BraveNewPipe

Review: FreshBooks online bookkeeping software

Jeffery Battersby — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:30:00 -0800

Getting Clients: Approaching The Company

Peter Smart — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:08:22 -0800

A defining factor in any freelancer or agency’s success in gaining new business is their ability to market their skills effectively. In this three-part series, we will explore ways in which designers can strategically promote themselves to get new clients. Securing new business by approaching companies can be a very challenging process, full of pitfalls. Here, we will look at 10 steps to impressing potential clients and avoiding the most common mistakes.

Step One: Be Focused

A focused approach to work is paramount for success. Freelancers often take on every job opportunity that presents itself. Although this would rapidly expand your showcase of work, more often that not it leaves you over-stretched, with a portfolio of odds and ends instead of specialized results. Focus instead on who you would like to work with. This could be based on a several factors, such as:

Industry
By specializing in a particular industry, such as health care or retail, you build a portfolio of relevant experience. Although this could limit your workload initially, you will be actively working towards identifying yourself as someone with expertise in your chosen field.
Media
Deciding which media and platforms to specialize in is important for any firm or individual. For many, the choice is between specializing in print and digital communication. This distinction will, again, allow you to focus and build relevant knowledge that you can then to offer your clients.
Geographical location
You may also wish to focus your efforts on a particular geographical location. This could be a neighborhood, city or region. By doing so, your advertising in local media can be more personal and targeted, and you ensure easy traveling between you and clients.

Step Two: Be Insightful

Once you have established the kind of organizations you would like to work with, learn how their businesses work. Visit a range of websites in the field and ask yourself some key questions, such as:

Who do they work with?
Knowing who your clients work with will give you an indication of how you can be of service to them. For example, an insurance firm looking to target university students might need to refresh its flyer and leaflet campaign in time for the beginning of term.
What are the company’s ethics?
Most established organizations put a vision statement on their website. This will give you key insight into a company’s values, history, growth and future direction. This information is invaluable because it will help you better understand how the business operates and, thus, how you can tailor your approach to it. For example, if the company has a progressive stance on sustainability and the environment, you could approach them with ideas for paperless advertising and communication.
Does it have an advertising budget?
Although this will not be explicitly stated, by reviewing a business’ prior advertising, you will be able to estimate how much capital it typically invests in design per annum. Again, this allows you to tailor your marketing proposal to its budget.

These kinds of questions will give you important insight into the services that an organization requires and, therefore, what services you can offer.

Step Three: Be Personal

The power of face-to-face contact should not be underestimated. A common temptation for graphic designers is to manage their small empire from behind a desk over the Internet. Although work can be found online, the relationship between client and designer is often fleeting. Build strong links with your clients, which will increase the likelihood of repeat business.

One of the most important skills to learn, then, is face-to-face meetings. Meeting a client face to face forces them to give you their undivided attention. You will be able to convey your passion much more effectively and personally.

Actively seek out opportunities to meet potential clients face to face. Cold-calling or emailing can be a tiring and disheartening experience and may give you limited results. Instead, when approaching a business for the first time, find out the name and contact details of the marketing director, which you can often find on the company’s website. If it’s not there, make a quick phone call to to ask for it.

Before making your first contact with a client, do your research. Familiarize yourself with their business and understand of what they do. When you’re ready to make contact, have a few short sentences prepared that summarize the specific information you wish to communicate. This should include your:

Introduction
Explain who you are and why you are calling. Although this may seem obvious, establishing these facts is crucial to presenting yourself clearly and memorably. This could be as simple as: “Good afternoon. My name is Peter Smart, and I am calling on behalf of Roam Design…”
Hook or pitch
Once you have established who you are, engage your potential client. Mentioning that you specialize in their particular industry and that you offer a range of tailored services is an attractive proposition and good way to begin. Alternatively, you could begin with a hook. A hook is a one-off special offer that makes your services more attractive. This could be offering 50% off the cost of design work in November or a free hour of consultation.
Call to action
Establish the next step your client should take. Offer to meet them and consult in person, at a time and location suitable to them.

Step Four: Be Prepared

Once you have arranged your meeting, research the company more extensively. Make notes on key areas of interest to develop later. For example, you could look at the company’s:

Advertising
The company’s media presence is a good indication of its capacities in communication. Look at where it advertises, how it does it and where it doesn’t advertise. If it does not advertise online, you could present this as a possibility.
Branding
If possible, source a variety of the company’s marketing material. Examine it and note anything you would do differently.
Website
Does the company have a website? If not, this could be a great opportunity to expand its online presence. If it does, look at the structure, content and presentation. Note areas for improvement and, more importantly, why they could be improved.

Having an informed opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of the company’s current marketing and perceived identity allow you to guide it to services that would benefit it. You may also find it helpful to compare its advertising to that of its competitors.

Also, prepare your “elevator pitch,” which is a brief summary of your business, its aims and how it helps clients. Being able to explain what you do concisely demonstrates that your business goals are clear and your approach targeted.

Step Five: Be Unique

Standing out from the crowd is difficult, especially if you are an emerging talent. To stand out, come up with original ideas on how the company can market itself. Suggest options it may not have yet considered, such as viral marketing, Web-based promotion or targeted leafleting, and demonstrate how they would improve business.

Impress the client and exceed its expectations. If you are going to propose a website redesign, take time before your meeting to produce a few drafts of what it could look like. You could present alongside a concise wireframe showing how the information could be better presented. Alternatively, if you will be proposing to refresh the company’s branding and identity, bring some visual stimuli to support your argument. Don’t present a whole new identity, but rather suggest colors, layouts, typefaces and advertising formats that could guide the conversation.

The client will want evidence of your skill to deliver on your ideas, so bring your portfolio along to impress them, along with references and endorsements from previous clients.

Step Six: Be Professional

Your first meeting with the potential client is of paramount importance because it will determine whether you gain their business. To make a good impression, be meticulous in your preparation. Research and plan you presentation well so that you are confident in your delivery and can support your proposals with facts. This means you should have a firm grasp of the figures and costs associated with your proposal.

For example, if you will be proposing an inner-city billboard and bus-stop marketing campaign, know the costs involved in producing large-format printing and renting advertising space. Find out the number of people who will see the advertisements daily. This will give the client a balanced appreciation of both the outlay and the benefits of your proposal.

Equally important is your appearance. Invest in a suit or smart business-wear. This will impress upon them that you are serious about what you do, which will make them take you seriously, too.

Step Seven: Be Attentive

Listen to the client. This step is often missed by designers who are overly keen to explain their innovative ideas.

Listening is a powerful tool. It shows you truly care about what the client has to say. Take notes on any information they offer about the company, its plans and immediate requirements.

Step Eight: Be Resourceful

Every meeting with a client is an opportunity and should not be taken lightly. Approach meetings resourcefully and demonstrate your professionalism. You could even prepare a package of materials to leave with them, including:

Business card
Always have a business card on hand. It should have your name, contact details and, ideally, a website where they can see samples of your work.
Samples of work
You might also want to leave a mini-printed portfolio of some of your best and most relevant work. Even if you don’t win that particular project, your details and experience will be in their file for future reference.
Curriculum Vitae
A CV is a useful record of relevant work experience and is a good place to list your previous clients and technical competencies.

Remember, the decision about which freelancer to hire may not rest with one person in the organization. By adhering to this simple step, you allow others who are involved in the process to see your work at their convenience, making your application even stronger.

