Online helpdesk service Freshdesk have recently announced that it will be launching Future Fund. What is Future Fund you ask? Freshdesk will be giving start-ups with under $1M in revenue a helping hand. They are offering 501 new companies $10m worth of their cloud-based support solution for a whole year.

The Future Fund includes a variety of support packages which companies can use to provide their customers with high quality support. Start-ups will be able to use Facebook, Twitter, phone, e-mail and their website to give their customers outstanding support. This is really important for new companies and is sure to give their reputation a boost.

Simon Best, one of the founders of BaseKit says,

“This is a win-win initiative for both Freshdesk and the startups. Freshdesk gets potential future customers in the start-ups that grow to use more features and more agents. The start-ups get free services, which is super important when you’re getting off the ground.”

Find out more information here http://freshdesk.com/startup/

Are you part of a start-up? Do you think you would benefit from this service?

Related articles

• Freshdesk Launches $10M “Future Fund” To Bring Free Help Desk Support To 500+ Startups (techcrunch.com)
• Freshdesk launches Future Fund to help startups provide better customer care (thenextweb.com)

Chris Parks has created this playing card as part of a limited edition series of cards. His inspiration comes from woodblock prints and evil spirits in Japanese mythology.

http://www.computerarts.co.uk/blog/52-aces-served-123160

Neil J Rook has created this lovely summer piece . The vibrant colours work really well on this print.

http://dribbble.com/shots/565125-Summertime?list=popular&offset=47

Michael Tomaka is behind this superb digital design. His use of nature and the human form make this piece truly unique.

http://abduzeedo.com/natureman-digital-illustration

This untitled piece of work by Phil Ashcroft uses acrylic on canvas. We love the sharp edges on this one!

http://www.computerarts.co.uk/blog/inspiration-gallery-15-may-123158#gallery-viewport

We are loving this illustration by Zack Davenport. We look forward to more of these!

http://dribbble.com/shots/565438-Film-Riot?list=popular&offset=102

Claude Durand has created this movie poster for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The shapes and two-tone effect work really well.

http://raw.abduzeedo.com/post/23167861258/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-two-towers

Patcho Quinto has created this impressive graphic of a head. Really impressive dimensions!

http://raw.abduzeedo.com/post/23167873000/my-name-is-patcho-quinto-a-graphic-designer

This delicate skull illustration by Dmitry Ligay manages to include a number of elements without looking overcrowded. Nice work!

http://www.behance.net/gallery/ilustreishnzz/3010255

Related articles

• The Week in Design: May 11 (basekit.com)
• The Week in Design: April 20 (basekit.com)

We knew that social media was a big deal and BaseKit’s most recent Small Business Report shows that the proof is in the pudding.  Over one third of small businesses in the UK are now using Facebook for reaching new customers.  This is more than local directories such as Yellow Pages and considerably more than print or online advertising.  36% of small businesses in Britain are now using the ever expanding social network for marketing purposes.  This is in comparison to only 27% of small businesses using local directories as a source of new customers.  It is not just Facebook stealing the marketing spotlight, Twitter has also become a popular marketing platform amongst small businesses with 17% of small businesses using Twitter  to identify new customers and market to them.

Are you a small business wanting to learn more from our research findings? Check out the full BaseKit Small Business Report here.

You can also learn more about how small businesses are using Facebook for marketing with successful examples from our friends at The Marketing Donut.

Joy Tantiwichanant has created this movie poster for ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. She has captured the whole essence of the film with the use of colour and shapes.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Movie-Poster/3898897

Pablo E. Peña P created this animation for Venuzuelan magazine ‘Zipper’. The robot inspired piece uses shading to create a dark effect.

http://www.p3p510.net/blog/?p=1078

Kellie Jerrard has cleverly created this poster to represent the era in which Gill Sans was created.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/punkplaygal/6055421595/in/photostream

Josh Overton created this collage in Photoshop layering different textures and shapes. We think this works really well with the skull centrepiece.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/What-Else-Is-New-What-Can-I-Do/490041

Cannon Pearson has used a poster effect on this graphic. We love the splattered illusion on this one!

http://dribbble.com/shots/555601-Sloppy-Kisser?list=popular&offset=659

Robert M Ball focuses on his alter ego with this superhero inspired graphic. He has used line techniques to perfect the sculpting.

http://www.computerarts.co.uk/blog/inspiration-gallery-09-may-123148#gallery-viewport

This scary image is contrasted with a pink heart. We think it works well here!

