By Karen Morrill-McClure

Recently I got sucked into this situation: a client asked for a quick estimate on a catalog site. I gave a quick, off the cuff estimate, assuming just a home page, listing the products for sale, and an individual page for each product, driven by a database of all the products. I’ve made a couple of sites like this, using Paypal to take orders. They’re pretty easy to set up and they work well for a simple online store.

The client said go ahead, so I asked some questions about who the audience of the site was (and didn’t get real firm answers, which should have been a warning sign in itself). I make a rough layout and send it to the client and get back some notes on the layout talking about customer sign in.

What? (more…)

For those of us who get more excited by a Moroso sofa than a Miss Universe contestant in a bikini, there is finally a beauty pageant to get involved in.

Pulchra is the world’s first beauty contest devoted exclusively to objects. Its website features 100 particularly well-designed objects – ranging from kitchen sinks to ski boots- that will be judged by the public in an open voting process that will go on until the end of the year. (more…)

By Brockett Horne

My daydream is to have complete freedom in my design process and not have to focus on my client’s needs. Some designers, like John Bielenberg, have managed to make my fantasy their reality.

With this brochure and accompanying website, his Project M team has raised over $40K to buy water meters in rural Alabama, not by meeting client needs, but by addressing the lack of flowing water for impoverished families. (more…)

The French have a knack for putting on glamorous and festive cultural events, so it only makes sense that right after the Cannes Festival, the poster gets its own star turn.

The 19th International Poster and Graphic Design Festival of Chaumont, is an inspired and inspiring multi-show exhibition that aims to bring professionals, students and the general public together in celebration of posters and the designers who make them. (more…)

You asked your usability questions, and Mike has answered! We invite you to ask more questions

Hi Mike,

I really want to do focus groups for my sites, but I’m just getting my business off the ground and my clients aren’t exactly high-paying. How can I test out my site cheap and still get useful info out of it? Hope you can help!

Rob

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Are you a freelance graphic designer who feels under-valued, beat up and disrespectfully treated? Well, take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. Design writer Cathy Fishel is currently assembling stories and experiences from freelance designers all over the world for her upcoming book “Freelance Design in Practice” to be published in Spring 2009. “Everyone has the same problems,” she says, “Things don’t always go smoothly, you’re not getting paid, there’s no work coming in – it’s scary sometimes.” (more…)

With just a few weeks left until deadline, we want to remind you of our sister blog Notes on Game Dev’s 3D Environment and Character Design Competition. It’s a wonderful opportunity for artists who want to break into the industry to get their work seen and evaluated by some the top talent in game development today including Damian Pannell (Artist, Relic, Vancouver, British Columbia), Doug Oglesby (Concept Artist, Red Storm Entertainment), Jesse Brophy (THQ, Phoenix, AZ), and Nate Purkeypile (World Artist, Bethesda).

Winners and runners up will be announced in the Notes on Game Dev and Notes on Design Blogs and in our respective newsletters which include 40,000 global subscribers. Winners will also be announced on GameCareerGuide.com, the leading portal site for game career seekers and industry recruitment.

Excellent prizes for winners include a full Game Art Certificate Program from Sessions Online Schools of Game Art, a broad choice of instructor-led game art and animation classes, membership in IGDA, and subscriptions to Game Developer Magazine.

Deadline is June 15.

On June 3rd, New York’s first ever Internet Week kicks off. The event is a promotional, social and educational effort that is based on the same model of openness and diversity as the Internet itself. Anyone can register an event and practically anything goes in terms of topics or theme. The week is topped off with the celebration of the Webby Awards, the popular and glamorous awards ceremony for excellent online achievements. We wanted to learn more about the people behind this initiative and decided to catch up with David-Michel Davies (no it’s not a typo, he’s half French), Executive Director of IADAS (International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences), the organization behind both the Internet Week and the Webby’s. (more…)

It’s time for HOW’s International Design Awards again, so send in your best posters, logos and letterheads to possibly win a free trip to the next HOW conference.

All winners will be featured in HOW’s prestigious April 2009 International Design Annual issue, get $100 discount to the 2009 HOW Design Conference and receive a ‘nifty’ certificate (their word, not ours). However, one Best of Show winner (or winners if you have collaborators) score a free trip to the 2009 HOW Design Conference, which includes round-trip airfare, hotel room and conference registration. You will also feel like a rock star when you are presented with your award at the conference.

The deadline is September 1st. To register click here

You asked your legal, copyright, and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are culled from the comments section attached to the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions

Kris says:

Hi,
I have a small company and I hired a freelance graphic designer to create logo, artwork and other items for my company. I paid her fully for the work she has done. There was no written contract. I have now hired a full time graphic designer and I have asked the freelance graphic designer to give me the original artwork so that I can have the in house graphic designer use it. She refused to turn over the original files (7 years worth of work for which she was paid very well). A few days later she called me and said she would turn over the files for a fee (substantial I might add). I told her that the logo’s belonged to my company and she was already paid for her work. Do I have any legal rights to obtain these from her?
Thanks,
Kris

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