Step Nine: Be Committed

If you do not hear from the client immediately, don’t panic or give up hope. Wait a few days, and then send a polite email, thanking them for their time. In the email, reiterate in brief your proposal and mention how you would love to work with them. Then wait. If you receive no response within three weeks of your meeting, you may wan to re-inquire by telephone. Chances are, they have not forgotten about you; moreover, your call will demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment.

Step Ten: Evaluate

Whether or not your meeting was successful, you can learn something from it. Evaluate your performance, what you did well and, importantly, what you could improve. Learn from your mistakes, and rectify them for your next venture. Your ability to do this plays a vital role in your future success.

Conclusion

These are just ten of the key steps to consider when approaching a company. Remember: be bold, be proactive and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Every person has their own methods of finding work, but learning these steps could be the difference between realizing a dream and settling for second best.

The following articles may be of interest:

How To Find Time For… Everything!
A useful article on time management and structure.
Creating a Successful Online Portfolio
Advice on how to create an impressive Web presence.
20 Time-Saving Tips to Improve Designer’s Workflow
Some tips on how to increase productivity and speed up common design tasks.

(al)

JavaScript getting faster, could displace Flash

Paul Krill — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:45:00 -0800

MacHeist offers six Mac apps for free

Jeff Porten — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:22:00 -0800

Upgrade the Mac mini in six minutes

Dan Frakes — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:17:00 -0800

Isolation

(author unknown) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:57:21 -0800

You probably experience this on a regular basis: a client sends you an illustration or a logo they'd like to use in a project, but it's a low-res bitmap or a flat image file with a background texture. Or both, if you're really lucky. Sure, you can try and ask for a vector version, but more often than not what they originally sent was the best copy they had on hand.

I seem to have made something of a hobby out of trying to coax useful results out of this type of file. Over the years I've stumbled across far better ways of doing it than manually clipping the background with the the magic wand or various selection tools.

For the next time you're handed a less-than-ideal source image, here are a few of my tricks for isolating the part of the file I want to work with in Photoshop.

I'll use this Firefox promo image as an example. Yeah, I know I can find a vector version of this particular logo online, but it makes for a fairly good demo thanks to the complexity of the background.

Let's start with the text. A single, flat colour ends up being fairly easy to extract. The first step is using the Hue/Saturation sliders [Ctrl / Cmd + U] to drop the saturation all the way down to a value of -100:

Then trim away the surrounding pixels to focus on the area you want:

Next use the levels sliders [Ctrl / Cmd + L] to increase the contrast on either side so that the background is black and the text is white. The trick is doing it in a way that doesn't completely kill the anti-aliasing between the text and the background, while at the same time making sure the foreground/background colours are pure black and white. You don't want stray pixels on either side, otherwise nasty things will happen later on when you try using your results. If you just can't find a balance, use the brush tool to fill in the strays manually.

The best results come from images where the text is clearly a different shade than the background behind it. In this case it is, so I'm able to get a reasonably high-contrast result:

At this point you have two choices. If you don't need the ability to change the colour of the text or apply layer effects, you can stop now and set the layer's blending mode to Screen or invert it (Ctrl / Cmd + I) and set the mode to Multiply. With the either of those blend modes you should be able to place this high-contrast layer over top of a background and it'll be treated as isolated text. The key being placing it on top of non-transparent background; if there are no pixels beneath for the layer to blend with, you won't be able to save it out the same way it renders in Photoshop.

For that extra control you need to take it further. By holding down Ctrl / Cmd and clicking on the image's layer in the Layers palette you can select just the outline; copy that to the clipboard, open the Channels palette, create a new Channel, and then paste the clipboard into that channel. If you've done it right it should look something like this:

Figure: Ctrl/Cmd + clicking on the channel produces selection marching ants in the preview. You can't see the animation, but they're there.

The same way you selected the outline of the image in the Layers palette, you can Ctrl / Cmd + click in the Channels palette and the selection will change to just the border between the background and foreground. If you switch back to the Layers palette and create a new Solid Color fill layer:

The text now sits on an isolated layer that allows you to easily change the colour, apply layer effects, etc.

The icon is more complicated. We've got a strong orange foreground, but the globe and the background share some tones so extracting is going to be trickier. This is a fairly common scenario in the wild, but the good news is that it's still doable in most cases.

Let's be a little more selective about what we're trying extract this time. Start by focusing on the orange fox for now, we'll come back for the globe. The Select > Color Range tool allows you to click an area and select all colours similar to that selection point, and the Fuzziness slider controls how loosely or tightly the selection matches that colour. Selecting the blue area instead of the orange produces a much higher-contrast outline of the orange area:

Once you hit okay you're left with marching ants. The selection isn't useful yet, so back to the Channels palette we go. Create a new alpha channel and fill the selection with white:

Now you can just pull up the Levels palette and, with the same high-contrast result in mind as the previous text example, adjust the levels until the fox is pure black and the background is as pure white as you can make it:

If you hit Ctrl / Cmd + click on the channel then head back to the Layers palette and select the original, you can click the Add Layer Mask button in the bottom of the palette and have the selection mask the image to just the orange areas we've managed to extract:

If you end up with too many fringe pixels from the background, you can hit Ctrl / Cmd + select the mask again, and use the Select > Modify > Contract tool to decrease the selection 1px on all sides. Invert this smaller selection with Ctrl / Cmd + Shift + I, then select and fill with black the layer mask to apply it. This will eat up a one pixel outline around the object, which should take care of the fringe without tossing out too much image data. Though it does depend on the size of the source image.

We now want to add the globe back in, so duplicate the layer and remove the mask to show the original image again. Manually trace the outline of the globe with the circular marquee tool, select the masked layer and fill that selection with white within the mask. And there we go, an isolated version of the Firefox icon that you can manipulate as you please:

Extraction this way seems like a lot of work, but once you get the hang of it you'll find it's fairly quick work to go from a source image to something usable.

For relatively simple jobs like the text, the process is straightforward and can be done in a couple of seconds. For more complicated extraction as in the case of the icon, creative alpha masking combined with a bit of manual tweaking will usually get the job done.

(And I don't have to remind you to always use this for good and never for evil, do I?)

Jitouch adds new gestures to Multi-Touch trackpads

Dan Frakes — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:30:00 -0800

Invoice Like A Pro: Examples and Best Practices

Kat Neville — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:25:29 -0800

Your invoice should be prim and proper, so that you can get paid by your clients efficiently. While invoicing is not a fun task, it’s a necessary one: by keeping clients informed of your expectations, you will get paid punctually and reinforce your professionalism. After going over some best practices for creating invoices, we’ll review some great (and not so great) online invoicing tools, so that you can spend less time creating invoices and more time doing the things you love!

So here are some general guidelines, best practices and examples that will help you make sure your invoices are up to spec.

1. Their Details and Yours

This is Mickey Mouse stuff, but you can’t afford to forget it. In addition to the client’s address, make sure to include the name of the client’s contact person who handles your account! A company with three employees can figure out what you’re doing; but in big companies, invoices get misplaced, especially if there’s confusion over who belongs to which project.

You’ll also need your company name, your name, address, telephone number and email address. If they have any questions about the charges, contacting you should be as easy as possible.

Design by Nancy Roy Creative | Full view

2. Itemized List of Services

People want to know what they’ve paid for. Most people will not pay for something described merely as “Design.” Tell them exactly what they have received: e.g. “Design of three-page static website for Sporting Goods Department.” Be as specific as possible. In five years, would both you and the client know what you meant by your description? Also, specify whether the charge is project-based or hourly.

