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As a stock provider, nothing pleases me more than to see a notification that an artist has used my stock in their art. It's a gift, not only in the art itself, but to know that my stock inspired an artist to create. I am constantly dazzled by the artists who take a simple photo and turn it into an entire fantasy world. Artists take the ordinary photo and turn it into something extraordinary. This is one of the reasons my fellow stock providers and I create stock. We share a common bond of dreamers and possibilities.
– Edgar Allen Poe
A single stock photo can be interpreted in a thousand different ways, by a thousand different artists. Each artist is inspired by their own unique views and tastes. Where one artist sees a stock photo and dreams of mermaids, another artist will dream of ethereal apparitions from beyond the shadowed veil.
I've had the pleasure to get to know our local stock community. I believe that has the strongest stock community online today. deviantART has one of the most vast and varied collections of high quality stock that I have ever seen. The majority of it is free for artists to use, which is another uncommon element in online stock photography.
One of your best resources of all regarding all things stock is our resident Resources & Stock Community Volunteers. They work hard at ensuring that our stock resources run smoothly, and are the voices of our community.
Elandria PirateLotus-Stock
Our stock resources range from the beginning stock artists to the professional models and photographers that could easily demand high prices for their work. Luckily for you, the majority provides it for free. Often they only ask for the artist to simply credit them with a link to their account and stock photo. In fact, crediting your stock resources is not only important, it's mandatory. As per guidelines, all manipulated materials such as photomanipulations or premade backgrounds must be properly credited and from valid stock resources. This not only applies to based stock resources, but all off-site stock websites as well. It is also part of our Realm-of-Fantasy submission guidelines.
Group Submissions Guidelines:Please Read PLEASE READ GUIDELINES THOROUGHLY
Welcome to the Realm of Fantasy Group. Fantasy, by it's core definition is: the free play of creative imagination. This is a place for fantasy enthusiasts to come and share their imagination, and meet others with a similar passion.
This is a Group for Fantasy and Sci fi related artwork and Literature. All Skill Levels and Mediums are welcome. So if you are interested in fantasy art in any way, shape or form, come join us at the *Realm-of-Fantasy.
Where the only limits here is your imagination.
This Journal will be updated and re-posted from time to time.
Attention please also read:
Fantasy Criteria: http://realm-of-fantasy.deviantart.com/blog/30166422/
Credit Guidelines: http://realm-of-fantasy.deviantart.com/blog/31080729/
Gallery Submissions are Open everyday.
You may submit 1 Submission per week.
You must be a member of the group to
Credit Guidelines: Please ReadLack of proper Credit and Links provided of the original Artist and Resources used is the #1 cause of delays daily in our Group Submission process. When we observe possible uncredited Resources use in a Group submission, we send out a correspondence message to the artist requesting Credit and links, and must often wait for a response.
We have been receiving a lot of submissions which are containing other peoples work without permission, credit and/or links given. Our Group standpoint and Guidelines in regards to this issue are very clear:
If you did not make it; get permission to use/alter it from the original artist/company, give credit and provide a link to the piece used. If you do not have permission to use it, then it is Considered Copyright Infringement. No Exceptions
You must provide Credit to each creator of the resources used, along with links to every resource used, regardless of where you got the resource. Not just links
How and Why To Credit Your Stock ProvidersHiya Darlings,
Today I am going to tackle a subject that all photo manipulation artists should pay attention to. (Yes, this means you!) It is my hope that this article will save you the headache and trouble of getting a submission declined, having to delete your work, or worse; be sued by someone because of it.
Why Properly Crediting Stock Is Important
All artists know that the secret to a great manip is finding stock that is just right for the theme you are trying to convey. On there are literally thousands of fantastic high quality images that are absolutely free. Some of these images are even created by and featuring professional models and photographers. You could pay a lot of money for the rights to use the type of stock resources in your art that are found here free of charge. This is part of why is unique and an amazing place for artists to frequent.
You'll find that a lot of art groups, including :iconmanips-cent
Premade Backgrounds and Group Submission Changes This has been reposted from The-Stock-Directory upon request so that it can be requested for groups. Feel free to request it!
Today we're going to address the "Circle of Stock." Cue Disney's "The Lion King" theme song and call me Mufasa. Just like in the circle of life, what we do affects another group, and returns to affect us again. We have a responsibility to the artists that use our stock to provide legitimate and safe stock resources. As an administrator for a few art groups as well as stock groups, I have seen what happens to the artists who use invalid stock resources. They have had their art declined, or had to replace stock elements through no fault of their own. This especially includes those who includes celebrity or otherwise copyrighted material, even if it was uploaded to the Resources and Stocks section of . It isn't fair to the artists who use the "stock" and hurts the credibility of not only the stock provider who uploads it, but the stock
FAQ #157: Can I use things created by other people in my submissions?
FAQ #257: What sort of permission do I need to use someone else's work?
FAQ #217: What are "Stock and Resources" and can I use them in my submissions?
FAQ #809: What are deviantART's stock image guidelines?
Now granted, there are those beginning artists out there who are simply unaware of those rules, and have no idea how to properly credit their stock providers. For those who wish to learn, here is a tutorial to get you started:
Proper crediting is essential when using stock photos in your artwork. Not only does it increase your arts exposure, it helps the stock provider by letting others know where you found their image. Everything, no matter how small it is, used in a photomanipulation should be credited. If your mouse is having tea, you should credit the brush that you used for the steam coming from the tea. Crediting also enhances your chances of having your artwork approved during the submission process in the groups that you submit to.
The keywords and algorithms of the search engine increases your chances of being seen by crediting stock. You should also always notify the stock provider that you have used their image with a direct link to your work. This increases your chance of getting views and favorites. It also increases your chances to be included in features such as this one. When I chose to use Jaymasee's Mermaid – Tethys 12 stock photo as an example, I browsed the comments section for artists who used the stock to feature alongside it. This is how a lot of features happen. As a digital artist and stock provider, I often browse the former uses of a stock photo to see what has already been done with the image to avoid creating something similar. When artists do this it increases your traffic. Have you noticed that I've emphasized how your traffic increases by proper crediting techniques in this section? I did this because crediting is extremely important.
