Niches

Doing that last article had me thinking about what niches are there. I mean is there a list to choose from are do you just go for what your good at? I personally haven't found my niche, but I just go with how I feel and im not great at one set thing yet. But for those of you that don't know where to begin I found this article on some niche ideas to get you started. http://www.graphicdesignblender.com/find-design-niche

Self branding tips

http://www.designzzz.com/personal-branding-tips-designer-community/. I found this article about self branding and some tips on how to do so. The article has some good points and good info. Some of the things I like is to find a niche that you are good at and establish yourself. Another point is being authentic of branding yourself do something that is you and fits your image and personality.

Freelance mistakes

http://freelancefolder.com/my-top-5-biggest-freelancing-mistakes/ I found this article on some freelancing mistakes that a lot of people make. I myself have made a lot more mistakes then listed,but one of the big ones is always saying yes to the client. Sometimes you cant always do what they want. And under-pricing I did a lot of work for free and sometimes when I did charge it wasn't even enough for the finished product price and ended up paying out of pocket.

Graphic Designer NOT Web Designer/programmer

There have been this thought that a graphic designer is a web designer as well. But im here to tell you that is not always the case. I personal suck at web design and most web designers think that majority of graphic designers wont be a web designer. http://www.fromlifetodeath.com/article/14 in this article it speaks just of this. But on the other hand web designers think that they are a graphic designer as well. But in reality that isn't always true because some people that I know personal do great Web design but can't design a solid and good logo but that is my personal opinion, but is not always the case.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq6kly-C-Bo&feature=related Check the vid 4:00

Simple logo's do go a long way

Checking the web and found this article of top text logo's. Now I always had this mind set that simple and almost plain design wasn't good design. But looking at some of these successful logo's they are some of the most simplistic and clean. Such as this men's journal logo. I think though that this only works with great branding and marketing.Its time for me to do some simple and successful logo's. what do you think? http://www.graphicdesign.com/article/top-10-text-only-logos-of-all-time/

Some rebranding

Ever now and then a company tries to revamp their whole entire look. Although most companies doit wrong this company actually did a good job. Buffalo Wild Wings has rebranded themselves and it looks good. I think one of the reasons that it is successful is the fact that it wasn't a complete change like most companies. They kept it simple with minor changes to the logo and type ,but it goes a long a way. http://www.graphicdesign.com/article/buffalo-wild-wings-rebrands/

Logos with hidden meanings?

While checking out the website http://www.graphicdesign.com/article/top-15-logos-hidden-meanings/. I came across this article of logos with hidden meanings and its not so much hidden meaning more of hidden images within the design. for example the Hersey kisses logo between the k and I of kisses is actually a Hersey's kiss. And one other that was neat check it out and see if you can see the face

Top 5 most expensive logos

For professional designers it's hard to determine a price for doing a logo. Now im far from a professional and veteran Graphic Designer, but I would like to get paid like these people are. And if you look at some of these you probably think WOW they got paid that much for such a simplistic logo. The lowest priced logo on that list starts at 15million! Check it out http://www.graphicdesign.com/article/top-5-most-expensive-logos/

Helvetica the pros and cons

So many designers around the world seem to love Helvetica and some seem to hate it. There really isn't a happy medium. I can see though the argument for both sides. The good I suppose is that Helvetica can be used on nearly anything. It looks good on everything and a ton of companies use it. The bad though are some of the reasons why Helvetica is good in the first place. It is neutral so it doesn't ever set a specific mood or style. It is overly used so it doesn't have any true brand identity. If you want to find out more check out the vid http://www.helveticafilm.com/

The election and Graphic Design

Taking a look around on http://flowingdata.com/2012/09/27/quick-sites-tell-you-if-obama-or-romney-are-president/ I found this interesting design about who is winning the electoral votes. I think that this design was nicely done. It's not what somebody would typically think of when set with the task of doing a design for votes. It is simple,but is very clear on getting the info.

college speakers

Every so often colleges have guest speakers. They always come in and tell about how successful they are and how great their job is. But the colleges 9 times out of 10 never bring in a success story that came from their school. Im not talking about oh I graduated from this college and a job 6months later. Im talking about I graduated got a job and I am now starting my own business.I would just like to see more of that then the speaker that went to some other random school.

What Design Schools are Lacking or are they?

http://www.davidairey.com/graphic-design-schools/. Reading this article titled what graphic design schools are lacking. Some of the statements were true for example one talks about teachers glamorizing the design field ,but never telling it how it really is. Others although weren't in my opinion. For example the lack of web classes and the importance. Now at my school the entire program was revamped with the emphasis on web classes. In the end the article kind of gives some of the cons or some questions to ask about when thinking about attending a Design school.

Diploma Doesn't help you find a job?

I was looking up articles to write on and I stumbled on this.http://designreviver.com/tips/10-things-they-dont-teach-you-in-design-school/. It is 10 things they don't teach you in design school. When I read that your diploma doesn't really help you get a job I was somewhat pissed. Im wasting over 60G's to go this school to get a degree and it don't matter. After doing more research I found out that, that is a load of crap. Nearly 80% of all companies that hire designers want them to have a Bachelors or they won't even look at your resume. So don't believe everything you read.

Harley Davidson Dying Again

Ive notice that in the past two or so years Harley Davidson has slowly been dying out. I seem to notice less of them on the road and other brands of bikes are starting to push ahead. Its now showing with Harley's latest advertisements they are trying to make a comeback. They have grown as a brand known to project sales towards the older, bar crazed, long haired crowd. Now they are trying to set their sites to a broad audience and break their old image. Although they are trying I think they will fail in the end. And attempt to push hard on the old image. http://wmoon.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/harleys-main-problem-its-base/

Water Light Graffiti

I was looking around on the web and found this cool video. It says its graffiti,but there wasn't really any  tags or pieces. Anyway its a setup of lights that seem to be activated when applied with water or something to that affect. It's a pretty cool concept and anyone can use it as you will see in the video. Found it on flowingdata.com but check http://vimeo.com/47095462# for the vid.

Interesting visual data

Has anybody ever been interested with visual data? I remember last term I had an assignment to make an empirical design.Now it was explained to me that it means to create a design using symbols and pictures and very little text. It took me awhile to even find examples and get a concept ,but i found this site http://flowingdata.com/ . It shows some amazing pieces of work and is a good place to look for any ideas on visual data. This is my finished project. Picture it as a massive visual graph at a sea life aquarium.

Im currently attending an Art School to become a Graphic Designer and with all the financial crap I had to put up with,Im wondering is it worth it? Doing some research its still up in the air. According to http://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/graphic-designers.htm the average salary is $43,095 yearly salary. i mean thats decent but is that worth $60,000 of education? I can see in a way it is with all the hands on application and being able to have one on one with an experience Designer/Instructor. But as long as I dont look like this guy being weighed down with debt. 

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