Design by Hicks Design | Full view

3. Include Your Terms

When do you expect the client to pay you? What happens if they miss the deadline? To be able to send follow-up or overdue notices or to charge interest, you need a rock-solid paper trail that no one can argue with.

Design by Francisco Inchauste | Full view

4. Let Them Know How to Pay You

Do you want a cheque mailed to you, a money transfer, flowers? Be explicitly clear about what you expect and in what form. It is usually best to discuss with the client beforehand their preferred method or to come to an agreement about a method you both like.

If you want a money transfer, provide all the necessary information. Foreign transfers need more than your account number: in some countries, you need your International Bank Account Number (IBAN) or a Bank Identifier Code (BIC). International transfers also double-charge you: the client’s bank might charge you $20, and your own bank might charge you another $15 to accept the payment. Make it clear which of you will absorb these charges, and talk it it out with them. PayPal is another option, but you still get charged a percentage of the transaction.

Design by Epic Web Agency | Full view

5. Numbers and Numbers and Records and Books

Referring to “invoice #9048,” rather than “That invoice I sent you last month, I think on a Tuesday,” is much easier to track for both you and your client.

Assign numbers to your invoices systematically, consistently and chronologically. Some people number their invoices by year (for example, 2009043 would be the 43rd invoice of 2009). You could also specify a code for the project. For example, BRAINEOS06 would be the 6th invoice for the braineos project that you’re currently working on. Having an invoice and project numbering system keeps everything in line.

Design by Graeme Duckett | Full view

6. Thank Them, and Ask Them to Thank You

Money is often a touchy subject, so politeness about it is a good idea. Your clients are paying you money that they’ve earned with blood, sweat and tears, so let them know you appreciate it. You should also invite them to contact you if they have any questions and, more importantly, make it clear that you appreciate their present (and future) business.

Some people also welcome testimonials; for example, by adding, “Let us know how we did. Write a testimonial: info@example.com.” If you’re building your website’s testimonials page or want to complete the feedback loop, this is a great way to get clients to give feedback on your work. If they have suggestions for making the process smoother, it’s also a great opportunity for you to improve.

Design by BGG Design Studio | Full view

7. Don’t Forget: You’re a Designer

Imagine this, you’re at an expensive restaurant. Every detail is perfect: the food was fantastic, the service excellent and the atmosphere rich and plush. Then, you receive the bill, which is printed on cheap paper with low-quality ink. What would you remember about this experience?

Most people spend hours on their website design, business cards and resumes but then use a template for their invoice. The invoice is your last contact with your client, and it should share the attention to detail, branding and style of your other elements. By creating a beautiful, clear invoice, you are saying that you care about the little details.

Most importantly, make sure you have all the necessary information. Make sure there are no spelling mistakes and that your spacing is consistent. Customize your invoice as much as you can. Your logo is a must, but colors and a style that match your other branding items will make it a joy to pay (well, as much as is possible).

A vintage UK design from the year 1936. In some situations it may be worth considering sending a nice vintage design to your customer. Source.

The invoice is a boring document, and one often neglected. Andy Clarke from Stuff and Nonsense has had “fix up my invoice” on his to-do list for 10 years. This was a fairly typical response from many I had asked!

Jon Hicks lamented that, “The problem is that a lot of tools for invoicing make it quite hard to customize the template. I use Billings, which is a great app, but doing basic things like getting elements to line up require a pound of flesh!”

Further Invoice Design Examples

Whether you’re using invoice software or designing your invoice from scratch, creating a beautiful invoice is possible. Here are a few examples.

Design by Chase (holdsnowater) | Full view

Design by Cameron McEfee | Full view

Design by Thomas Maxson | Full view

Design by Microspective | Full view

Design by Julie Fitzgerald | Full view

Design by Stereotypes | Full view

Design by Veerle Pieters for Devia | Full view

Design by Ole Martin Buene | Full view

Design by Impulse Studios | Full view

Design by Sugar Rush Creative | Full view

Design by Yummygum | Full view

Online Invoicing Roundup

Designing and tracking invoices yourself is a lot of work. A lot of online invoicing applications would save you much time and keep you organized (especially designers like me, who would lose their head if they forgot to attach one!). Hundred of online services are out there. Here, I’ll review seven apps based on their ease of first time use, cost, customizability of the templates, usability and more.

Quickbooks Online

Cost?
From free to $34.95 per month.
Free option?
Yes, for up to 20 customers. And a free trial is available.
Customized invoice design?

Changing the logo is a convoluted process (I ended up using Help, which detailed a six-step process to get to it), and the logo ends up only 1 square-inch. You can choose between about 13 different templates, but I didn’t like any of them. You can change the font and size of various elements (such as the title), which was nice, but the placement of some of the items left a lot to be desired.
Time to create a customized invoice?
The first time, I gave up in frustration. It wouldn’t let me set up a UK address, so I set up a hypothetical business, an option it allowed. The second time I pretended to have a business in Beverly Hills 90210 and managed to get in. It still took me about 20 minutes to get it together, having discarded my saved invoice a few times after trying to customize it.
Usability?

The landing page is okay, but the app itself is a bit crowded and disorganized. It tries to show you where quick start items are, but I felt lost. It is inconsistent too: some pages have an ugly brown header, while others had a newer design.
Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/Yes. It shows a list of overdue invoices, and an automated email service has just launched.
Other accounting features?
You can track everything, I’m sure, but could I find anything? Would I even want to now?

Other pros?
It’s probably easy for people who are familiar with QuickBooks, because you can import existing books. It seems to solve every conceivable problem, so if you have very particular needs, this might be best for you.

Other cons?
This application immediately made me angry and frustrated. It also can’t be used on Firefox on the Mac (but does work with Safari) or in any country outside the US.

Simplify This

Cost?
From $9 to $29 per month.
Free option?
Free trial.
Customized invoice design?

You can add a logo, but I couldn’t find any options for changing color or layout or even find a preview.
Time to create a customized invoice?
I gave up after 25 minutes.
Usability?

The logo is okay, but the spacing isn’t super-clean or consistent, and I was confused by which items were associated with which accounts and how to actually generate an invoice.
Recurring payments/track late payments?
Undetermined/Undetermined.
Other accounting features?
Undetermined.

Other pros?
It offers a lot of interaction: e.g. each item gives you a pull-down menu, where you can edit and set as “Contacted,” “Lost” and “Change to customer,” but I’m unsure what any of these are for.

Other cons?
Maybe I’m not very good at this, but I couldn’t figure out how to do anything. It shows a “How to” page before the interface; but, of course, I didn’t read it, and then couldn’t figure out how to get back.

Curdbee

Cost?
Free, or upgrade for $5 per month.
Free option?
Substantial amount of features for free.
Customized invoice design?

You can add your own logo and change the header color. The design is decent but very limited.
Time to create a customized invoice?
Five minutes.
Usability?

Quite well designed and easy to use. A few things required extra clicks, but it never lost me.
Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/Turns red, but is not actionable.
Other accounting features?
None.

Other pros?
I was pleasantly surprised by this little app. It creates a decent invoice and does it simply. It also has strong integrations with PayPal and Google Checkout to make payments even easier! And upgrading is inexpensive.

Other cons?
You get PDF functionality only with the upgrade; but at only $5 per month, it is definitely affordable!

Freshbooks

Cost?
From free to $149 per month.
Free option?
Yes, a substantial number of features for few clients.
Customized invoice design?

