Simply Complicated Apparel SALE!

Check out the sweet sale at Simply Complicate. http://www.scapparel.net All shirts $10 or Less! I own a couple and I like it from the design to the printing and color choices.

David Airey's 15 pieces of advice for Self-Employment

David Airey's is a designer who has very useful information on his blog. His latest post discusses 15 pieces of advice for designers who want or are in the self-employment biz. I personally like the fourth rule and even though I've been designing for a couple years, pricing still seems to be tricky at times. Here are couple of his advice.

1. Look at the big picture

Creating a modern business plan will help you think through the hard issues.

2. Tell your friends and family about your self-employment

You never know what contacts they might have. Those close to you will want to help.

3. You will lose potential clients because your pricing is too high

But also because it’s too low. Whether you like it or not, the rates you set will immediately give others a perception about the quality of your design work.

4. Don’t stress about pricing

Design pricing is something independent graphic designers struggle with at some point. The best way to learn is through experience, and remember, you can always negotiate your price down from your initial quote, but never up, so if in doubt aim high.

To read the rest of the article go here: http://www.davidairey.com/self-employment-advice-for-designers/

Mix206.com makes me a Certified Artoholik

I'd like to thank Iquan for featuring me on the art & design blog "Mix206.com". I'm featured as a "Certified Artoholik" and his paragraph is short, but sweet. I'm assuming he wanted my work to speak for itself. Make sure you check out Mix206.com it's a cool blog that features "package of the day". Iquan is head of the blog and runs his own design agency "Artoholiks", so it's a cool feeling to be recognized by another designer.
Click below to read the feature.
http://mix206.com/2010/05/25/certified-artoholik-joe-baron/

Link to "7 Awesome Rules for Designing A Perfect Logo"

As you may know from previous posts, I love reading about logos and corporate identities. You can never be reminded too many times on keeping a logo simple or any useful insights. Here is a link to a nice healthy read of 7 AWESOME rules for designing a logo and it gives a brief history of logos. http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/awesome-rules-designing-perfect-logo/

Self Publishing using Lulu.com

IF you're looking to publish your own book, ebook, calendar, etc. and you want to take the DIY approach, then lulu.com is for you. I remember I had a design friend of mine who was creating a calendar and I could not point him in a direction when asked where to print at. I feel this could be better than hiring the local printer. Who knows what you want to do and this can help pitch your book to retailers.

Jay Wise logo & Good wood chain

I revamped a logo for hip hop artist Jay Wise and he used his logo to create a Good Wood chain necklace. This is the result of the chain and I must say it looks good.

Old Logo

Revamped Logo I did that stuck with the original concepts, using some of the previous logo elements.

Preview Video of Mumford Clothing

The talented U.K. artist Dan Mumford who has designed many intricate illustrations for various clients with a nice chunk being t-shirt companies, has decided to create  his own clothing company. This video is a preview as what is to come when it is released on Friday.
http://www.mumfordclothing.com

Design 101-Convert all fonts to outline

For those that do not know, whether you're a new to graphic design or a client interested in learning more to help out your designer when you're going to send artwork to the printer please convert all your text to outline. I was working with a client earlier and was sent an illustrator file to work with and the file was to be warped before sent for printing. Well needless to say the text wasn't in outline form, but it just so happened that I did have the font my client sent.  Not everyone is going to have the font you have, so instead of the designer or printer opening up a file with their default font convert your fonts to outline. When you're using illustrator you can go to the top menu. Go to Type> create outlines or control, shift, "o" at the same time for the shortcut. When it's in outline, you can size it, distort it however way you want it. It makes everything easier.

ShirtMockup.com now prints one offs

Shirtmockup.com which is useful if you do not have your own templates can now print your designs. They teamed up with Jakprints(http://www.jakprints.com) to print your shirts. You can print one single shirt or you can print multiple and deal with the cost like another print shop. They'll print whatever you create whether you upload a photo for an oversized print or a regular small left chest design. The image below is the pricing for they offer for the single shirt print. Go here to print up your shirtmockup.com design. http://www.jakprints.com/shirtmockup/

Zombie Yet X Joshua Belanger Vector Pack

New vector packs for those who love zombies. To purchase or view all of the vectors that are available go to http://www.merchline.com/zombieyeti/ Here is a cool video of some of the stock imagery you can use.

Inspiration: Spartan Golf Club Logo by Richard Fonteneau

I have to thank a former design classmate of mine for showing me this logo. This is a very effective and simple logo. I love the double imagery that is shown of the "spartan" and then the "golfer swinging". It is very clean with a simple san serif font. This is an example of a good logo and I've said it in a previous post and I'll say it again, it is important that logo isn't complicated. I know that's corporate identity 101, but it's important to let your client know that a logo should be clean and simple.