Image courtesy of Basecamp’s video tour

Do you find yourself keeping track of your projects using a mishmash of endless email threads, saved IM conversations, phonecalls, meetings, sticky notes, post-its, and scribblings on napkins and used envelopes? Struggling to recall time spent on a project after it’s done? Experiencing miscommunication with a client based on clashing expectations or surprises as to what work the client’s request actually entailed? These are just some of the obstacles that come up in the pursuit of an organized and smooth freelance ride.

Enter Basecamp, a web-based project-management application built by web design firm 37signals in response to the frustration of trying to keep everyone in the loop when working collaboratively. (more…)

Enter HOW magazine’s Interactive Design Competition. All winning entries will be featured in HOW’s huge April 2008 Design Annual with (1) Best of Show winner prominently featured in the April 2008 Design Annual. Best of Show winner will be also be How’s guest at the 2008 HOW Conference (round-trip airfare within the U.S., hotel and registration paid by HOW).

• Entry Fee: Regular Entry - $75 / Student Entry - $50
• Deadline: All entries must be postmarked no later than July 16, 2007. Entries postmarked after July 16 require a late fee of $25 per entry. Entries postmarked after Aug. 1, 2007, will not be accepted.
• Details:

Happy Easter! (Yes, I know it’s June.)

Did you know that many of your favorite programs contain “Easter eggs”? Easter eggs are secret images, messages, or other cool features that you can find, usually with a simple key command. In addition to computer applications, many video games, DVDs, and other media have Easter eggs that their authors included for fun.

Adobe programs sport some great Easter eggs: (more…)

Be sure and swing by Graphic Define Online Magazine! (Issue #2 was just released from our friend Dan Schutzsmith). Of special note, the featured article for Issue 2, On Staying Creative by D. Keith Robinson.
Also on deck, some familiar faces, including Emily Cohen, Eric Karjaluoto and Ilise Benun.

A few years back at a networking event, I wore a “Hello, My Name Is…” sticker with my online shop’s name on it. A man came up to me, poked his finger on the name tag, and said, “That’s a great name. I’ll never forget it.” Aside from being jabbed in the shoulder, I was really happy about this: I had chosen a business name that was memorable.

A memorable business name gets you a lot more than compliments from strangers. It can actually boost your sales significantly. If it’s easily recognizable and sets you apart from the enormous playing field, more business will come your way. And I’m not just talking e-commerce businesses, but freelance, one-person design firms. The drawback to a lot of memorable names is that they have a confusion factor to them which can undermine their effectiveness.

So how do you come up with a stand-out name that brings in the business? Here are my top tips:… (more…)

Possibly the most significant change to Illustrator in the update to CS3 is the introduction of Live Color. Adobe has told us how great this new color editing feature is, so as soon as I opened Illustrator CS3 for the first time, I went looking through menus for its name. Palettes, filters, effects… I couldn’t find it! I’ll never understand why it’s hidden under the more bland name “Edit Colors,” but at least I’m beginning to understand how it works.

Let’s look at how to use Live Color, starting with its cousin the Color Guide palette, found in Window > Color Guide. The Color Guide palette helps you choose color harmonies based on whatever main color you choose. For my example, I chose orange as a base, then selected a harmonious palette from the Color Guide. I liked “Complementary 2″ since it gave me a bold punch and enough colors to offer some variation in my design elements.

Once a harmony is selected, the Color Guide works just like other Illustrator swatches: Just select an object and pick a swatch from the palette to apply it. (more…)