Limited. You can add your logo and choose between two plain design options, which look a bit like Microsoft Word templates.
Time to create a customized invoice?
Five minutes.
Usability?

Nice and clean. You can also partly customize the colors and replace the logo with your own. Easy to navigate.
Recurring payments/track late payments?
Yes/Yes (can be automatically sent by email.
Other accounting features?
You can track expenses and create reports.

Other pros?
It has great, brief explanations for new users. You can customize the whole application to match your brand and specify permissions on tabs for clients and employees. Seems to scale well for big businesses. It also integrates 10 popular payment gateways.

Other cons?
I couldn’t figure out how to change my currency for individual clients. I might have missed it, but it wasn’t immediately obvious to me.

Less Accounting

Cost?
From free to $24 per month.
Free option?
Yes, it has some invoice and reporting features for free, and a trial offer.
Customized invoice design?

You must create a template to make an invoice. You can add a logo, choose between three different layouts and change the colors.
Time to create a customized invoice?
Five to ten minutes.
Usability?

Simple and easy to use. Awkward placement of some elements, such as the permanent bar at the bottom, but you get used to it after 10 minutes.
Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/Not yet.
Other accounting features?
Yes, you can track your business expenses here.

Other pros?
Getting started is easy because things behave as you would expect. It also integrates with 37 Signals’ management tools, FreshBooks and more.

Other cons?
When I wanted to create my first invoice, a template wasn’t available, so I created one, but upon returning, I found all of the information I’d entered so far for that invoice was gone! I hate re-entering data in forms (even if only for a minute).

Free Agent

Cost?
$20 per month, with discounts for yearly subscription and referrals.
Free option?
Free trial, but won’t let you do much until you register your bank account.
Customized invoice design?

You can add your own logo and choose between seven attractive templates. You can’t change the color, but I found a template I was happy with.
Time to create a customized invoice?
Took at least 10 minutes; I couldn’t figure out how to get back into it because it required my bank details.
Usability?

Well designed and easy to use. Once I got around bank account entry problem, it was great.
Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/It shows a list of overdue invoices, and an automated email service is currently in development.
Other accounting features?
You can track all business expenses and do your business accounting.

Other pros?
Clear navigation and plenty of explanation for first-time users, with pull-down help bars in case you need them. You can also upload bank statements to track your invoices and expenses against your bank account. And you can customize the front page’s appearance.

Other cons?
Because I was just testing this app, I didn’t want to enter my bank account details. It’s a great feature, but for those who don’t need it or just want to play around, it’s annoying.

Invotrak

Cost?
Four options, from free to $45 per month.
Free option?
Yes, but you can’t add a logo, and only 2 invoices, and two clients per month.
Customized invoice design?

They have the option to add a logo if you’re upgraded and the choice between 5 different template styles. They are very plain though, and non-customizable. I personally don’t like them at all!
Time to create a customized invoice?
Five minutes.
Usability?

It’s okay. Most things are easy enough to figure out, but they seem to have some weird ways of getting to where you want to go. Not a bad experience but not exactly drool worthy.
Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
No/Not that I can see. It turns the line red if it’s overdue, but there’s no actionable things here.
Other accounting features?
It has a punch-in system for tracking time.

Other pros
They make an effort to add helper text along the way, but I didn’t notice it until 15 minutes in.

Other cons
It doesn’t auto number the invoices, so you have to remember what the last invoice number you gave a project.

Blinksale

Cost?
From $6 to $24 per month.
Free option?
A 30-day trial is available ~~(a credit card is necessary)~~.
Customized invoice design?

Nice templates, but you can also create your own CSS-based version! Yay!
Time to create a customized invoice?
Five minutes.
Usability?

Very nice and easy to use.
Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/Yes. It has a customizable email message for overdue notices. You can view all of your overdue invoices in one place and send each with one click. You also get history of when you sent your reminders.
Other accounting features?
You can receive Blinksale invoices from other companies you purchase from.

Other pros
A lot of explanation for new users, and the input fields show examples of data, making it easy to see what to do next. It integrates with Basecamp and PayPal. And sent invoices can be linked to your client’s own Blinksale account.

Other cons
You can’t test this application without submitting your credit card details, even for the free trial. You also can’t create PDFs on the “Bronze” plan (the ideal plan for part-time freelancers). Finally, it doesn’t automate the numbering of your invoice IDs (although it tells you your last one).

You may be interested in the following related posts:

(al)

Steve Jobs disliked ‘iMac,’ had an appalling alternative

Jeff Porten — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:40:00 -0800

Mockingbird — Web-Based Wireframe App

John Gruber — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:44:03 -0800

Interesting new wireframe tool. It’s a true web app (no Flash), written in Cappuccino. (Via Justin Williams.)

★

Flickr betters its apps, developer showcase

(author unknown) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:15:00 -0800

The Price Is Wrong: 13 Overpriced iPhone Apps

Brian X. Chen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:06:00 -0800

October 2009 browser stats: Firefox finally passes IE6

emil.protalinski@arstechnica.com (Emil Protalinski) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:18:56 -0800

Touch-screen phone use soars, iPhone on top

(author unknown) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:39:00 -0800

The Original ThinkPad

Dan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:00:09 -0800

This is the notebook that created the brand known the world wide as “ThinkPad.” This booklet was given to everyone at IBM in the late 80’s and early 90’s to make sure an idea or though was never lost.

A neat (non technical) portion of computer history.

You win some, you lose some: a review of Apple's Magic Mouse

eric@arstechnica.com (Eric Bangeman) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:40:00 -0800

The Ails Of Typographic Anti-Aliasing

Thomas Giannattasio — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:12:13 -0800

As printed typography enjoys the fruits of high-DPI glory, proudly displaying its beautiful curves and subtleties, its on-screen counterpart remains stifled by bulky pixels, living in a world of jagged edges, distorted letterforms and trimmed serifs. Until display manufacturers produce affordable 200 or 300 PPI monitors, we’ll have to rely on software advances to fix these problems.

Enter anti-aliasing: the next best thing to a world of higher-resolution monitors. The concept of anti-aliasing is fairly simple: add semi-transparent pixels along the edges of letterforms to smooth the appearance of the “stair-step” effect.

However, many factors and technologies determine the actual effectiveness of the process: hinting, subpixel rendering, software capabilities and operating system specifications, to name a few. Here, we’ll look at what you as a designer can do to improve the results of anti-aliasing with Photoshop, Flash and CSS. Plus, we’ll explain the constraints of hardware, browsers and operating systems.

Technologies

Aliased vs. Anti-Aliased

It takes only a quick glance to realize that anti-aliasing is extremely important to making text legible. With few exceptions, anti-aliased text can dramatically reduce eye strain, not to mention that it renders glyphs much closer to their intended design. Because of this, designers must decide how, not if, anti-aliasing should be used. This decision is based on a number of factors that one has to consider in the process from design to delivery.

42pt “Goudy Oldstyle Bold”: aliased and anti-aliased versions

Font Hinting

Most text rendering engines rely heavily on hinting to determine exactly which areas of a glyph should be smoothed. Font hinting, or instructing, uses tables of mathematical instructions to align letterforms to the pixel grid and to determine which pixels should be grayscaled. Though most software provides auto-hinting using standardized algorithms, ideally the process would be done manually by the type designer and embedded in the file.

Put simply, these instructions work by modifying the position of structurally important points, such as those found along splines or at the base of stems, and aligning them at pixel boundaries. Intermediate points are then repositioned based on their relationship to the primary points. Using an open-source font editor, such as FontForge, allows you to view and edit a font’s hinting information. See how much work goes into producing a clear glyph; your appreciation of type designers and font engineers will certainly increase.