Here is a quick example on How To Credit Your Stock Providers
Now for the sake of argument, let's say I used Jaymasee's Mermaid – Tethys 12 as a stock resource for my manip, or referenced it with a digital painting. Once I uploaded my artwork, I would put the following in the Artist Comments area:
Model: Jaymasee fav.me/d4b9gd9
After the image is fully credited and uploaded, I would then take the fav me url from my work and then leave a comment on the stock photos page. That way she can see how I used her stock. Most stock providers add art with their stock in it to their favorites list, and will feature it in a stock use feature later on.
Quick Guide to Using Stock:
You must credit and notify all stock resources used. This applies whether you are using it in a photomanip, or as a reference in other traditional/digital mediums.
You should always notify the stock provider after you use it.
Always follow the individual stock terms of use that the stock provider has listed. They allow you to use their image provided you follow these said terms, and by downloading the image, you agree to follow them. You can generally find their stock rules on the photo itself, the stock provider's journal, or their front page. I tend to list them in all three places
You should always credit yourself! If you are using your own images, you should state that in your artist comments too!
If you have used a stock image and the stock provider has deactivated their account, you should still credit them. Here is an example:
Forest: AlaskaStock Deactivated Account; Images No Longer Available.
Keep in mind when using pre-cut stock or premade backgrounds, those stocks should have their credits listed in their artists comments as well. There are some premade backgrounds and precut stocks that have been created by using images from google or websites like sxc.hu. I know for certain that sxc.hu and depositphotos.com do not allow for the redistribution of the stocks on their website in any form.
Do not use celebrity images, google search images, screen shots of movies or games, or other non-stock images in
your manipulations. It is a violation of the guidelines, Realm-of-Fantasy submission guidelines, and could possibly get you in trouble for copyright infringement.
Lazy "crediting" such as saying, "I'll find the link later," or "I don't remember who this stock belongs to," doesn't count. Most often we put our dA ID names right on the image file itself. Mine often say things like "CastlePremade_by_CelticStrm-Stock.jpg." You can also find it occasionally on the image itself or in the meta-data.
Do not assume that simply because a photo is listed as a stock photo, that it is a public domain image and you can do whatever you want with it. You agree to abide by the stock providers terms of use when you download the image. Be respectful of the stock provider by following those rules.
Language barriers are not an acceptable excuse for failure to follow the rules. Google Translate works perfectly well and it's free to use.
Don't assume that if you don't credit or notify, you won't get caught. I and my fellow stock providers often use reverse image searches like tineye.com and google reverse search to find those who violate our terms.
The failure to properly credit your stock resources takes you out of the running to be featured with a Daily Deviation.
Taking Stock:
Did you know that most stock artists provide you free resources at their own expense? Travel, costumes, equipment, and makeup among other things can come at a hefty price tag. It can get expensive for the stock provider very quickly. We do these things because we love it, and we believe in the long run that it will be worth it. Most stock providers don't have fancy studios or investors to finance these things.
Here's an example:
My sister MissHootLoot is wearing a gown that I purchased for her a few years ago for stock photos. At the time it cost about $300 USD. The cloak she is wearing cost her $50 USD. I got lucky with the setting and was able to use it for free. It wasn't free for my family to build, however. They created the setting for a photo shoot with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Christmas parade in Highlandville, Missouri.
This is a similar situation for most stock providers out there. We also tend to get injured in the pursuit of stock on a regular basis. I can't tell you how many times I've tripped or twisted my ankle shooting stock. I think the worst time though was when I was out shooting lightning stock during a storm that was currently producing a tornado. I got the shot, but the downside was that I got hit by the ricochet of a lightning strike. I was fine, but it didn't tickle. (I also wouldn't suggest taking photos of dangerous storms unless you've had some formal training in storm chasing. I was able to receive that training while I was in college in Oklahoma.) I've heard other injury stories ranging from broken bones to strained muscles, all in the name of taking a stock photo.
Here are some important informative articles for photomanipulators:
Contests News and FeaturesWelcome to Stock & Resources 2013!
We hope you all had an excellent beginning to the New Year! Please find below some very interesting contests, features and news.
Precut stock - all the problems :/
Precut stock is something that like Marmite, people either love, or hate. Either way it brings its own special issues to stock providers and photomanipulators alike, so I've highlighted some very important points you should take into consideration below.
Precut stock is in its very nature "EDITED" therefore its is no longer in its original photographic form and should therefore be posted to resources/clipart OR stock/premade backgrounds/.. NOT to the usual stock galleries which should be reserved for original photography that has only very minor post production edits such as exposure/brightness/contrast etc. alterations according to DA's gallery definitions.
Precut stock - like all photo
Photomanipulation FAQsEverything you wanted to know . . . And MORE!
This journal will (I hope) serve as a one-stop source for basic information about photomanipulation. As always, if you have questions, I will do my best to answer them or, if I don't know the answer, refer you to someone who can help you.
What is photomanipulation?
Photomanipulation is art that uses 2 or more photographic elements combined to make something new. It does not include 3D elements. For reference, see:
Photomanipulation vs. Mixed Media
Welcome to Photomanipulation Week
Which stock am I allowed to use?
You can only use images or other resources that are your own or that you have explicit permission from the original creator to use. For reference, see:
PE S&R Sourcing Your ResourcesSourcing Your Resources
You may think that the creation and sharing of stock and resources is a no brainer. Clearly however its not, and there are a growing number of deviants who for some reason or another seem to not be able to grasp the basic principles.
As the last article we will be launching for Stock & Resources Project Educate week, we are going to attempt to lay it out for you in clear and easy to understand terms.
What YOU own
The gallery details for stock and resources read:
Gallery Info: Resources & Stock Images
Resources submitted by deviants for others to use in their own works and/or learn from.
Gallery Info: Stock Images
Stock Photography which the provider has granted a licence for incorporation into other Deviant artists work.
By submitting work into the stock and resources galleries, be they a photograph of your cat, a pack of brushes you have created, a texture you have developed, or a tutorial you've spent weeks resea
My Photomanip DD GuidelinesHello everyone!
I gladly welcome all Daily Deviation (DD) suggestions and am always excited to receive them from you. Here are some things to keep in mind to help increase your suggested deviation's chances of being accepted as a Daily Deviation!
DDs are meant to showcase the best deviations that the community has to offer. Anyone, popular or not, can receive a DD if they do exemplary work. That means you! For a better understanding of what they are and their purpose, you can visit :faq61:.
