I wanted to create something using this stock for quite a while. From the moment I saw it I knew that I wanted to try to make this concept work. Part of the image of course alludes to Pinnochio, but I also wanted to add a metaphysical aspect to it.

Roberto Blake Graphic Design Dance Puppet Dance

Inspiration

I feel that society puts strings on us to hold us in place, usually binding us in the form of lies to bend us to the agenda of unseen masters. This puts a much darker spin on the image but it was what I was thinking and feeling during its creation.

While working on this I was looping the song Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Marilyn Mason, from the soundtrack of the movie GAMER.

Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, Wacom Intuos3 4×6

Stocks:
Model: [link]
Hand: Marcus J Ranum, [link]

Today’s video is about the importance of typography in the graphic design industry. Typography is something that many designers take for granted preferring to focus on the more glamorous aspects of design. However typography is something that will be immediately noticed and valued in your portfolio when applying for jobs in the field, especially in the advertising industry.

The Importance of Typography In Graphic Design

Typography has been highlighted in the graphic design industry more recently with how prominent a role kinetic typography played in the hit movie Zombieland. You can also great examples of kinetic typography in the introduction to the tv show Fringe.

As some of you know Google is finally has created a social media Frankinstien in the form of Google Buzz.

Google Buzz once its rolled out to everyone will appear in your Gmail account as part of the  navigation.  Buzz will use the people you email and chat with most often to build your network. From there you can add and delete people as you see fit.

You can choose to share Buzz updates publicly or privately on a post-by-post basis, which at least is a feature unique to buzz, as most of you will be familiar with rest from using Twitter and Facebook.

It’s built into Gmail, and just like Facebook, Google Buzz shows pictures, videos and links inline. The difference is you don’t have to click out to YouTube, Flickr, or other external services to view a lot of the content your contacts share. This is the feature is what is going to make Buzz worthwhile at all in my opinion.

Buzz’s impact on SEO and Social Media Marketing

This is where I become concerned. Google Buzz is going to be one more outlet for managing SEO and Social Media Marketing, which if you already had a Gmail account is really to your advantage if your on the giving end of this rather than the receiving end. Google is brilliant because every Marketer and SEO that wasn’t using Gmail now has a valid reason since they can use it as a vehicle for integrating your Flickr, Youtube, and Twitter updates will make it a huge time saver and great way to leverage your social networking.

I think this service will actually turn out to be more popular than Google Wave due to the fact that it can be conveniently used from GMail and takes one more step out of the process. Only time will tell if this monster will be accepted by society or if it will be greeted with fire and pitch forks!

Its just another Music Monday. I haven’t done one in a while and for that I sincerely apologize. Everything has just taken a back seat to working on my book ARTFUL MANIPULATIONS lately, which I’m happy to say is nearly done. Today’s Music Monday Inspirational image is one that I’m really proud of!

Roberto Blake Music Monday Inspiration 3

This is the only Music Monday image that I’ve done so far that I felt earned inclusion into the home page of my site. This is in many ways a follow up image to Divine Rhythm, and image of mine that has been fairly popular both here and on my other galleries. I used much of the same colors, effects and approach to this, while obviously bringing in a few new elements like the speakers in the background. In developing this image I considered the possibility that it maybe useful as the start for a club flyer at a later date.

Music Monday Inspiration song for today is:

Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This by Marilyn Manson on playlist.com! Click here to listen http://shar.es/aLtPi via @sharethis

Speaking from personal experience freelancing can be daunting and scary for most designers and artist. However once you’ve made up your mind and committed to it, you’ll find that it can be one of the most enriching experiences of your career and very exciting! In this article I’ve compiled some tips to help you make the most of this transition.

Be Prepared

Don’t take the old scouts motto  for granted, being prepared is more important than you realize. If I asked you for your CV/Resume, 5 references, and 15 samples of your best work right now? are you ready to go or are you going to panic scrambling to throw these things together?

Have your portfolio ready in both digital and print format, keep it constantly updated with new work whenever possible. Try to include pieces that demonstrate the type of work you would like to do for regularly. Also try to include as much commercial work done for previous clients as you can.

