Ok, I lied, this post doesn’t contain just round-ups. It also houses some of my favorite and in my opinion, some of the most inspirational blog posts thus far in 2010. I wanted to do this round-up because I’d like to think it can really be a great resource for a struggling designer looking for a flick of inspiration or a nudge of clarity. I keep all of these posts in my delicious bookmarks, which contains many more useful links for you to browse. If there is a round-up or article that has really inspired you, please share it in the comments. The more inspiration-rich content that can fit into this post, the better!

1. Responsive Web Design, A List Apart
2. Self-employment advice for designers, David Airey
3. The Psychology of Web Design, Web Designer Depot
4. Typography that moves you, Fuel Your Creativity
5. The Differences Between Good Designers and Great Designers, DRAWAR
6. Corporate identity design done right: 17 great examples, designer-daily
7. 86 Beautiful Book Covers, You The Designer
8. 33 Letterpress Business Cards for Inspiration, Vandelay Design
9. Negative Space in Webpage Layouts, a guide, Six Revisions
10. 10 Websites Every Web Designer Should Know About, Lee Munroe
11. The Most Relevant Identity Work of the Decade, Brand New
12. 5 Branding Basics Every Logo Designer Should Know, Six Revisions
13. 11 Design Strategies of the Next Decade, design sojourn
14. Whitespace: The Underutilized Design Element, Web Design Ledger
15. Michael Bieruts 5  Secret’s of Design, design sojourn

2010 has arrived and I haven’t really had any deep thoughts about any goals or aspirations for the new year. I do not even feel obligated to reflect on 2009 at all. I am really excited to look to the future and I am looking forward to a new year. I have never made a serious new year’s resolution in the past, but with a new decade I figure it is time to put an end to that.


Professional goals for 2010:

1. Find a studio/ firm that I am able to grow with professionally and creatively. I have been freelancing pretty avidly for the past year now and I think it is about time for me to find a company with friendly Creatives so I have the opportunity to learn and grow with others. I can honestly admit that I have never had an in-house job that I enjoyed. I blame myself mostly for just jumping at any job I was offered so that I was able to earn a dollar. This year I promise myself that I will not take up a job just because it is a source of income, but because it is a place where I can see myself succeeding.
2. No more Mrs. Nice Girl. This year I will not let any current/future clients of mine take advantage of my kindness. By this I mean no more chasing payments. When I first started freelancing my biggest mistake was being too nice and working on other peoples time and not my own. 2010 will be my year to completely dig myself out of the hole of mistakes I fell into when I began freelancing full-time a year ago. You learn from your mistakes.
3. I’d like to think of myself as a pretty organized person, but I can never be too organized. I will take the opportunity this new year has brought by reorganizing/updating all of my contracts, proposals, and billing/payment system.
4. Start making schedules. I have never made a schedule in my life. Sure, I do what needs to be done when it needs to be done and on time, but I’d like to take that mentality and one-up it. By scheduling my days I hope to gain more personal time and lose some of the stress that comes with the spontaneous life a freelancer leads.

Personal goals for 2010:

1. Fitness. Since I have been overseas I have fell out of the swing of every day life back in Florida. So, I plan on taking advantage of the beautiful Pacific Ocean and swim at least 4 days a week and if I am not swimming I will be running (which I hate by the way).
2. Health. Many of us go on random health kicks, and I am one of those people. This year I plan on cutting certain things like soda out of my diet, and putting more fruits and vegetables in their place.
3. Put myself into forced uncomfortable situations. Traveling has really opened my eyes and has taken me out of my comfort zone. This year I plan on purposely taking myself outside of my own personal comfort zone in hopes of meeting new people and experiencing things I couldn’t picture myself doing.
4. This is an important one for me. I plan on saving a certain amount of money each week and putting it aside to travel. Being in Australia is my first experience with being overseas. I think it is important for my well-being to get out and see as much of the world as possible why I still young and in good health.

What are some of your professional and personal resolutions and plans for the new decade?