Basic Requirements
No matter how phenomenal it is, I cannot even consider your suggestion:
If it is not a photomanipulation. This means it needs to be in the category Digital Art > Photomanipulation. [Although . . . I may consider Mixed Media (Digital Art > Mixed Media).] See Continuing the Photomanip Conversation.If the artist does not credit stock sources properly by, at the very least, linking to the stock artist's page or the
The Amazing World of Stock on dA:
:thumb342011537: :thumb343079382:
Take:10 with jademacalla:
If you really want to get a behind the scenes glimpse of your stock providers, I'd highly suggest taking a look at jademacalla's Take:10 interview series. The series is an informative and entertaining collection featuring some of deviantART's favorite stock providers.
Take:10 Conversations with Creatives Hosted by Jade Macalla
The Realm of Fantasy FAQ Section:
Group Submissions Guidelines:Please Read PLEASE READ GUIDELINES THOROUGHLY
Welcome to the Realm of Fantasy Group. Fantasy, by it's core definition is: the free play of creative imagination. This is a place for fantasy enthusiasts to come and share their imagination, and meet others with a similar passion.
This is a Group for Fantasy and Sci fi related artwork and Literature. All Skill Levels and Mediums are welcome. So if you are interested in fantasy art in any way, shape or form, come join us at the *Realm-of-Fantasy.
Where the only limits here is your imagination.
This Journal will be updated and re-posted from time to time.
Attention please also read:
Fantasy Criteria: http://realm-of-fantasy.deviantart.com/blog/30166422/
Credit Guidelines: http://realm-of-fantasy.deviantart.com/blog/31080729/
Gallery Submissions are Open everyday.
You may submit 1 Submission per week.
You must be a member of the group to
Fantasy Criteria...NOTICE:
This Blog is not intended for any debates, disputes or standpoints regarding the definition of Fantasy or Sci-fi, or Group Policies. Any such comments will be hidden. This Blog is intended only to establish and present our Group Criteria. If you have any questions regarding this blog or any information within do not comment here, rather please send a note to the Group.
Discussions are welcome, debates are not.
Also consider the words Fantasy and Sci-fi interchangeable during the course of this blog for the purpose of saving time.
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to take a few minutes and talk about Fantasy. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary describes Fantasy as: the free play of creative imagination. It is described as being Mental images or imaginary narratives that distort or entirely depart from reality.
Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or s
Credit Guidelines: Please ReadLack of proper Credit and Links provided of the original Artist and Resources used is the #1 cause of delays daily in our Group Submission process. When we observe possible uncredited Resources use in a Group submission, we send out a correspondence message to the artist requesting Credit and links, and must often wait for a response.
We have been receiving a lot of submissions which are containing other peoples work without permission, credit and/or links given. Our Group standpoint and Guidelines in regards to this issue are very clear:
If you did not make it; get permission to use/alter it from the original artist/company, give credit and provide a link to the piece used. If you do not have permission to use it, then it is Considered Copyright Infringement. No Exceptions
You must provide Credit to each creator of the resources used, along with links to every resource used, regardless of where you got the resource. Not just links
The Follow Up and Discussion:
1. What questions do you have regarding stock?
2. What makes a great stock photo in your opinion?
3. Do you use stock photos? If you do, what do you look for?
4. What type of tutorials do you need/would you use?
5. Do you provide stock? What are your opinions on how stock is used? What have your experiences been like as a stock provider?


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Elder's Profile
|Display Name:
|Elder's Book Lists
|Elder hasn't created any booklists yet.
|Elder's Comments
|The hobbit, or, There and back again
by Tolkien, J. R. R. 1892-1973
The Hobbit is a classic adventure story where an unlikely hero faces goblins, a dragon, and his own insecurities to help his friends. If you like those kinds of stories, this is one of the best ever written! It is a prequel to the 'Lord of the Rings' books (every bit as good as this one) so I STRONGLY suggest you read this one first. posted Apr 28, 2013 at 1:15AM
|Guns, germs, and steel : the fates of human societies
by Diamond, Jared M.
An interesting and believable analysis of the ways in which the local flora, fauna, and geography shaped civilization throughout the world. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about understanding why the world is the way it is today. NOTE: The author presents his thesis within the first few chapters of the book and spends the rest of the book reiterating his points with detailed supporting analysis and examples. Therefore, a less dedicated reader can glean a basic understanding of the core concepts by reading just the first few chapters. WARNING: This is a long and detailed sociological analysis and WILL bore readers lacking an authentic interest in the material. posted Apr 28, 2013 at 1:06AM
|Devices and desires
by Parker, K. J.
This is a fairly entertaining (though somewhat slow-moving) book set in an alternate medieval world where one civilization has advanced to a high level of pre-industrial technology vastly outpacing it's neighbors. As a result various conflicts ensue. This is book one in a three book series so don't expect everything to be wrapped up at the end of this book. The immediate conflicts are resolved but the long term conflicts are not. WARNING: This book is clearly directed toward an educated crowd with a working knowledge of the basics of mechanical engineering. While you may enjoy the story without a technical background, much of the humor and commentary may be lost on you. posted Apr 28, 2013 at 12:36AM

subset: commoncrawl


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How to Decorate a Teen Boy's Bedroomby Shelley Frost
A teen's room gives him a place to study, hang out and do his other hobbies, in addition to the obvious sleeping he does there. If your teenage son lets you near his bedroom, make the decorating process a joint effort. Involving him in the process allows him to express his individuality in the bedroom decor. A decorating plan before you begin the process ensures the decor works well together and stays on budget.
Items you will need
- Furnishings
- Paint
- Lighting
- Bedding set
- Shelving
- Bins
Discuss theme options with your teenager if he wants to be part of the planning process. Consider his hobbies or interests as a theme, such as skateboarding, music or video games. Choose a color scheme that works with the theme and fits your teen's preferences.
Write a list of activities your son does in the bedroom. Plan an area to handle each activity, such as a desk for studying, dresser for clothing storage, and beanbags or floor pillows for lounging.
Assess the current furnishings in the room to determine if they are still usable in the new decor. Remember that a coat of paint can dress up an old bed frame, desk or dresser to make it more fitting for the room. Purchase any additional furniture pieces as needed to complete the room design.
