It happens to the best of us. We’re doing great with our business, finish off the last client file, and then…

Suddenly nothing.

We find ourselves scrambling to try and make ends meet, and worry and fret that perhaps going into freelance design wasn’t that great of an idea. Our savings begin to burn up, and we panic.

What can be done? Read more »

I’ve read iPad rumors like a hound. It’s been one of my few tech industry predilections. Most things with Apple generally are, considering how much of an Apple fangirl I’ve become following the purchase of my iMac.

Now, I like the name of the device, and initially I was very impressed with the surface, just like I am with all of Apple’s products. I’ve always had a huge amount of respect for Apple’s interface design team (considering that it’s their interface I’m most rabid about), but as I dug into the technical specifications… I kind of took a step back. It certainly wasn’t what I expected, which was exactly what Apple had promised, but I don’t think they really meant it in the sense that I found it to be “unexpected.” Read more »

How the hell did I get here, and where am I going?

Sometimes I sit back and wonder about the journey I took to become a web designer. I started out as that kid you pay $20 to for something quick because they know a little bit about computers. I loved graphics, and making images. I would take poetry and images, and combine them through blends, with textures and other things I experimented with. A friend of mine from childhood knew a little bit about how to get started with a website; she had me going with Geocities in very little time. I was able to post my writing, my graphics, and explore a world I was only just beginning to learn about. Read more »

Today, I am trying something a bit different. I’ve put up a premade site under my portfolio; depending upon how much popularity this theme and the others I plan on posting receives, I will be considering creating a page dedicated to premade web templates.

Normally I charge $20/hour for a project; for a full project, this amounts to around $400+, though I’d say my average is around $500 depending on the amount of programming and changes requested. I allow clients to have an unlimited amount of requested changes, but at the same time, I do not work for free.

This theme in question is very flexible; its navigation can be requested to be placed anywhere (though I would suggest horizontally), and it can have contact information placed opposite of the logo. The image can be edited or left as-is, and because it is content rich, not only will it have a greater amount of SEO, it will also show flexibility for what one might wish to put in there; RSS feeds, social networking links, or even just more content about your company in general. Read more »

One of the biggest sins our society has made is its creation of lies. Lies and slander, even, concerning the educational system in particular. We tell our students that they are preparing themselves for life by getting their college degree, and that by getting this slip of paper after four years of work they will be able to step out immediately into the real world. Just check out the University of California sites – their way of enticing students to pay a higher price for their education is to show very exceptional students who are being hired right out of school.

The problem I have with this is my own experience. I have already learned for myself that the world does not work this way. Part of why I have chosen to attend college in a field other than design is that I know that yes the degree helps, but I also know that design is a very difficult field to enter into, especially without a very strong resume. Read more »