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)

This past week I have made the switch from PC to Mac. It was only a matter of time before it happened. I already have an iPhone and an iPod, so 17-inch Macbook Pro was next on the list, right? Right! My decision to switch from PC to Mac was purely based on simplifying my life. One piece of technology that is capable of fitting and organizing my career and my personal life on the go.

I was very excited to get my new notebook, so I tweeted about. After sending out the tweet I was asked if I preferred Mac over PC, especially for web design by @loveforweb. My answer in less than 140 characters was:

“When it comes to design it is purely preference and comfort. Macs don’t make you a better designer. Skill does!”

I would now like to elaborate on that statement in more than just 140 characters. Being a designer is not about what you use to create your work, it is about how you create your work. It is about the knowledge and meaning behind your projects, and the steps you’ve taken to get there. If you are a great designer you can design equally beautiful art on a PC or on a Mac.

So, does it really matter if you are designing on a Mac or a PC? I would say it matters to a certain extent. It matters when it comes to your comfort and what you are familiar with. It matters personally, but it does not matter when it comes to your work. Designing on a Mac does not make your work better. The only thing that can make your designs better is years of experience, knowledge, and a love and passion for what you do.

I think it is important for designers who are just starting off to know that you do not need to purchase expensive accessories in hopes that they will make you a better designer. Simplify your life by only keeping necessities in it.

Here is the temporary setup. I say temporary because as many of you may know, I am currently overseas. So, this is what I will be working with for the next 6 months. A very large setup for such a tiny desk I bought and built from Ikea.



Here are 20 sites and blog posts I’d like to share with you. I keep these resources in my Delicious Bookmarks and often refer to them whenever I need design help, inspiration, or just in the mood to look at something pretty. The internet is such a great way to keep designers of any skill level current in the industry and it’s chuck full of inspiration. If you have any articles that you feel all designers should give a read that you’d like to share, or perhaps a site that always has that special spark to ignite your design sense please leave a comment linking to the site. Enjoy!

1. Minimal Exhibit
2. TYPEInspire
3. Dieter Rams and his 10 Design Commandments
4. How To Improve Your Branding With Your Content
5. 37 Places To Get Free Stock Images
6. 30 Artistic and Creative Résumés
7. 10 Awesome Free Handwritten Fonts
8. Do You Want Fries With That Logo?
9. Ten logo design tips from the field
10. 100 New and Beautiful Seamless Patterns
11. 15 Typography Books To Help You Learn and Love Typography
12. 25+ Inspirational Folded Brochures
13. 30 Interesting Brochure Layout Ideas
14. How to Read the Mind of a Client in 3 Easy Steps
15. Ways and Links to improve the Typography of your WordPress site
16. 26 Professional Photoshop Retouching Tutorials
17. 10 Ways to Beat the Hell Out of Creative Block
18. Typographic Elegance Letterpress Wedding Cards
19. Hiring a designer: a client’s perspective
20. 20 Retro Wallpapers to Spark Inspiration

There are hundreds of inspirational design galleries available on the internet, but the best design inspiration sites are driven by designers. It is great to find sites that allow users to submit their work and share it with our design community. What better way to be inspired than by other like designers! These sites also allow us to submit our work for critiquing and receive feedback from fellow designers. Please share your favorite design inspiration sites by leaving a comment.

Here are 30 sites that are fueled by user content.