Hinted and unhinted type both have their pros and cons, leaving the designer to choose between legibility and typeface integrity.

Viewing the hints for Goudy Oldstyle’s “H” using FontForge.

Subpixel Rendering

Every pixel on a standard monitor consists of three components: a red, a green and a blue. The brightness of each of these sub-pixels is controlled independently, and because of their small size, our eyes blend the three into one solid-colored pixel. Typical anti-aliasing sets even values for each of these subpixels, resulting in full grayscale pixels. Subpixel rendering exploits the individuality of each single-colored component and uses it to increase the perceived resolution of the monitor. This allows a pixel to take on visual weight from neighboring pixels, thereby allowing type to be smoothed in smaller increments. Rendering the type in this manner can produce subtle color shifts visible along the edges of glyphs.

Subpixel rendering relies on a perfectly aligned grid of pixels, which makes LCD flat panels the only type of monitor on which this technique works consistently. CRT monitors suffer from inaccuracies and oddly distributed pixels, making subpixel rendering extremely difficult to pull off. Even LCD monitors have variations in their subpixel arrangement that must be accounted for; some monitors are arranged in the order of RGB, while others are ordered BGR.

Subpixel rendering triples the perceived resolution by setting each color component separately.

Subpixel rendering produces more desireable results than standard rendering, but adopts color fringes.

Input

As designers and developers, we have limited control over how type is ultimately seen by the end user, but by using the proper delivery method, we can ensure an optimized presentation. That said, we’ll look here at the three most common ways in which text is sent to the user: HTML, images and sIFR. Each of these methods has an ideal use that, when properly implemented, can dramatically increase legibility and thus the overall user experience.

HTML Text

HTML text undoubtedly accounts for the majority of text found on the Web. Until recently, designers had absolutely no control over anti-aliasing with client-side technologies. CSS 3 introduces two new ways to control how HTML text is delivered: font-smooth and @font-face.

font-smooth
Font-smooth allows you to control when smoothing is used but not how it’s used; the anti-aliasing method is still controlled by the user’s environment. This setting is not widely supported yet but may prove useful by allowing us to turn anti-aliasing off at small point sizes — where type often becomes blurry. It may become doubly useful when more complex and non-browser-safe fonts are embedded with the new @font-face rule.

@font-face
The @font-face rule is an exciting new feature of CSS 3 that designers have been waiting years for. Although we’ve been able to add obscure typefaces to font stacks for quite some time, a large majority of users don’t have high-end fonts on their local machines and end up with a typical Web-safe font (e.g. Times New Roman substituted for Adobe Garamond Pro). By allowing the browser to import a font file from a URL, we can now serve the user any font we’d like without relying on their font library. This means that we can serve not only more unique fonts but also those that are better hinted and more legible.

Despite the promise this feature holds to create a more beautiful world of online typography, we may still see designers opt for fonts like Verdana, which have been designed and hinted specifically for on-screen viewing. Some of our favorite fonts from the print world just look bad when rendered on the screen, especially at smaller text sizes. Surely we’ll see new industry segments arise as a result of the support of @font-face, including an influx of browser-hinted typefaces made available through services such as typekit.

Bickham Script Pro embedded using @font-face and rendered in Safari 4 and Firefox 3. Notice the OpenType swashes and ligatures supported in Firefox 3!

Text as Image

Serving text as an image may have limited uses, but it allows you to fine-tune every letter if necessary. Photoshop provides five pre-set anti-alias settings, which determine pixel values using different algorithms in conjunction with the document’s pixel grid. Unfortunately, none of these settings allow for subpixel rendering, but by using the Free Transform option to nudge the layer’s position, you can effectively force the algorithms into rendering cleaner. Each setting allows a different amount of origins, and some only produce variations when translated along the x-axis. Below is a table of available transformations.

None

Aliased text, created using the None setting, has a very limited use and typically looks best between point sizes of 9 and 18. Sizes lower than this range will result in unidentifiable characters, and larger sizes will lead to increased character weight and overly jagged edges. Depending on the font, sometimes two different point sizes will render at the same height, causing a shift in letter spacing, width and x-height. For example, 14pt Arial renders 10 pixels high with an x-height of 8 pixels. Arial at 13pts also sits 10 pixels high but has an x-height of only 7 pixels — a slight but very perceivable difference. When tightly tracked, this setting may also require manual kerning, because some letters will sit pixel to pixel against each other.

13pt and 14pt Arial render with the same cap height but different x-heights.

Sharp

The Sharp setting uses very tight grid-fitting and produces sharp, if not too sharp, type. The plotting of pixels with this setting is very similar to how the None setting plots them but allows for a certain degree of smoothing. In fact, if pixels are set atop one another, you can actually see that a majority of solid pixels carry over from None to Sharp. While the cap height and x-height typically remain the same, you might see an increase in character weight and width. Sharp has a tendency to completely cut subtle shape variations from rendering and sometimes causes inconsistent letterforms, so if typeface integrity is important to you, you may want to try a different setting.

Crisp

The Crisp setting maintains much of the font’s original weight and curvature but cleans up some of the awkward pixels created by light serifs and thin strokes — which is especially useful for larger point sizes. With the Crisp setting, however, you sacrifice the ability to nudge the layer on the y-axis.

Strong

The Strong setting is notorious for adding unnecessary weight to a typeface, but it provides the most freedom with translating the origin, with 32 x-axis variations and 16 on the y-axis. The variety of origins with this setting can come in very handy when working with complex letterforms. Strong may also be useful when working with a typeface that has very thin strokes.

Subtle animation showing the 32 anti-aliasing origins at 36pt, 18pt and 12pt.

Smooth

The Smooth setting is the closest to unhinted anti-aliasing and therefore remains truest to the original glyph shape. This algorithm is best used on medium-sized to large type, because it tends to render very light and often blurry at smaller point sizes. If used with an appropriate typeface at a proper size and if the origin is properly adjusted, this setting can produce a beautiful balance between crispness and letterform fidelity.

Shape Layer
If Photoshop’s hinted algorithms all produce undesirable results, you may want to attempt using unhinted anti-aliasing by way of converting the type to a shape layer. This allows you access to the original outlines of the font, which draw values based on the percentage of the pixel enclosed in the shape. What you sacrifice in editable type, you make up for in origin transformations: 32 on both the x- and y-axes. Though usually a last resort, don’t rule out the possibility of using a Shape Layer; it can often produce much better results than Photoshop’s algorithms.

Fractional Widths
Another, more veiled, setting that sometimes helps with anti-aliasing type at small point sizes is the Fractional Widths option located in the Character palette’s fly-out menu. With this setting turned on, the character spacing is set to varying fractions of pixels. This is ideal for auto-kerned type at large sizes but tends to bump the type either too close together or too far apart at smaller sizes. Turning this option off will round all character spacing to whole pixel values, which may help better space the problematic type. This is a hit-or-miss option, so use it wisely.

Decimal Point Sizes
Typophiles might cringe at the idea of using a decimal point size, but when designing for digital media, standard point sizes don’t always conform to the pixel grid. By using decimal point sizes and either the Smooth or Strong anti-alias setting, you can usually bring a blurry typeface back into focus. Please note that I am not condoning the use of vertical or horizontal scale!

