A few weeks ago I celebrated this blog’s 2 year anniversary by offering a Huge Anniversary Giveaway. With 255 comments, it’s clear that you guys liked the prizes being offered. I don’t blame you, I wish I could have won some of them :) Thanks so much to everyone for the kind comments and your participation!

And the Winners Are…

I used a random query to pick all the names. The winners are…

2 Copies of David Airey’s Book – Logo Design Love

• Rachel
• Sonali Agrawal

2 Copies of Billings

• Kel
• Matteo

3 Licenses of Pixelmator

• Nick
• webbografico
• Kartik

3 Licenses of Brush Pilot

• it
• MrQWest
• Rick

3 Copies of Digging Into WordPress

• Justas
• Jason A.
• Design Minimalist

5 Cloud Pack Textures from Brian Iannone

• Rachel
• Steve Webster
• Juanmi
• JohnnyBob
• Philipp Hummer

$9.99 Vector Pack of Your Choice

• Allie

3 Copies of the Smashing Book

• Sporky
• Chris Stevens
• J. Teague

Congratulations to the winners! If you’ve won something, I will be in touch with you soon to fill you in on the details of how to collect your prize.

Related posts:

1. 2 Year Anniversary + Huge Giveaway Celebration
2. Designious Vector Mega Pack Giveaway: Winners Announced
3. Winners Announced: 5 Premium Concept Feedback Accounts

This is part 5 of the Design Toolbox Series where I interview top designers about what tools they use to help them create their art. This series was largely inspired by Grace Smith’s “Show Me Your Dock Series.” It’s my hope that you can gain insight into what other designer’s are using, and hopefully find some new apps/tools to check out.

About Matt Ward

Matt Ward is a digital artist who lances freely under the moniker Echo Enduring Media. He specializes in design, illustration and writing, and has several articles published here on MyInkBlog. He is also currently employed as the Creative Director for Highland Marketing, a direct marketing company based out of Waterloo, Ontario.

On a more personal note, Matt is married to his best friend and the love of his life, Kelly. Together, they have one beautiful daughter who is already showing signs of her own creative genius (at least from a parent’s perspective). Matt plays a little guitar, a few video games and is highly involved in his local church.

Matt Ward – Design Toolbox

Computer/OS

I have a 13” MacBook, running Leopard, which I use to do pretty much everything, from designing to writing, to general web surfing. I also have a Toshiba Satellite laptop and an Acer desktop, both running Vista, which I use for the few Windows-based things I still need to do – like testing sites in IE.

Browser

I use FireFox. Despite the fact that both Safari and Chrome are faster, I can’t seem to give up old Foxy. It’s like an old friend that I am the most comfortable with. I do open up Safari every once in a while though, usually when I want to work with a site as a logged in administrator and just a regular visitor.

Code Editor

Coda rocks my world. I used to use Dreamweaver for a while, just because it came packaged with CS4, and before that, when I was working on a PC, I used a program called HTML Kit. Those were both okay, but Coda is just more lightweight, and easier to use. It makes it a breeze to manage multiple websites, and I love the way they integrated Transmit, allowing me to move files to and from the server without having to open a separate FTP app.

Mail Client

The default Mail app that comes with OS X has been fine for me. It allows me to download my emails, read them and organize them (though I need to get better at the later). I don’t really need anything more than that. Plus, it integrates nicely with the rest of the operating system.

Billing App

I use Billings 3. Again, another beautiful Mac app that, though its lightweight, is still powerful enough to meet all my needs. I can manage my contacts and projects, create estimates and invoices, add payments and track everything through a wide range of built in reports.

FTP Client

I already mentioned the way I use Coda to transfer files when developing websites. However, if I need to upload or download other types of files – like artwork to a commercial printer – I use FileZilla. There’s nothing all that fancy about it, but I it has worked just fine for my needs.

Twitter App

On my computer, I use Tweetie. I used to use TweetDeck, and while I like some of the features it offered, I found that it was a real drain on my system. Tweetie isn’t quite as robust, but it’s prettier, and much more lightweight.

RSS Reader

It seems like I’ve gone through a number of different RSS readers over the years, but right now I am using NetNewsWire, and am relatively happy with it.

Task Organizer

Again tried a few different apps before finally settling on Things, which I absolutely love, especially with the ability to synch it to the app for my iPhone. Now I can take my to do list with me wherever I go, and sometimes even knock a few items of while I’m on the move. So far it’s been the perfect solution for me.