Sydney Harbour Bridge, New Years Eve. (Taken by my iPhone)

For the next few weeks I will be writing from a new blog: Ant Does Sydney, to document my life here in Sydney. I will be going out and experiencing Sydney, Australia and then coming back here to share with everyone what I have gotten up to.

I know I have been slacking quite a bit lately, and I’d like to take this time to thank and welcome all of my new subscribers! Sorry that I haven’t had a chance to get anything up for you guys lately, but hopefully you will find this side project interesting and choose to subscribe to the Ant Does Sydney blog as well as keeping up with my Sydney Adventures by adding the Facebook app, Life Points! Every week I will put together a list of 5 Sydney activities that are within the Life Points app and will run a poll to see which activity readers would like me to experience that week.

I am always active on twitter! So, for those of you who aren’t following me yet, follow me here and hopefully we can keep in touch via twitter until I catch up here at the VelvetAnt blog!

On March 8th it was International Women’s Day. I actually had no idea such a day even existed. In celebration of such a day I decided to make a belated post honoring International Women’s Day. I have gathered a collection of females who design and/or blog to share with you. This is a collection of female designers I follow on twitter, subscribe to their blogs, and just create flat out amazing work! These females are not only inspiring to the small, yet growing community of female designers, but they are inspiring to the design community in general. The following sites designed and created by females can be used as inspirational outlets, as well as design resources. These sites are listed in no particular order.

Being freelance is tough ain’t it? Working in the comfort of your own home in your pj’s with the television on and taking a break whenever you want… sounds nice doesn’t it? Surprisingly, working from home is tough! If any of you are like me then you know that working in the comfort of your own home is nothing short of a horrible distraction!

I think freelancing is a beautiful thing. I love being my own boss and not having to be anyone’s boss. Freelancing is a test of self-motivation and it is not an easy thing. It is important to know how to freelance successfully and these are just a few things I do to keep myself motivated to stay on task when working from home.

1. Set an alarm. Monday-Friday I have an alarm set to wake me up roughly around 8:00am. I find that waking up early as if I am going to an office job helps me stay focused and allows me to start working on any projects I may have by a decent hour.
2. Morning routine. After I am up and awake I like to shower, enjoy a nice breakfast, get dressed, and make sure that I am sitting in front of my computer promptly by 9:00am.
3. You need a desk. Many freelancers have laptops, and working from the couch with their laptop on the coffee table is effective for them. I find it much easier to sit down at my desk with my computer and papers in front of me. Sitting at a desk opposed to the couch or the kitchen table makes me feel like I am actually at work and because of that it motivates me to work!
4. Contact your clients. By staying in touch with your clients day to day it lets them know that you are thinking of them and you are currently working on their project. This really helps me because I want to give my clients 100% satisfaction. Contacting my clients gives them hope that their project is in the works and that pushes me to work harder and finish up projects to keep them happy.
5. Allow yourself short breaks. Designing for long periods of time can damage your creative flow and strain your eyes, so allow yourself a short 15min break every couple of hours. I like to take a break from my work by doing little mindless hobbies such as reading some of the blogs I subscribe to, looking through inspirational and funny images on flickr, and checking my social networking profiles. By the time I am through with my break I feel reenergized.
6. Limit your phone and television intake. Those day time talk shows can really suck you in! I find it distracting to work with the TV on because that is not where my focus should be. I try to cut phone conversations short during my work hours. It really messes with my work flow to find myself yapping away for 10min and then when it is time to continue working I can’t remember where I left off.
7. Make a production sheet. Around 5 or 6 when it is quitting time for me, I like to type up a quick list of where my stopping point for the day was and where to begin when I wake up in the morning. This gives me a sense of accomplishment and helps me start my following day off quickly.

These are just some things that I do day-to-day to keep myself on task. Not all designers are all over the place like I am. I am definitely a designer who needs a set schedule in order to be and feel productive. What do you do to keep yourself motivated and on task when you are freelancing?