Fancy going to the Social Media World Forum? I’ve got a two-day conference pass worth $850 that needs an owner.

There’ll be speakers from Google, Ford, Coca-Cola, Ogilvy, Starbucks, GM, Walmart, Kodak, Technorati, LinkedIn, and plenty more.

The two-day pass includes:

• Entry to the conference and presentations
• Access to the pre-event online meeting planner Conference Materials
• Refreshments throughout each day including full buffet lunch
• Entry to networking drinks reception
• Post show digital access to speaker presentations

For a chance to win just leave a comment saying something you’d change about my blog (the design, topics of chat, frequency of posts—anything really). I’ll list a randomly chosen winner on my Twitter page this Friday (October 9th), along with collection info.

You’ll obviously need to be in California in November (I can’t unfortunately), and there’s more event info here.

Oh, and if you can’t make it, but still have a suggestion, I’d love to know. Just remember to tell me not to include you in the draw.

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It’s been a while since I put the focus back on you. Too long, in fact. So here’s another batch of your thought-provoking comments.

Lee Newham on, “The true cost of rebranding?”

So what’s in a name anyway? If you recognize it’s the previous product, and it tastes the same as the previous product, then do you really care that the name has changed?

Brand names get swallowed up and disappear. In the UK, Austin, Morris, Riley, Rover, Wolseley, Triumph, BSA, Woolworths, Timothy Whites, Lagonda, Vanden Plas. Only MG survived and that was gone for many years. How many people miss the passing of these names? I have nostalgic memories for some of these, but in reality, has it made may life worse not being surrounded by these names?

I’d argue that design and graphics are more important than a name. A name is a bit like pasta. Often boring on it’s own, but add some sauce and it’s unique and appetising.

Douglas Bonneville, of BonFX, on, “Agency vs freelancer — your take”

Some marketing directors choose an agency because of a personal friendship, need to impress a CEO, need to score brownie points with a firm they might join someday, etc.

Another big one is the need for corporate marketing departments to have to spend the budget they are allocated or they lose funding in the succeeding fiscal year. There are so many layers, but agencies serve the needs of corporate marketing departments because they make it possible to spend large amounts of money and keep the wheels greased. This isn’t bad per se, it’s just a simple fact of how things at the corporate level work.

One project I worked on as an employee working with another design agency had a flash banner of seven rotating images that cost (I saw the invoice) close to 5 figures because it involved “project management”, several meetings (that we didn’t need), several rounds of changes (because the agency interactive department didn’t follow the 3 bullet points I laid out), etc. etc. But hey, that Flash banner fed a lot of people that week, and is the reason the hot dog vendors on the streets of NY can stay in business, parking valets can make a living off of tips, and restaurants booking business meetings can keep the single working mom’s in the kitchen employed. Strange how these things work. But I could have made that banner in half a day (with blog breaks) for piddley-cents on the dollar! Maybe I should stop thinking like that, and start thinking about how my more-inflated fees might just help working-class.

Cat Wentworth, of NO!SPEC, on, “AIGA President Debbie Millman on spec work”

“Opting for the pro bono route may give you some experience, but it won’t put food on the table.”

This is another misconception, as a lot of non-profits do have a design budget. You just need to ask.

Basically, it is up to each designer to decide just how much of their time will be donated – probono. I used to cut my charges in half, and the non-profits had to get donations to cover the rest.

Also, designers are usually allowed to approach companies to donate money to cover a part (or all) of the design costs. This is how the real world works when you become a full-fledged designer, so might as well use a system that is already in place.

Steve Morris, of WebMojo, on, “Do you follow logo design trends?”

Design seems to be a regurgitation of ideas with your own spin. Is there any originality? And if you did produce something totally original, would it be accepted in the mainstream?

FG, of ION FreshStart, on, “The design pricing formula”

Another factor that effects pricing: fear.

Being both a freelance designer and business planning consultant for almost eleven years, I’ve found that both the client and I, the service provider, are in vulnerable positions. The client wants a fair price (or a great deal) and wants the end-result to reflect their request or surpass their expectations. The service provider wants to receive a fair price (and get paid timely) and create something wonderful for the client. The client fears they may get ripped off; the service provider fears they may get the run around and never be compensated properly, aka ripped off.

