Thursday, July 30, 2009

Last post

Hello !

This is my last post on Blogger.
I moved all my posts here and I'll continue to write from there.

Hope to see you there !

Friday, July 3, 2009

"Advice, Trends, and Resources " by Viget

This morning I was reading some articles on Viget.
And I found this : Advice, Trends, and Resources for People Entering Web Careers in 2009

I think these are very useful advices and in case you didn't read the post you should do it.

In my post I'll select only some advices :

Don’t Grow Up Just Yet
"Many of the students I’ve taught and worked with want to hit this field’s ground running, but tend to be confused and overwhelmed by all of the various titles, processes and disciplines involved in working on the web these days. If you’re feeling this way, remember that you don’t have to pick a definitive career path or niche in the web just yet (if ever)! Instead learn about and try all of these disciplines as your work allows. You can always dive deeper into those that really strike a chord. Until then, don’t sweat those fancy terms or titles too much. And here’s a secret, some of the strongest web professionals are “generalists” instead of “specialists” in a particular area."

Try It
"You can have a huge stack of Readymades and an RSS reader full of A List Apart articles, but if you’ve never built any of the stuff they’re talking about, you’re missing out. Take some time to play around with new ideas, techniques, or plugins whenever you can. It’s fun, it relieves stress, and you often learn more than you expected to."

Focus.
"I have seen many people try to master everything when they first get into web design. It’s ok to know lots of stuff but you run the risk of spreading yourself too thin. My advice is to focus on one area and do it really well. However, don’t limit yourself. Work on that one focus but always try and have at least a little knowledge in most areas of the web. Knowing something about design will come in handy even if you’re a developer."

Build It
"You’re not going to succeed as an designer if you don’t know the medium. Learn HTML, learn CSS, learn Javascript, learn Ruby & Rails. Knowing how to build quick and dirty prototypes, or production ready build outs, will make you a more effective designer."

Make It Easier On Yourself
"Use applications or frameworks that can make your life easier. For example, if you want to start using JavaScript on your sites quickly, look at jQuery instead of writing it from scratch. Most of the time there are large communities constantly improving these frameworks and it is a great way to get involved and meet people."


The Learning Starts Now
"Those of you who are graduating students, you probably didn’t learn what you needed to know from your classes in school and that is perfectly normal. I think most of us would agree that we didn’t actually learn anything until AFTER school when we were in real world situations. School was only meant to give you an introduction; it’s up to you to do the rest. Get a web host or setup a local server on your computer and play around with stuff on your own. Get involved in communities both online and in your city. Get a website up online to post your work and blog if you have ideas to share. This will all lead to networking with people with common interests, learning from the people you meet, and possibly scoring a job. I've learned the most from the jobs I've had and working with smart people."

Be Fearless
"Be ready to be wrong, but trust yourself and your instinct as a designer completely. Uncertainty breeds shoddy execution. Be prepared to fail. Be OK with that. Take ownership of your work and be prepared to explain your choices."

Be An Artist
"Be an artist. Be an illustrator. Be a drawer. Be an iconographer. Be a typographer. Be more than a designer. Take your creative passions and use them. Don’t let a challenge stifle or restrict your creativity or force you down a certain design route."

Find your sandbox
"Don’t ever stop learning, being creative, and stretching yourself. Creativity and inspiration are everywhere so when inspired be sure you have your own place to ‘play.’ This can be a personal web site, a painting studio, or a potter’s wheel."

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Learning to do logos 2

In February I posted some logos I've done while participateing on 99designs contests.

Well ..since then I've done more :