Also make sure than you are financially prepared to leave your job. When planning to transition to a freelance career, go ahead and start saving money, gathering your references, buying any tools or supplies you will think you will need and start the process of showcasing your work online as much as possible. I strongly recommend developing a 6-12 month plan for leaving your job to become a freelancer.

Become More Disciplined

Finding your balance and being consistent will be a constant challenge, but it is absolutely necessary! Set yourself task and do your best to stay on top of them. Some tools you can use are  good old fashion pen an paper, or sticky notes. If you want to take advantages of your gadgets you can always use your phone/PDA you can use Google Calander, Evernote or any number of tools and applications to stay on top of appointments, keep to a strict schedule, and complete your task.

Personally I use a combination of things to remind me. I tell friends and family about upcoming projects or deadlines so that I can have a human reminder. I use a sticky notes application on my desktop, I keep notes in my cell phone, and I have a board that I jot things down on so I can always see it.  I also make sure to set aside specific times for working on different things, personal projects and even time for meals and just surfing the web. You have to remember to commit to relaxing every once and a while to avoid burnout.

Self Promotion Is Key!

It can’t be stressed enough that self promotion is essential to your career and finding new opportunities. One of the first things you should do as a freelancer is try designing your own promotional materials. This involves creating several branding pieces, as well as some additional marketing collateral, I don’t think its always necessary to go as far as creating a media kit, but a double sided flyer showing off some of your best work couldn’t hurt. As much as our industry has shifted to the web, you never underestimate the value and the power of print.

Some additional ways you can promote yourself include self-publishing your own books through sites like Lulu.com and Blurb.com, you may be surprised at how impressive a product like this can be to potential clients and employers; you can also promote yourself through youtube by showing off your skills or sharing your knowledge and experiences.

Get Involved In Social Networking!

If you haven’t been living under a rock the last few years, you know what Social Networking is about, what you may not know is that it is become more and more essential in the design career field. Social Networking is a valuable resource that I benefit from daily. In the case of designers some of the most important places to connect are: Deviantart, Behance, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Flickr, and Myspace. I would actually venture to say that is also the order of importance.

Social Networking provides you great opportunities for exposure, allow you to get feedback on your work as well as connect with others and share information, advice, tips or even possibly collaborate on projects of find client/job leads.

Being Diverse

There is a distinct advantage to being strong in multiple disciplines. For one thing it allows you more options in choosing clients and projects and various perspectives in how to approach them. Being able to handle multiple projects means that a clients is likely to make you there “go to guy/girl” for all their creative needs, and that in itself will look good to other clients down the road and increase the number of pieces you can show off in your portfolio.

Not everyone can handle the multi-discipline approach however, for some it can be overwhelming or distracting. If you are strong in some areas and mediocre in others, sometimes its better to pass up the potential for extra money and clients, and focus on doing what you do best.

Being A Specialist

There are many advantages to be had from specializing in one or two areas of design. It provides incredible focus and allows you to showcase your strongest talent and stand out from the crowd. It also means that when dealing with clients you have a much better idea of what to expect and develop a very efficient work flow and defined style. Specializing can also allow you to improve your level of ability dramatically in a short period of time because of the amount of focus it allows you.

In all honesty if there is an area of design that you know you excel at and have a real passion for, I highly recommended starting out as a specialist and simply taking on additional projects outside your specialty on a case by case basis.

Finding Work & Getting Paid

It goes without saying that although you are doing something you’re good at, something you love, you really need to get paid for it. Many freelancers immediately struggle with this, which is why I always suggest developing a marketing plan, as well as marketing materials before taking the plunge. Hopefully you can generate enough buzz through self promotion to have clients coming to you without a problem. If not, don’t despair. There are several ways you can use your talent to generate revenue.

Selling your prints through Deviantart is always an option. As long as you create high quality work there will be someone eventually willing to buy it. You can also use sites like Graphic River to produce “stock graphics”, something as simple as colorful download buttons, or as elaborate as a InDesign Brochure template, can be sold over and over again through these sites with you receiving a direct commission. With a large enough design inventory there is not limit to how much money you can generate passively from work you did in a few short hours each week.

