Creative Graphics Design

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Just Creative Design’s 2008 Round Up

This is a round up of the past year’s articles along with some other interesting trivia, goals and future plans.

2008 Statistics

6778 Comments / Trackbacks
197 Posts
34 Comments / Trackbacks per article on average
15 Posts written per month on average
4,360,018 pageviews
Average time on page: 2:40 on average
9910 (Highest Subscriber Count)

Some Of My Favourites

Below are some of my favourite articles here on Just Creative Design.

What is your favourite article?

For a memory boost, check out the featured articles page.

Goals

For the new year I am aiming for 8000 new subscribers (500 a month). I kind of have to laugh when last year I set a goal for 1000 subscribers – I am aiming a bit higher this time. I also want to get an internship or work experience at a design studio in Sydney. I also want to work more on my illustration and 3D design skills, the areas in which I think I could do with the most improvement.

What are your goals? I need some ideas!

What am I doing now & later?

At present I have a few design jobs that I am working on… I am in the process of designing a luxury refillable water bottle for a client in the US, a logo for a supermarket in Curacao, a logo for a barn maker in the US, a website for a Wedding Florist & Decorator, a website for a Celebrant, a photography job for Tupperware and I also have got two separate leads for a vodka bottle design and also a rum based liquor bottle, plus about 5 other logo design leads which will hopefully come through. I may also be launching a new blog next year so stay tuned for that. Plus, I have a few other surprises

I have also lined up some writing gigs on Smashing Magazine, Web Designer Depot,VectorTuts, Freelance Folder and the UK Creative Pool.

On the lighter side of life, I have just come back from a week long holiday up our holiday house for Christmas, had my 21st birthday (had a cruise on Sydney harbour with dinner & drinks) and in January I am going for a week long road trip up to the Gold Coast (8 hours north) for a festival & holiday. I also have a two week holiday to Thailand scheduled for February. University will then start back in March and I will have to get back to the real life.

I have also booked a ski trip over in New Zealand in August 2009 so looking forward to that too. At some stage I also have to fit in a trip to China as well (was my 21st birthday present) and in 2010 I plan to go to Canada to work as a ski instructor on the slopes but we will see how that goes. In short, I will be a busy boy.

What about you? What are you working on and what have you got planned?

April Fools! (No more Comic Sans!)

Of course I would never swap Just Creative Design to Comic Sans (see original post here)! It was an April Fools Joke! Comic Sans is one of the world’s most hated (and loved) fonts of all time. Ensure you refresh again (press Ctrl+F5) to change back.

In case you are not aware, “April Fools” is a day celebrated in many westernised countries where you play practical jokes on each other… even Google takes part.

Anyway, it seems I did trick quite a few – here a few quotes from Twitter, Facebook & the original post.

“Comic Sans??? It is really over used. I love your site (and logos) but not a huge fan of the Comic Sans. “

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Don’t used the most killed font of all-time! This is SO elementary for such a knowledgeable guy like yourself. Please switch it.”

“What the f***!”

“Love your site, love your work. As for the font choice:it will have to grow on me. Keep thinking creatively and keep leading the field. I think you are one of the most talented designers out there right now.”

“Lmfao! Good one. I actually fell for it.”

“omg i was FREAKING OUT until i saw the comments and remembered its april fools. oh man, well done.”

“I was thinking in my head “Really, Comic Sans??! Has Jacob finally derailed? I thought Comic Sans was forbidden in the design community?!” LOL good thing I read the other comments! You got me.”

“Fell for it last year, not again!”
(hehe, yup I played the same joke twice! – I was tempted to do papyrus this year but couldn’t go past Comic Sans again!)

For those that missed it, you can see a lovely screen shot below.

Happy April Fools everyone and congrats to those who didn’t get fooled!

“Jacob, Our Top Twit”

A journalist from The Herald (Newcastle’s local newspaper) contacted me earlier this week and asked me a few questions (find below) for an article based on Twitter (follow me). The next day a photographer came around and took a few snaps.

Two days later I went to the Newsagency to pick up the local newspaper to see if my article was out (they didn’t provide me a date) and I was more than surprised to see my mugshot on the front page, I really wasn’t expecting that.

The reason they chose me for the article was because of this Newcastle Top Twitter’slist put together by Gordon Whitehead however they probably should have had usedHugh Jackman as the Twitter poster boy – he has over 133,000 followers.

Anyway, you can see the image of the front page below and then below that, the article itself. There is also a slightly adjusted online version of the article on The Herald website.

Don’t you just love all the puns… “All-A-Twitter”, “Life’s Tweet”, “Finally, it’s OK to be a real twit”, “Jacob, our Top Twit”.

Twitter Interview Responses

Below are my original replies in response to the questions put forward by the journalist – you will find some great Twitter tips here. They only ended up using one quote from these replies but I thought it would be good to share my responses none the less.

Why did you join?

