I love music. Whether I’m working at the office* or working from home, walking, washing dishes, or anything else you could possibly imagine, you’ll see me listening to music. I love it and if I had more time, I would try to compose my own but, till then I will listen in awe of the amazing notes and beats that others create.

With that in mind, I thought it would be a great idea to share my ten favorite songs to listen to while I work.

Foo Fighters // The Pretender

Album: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
This is an excellent song! I love the drums in this one.
Buy Song

The Who // Baba O’Riley

Album: The Who: Greatest Hits
The intro to this one is an absolute classic! Their Superbowl performance was great too.
Buy Song

Led Zeppelin // Black Dog

Album: Mothership
Ah come on! This song is a classic! I had to include it!
Buy Song

Muse // Supermassive Black Hole

Album: Black Holes & Revelations
A great band with a great style. I really love the beat of this one.
Buy Song

Earth, Wind & Fire // Shining Star

Album: The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire Vol. 1
I’m a big fan of disco. This one has a great beat and sound to design to.
Buy Song

Jackson 5 // I Want You Back

Album: The Greatest Hits [1971]
I absolutely love the intro of this song. You’ll notice that most of Michael Jackson’s songs have an awesome bass; this one is no exception.
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Jay-Z // Empire State Of Mind

Album: The Blueprint 3
This one has an great beat and the musical sexiness of Alicia Keys.
Buy Song

Phoenix // 1901

Album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
This song has a great sound unique to Phoenix. I love the sound and “funk” of their songs. Also Check Out: “Everything is Everything”, “If I Ever Feel Better”, and “Too Young”.
Buy Song

Muse // Resistance

Album: The Resistance
A good friend of mine introduced me to this song and I’m so thankful!!
Buy Song

Various // Nueva Forma Listening Pleasures Ep. 3

Album: Nueva Forma Listening Pleasures Ep. 3
This is actually a podcast mixed with the electronic beats of different artists. A new episode comes out once a month and I look forward to it every time.
Subcribe to Podcast

So… these are my picks. What about you? What are your favorite songs to work to? I’d love to hear about them!

on’t let the title mislead you. I’m a superb speller. I’m not going to lie by saying that grammar is easy for me but, I get by. Anyway, the point is: I know how to write; my problem is that I can’t. Allow me to explain.

One of my favorite hobbies is writing. It’s funny for me to write that because I hated writing in school. I thought it was ridiculous to learn about composing sentences, paragraphs and essays.

I was the student that left writing school papers until the night before. The student who’s parents helped type up essays until the wee hours of the night. I was the one that passed English by some miracle that is still a mystery to me today.

I remember being so envious of this girl named Brianna in 8th Grade. She was beautiful. In fact, she still is. Her writing skills were amazing. She knew, with uncanny ability, how to use excellent vocabulary to compose sentences that explained and described exactly what she was thinking.

I tried to replicate that in my written pieces and after hundreds of essays and reports I didn’t want to write, I began to love writing. I found that I could write my feelings better than I could speak of them.

I’m not saying that I can’t talk. People who know me would say the problem is to shut me up. I’ve always loved that you can think thoroughly and carefully of what you want to say or communicate when you write. In writing, you can always undo; something that’s impossible when you speak.

At this point, you’re probably asking yourself, “If he likes writing so much, what’s the problem?”

I’m burnt out. I tried to write as my job and it didn’t work out. It’s been months since I left that job and my inspiration to write has taken what seems to be an eternity to replenish.

What’s interesting about all of this is that I used to write articles on how to beat writers block, but now that I have it, I don’t seem to follow my own advice. Maybe, it’s because I didn’t fully understand writers block and that there is no real concrete solution.

However, as I write this, I feel a sense of relief. The words seem to be flowing from my mind to my hands. I can’t help but hope that the funk is fading and I will be able to write once again.

First off, my thoughts on the whole ordeal. I fully support Conan O’Brien. I think he’s a very funny man and due to his hard work, deserves to host the Tonight Show.

However, as he himself said, you don’t always get what you want. Unfortunately, his words ring true to a lot of hard working people who have experienced life handing out lemons.

Even though Conan O’Brien has walked away from this situation almost $40 million dollars richer, money doesn’t change the feeling you get after being fired. The feelings of sadness, disappointment and the hurt to your ego are exactly the same.

I’ll sum this part up by saying this: The support given to Conan was not only because of his talent, but because the American public knows the feeling of losing a  job all too well.

About the Cover

I’m an avid reader of GQ magazine. I love the design of the magazine and its interesting content. Also, as I’ve already said, I’m a big fan of Conan O’Brien. This is why, when I was deciding what would be my next personal project, I decided to put Conan O’Brien on the cover of GQ.

So without any further delay, here is the latest addition to my portfolio. I look forward to hearing your comments on the piece.

They proved that once again today with the release of their newest slab-serif: Vitesse. I’ve always been a huge fan of H&FJ because of their dedication to produce the best. Yes, designing typefaces is their business. However, they are in love with typography and the beautiful things that can be created from it. That to me, makes all the difference.

If you’d like to learn more about Vitesse or browse other great creations by H&FJ, I recommend you check out their site. I can’t wait to get my hands on this gorgeous typeface!

Ah! It’s good to be back. I haven’t been around these parts since last year! I had a great break and I did a lot of nothing; something you don’t always get to do. I also had the chance to go up to Yosemite which was completely amazing! It continues to surprise me how beautiful our earth is. I hope to be showing you pictures soon.

