn’t always an easy task but hopefully this list of professional classic and elegant serif fonts will make the task a little easier… or maybe not.

Nimbus Roman No 9

ITC Garamond Light

Minion

URW Antiqua

Times

Baskerville

Baskerville No. 2

Mrs Eaves

Cheltenham Old Style No 2

Cushing Std-Book

Aldine 721

Plantin Std

Sabon

Arno Pro

Palatino

Centaur MTStd

Bookman Light

Perpetua Std

New Century Schoolbook Roman

Berthold Baskerville Book Regular

Scala Pro-Regular

Garamond Premier

Bembo

Times New Roman MTStd

Adobe Caslon

Bodoni

Goudy 38

More Typography & Font Resources:

• 30 Fonts You Must Know & Should Own
• The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time
• 20 Beautiful Free Serif Fonts
• Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Design
• 20 Typefaces To Start A Designer’s Career
• FREE 27 Page Type Classification eBook
• Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why

Have you got a favourite classic serif typeface that was missed in this list? Let us know in the comments below.

• The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time (123)
• Illustrator & Type Tips Worth Knowing (24)
• How To Choose A Font (16)
• Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why (84)

Things have been quieter than usual on the JCD blogging scene so I thought I should let you know what I have been up to – here is a small showcase of my most recent work along with a brief summary on each.

One a similar note, I’ve just recently reached another milestone – I’ve now had a client from every continent of the globe, except Antarctica. This is something I never would have dreamed of 2 years ago when I started this blog and I find it amazing how small the Internet makes the world. Thank you for all your support and if you know a penguin, please do let me know.

Learnworks logo design – Learnworks provides on-site training, books and e-learning courses. The concept is based on the initials L and W making up books on a bookcase. Gotham Black is the typeface. Learnworks is based in the Netherlands and I am currently in the process of designing their other marketing material.

Redwave Systems logo design – Redwave is a provider of telephony systems, Windows servers, and general IT services. Notice the wave? Myriad Pro is the typeface with customisation on the D, W and A. Redwave Systems is based in California, USA.

Mindful Construct logo – Logo for a blog that focuses on empowering users to lead a more healthy life. Avenir LT Std 95 Black Oblique, 35 Light Oblique, 35 Light are the typefaces used. Melissa also kindly wrote a rather large testimonial for her time working with me – below is a snippet.

“Jacob is a pleasure to work with. He is courteous, patient with questions, reliable, and a great communicator. He is very focused on the creative process and he completed my project well before the deadline. And not only did Jacob deliver logos that I could emotionally connect to and identify with, he went out of his way to kindly advise me on how best to integrate one of the logos with my website.

Anyone who takes that extra care to help you succeed is someone worth sticking with! Jacob truly cares about his clients, and even though the project is finished, I still feel supported by him in continuing to build my business! :” Read full testimonial here.

DiCarlo Coaching logo – A male life coach, teaching men how to interact with women. Typeface is Avenir with custom illustrations for the silhouettes. DiCarlo Coaching is based in Massachusetts, USA.

Beolchi Rangel logo – This is a logotype for Beolchi Rangel, a business management consulting business based in Brazil. I wrote up a process of how I made this logotype over on Logo Designer Blog. Gotham Black typeface with customisation to the letters E, L and A. The letterhead and business card are being printed as we speak.

Matisia logo design – A Seattle based management consulting firm who deals with clients such as Microsoft & Starbucks. Typeface is Dynasty Heavy. The concept is based on profiling the fruit Matisia in which the business was named after. Matisia is based in Washington DC, USA.

Rehab Massage Website – This was a website I completed for Dennis Jablonski, a remedial therapist based in Queensland, Australia. The website is still currently being coded and the content added. The logo was designed elsewhere (not a huge fan).

Here is what Dennis said about his time working with me:

“Jacob absolutely nailed my website in his first draft, delivering a perfect result much faster than I expected!

When I contacted Jacob about designing my website I was highly unorganised, lacking vision, ideas and actual content – possibly a ‘designer’s nightmare’!

Jacob’s excellent communication skills and wealth of experience in dealing with small business clients meant he could quickly identify my needs and business image and provide much needed guidance with minimal fuss.

I consider myself very lucky to have met Jacob and highly recommend him!”