Using decimal values can dramatically improve anti-aliasing results, as seen above. Top: 16pt Goudy Oldstyle with Strong Anti-Aliasing. Bottom: 16.5pt Goudy Oldstyle with Strong Anti-Aliasing.

sIFR Text

Using sIFR to replace headers with a block of Flash brings benefits beyond the obvious. Yes, it solves the problem of having to use CSS image replacement techniques to provide a wider array of fonts, but it also allows incredible control over how the type is anti-aliased. Particularly useful are the sharpness and thickness settings, which control the edges of glyphs. (If only Photoshop had these settings!) You can set and tweak a number of settings to fit your implementation; and they can be controlled by passing keyword arguments inside the sifr-config.js file. These settings include:

sharpness (number): A value between -400 and 400, which determines how sharp (positive number) or soft (negative number) the edges of the glyphs will be.
thickness (number): A value between -200 and 200, which sets the thickness of the glyph edges.
gridFitType (string): Possible values are: “none,” “pixel” and “subpixel.” This specifies how prominently the horizontal and vertical lines are fit to the monitor’s pixel grid. “Pixel” and “subpixel” usually produce the best results.
antiAliasType (string): This is set by default to “advanced,” which allows the anti-alias settings above to be applied. It can also be set to “normal,” but this option limits sIFR’s rendering capabilites to accommodate earlier versions of Flash Player and overrides any of the properties above.

sIFR allows you to precisely customize your anti-alias settings. Notice that the custom setting is slightly thinner and crisper.

Output

Displays

Because very few people have monitors with resolutions higher than 100 pixels per inch (PPI), we have to rely on software to trick our eyes into thinking that the resolution is greater than it really is. Some advances are being made by display manufacturers, but they are still beyond the average Web surfer’s budget.

A typical LCD monitor (which you’re probably reading this on) has a dot pitch of around .20 or .30 millimeters. New technologies, such as the Ferro Liquid Crystal display are touted to reduce that number to .012 millimeters. Bringing this technology to the mainstream would bring tremendous advantages to the world of design and on-screen reading. However, until they become affordable for the average consumer, we’ll be relying on software advances.

Operating System

Microsoft and Apple have both delivered technological advances in the world of anti-aliasing, but they have somewhat different approaches. The current versions of both operating systems use anti-aliasing and subpixel rendering. Both vendors have dramatically increased legibility within their operating systems, but controversy has arisen over the aesthetics and legibilty of each. Microsoft’s entry in the competition — which is characterized by tight grid-fitting — is aptly named ClearType. By forcing characters tightly into the pixel grid, ClearType increases contrast along the edges of glyphs and renders more crisply.

Distinctly different is Apple’s Quartz 2D, which puts emphasis on maintaining the shape and integrity of the typeface. This certainly makes sense, given the high proportion of designers who work on Macs. But Quartz rendered type often appears blurry, which can cause eye strain with extended reading.

Windows Vista and Window XP both use Microsoft’s ClearType rendered either by Windows Presentation Foundation or Graphics Device Interface; both handle text in a very similar fashion, though WPF doesn’t snap horizontally to the pixel grid. Windows XP actually comes defaulted to monochromatic anti-aliasing.

But ClearType can be turned on by going to Control Panel → Appearance and Themes → Display, clicking on the “Appearance” tab, selecting “Effects…” and changing the drop-down from “Standard” to “ClearType.” The operating system itself allows for very little customization of ClearType; you basically choose between on and off. Microsoft’s ClearType Tuner PowerToy, though, allows some control over how it renders. Windows 7 brings a new rendering platform, named DirectWrite, that introduces subpixel positioning and y-direction anti-aliasing. As seen in this presentation, the advances made with DirectWrite are quite impressive and sure to be adopted by other vendors.

Apple’s Quartz 2D now renders type using Core Text, which has recently replaced Apple Type Services. The Quartz 2D displays type much closer to the typeface’s original design, which is similar to how you might expect to see it in print form. While this seems like a good idea from a design perspective, it doesn’t hold up with legibility, at least not on common LCD screens. Quartz text could conceivably appear much better if we were using higher-resolution monitors. Because Apple has complete control over both the operating system and the hardware that it runs on, perhaps a 200 PPI iMac is just around the corner. We can hope!

Browsers

The most current browsers today all inherit the anti-alias settings of the operating system. But with one anomaly. Firefox 3 in Mac OS X seems to inherit the operating system’s settings but also seems to apply more precise grid-fitting and kerning. Perhaps Mozilla is attempting to improve on Quartz’s blurry rendering.

Unfortunately, we have no way to control or even tell how the user’s browser will render text. What we can do is understand the nuances of each browser and make sure that we deliver a suitable presentation across all viewing platforms. Below is a list of browser capabilites and type samples to help you gain some insight into how they handle anti-aliasing.

Windows XP and Vista:

IE6, IE7 and IE8:
Firefox 2 and 3:
Safari 4:
Chrome:

Mac:

Firefox 2 in OS X:
Firefox 3 in OS X (inherits from operating system but with slightly enhanced kerning — most noticeable in the word “Georgia”):
Safari 4 in OS X:
Opera:

Conclusion

Though many advances have been made in rendering on-screen typography, most have been aimed at treating the symptoms and not the disease. Until everyone has a 200 PPI monitor sitting on their desk, it will be up to designers and developers to use the proper technologies to ensure legibility without degrading the design of the typeface.

Offline Inspiration: How To Find It and Get The Most Out Of It

Kayla Knight — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:15:09 -0700

Inspiration is vital for any designer. This is why so many CSS galleries, design galleries and artistic showcases are floating around on the Web. Designers use these at certain times for a quick fix of inspiration, especially when the pressure of deadlines prevent them from seeking out offline, or “alternative,” forms of inspiration, as important as they are.

No designer should ever feel that taking time to find true inspiration is time wasted. This article explores offline sources of inspiration and discusses how they can be treated as a part of the design process. Furthermore, we’ll look into a few methods of deriving this inspiration, so it becomes an active part of creativity and be done more effectively.

Also consider our previous articles:

Expand Your Development Skills With Creative Tech Projects
This article will help you discover new new development skills with some creative projects.
Drawing Inspiration From Music
A look at how designers can take an alternative approach and find inspiration through music.
If Famous Graphic Artists Were Web Designers…
A smart collection of examples of how other designers have turned traditional art into their practice.

1. Stop The Quick Fix Of Online Inspiration

The first step to getting into the habit of finding offline, or “natural,” inspiration is to stop looking at online inspiration in the first place. For many designers, online is the first place to look. It shouldn’t be.

The problem with showcases and galleries is that most of us tend to copy bits and pieces of them, thus creating a mish-mash of everything we’ve seen. This isn’t how design, or any creative field, should work. While graphic and Web designers are different from traditional artists, we should treat the creative “back end” any different. After all, we got into this field to be creative and express our artistic talents, so why don’t we?

Online Inspiration Isn’t Bad

Before delving any deeper, let’s get one thing straight: the point of this article is not to say that online inspiration isn’t unproductive in any way. In fact, it is quite a good thing and can very well produce the intended effect.

The unproductive part is when designers turn to it as their sole channel of inspiration. Showcases and galleries, rather, serve best as examples of best practices and ideas. Our designs should stem instead from our own creativity, aided by this online inspiration.

How to Stop the Cycle

For many of us, going to a CSS gallery the moment we start working on a new project is routine. Whether because we are behind in our work or just anxious to get started, true inspiration gets put on the backburner more and more over time. Hopefully, this article will help convince you that finding true inspiration is necessary to the design process. Even if you’re convinced, though, breaking old habits can be hard.

