Creature Spot

Quick update! I just needed to tell you all about my absolute new favorite blog: Creature Spot. It’s basically a blog for a bunch of different concept artists to come together and share their sketches and creations and I am in LOVE with it. Amazing work and extremely inspiring to someone who once dreamed of joining Weta Workshop as a concept artist (I have no given up on that dream – someday it will happen!).

Anyway… a few favorites:

• The Explorer’s Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures by Emily Fiegenschuh
• WoW: TCG Cards by LD Austin
• Talisman: The Dragons by Christopher Burdett
• Dog Women, Fish Men, Cat Monkeys and Ox Horses by Ryan Firchau

Go check them out and much more over at Creature Spot!

The Start of a Career

I keep putting off writing this post. I feel like if I actually put it down, then it’s real. Dumb, I know. Hundreds of thousands of people have already written it down. It happened. It’s over. Steve Jobs, iGenius himself, has left us.

So here’s my story. I was a freshman in high school and there was one iMac in the whole school, in the corner of my home away from home: the art room. It was a huge blue box-y thing and it kind of sucked to work with because the screen kept flickering in and out of different colors. But I was in love with it. Totally different from all the other computers at school. Sleek. Clean. I found it easier to use AND it had art software on it. This was also my introduction to Adobe but it’s not as important right now. What was important was that I had discovered a new way to create art that no one had ever showed me. On that Mac, I taught myself how to scan my artwork and draw and color and quickly took this new-found knowledge to the Photo room where I began teaching some of the other kids how to manipulate photos. I also teamed up with other geeks on learning video and movie software.

What I’m getting at is, I would not be where I am, a digital artist, a cartoonist, a web and graphic designer and social media strategist, if it hadn’t been for that Mac. I wasn’t completely in love with computers until that one. And that one changed my life. So I, much like many people I work with and many people sharing their own stories, have an entire career to thank Steve Jobs for. Oh and Pixar. Holy crap, Pixar. Thank you, Steve, for Macs, iPhones, pretty little gadgets, and some of the best movies in history.

I’m seriously thinking about getting an iDream tattoo somewhere. iDream of [Apple logo]. We’ll see. Thanks for everything, Mr. Jobs. RIP.

So if you hadn’t heard, Snailbird recently made it into the popular online magazine Mashable. Now we’ve been featured in quite a few online articles and showcases, but I think it’s a safe bet that Mashable is the biggest and most well-read site that has given us a few visitors. And not just a few – our visitors and hits have gone through the roof! Thank you Mashable! Interested in the article? You can find Snailbird featured in 20 Resources for Displaying Twitter Updates. Check it out, comment, and adore our cute little twitter bird!

• How To Set Your Blog on Fire
  I may not be the best person to take blogging advice from (if you couldn’t tell, I focus less on words and more on pretty pictures), but I can tell you one thing: this is a great article on literally setting your blog on fire. LITERALLY. Pun. Get it? Okay, no not literally, but there are some great tips here on writing a pretty stellar blog. Another great post from my fellow folks at Fuel.

• Screw the Duplicate Content Penalty!
  Another great article on content. Some may see this one as cheating, but I’m a firm believer in constant revisions, and if you heavily revise and add to an outdated post and call it a brand new one, I am okay with that. This is a great post by Erika Napoletano on three easy ways to repurpose content. She says “start thinking multi-purpose instead of single use” and I’m loving it. Check this out!

• How To Fail At Using Twitter To Drum Up Business
  I love Brian McDaniel’s blog. He never once disappoints me and has great input on a lot of topics. This post is about Twitter and how NOT to use it when trying to strike up a business deal. Not only is this is a somewhat humorous account of some mistakes, but it’s full of wisdom and sound advice every freelancer should take when attempting to pick up new projects on everyone’s favorite social website.