Photo/Design Editor

Photoshop for sure. I know it can be bloated and buggy and is prone to crashing, but as far as I’m concerned it is still the defacto application when it comes to image editing, photo manipulations and so on. I’m constantly being amazed at the new things I am figuring out how to do. I also love the smooth integration that I have experienced with Illustrator.

Vector/Illustration Program

Definitely Illustrator these days. I actually started out with vector art in Corel Draw 6, way back in high school and used a copy of Corel Draw 8 for years. When I first made the switch to Illustrator, it took me a while to get used to it, but now I use it on an almost daily basis, for various forms of illustration, icon design and so on.

Any other apps you’d like to share

There are really only two other apps on my Dock that I use a lot. The first is Evernote, which is a slick little application that allows me to throw together. I can write notes, include websites and all kinds of other information. Even better, I can also synch it all to my iPhone through my Evernote account, allowing me to keep all my notes right at my fingertips.

The other application that I use is MAMP, which basically simulates a local apache server running both PHP and mySQL. This has allowed me to install a local version of WordPress, so that I can easily develop themes even without an internet connection.

Connect With Matt

• Echo Enduring Media
• Echo Enduring Blog
• Highland Marketing
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Related posts:

1. What’s In Your Design Toolbox? Part 1 Grace Smith
2. What’s In Your Design Toolbox? Part 2 Timothy Smith
3. What’s In Your Design Toolbox? Part 3: Kyle Steed

Not long ago I did a post here on MyInkBlog called Elements of a Great Band Website which discussed the must-have elements that you should always include when designing a website for a band. The reason behind the post spawned from the fact that as a designer you never know who your next web client is going to be, and what kind of site they are going to require from you. In the theme of that post, I am taking a look at another client type and site request. The artist and their portfolio!

As someone who lives in a small little artist community tucked away in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, I have worked with my fair share of artists, and designed a few portfolio sites on their behalves so I have a bit of personal experience in this area. In working with the various artists I have found some common elements that the sites seemingly need in order to successfully achieve their purpose and intent. Though the artist and their styles may vary, each being unique in their way, their sites still need those common elements that make it work.

So if an artist portfolio project comes up, here are some elements that you should consider including. Also, you will notice that scattered throughout the post are a few “artist highlights” where I showcase some finely crafted artist portfolios that are up on the web.

Artist Gallery

The first element that is a complete must-have, and should basically be a no-brainer, is the gallery of the artist’s work. After all, the site is their official online showcase, and they need a presentation fitting of the style and tone of their artistry. Which means that it is up to you, the designer, to evoke the style and mood of the art to the viewer, through the design and presentation of the artist’s work.

Alexey Chernishov

Given that this is going to be a major element of the site, and that every artist portfolio is going include one, you are going to want the artist gallery to stand out from the rest. You want their voice to speak through the site as poignantly as the work that is being showcased in order to entice the visitors to browse the gallery, so being in touch with the voice of their work is vital for making this effectively transfer. The gallery has to be presented in such a way that it steers people toward their work, without detracting from it.

Keeping the design from taking away from the message of the site you should always be a priority, but in this case, the gallery has to be on par with the work without overshadowing it, so there is a balance that must be sought.

Quick Tips

• Adequately and accurately display the art in thumbnails so that the viewer can get an idea of what is it they will be browsing.
• Using an attractive lightbox highlights the art extremely well, without taking away from the work at all.

Calendar of Artist Shows

Another important element to include is a calendar of shows and events where the artist is going to be featured or showing. You will want to provide every available outlet for the site visitors to connect with the artist, and providing an accessible, up-to-date calendar of places that they can unplug and see the artist’s work live is a fantastic way to improve the reader’s reach.

Fully Illustrated

This can help the artist in a couple of different ways, with regards to their readers. It can provide an easy way for them to keep their site current and relevant to a growing fanbase, which in turn can also help them generate a positive revenue stream from their work. With more fans and followers aware of where the art can be seen and often times purchased from the artist themselves, the more opportunities the artist has to make a living from their work by connecting them to an audience they may otherwise not be reaching.

Any extra avenue that you can create for the online audience and the artist to connect is a positive, so if the client is not talking about the inclusion of this calendar you may want to take an opportunity to impress upon the importance and benefit of adding this element to the mix.

Quick Tip

• Even if the artist has no current showings, they can still use this space to advertise that they have pieces ready to show.

Artist Contact & Social Media Info.

Speaking of extending the reader’s reach to the artist, and making them more visible among the visitors to the site, being sure to include the artist’s various means of contact is another must on the artist portfolio checklist. Including contact information on a website is hardly a revolutionary idea. I know this is not groundbreaking stuff here, but it is certainly a must-have, even though some artists can be very leery of including contact information on the web.