Paint the walls in one of the theme colors. A dark color on the walls can make a room feel cave-like and smaller, so choose the wall color carefully. For more wall accents, add a painted wall mural or large wall art to fit the bedroom theme.
Add lighting sources to complement an overhead light. For example, you might place a themed lamp on your son's study desk to provide enough light for studying. A wall light installed above the lounge area gives more light when he hangs out with his friends.
Buy a bedding set that fits the theme or the color scheme of the room. Many bedding sets offer coordinating curtains to make dressing the windows easier.
Install a shelving unit in the room to serve as storage. Use canvas bins on the shelves to hold smaller objects.
Display your son's awards, collectibles and other significant possessions on shelves or dresser tops.
- A futon or daybed is an alternative option that gives your son more seating when he has friends over while also serving as his sleeping area. This works well in smaller rooms.
Photo Credits
- Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images


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I offer myself to serve you.
to bring happiness.
to end suffering and not add more.
that is my karma.
(via 1sassyfrassylassy)
Don't save your good lingerie for dates, wear it for YOU."
(Source: the-aiminater)
My apologies for the reading list. It was a mispost that was mean to go to a different blog of mine (one where I find other people's reading goal lists).
Lo siento.


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My NMP is finally finished and what a relief! It has been a long journey of experimenting with styles and playing around with hundreds of ideas! For my NMP I worked with two of my friends to establish a collective called Mutton Boon. Whilst the ethos and ideas for Mutton Boon have changed about a hundred times, one thing that has been constant throughout was to create designs and products that take advantage of printmaking and the handcrafted.
I went down many different routes in this project so this blog post is a way to explain my process from start to finish and why I decided to change ideas so often.
At the start of the project we set out to create a collective that created a range of tee's and prints. For the first few weeks we really struggled to find something to create that made us feel unique. We spent a lot of time exploring printmaking techniques but was producing designs that were quite common (like aztec patterns). Time was getting on and we needed to start creating visuals and outcomes. We decided the best approach was to put a constraint on our work. Sometimes having such an open brief can stop ideas from forming as you don't know where to begin. This is where the minotaur comes in. We needed to make a more restricted brief so we picked a story we know very little about. What we ended up doing was a story about the Minotaur, a half man half bull that lives in a Labyrinth. All of us knew very little about this which allowed us to create designs based purely off the research we had found. I will admit it was challenging.
Our first attempt at producing a zine was… well far from amazing. We produced outcomes which we felt weren't very strong. However, we were starting to form ideas that would actually influence our final outcomes. The week later we managed to produce a set of work which created starting points for our final outcomes.
I produced three different directions that I wanted to take the project in. The first was exploring the branding of an American Hockey team called "The Minotaurs". The inspiration came from this because I felt the minotaur would create a fantastic mascot for a sports team and I really like the design of American sport team logos. The second direction was illustrated type. I had created the word "plagued" out of what could be interpreted as bubble gum (intentional) or as flesh with sinewy bits. I am obsessed with typography and wanted to explore a hand drawn type route. The final option was illustration. I had started to produce a playing card using a minimalistic geometric style that was all about clean, precise lines.
I decided to go down the route of the minotaur sports team. The first changes I wanted to make were to change the logo I had made and begin developing it. Alongside that I wanted to create the team's hockey kits, design an official mascot and then produce a range of merchandise. After a few weeks of going down this route, I realised it wasn't working for me. The idea didn't really do much for me, it wasn't clicking in my head so I scrapped that approach and went for the illustration route.
I liked the idea of playing cards. I think the illustration of the Kings, Queens etc are really nice and I wanted to have a go at making my own. This eventually led it's way into tarot cards. Tarot cards were originally designed to be a game which then got this association with the occult and some people use them to tell the future. I was fascinated by them because of the way they are illustrated. Each illustration is full of symbolism which relate to the card's meaning.
I began creating designs for tarot cards which linked to major parts and characters of the Minotaur story. I created illustrations full of symbolism to represent the personality traits and to tell the story. However, it got to a point where all I had were tarot cards, and I didn't really just want a pack of cards for my final show. After a seminar, I decided to try and take this symbolism and apply it to clothing, and to see where I can take that.
I spent a while trying to create unique symbols to sum up the tarot cards. However, I found it a struggle to come up with a lot of unique icons and I also felt this was taking too much of a tarot approach and was moving away from the minotaur.
I then looked into hand drawn illustration. Whilst this isn't really my style of working as such, I do enjoy drawing. I spent a few weeks exploring illustration styles and began drawing a range of outcomes from paper money to illustrated wallets. However, the choice of style really wasn't clicking with me and it was only a matter of time before I went to the more familiar minimalist style.
I liked the idea of symbolism and the way you convey a theme, message or idea from a small image. I also liked the idea of creating unique symbols, as some of the symbols I had produced earlier were far from original. Eventually I came to the idea of creating a micro site/app that creates your own coat of arms, based on your personality. This coat of arms would be completely unique to you, and when applied to products would allow you to "Wear your own brand". For this I created a range of different icons which all slot together to create the coat of arms. The more icons I created, the more combinations of icons.
Alongside this I created a product range which represents medieval armour, to tie it in with the coat of arms. Each coat of arms would have a unique pattern which could be applied to the clothing. The style I went for was a clean, precise style similar to that of the playing card I did earlier. Unfortunately I only got this idea a week before my hand in. So it meant I had to spend a week creating the outcomes for my idea which I felt did limit experimentation and meant I could only push it so far. However, at the same time I am really impressed with what I managed to produce in such a small amount of time, and I think with a bit of tweaking in time for the show, could potentially have a product range that I would be happy selling.
I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone over at Rockfield Media. For nearly two years I have been on placement there, doing a day a week in term time and working a few extra days when it has been Easter and Summer. I feel really grateful for the opportunity they have provided me.
Rockfield Media are a full service advertising agency that works primarily with the motor industry. They work with a whole variety of dealerships from Honda to Kia across the UK, producing advertising, in store promotions etc. They also work a lot with breweries such as Bank Top Tavern and Copper Dragon creating both the promotion of their products and designing the pump clips for the ales.