While these things are not actually discussed, I do believe this is an underlying tension that adversely impacts the pricing game. Each side can act defensively without even realizing it. Knowing a client’s budget, timeframe and expectations usually helps ease the pain of this awkward situation, but in my experience, when I’ve asked the client these things, they either don’t know or the answers change after project initiation. Even with a great deal of confidence and experience, every new client brings a new-found vulnerability.

Jon Liebold, on, “Creativity for a moving world”

Here in the US we are seeing the rise of people suing their employers because of the prevalence of this “always on, always connected” world society we have created companies are expecting their employees to be at their beck and call 24/7 and in some cases on an unpaid basis.

While I do agree with the people suing their employers for being forced to work off the clock unpaid (which is a violation of US federal law), we are a lawsuit happy society. My favorite are the injury lawyers. Whenever I see one of those commercials I hear this in my head:

“I was recently involved in a slip and fall because in spite of the fact the sign was written in both English and Spanish, I could not comprehend what ‘Caution: Wet Floor’ meant and fell on my bottom. Because of my bruised ego and sore bottom I got $5,000,000 thanks to (insert blood-sucking lawyer name here)”

Thanks again to everyone who takes time to comment. Although I don’t reply to each and every one, it doesn’t mean I’m not appreciative. I am. Very much.

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We judge people by how they look. It’s an everyday occurrence, no matter how unfair. But what if appearances didn’t matter? What if we could just say what’s on our minds and not worry about clothes, hair, makeup?

Okay, so if I told you to turn up for your next job interview wearing pyjamas, you’d think I was nuts. Rightly so. On the Internet, however, appearances count for a lot less.

Steve Pavlina, Matt Cutts, Seth Godin. Between them they author three of the most popular blogs on the Internet, each with an Alexa rank under 10k. Now I’m sure you’ll agree that their site designs aren’t anything to write home about (although in Steve’s case, you might actually want to write something). Yet this doesn’t stop an increasing number of people flocking to read what they’ve written.

“But these guys aren’t the norm.” you might say. Or, “I don’t have the voice to attract their numbers.” Steve, Matt, and Seth are no different from either of us. Set your mind to it and you can go wherever you want to go.

The next time you’re putting off a blog post until you get your design “just right”, scratch that idea. It’s what you say that matters most.

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Image by Mykl Roventine

Design agencies and studios on Twitter

160over90

Twitter: @160over90
Website: 160over90
This Philadelphia-based branding agency “tweets” news, thoughts, and links that you wouldn’t find through their website. Nicely done. Their award-winning identity for Woodmere Art Museum also gets a thumbs up.

300million

Twitter: @300million
Website: 300million
Think of The Royal Parks logo, or the NHS identity. This studio in London produces stellar design work. Very friendly people, too, they’ll be featured in my upcoming book. After two months of fairly regular tweets between June and July, they’ve now stopped updates.

Brandient

Twitter: @Brandient
Website: Brandient
Established in 2002, this is the first dedicated brand consultancy on the Romanian market. Not all tweets are in English, although it’s clear they actively engage with followers, which is a good sign.

BrandLogic

Twitter: @BrandLogicNY
Website: BrandLogic
An award-winning brand agency in New York and Los Angeles, showing case studies from Pepsi, Texaco, IBM and many more. Mainly self-promotional tweets on an occasional basis, with some “retweets” of brand-related news.

Coudal Partners

Twitter: @Coudal
Website: Coudal Partners
Branded with the surname of founder Jim, exciting projects have sprung from this Chicago-based design, advertising, and interactive studio. Tweets are often personal in nature, and there’s a good level of interaction with followers. How it should be done.

CoreBrand

Twitter: @CoreBrand
Website: CoreBrand
Specialising in corporate brands, the Twitter profile is seldom updated, and then it’s simply to highlight their web articles. With that said, they’re doing more than some.