Simply Creative

This is where your expertise and guidance need to attempt to steer them towards taking advantage of this outlet to its fullest extent, and that tends to mean opening up to the idea of at least creating an e-mail address specific to the site for reaching them and nothing more. Though, more would certainly be better. Including dialing the visitors of the site in to the various social media networks that the artist is active on, and perhaps the artist as well so that you have some active network connections to promote.

The more insight the visitors can gain into the artist, is generally the better for the fanbase. Social media offers that unique glance into the person behind the art so working this into the contact page and incorporating it into the site overall, is a win for all.

Quick Tip

• If the client remains leery of putting contact info out on the web, you can always create them a custom contact form for the site so that visitors still can reach the artist.

About the Artist

As long as we are talking about offering insights into the ever-present question that lingers on a lot of the reader’s minds, the who, an about page is another element that is near a necessity in the design. And though most sites do include some sort of behind the scenes peek at who is running things, some might not think it that necessary on a portfolio site that is meant to highlight the art. However, part of showcasing the work, is shining the spotlight on the artist.

Moonbeam Illustrations

From the influences that shaped the artist’s style and form, to their individual path to finding their unique voice, there is a lot of personal information that they could offer the readers via the about page. Once again, you want to make sure that all of the information is presented in an effective and interesting way, and this is not an area to turn a blind eye to that mission. Where the rest of the site should be reflective of their artistic style, the about page should work to incorporate more about the individual and less about the work.

Though most of the sites we design have an about page, the layout and style do not tend to stray much from the overall site style and layout, but in the case of an artist’s portfolio site this page should feel a bit apart from the rest and embody more of the artist.

Quick Tip

• This is naturally an area where you will need a lot of input from the artist to pull it off, but you may want to consider doing a short interview with them to build the about page from.

A Blog

In the interest of giving the site more of a personal touch and insight, not to mention keeping the site current and easy to update, a blog is another element that is a complete must-have when designing an artist’s portfolio. Blogs are extremely popular these days, so selling the client on the idea of attaching a blog to the site might be easier than some other elements that you want to include. But no matter how warm they are to the idea, this is an issue to push for.

Made Like Me

This is another opportunity to break from the normal style of the rest of the site and get a little creative with building the blog into the site. Though you may have some freedom with regards to flexibility in the formatting here, you still want the blog to retain the same tone and feel as the rest of the site. This is not necessarily a separation from the site as much as it is simply an extension of the portfolio itself. So be sure that however you stray from the design of the main site for the blog, be sure that you do not stray too far.

As I previously mentioned, blogging is catching on and so many are tapping into the blogosphere to get their work out there, so this may be something that is already requested, but if not, a blog can be beneficial to an artist in so many ways that I cannot list them all here.

Quick Tip

• Make the main column width sufficient enough for providing a large enough of an image that the detail comes out so the artist can share other works they produce that won’t necessarily end up in the portfolio.

Overall, Don’t Overdo It!

It is important to remember that while breaking some of the usual design rules is completely acceptable, especially in cases such as these, usability still needs to remain a key focus at all times. So don’t go so far that the users are instantly confused by the site and have no intuitive ways to begin navigating it causing them to throw in the towel and leave. So keep the usability in mind and keep the readers around.

Irina Batkova

That is all on this end

That just about wraps up the post, but the discussion is just beginning in the comments section below. Chime in with what elements you think are must-haves for an artist portfolio, or just share your thoughts or experiences on this topic.

Related posts:

1. Elements of a Great Band Website
2. Traps To Avoid When Designing An Online Photo Portfolio
3. How to Use Job Boards to Land Clients

The more MyInkTrails that I do, the more I am convinced that less is more. I’m now much more focused on quality over quantity. Plus, I’m frustrated with the lack of creativity with some blogs in the design community. Regardless, I dug deep and found some quality reads, and I’m sure I missed a few others. I hope you enjoy my favorite articles, tutorials, freebies and featured stuff from my trek through the design community for May 2010.

Articles

Tutorials

Freebies

Featured Stuff

Related posts:

1. MyInkTrail: Best of the Design Community, March 2010
2. MyInkTrail: Best of the Design Community, February 2010
3. MyInkTrail: Best of the Design Community, January 2010

The callused hands, the dirty brows, and the sweat-drenched boots. I’m talking about the blue-collar worker. The men and women who wake up every morning with a day full of manual labor in front of them. From coal mining to telephone pole repair to high-rise construction workers, the working class makes the world go with their hard work, dedication and sweat equity. Many people choose to look down from their suits and cubicles at this working class with disdain and belittlement. As designers, we may sometimes feel like we’re somewhat above the hammers and nails and lunch pails of our blue-collar brethren.