The trick is to consider alternative inspiration an an essential part of the job. While it feels more like play than work at first, finding true inspiration should mean more than browsing through the same material over and over. And we should know that in a creative industry, having fun is okay; it doesn’t mean we’re being unproductive.

We have to consider taking a walk, visiting a museum and sketching as parts of our job description, things that help us get our jobs done faster and less painfully. We’ll discuss below when we should seek out these other forms of inspiration and when it is okay to sift through galleries and showcases.

2. Forms Of Offline Inspiration

Let’s start by discussing what we can do to derive new forms of offline inspiration. Below are some tried and true methods for uplifting one’s inner creativity… without using a browser.

Nature

Nature is easily one of the places to find inspiration. Not only does it have variety, color and interest, but it takes its effect on us by mere instinct. Because of this, finding inspiration on a walk, a hike or just sitting in a park doesn’t take much effort. Let’s look at a few specific places where one can find it, though.

Weather
Weather is just one part of what nature has to offer. Because weather is so closely related to mood, it can be a great source of inspiration. Think of your favorite season, a stormy night or a sunny day at the beach; take in the colors, textures and mood and implement them in a design.

Life Forms
While weather can influence and inspire mood, life forms have yet far more variety than weather. Whether plant life or animals, a number of exquisitely designed elements are available from which to draw inspiration, through texture, shape, color, etc.

Geography and Landscape
Geography and landscape is another major source of inspiration. Taking in your natural surroundings can have a calming effect on your mind and motivate you to design. Beyond whatever comes to you naturally, look at shape, texture and color, too.

The above are just a few quick examples of how nature can and should be used for inspiration. These are definitely the first choices for many designers who want a new creative outlook, and for a great reason.

The trick is to figure out how to get workable inspiration from nature and integrate it into a design. For specific examples on how to achieve this in detail, check out 17 Techniques for Creating Designs Inspired by Nature.

Museum Visits

Like nature, simply walking through a museum can relieve stress and, in turn, inspire. It doesn’t have to be a museum for art or design either. A science museum, historical museum or even aquarium or zoo can work. The point is to see things that are not in our everyday lives, while being in an environment that allows you to really focus on and appreciate them.

Being in a museum can lead us to new things, such as:

Alternative cultures and their arts;
Traditional or classical art;
An attention to different senses and a more empirical way of thinking (think of a science museum);
Weird, strange or outrageous exhibits to help us think outside of the box (like a “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” museum);
Historical objects that are shown in photographs and other media.

Image source

Because these experiences can lead to such alternative ways of thinking, they are great for getting away from the daily grind that is suppressing your imagination.

Drawing and Sketching

Many designers begin a project by sketching, but far too many jump straight into wireframes, layouts and then the final draft.

Instead of starting the design phase cold, sketch freely. Doodle, draw ideas, sketch abstract and non-abstract textures and shapes. When sketching for inspiration, don’t think of it as any other stage in the design process. Have fun with it; be carefree and laid back. Free-drawing is a great way to put all of those ideas in your head down on paper.

Comic Book Style on GoMediaZine.com

Many designers very likely grew up sketching and drawing. A lot of us probably had books or other resources on “How to draw,” explaining the technical aspects of drawing characters and other subjects. Doing this now at a more advanced level can be inspirational. Doing so, we advance our skills and are motivated to practice new illustration techniques. So, make an effort to refine your basic drawing and sketching skills.

For a great list of tutorials, check out 40 Free Tutorials on Advanced Drawing Techniques.

An Alternative Hobby

Experiencing new things is a part of life. Without this, we fall into a rut. Think about it: when we began designing, we were full of ideas, motivation and inspiration. After doing it for so long, though, designing can become routine and uninspiring.

This is a part of life. But we obviously can’t quit our jobs and pursue unrelated goals whenever we feel like it. Instead, we must find a way to keep life exciting while maintaining our careers.

Try a new hobby that you find exciting, and then bring it into your designs. For example, if you’re learning a new language, incorporate the culture and styles associated with that language into your designs. If you’re learning a new craft, how can you incorporate the textures, shapes and actions of it into a design? Countless hobbies are out there. No matter how quirky or seemingly unproductive yours is, if you have a passion for it, it will help.

Image source

It doesn’t even have to be a hobby, but just something to get your mind off of work. For example, if you’re redecorating a room, there had to be some initial inspiration that drew you into it; use that spark in your design. Other life experiences involving family, friends and events can play a role in design, too.

The point is to enjoy hobbies and general life events more, and stop thinking of them as unrelated to work.

Music

Music brings emotion and puts imagery in our heads. It is a great art to jog our imagination.

While the techniques mentioned thus far may appeal only to some people, everyone should try music, because it relies on no visual source and can lead to the most creative outcomes. Deriving inspiration from music may not be as easy (because it is more abstract than a pattern, texture or shape), but it certainly gets our imagination and creativity flowing.

Image source

How you use this method is really up to you, but for more tips, check out Smashing’s other post, “Drawing Inspiration From Music.”

Photography

Using photos is an excellent way to incorporate many of the above methods, without having to travel around the world. Flying across the world to see the wildlife in the jungle or a foreign culture’s practices is not practical. Photographs, rather, capture real-life images from which you can draw inspiration and come up with texture, shapes, subjects and more.

Image source

While photography can be considered “online inspiration,” it is different in that one cannot take bits of a photograph and turn it directly into a design (the way you can with another website). Rather, one must use skill and creativity to turn it into a workable design, just as you would use a natural object in the wild.

Below are a few favorite photography showcases to get you inspired:

Traditional Art

Each era of art has its own style and development. We often focus too much on today’s trends that we forget all of the excellent art of the past.

Research any era of art history. You will discover many great works of art, as well as techniques that the masters of that era followed.

Image source

As with any other form of inspiration, take texture, color, shape, style and depth into account. In viewing art from different eras and cultures, we can draw inspiration from the style without copying the subject.

One’s Own Imagination

Think like a child again. With a bit of relaxation, we can come up with our own ideas again, without even an external trigger of the imagination. We can’t elaborate much more on this: the method will be unique to each individual. But it is bound to create the most original designs of all.

For a few fun tips on how to be imaginative, take a look at the simple WikiHow article ““How to Be Imaginative.”

3. Deriving Inspiration From These Sources

Knowing how to find inspiration through alternative sources comes down to the art and science of design. Rather than merely copy trends and examples, we have to use our knowledge of texture, shape, proximity and so forth to build fresh design. Our new sources of inspiration may now be difficult to harness but are sure to release our creativity.

Here following are some basic guidelines you can take to derive inspiration from any offline source.

Look at Texture

Many sources of inspiration are visual in nature, which means they may have interesting textures, whether from an animal skin or a wrinkled petal.

Many designs are not much more than texture at all. But even without conventional imagery, we understand the design perfectly well.

Kevinlucius.com

Everything Has a Shape

Everything has a shape that highlights its texture. We look at different shapes every day, but rarely do we stop to appreciate it. No matter what it is taken from, a design could resemble the source of inspiration itself or just bits and pieces of it.

Take the time to examine the object’s shape, angles, edges and dimensions. They may spark new ideas or lead to an idea for an element in your design.

Illystable.com

Color and Palettes

Nature-inspired Web design was quite a trend there for a while, and it is still going pretty strong. The trend is notable because color is given such special attention and is implemented so carefully in designs. Green, blue and brown earthy hues are incredibly popular, and these colors and a bit of authentic texture are all a design needs to be nature-inspired.