Duffy & Partners

Twitter: @Duffy_Partners
Website: Duffy & Partners
New entry to the list, on 30 September 2009. Duffy is just getting into the Twitter game. I’m sure others will follow suit.

FutureBrand

Twitter: @FutureBrand
Website: FutureBrand
FutureBrand has a huge global presence, offering brand strategy and experience. Their profile is a placeholder with no updates (not even a hello). Two thumbs down.

Hoefler & Frere-Jones

Twitter: @H_FJ
Website: Hoefler & Frere-Jones
Not your typical design studio, and more specifically a type foundry. Hoefler & Frere-Jones works with leading brands to develop original typefaces, also licensing some fantastic fonts from a library of nearly 1,000 designs. Tweets are engaging and personable. Nice.

Interbrand

Twitter: @InterbrandNY
Website: Interbrand
What started in 1974 has grown into a 40-office brand behemoth. This is the Twitter profile for the New York office, and I like what they’re doing.

Landor

Twitter: @landor_dot_com
Website: Landor
Creators of the gorgeous visual identity system for Melbourne City, one of my favourite recent works. Friendly tweets, helping add some online social character to the organisation.

Moving Brands

Twitter: @movingbrands
Website: Moving Brands
Controversially creating a call for spec work for their London identity pitch, Moving Brands might not be everyone’s favourite, but there’s no denying their calibre of work. RTs, @replies, and friendly chat. A great example.

Pentagram Design

Twitter: @pentagramdesign
Website: Pentagram
A bastion of design, the Pentagram partners have collaborated to create visual identities we see around us every day — Citi, Nissan, The Guardian… Their tweets are one-way, but the stream is regularly updated sharing some high quality links.

Siegel+Gale

Twitter: @SiegelGale
Website: Siegel+Gale
With a client list similar to a “who’s who” of the business world, the firm employs more than 200 people in the US, UK, and UAE. Very infrequent updates, but a few interesting links.

smashLAB

Twitter: @smashLAB
Website: smashLAB
Headed by Eric Shelkie and Eric Karjaluoto, I’ve grown particularly fond of the latter’s personal blog ideasonideas. Friendly updates, although not very often. “Karj” has a personal profile worth following @karj.

Sterling Brands

Twitter: @SterlingBrands
Website: Sterling Brands
Design intelligence personified. Experts in strategy and global positioning, with AIGA president Debbie Millman one of the partners in the firm. The Twitter profile is relatively new, but like with smashLAB, there are personal profiles on the go e.g. @debbiemillman.

Wolff Olins

Twitter: @WolffOlins
Website: Wolff Olins
140 people in London, New York, and Dubai, Wolff Olins have worked on strategic projects for the likes of GE, Sony Ericsson, and Amnesty International. Friendly, regular updates about branding and topics of more general interest.

Social media management

The rate at which social media tools are are being adopted for business is phenomenal. “Social media management” is incorporated into specific agency job descriptions, detailing responsibility for ego searches, profile updating, online communications etc.

Sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, take on lesser importance, operating a “closed”, permission-based system that requires you to “know” the people you interact with. Twitter, on the other hand, is an “open” platform where anyone can see what you publish, and they don’t need their own account to do so. It’s infinitely more transparent, helping to build trust, relationships, and drive web-traffic.

As yet there’s no Chermayeff & Geismar. No Minale Tattersfield. No Johnson Banks or Lippincott. At the very least, they should be “listening” to what’s happening on Twitter, and I’d be surprised if they aren’t.

Any other notable absentees, with or without a profile?

You can find me @DavidAirey and @LogoDesignLove

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We’re all interested in what others say about us. Especially when it’s about our work. Now if, like me, you act as your own PR team, discovering these snippets and citations rests solely on your shoulders. And in today’s business environment, it’s not just vanity. It’s a necessity.

Cue the ego search.

Otherwise known as egosurfing, it involves searching online for your personal or company name. You might say, “But I already know about me and my company.” The thing is, it’s not about brushing up on your personal achievements. And it’s not just for the vain amongst us either.

The ego search is about managing your brand.

PR teams of the 1900s had weeks and months to plan around potential bad press. Today, however, and as Domino’s Pizza knows all too well, that timeframe has been reduced to hours and days.

