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18 Aug
Self-Motivating Through Creative Blocks
Creativity, How to, Productivity
18

As designers, we need to be creative in order to be successful at our jobs.
Coming up with ideas and creative solutions to problems is what we do on a daily basis. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to do so.
Sometimes we get blocked creatively, and it seems like no matter how hard we try, we just can’t come up with a creative solution to anything.
The good news is that there are plenty of things you can do that can help you overcome a block in your creativity. First you’ll need to understand why you’re blocked, and then try some simple techniques to get over that blockage.
In this article, we’ll also cover a few ideas for finding motivation when your lack of desire to work is the root of your creativity problems. Read more
19 May
7 Personality Types of Designers Today
Creativity, Graphic Design, Web Designers
100

Design is a universal language. It transcends all cultural and national boundaries. It is diverse and ever-changing. Despite the fact that designs can be universally appreciated, the artists behind them are all unique and talented individuals.
What kind of designer are you? What is your philosophy? How do you contribute to the design community? Designers from different walks of life might have similar answers to these questions, and yet we are all different.
Some designers take it upon themselves to educate those who have not yet developed an appreciation for Web design and art. Some designers aim to improve the overall quality of design on the Internet.
And of course, some designers strive primarily to make a good living from their talents so that they can live a comfortable life. Read more
22 Apr
Creating and Applying Natural Textures
Creativity, How to, Photoshop
23

Textures make a website feel tangible.
They give content a relationship to the physical world, a sense of place and a reality that people can relate to.
Unfortunately, simulating physical textures isn’t as simple as shooting a photo or running a few Photoshop filters.
One has to blend random noise and recognizable patterns, striving for similarities rather than pure repetition.
Here, we’ll discuss what gives textures an organic quality, and we’ll look at techniques for creating and applying natural-looking textures and seamless tiles. Read more
11 Mar
How to Be Corporate and Still Be Creative
Business, Corporate, Creativity
38

If you’re like me, you graduated from art school and had dreams of working as an art director at a small agency. You envisioned having your own office on the top floor of a loft with 30-foot ceilings.
Designers would play ping-pong below; people were allowed to drink beer at work; and brilliant ideas would flow effortlessly from your mind into multi-million-dollar campaigns for clients like Nike and Coca-Cola.
In fact, you got a job at a large corporation and were shown to a desk in a sea of light-gray fabric-covered cubicles. Instead of 30-foot ceilings, you have surprisingly low ceilings, covered with a substance that you could swear is asbestos.
You were given a 90-page handbook on how to create drop-shadows and sent off to populate templates for product brochures.
Sounds like hell. But outlined below are a few ways to improve your outlook on work life, foster creativity in you and the business and, most importantly, bring some fun into your corporate job. Read more
9 Dec
When Minimalism Backfires: When Too Little Is Not Enough
Creativity, Design, Web Design
55

As seen in our previous article on the subject and examples around the web, minimalism is quite the trend.
When the theory behind it is well implemented, it makes for some beautiful, simple and yet modern designs.
Because it is a trend, everyone wants to follow it. But can it be taken too far? And is it right for all types of websites?
This article explores some of the potentially negative side-effects of minimalist designs and the consequences of implementing one incorrectly.
Unlike our previous post, we’ll look at when minimalism is a bad idea, however inspiring it is supposed to be. Read more
3 Dec
Minimalist Web Design: When Less is More
Creativity, Design, Web Design
116

As designers, we all know that a minimalist design can achieve beautiful results.
Still, many designers have trouble creating one; either they have a hard time making a page with so few elements look good or the final result just doesn’t look “complete.”
There are many articles on the Web about minimalism and this article aims to help you achieve a minimalist design that is beautiful but not bare.
To top it off, we’ll present a small showcase of minimalist designs, so that you can analyze why some designs work and others don’t. Read more
10 Sep
How to Use the FAT-P System to Streamline Your Workflow
Creativity, Design, Productivity
28

Often, when faced with a looming project, we forget the simple things. The size and depth of the project overwhelms leading to creative block.
Once blocked, the frustration builds leading to even more block, procrastination, missed deadlines and a wealth of other problems.
If you’re in any creative field, chances are, you’ve been there.
As a former high school writing teacher, I found that just the prospect of writing was enough to leave students floundering.
This became an even bigger problem when students were faced with the timed writing of state required tests. Enter the FAT-P.
Read more