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Personal-Works-(Vector-Illustration-)/3896697

These digital collages by Chika Nwankwo are a mish mash of colours, textures and everyday objects. This one’s our favourite!

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Digital-Images/3896779

Related articles

• The Week in Design: March 30 (basekit.com)
• The Week in Design: April 20 (basekit.com)
• The Week in Design: May 4 (basekit.com)

Here at BaseKit we have been working together to bring you our small business report, “Digital Dinosaurs”. The report highlights areas such as how many small businesses are online and how many small businesses are using social networking sites. The report also covers the biggest problems and fears that small businesses face. These fears of conquering the web means that small businesses are increasingly afraid of becoming “digital dinosaurs”.

We spoke to over 500 small business owners to find out exactly what they think about the digital and online world.

This goes hand-in-hand with The BaseKit Learning Centre as we provide tutorials, guides and tips for small businesses. These help businesses to work on their online presence, digital marketing skills and the general running of their business online.

Read the full report here:

http://www.basekit.com/digital-dinosaurs

Related articles

• Small Businesses Failing To Impress Online (shinesquad.me)
• Why BaseKit Supports Go ON UK (basekit.com)

Kristjana S. Williams is inspired by symmetry, nature and wildlife. Her creations are a fusion of all these elements and combine to produce a beautiful and inspirational masterpiece.

http://www.riseart.com/art/hjortur-by-kristjana-s-williams

Kellie Jerrard has created this one-off book which explores the rarity of a fingerprint and the probability of getting two of the same prints.

http://www.kelliejerrard.com/out-of-print

Titled ‘le elephant’, this piece is open to interpretation.  Anastásia Gúrova uses three coloured circles accompanied by some fine line detail. The more we look at this one the more interesting it gets!

http://www.behance.net/gallery/le-elephant/3830773

This quirky collage has us all in a spin. Appropriately titled ’Headfull’, it combines various images and objects which can be seen to represent the thought process through the brain.

http://givemeawork.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/headfull.html#!/2012/03/headfull.html

This design by Alex Tass proves pretty personal. He explains, “My name is Alex Tass and I am a nocturnal bat, and a logo, identity and graphic designer. ” His name is also integrated into the design making it 100% his own.

http://dribbble.com/shots/544715-alextass-com-my-personal-bat?list=popular&offset=83

Josh Overton uses Photoshop to create this piece. The sensation of falling is clearly present in this dynamic graphic. Lighting and shadow has also been added for full effect.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Falling-Through-Space-And-Time/494373

This geometrical graphic really stands out from the page. Using only the colour red, Collin Green has used shadow and lighting to really make define the angles and shape.

http://dribbble.com/shots/543791-Ballin-Geometrically?list=popular&offset=187

David Moscati created this artwork for musician ‘Pink Kodiak’. We love the colour on this one!

http://dribbble.com/shots/544758-Bearing-Down?list=popular&offset=483

Related articles

• The Week in Design: April 20 (basekit.com)
• The Week in Design: April 13 (basekit.com)
• The Week in Design: April 27 (basekit.com)

BaseKit are very excited as the long-awaited Spotify app for the iPad was launched today. Although the app is already available on mobile phones, the iPad version is a lot jazzier. This is hardly surprising as the iPad offers a lot of room to illustrate an impressive display and interface. This is great for displaying album artwork.

The usual function can be found as users are able to browse artists, search for songs, create playlists and interact with friends. The split screen feature means that you can listen to music while pulling information about the artist onto the current display.