Being there for two years has allowed me to see how an agency works all year round. It is particular important in advertising as businesses work in quarters and some quarters are a lot busier than others. Being there for two years has also allowed me to do a huge variety of briefs, a lot of which I have had to teach myself something new to do it. Just an example of some of the briefs I have worked on whilst there:
Pump Clip Illustrations for about 6 different Ales for 3 Different Breweries
Online advertising banners for Honda, Volkswagen and Seat Dealerships
Visuals for a whole number of different clients including Maplin Electronics and JD Williams
I have learnt a whole range of new skills, one of which is visualising. This is a way to show potential outcomes by drawing and using graphic markers. This is great as it shows process and can often be more effective than showing a finished outcome on a mac when pitching to a client.
Whilst my placement has now finished I won't be saying goodbye completely to Rockfield Media. I have recently been discussing freelancing opportunities with them, and hopefully in a few months time I will be freelancing for them doing their web work. This will be a great way to get some income whilst I start looking for a job and could potentially kickstart a freelance career if I decided to go that route.
Again, a massive thanks to Rockfield Media!
Three years ago I had to do a presentation on a topic as part of my foundation course. I chose to do it on why minimalism in the art world really got on my nerves. At the time I couldn't understand by a white canvas, or a box would be interesting or considered art. It didn't have anything interesting to look at and I couldn't justify why people would pay thousands for something so simple.
However, I have found that my style of work is very minimalistic and it made me think about minimalism again. In the graphic design world, I really like work that is stripped to it's bare essentials. Instead of lots of fancy graphics, attention is paid to typography, colour choice, layout, paper stock etc. Whilst I love illustration and art work with great visuals, there is something more appealing about a well organised, clean piece of work. I think this comes down to the way I think and my personality. I take quite an ordered approach to my work, and like to think logically about certain things. I also like to have everything organised in my room and if I could I would probably put everything in a box, labelled by category and probably colour coded for good measure. I also recently saw a quote about what graphic design means which further backs up this point. Whilst I cant remember it word for word Im sure it went along the lines of "graphic design isn't how good it looks, but how well it works" (could be nothing along those lines as I cant remember it completely). In the end, as graphic designers, we are solving problems as well as creating imagery. Sometimes to be most effective, we have to be simple to everyone can understand it.
Coming back to the fine art world, I can start to understand minimalism a lot more. A painted white canvas might not be the most visually stimulating outcome in the world. However, it could be the artist's way of exploring material, brush strokes, technique etc. and I think it can be easy to forget that even fine art needs a concept or a reason behind it. I recently went to an exhibition at the Tate in London and one of the exhibitions was about Energy and Process. Included in these pieces were a mirror on a canvas and some minimalistic paintings. Had I gone as myself three years ago, I would have walked out angry not understanding. However, this time I went with an open mind and tried to understand what the artist was trying to say or do. I still couldn't get my head around some of the pieces so I bought myself a book called "Minimalism" by David Batchelor which explains minimalism and tells you how you can understand and appreciate the artworks.
Just recently I have discovered the wonders of youtube playlists. It allows me to create music playlists and listen to music online legally (without having to pay for a subscription!). I have found though I get annoyed by the constant adverts for the crap music that plagues our charts these days. However, occasionally an advert will pop up that actually grabs my attention. Either one about a new song by an artist I have never heard of or just a normal advert. Just recently I found myself watching the advert about running on train tracks which I thought was really good.
It made me think about the way advertising is going. Billboards and TV adverts just become a blur these days as we are so numb to them. However, if your watching videos on youtube and you are forced to watch at least 5 seconds of it, sometimes you do find yourself taking more notice of an advert. I also think the way online advertising targets your interests from tracking what you watch (such as the way facebook does) makes it even more effective. I would still rather not have the adverts but from a graphic designer perspective, it is something I should bear in mind should I have to do online advertising.
Just recently I have been looking into frameworks for various aspects of coding. Frameworks take away the need to do all of the boring preliminary set up when coding a site, such as the same tags you need to include in all HTML files and resetting CSS styles. I have been using HTML5 Boilerplate for a while now, which has all of the files, site structure, CSS resets etc., done for you so that when you start the coding of a site you can jump straight into the building of it.
However, when at Shape, I realised the benefit of having your own framework. Whilst it is good to use the pre-built frameworks, having one you have created (or adapted from an existing one) allows you to customise it completely to your taste. For example, Shape have their own framework with all of the basic styles that they commonly use in websites. It also takes away the unnecessary code that you sometimes find in frameworks.
Frameworks save an incredible amount of time, particularly if it's one you've created yourself. I therefore want to develop my own framework for my freelancing. It will include existing styles that I know I will use in a lot of my work, as well as have my own folder structure and file set up. This will allow me to jump straight into building the sites and save a lot of time.
When at Shape I was told about LESS and shown how to use it. LESS is a way to make coding CSS more efficient as it allows you to have variables and numerous features to streamline the code. I had heard about it but never really used it until at Shape. I now can't imagine not using it as the time it saves is unbelievable. It takes away the need to repeat code which is absolutely brilliant.
Saving time is essential, particularly in the freelance world, as time saved is more time for other projects. It also means your not spending time doing the tedious tasks of writing the same code and can spend more time doing creative or other tasks.
I am new to Instagram as it has only just made it's way to Android. However, straight away I have found it fun to use and very useful. The main thing I've found is it has made me photograph things more. I recently went down to London to a photography talk and to see some exhibitions in the Tate. I found myself photographing everything from the art to the architecture of the buildings around London (particularly this super tall building that looks like a shard of glass).
I think one of the appealing things is the effects applied to the photograph can make most photographs look good. It is a bit of a novelty but I like it. It is also a great tool to keep a log of things you've seen and keep track of inspiring things. It also makes you look a lot more at something if you have to photograph it as you have to think about composition etc (particularly when instagram crops it to a square).
A few months ago I was invited to Dribbble. Dribbble is a website which allows designers to post snapshots of their work in progress. The aim is that it encourages people to provide feedback on work and give criticism.
I have uploaded a few things to Dribbble and haven't really found it useful in the sense of getting critique. However, I need to build up the number of followers first. I have found that a lot of feedback you see from users is things like "Looks good" which I don't find useful enough. It would be better if people did give more criticism (although there is still a lot of people who give useful feedback).