• Designing For A Hierarchy Of Needs
  Smashing Magazine was recently referred to me as “the Walmart of online design sites.” I agree it can sometimes be cluttered with “cheap” items, but it more often then not comes up with a few gems like this one. The author of this particular post, Steven Bradley, breaks down the essence of a web page’s hierarchy of importance. In this detailed article he gives us graphics, samples, and some great advice.

• How To Create Depth And Nice 3D Ribbons Only Using CSS3
  A great resource for any of the newest trends in web design, Piervix of PV.M Garage brings us a great how-to on recreating an awesome trend using only the newest CSS3 tricks. Extremely easy to read for even the beginning n00b, he gives us the CSS, the HTML code, and examples of this nifty effect in motion. Be sure to check out the rest of this blog – I could have made this entire resource post just out of his articles.

• R2D2 – the Eternal Source of Design Inspiration
  Alright, this one is just in here for fun. But how cool is this?! I LOVE R2D2 and seeing just how inspirational this loving character has become is wonderful. I was going to write down my favorite here, but you know what, I just can’t choose. Check all of them out!

Got any interesting articles worth sharing? Let me know! And don’t forget to follow my twitter (@designcoyote) for your daily dosage of awesome links!

I am a huge animal lover if you haven’t figured that one out yet, and I am one of the two people who run the adoption and animal advocacy site I Love Rescue Animals site. I blogged a little here mentioning that I was attending the BlogPaws conference a few weeks ago, and it was a blast. You can read about our adventures over at the ILRA blog – it was a fantastic network and we made some great friends.

But it didn’t end there! This week I will be working with the PawPawty team (founded by the awesome Lynn, mother to Frugal Dougal) to give animal and pet bloggers a chance to win a custom web design! On April 21st, starting at 7, a BlogPawty will be going down over at twitter and during that time, we will be raising money for Pets Without Parents. Along with raising money, there will be a ton of giveaways to those in attendance.

My giveaway is going to be week long instead of one night, to give more bloggers a chance to get in on the action. If you’re interested in winning a custom-made design for your pet blog, I suggest you go read the rules and give it a try! Entering is easy and you’ll be supporting shelter dogs and animals in need. The winner will be announced next Sunday. But don’t let that stop you from joining in on the festivities that is the BlogPawty – April 21st at 7PM Eastern time. Find us on Twitter with the hashtag #BlogPawty. I’ll see you there!

Not done yet, but it’s getting closer. Will we finish in time for the BlogPaws Conference this weekend? I have no idea. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed. Let me know what you think!

• 10 Reasons Why You Aren’t Done Yet
  I am guilty of constantly telling my girlfriend, “Hold on, just a few more minutes!” and before I know it, hours have passed. Here are some of the reasons this happens and what I may possibly be able to do about it (I guess this article could also be called “10 Ways I Can Save My Relationship”).

• What Every Designer Should Do Right Now
  This article cannot stress enough these important things you should DO RIGHT NOW. I’m serious. These are things I’m constantly forgetting, so this is an awesome reminder for me to get on it. I’m sure I’m not the only one who keeps putting off certain important tasks.

• How to Use Curves in Photoshop
  So this is a pretty useful and simple tutorial on that nifty Photoshop feature Curves that is often overlooked. While this is probably more of a resource for photographers, I think this is something every designer should keep in her back pocket. Curves can be pretty cool.

• How To Set Up Files for Printing
  Another great article from Niki Brown that I wish she had written earlier in the year. Ever want to print out your work either on business cards or something else? This is a great article with a TON of awesome tips on what to do when preparing to print. This is really good!

• 20 Word Web Design & Development Trends
  Okay, if you’re a designer, you KNOW these are horrible. But doesn’t this just bring you back to the days of animated gifs on horribly rendered geocities sites? Reading through this isn’t so much about telling yourself what not to do, it’s more like a walk down memory lane. Ah nostalgia!

• Preparing and Planning for a Redesign
  An oldie, but a goodie, and I’m throwing it up here because I’m about to undergo several pretty large redesign projects. This is a great article that covers the bases on what you should do when getting ready to do the big re-haul of a site. It also gives some good examples!

