14 Proven Ways to Find Graphic Design Clients

This is a wonderful, comprehensive list from graphic designer Sheila Patterson with 14 tips to find more clients. Sometimes it can be hard to have the confidence to market oneself as a designer, having the guts to talk yourself up, go door-to-door, whatever it takes to build up that initial client list. This list will definitely help challenge the introvert in all of us to get out there and show people who we are and what we can do!

http://www.sheilapatterson.com/sliders/14-proven-ways-to-find-clients/

Taking "Mini-Risks": The Practice of Uncertainty

Here is a very interesting article I found today on Jonathan Fields' written by guest author Emilie Wapnick. Emile is a "writer, coach, violinist, filmmaker, law school graduate, and web designer. She works with multipotentialites to help them build lives and businesses around ALL their interests." First off, Emilie's approach appeals to as a designer as my tastes and talents are varied and numerous. Perhaps this is due to the fact that designers like living in the grey area of grey matter, between the right and left sides of the brain, balancing the analytic and global brainwaves. Who knows. One thing I do know is that it is difficult to weave the web of my life, career, and artistic endeavors sometimes because there is just so much I am interested and want to do.

Recently, I have been grappling with confidence. Confidence in my talents, my career choices, my ability to make it all work somehow. This is normal for someone who, not but a year ago, decided to go "all in" and work for herself. I have learned thus far that selling myself is not my forte, that networking can be excruciating for a shy girl, and that no one is going to do it for me. I have to dig deep and do it for myself, or face the prospect of no work. Enter the idea of mini-risks.

In her article, Emile describes mini risks as being ways to "embrace uncertainty in small ways throughout the day." Her rationale is that by doing things that make us just slightly uncomfortable and stretching ourselves, it becomes easier to do those things that are seemingly impossible. The theory being that if we stay small, shrunken inside our shells of self-doubt and fear, we will never attempt to go big.

You can read the full article here:
http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/how-to-pick-up-a-stranger-or-produce-brilliant-work/
You can find out more about the author Emilie Wapnick on her site Puttylike: http://puttylike.com/
And check out her book "Renaissance Business" here: http://puttylike.com/renaissance-business/

21st Century Design: Shaping Behavior for Preferrable Outcomes

21st Century Design from Artefact on Vimeo.

Designers are now armed with a growing set of persuasive techniques for shaping behavior. But with great power comes great responsibility. Check out this very informative article from Rob Girling about the inherent power and ethical responsibility that comes with being a designer, a profession built on influencing people's power of choice.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669055/designs-next-frontier-nudging-consumers-into-making-better-life-choices?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Let the "Fancy-ing" Wars Begin!

Alright Pinterest fans, check out the new high-end Pinterest competitor Fancy, which features gorgeous products, amazing vacations, inspirational art and more. Unlike Pinterest which allows users to "Fancy" them and actually purchase them through their site. Fancy founder Joseph Einhorn says, "Rather than going to Amazon or Google and searching for stuff I intend to buy, in the future in the commerce game, I think getting hotel destinations, finding cool products, or discovering fashion items will be done through the people I admire and trust. From a consumer perspective, I'm able to go to this website, where I'm finding out about the coolest stuff in the world, and instead of clicking, signing up, and giving my address and contact info to a million different websites, I am able to shop right inside, whether it's on the website or the iPad, iPhone, or Android app, and go all the way through to checkout in an integrated experience." Let the "Pinning", or rather, "Fancy-ing" wars begin! And add me once you sign up, a process that takes all of 30 seconds:

http://www.thefancy.com/BreeRichmond

Color Theory

  
Did you know that both men & women over 70 like the color red better than any other? Why is that, you ask? As our eyes age, we sometimes lose the ability to distinguish between blues and yellows. The color that stands out the most is red, so that may be why we are more drawn to it as we age. Check out Scott Design's poll to find out other interesting color-related facts.

http://blog.hotdesign.com/2012/02/whats-your-favorite-color/

Check out this handy little toolbar I found today! It can be embedded on your website and direct traffic to your most important content. It is customizable, and there is a free version allowing 25 click-throughs per month. They also track your Hello Bar data and you can view your click-through rate, clicks and views by custom date ranges. See what messages and colors caused your clicks to spike or drop. You can even visualize A/B tests and choose the winner. Its a great way to highlight exactly what you would like your website audience to see first. You can see it in action on my website: http://breerichmond.com/.

The Lost Principles of Design

Having been a designer for over 15 years now, having taken umpteen design class teaching design theory, and gotten to the point in my career where I break most of the design rules most of the time, its good to be reminded of the art form's basic principles. Let this post serve as a reminder of those original conventions that should still inform the design decisions of even the most seasoned veteran. Also, notice how these principles apply, not just to design, but to life itself more times than not. Thanks to Chad Engle from Boomtown Roy and Creative Fuel for the informative article and stylish set of wallpapers to remind us daily of the principles we love to turn on their ear.

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Original Article: http://www.fuelyourcreativity.com/the-lost-principles-of-design/
Design Principles Wallpaper: http://www.fuelyourcreativity.com/the-principles-wallpapers/