We can apply the same attention to other offline sources of inspiration. For example, painters from different eras preferred different color palettes, and we can borrow these palettes for today’s designs. Likewise, different cultures, landscapes and imagery all provide a unique sets of colors to inspire us. All we have to do is stop and take notice.

FoodIncMovie.com

Take an Alternative Perspective

Viewing the things we see every day from a fresh perspective makes them design-worthy. This could mean viewing them close up, upside down, from far away or from an entirely different angle. Whatever you choose, look at an object from an unusual perspective to discover something new about it.

Ormanclark.com

Choose a Theme

We can be motivated to create something new after winding down for the day, after taking a walk, or after viewing some interesting photographs. But when it comes down to actually designing, we may still not know where to begin.

Just as we did when writing essays back in high school, we must first define our design’s theme; that is, come up with a “thesis” for our design. We may be inspired by Renaissance art that we viewed at a museum, but we might find that there is too much in the artwork to base a design on.

This is when we need to get specific. Should your design reflect the textures, colors and shapes of that era, or should it evoke a typical publication of that era (a website being a publication itself after all)?

Come up with a specific subject and idea for the design, taken from your much broader source of inspiration. Don’t just go with a nature theme; choose a cheerful snowy morning theme. Don’t use a book as a whole, but rather use an event recounted in the book, or an emotion that the event evokes.

You could incorporate a number of ideas from any source of inspiration, so be specific and choose one particular message to guide the design.

Collect Resources and Bits of Inspiration

Before starting the design phase, collect resources that you will need to complete the design. If your design is inspired by Renaissance art, assemble tutorials on creating old-paper effects, gather some period typography and collect any other textures, symbols, shapes and imagery that could be used in the design.

What’s great about this part is that even though you’re not actively designing, you’re still putting pieces together that will guide you to the final design. In other words, you’re in the process of brainstorming.

4. When To Use Offline Inspiration

There is a trend among designers to say that any offline inspiration is okay, but offline and online inspiration need to be balanced.

Image source

Offline inspiration sources are best for the early phases of a design. They keep you from going straight to CSS galleries the moment a new project begins, only to copy elements of the most original designs. Offline inspiration helps us come up with our own ideas and fall back on our own creativity.

5. When To Use Showcases And Galleries

Showcases and galleries are not a great source of inspiration early on. Rather, they are great to learn best practices and refine usability and see examples of how specific elements have been implemented. They are useful for turning inspiration into a workable design with solid usability.

Showcase of music night clubs web designs here, on Smashing Magazine.

For example, if you’re designing a blog theme, you could look at the styles of various “Read More” links and see which ones have the best effect. You could check out the navigation style of different website types (e.g. portfolio, realty website, Mac application website, etc.). Consistency among certain website elements is a good thing.

Showcases and galleries can also help generate ideas for style. An app website, for example, obviously wouldn’t look good with a grunge style. Some stylistic choices may not be that obvious, though, and CSS galleries can help us achieve a look that is original yet appropriate.

Conclusion

As you can see, both offline and online inspiration have their place. Knowing when to use each is the key to getting your creativity back and producing some original work once again. Hopefully, this post has motivated you to take the time to find alternative sources of inspiration.

We have just briefly touched on methods of finding alternative inspiration. There are, of course, many more. Feel free to share your own habits and techniques for gaining inspiration. The ways are surely endless, and we have to find the one that works best for us.

Further Resources

You may also be interested in these additional references:

CSS Galleries – Getting the best out of them
A contrasting article on how to get the most out of an online form of inspiration, CSS galleries.
Keep an Inspiration Notebook to Retain Offline Design Inspiration
Steven Snell shares a great way, in detail, of how he finds and retains inspiration from the offline world.
How To Find Design Inspiration
Sitepoints offers a series on methods for finding offline inspiration.
10 Unusual Places to Get Design Inspiration
An article discussing 10 different methods for finding alternative inspiration, and how to effectively draw from it.

About the Author

Kayla Knight is a college student, freelancer and blogger. In her spare time, she maintains two blogs, Webitect.net and DesignFinds.Me, as well as a portfolio. Feel free to get in touch with her through her blogs, or follow her on Twitter: @KaylaMaeKnight.

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Avoiding death by e-mail

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ScreenFlow 2.0 adds powerful new editing features

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CMS market share « Cedar Lane Web Task Force

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:36:27 -0700

A cool PDF comparing various open-source CMS systems.

Featured Content Gallery | WordPress Plugin | by iePlexus

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XHTML - myths and realities

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:11:25 -0700

CSS Compatibility and Internet Explorer

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Quirks mode - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:28:55 -0700

CSS - Quirks mode and strict mode

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15 Essential Checks Before Launching Your Website

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50+ Freebies Every Web Designer/Developer should have | Desizn Tech

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Simple jQuery Dropdowns

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:14:02 -0800

This Much I Know - » WordPress plugin to clean up pasted Word content

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Website Performance | CSS Sprite Generator

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:30:52 -0800

45+ New jQuery Techniques For Good User Experience | Developer's Toolbox | Smashing Magazine

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:28:08 -0800

Green Energy Web Hosting, Carbon Neutral Web Hosting at Rackspace

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TG Daily - Google tells users to drop IE6

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:49:43 -0800

From the Department of Badly Chosen Defaults - Joel on Software

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:03:43 -0800

Beanstalk — Version Control with a Human Face

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Hosted subversion

Scroll your HTML with jquery scrollable

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Stripe Generator - ajax diagonal stripes background designer

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USB 3.0 to Deliver a Tenfold Speed Increase

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8 Things to Expect in the Next iPhone Update

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The iWebKit Blog

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How HTML 5 Is Already Changing the Web

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Rivals still see iPhone as the one to beat

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BraveNewPipe

Review: FreshBooks online bookkeeping software

Getting Clients: Approaching The Company

Step One: Be Focused

Step Two: Be Insightful

Step Three: Be Personal

Step Four: Be Prepared

Step Five: Be Unique

Step Six: Be Professional

Step Seven: Be Attentive

Step Eight: Be Resourceful

Step Nine: Be Committed

Step Ten: Evaluate

Conclusion

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Invoice Like A Pro: Examples and Best Practices

1. Their Details and Yours

2. Itemized List of Services

3. Include Your Terms

4. Let Them Know How to Pay You

5. Numbers and Numbers and Records and Books

6. Thank Them, and Ask Them to Thank You

7. Don’t Forget: You’re a Designer

Further Invoice Design Examples

Online Invoicing Roundup

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You win some, you lose some: a review of Apple's Magic Mouse

The Ails Of Typographic Anti-Aliasing

Technologies

Aliased vs. Anti-Aliased

Font Hinting

Subpixel Rendering

Input

HTML Text

Text as Image

sIFR Text

Output

Displays

Operating System

Browsers

Conclusion

Further Reading

Offline Inspiration: How To Find It and Get The Most Out Of It

1. Stop The Quick Fix Of Online Inspiration

Online Inspiration Isn’t Bad

How to Stop the Cycle

2. Forms Of Offline Inspiration

Nature

Museum Visits

Drawing and Sketching

An Alternative Hobby

Music

Photography

Traditional Art

One’s Own Imagination

3. Deriving Inspiration From These Sources

Look at Texture

Everything Has a Shape

Color and Palettes

Take an Alternative Perspective

Choose a Theme

Collect Resources and Bits of Inspiration

4. When To Use Offline Inspiration

5. When To Use Showcases And Galleries

Conclusion

Further Resources

About the Author