I wish I could tell you why I signed up for Twitter over a year ago, but to be honest the best answer I have was to see what all the hype was about. I didn’t “get” Twitter and that is because I wasn’t utilizing it properly.

Twitter is not a popularity contest. It is not about how many followers you have or how many people are following you. In fact, the more people you follow the more useful tweets you are missing out on due to a Twitter stream overload. Before you decide to follow someone back or follow someone new take the time to read a few of their tweets and ask yourself the following:

1. Are their tweets useful?
2. Are their tweets interesting?
3. Could their tweets help you in your personal and professional life?

Even though Twitter is not about how many followers you have, a healthy amount of followers is helpful. How do you get other interesting people besides your mom to follow you on Twitter?

Easy, ask the same three questions we asked about people who you should follow about yourself.

1. Are your tweets useful?
2. Are your tweets interesting?
3. Could your tweets help others in their personal and professional life?

Social networking is about…being social. So for a lack of wit:

• BE SOCIAL.
• Retweet others tweets that your find useful.
• Start conversations to get others talking.
• Try your best to answer any questions others may tweet you about.
• Be friendly.
• Give your tweets personality so people know you are more than just a computer.

Should you keep separate personal and professional Twitter accounts?

I give this idea a massive NO. Some would argue that some tweeters give some of their tweets TOO MUCH personality and think it could hurt their business. I believe if you can find the right balance between your personal and professional life, go for it. Many people enjoy seeing a companies personality reflected through their tweets.

You can and should judge a person by their tweets. Sweet tweets!

Ways to find interesting people to follow:

1. Mr. Tweet. Mr. Tweet takes your interests and the interests of people you follow to compile a new list of people you may be interested in following.
2. Find the twitters of blogs you frequent.
3. Have a look through the people who you currently follow followers.
4. Check out peoples twitters who you see being retweeted by the people you currently follow.

ONE. There is more than just one direction.
There is always more than one right way to approach and tackle design obstacles. If certain techniques aren’t working for you, look for a new solution.

TWO. Strangers can offer good advice.
The most unbiased advice can come from a stranger. Online design communities are a great place to find help when you may be suffering from so-called “designers block”

THREE. When you’re lost ask for help.
If you’re not sure you are on the right track never be too afraid to ask a fellow designer for help. I always find myself asking other designers for help. Sometimes the smallest suggestion can make a massive difference.

FOUR. Beauty is in the detail
Never skimp on detail, especially if you are a designer. We make things look pretty for a living. When you choose to look over “tiny” details it can make a huge impact.

FIVE. Grids make busy beautiful
Designing using a grid is not for everyone, but designing on a grid can help make a designer’s busy canvas look well-organized

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

One way to gain real world experience is to freelance. Whether it be in-house freelance work or working from home with clients you’ve found on your own. Freelancing is a great way to learn how to deal with clients and a better understanding of the design process.

Intern. Many designers try to avoid interning after college, but sometimes it’s the only way to gain the experience you need to get one step closer to finding your dream job. Not all interning is bad! There are many internship out there that pay.

Do not be picky. Even though optimizing images in Photoshop doesn’t sound like a thrill, entry level tasks like this need to be done and in most cases are given to new designers. Almost all of us have done crappy jobs like that to get where we are.

No matter what kind of entry level job you find always know that you are valuable. Even if you are optimizing images in Photoshop or renaming files, someone has to do it. Your position will always be essential to finishing a project.

Do not become discouraged. It can really take a lot out of a person to send out 15 applications a day and at the end of a month MAYBE receiving one email saying they are not suitable for the position. It is totally normal to not hear back from a company you’ve applied for a position once. Like I said early, they are receiving hundreds of emails. If most companies had the time they would almost all rey letting you know why you weren’t chosen for a position.

Never stop learning. A massive part of gaining experience is always being educated on the latest software and design trends. Having a recent education is The biggest advantage a new designer has over someone who graduated on adobe 7.

Last but certainly not least, FOLLOW UP for any position you apply for! Just sending one email application for a position is almost in most cases not enough. I’ve landed positions and have gotten interviews from my follow up emails. When you see a job listing on the internet, you’re not the only one seeing it. Companies are receiving a very high volume of resumes at the same time, so by following up you have a greater chance of really having your resume read over instead of being quickly glanced at.

For those of you who have been in the industry for awhile, how did you land your first job, and what advice can you offer to design graduates who do not have enough or any real world experience?