Now to be sure you’re on track, this isn’t an article on social class or the choice of profession. Rather, I want you to focus in on some lessons every designer (and possibly any other white-collar worker) can learn from those who pack a lunch pail and put in a hard hat’s day. Just because we’re in a service industry, doesn’t mean their aren’t elements of our profession that resemble the situations faced by the working class. And with the Internet becoming more and more essential to our society, those who’s jobs it is to build and layout the web (you and me) can, in a way, be considered the blue-collar class of the information age.

So put down your Wacom tablet and pick up your hard hat as we look at 5 lessons every designer can learn from the Blue-collar worker.

It’s Hard Work

Chopping down trees or putting on a roof in 100 degree weather is no easy task. There’s not much glamor or relaxation when it comes to many blue-collar jobs. Workers are asked to work and work hard. In many circumstances the environment is not pleasant and the job at hand can be strenuous, both physically and mentally. It takes dedication and sometimes a lot of sweat to get the job done right. And you don’t usually find too many complaints from those who’ve made it their careers to put in the hours in such conditions.

As a designer, a lot of what we do is hard. Now we’ve all probably been in that state of flow from time to time where inspiration comes easily and the hours fly by, but often we find ourselves battling the grind of deadlines and client demands. A lot of effort can go unnoticed as we sweat out the last few pixels before we ship off a design. And sometimes even finding the right inspiration can be hard enough.

Expecting ideas to just come to you is the wrong approach. Take time every day to work out some ideas and build up a reservoir of designs. You’ve got to put in the hours even when it’s not the most pleasant of circumstances or even when the dollar signs aren’t stacking up.  It’s these consistent work habits that will turn you into a design machine. Having the ability to crank out work even when you’re not feeling your best will pay off. So pack your lunch pail, put down that Starbucks and get to work.

Focus on Your Craft

Many, if not all manual trade jobs, begin with apprenticeships. The reason being is most of what you learn in a blue-collar workplace happens on the job. There aren’t too many textbooks or blog articles on how to mix cement or chop wood. Understanding the ins and outs of a workplace happens by spending time with those who’ve mastered their craft. Knowing the right way to hold a jackhammer happens while you’re operating a jackhammer for the first time; you don’t get a degree from jackhammer school.

Taking a similar approach with design, you should be spending more time doing and less time reading. While I believe education in design theory is great, most of what you’ll pick up happens when you’re creating or watching others create. Find a mentor. Take on an internship. Develop your specific craft through work and more work. The more time you spend using your tools and practicing your specific crafts, the more of an expert you’ll become. Ask questions from those who’ve come before you. Answer questions for those who are just now learning. And be proud of what you’ve accomplished. Just as with many blue-collar workers, designers can sit back at the end of the day and actually see something they’ve accomplished.

Take Care of Your Tools

Almost every blue-collar worker has his or her hands on a tool for most of the day. That tool could be tiny screwdriver or a massive diesel front-loader. Regardless of size or function, a good worker knows his tools, and more importantly, knows how to take care of his tools. Painters wash off their brushes at the end of a job. Auto mechanics have a home for each one of their hundreds of tools. Every tool should be treated with care.

So what are our tools as a designer? First, we have our physical tools. Pens, paper, computer software, etc. help us get designs out of our mind and into function. Ensure that whatever system you use is well maintained and in proper-working condition. Updates to your computer or keeping your drawing tools in pristine condition will ensure that when an idea comes, you’re ready to jump into action.

An organized work bench will make finding the right tool fast and easy. If you’re a web designer, having a file structure of common elements and templates at hand will make sure your designs start off quickly and consistently. Carrying a notebook with you at all times, means you’re ready for any and all forms of inspiration.

Finally our biggest tool, our mind, should be taken care of the most. Getting enough sleep and staying healthy will keep your mind sharp and ready for the mental strain that many designers face.

Don’t Be Outsourced

With more and more service-based industries popping up in the Western World, many blue-collar jobs have been outsourced to developing countries. This is also, in large part, due to the lower wages offered in many of these developing countries. If you’ve lived your life working in a blue-collar profession, only to find out that your job is being shipped overseas, it can be devastating and sometimes impossible to find similar work.

The same can hold true for many in the design industry, especially those in web design. Finding work done cheaper overseas is especially easy when the Internet is bridging the gap. So how do you avoid being outsourced?