I have found dribbble is more useful as a tool for research and inspiration, in particular seeing working methods of designers. I like seeing the process from start to finish and often people upload sketches and scamps. It's great to see how they achieved the end result, particularly when looking at illustrated type.
I think dribbble is particularly useful if your a freelancer. If your working alone, it can be difficult to get feedback from other designers as your not surrounded by them. Dribbble provide the opportunity for this feedback from designers all over the world, which I think is great.
I have also found Dribbble has been a good way of getting people to visit my website. I always check how people have found my webite and Dribble is bringing people in. Can't complain at extra site visitors. Whilst they wont be clients (as they are designers themselves) it is certainly useful if your site is aimed more at getting a job or placement from agencies.
Whilst on placement at Shape, I was shown ExpressionEngine, a powerful content management system that can pretty much do anything you want it to. A content management system allows you to update the website without needing to go into the code or having to modify the design. Once set up, you or your clients can fill out a form and then your site is updated easily.
I have had experience with content management systems before such as WordPress but found they are often complicated to get it to do certain things and integrating a design can be a massive pain in the arse. I found ExpressionEngine took away all of these problems. Integrating a website design was a lot simpler than WordPress, using a set of tags unique to expression engine which pulls in all of the content. It took a while to get my head around how the channels all work (what the system uses to store your site content) but once you figure it out it's easy to set up. I managed to get a 6 page site integrated into Expression in about a day and a half which I was really happy with.
There is one slight downside to ExpressionEngine, which is it's price tag. It can cost up to $300 and then there are plugins on top of that (such as ecommerce which can cost as well). However, it is well worth it for all of it's features plus the time saved from the headaches of say Wordpress.
I have decided I am going to use ExpressionEngine for any freelance web work. It's a lot easier for the client to use which should save me some time if the client needs help. It's also going to save me time when it comes to implementing it into my designs as it's template system is easy and powerful.
I have been lucky enough to have had a placement at Shape so I already have an idea what it is like to work there. Web and digital are the main areas I want to work in after leaving university and Shape are a company known for creating beautiful work particularly for web. Whilst they are a young and small agency, I feel that has it's benefits, working closer with team members and it also means you have to be more adaptable in your role as you may have to take on other roles. Even though it is a small studio, they have some big clients and whilst I was there it was very busy with work always to be done.
What I particularly liked about working there was the variation from being a designer to coder. It is always nice to take a break from something and switching between design and code keeps things fresh.
The minimal, functional style of Shape is very similar to mine and this is what I like most. It means that if I was to work there, I wouldn't have to adapt my style very much and I would already be comfortable in how to work.
This is an agency I have been in contact with since the DNA carnival event and luckily I have been offered a month long placement with them starting as soon as I hand in my final project.
Retrofuzz are a digital and web agency who work primarily in the music industry. Their client list is unbelievable, having done the websites for some of the biggest names in music such as Lady Gaga and Noel Gallagher. They have also worked with fashion brands such as Eastpak.
Because of the pace of the music industry, often the work they get has very short deadlines and this is something that appeals to me. I need the pressure to work and find it helps me to generate ideas better. I also feel it helps to keep things fresh as you change projects frequently.
I Love Dust
I am a huge fan of the work produced by I love dust, in particular their work with illustrated typography. I've found myself browsing their site numerous times for inspiration. They have worked with some huge clients such as Nike and each time the work they produce is mind blowing. Whilst I'm sure they get their bread and butter work, it seems they get a lot of interesting briefs that allow them to be completely creative. Plus they have one sexy office!
One particular piece I like is the Guide Halloween Cover they did for the Guardian. They have captured the old horror style well and the typography is just alive with personality. I have a soft spot for hand drawn typography so this piece appeals to me a lot. The neon green title "Guide" contrasts with the black and white image so it is constantly grabbing your attention. I also like the use of texture, it brings depth to the piece and adds a dirty, dark feel to it.
Going Solo
Whilst technically not a company I'd like to work for, if there's one thing I aim to do in the future, it's set up my own design studio. This is something I plan on doing in a good few years but something has always appealed to me about running my own business. I have had a bit of experience with freelancing having a number of clients in the past 6 months or so (and with more work coming in!). I will admit, I do like the organising side to it as well as the designing side.
Having my own agency would allow me to work in a way I want to and in my own style. I would initially start off as a freelancer, but try and increase the workload to turn it into a company with more than one person.
Lego Designer
If I had to pick a job that wasn't graphic designer related as such, I think it would be as a lego designer. Lego has been a huge part of my childhood (and I will admit I own Lego now!) and could be a key reason why I do graphic design. There are endless possibilities with lego and the thought of being able to design the sets of lego would be incredible.
I would want to try and create something aimed more at adults to try and get adults to buy it more. Just because it is a toy doesn't mean adults cant play with it! I would also want to focus more on the creative bit to it, like the boxes of bricks, as the sets you can buy can be quite limiting.
I spent my Easter doing a full time placement at Shape in Atherton. Shape are primarily a web design agency but also do branding, print and other design. It was certainly a busy Easter with me doing in total about 8 projects in total. Some of which were:
Rest Beauty - I was asked to create 5 different types of logo for Rest Beauty, a new beauty salon opening up at media city.
Photography Icon - I had to create an icon that could be used to watermark a photographers images
Dentistry Stool Company - I had to firstly design a 6 page website. Then code it in HTML5, CSS and JQuery. Finally I had to implement it into expression engine, a content management system. I had never used expression engine before, so first had to learn how to use it's tags and the system. Having seen how powerful and easy to use it is, I intend to use this in future freelance projects.
ECommerce Website - A huge brief to design an entire ecommerce website design including all of the account and checkout pages. I then began the code the HTML, CSS and JQuery of a few of the pages.
Shape Monthly Newsletter - I had to adapt their new site design into an email format. I then had to code it and implement it into MailChimp.
Overall the placement was fantastic. I found it really fun, challenging and the atmosphere was great. There was plenty to do but I am glad I was given the opportunity to do live briefs. I've come away from it with some strong portfolio pieces. I have also learnt a lot, particularly with ExpressionEngine and how to implement designs into MailChimp, which I can use in my own work.
The placement at Shape was particularly important for me as it was my first placement at an agency that are primarily web. I have always been into web and digital but had never had a placement at agencies that mainly focus on it. It was great to work with people who know a lot about it and it made me realise that there was still a lot for me to learn. It also confirmed that web is the direction I want to go in after university.