6×3m Billboard – This was a university project where we had to create a creative billboard targeting obesity. We had 2 hours to come up with a concept & deliver it. Man image courtesy of Shutterstock.

A3 Play Poster – This was an A3 sized poster for a play being held at Newcastle University.

Pip’s For Hair Logo Design – This was a logo I created last year for Pip’s For Hair – this is a photo of the logo applied to the store front. Typeface is Interstate with customisations to the two p’s.

As for now, there are 4 more logos in the mix, a website for Sikh Youth Australia, a van vehicle wrap design, a CD Digipack Album design and a rum liquor bottle on its way! And there is only 5 more weeks till I leave for a 6 week trip across 22 states of USA. Eek – but loving every bit of it.

Comments, constructive criticism and questions are welcome, as always. Have a good weekend folks!

• Wolda 2008 Annual Arrives (24)
• The Past, Present & The Future (45)
• The Logo Design Process From Start To Finish (91)
• The Design Process Of Creating A Creative Billboard Campaign (30)

Does being a starving artist suck? Even if you are not starving, you should get yourself familiar with the books & resources of Jeremy Tuber, a designer & author based in Arizona, USA.

Jeremy and myself have been in contact via email & twitter in a very on and off fashion, though over the conversations we have had, I’ve found Jeremy’s pragmatic & practical knowledge in business to be quite profound and this is clearly shown throughout his books & resources.

About four months ago, Jeremy kindly sent me two of his books (Verbal Kung Fu For Freelancers and Being A Starving Graphic Artist Sucks) and over these last four months have found them very handy – below are two short reviews of these two books.

Verbal Kung Fu For Freelancers

Although I am not overly fussed by the design of the book itself, the information inside is invaluable and I have referred to it many a time. This book tells you how to talk and deal with your clients needs, but done in a very to the point way. It’s basically a ‘questions and answers’ book.

For example, pretend you have a client asking you to lower the price of your original quote. How would you respond? If you refer to the pricing section of the Verbal Kung Fu book, it would tell you exactly what to write and in some cases, it gives you two options to choose from.

Verbal Kung Fu For Freelancers is essentially about “how to talk to clients” and if you’re like me and the vast majority of your communication is done via email, you have all the time in the world to refer to this book to find out how to appropriately & effectively deal with your clients needs, without jeopardising your income or dignity.

I haven’t come across a book like this before and I highly recommend it. Its 166 pages are well categorised for easy referencing and is a ‘keep in your top draw’ kind of book. You also read what Steve from LogoFactory had to say about Jeremy’s books.

Being A Starving Graphic Artist Sucks

Being A Starving Graphic Artist Sucks (500 pages) is the second book I received and is much larger than the Verbal Kung Fu book. It’s a “complete resource” on how to be a successful freelancer.

It deals with such things as how to find clients & how to run your design business including thorough expert advice in areas that designers struggle in: pricing, marketing, negotiations, customer service and sales.

Although I didn’t read this book from front to back (I’ve already read similar books) it is clear that Jeremy knows how to run a design business and is certainly a book worth checking out. It really is a “complete resource”.

Discounts & Freebies

Readers of this blog can get 25% off any of Jeremy’s digital products OR get a free ebook when you purchase a printed book from Amazon.

You can click through to view all products & discounts.

Jeremy also offers free email support to any and all questions that you may have! How many authors offer that?

Free Giveaway

Update: 13/10/09 – Competition Closed

Congratulations to Jaz who will be receiving the prize pack below. Thank you to everyone else who entered – there are many questions here that will provide good ideas for posts in the future.

Jeremy has also been kind enough to donate a grand prize to one lucky winner. This will include the digital copies of:

• Being A Starving Graphic Artist Sucks
• Verbal Kung Fu For Freelancers
• Work Smarter, NOT Harder: Contracts & More

To win: simply let us know what area you find most troublesome when freelancing and a question you would like answered relating to that area. The winner will be announced in this post on Tuesday 13th October.

Good luck!

More book recommendations:

• 12 Design Books I’ve Read & Recommend
• Logo Lounge Volume 5 Book Review
• Logo Design Book Recommendations (+Video)
• Becoming A Successful Freelancer: The Unlimited Freelancer eBook Review

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• eBook: 10 Steps to Powerful Online Self Promotion for Creatives (2)

Throughout June and July I was on vacation travelling through Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam and New Zealand and as usual, with any major trip, I share the photos and stories with you.

