6 Steps To Creating A Knockout Online Portfolio

6 Steps To Creating A Knockout Online Portfolio

Some good tips on creating a simple, yet effective portfolio site. Thanks to a professor.

Design Books

These are some design books I'm saving up to buy soon:

Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop by Timothy Samara Permalink: http://amzn.com/1592531253

Grid Systems in Graphic Design/Raster Systeme Fur Die Visuele Gestaltung (German and English Edition) by Josef Muller-Brockmann Permalink: http://amzn.com/3721201450

The Typographic Grid by Hans Rudolf Bosshard Permalink: http://amzn.com/3721203402

Wim Crouwel Alphabets by Kees Broos Permalink: http://amzn.com/9063690371

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst Permalink: http://amzn.com/0881792063

Thinking with Type, 2nd revised and expanded edition: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students by Ellen Lupton Permalink: http://amzn.com/1568989695

The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher Permalink: http://amzn.com/0714834491

Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style, 1920-1965 by Richard Hollis Permalink: http://amzn.com/0300106769

Designing Type by Karen Cheng Permalink: http://amzn.com/0300111509

A Type Primer by John Kane Permalink: http://amzn.com/013099071X

Graphic Design Thinking (Design Briefs) by Ellen Lupton Permalink: http://amzn.com/1568989792

The Grid System

“ The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice. ”
Josef Müller-Brockmann

http://www.thegridsystem.org/

Baby Doritos - 2011 'Crash The Superbowl' Entry

Baby Doritos - 2011 'Crash The Superbowl' Entry from Brian Thuok on Vimeo.

Check out this entry for Baby Doritos by Brian Thuok

Adobe Muse

"Design and publish HTML websites without writing code."
 

"Create websites as easily as you create layouts for print. You can design and publish original HTML pages to the latest web standards without writing code. Now in beta, Muse makes it a snap to produce unique, professional websites."

I've been hearing a lot about Muse lately. I think it is definitely revolutionary and useful for designers with little or no experience working with html/css. This is a big step in the right direction for artists looking to design websites for themselves and potential clients. Now graphic designers, illustrators, photographers and fine artists can create their own sites without hiring web developers to code their designs. Whether or not it will dominate the web and take over other popular web developing programs (Dreamweaver) is still questionable.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/muse-code-name-feature-tour/meet-muse-and-the-people-behind-it/

Letterforms 101

This quarter I am taking a letterform class. I am learning about the classic fonts, such as Garamond, Helvetica, Bodoni and so on. Typography really intrigues me and I find myself wanting to learn more about it. In doing so, I stumbled upon a really well-organized article on it. Anyone looking to explore type design should take a look at this: Describing Letterforms

Fonts

After looking through my bookmarks again, I found re-discovered a site with a list of 104 free fonts for designers. It has some really nice, clean, and popular fonts for graphic/web designers. Really, the fonts are for anyone with an interest in typography. These are just the free ones, but there are plenty more out there if you have extra cash to spend. I highly suggest checking this site out.

104 Free Fonts

Original Linkage

I found some of my old bookmarks and this one is worth sharing: http://original-linkage.blogspot.com/

HOW TO: Add Facebook Connect to Your Blog in 8 Minutes

HOW TO: Add Facebook Connect to Your Blog in 8 Minutes

FYI: this is an old technique, but still good to know. The newest version of wordpress does all of this for you via plug-ins, which are much easier to find and install.

AIGA

$50 to join Sept. 1-30. If you know what this is, then this is the time to sign up.
http://www.aiga.org/membership-student/

Wordpress

It's amazing what you can do with wordpress. I'm just starting to learn about the possibilities of this CMS (Content Management System). For a while now I have known of wordpress, but never really understood what it could do other than blogs. With a little help from youtube, I have discovered how to create my own custom home page and I can't wait to start applying it to my arsenal!

Part 1
http://youtu.be/ViDoAS1R-xI
Part 2
http://youtu.be/wyDMHQdp3kE

This video has 2 parts and does a good job showing the process as a beginner. Out of all the ones I found, I think this one is the easiest to understand.

Social Networking

Networking can lead to potential opportunities, and that is why I have been on a mission trying to get myself out there. I have joined some well-known social networking sites (can be found on the left) over the past couple of weeks. Some of which I have linked up together as a one-stop source to contact me and find out what I'm doing. I think this is the perfect next step for me at this point in my early career. Obviously, if anyone is looking for some exposure then this is the way to do it. And most are FREE to join!

Garden Mixer

So here is the final product! As you can see I used a vine-looking graphic in the background as part of the theme. The design is based on a grid layout. I sampled the violet tint color from one of the flowers in the image. Of course the graphics were designed in Illustrator and the layout was put together in Photoshop. The client was thrilled with the end result of this flyer. I'm glad everything worked out.

Facebook Page: Victoria "Vicky" Martinez for El Monte City Council

Swirls

http://abduzeedo.com/swirl-mania-illustrator-photoshop

I found this really helpful tutorial on swirls for Illustrator. I'm working on a flyer for a client. It's a garden mixer so I'm looking for ways to create vines and other organic forms. They will be used as graphic elements to supplement the garden theme. Click on the link below the image to visit the tutorial.

Here's another site I found with some brush presets. These are FREE!

28 Free Illustrator Brushes

Color Matters

I'm working on my personal logo for my portfolio. I've been going back and forth between blue and orange for my color scheme. During my quest for inspiration, I found this article on color psychology which really came in handy and is definitely something worth bookmarking. Check it out!

Color Psychology in Logo Design

Wedding After Math

It's been four days since my wedding day. I married my beautiful longtime girlfriend, Melina. It has been a journey up to this point and I'm looking forward to many more down the road. Even though it had been a busy few weeks leading up to the wedding, I still managed to put together a simple seating chart for our wedding.

Simple layout/design for our seating chart.

Blah

Started playing with brushes in photoshop and this is what came out. Something quick and simple, but I kinda like it. :) Maybe I'll try to evolve this idea...

Deviant Art

http://danfx311.deviantart.com/

Ideal Portfolios

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my personal portfolio. During my search for inspiration, I stumbled upon a very useful list of tips and guidelines to consider while designing your online showcase. The list also provides some ideal portfolios that are currently out there. Check it out!

38 Impressive Graphic Designer Portfolios

Inspiration

Amazing fashion photographer: Miles Aldridge