Anyway, while on my break… I thought of another wallpaper idea and now it’s here for your enjoyment. Day 1 comes in three vibrant colors: Green, Blue and Orange. Here’s to a spiced up desktop!

File Type: JPG
Number in Set: 3
Size: 1920×1200
Made By: Tim Smith

Previews

Fast forward a year. Maybe even less. Now, things are different. You notice that you don’t want to write. Your articles aren’t as good as they used to be and comments on your blog have decreased because your readers notice it too. What can you do to change this feeling?

Take a Break

Writing shouldn’t be forced. If you’re not feeling it, don’t do it. When you force yourself to write content for your blog, most often than not, you’ll find yourself producing mediocre articles. It turns blogging into a chore, instead of being a way to express your creativity or speak well of a topic you’re fond of. Keep the following in mind: Forced content will not be beneficial to your readers. Therefore, there’s no point in publishing it.

What can you do instead? How about asking a blogging buddy for a guest post? This can be a great way to take a break and have some “cross pollination”.

Another idea is to take a walk. I know this idea is repeated on many blogs. The reason is because it works. Take a walk. Do it. You’ll notice the change of activity will help you out a lot.

The key is to change the pace of your day. It’s often those random activities that you carry out that make the ideas start to flow.

Change Where You Write

I don’t mean to change the way you write. You may have your own method that works for you and that you feel comfortable with. For example, I always outline an article before I write it. I feel comfortable with that method. I believe it allows me to organize my thoughts in a structured manner. However, I do change where I write and that’s my suggestion to you.

You could take some time and write at your favorite coffee shop. If you’re close to a body of water like I am, how about writing there? That’s the beauty of blogging: it can be done from anywhere.

Refine Your Brainstorming Method

I can’t really take credit for this brainstorming method because I learned it from Darren Rowse of Problogger.net. What you do is simple. First, you write the category that you’d like to write about. Second, you write down the sub-category that will usually refine the topics that you can think about. Then, you write ideas of topics that would fit into the category. Simple right?

The fact is, that you have a lot of ideas. Most of us do. The challenge is learning how to think of them. When your brainstorming method is efficient, you’ll find that ideas will come to you faster.

Let’s say that you have a blog about food. You don’t know what to write about so you use the method above. You go from a general topic like food to dessert and then frozen dessert. Now you have a narrow topic to talk about, making the writing process a lot easier.

Final Words

In conclusion, don’t think that you’re the only one that has gone through a blogging drought. There are only two types of bloggers: the ones that have had a blogging drought and those who will have one.

What about you? What have you done to get your articles back into shape? Any other suggestions that you would add?

Who I Am

For those of you that don’t know me, I’m a graphic designer, blogger and wannabe pixel pusher. I admire designers like Brian Hoff, Adelle Charles and Brandon Turner (offline designer I know). I feel that they’ve helped me grow as a designer and learn about the industry in so many different ways.

I live in Southern California, where it’s sunny 364 days of the year. Although I live in California, my dream location would be Lower Manhattan in New York City. I’m mostly self-taught and I’ve had the privilege of working at places like Fuel Brand Network and Dennison Media Group.

Now, however, I’ve decided that instead of just following big things; I’d create them. One of reasons that this site is a stepping stone for me.

The Purpose of the Site

One of the obvious reasons for this site is to showcase my skills as a designer. I’ll be making graphics and custom page designs. I’m actively looking for client work and other fun projects to get involved in.

Also, I’ve been looking for a place to talk about all the things that interest me: Typography, Logo Design, Illustration, Wordpress Development and the list continues. So, this site is the place where I’ll post my findings about these.

All in all, I’m glad you’re here and thank you for following this new project of mine.

Thanks for agreeing to the interview. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

It’s my pleasure. I’m a graphic/web/motion designer from São Paulo, Brazil, married, a soccer lover and recently I had the bad idea to start boxing training.

How did you get into illustration? Did you study at a university? or are you self-taught?

Both. I’ve been studying since I was thirteen. Later I graduated in Art and Communication from the Panamericana School of Art and Design in São Paulo. More recently I took courses in Digital Cinema and Art Direction. Besides that, I have learned quite a lot of computer skills by myself, like Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash, etc.

When did you start ‘Behind the Websites’ and what is its purpose?

I started ‘Behind’ three days before my birthday. Behind The Websites was a gift to myself. For a long time I thought about starting a blog with illustrations; as personal project. The purpose was to become rich, very rich. But my plan didn’t work and I decided to illustrate just for fun. More than anything Behind The Websites is my hobby.

Have you seen an increase in work due to ‘Behind the Websites’?

Yes, before Behind The Websites I used to spent 60% of my time with motion graphics, 30% with art direction for magazines and web and about 10% with illustrations. Today I’m spending 80% of time with illustrations and the other 20% with art directions, motion, web, etc…

Who or what inspires you?

Bookshops. I can easily spend a whole day inside a book shop and of course, the internet.

What recommendation can you give to illustrators beginning in the field?

Practice, practice and practice again. Don’t worry about finding your own style quickly. It will happen naturally by practicing. Go abroad and experience different cultures.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Yes, please follow me on Twitter and thanks a lot for this interview.

I love to be playing around with the Adobe Creative Suite even if I don’t have a client project going on. That means that you’ll see wallpapers and other freebies on this site often. “Complicated Simplicity” is our inaugural wallpaper which I hope you enjoy seeing on either your desktop or iPhone.

Preview