I have been wanting to start a series of blog posts about where and in what I find inspiration. There are so many things that inspire us designer and artists. Sometimes I think we don’t even realize the things that are inspiring us. I am exciting to share these things and to also sit down and force myself to realize the things that inspire me that aren’t as apparent.
This post is on a general subject that most of the time I am very aware of it’s inspiration. There are so many elements to this inspiration so I am sure it will lead to more specific posts down the road. This inspiration is Nature. As most of us know, there is so much visual beauty in nature. The colors, textures, line work. Think of the ways it has inspired so many artists and designers through history. It is truly amazing.
Not only does nature give us so much to be in awe of, but it also brings such a fresh feel to things. It is unpredictable and original. I love working the organic elements of nature into my design work as much as I can. Flowing lines, organic textures, beautiful colors that work perfectly with each other.
Whenever I go on a hike or anywhere outdoors I almost always bring my camera to catch the inspirations I see. This i a wonderful way to be able to reference them later. I have a huge collection of pictures on my computer broken down into categories. Clouds, wood textures, leaves, you name it. This is a practice I highly recommend. You may not use the photos in pieces themselves or you may but to just have that archive to flip through for stimulation is wonderful.
Next time you are out for a walk look close. pay attention to the patterns in leaves, what images you can find in the clouds, what color palettes you can pull for a new project. I promise you want be disappointed.
Lately at Link Creative I have had the pleasure of offering my logo design, print design, and illustrations services to the sports market. It is just one of many great industries I am very eager to be more involved with. This has inspired my first set of freebies! Just a small way to show my appreciation.
Here is a brand new set of sports themed twitter icons I illustrated just for sports fans! Download any sport or there is a none sport set available as well. Each set has two text versions (one that says “follow me on twitter” and “follow us on twitter”). The sets also include .jpg and .png file versions of each.
Having an appropriate icon on your site or blog to promote your twitter page is a great way to grab the attention of new followers. If you would like a custom set with your team or company colors on the uniforms let me know and I can customize them for a small price.
Enjoy, and thanks again sports fans! Link Creative is always eager to be your creative connection! Let me know how I can be of service to you and feel free to spread the word! Oh, and don’t forget to follow Link Creative on twitter! http://twitter.com/LindseyLinkC
I am not sure if you can find a much larger first impression that is made of you business that your Logo. That fact alone makes one aware of the importance it holds in your business branding.
As you may already know I specialize in logo design. The reason for this specialization is not only because I enjoy logo design, but also because I am a firm believer in the importance of a quality logo to a business, organization, or team. I think that logos and the vital roles they play in the promotion of a company or organization is greatly underestimated at times. A logo is at the front lines of your brand identity. It is your first impression and we all know how important those can be. Brand recognition is what helps people begin to relate to the products or services that you offer.
The logo visually represents your company and its objectives. That is a huge role! If that wasn’t big enough, you also have to keep in mind the amount of time a logo is given to get it’s message across. Sometimes not much time at all! That is why a logo needs to be clear, clever, and original.
A logo reflects how big and important you consider your company to be. A cheap and unprofessional logo can work against your efforts to grow as a company or organization. Also, sometimes it is assumed that a logo has to be bright, bold, or loud just to attract attention but a simple and clever logo that reflects the key features of your company shows that you have put effort and thought into your company.
Logos are as I mentioned above, a graphical representation of what you do/offer. You want your logo to speak loudly to your target audience and stand out from your competition. There is a lot to be researched and considered when designing a successful logo for a company. You want a designer who takes the time to soak in all of these factors as they are developing your logo.
An overdone logo with no concept can create confusion in the minds of the person looking at it. Other things that need to be considered are what and where you are going to use your logo.
If you are planning to start a business or organization I hope this message speaks volumes to you. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating the importance of having a professional logo designed for your business. At Link Creative we are more than eager to offer you our services in this department and I am confident in my ability to follow everything I have outlined above in creating a custom, effective logo for your business or organization.
Especially when it is expensive software that you not only use daily, but is one of the mediums with which you express your passion of creativity.
Last week I attended a great speaking event put on by a local group I am a member of. The group is called the Dayton Creative Syndicate. I joined a few months ago so I could connect with other creatives, learn, and of course network. They are fairly new with having just reached their one year mark. They have speakers, happy hours, and also something called the Adobe user group. The Adobe user group is where one can learn more about the ever amazing line of adobe software that most us creative use. Adobe (software company name) only allows one user group for every major city. They provide things to the group for setting up these meetings and.. you guessed it a few lovely door prizes for the group administrators to give out throughout the year.
The speaker I went to hear was Todd Henry giving his presentation “Create or Die”. He gave a great talk about the dynamics of create-on-demand and important disciplines for sustained growth in our lives and art. Learn more at www.accidentalcreative.com
Anyway, as most events with the DCS there are door prizes to be given out. I am always excited for the opportunity to win anything but always seem to be one of those persons who ends up pouting saying, “I never win anything”. This event there was a big prize up for grabs and I was really excited but at the same time now allowing myself to get my hopes up too much. Oh the scares and heartbreak of never winning anything (tear drop). After the presentation I was chatting with the gentleman sitting next to me, telling him how stoked I would be to win Adobe CS4 and joking about how unlikely it would be. Next thing I know they are calling out the number on my ticket but my brain would not register it because I heard a guy across the room yelling out. I thought I must have read that wrong because that guy is way too excited. Finally I realized he was yelling “I was one number off!!!”. I finally realized it was my number and that I had finally won something totally exciting. I was telling my family and friends that winning that was one of the best things I could ever hope to win.