Add value. While there are many blue-collar jobs that are being outsourced, there are still those highly skilled hard workers that will always have jobs locally, primarily because they make it worth it. So how do we add value as designers? This is where we step away from the manufacturing class and into the service class. Offer clients interaction and services that are impossible to get from overseas interactions. Expand your skill set to include complimentary services. Whatever your specific method, make sure your not easily replaceable.

When the Whistle Blows, Call it a Day

Finally, a simple lesson that is sometimes easy to miss is, when the day is over, leave the work alone. There’s a growing trend in the information age to blur the lines between work life and home life. Having a healthy work-life balance should be somewhere high up on everyone’s priority list. There are always going to be more opportunities to get ahead and more work to be done. If you don’t learn anything else from the blue-collar worker, take away the will to put your work aside and spend time with your family and friends. Many times the work can wait until tomorrow. So listen for the whistle and call it a day.

Related posts:

1. 8 Designers Who Never Fail to Inspire
2. Measuring Up: Are You a Good Designer or a Great One?
3. How to Use Job Boards to Land Clients

Things to consider before selling ads

Should you sell advertising space? There is no right or wrong answer to that question, ultimately you have control over what advertisements are shown, but will advertising turn off some of your readers? Before you jump into anything, it’s a good idea to sort through the pros and cons. Here are some things you should consider before you make that jump.

Why advertise?

To monetize your site or blog is often the first answer given, and with good reason. Your time is valuable. But are there other ways you can make money without advertising? Is it really necessary to sell valuable real estate on your site to gain a few extra pounds (or dollars?) Maybe your site is more suited toward monetizing your brand through merchandising, or offering paid services?

Should you use an advertising marketplace or fly solo?

Many of the blogs in the design community use BuySellAds to manage their advertisements. Allowing a company like BSA to handle your ads, saves you time, connects you with a growing marketplace, and improves renewal rates.

However for many people, 25% commission is a tough pill to swallow, and perhaps you’d like a little more control. Could you just handle everything by yourself? Of course you could. You can simply use a PayPal account and solicite advertisers. This way you are on a more personal level with your advertisers. You will have plenty of control over who is advertising, and you will be able to build up long term relationships with your advertisers.

Advertising needs to be targeted to the correct audience, selling your own ad space will allow you to control the kinds of products and services sold on your site. For example, on my site I have turned down offers from online betting sites and other questionable services because they aren’t targeted towards my users.

Your stats matter

Improving your statistics is important. Advertisers will be concerned with your page views, Google ranking, Alexa rank and more.

A little about your Alexa rank

If you don’t know what Alexa is, you should definitely check them out. They are a web information company that allows you to monitor all sorts of user stats, page views, and interactions made on your site.

Alexa allows you to size up your competitors on the web. You can see your traffic, search analytics, audience data and click stream data. Showing how other popular sites are in comparison to yours, what terms people are using to find your competitor’s sites, what kind of visitors your site is attracting, and where affiliate partners and programs are helping garner traffic for your competition.

A good way to keep track of all these stats is to download the Alex Plugin. Not only does this widget allow you to monitor the ‘Alex rank’ from the site but you can also customize it to show several other stats. This widget can be placed wherever you wish on your site to quickly show others your Alexa ranking.

Sizing up your competition with Alexa

• The Alexa Traffic Rank will show how popular a site is compared to yours, including Reach, Page views and more.
• Search Analytics will show you which terms your competition is using to get traffic.
• The Audience Data will show you what kind of visitors your competition is attracting.
• The Click Stream Data will show you where your competition is getting traffic from affiliate programs and partners.

A few tips to improve your advertising appeal

Here are a couple of ways you can improve your rankings, and your appeal to advertisers.

Write content daily

Writing on a daily basis not only will improve you as a writer, but also bring in a constant stream of page views and hits. You will soon be building up large floods of people who flock to your site on a daily basis to check out the content you are writing. With high numbers of impressions you are much more likely to attract the bigger and better advertisers.

Put yourself in the advertiser’s shoes

Produce content that is interesting and relavant to your potential advertiser’s target audience. If you are going to provide a series of articles on WordPress tips, hints and tricks you are likely to attract WordPress companies online. They will be attracted to advertise on your site because your content is bringing in the type of reader who they want to sell their product/service to.

How to get accepted on an advertising marketplace

Try, try again. If at first you are not accepted there is nothing against, applying again once you have taken the necessary steps to try and boost your ranking and chances. You may have only been a few steps away from being accepted the first time around, so there is no harm in improving yourself to be accepted the second time around.