Image: The Empire Strikes Back

The year 1980 saw the release of George Lucas’s follow-up to the hugely successful Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, directed by Irvin Kershner. Although originally a sequel, the film became Episode V of the Star Wars saga following the more recent release of three prequels. Artist Roger Kastel created this beautiful hand-painted poster for the film’s theatrical release, taking his inspiration from a poster for Gone With the Wind.

2. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Image: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

American illustrator Richard Amsel produced some of the most iconic movie posters of the 20th Century, including this for the original release of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film, in which adventurer archaeologist Jones thwarts the Nazis in their efforts to capture the Ark of the Covenant, was the top-grossing film of 1981.

3 Excalibur (1981)

Image: Excalibur

Another key figure in the development of film posters was American artist Bob Peak, who created this design for Excalibur, director John Boorman’s classic interpretation of the King Arthur legend.

4. Chariots of Fire (1981)

Image: Chariots of Fire

Chariots of Fire is an Oscar-winning film based on the true story of British runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, competitors in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris.

5. The Thing (1982)

Image: The Thing

American Artist Drew Sturzan produced this striking poster for John Carpenters 1982 film The Thing. The film is terrifying sci-fi horror story with a team of researchers in the Antarctic who come into contact with a parasitic alien life form.

6. Blade Runner (1982)

Image: Blade Runner

Blade Runner, the third film on the list to star Harrison Ford, is Ridley Scott’s dystopic vision of the future based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Award-winning cinematic artist and painter John Alvin created the design, and is responsible for some of the most recognizable movie posters of the late-20th Century.

7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Image: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial tells the story of an American boy called Eliot who discovers a friendly alien stranded on Earth. The poster references a scene in the movie when Eliot and E.T. fly above a forest on a BMX, a sequence that Empire magazine named as the most magical moment in cinema history.

8. Amadeus (1984)

Image: Amadeus

This powerful design is the poster for Amadeus. The film’s epic tale follows the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, composers in 18th Century Vienna.

9. The Terminator (1984)

Image: The Terminator

James Cameron’s 1984 action movie The Terminator is a brutal science fiction noir in which a cyber assassin is sent back in time from 2029 to track down the mother of a future resistance leader. The film, the first of four installments, gave Arnold Schwarzenegger one of defining roles of his acting career as the eponymous Terminator.

10. Re-Animator (1985)

Image: Re-Animator

This poster is for the cult-classic Re-Animator, director Stuart Gordon’s reinterpretation of H.P. Lovecraft’s horror story, Herbert West-Reanimator. The film tells the story of a medical student’s experiments with a life-restoring serum, and the horrific, and often comic, results.

11. Back to the Future (1985)

Image: Back to the Future

Back to the Future is one of the defining movies of the 80s, following the story of teenager Marty McFly who is accidentally transported back in time from 1985 to 1955. McFly meets his parents’ younger selves during his comic time travel adventures. Drew Struzan designed the film’s iconic poster, showing Michael J. Fox as McFly next to the DeLorean sports car, which the Doc has converted into a time machine.

12. The Breakfast Club (1985)

Image: The Breakfast Club

Another classic movie of the 80s is John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club, featuring five archetypal American high school students who meet during detention and emotionally bond despite their differences.

13. Brazil (1985)

Image: Brazil

Terry Gilliam’s Brazil is a classic dystopian sci-fi satire centring on worker Sam Lowry and the dysfunctional Orwellian society in which he lives.

14. Aliens (1986)

Image: Aliens

The sequel to the classic Alien is itself a defining moment in science fiction and action cinema, with Sigourney Weaver’s heroine Ripley and a team of Space Marines battling an army of alien creatures.

15. Stand by Me (1986)

Image: Stand by Me

Of all the coming-of-age and buddy movies of the 80s, Stand by Me is one of the best. Based on Stephen King’s short story The Body, the film is narrated by a writer who, following the death of a friend, recounts his adventures with three friends as they set out to find a missing boy.

16. Blue Velvet (1986)

Image: Blue Velvet

This is a poster for the German release of David Lynch’s masterpiece Blue Velvet, with the stars Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper as the unsettlingly malevolent Frank.

17. The Fly (1986)

Image: The Fly

David Cronenberg’s 1986 sci-fi body horror The Fly is a remake of the original from 1958, with Jeff Goldblum playing a scientist whose teleportation experiments result in a monstrous metamorphosis.