I have had a copy of CS3 since bought the standard package in 07 but CS4 is a great upgrade that I was probably not going to be dishing out the cash to upgrade to so soon.
Since getting it installed I have has a great time finding out what improvement and new features are to be found. I have a lot more exploring to do! After I have thoroughly discovered I will hopefully find time to share my finding in another blog post. I will certainly, be posting examples of work I have finalized using this wonderful gift.
A HUGE thanks goes out to the DCS, Adobe User Group, and of course Adobe!
The subject of natural talent has been on my mind lately. I have been recalling everything I have learned through the years about talent and the necessity to learn how to truly appreciate what it is (and what it isn’t). It is actually something that has crossed my mind on and off for the past couple years. I have felt the desire to share it with certain, young, talented people I have had the privilege of watching grow up and face the big steps in life after graduation. I have always thought I would love to write these thoughts down and share them with these individuals so they have some information that I would have appreciated at that age (even if I didn’t realize I needed it at the time).
Everything I want to express is summed up in this quote: “There are two kinds of talented people. Both know they are talented but only one knows that is not all it takes.” I am not sure if I had heard something similar to that before, or if I made it up, but I think it speaks volumes.
What I want to express is the place that talent holds in our journey to succeed, how it has to be appreciated, what it does for us, and finally, what it doesn’t do for us if we don’t realize the other vital efforts we have to make.
For a person with natural talent, especially when you are young, it is so easy to begin to believe your talent is all you need. Chances are if you are naturally talented, you have been most of your life (in whatever it is you do well). I know for me with my talent to draw, I can remember kids swarming around my desk as early as first grade just to see what “crayon masterpiece” I created in art class. All this attention through the years can build one’s confidence up. Confidence is a good thing, but it can easily turn into “Wow! I hardly have to try at all!” For those of us who hold a natural talent in something, that thing comes very…. well… natural to us! We feel like it so easy and then it becomes apparent to us how “not easy” it must be. We start seeing that others don’t come anywhere close to being able to pick up on that same thing as effortlessly. It makes you feel like you have this super power. This attitude, if not monitored, can give us the idea that we will exceed in our talent with little to no effort. Wrong!
This is where I get on the soapbox to say: this is the mindset that will trump your natural talent and insure you down a path that does not lead to success. With talent comes a huge responsibility. I think there are three things you MUST have to stay on the path of success:
1. PASSION. You have to believe in what you do to succeed. Passion is so important, and it glows on the face of a person that has it. People that see you realize you have genuine drive. While passion is important it cannot stand alone, either.
2. APPRECIATION. Talent is not something you can take for granted. You might succeed for a while, but it will come back to bite you. If you don’t truly appreciate what you have, I don’t believe your best can come out. If you don’t realize that your talent is also a gift for you to give back to others, you will be missing a huge part of the picture. For me it is quite spiritual. I believe God gives us our talents for a huge purpose. If we miss that purpose, our absolute best is lost.
3. And lastly, the REALIZATION that talent will not carry you alone. There is so much time, sacrifice, and strong effort to be given outside of your natural talent in order to succeed. Another quote I love is “Nothing worth having comes easy.” We all know this truth, and those of us who have been given a talent are no exception. You HAVE to work hard; that is all there is to it. If you are going to let laziness, arrogance, and lack of appreciation get in your way, you might as well call it quits.
There can be a couple observations brought up at this point and I will address both. Someone might say, “Well I know so-and-so who was talented, caught a huge break and was on the path to success with hardly any effort at all beyond their talent.” I’m sure there are plenty of stories like that, but the ones I know of didn’t end well because there was nothing to sustain. Again, these things happen, but we are talking about establishing something that lasts. What seems like lucky breaks do come to people, but you can’t bet on them; if you do get them, you have to have what it takes to make them last.
It can also be said that you might not be seeing the actual hard work and sacrifice of those people. It might not have been such a lucky break at all. It is so easy for us to look at others and assume it came to them at no cost. Chances are it did not!
To bring things to an end, I will touch on keeping ourselves from being arrogant. I think many of us at one point, or to a degree, have come to a point where we thought a little too much of ourselves. Arrogance is very blinding and being able to see what and where we are at any given time is key to bettering ourselves. I think a good practice is to always know that there is someone out there better than you. I don’t care if you have been declared the single most talented person in the whole world; there is still someone undiscovered that could kick you in the pants. Why would you want to focus on that? I think that not only does this thought drive you to work hard at being better, but it also keeps your arrogance in check. Don’t confuse arrogance with confidence. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being humbly confident. In fact it is the best way to be. Confidence is a healthy belief in one’s self. Arrogance is confidence’s ugly cousin who thinks he is better than everyone else and shouldn’t have to lift a finger.
Everything I have said comes from what I have learned and am still learning right now. I challenge anyone reading this to keep these points in mind. Be incredibly thankful for the talents you have been given, realize hard work comes with it, and let true passion drive you to new adventures everyday.