What to do once your site is accepted

Be precise about where your ads are available in your advertising description. If you provide the wrong description and your ads are placed further down your site they are less likely to get the impressions and clicks the advertiser is hoping for. Give it a place on your blog where advertisers are going to want to advertise, not hidden away where visitors aren’t going to see the ads. Promote your ad space and link to where potential advertisers can purchase it from.

BuySellAds lists your advertisements for buyers to discover your site, but you will have a better chance of selling space if you promote where people can purchase your ads. You should try to have at least one empty advertising block in the advertising area that links directly to the place where people can contact/purchase that same spot. This will help advertisers visualize where his/her ad will be placed, and quickly make that purchase. Another good practice is to have a spot in your navigation which links to an advertising specific page. On this page you can showcase opportunities available on your site and link to a purchase page.

Keep your price consistent for a few months, otherwise it may put off advertisers from being a loyal supporter and advertiser on your site. Yes you will (hopefully) be improving as you go along and so you should re-evaluate your prices in line with the kind of traffic and hits your site is generating, but be realistic to both the competition and content of your site. Be sensible in offering prices based upon, the size, page views, and prominence of the advert.

Be patient and consistent and your advertising revenue will grow. What experiences have you had with display advertising? What considerations and advice would you share?

Related posts:

1. MyInkBlog Now Using BuySellAds
2. Top 10 Places to Submit Photoshop Tutorials
3. 7 Benefits of Having a Professional Website Design

Blogs rarely last very long. They age more in dog years than human years, so making it two full years feels like quite an accomplishment. I’m stoked with the progress the site has made and the support from the design community and my sponsors. I’m shocked and humbled it’s already been a full year since the birth of my son, which I shared about in my 1st year anniversary post. He’s healthy and amazingly energetic, he makes me smile constantly, and is just a blessing in the truest sense of the word. Below is a little glimpse of what I mean :)

Some MIB Tidbits, Facts and Musings

I love checking out other blog’s milestone/anniversary posts. It’s nice to see how far they’ve come and where they are headed. In my last anniversary post, I missed the opportunity to share some numbers with you, so I don’t want to make that mistake again. In a style inspired by Little Box of Idea’s Anniversary Post, here are some tidbits, facts and musings about MIB’s first two years.

• MIB’s most viewed post remains Design with Swirls and Flourishes with over 305,000 views.
• Yes, I do realize most people associate MIB with Men in Black, but I’m lazy enough to still use the acronym quite often.
• I started MyInkBlog’s Facebook Page on December 6, 2009. It now has 761 fans (likes, followers, or whatever facebook decided to do with that?)
• The name MyInkBlog is a play on words from ink blot to ink blog thanks to a little help from my wife. InkBlog.com was taken so MyInkBlog became the name of choice.
• MIB has published over 265 posts from 31 different authors, and we are always on the lookout for new talented contributors.
• There have been over 4,995 published comments from you guys. The first such comment was from April DeStefano, a friend of mine.
• Akismet has saved me the burden of looking through over 56,000 spam comments. Wow, I love that plugin!
• Twitter has proven to be more helpful than my wildest expectations, which isn’t all that impressive considering my early skepticism. MIB now has over 5,800 followers and has been listed 616 times. If you aren’t already, I’d love if you follow along.
• I received a tshirt for my post on Adobe Kuler from the folks at Adobe. A gift that my geeky side rejoiced about for long enough to make it a running joke amongst my wife an I.
• MIB’s RSS feed climbed over 10,000 a couple times this month, and is currently at just over 9,700 right now.
• MIB averages about 6,000 page views daily. The record day was 39,840 set back on May 25, 2009 thanks to the Stumble Effect on 10 Awesome Free Handwritten Fonts.
• Over the past year I have developed a real distaste for list posts and have made a conscious effort not to waste your time or mine with more posts like “458 Websites with Purple Robots” (although come to think of it, that may be pretty cool).
• Allowing BuySellAds to manage my advertising was one of the best decisions I’ve made with this blog. Time saved is invaluable!

The Huge Giveaway

I promised a huge giveaway, and thanks to some awesome sponsors I’m going to deliver. Two successful years in the blogging world doesn’t come without lots of loyal readers. I could think of no better way to thank you folks, than to give away some incredible gifts. So here is what is up for grabs.

2 Copies of David Airey’s Book – Logo Design Love

An awesome book by David Airey that explores logos and branding identity. You can read my thoughts on this book in the review that I wrote.

2 Copies of Billings

Billings is a fantastic invoicing solution at a reasonable price. They’ve just added an iPhone app making it even more convenient. For more info, check out the review of Billings that I wrote.

3 Licenses of Pixelmator

Pixelmator is a very nice Photoshop alternative at a much better price. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but it does have more than enough to do most jobs, and the interface is slick.