A huge thanks to Shape for having me in!
My blog has been seriously neglected for some time. There's been a huge amount going on recently, mainly my final project (which is now finished!) and then placements and freelance work.
Freelance Opportunities
A lot has been happening in terms of freelance. The biggest has been arranging freelancing with the advertising firm I've spent the past two years on placement at. Once the final show is sorted I will be doing freelance work for them which I will do over the weekends whilst I am on placements. The freelance work will be primarily web such as web design, coding, emailers and web banners.
I have also had a few new people interested in working with me to develop a website. Two of which are independent clothing brands, one which makes their own garments, the other which creates artwork and designs for clothing. I am excited for both of these and I feel they both could be strong portfolio pieces.
There is also a new startup based around a unique idea for photography which will be a brilliant project to work on. I am not sure whether I am allowed to give details about this but it sounds like it has potential.
Another opportunity has popped up to create a website for a startup personal fitness trainer company. I am still in talks at the minute about the site but fingers crossed everything goes well with that!
I should also have the two music based websites finished in the next few weeks, the final project has unfortunately stopped me from working on these sites as much but that will be out of the way soon.
One of the main reasons I have been busy the past few months have been placements. Along with the placements I do a day a week at, I've also been at Shape, a web design studio in Atherton. I absolutely loved it there and got stuck into a lot of projects. I feel I've come away with some strong projects for my portfolio and have learnt a few new skills which will help me out massively with web design.
I will also be starting my placement at Retrofuzz this coming Monday. Retrofuzz are a web design agency in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. Their client list is unbelievably impressive working with the major record labels. I am really excited to start there and should hopefully come away with a few portfolio pieces.
After my placement at Retrofuzz, I will be doing a two week placement at Madhouse Associates in Manchester. Madhouse are a marketing agency who deal with big clients such as Toyota. It will be really interesting to see what it's like working in a big agency as I've only had experience at small agencies so far!
Alongside all of that I will also be working on a separate project which I can not wait to start! I can't say anything about this project yet but it's going to be really exciting!
A few weeks ago I took part in an experiment that looked at the effects of technology on the way we think. The groups were split into two, one which had the aid of a computer, the other which didn't. Both groups were set the same brief, which was to create the identity for a drink vending machine software company.
I was in the group that didn't have access to a computer. It made things incredibly difficult as it was impossible to do research. I found it difficult to come up with lots of ideas and found myself repeating the same idea over and over again. However, I did feel it made me think more creatively and I felt that because I wasn't looking at other people's work, I was possibly creating something original.
It is great that I got to be involved in the research and I am looking forward to seeing what the results are.
A few months ago Salford University hosted the Salford Carnival at Islington Mill. This event was a chance for students to get their portfolios reviewed by industry as well as attend talks by professionals.
The day was a huge success and I really enjoyed it. It was very beneficial as it was great practice for talking through your portfolio and the advice given was invaluable. The first person I spoke to was Chris Gaffey. He gave me some fantastic advice particularly on my presentation techniques which, since then, I have used when showing my portfolio. He also gave me some feedback on my work and suggested ways I could improve my own logo.
The second portfolio surgery was from the chaps at Ubiquitous. I was particularly interested in speaking to these as I really liked their work. They told me that I should focus on some more of the design side of web as web design agencies tend to have dedicated coders and designers now. Since then I have managed to work on some projects that have been more about the design. Even though they suggested to focus on either design or coding, I still want to keep coding when I can as it does have it's benefits.
The third person I spoke to was Tom from K2L Marketing. Tom was a recent graduate from Salford so it was great to get the perspective of industry and the real world from someone who had not long ago been at university. One of the things I was told is that the workload is far more intense and deadlines are a lot shorter!
Finally I spoke to Matt and Jen from Retrofuzz. They gave me some feedback on my work and we chatted about what they did. They told me how it was an advantage to know about coding as it makes you aware of the possibilities and the limitations of web design.
After the portfolio surgeries I stuck around to chat to people. I bumped into Andy and Jason from Shape, who at that time I hadn't met properly. It was good to get to know them before I started the placement with them and I made sure I asked them lots of questions about industry. I was particularly interested in how they both went freelance straight after uni and eventually set up their own company.
The event was a great success and the advice I received was beneficial. To make things better, I received an email the day after from Retrofuzz asking me to pop in to show my work which in turn led to a placement!
A few weeks ago I went down to london to go see Light It! Shoot It! Retouch It! by Scott Kelby, a chap who runs online training for photography and photoshop. Photography isn't one of my strong points so I felt it was a great way to learn some new skills.
Among the things taught were how to set up lighting in shoots, how to photo retouch and how to properly cut out hair (which was very impressive!). However, I felt it was the very end which was the best bit. Kelby talked about photo retouching and whether it was right. To sum up very briefly what he said, he believed that the changes made should be kept between the person and Photoshop as people don't want to be told about their flaws. However, it can make people feel good about themselves when they see the retouched photographs.
The debate of photo retouching has been brought up many times and I do agree with Kelby that it should be something you do but keep to yourself (don't tell them what changes you've made). I think there are limits to retouching (making someone look different to how they look for example) but smaller retouches are fine and can make the person photographed feel good about themselves.
Since the start of third year, I have began trying to start up freelancing with the intent of building up a client base and getting frequent work by the time I graduate.
I have been really surprised by how well it is going. In the space of a few months I have been working on web designs for two Manchester based music nights/labels, a website and advert for a small car garage in Rochdale and I have just took on a few new clients including a photographer who needs a logo and website and two fashion/design based companies who require a website.
Alongside that I have a couple of self initiated products that could really take off which should hopefully be done by the end of the year.
I've learnt a lot already from freelancing including how to deal with clients and also how to streamline my own design process. This allows me to work more efficiently and enables me to do this work alongside my university work and placements.
I will be posting more about some of these projects in the near future.
Next meeting is tomorrow, 12:30, soft pod. hoping to see Mel and Si's progress with the website designs, as well as Paul's and Kris's logo variations. All welcome
I am currently working with Wayne Marsden (an ex-salford student who now Freelances) on a new project for Swinton Lions. It involves creating branding and then designing and developing a website.