18. The Princess Bride (1987)

Image: The Princess Bride

John Alvin’s poster art for The Princess Bride reflects the fantastical nature of the swashbuckling fantasy comedy. The film’s narrative is worked around a grandfather reading a story to his sick grandson, the film relating the fairytale adventure.

19. Withnail and I (1987)

Image: Withnail and I

Artist Ralph Steadman provided the artwork for this brilliant poster for Withnail and I, the much-quoted black comedy by Bruce Robinson, starring Richard E. Grant as Withnail and Paul McGann as ‘I’.

20. Do the Right Thing (1989)

Image: Do the Right Thing

At the close of the 1980s, Spike Lee released Do the Right Thing, which he produced, wrote and directed. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film is set during one day on a single Brooklyn street, as the various residents face the summer heat as simmering tensions boil over. The film was controversial but critically and commercially successful, and like the best films of the 1980s, reflected the culture of that amazing decade.

This is a guest article from Tom Walker, A blogger who works for an online supplier of next day ink. You can read more of his posts about advertising and design on their blog.

First arrival and bungalow in Kuta, Bali

We decided to rent motobikes for the first few days we were there. They came with these very helpful goggles!

The 4th hotel we ended up at

Dreamland, Uluwatu

Blue Point, Uluwatu

This is an Indonesian holiday called Nyepi. It is the celebration of the Hindu New Year

Other pictures from around Bali:

Gili Islands

The VelvetAnt blog had it’s one year birthday January 16th. Even though I am late giving the blog a present I hope this spruce up makes my belated blog birthday a little sweeter. Here’s to a new year for the VelvetAnt blog and many new articles to come!

Here are some of my favorite articles from the past year:

1. Helvetica Love, my tribute to Helvetica
2. Establishing a positive relationship with your printer, a must know for all print designers
3. Stay motivated while freelancing, 7 tips to keep freelancers going
4. Influential female designers, a round-up of 19 awesome female designers
5. Ghosts of design work past, 18 designers share some of their first designs with the public
6. 45 logos that utilize negative space effectively
7. 13 examples of new retro and vintage packaging

I thought I’d address four  points that will help you when creating your own personal brand or rebrand.

Don’t take advantage of your own skill set and talent

One of the biggest problems when designing for yourself is taking advantage of your own skill set and talent. Our personal brand is our public image and we want it to attract potential clients, but there comes a time in the design process where we just need stop and reflect on what we are capable of and how we want to market ourselves. If you are a designer off all trades, but you choose to focus on developing CSS websites, don’t go above and beyond by designing your site in Flash just because it’s cool and interactive.  A designer should offer themselves what they are willing to offer to their clients.

Don’t compare yourself to other designers

This is a hard one to abide by but it is important to realize all designers are different. All designers have a different forte and different strengths. It is always nice to browse online design showcases to spark inspiration, but when you’re rebranding yourself it is hard to look at design showcases and not think “wow, that logo is better than mine.” When you start to compare your work to another designers work it can really damage your creativity. Remember, you are designing for yourself, you are not designing for a competition. There is meaning behind a brand, and another designers brand is not better than yours, it is only different.

Design for yourself as you would a client

Sometimes it is hard to be your own boss. If you only offer your clients 3 design templates to choose from and a limited amount of design revisions, do the same for yourself. When you allow yourself to scrap your designs and start over you will start to ruin your initial vision. Take yourself back to high school testing and remember your first answer is probably the right one. This means your initial designs are most likely your best ones because you have gone into them with a virgin mind. As soon as you start critiquing and questioning your designs is the moment you start destroying them.

Why you should rebrand?

You should never rebrand just because you are tired of looking at the same website or the same logo. I do think it is important to refresh your presence yearly just to keep things moving, but sometimes a rebrand is a bad decision. We can all take a lesson from the 2009 Tropicana rebrand. Before rebranding you must take a look at your statistics and reassess why you feel the need to rebrand and decide whether a rebrand or just an update is the correct solution.

If your clientele is slipping and your website is getting fewer hits it just may be time to rebrand yourself to let people know your’re still alive and you are back stronger than ever. If you still have a strong clientele, but you seem to be getting more web clients than print, reassess your strategy and make an effort to change certain things to enforce this boom in web clients. Make it easier for potential clients to approach you about the possibility of a new website they have in mind and showcase more of your web design and development in your portfolio.

Designing for yourself is difficult, but it doesn’t always have to be. Always keep in mind that we do what we do because we love it. Designing for yourself should be a fun and relaxed experience, don’t make it more difficult than it needs to be.

What is your iPhone wallpaper?

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)