3 Licenses of Brush Pilot

Brush Pilot is a fast and easy application for previewing Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Elements Brushes, built exclusively for Mac.

3 Copies of Digging Into WordPress

Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr’s comprehensive book on building WordPress sites.

5 Cloud Pack Textures from Brian Iannone

This is a premium set of 24 awesome cloud textures.

$9.99 Vector Pack of Your Choice

Go Media has some of the best premium vector packs out there.

3 Copies of the Smashing Book

The Smashing Book is a printed book about best practices in modern Web design.

How To Enter

I wanted to keep the entry into this contest as simple as possible so the focus stays on thanking all of you. To enter simply drop me a comment below to be eligible to win any of the prizes. That being said, I’d still love it if you friended MyInkBlog on Facebook and Twitter, or subscribed to the RSS feed. The winners will be chosen at random by mysql queries. The deadline to enter is June 7th, 2010, after that point commenting on this post will be turned off. I will announce the winners in a followup post.

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3. Huge Hosting Giveaway From Eleven2

A few weeks ago I teamed up with Designious to giveaway Mega Vector Packs to 3 lucky winners. Thanks to everyone who participated!

And the 3 Winners Are…

I used a random query to pick the 3 names. The winners are…

• Scott Bird – @scottburris
• Jessica Rodgers – @beadedchihuahua
• Cassie – @crschilliger

Congratulations to the winners! The folks at Designious will be in touch with you soon to fill you in on the details of how to collect your prize.

Till The Next Time

Certainly this is not the last giveaway/contest here on MyInkBlog. Stay tuned by grabbing the rss feed or signing up to get email updates.

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Let’s start with an obvious statement: Photoshop is an incredibly popular application. I don’t think that really comes as a surprise to anyone. Many people would probably even point to it as the single most popular image editing application on the planet. There are dozens of sites dedicated strictly to teaching the various intricacies of how to use Photoshop, and thousands more that publish Photoshop tutorials on a regular basis.

As popular as it is though, Photoshop is not free from significant criticisms. It can certainly be a real drain on your system resources, and is famous for crashing suddenly – invariably when you’re right in the middle of something really important. This recent installment of Brad Colbow’s The Brads captures this perfectly:

I also posted the question “what drives you nuts about Photoshop?” to Twitter and got some interesting answers from my followers:

• when my cursor gets stuck on the hand symbol, for no apparent reason (via @wjwinoz)
• re: Photoshop – the price. (via @ptamaro)
• no right click for cutting and pasting (via @biotwist)
• Hate that despite its bloat, Photoshop is still the best thing out there. I wish there was something leaner and meaner. (via @keysthatclick)
• Nothing. I use FW! =P (via @iamhenrym)
• that it crashes all the time #PSsucks (via @amberweinberg)
• the track pad gestures being automatically on in cs4 once your canvas is askew its really hard to line it back up (shortcut?) (via @willistyling)
• The price. I’ve purchased at least 12 times over the years (via @ptamaro)
• The price! (via @gregmcmillan)

The Unexplored Reason

Clearly, people have some issues with Adobe’s premier product. Still, it remains at the top in terms of popularity – far, far ahead of applications like GIMP, Pixelmator or Corel’s Photo-Paint (which I personally started learning on). In discussing why this might be, we could talk about development and innovation, and how Photoshop always seems to be introducing new features (the new content aware fill looks incredible). We could talk about the integration with the rest of the extensive Creative Suite, which while not perfect, is still pretty good. We could even talk about marketing and the way Adobe builds the hype around each new offering.

These are all very valid points and worthy of discussion, but there is one interesting fact that I think often gets overlooked in this whole discussion, and it has to do with language itself. The name Photoshop has literally evolved beyond itself.

It has become a verb.

I don’t think you will find it in any official dictionaries (yet), but there is an entry in the Wiktionary. The fact remains, however, that the once proper noun “Photoshop” has been absorbed into the vernacular and transformed (in spite of Adobe’s apparent protest) into a verb having to do with the digital modification of an image, seemingly regardless of what actual software may have been used. To quote that vast body of knowledge that is Wikipedia:

photoshop is widely used as a verb, both colloquially and academically, to refer to retouching, compositing (or splicing), and color balancing carried out in the course of graphic design, commercial publishing, and image editing

How many people remember the Dove Evolution video, which uses some simple time lapse technology to demonstrate the evolution of an attractive though somewhat ordinary woman into a full blown glamour model? Much of the process is achieved through makeup, but some significant changes are also achieved by means of digital manipulation. The final product is, admittedly, quite stunning but that’s hardly the point.