With the speed of electronic communication, bad press can spread like wildfire, but by keeping close tabs on any mention of your brand, you can extinguish fires before crowds fan the flames.

How to automate your ego search

It’s easily done using Google Alerts and Twitter Search.

To receive citations via email or RSS, the Google Alerts service is straightforward enough. Simply enter the search term(s) you want to monitor, then choose the frequency of updates (“as it happens” / daily / weekly), and enter your email address for receiving notifications (users with a Google account can receive updates via RSS, as I do).

“But trackbacks already tell me when I’ve been mentioned.”
This is true. When you log into the WordPress admin, you see a small area that displays “incoming links”, so when a blog or website links to one of your posts, you’re automatically notified. What this admin area doesn’t cover, however, is when your brand name is mentioned without the use of a back-link, or when you’re talked about in the comment section of an article. So with Google Alerts those scenarios are taken care of.

My RSS “Alert” doesn’t show when I’m mentioned on Twitter (a good thing where “retweets” are concerned) so I use Twitter Search on a near-daily basis. I search for the terms “david airey” and “logo design love”, then again without spaces i.e. “davidairey” and “logodesignlove”. The latter covers when someone has typed your web address in a tweet, or if your brand name appears in your Twitter username.

It’s possible to automate these results by subscribing to the search RSS feed. To do this, simply pull your chosen query, then cast your eye to the “feed for this query” link at the top of the results page. Personally, I find it takes less time to read the results on Twitter.

It’s not all about bad press, though

Most of the negative thoughts directed at me arrive via blog comments, so I don’t really need to go looking for them. An ego search can, however, actually be very encouraging. Yesterday, for instance, I came across this tweet from Chris Green of Freelance For Money. I don’t know who Chris is, and he kindly took the time to produce this short YouTube video where he talks about my blogs. Thanks very much!

Chris appealed to my ego, prompting me to link back to him and embed his video in my post. Take note (but don’t let me get too big-headed).

How effective is your ego?

Are you keeping tabs on your brand press? Do you get tempted to check more often than you should? If there’s a more efficient way of receiving vanity alerts, please do let me know.

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It’s gratifying when I publish a blog post and you leave comments. What I talk about doesn’t always call for a response, but when it does, and you reply, it’s very encouraging. But is an interest in discussion the only reason you leave your thoughts?

The ulterior motive is gathering pace.

In his blog post, Do You Comment Enough To Be Authority, Alex Sysoef advises you do the following.

1. Locate as many blogs relevant to your niche as possible with CommentLuv enabled
2. Make it a point that EACH time you publish a new post to comment on at least 10 blogs to get 10 links to your posts

For the unfamiliar, CommentLuv is a WordPress plugin that alters the comments other people leave on your blog. It automatically extracts the commentator’s latest blog post headline, adding it as a link at the end of their comment.

Alex claims his method is proven to boost your search rankings for individual posts, but my standpoint is that chasing backlinks from blogs is time better spent elsewhere, writing your own cornerstone content for example. That’s not to say I advise against commenting on blogs within your niche. Quite the opposite. If you leave a genuine comment relevant to the discussion (regardless of what plugins a blog has installed) you’ll gain a lot more than if you set out with ulterior motives.

The real value from blog comments is when we learn something (a quote, a tip, a different perspective), and I’ve definitely learned a lot from your discussions here.

A couple of years back, Andy Beard published a somewhat related blog post, 32 Forms of Linking Payola, talking about what motivates us to link to other websites. There’s one point in particular that stands out for me:

…your audience isn’t stupid, and if you haven’t attempted to disclose as much as possible, that can have a huge influence on how much they trust your opinions…

In a way, that works within comment sections too.

Do you know what I mean? It can be obvious when comments aren’t genuine, left for a purpose other than to join in the discussion — driving traffic for instance. And moderation can be troublesome enough already.

The thought of leaving comments with an ulterior motive isn’t for me, but I’m interested in what you think. Do you target higher search rankings or traffic when leaving a comment? Do you mind others doing that on your blog? Alternatively, if the comment is relevant does it actually matter?

