background preloader

42 Free Online Magazines for Designers

42 Free Online Magazines for Designers
Art and design magazines are designers close companion. Not only it feeds us with latest trends and news in the design industry, it’s also a good source of inspiration, particularly useful for those who hit the design block frequently. Just in case you weren’t aware, there’s a huge pool of free magazines on the net related to the design field; we meant those softcopy magazines you can either browse online or download (.PDF, .SWF) for offline viewing. Not only they have high quality content, each issue released is also free. Eye Magazine A very artistic and well-curated magazine, Eye has everything that a professional designer or a design student looks forward in a graphic design journal. Additionally, Eye Magazine informs you about the ongoing and upcoming events like design summits, workshops, exhibitions and talk sessions related to the graphic design and visual culture taking place all over the world. Frequency: Quarterly Idea Magazine Slanted Frequency: Biannually Creative Review net

9 Sites That Made Me a Better Logo Designer Any person serious about their career – carpenters, graphic designers, dentists, or anyone else – is constantly trying to learn and improve at their craft. You and I are no different. If you’re reading this, chances are you’re an aspiring or perhaps established graphic designer (*design bro high-five*). Likewise, if you’re reading this, you’re interested in self-improvement. There are a myriad of ways to improve on your skills, but today I’d like to share 9 websites that have helped me improve, specifically, as a logo/visual identity designer. These sites are visited by me frequently, and if you haven’t already, you should bookmark ’em. Brand New UnderConsideration’s Brand New is, in my opinion, the undisputed king of logo/identity design critiques. LogoDesignLove LogoDesignLove is another site that provides unique and thoughtful takes on any and everything related to logo and brand design. JustCreativeDesign JCD is one of the earlier design blogs I discovered. Creattica & LogoPond ReBrand

Color Palette Generator SlackBring your team together with Slack, the collaboration hub for work. Color Palette Generator #ffeeff #ffccdd #eeaaaa dull #33aa77 #ffeeee #ffbbdd #ff7799 vibrant URL of image: Make color schemes. If you like this you might also like my logo maker All Tools Biorhythms Business Card Generator Calendars, Printable Swiss Style Color Palette Generator Color Picker Comic Strip Maker Crapola Translator Drawmigo Favicon Generator Flickr RSS Feed Generator IMG2TXT Invent-a-Word Logoshi Logo Maker Pixel Art Generator Rainbow Words ROT13 Subwords! Reference Ajax Example ASCII Table Current Stamp Price Jedi Robe Pattern Recipes Special Characters URL Encoded Chars Really Old Fun and Games Hangman Horoscope Magic 8 Ball Mastermind Star Wars Costumes © 1999 - 2019 DeGraeve.com

Self Publishing Basics: How to Create Your ARC Cover Years ago I used to buy books at a famous bookstore in downtown New York City, in the old book selling district. This bookstore was famous for the range of subjects it carried, its steady inflow of new books, and the lively and sometimes erudite people you could meet browsing the narrow aisles looking for an out of print book or a bargain read. The other reason this bookstore was famous was the shelves of books near the front of the store that proudly displayed Reviewer Copies for sale. These books, dutifully rubber stamped with large “Reviewer Copy: NOT FOR RESALE” stamps, were in new condition and often still had publicity information from their publishers stuck inside the covers. Sometimes you could see people arrive with cartons of these books, which they would sell to the store. A Long Way from Bound Galleys to Digital Proofs At one time these uncorrected proofs were bound up in plain covers and sent to the early reviewers. Creating the ARC Cover Here’s the customized version:

100 habits of successful graphic designers A little good advice never hurt anyone. If you’re looking for a few tips on how to improve your graphic design business or just a little insight into how others do things, 100 habits of successful graphic designers is worth a read. On to a few quotes from the book… Keep in touch with your clients, past and present. Every business has competitors and you want clients to think of you first. Do an extra-good job on tiny projects. Small projects are often treated as churn and burn jobs, but every business starts small. Spend time with your client to build consensus and create shared goals. It’s understandable that clients are excited and designers are eager to begin a new project, but you can never have too much information. Don’t stop at just a written brief, have a few conversations. Seek out creative clients for successful collaborations. Although good graphic design is about what works, and not personal tastes and preferences, they sometimes can’t be avoided with some clients.

The Lost Principles of Design In the instant age that design has evolved into recently many of us often stray away from the basics. If you had a professor in college who taught you the fundamentals of design these may be engrained into your head. For the self-taught, you may have a book on your desk with these very principles. While this is cool and amazing right now, there will come a point where this style is strayed away from and a new style is made. Balance Arranging parts to achieve a state of equilibrium between forces of influences. Examples: Symmetrical, Asymmetrical, Radial Contrast Interaction of contradictory elements. Examples: Large & Small, rough & smooth, thick & thin, light & dark, organic & geometric Emphasis & Subordination Establishing centers of interest which focus the viewer’s attention. Directional Forces Both implied and actual, they help guide the eye and mind movement of the viewer. Proportion The size relationship of parts to the entire work, and each to the other. Scale Repetition & Rhythm Balance

Related: