Chris Barnett | GD252 Blog

Pulltab Flipbook

// April 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Graphic Design, Inspiration

This may not be up my usually alley of web design and photography but I thought it was very cool. I could be a little bit influenced by the fact that it is from my boy Chris Coyier.

He describes the pulltab flipbook designed at Chatman Design (Chris’ day job) as being more complicated than you might think.

iPhone Inspiration

// April 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Web Design

This will be a quick one. We have all seen galleries showcasing great web designs. There are hundreds of them out there now. After recently finding out I might have the chance to design and help develop a mobile interface for the TeamSnap site I went seeking inspiration.

Drumroll please…

CSSiPhone.com – Web Design Inspiration for the iPhone.

Dealing With Clients

// April 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Jobs, Rants, Web Design

I had to rant about this one a little bit. We all know it’s hard to find a perfect client, and how frusterating it can be to work with clients who just don’t quite get it. Here is the situation:

A client comes to me wanting a website. I must preface here and say that his current site could not get any worse. As I began designing and developing this site we had a hard time communicating with each other. When I described to him how I was going to build the site he seemed to understand what I needed from him. That would be too easy… When it came time to get some FTP information from him he put me in contact with one of their “I.T.” guys. I came to learn that they “don’t use FTP for their website”. I was confused at this point because I didn’t know there was any other way of putting a site on the web. I was blown away to find out they were serious and this was one of the biggest warning signs from a client that has made me want to slowly step away from the project.

I dug through my bookmarks and recent happenings on the internet and came up with a few things relating to this topic. A written post by Jacob Cass called How to Talk to Non-Tech-Savy Clients, and Episode 29 – Repairing Client Communications from the Freelance Radio Podcast.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Envato Empire

// April 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Branding, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Jobs, Networking, Organization, Photography, Promotion, Rants, Tutorials, Web Design, Wordpress

When considering all the information that I come across on the internet most of the things I see are influenced by Twitter, and my RSS reader. This got me thinking… If I were stranded on a desert island and I only had access to one group of networked sites it would have be the Envato Network. I swear by their umbrella of Tuts+ sites for great tutorials for all my favorite applications. I have touched slightly on the marketplace structure of sites they have including the most recent and a favorite of mine, Graphic River. Another one of those, “Why didn’t I think of this?”, moments when seeing these sites that allow anyone to buy and sell design related goods and services. That’s not all… In case you didn’t have enough excellent content to expand your knowledge there is a handfull of other services they offer. From AppStorm, for everything Mac related, to the must have RSS feed for any freelancer, Freelance Switch. Stranded and alone, I could survive with the Envato Network. Do you know of any networks this diverse? I want to open this one up for feedback, maybe to see if anyone reads these things.

Creative Surroundings

// April 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Rants

I have had the idea for a while that I want to live in a very, modern, creative, unique house one day. Quite the opposite of my mentality when I was about 14, when I lived in a treehouse for a year. My interest in houses, furniture and technology in the home kind of varies depending on where I am at in life. In the last few months I have been moving around quite a bit so I have been thinking more about my ideal living situation. I’m glad to have found Toxel.com as I once again look for a house to buy in Portland.

This is one of the cooler tables they featured on the Unique and Creative Table Designs post.
I wonder if it is functional?

It’s not just tables and chairs at Toxel, after looking around I found everything from bathtubs and sinks to clocks and mirrors. The blog also has started to feature design and tech related stuff too; like Wordpress themes, HDR photographs and a crazy post about packing tape. Didn’t see that one coming.

Portfolio Website

// April 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Branding, Inspiration, Rants, Web Design

I am way overdue for a site to show off my web work and photography. It’s finally time, but not without a little thought of what makes an effective portfolio site and research to find some inspiration. I came across a post from the You The Designer Blog on 7 Ways to Build Trust on a Portfolio Site. I especially liked the last two points that were made about explaining your design process and having a professional/custom site. I have a lot of websites bookmarked that showcase well designed and inspirational sites, but none like Foliostars.net. The site shows off only the best portfolio sites from around the web and is a great place to get some inspiration. Inspiration? Did I forget to mention a post from Nick La of Web Designer Wall on Single-Page Portfolio Sites.