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Increasingly mentioned in the media, Twitter has replaced Delicious as my bookmarking tool of choice. I’m always interested in what local designers are up to, so here’s a “Top of the Twitter Design Charts” for Northern Ireland (be great to get a coffee / pint one weekend soon).

Designer twits in Northern Ireland (listed by # of followers)

1. 6,489 — @gracesmith — Grace Smith (Postscript5)
2. 4,516 — @webcreative — Leeanne Lowe (Web Creative)
3. 4,376 — @davidairey — David Airey (Logo Design Love)
4. 3,020 — @problogdesign — Michael Martin (Pro Blog Design)
5. 2,712 — @leemunroe — Lee Munroe (Lee Munroe)
6. 838 — @webireland — Paul Anthony (Web Distortion)
7. 554 — @acejet170 — Richard Weston (Ace Jet 170)
8. 548 — @davymac — David Macdonald (davymac)
9. 487 — @vectorfunk — Eamonn Murphy (Vectorfunk)
10. 460 — @darrylxxx — Darryl Collins (Banjax Web Design)

Doesn’t seem a lot, does it? Surely there are more.

(Yes, but don’t call me Shirley.)

Find designers on Twitter

Twellow is a searchable Twitter directory that can help you find graphic designers nearby (I’m listed even though I’ve never entered details, so I guess it’s comprehensive).

Twitterholic is another that gives more stats than Twellow. Here’s a top 100 list for Northern Ireland, but I see some users aren’t indexed.

Remember though, Twitter’s not a competition.

I’ve thought about adding an extra field to my comment form, where if you enter your Twitter username it’ll automatically add a link to your profile, kind of like how Darren does it on TwiTip. Can anyone help with that?

Update: 15 June 2009
I’ve installed the Twitip ID plugin, so you should now see an extra field in the comment form. Thanks for the tip-off, Rarst.

Lee also let me know about his new side-project, Tweet NI, which looks like a great way to find twits in Norn Irn.

In summary, can’t touch this.

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Blogs, Mad about Design is a new book from maomao publications. It showcases screenshots and brief descriptions from more than 250 blogs that are, well, mad about design.

All blogs are allocated a double-page spread, and what I like most about the collection is how the authors behind each site were asked to recommend three design blogs, also listed throughout the book.

It’s quite a hefty hardback, with more than 500 pages, so wouldn’t fit through my letterbox. I was still in bed when the postman called yesterday, but my neighbour was outside at the time, saving me a trip to the post office HQ (thanks, Steven).

No book about design blogs is complete without Design Observer (on Twitter). These three blogs get a special mention from the DO team:

• 2blowhards.com
• BLDGBLOG
• if:book

Brand Flakes for Breakfast

If you’ve yet to visit, Brand Flakes for Breakfast is worth a browse. Author Darryl Ohrt (Twitter profile) is a top bloke, and lists these blogs as some of his faves:

• Cup of Java
• NOTCOT
• swissmiss

Designers who Blog

Designers who Blog was one of my very first RSS subscriptions, and it’s a pleasure to call Cat (Twitter profile) a friend. She recommends these:

• Design Observer
• NO!SPEC
• Speak Up

It’s Nice That

It’s Nice That aims to remove what is “nice” in the worlds of graphic design, illustration and the creative arts in general and turn it into something significant and sincere.

The three notable mentions from Will Hudson, Alex Bec and Jez Burrows (on Twitter) include:

• Anygivenname
• Manystuff
• The Style Press

Behance Team Blog

The Behance Team blog is there too, though is one of the very few that doesn’t feature a top three.

A year or so back, Behance founder Scott Belsky (on Twitter) kindly invited me over to create a portfolio, but I still haven’t found the time to upload anything. To those with a profile, how is Behance working for you?

