The title alone of this book from Focal Press’ Essential Skills series makes me hopeful for the fate of my photography. To me, shooting in available light means getting some great candid shots at events, the occasional unplanned portrait, and a few environmental shots that are stunning without big lighting setups or major corrections later—tasks that are quite difficult for many beginning photographers. It turns out that my idea of the topic was a bit different than the Mark Galer’s, but I learned a huge amount of valuable photography tips all the same in an easy-to-read, activity-filled format. (more…)

If you hate the idea of cold calling but are going to hunker down and do it anyway because you know it’s a good way to reach your best prospects, here are the 3 things you need to have ready before you pick up the phone: (more…)

Graphic design may be a career choice that lacks geographic boundaries, but there can be a great benefit in local networking, starting with your city’s chamber of commerce. Joining the chamber of commerce has tons of advantages… (more…)

I recently came across a fun portrait exchange site by Los Angeles-based illustrator and teacher Rama Hughes via Danny Gregory’s blog. It’s called The Portrait Party, and its purpose is simple and excellent: to get people drawing and sharing their artwork. You and a fellow artist pair up, either in person or using photographs, to draw each other’s portraits. You then share your portraits by posting a comment to the Portrait Party site that includes your and your partner’s name, contact info, and any comments you’d like to share. If you don’t have a face-to-face drawing buddy, the site offers a list of people who are game and have posted their contact info, some even linking to flickr accounts offering photos from which they’d like their portraits made. (more…)

I have a feeling that a lot of people, especially those unfamiliar with Mark Frauenfelder’s work (BoingBoing, “Make” magazine, and lots more), will look at this publication and think that they’re above it. The subtitle, “How to do everything on the Internet—better, faster, easier”, describes exactly what this book does. But those of us who have worked on the web for over a decade now think we know it all. Rule the Web proves us all wrong with tons of tips that even seasoned web users can play with right now. (more…)

Luke Wroblewski

Luke Wroblewski is a Web strategist, designer, and author. He is currently Senior Principal of Product Ideation & Design at Yahoo! Inc. and Principal of LukeW Interface Designs, a product strategy and design consultancy he founded in 1996. Luke has authored a book on Web interface design principles entitled Site-Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability, as well as numerous articles on design methodologies, strategies and applications. He is also frequent presenter on topics related to Web strategy and design, and a former member of the board of directors of the Interaction Design Association. Here, the hardest working man in web design shares his insight into the most important topics in the field today… (more…)

You can be a great communicator without being a great designer, but you will never be a great designer unless you are a great communicator.

Or you might, but no one will ever hear of you, much like the famed tree falling in the forest with no audience. Obviously, you’re not going to become a virtuoso overnight, but there are some basics to keep in mind as you begin your journey. (more…)

There are some great new additions to Fireworks CS3.

I could probably start this post with some bad puns about Fireworks CS3 and declaring your independence over other graphics apps, but I’ll spare you that and give you some quick tips for making the most out of Fireworks CS3.

Fireworks didn’t get all that many new features in the upgrade from Macromedia 8 to Adobe CS3, but there are a few that can really change the way you design Web pages and graphics. (more…)

Don’t let criticism fall-out hold you back.

It’s hard enough to take negative feedback, but as a designer you have the even more difficult task of making sure a client’s criticism comes in a form you can use to produce a revision that hits the mark. We’ve all heard clients use hazy negative statements like “I hate it,” “It’s not working,” “That color is all wrong.” Amid the pain and letdown of not hearing words of praise, we actually have to try to elicit some useful information. It would be great if every client could be a great communicator, able to articulate why the design isn’t working, offer insights pegged to the target audience, and give suggestions on specific areas for change. But you can do a lot to steer the conversation towards the most intelligent, useful critique possible, so that you get to turn in a winning design. (more…)

My hard drive (from LaCie) looks like a bright, shiny LEGO brick. I can’t miss it, so I can never say I forgot to back up.

How many times have you heard or said, “My hard drive crashed at the worst possible time!” There’s never really a good time for a hard drive to crash, but it doesn’t have to be as painful if you backup on a regular basis. We all know the value of saving often and backing up regularly, but really, how often do you actually do it? (Be honest.)

If you’re a designer or other work-at-home type, backing up is especially important since lost data can cost you big bucks or big clients. So here are a few tips to help you get on track with backing up your work: (more…)