Got any interesting articles worth sharing? Let me know! And don’t forget to follow my twitter (@designcoyote) for your daily dosage of awesome links!

• So You Call Yourself a Designer
  We all know there’s more to be a Web Designer than making pretty designs so this article might be moot, but Niki Brown has some good tips for developing your knowledge base.

• How Much Do Standards and Trends Dictate Your Web Design?
  I liked this one. It’s an article that looks at some of the more popular trends going around in design and points out the good and the bad behind them, what binds us and what frees us. Food for thought.

• Crafting Subtle & Realistic User Interfaces
  Something we’ve been looking at in some of our recent designs. Subtle effects we can add into our designs to make them pop out more. Only a few, but I thought it was good bring them up again.

• A Look Into Color Theory
  Shannon Noack really hit the nail on the head with this one. An excellent article that takes a look at color and how it impacts a web design. What feelings does a certain color invoke in your viewers? Is that the meaning you’re trying to get across? Definitely something I think all designers should think about.

• How to get Creatively Inspired
  Six Revisions’ guru Jacob Gube gives us a good list of ways to find creativity when we hit that dreaded design block. Nobody likes being in a rut.

• Recommended Reading from Jason Santa Maria
  And lastly, just an awesome set of books that the talented Jason Santa Maria compiled. (My favorite on the list is Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner, though it’s not exactly design-based. Lots of good typography books here too).

Got any interesting articles worth sharing? Let me know! And don’t forget to follow my twitter for your daily dosage of awesome links!

Ten Free Comic-Inspired Fonts

01. 2Peas Goofball from UrbanFonts


02. Agent Orange from 1001 Free Fonts

03. Calvin and Hobbes from UrbanFonts

04. Chlorinar from DaFont

05. Chronicles of a Hero from BlamBot

06. Creative Block from BlamBot

07. Good Dog from DaFont

08. Pokemon from DaFont

09. SwingSet from BlamBot

10. Marker Felt from Font Zone

I hope you enjoy these awesome fonts as much as I do. For my own comic, The Family Menagerie, I use Agent Orange and Creative Block for the header and the titles. For the dialogue, I use the another font in the 2Peas series – I recommend you go check out all of their fonts; they’re great. For those interested, the lines of the font examples are words from Neil Gaiman’s poem “Instructions.” One of my favorites. Happy Monday all!

Snailbird.com and the awesome crew over at Online Poster Printing are teaming up to do another amazing giveaway! I cannot express enough how much I love working with them. The final product is always 100% perfect. Plus, they’re not like the normal conservative printing company – they’re community oriented and driven, and respond fast to questions. Not to mention they’re an easy-going bunch and I just really love the community they’ve got going for their sponsorships. Anyway, enough public love, onto the giveaway!

The Prize

One awesomely big 18×24 Poster Print for one lucky winner! This can be printed on high gloss paper or semi gloss paper stock. The finished product will be rolled up and shipped to the winner in a protective poster tube. How cool is this prize? Check out what Online Poster Printing can do working with digital photo enlargements and digital photos on posters.

The Rules (Gotta have ‘em)

01. Sorry guys, this one is for US residents only.
02. Gotta comment on this post of course to enter the giveaway – tell me what you’ll want to use your poster for. Do you have an event coming up that you’d like to advertise? Have a picture you’ve taken that you want to blow up and give to your mom? I’m curious!

While I can’t promise this will be done in time for Valentine’s Day, you could always use it as an Oops-I-Forgot-It-Was-Valentine’s-Day-So-Here’s-A-Big-Happy-Picture-Of-Us present a week or so later. The deadline to get your comment in and take part in the giveaway is February 12, 2010. At that point, I’ll choose the winner through the Random.org generator. Only those with answers to the above question will be put in the drawing so don’t forget that part! One comment is allowed per person and don’t forget to tell your friends to join.

Don’t forget to tweet about the giveaway to your friends!

Come back on February 13, 2010 to find out who the winner is!