Freelance Networking

// April 17th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Jobs, Networking, Rants

We hear a lot these days about the economy and how hard it is to find a job. School is almost over and I’m sure you want to have a job in the creative insdustry as soon as possible. If you have a solid portfolio, are eager to continue learning new things that will make you more valuable to someone, and have some basic people skills then it’s all good! Anything you might want to know about life as a freelancer can probably be found at Freelance Switch. Everything from news and advice on the blog, a job board, a podcast, a book and recourses! One artice I was impressed with lately is The Monster List of Freelance Job Sites.

With a quick Google search I found another site with some prospective places to find jobs. This is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to jobs out there. The people you know in your social network are the greatest way to find jobs. Take Twitter for example. I recently found a post from Sonata Creative about Using Twitter to Find Work. It’s simple but is crazy enough that it might just work. Twitter name is crbarnett, follow me… you might learn something! Just ask Steven Lenhart or Diana Judge.

Organized Chaos

// April 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // Organization, Rants, Tutorials

With so much going on lately between school, work, life and the internet things can get kind of overwhelming. I am talking about TONS of information, digital files, websites and meetings all needing to be organized, and easy to find. I have had dreams of a day when I will have time to organize my already cluttered harddrives and bookmarks, manage a to-do list, and never miss an appointment. After looking around the web for time management applications and techniques for organizing and backing up digital files I have now decided I only need three essential things.

The first is OmniFocus made by a Seattle based company The Omni Group. It is a task management application that can be used on the Mac and syncs with the iPhone effortlessly. Easy of use is not even a question with OmniFocus with the ability to add, organize, and complete tasks from anywhere. OmniFocus plays nicely with native Mac apps like Mail and iCal and is becoming my go to app for staying on top of things. Check out an online screencast covering the basics of OmniFocus.

Second on my list of things to get me on track is Carbon Copy Cloner. It is offered as a FREE download from Bombich Software. (Yes, that’s what it’s called) When it comes to backing up data, it might be the most important part of my workflow. Carbon Copy Cloner allows for schdeuled backups and synchronization of hard drives. For a free service, this application has a lot of great features that I definitely recomend trying out.

The last thing that I plan on using to keep everything under control I discovered today when I stumbled upon the Color Charge Blog. Specifically, this article on Tips For Organizing Your Files With Colors. The concept is simple and the article describes techniques for using features on your Mac (Leopard) to help organize files and make your life easier. I definitely could have used this when I first started school. Guess it is better late than never!

TutsPlus Empire

// April 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Graphic Design, Inspiration, Photography, Tutorials, Web Design

There are so many great places on the internet to look for resources, inspiration, and tutorials it can be a little overwhelming sometimes. Why not have everything you might need all under one roof? From graphics to web development, audio to video and more, TutsPlus has it all. Unless you have been living under a rock then you have most likely seen a few tutorials, or articles from one of the TutsPlus sites. I found myself learning enough from these sites it made sense to get a monthy membership and have access to bonus tutorials and other great resources. At only $9 it is hard to say no to such a great price on an endless amount of creative inspiration and knowledge.

Personal Branding and Promotion

// April 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Branding, Networking, Promotion

I have been sharing a lot of stuff from Danny Outlaw of Outlaw Design Blog lately and think his stuff just keeps getting better. I found out a lot about him after reading an article on We Function. In this article Danny talks about personal branding & promotion and shares some cool tips on how to get yourself out there. Great stuff here, everything from managing your time well to using social networking to succeed as a designer. With the real world right around the corner I think everyone should be thinking about how they will make a name for themselves, develop a good reputation and get work. Also, be sure to check out this video to help improve your about page, and to see what this mysterious Outlaw guy looks like.