Creative Curio

Like mine, the screenshots for Lauren’s Creative Curio were sent to the book’s editor before a site redesign. Lauren (Twitter profile) shares a few of her regular reads:

• I Love Typography
• David Airey (the money’s in the post)
• Freelance Switch

I Love Typography

Who isn’t familiar with John Boardley’s I Love Typography? John (Twitter profile) recommends these household names (as do I):

• A List Apart
• Smashing Magazine
• swissmiss

swissmiss

Tina (Twitter profile) shares some fantastic links / products / resources on her site, and gives these three blogs a mention in the book:

• Chris Glass
• Design Observer
• Monoscope

The book contains loads of blogs I’ve yet to visit, and plenty I read regularly. A few more worthy mentions include Andy Rutledge, The Dieline, ideasonideas, Noisy Decent Graphics, Brand New, and AisleOne.

For more recommendations see the top 50+ graphic design blogs.

Both of my blogs (this one and Logo Design Love) were kindly included, and it was humbling to have a number of other blog authors list my site in their favourites. Thank you!

Inside cover

I checked on both the maomao publications website, and on Amazon, but can’t find the book offered for sale. If you know different, do let me know and I’ll update with a link.

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Ask any blog author about moderating comments, and I’m sure they’ll have an opinion — the time it takes, comment spam, links within comments etc. I reckon I’m one of the more strict moderators when it comes to your name appearing on my blog, and I’ve decided to show a few of the strange comments received that haven’t seen the light of day (prepare pinch of salt).

Commented on: Personal logo design sketches

u r gay

Commented on: 10 things to expect from your designer

Hi

Does anyone hate you – or does everyone love you.

Sounds to me like you could be up your own arse mate.

x

Commented on: The alphabet, but not as we know it

You suCk with a capital “C”

Commented on: How 20 designers charge their clients

hello sir
how are you
*** happy new year ***
i am a graphic designer and make design in corel draw software
and i want to join ur company how can this possible

Commented on: London 2012 Olympics logo disaster

hello
Dear Mr. Airy
can you send me CDR format of Olympic logo?

Thanks a lot.

Commented on: 13 typefaces for graphic designers

I praise God for answering my prayers. God, you are so wonderful, majestic. Jesus Christ, I adore Your Sacred Heart.s

Commented on: Logo design contests are bad for business

Hi. Not sure if this is the right place, but I need a logo for my company.
It needs to be kind of cool and hip, but still corporate… there isn’t any money, but this would be a tremendous opportunity for you, the designer.

When can I get that?

Commented on: 25 fantastic design articles from 2008

This one is particularly concerning.

i just took a dump that honest to god smelled like cat sh*t – and i havent eaten cat food since 1991. i’m quite concerned about this, cause last time my boyfriend was kissing me, he pat me a few times on my lower back and i jacked my ass up in the air like i was in heat. am i turning into a kitten?

Commented on: How I reversed my Google ranking penalty

you are so naive man this reinclusion process is the similar to the buttons on traffic signals where you press to have a green light…
do you think some one realy bother to read it???? it is not a penalty it is a bug in google data base!!! LoL Lol Lolllllllllllll h ah hah aha ha hha i cannot stop loughing . mat cats is just fat geek google interprize put as human face so people can cry too. he he he lolo lolo

Commented on: Obama logo ideas that weren’t chosen (on Logo Design Love)

Once upon a time there was a little girl. She lived very poorly.

Commented on: Online marketing for logo designers

Hello,

I am interested in purchasing two wedding gifts. Can you give me an estimate of about how much it will cost?

I would like the 4X6 photos of the name Lichten
and another 4X6 photos of the name Plyler

I live in Charlotte, NC. I was not sure if you needed that for shipping.

Also, are the photos framed?

Commented on: What is graphic design?

Graphic Design is like painting a smell.

Commented on: 10 timeless logo designs (on Logo Design Love)

HI I’M GAY :)

The few examples don’t take into account the many messages I receive that start, “To whom it may concern”, or “Dear Sir / Madam”.

All in a days comment moderation

I normally receive 50–100 ‘new comment’ notifications each day, and from those, around half are deleted / marked as spam. I don’t always have time to check a further 20 or 30 that are sent directly to my WordPress spam folder. Occasionaly, there are false positives, so apologies if your legitimate comment has ever been lost.

Many of the blogs I visit seem to allow the majority of comments to appear. That’s fair enough. I know that a high comment-count can indicate a thriving community. Personally, I prefer to show only those thoughts that add to the discussion, and add value to the reader.

It’s certainly no coincidence that I place a high value on your thoughts, because I’m sure many of you stick around due to the excellent insights offered by others. The focus on reader comments series is one small way to give credit where it’s due.

I know that many of you author your own blogs, and I’m curious, how strict are your blog comments moderated?

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As a little thank you for reading my blog, I asked what your favourite design blog post was from 2008. A fitting way to finish off the year and to bring in the new, here’s what you chose, and why.

1/ Steven Snell, of Vandelay Design

12 realities of pricing design services

This post stands out to me from 2008 primarily because of the response that it received. While it doesn’t get as many visitors as some other posts, readers left a lot of thoughtful responses and several other blogs have linked to the post as a helpful guide for pricing advice. I wrote the post based on the things I’ve seen in my own work throughout the start of my career, so it means a lot to see that others can relate and that my insight has been able to help in some way. Steven Snell

2/ John Boardley, of I Love Typography

15 great examples of web typography

… because, it demonstrates what can be achieved. It’s all too easy to complain about limitations to typography for the screen, when really it’s simply another medium rich in possibilities and potential. John Boardley

3/ Anthony Zinni, of Positive Space Blog

Would life be easier if you weren’t a designer?

This article is my personal favorite of the year because it really opened a discussion about the crazy things designers are willing to put up with for love of the profession. Anthony Zinni

4/ Michael Martin, of Pro Blog Design

The perfect hands-free database backup

It’s not the most exciting topic to read about or the most adventurous post, but it’s simple. In one go, a blogger will never have to worry about their database again, and it doesn’t cost them a penny. Michael Martin

5/ Jon Phillips, of Freelance Folder

5 creativity killers

I chose this post simply because I face those 5 creativity killers on a regular basis and every time I have to remind myself to go back and read my own post. It happens I don’t sleep much because I’m too preoccupied with a project, or get distracted by ’stuff’, sometimes I fear my client won’t like my design mock-ups, and then when I get to the point where I start to worry about money, then I go and read my post. Things always work out in the end. Jon Phillips

6/ Calvin Lee, of Mayhem Studios

Online copyright infringement: 4 ways to remove your stolen work

Most creatives don’t know what to do when their work is ripped off. It’s easier to resolve than they think. It happens often and most don’t do anything about it.

My blog post helps creatives get stolen work taken down in 4 easy steps. Calvin Lee

7/ Chris Spooner, of Spoon Graphics

8 free cute & simple Twitter bird vector graphics

As well as being fun to produce, the vector birds gained some great feedback and exposure, it has been fantastic to see them in use on various sites across the web. With Twitter being a widely used application, I’d like to promote the bird characters a little further in the hope that a few more people can make good use of them on their own website! Chris Spooner

8/ Randa Clay, of Randa Clay Design

Building trust with clients — being honest about mistakes

…it’s somethiing I wish someone had told me early on. As it was, I had to take a rather long road to learn it. Randa Clay

9/ Jin Yang, of 8164

Conformity

I’m choosing it because I feel it addresses a few issues that exist in the web design blogsphere. I feel web designers, especially those who are new to the field, need to learn from inspirations, but not to use them as a crotch. The article also generated some good discussions from readers. Jin Yang

10/ Jacob Share, of JobMob

The 25 most creative designer resumés you’ll see this year

Compiling this list was fun and inspiring. There are some terrific ideas out there about what can be done with something as basic as a resumé. Funny too, in some cases. Jacob Share

11/ Steve Willicott, of Eightyone Design

Why does everyone think they’re a graphic designer?

