As freelance graphic designers we spend much of our time in front of a computer. Often, we will stay up into the wee hours of the night trying to make that last minute tweak. So, all too often, as soon as the work is done we shut down the computer and escape to something of a non-digital nature. Sometimes in our flurry of business, we forget how to just sit and browse the internet for enjoyment. Here are 10 blogs/sites that I believe every graphic designer should follow, in no particular order:

Smashing Magazine

With over 139,000 subscribers, Smashing Magazine is one of the top design blogs on the internet. With content like theirs, its obvious why.

BittBox

BittBox provides articles, tutorials, and my personal favorite - FREE TEXTURE TUESDAY!

Logo Design Love

Specializing in Logo Design, the blog is authored by respected designer David Airey.

HongKiat

Hongkiat provides a diverse collection of articles and resources for designers, bloggers, and self-proclaimed tech geeks.

Just Creative Design

I recently found out the author of this blog, Jacob Cass, is only 22 years old…which makes his blog even more impressive. Tons of very useful resources and links are available here.

37signals

A blog about design, business, social networking, usability and more.

Inspired Magazine

Offering “Daily Graphic Design Inspiration”

David Airey

If you look on more than 3 reputable Graphic Design blogs, someone is going to mention this guy. Definitely check out his portfolio, where he walks through his design process on each project from concept to finished design.

Freeloaders

I would guess that this one is one that most of you haven’t heard of. I especially love his video tutorials…and yes he does drop some F bombs while teaching!

Fuel Your Creativity

A great blog to read through or browse whenever creativity seems just out of reach. Lots of inspiration here!

This list is by no means exhaustive, but I just pulled the top 10 out of Google Reader that I read the most often. If there are any that you think deserve a mention…please pass it on!

When learning graphic & web design, one of the biggest hindrances isn’t technical knowledge. After all, with Google you can find a forum or tutorial for anything you need to know. The biggest problem that I’ve found is the creative process behind the design. For whatever reason, I’m not one of these guys that can look at someone else’s work and get inspired…other people’s ideas just confuse me. So, through much trial and error I’ve found my process. I’m sure it will change as technology and trends change, but for right now…here is my logo design process:
1 - Sketch - 99% of the time I will start with a hand-drawn sketch. The exceptions are when an idea hits me early on and I just skip this part. Usually, though, I find that its alot easier to be creative and play with different concepts when you’re just using pencil and paper. The computer is a great tool, but it also limits your creativity to your current skill set. Not to mention the constant interruptions of IM, Email, and other notifications.

2 - Font - I open Illustrator, and I type the name to appear in the logo. Scale it up to about 80px so you can easily see it and start cycling through those fonts. When you see one you like, make a copy of your text and keep that one to the side. Continue cycling through fonts until you find another that you like. I repeat this process until I’ve either gone through all of my fonts or I find THE ONE. This is also the time you will need to experiment with all caps, initial caps, all lowercase and other variations. Eliminate the options one at a time until you have the one you want to use.

3 - Spacing - Once I’ve decided on the type, its time to start working on the spacing of the text. If the text consists of more than word, you have to decide how you are going to separate the words. You can add an actual space, use initial caps, or run the words together as one. If you decide to keep the words together as one, you need to decide on how to distinguish between the words for readability. Some options might be using bold, italics, or even making half of the word a few pixels larger in size. You can also separate the words using color, but I don’t add the color until later.

4 - Symbol/Icon - This is the part where most people’s creativity evaporates. And this is the step where I’m always glad I started with a sketch pad. You must decide on a symbol or icon that fits with the subject of the logo. It may be anything from a cloud to a machete. Despite what you think, most people will remember these icons long after they’ve forgotten the company name…so this part is crucial! You may also decide at this point to integrate the symbol with the text, just be sure to maintain readability.

5 - Color - I always add color last because color is really the least of your concerns. Just try it sometime…work with only black and see how much easier it is to think creatively. When you add color too early, it will make things look better or worse to you…and you start making design decisions based on your color preferences instead of the concept. And always remember, CMYK for print and RGB for web!

BONUS - Once you are finished with your design, take a few minutes and consider your presentation. Should you provide a black & white version? Does the client need to see one on a business card? These extra touches will help to sell your design.

This just happens to be my current design process…I would love to hear yours!

A barren ghost town. I looked on the ground and saw a small tumbleweed blow by. Not a soul to be found, and I could tell that I was probably one of their few visitors that day. Where am I? If you guessed a Christian music store…then you may be partially correct. But this was actually the scene I found myself in at the Post Office today. I walked in a few hours after they had opened and was surprised at how clean the floors were. Even the big trash can that everyone throws their junk mail in without hesitation was empty. I checked my PO box and it was empty as well.

I walked into the office to send some certified mail and there was no one to be found so I proceeded to fill out my envelope and a lady came running to the counter to greet me. “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t see you…what can I help you with?” It reminded me of how my grandmother used to talk to me…trying to be calm, but SO excited to have company…looking for any way to make me want to come back soon. I made a comment about how I pay all of my bills online now, so I don’t even have an envelope or a stamp at my house. I could tell she had heard this often. She said “yeah, that online stuff has really hurt us”. Then she began to tell me how even the local grocery stores had cut back on their junk mail advertisement. Apparently, she has had several people to come in and ask why they weren’t receiving as much mail as they were used to getting. So I asked “What are you guys doing about it?”, sincerely thinking I would hear about how they had sold a mail vehicle or were offering some newer products. She said “well, we’re all paying our bills the old way…and hoping everyone else will, too”. I was amazed to say the least!

The USPS used to be such a solid company that many people thought they were a government agency. Now, they find themselves raising the price of stamps to be able to stay afloat. I have to ask myself, “Why didn’t they see this coming?” A decade ago, people started logging into AOL and hearing “you’ve got mail”. About this same time they started using the term “snail mail” to describe the less-effective method of sending packages. A few years later, people started to increase their online shopping. Instead of letting UPS, FEDEX, and DHL grab up a large majority of those deliveries…was the Postal Service just thinking this internet fad would go away? I may be wrong, but it seems that they have ignored the very thing that may destroy them.

Ignorance is a choice…not a trait that’s forced on you. At some point, someone in the auto industry, postal service, and mortgage industry made a DECISION to IGNORE the facts. “Keep making cars that people don’t want…keep charging people for something they can do online for free…keep over-promising and under-delivering…IT’LL ALL WORK OUT”

Well, wake up…its not working out. What are you IGNORING? In your business/organization, what things have you or others seen…but you’ve chosen to ignore it? Maybe you’ve seen that one person that is holding everyone else back. Maybe people are burning out. Maybe your old products and ideas aren’t exciting people anymore.

Ignore it today…it’ll still be there tomorrow, and the next day, and the very thing you choose to IGNORE today may be thing that overcomes you tomorrow.