The speed and image quality is extremely impressive making it a very slick and enjoyable app to use.

A lot of people will be very happy that the app is finally here as Spotify has over 3 million users across 13 different countries.

What do you think of the new app?

Graphic designer Joe Stone originally created this poster for a bar. He uses different colour filters so that the image can be viewed with3D glasses. Give it a go!

http://joe-stone.co.uk/deadoralive.html

Yuu Zakimi used Adobe Illustrator to design this series of images for ‘The Dark Fantasy’. His inspiration came from an idea he had for a video game. Check out the full collection!

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Pictures-of-a-Dark-Fantasy/3766706

Tassos Papaioannou sketched this illustration for an exhibition he took part in. Taken from the movie ‘Drive’, Tassos has recreated the iconic jacket. We love it!

http://www.onemanshowstudio.com/?portfolio=drive-blogoscars-2012-exhibition

Alaina Jones is behind this artist’s edition of a Crayola box. Space has been left in the design to be coloured in.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Crayola-Artists-Edition/3767038

American artist Gary Taxali is inspired by escapism and Pop-art with his art pieces. His work, titled ‘My Feelings Like You’ is due to exhibition next month.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/whats-on/my-feelings-like-you/3034434.article

Anne Lindberg has created these abstract drawings and installations which are made from graphite and colored thread. We love the finished effect!

http://dribbble.com/shots/533998-Shedcicle?list=popular&offset=33

Designer Ingvard the Terrible has put his own spin on these Kraft products. We like how it manages to be simple yet detailed.

http://dribbble.com/shots/533637-Kraft-Cheese-Mayo?list=popular&offset=106

 Related articles

• The Week in Design: April 20 (basekit.com)
• The Week in Design: April 13 (basekit.com)
• The Week in Design: March 16 (basekit.com)

Go ON UK is a brand new partnership organisation whose goal is to bring the Internet to everybody across the UK.  The big goal is to make the UK the world’s most digitally accessible nation meaning that everybody in the nation can enjoy the extraordinary benefits of being on the Internet.  The founding partners of Go ON UK include BBC, Big Lottery Fund, Lloyds Banking Group and Talk Talk.  The founding partners have pledged to share their expertise and resources to help make this mission possible.  By working across sectors and implementing the practical steps needed, Go ON UK will help give support to those who are at risk of falling behind in the age of digital.

BaseKit’s mission has always been to make creating websites easy and accessible for everybody.  Globally, we currently help 40,000 small businesses a month get online and we’re aware that there are still many small businesses n the UK who are yet to embrace the web.  We are proud to support Go ON UK and hope that one day, everybody will have easy access to the joys of the Internet.

 Attila Galbovy has made this impressive collage using a range of inks. We love all the shapes in this one.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/cold/3702240

Exclusive Books have teamed up with Network BBDO to create a series of posters. Simple yet effective.

http://www.computerarts.co.uk/blog/inspiration-gallery-16-april-123094#gallery-viewport

Cindy Lau has created this piece simply titled ‘Long Yellow Fruit’. We love it!

http://dribbble.com/shots/523947-A-Long-Yellow-Fruit?list=popular&offset=457

We’re having double vision with this graphic from Cranio Dsgn. Can you guess who it is?

http://craniodsgn.es/

Glenn Jones combines plaster effects with harmful tools to create this playful graphic.

http://dribbble.com/shots/524135-Wound-Specific?list=popular&offset=18

http://www.kelliejerrard.com/fedrigoni

Adam Hanson creates this lovely ship in a bottle graphic. The texture really tops this one off.

http://dribbble.com/shots/523500-Ship-in-a-Bottle?list=popular&offset=48

Josh Overton has created an experimental piece to do with perspective. We think this one’s really cool!

http://www.behance.net/OvertonGraphics/frame/495204

Related articles

• The Week in Design: April 13 (basekit.com)
• The Week in Design: March 30 (basekit.com)