I originally joined Twitter back in June last year however I didn’t start using it properly until a few weeks after I joined as it took me a while to grasp onto the concept… it also took me a while to see the true benefit however I am 100% truly glad that I did, the benefits have been enormous.

For those just starting out with Twitter, I recommend this Ultimate Twitter Guide and this Twitter Resource Guide.

How often do you use Twitter?

Whenever I have something to valuable to share, say or promote which is probably about 5 times a day, maybe 4 days a week, give or take.

What do you use it for?

I use Twitter to find useful information shared by the other Twitter users. I also use Twitter to promote and share my own articles which in turn promotes my services (logo, branding, web and graphic design) thus bringing in potential clients.

How did you get so many followers?

I run three websites including quite a popular design & creativity blog called “Just Creative Design” which gets over 10,000 visits a day. I have built these websites up over the past 15 months which is where a lot of my followers come from, however it is not easy to keep followers…you must ensure that you do not spam, nor be too “me me me”, it’s all about sharing and being authentic and down to earth.

What’s some of the funniest / weirdest / common / uncommon things you’ve found on Twitter?

On Twitter there is a function that allows you to save your favourite tweets and I have got quite a few however rather than sharing all of them I will share the weirdest thing I have found… someone invented a Twitter device that you plug into the soil of a plant… the plant will then Twitter to you when it needs watering. Genius or just plain weird? You decide.

Do you see it having the potential to overtake Facebook or become yet another way to stay in touch?

Facebook and Twitter are both very different social networks originally built for different purposes however Facebook is implementing many changes to take on Twitter, but for now I think Twitter is still stronger in terms of networking, marketing & socialising. Facebook is more for keeping in touch with your “real” friends in my opinion but obviously this can vary from user to user. Twitter users seem to be much more tech savvy.

On a side note, a while back I also wrote an article called “Exposed: Facebook sends more traffic than Twitter” – it isn’t so true for me now but Facebook may work better for you in terms of Traffic.

Why should someone join Twitter..how will it change / enhance their life?

Everyone joins Twitter for different reasons, and before you go tweeting your life away you should establish what and why you are going to be using Twitter. Whatever your passion or interest, there is no doubt going to be someone else tweeting about it and you can join in too… Share your tips and resources and they will share theirs. You really have nothing to lose.

Being Newcastle’s top Twitter is a pretty good achievement, how do you attract your followers and how personal do you get with your posts. Are you worried about revealing too much about yourself to strangers?

I run three popular websites where I write articles mostly focused on design which in turn brings in visitors to my site where I have links to add me on Twitter (such as this). Most of my followers are those interested in design seeing though I am a designer myself but gaining followers all depends on your industry and how you use Twitter. I don’t get too personal with my Tweets as that is not what I am using it for, however I do share my achievements and current work and that is as personal as I get. eg. I may share an article that I am reading online but I don’t share what I am having for dinner.

Who do u follow on Twitter?

I follow over 11,000+ people so that would be quite a huge list, but I make use of the application called Tweetdeck (highly recommended) and in this application you can make “groups” so you can choose a select few that you really want to follow. This allows you to filter out the noise of the other 11,000+ people you are following.

Don’t forget to follow me. Also add yourself to this uber list of designers / creatives / geeks to follow on twitter if applicable.

How has Twitter enhanced your life?

The Past, Present & The Future

This post is a general overview of what I have been up to, where I am at and where I am going in the short future.

agIdeas 2009

This past week I have been down in Melbourne for the 3 day design conference agIdeas and it was simply awesome… I learned so much and was awe inspired by the quality and passion behind all of the speakers who had so much knowledge & insight to share.

Unfortunately I didn’t take many notes over the three days so I can not give much of a review of what was said however I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience… from hearing the masters talk about their craft right through to the free beer, pizza and parties. My favourite talkers were Sean Cummings, Stefan Sagmeister, Tobias Frere-Jones, John Marsden, Étienne Minuer, Michale Persson and Stanley Wong.

For those interested in attending a similar design conference (I highly recommend it) here is a great article that lists many US and international design conferences.

Calling For Guest Posts

Would you be interested in writing an article for Just Creative Design? If so, pleasesend me an email with what you have in mind. I need to have the completed article before 24th May. All topics are welcome.

Travel Plans

The reason I am calling for guest posts is because I am going to go travelling for 2 months and won’t have the time to write enough posts for my time away.

For those interested, I am heading to Japan for 10 days, Cambodia for 6, Vietnam for 16 and then I will have 1 week back in Australia and then will head over to New Zealand for 10 days for a snow boarding trip.

If you have read my about page, you may know that I love traveling and have shared my experiences many times here on JCD. This trip will be no different and I will share some of the photos when I return.

These are the other places I have been for those interested: Belgium, Canada (British Columbia, Whistler, Blackcomb, Big White), USA (23 States), Denmark (Copenhagen), United Kingdom (London), Fiji (Nadi, Suva), Finland (Suomi), France (Paris, Bordeaux, Nice), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway (Oslo), Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sweden (Goteborg, Stockholm), Vanuatu, Spain (Pamplona, Barcelona), Monaco, Italy (Rome, Capri, Vienna, Venice, Florence, Sorrento), Vatican City, Greece (Corfu), Austria, Germany (Munich, Heidelberg), Liechtenstein, Switzerland (Jungfrau Mountain / Lauterbrunnen), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Norfolk Island, Hong Kong, Thailand (Phuket, Bangkok, Samui), Vietnam, Cambodia (Siem Riep & Phnom Penh), Japan.

NYC Creative Studio Job Offer

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be offered a job in New York City by a creative director at a new media marketing agency. I have put forward my interest in the job and am currently in talks with a few contacts over in NYC to see if we can make the move a reality, considering such things as payment, accommodation, visas, etc.

If everything works out I should be over there at the end of this year.

Update: July 24th 2009 – It has been confirmed, I am leaving for NYC, January 2010.

As for the future of JCD and my other blogs Logo of the Day and Logo Designer Blog… who knows? Things eventually have to come to an end but I don’t have plans for doing anything like that just yet… I think I will just have to post less frequently.

Other News

Bottle being manufactured in China

Above is a 3D mock-up for a sustainable, refillable glass water bottle that I designed for a Miami based water company a few months ago. The bottle is currently being manufactured in China and I am eagerly awaiting to see the final product in a few weeks. I am quite excited about this project and can’t wait to see the results which is why I am sharing the mock-up with you now.

I will write up about the design process (similar to my Vodka bottle design process) once I get the product in my hands and the professional photographs come through from the client in the US.

I will then proceed to complete their identity (website + promotional material) which I am also looking forward too.

Jobs I am currently working on

Below are some of the projects I am currently working on:

Liquor Bottle Design (for a Jamaican rum based liquor)
4 Identity Designs + Stationery
Logo Design eBook
Newcastle Fashion Week Identity + Promotional Material (Pro bono work)
Comic Strip (in collaboration with 3 others at University)
Vector Toy Character Illustration (University work)
Creativity Speech (University work)
Vero Website / Promotional Material (soon)

I am currently taking work for August.

Layers magazine 3 page spread

If you have a look in the latest issue of Layers Magazine (May/June) you will find a three page spread of me and my work (page 26). I give a shout out to you (my readers) so keep an eye out for that too.

I have a PDF copy of the spread here but I have not received the tangible copy just yet… once I do I will take some pics and post them up in a new blog post.

Sky diving

I should also mention that I am going Sky Diving this weekend… just incase I don’t come back. Eek. Update: Survived and the photos are on my Facebook page.

how-to-make-your-website-mobile

Thanks to the generosity and help from Mobify, Just Creative Design now has a mobile version. This means you can read JCD’s articles on your iPhone or mobile device while having the pages & images load up to 7 times faster. See some of the screenshots below if you haven’t got an internet enabled phone or use this site for a rough emulation (type http://m.justcreativedesign.com as the address).

It was really easy to set up the mobile version of JCD through Mobify’s dashboard… the interface behind the scenes of Mobify is quite easy to use and I had the mobile version of JCD customised within 20 minutes of signing in to their site.

The only real problem I had was trying to create my own domain name (http://m.justcreativedesign.com rather than http://jcd.mobify.com) as I had to change my DNS CNAME records which I had to contact my hosts for.

However in saying that, the support of Mobify was very helpful – in many cases I had a response to my questions within a few minutes or if not, a few hours.

Mobify also offer a variety of CMS plugins that automatically directs users on a phone / mobile device to the mobile version of the site rather than the full site which is pretty handy (if not essential).

Oh, and you get your own icon too which is useful if people want to create an icon shortcut to your website on their phone homescreen (see screenshot below). You can also track the mobile traffic stats through Google Analytics.

Anyway, the good news is that Mobify are currently offering this service for free, so maybe you want a mobile version for your site?

For those who want a do-it-yourself alternative, there are also a number free Wordpress plugins out there (that I haven’t tested) ie. Mobile Press & dotMobi (not associated with Mobify).

When I asked Mobify how they differed from plugins such as these, this was their reply:

Mobify is a universal mobile design environment… Plug-ins like this one aren’t bad, but they look very simple and make your site look like any other site with that plugin. Usually they only support the very basic functionality (posts, comments) so any 3rd party modules you have are unusable.
With Mobify our intention was to build a tool with the simplicity of Photoshop, that allows you to literally do anything for mobile. In the future we will see if we can migrate more of our features down into the plugin space, right now our plugin is for redirection only.
So yeah, we’re just a different approach to the mobile problem!

So yeah, up to you which route you go, but I recommend Mobify.

iPhone Screenshot

iPhone Homescreen Screenshot

(Thanks to @retinart for the screenshot below)

Blackberry Screenshot

Nokia Screenshot

Have you made your website mobile friendly? If so, how did you go about doing it?