I posted the Cambodia & Vietnam photos a few weeks back and now I’ve finally had the chance to go through the Japan & New Zealand photos.

The Japan leg of my Asian themed holiday was spent with my mother and was a gift for my 21st birthday. It was great to spend some quality time with her while experiencing the Japanese culture and it also gave me a chance to do things that I wouldn’t have done if I was traveling with my mates.

In Japan we went to Tokyo, Shinagawa, Yokohama, Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Hikone, Miyajima, Okayama, Hiroshima and Takayama. Click the map for a larger view of where we travelled.

Enjoy the happy snaps and sorry for not being more descriptive, I’ve forgotten a lot of the names since the trip back in July.

Update January 25th 2010:

Due to a recent outing with our hosts, we lost a lot of files. We are currently in the process of restoring the photos, please be patient while we do so. Thank you.

New Zealand Ski / Snowboard Holiday

After I returned from my Asian themed holiday I went for a ski / snowboard holiday with 16 of my mates in Cardrona, New Zealand. Below are a few snaps.

Top of the mountain – perfect conditions!

Believe or not this is the same day! It went from slush / chains at the bottom of the mountain, to perfect at the top.

Me doing a jump – I did land it for the record

The serenity!

We went paint balling as well, which was deadly fun.

Me on the left and some of my mates.

The lake near to our hotel. Beautiful scenery indeed.

Future Travel Plans

My original travel plan for November / December was to travel through South America however I have since decided to travel through USA instead. The reasoning for this was because of the very competitive airfares, great AUD to USD exchange rate and I thought I should get more acquainted with the USA before moving to work there.

As for the trip, I am going on another Contiki tour – this time across 22 states of USA starting from Los Angeles going East, right through to New York, where I will meet my employers, Carrot Creative, for the first time.

I will leave mid November, travel around for 6 weeks, return to Australia for 2 weeks for a family holiday, then fly back to New York again in early January where I will have to settle down and get back to the real (working) world.

You may be interested in my photos from: Fiji, Europe, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia or me SkyDiving. Have you been to Japan? Have any stories to share?

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This is breaking news in Australia – we’ve released a new ‘creamier’ version of our much loved Vegemite (a vegetable yeast spread similar to Marmite). No joke it was on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald website.

Kraft Foods yesterday announced the winning name: Vegemite iSnack 2.0.

West Australian web designer Dean Robbins, 27, beat more than 48,000 entrants to come up with the winning name. Other entries suggested were Ruddymite, Wow Chow and 2ritemite.

“It was all a bit tongue-in-cheek, really. The ‘i’ phenomenon and web 2.0 have been recent revolutions and I thought the new Vegemite name could do the same.”

Simon Talbot from Kraft Foods said: “The name Vegemite iSnack2.0 was chosen based on its personal call to action, relevance to snacking and clear identification of a new and different Vegemite to the original. We believe these three components completely encapsulate the new brand.”

When I first saw it I was like “Oh no, this has got to be a joke” but nope, it’s the real deal. A half smart marketing ploy but I wonder how long this name will last?

Update 29th September:

There may be a legal battle on for the name ‘iSnack’ but not with who you may think.

Update 30th September:

Kraft is considering axeing the name of   iSnack2.0. (Thanks to Cameron for the tip.)

What are your thoughts?

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It’s that time of year again – October 15th is Blog Action Day.

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.

This year the topic is Climate Change (of which I voted for back in August) and am glad it was picked as this years topic of choice as Climate Change is effecting us all (and our children) whether we like it or not.

I don’t want to bat on like some Greenpeace activist but Blog Action Day is for a good cause and you should consider getting involved – at least check out the video below.

Only last year did this blog raise USD$1620 in funds for the Blog Action Day Poverty Fund so it shows that you can help.

What can you do now?

Blog and Twitter about it, let others know about Blog Action Day and line up a story to be posted on October 15th too. Register your blog and get more information by going to the official Blog Action Day website.

You could also add a banner to the side of your blog such as the one you see on the right side bar of Just Creative Design.

• Climate change is about people (12)
• Blog Action Day: Stand Up To Poverty, October 15th (5)
• Save The Earth Campaign – 100% of all proceeds go to charity (10)
• I Will Donate 10 Cents For Every Comment That Is Left On This Post To Help Rid The World Of Poverty (248)