The point is that if we saw that in a magazine or on a billboard and turned to someone – even someone who is in no way involved in design – and said “that is so photoshopped,” we would be under the assumption that the other person will understand that what we actually mean is that we think that the image has been digitally modified to remove any “imperfections”. By simply looking at the finished image, we have no real way of knowing if the touch ups were done in Photoshop or one of its competitors, yet we use the word without so much as a second thought.

The Genericized Trademark

Of course, this is hardly an isolated phenomenon, and some other contemporary technologies have also seen similar occurrences with their own names. Google is probably the best example. Today, only the absolutely most isolated or technologically unsavy people fail to understand when you say you’re going to “Google” something.

I am also finding that the same thing is happening with Facebook, though to a lesser extend. Instead of saying “I’ll send you a message through Facebook” or “I’ll write on your wall” (which has always struck me as a strangely vandalistic terminology), people are beginning to adapt the phrase “I’ll Facebook you,” simply meaning that they will engage in some form of communication through that particular social network.

This process is can ultimately lead to something called the genericized trademark, and is a really interesting linguistic development. Again, Wikipedia has a short list of “trademarks that have lost their legal protection in the US”. Some of these brand names that have become so synonymous with a particular product or commodity that you might not even know that they are a brand name.

Thermos? Zipper? Escalator? Before researching this, I seriously had no idea that these were originally brand names.

I also found a blog post entitled “brand names that have become everyday nouns”, which lists some similar products that, while likely still protected, do still tend to be used in a very generalized way.

How Photoshop Benefits

So how can this help Photoshop maintain its market share? I think it’s simply a matter or prevalence. The applications’ name has developed into a verb because it is so widely used and known. Designers use it. Artists use it. Photographers us it. Its fame has become so widespread that it has actually trickled out of these circles and into the public discourse in a way that none of Adobe’s other offerings have.

How many of your non designer friends would know what Illustrator is? InDesign? Flash might be a bit more well known, but probably more as a product that is experienced on the internet rather than an application for building rich, dynamic and interactive content.

Given all this, I would argue that Photoshop has found itself in a rather interesting position. One of the key elements of successful branding is always mindshare. When people think about a particular type of product, what brand do they think of first? Everyone wants to be right at the top of that list, and companies go to great lengths to compete with each other in order to grab that spot, which is probably coveted as much – if not more – than the number one spot on a particular Google search.

What better way to achieve this level of mindshare than to have your product name actively being used to represent an entire field of work? After years of hearing people talk about Photoshopping this or Photoshopping that, when a budding designer, artist or photographer is looking to get into the industry, what software do you think they’re going to turn to first?

Probably Photoshop.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to actually purchase Photoshop and use it as their application of choice. There are many other factors involved in this decesion – not the least of which has to be price. Still, I would maintain that Photoshop is probably the first place that many beginners will turn to, simply because it is a name that has gained so much mindshare, through everything we have already talked about.

A Fine Balance

Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that this genericized trademark stuff is the sole reason that Photoshop sits tall and proud as the king of the digital imaging arena. There are certainly many other reasons, many of which have probably contributed directly to Photoshop becoming so popular in the first place. It’s an interesting concept, though, and one that I have not seen discussed all that much in the design community.

I am also not suggesting that Adobe’s premier offering will never be toppled from its place of prominence. The whole process of genericized trademarks can actually be very dangerous for companies. If a particular trademark becomes too generic, the ability to maintain legal protection can be lost and the name becomes a part of the public domain. The moment that happens, it is available for anyone to use, and you would see dozens of different “photoshops” popping up all over the place.

Obviously, Adobe doesn’t want that to happen, and I’m sure that they are monitoring the situation very closely. If it ever appears the use of Photoshop as a verb ever starts to move into dangerous territory, you can be sure that Adobe will take steps to stop it and protect itself.

In the meantime, however, Adobe continues to offer minor protests against the use of Photoshop as a verb. Personally, however, I have a sneaking (and completely unsubstantiated) suspicion that they are actually secretly enjoying this phenomenon, and the mindshare it helps them maintain.

Related posts:

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2. How to use Adobe Photoshop Actions
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Another busy month in the books. This month’s MyInkTrail is short but very useful. Here are the best articles, tutorials, freebies and more from the design community for April 2010.

Articles

Tutorials

Freebies

Featured Stuff

Related posts:

1. MyInkTrail: Best of the Design Community – May 2010
2. MyInkTrail, Best of the Design Community, April 2009
3. MyInkTrail: Best of the Design Community, March 2010