In addition to self publishing for the purposes of self promotion, it can also be a great way to generate income. Lulu.com and Blurb.com sell your print products on a “Print on Demand” basis and you can determine the amount of profit you make from each product, so this presents another great opportunity with nearly limitless growth potential.

In terms of finding freelance jobs online Freelance Switch and Freelance Folder are great places to look and once you sign up will update you via email if freelance jobs that suit you have been posted. I also highly recommend in competing in logo design competitions if you feel you have the skills to do so. You could also try your hand at stock photography through sites like iStockphoto.com and Jupiterimages.com

Also make sure when dealing with clients you know what to charge for different services. There are several methods you can use for determining you rates per hour or per project. Consulting other designers with more experience can be helpful. Also don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth.

Compete For Attention

Becoming an award winner is a sure way to boost your career and attract clients. If you can publish your personal work in as many places and get yourself some recognition, people will start requesting you to work on your projects. Submitting your work to magazine publications in particular is a great way to attract new clients and make them aware of you. If you don’t know where to start the book Artist & Graphic Designer’s Market is something you should definitely look into. I also recommend competing in competitions through Deviantart.com, AdvancedPhotoshop.co.uk, and PhotoshopCreative.co.uk

Become Detail Oriented

Pay attention to details whenever you can. Be sure to respond to emails promptly and give all the necessary information. Always double check spelling and grammar and even run things past friends and peers. Use contacts and design briefs to keep yourself covered legally and remain organized. You can also use software like Freshbooks to handle your invoicing and keep on top of things.

When dealing with clients both in person or on the phone I always try to keep my notebook ready to jot any notes I may need and have all of the necessary contact information. I also try to keep my desktop folders on the computer as organized as possible.

Be Refreshing & Original

On and end note, don’t stick to traditions or conventions, break away from your comfort zone and push the envelope, set yourself distinctly apart from the competition. Fill your portfolio with pieces that will blow clients away, try and show your ability to think out of the box! Remember that clients are looking at your creative abilities as much if not more than your technical expertise.

The latest innovation in technology from Apple, the new iPad is their latest gadget, target specifically at replacing netbooks.
This video is introducing the concept and innovation of the iPad.
Watch on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHMZf7NcePA

Official iPad Page on Apple: www.apple.com/iPad

Now personally I’m not a fan of the iPad I understand where apple is coming from but I will share my reasons on this in another post. But I am interested to hear what you out there think, especially you designers and artist out there. “Is the iPad worthwhile for Designers and Artist?” “Should Web Designers start designing for the iPad?” I’d love some of you to answer these questions.

Today’s featured artist has some truly amazing work, particularly some prints available through deviantart.com. Alexiuss is an amazing digital artist based out of Canada with a fantastic array of dark artwork. In fact I have to honestly say this represents some of the best dark artwork I’ve seen in the deviantart community.

You can view this artist complete gallery at Deviantart: http://alexiuss.deviantart.com/

Neurotic Indisposition by Alexiuss

Feral Nova by Alexiuss

Death by Stress by Alexiuss

Antoymic Cyclone by Alexiuss

Insidious Discrepancy by Alexiuss

Absense of Vision by Alexiuss

Machinery of the Stars by Alexiusss

Antecedet Terminus by Alexiuss

Fate by Alexiuss

Praetorian by Alexiuss

Gabriel by Alexiuss

Chronoscape Thundersnow by Alexiuss

I had meant to post this sooner, but as some of you may already know I ad the pleasure of having some of my work featured in Photoshop Creative Magazine Issue 54 as part of a spread encouraging creatives to post their work to the Photoshop Creative Gallery. I’ve been an avid reader of Photoshop Creative for quite sometime so it was a real treat and honor to be featured in their magazine. Interestingly on the page next to the one I was featured on Alena Lazareva who I had the pleasure of interviewing a few months early was also featured!

photoshop-creative-feature-issue54

Aside from the sense of pride and accomplishment in seeing my work printed in one of my favorite publications it also made me take myself a lot more seriously. As creatives we all try to keep in mind that others are viewing our work, our development and our growth, but once your work reaches a such a broad audience it really bring this home for you.