It only started out as a bit of a rant but it seems everyone has an opinion on this subject — it is by far the most viewed post on our blog and has put us in touch with many new friends. Steve Willicott

12/ Antonio Carusone, of AisleOne

Introducing The Grid System

…my favorite post of the year is the one where I introduce The Grid System because it’s something I’m very proud of. A lot of people find the site very useful and it’s educating more and more people on the benefits on using grid systems in their designs. Antonio Carusone

13/ Gino Orlandi, of You The Designer

6 people every designer should know

I picked this post because I always try to stress the importance of networking. Its much easier to accomplish goals and better yourself as a person and designer with a good network of people supporting you. If you surround yourself with quality, ambitious and like-minded people you will go much farther in life, much faster! Gino Orlandi

14/ Brian Ling, of Design Sojourn

30 essential books for industrial designers

I have always seen books as a “window to someone’s personality”, and for me this post was not only a reflection of my multi-disciplinary and varied interests, but a way that I could share a little about myself with my readers. Brian Ling

15/ Yeal Miller, of The Dieline

Eye Candy

What I found really notable about Eye Candy is the use of packaging itself to convey added layers of meaning. Clever use of of a transparent printed overlay/sleeve reveals a changing message as the sleeve is moved across the package. Yael Miller

16/ Eli Burford, of Design Blurb

Photoshop tutorial: designing a creative blog footer

I’m happiest with this one because of the outcome, obviously. But as I stated in the tutorial, inspiration comes from Alexandru Cohaniuc’s portfolio, but he gave me permission to use his footer as inspiration. The great thing about this was after I emailed Alexandru, he even sent me the PSD file for his footer design. Goes to show how really nice some people in the Blogosphere can be. Eli Burford

17/ Brian Yerkes, of BrianYerkes.com

50 reasons why you will not make it as a freelancer

I enjoyed writing this post, and I was happy that it caused designers trying to succeed to look at themselves a bit, and really understand why they may or may not be failing at becoming a freelancer.

The post title was inspired by a close friend of mine who just doesn’t understand what it takes to become a self-employed designer. I have tried to encourage him and pass on advice from my own experience, but he is still struggling to apply himself correctly. I think there are a lot of designers out there like him. They have a lot of creativity and art skill, but struggle to apply that to the business / marketing world. Brian Yerkes

18/ Andrew Kelsall, of AndrewKelsall.com

Large-format foamex design for Next Distribution

I chose this article because I think it sums-up what I do best as a designer. Whilst many freelancers concentrate on brochures, logo design and websites (which are all great to do), I love to focus on producing custom works that both stimulate and challenge me in a different way. Andrew Kelsall

19/ Andrew Houle, of My Ink Blog

A very snowy tutorial

This tutorial covers so many useful techniques in Illustrator and Photoshop. The skills learned here will help you optimize your workflow, and save you time, which inevitably is a goal of every designer. Andrew Houle

20/ Mirko Humbert, of Designer Daily

44 tools to help you in your design work

Complete designer toolbox, classified by tasks. I think it will be most useful for designers and webworkers out there. Mirko Humbert

21/ Sander Baumann, of DesignWorkPlan

Dutch Government introduces corporate typeface

I chose this blogpost because of the great discussion that started with the topic of visual communication and branding on a government level. Sander Baumann

22/ Vivien, of Inspiration Bit

Meticulous design: dramatic headlines

I’m always inspired by small details that initially may go unnoticed but subconsciously make a great impact, and I’m always intrigued by how one tackles attention to details in design, hence my research on meticulous design, that many others find helpful as well. Vivien

23/ Adelle Charles, of Fuel Your Creativity

Is minimalistic design more effective?

This was one of the first articles I wrote for the Web Design Ledger, I am a very minimalistic designer myself and thought it would be great to show examples, and the discussion that followed in the comments received a great response. A good article for the experienced & upcoming designers. Adelle Charles

24/ Vitaly Friedman, of Smashing Magazine

Smashing highlights 2008

We had so many good articles this year, so it’s really hard to pick the best one. We certainly love all of the articles linked here, though. Vitaly Friedman

25/ Last — and most probably least — Logo Design Love

33 logos in 33 minutes

A look at the brands I interact with first thing each day, and a taste of how much we’re all subjected to branding.

Plus, there were 24 answers to the question behind this blog post, and 25 somehow seems more balanced. Some Irish chap

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my RSS subscriptions this past year, and am sure it’ll continue into 2009. Thanks very much to everyone who answered my question, and keep up the great work!

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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