I received a lot of positive response from this and some new interest from this feature, and it has definitely been encouraging. I would say to any other digital artist reading this to always keep striving to achieve goals and produce the best work that you can, and submit to as many venues as possible, you never know how these things will turn out or where they will lead.

Its been a while since I’ve done a featured artist from deviant art, I apologize because its long over due, and the new year has given me a new schedule as well as many new projects to handle. but fear not, the days of slack are now behind us!  Today’s artist that I’ve feature has some work that simply blew me away when I saw it. Her work managed to find its way into my favorites collection fairly quickly. She is 27 year old Turkish Graphic Designer Asli Yeniay Kizilay, and her work is just amazing.

Angelica by Wiksa

Angel's Hell by Wiksa

Scream of Hope by Wiksa

Lament by Wiksa

Misanthrope by Wiksa

Fabels Tragedy by Wiksa

Sear Me by Wiksa

This is my latest freebie in honor of #typographytuesday. I have to say I really enjoyed working on this one, I haven’t done a lot with 3D type in the past and this was a real challenge in combining my skills with both Illustrator and Photoshop.

After posting this up on deviant art as a print I decided to make it available to everyone as a desktop wallpaper. It was easy to handle re-cropping and resizing it, enjoy!

Typo 1

Download Sizes

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Binary Angel is one of my newest photo-manipulations, though it differs from most in the fact that I decided to combine a large number of  vector graphics in this piece. The vector wings were from Go Arsenal Media, a great resources for brushes vector graphics and templates at a reasonable price. The model is from istockphoto and the remaining elements are custom.

Inspiration

Ultimately I came up with this while trying to decide on what to do about creating my custom 404 page (still a work in progress).  I wanted something unique and different that also still demonstrated graphic design. This approach was heavily influenced by the fact I was watching the last few episodes of an Anime called “Outlaw Star” in which the characters entered the “Digital Plane” and were interacting with a “Machine Diety”. The idea of angelic presence administrating over cyberspace intrigued me and prompted me to create this image.

The Design Process

The choices in the elements and colors was fairly simple after I picked the stock image. I knew that I wanted her to be an angel and I wanted to create an interesting but “uncluttered” cyberspace environment for her. I had already had the wings for quite sometime, and incorporated them first to set the tone of the image and figure out the spacing.

After that I had to decide on the illuminated screens. At first I had thought to use website screen shots (most likely from my own site) but I decided against that as I wasn’t sure how well it was coming across, so I decided to use blank screens with lighting effects. One of the hardest things was planning the angles for this and creating just the right perspective. Next I created a custom pixel brush by defining a square as a brush and adjusting the custom brush settings for it.

When I created the light spirals around her lower body I had another chance to look at the image and remember that she was an angel and it occurred to me…”When is the last time I saw an angel with a halo?” So I decided to add one in a light blue, in a shade very close to the one I used for the screens earlier.

I have to say that I’m very happy with the way this image came out and that I think it will be one of the stronger pieces in my portfolio.

Self Promotion is an important part of any successful career. Surprisingly enough it is something that very few people completely understand how to take advantage of. This is a short list of some tips and tricks you can use to boost your career.

Research

You really do need to research your target market and be relevant to their needs. Enable them to succeed in their goals and provide them with resources and information.

Branding

Proper branding is essential. Work within the style of your brand, the best self promo will compliment your resume, website, and portfolio. All pieces should be consistent in their colors, fonts, textures, etc. Remember that while being consistent you can still show your creativity and style.

Details

The devil really is in the details. Try to proof read everything, and others review and possibly edit for you whenever possible.

Network

Connecting the right people can be just as important as saying and doing the right thing at the right time. You should have an idea of the types of individuals you should be connected to, if not this is something you should strongly consider researching. A hint would be that everyone needs to know SEO specialist, Social Networking experts, Marketers, and of course you should always know a Computer Geek.

Follow Up

When contacting individuals follow up a week or two later and maintain a dialogue whenever possible. Also try to keep a record of your contacts and follow ups.