Wayne will be primarily working on the branding and web design whilst I will be also involved in the web design but also coding the site and implementing it into a content management system.
I am really looking forward to working on this as it will be a good opportunity to work with someone I haven't worked with before. Also, Wayne has a lot more experience than me so I'm sure I'll pick up some tips particularly with the working with clients side of things.
One of the design agencies I did a portfolio surgery with at the DNA Carnival was Retrofuzz. Retrofuzz is a web design agency who work a lot with the music industry working with clients such as Lady Gaga, Noel Gallagher and Nero. I was particularly interested in seeing them at the Carnival as firstly their client list is unbelievable, but also because my portfolio was primarily web based so I wanted to see web agencies.
I had some great feedback from Matt and Jen (two designers at Retrofuzz) who gave me some advice on my own portfolio whilst also answering many of my questions about working in industry and about Retrofuzz. The day after I received an email from Matt Kendall, one of the owners of Retrofuzz, asking me to pop into the studio for a brew and a chat as he was interested in seeing my work.
This was another opportunity to get some feedback on my work and to practise presenting my work to industry. Overall I got some good feedback, advice on my portfolio and information about industry and how it works. I was also offered a placement which begins the week after I hand in my final project which I am really excited to start.
I visited Retrofuzz again last week to see Matt to arrange the placement but also to show a few of the one day projects I have been working on (Visual Arts Cover, D&AD Rain Poster, Salford Type Foundry Website and Shape Placement Logos). I got some really good tips and advice for some of the projects I had shown, in particular the Rain brief. One idea suggested by Matt was to create a parallax website for the rain brief which I am currently in the process of designing and coding.
This Easter I will be doing a placement over at Shape, a design company who works primarily with web but also does print and photography. Web and digital are the main areas I want to work with after I graduate, so this placement is going to be fantastic to learn how a web agency works and learn lots of tips and techniques.
On the 15th of March, I popped into the studio for a taster day, to see the studio, get an idea of how they work and what my placement will be like over Easter. It was a very busy day, with 3 briefs set up for me to tackle in one day (to get a taste of the real world) but very enjoyable. The briefs involved designing 5 different possible logo ideas for a new beauty company in MediaCity, some icon options for a photographer to use for watermarking and a website design for a service Shape will be offering in the future.
A huge amount of work, but this worked in my favour as I need pressure to work. I found the most challenging brief was the logo one as it had been some time since I had designed a logo. However, I really enjoyed it as I had to try and create the best options for the client in a short space of time.
I particularly enjoyed the web design brief. I didn't manage to finish the homepage design completely whilst I was there so I spent a few hours this week continuing the design and I am really happy with the outcome.
I haven't posted any images of the work yet as I'm not sure whether it's okay to.
Today (14/3/2012) I have been working on a few different interesting projects. The first was to finalise the acupuncture website I had been coding up. This involved checks to the HTML, CSS and ensuring it was accessible and search engine friendly.
I then spent the afternoon researching into e-commerce options for a potential new client who wants to sell jewellery online. After a few hours researching and trying out different e-commerce software packages I found only a few that I felt were appropriate both for my requirements and for the client's. It had to be simple to use for the client so adding products and new information to the site was easy. It also had to be easy to customise so that when I design a layout for it, I can easily then code it up and implement it into the e-commerce software.
I found the following options best fit my requirements:
OpenCart - This is the free option I found. I managed to install and set up an online shop within minutes without requiring any technical knowledge. Creating a theme seemed like an easy enough process.
LemonStand - Firstly, I like this product because the website is so well designed (unlike a few of the e-commerce sites I had found). Whilst I haven't tested this one, it looks like it has all the requirements I need. It does cost, however, yet with e-commerce sites it's often better to pay for software if its appropriate for the site.
ExpressionEngine & Cartthrob(Plugin) - This is one I have read into but due to having to pay for this before downloading I haven't been able to try. This was recommended to me by the chaps over at Shape who rated this software highly.
I will present these options to the client and explain the pros and cons of both.
It's been just over a month since I've updated my blog. This is because there's been a huge amount going on, which I'm about to post about. Therefore, I warn and apologise for the large number of posts about to flood your screens
Today we had to pitch our idea to a few students and our tutors. We had some really great feedback which we have already acted on. For the past few weeks we've been talking about what we're going to do without actually doing anything, and due to how relaxed we are with things we've let the weeks go by without bringing these ideas to life.
We've now set ourselves a daily task which involves us spending an hour designing a print. We each find a random word (either ask someone for a word, random word generator etc) and then create a design from it. We have to do one a day (although further down the line we may end up doing more). That means by the time we have our next seminar next week, well have 21 posters in total to show. By the time this project is ready to hand in we'll have around 200 designs.
Currently we've been afraid to fail and instead have not produced anything. With this new approach, it means we'll have a huge amount of work of which some will be crap but some could be really nice!
We had some great feedback on our 26prints blog and have been told to use that more to find out what people like as well as a research tool.
Another slight change to the approach of MuttonBoon as the previous approach wasn't working for us. The only difference now is we design what we want, in whatever way we want but work to our strengths and interests. Prior to this we wanted to make use of puns/wit etc but we all struggled with this. I tried to illustrate some ideas but I wasn't happy with the outcomes.
What I will be focusing on this brief alongside the branding etc is producing typographic posters. I love typography and is one of my favourite areas of design. I want to explore more with typography and also be able to have a great selection of typographic pieces for my portfolio/the end of year show.
I will base my designs off a key word or theme and then hand draw the typeface and design before bringing it in digitally (if necessary). I will then print it using either a printmaking technique or with a special print finish.
I will do a new word/theme everyday and spend minimum 20 minutes on creating a rough layout and concept. Then at the end of the week I will pick the strongest ones to develop further. It'd be great if by the end of the uni year I have about 5-10 really nice designs to show and sell.
Mutton Boon Brief
We are a small team of 3 people (known as Boons) that produce beautiful, hand printed/made artwork that we sell online through our website. The artwork is a reflection of our personal styles and interests but each piece must include a hand printed element to it or make use of special print finishes such as spot UV. Our work is exciting, original and shows off the beauty of print.
What makes MuttonBoon Different?
The idea of selling handprinted designs is far from original, but we feel that if something looks good enough people will buy it. By designing to our strengths, our artwork will be the very best we can create and it will be a reflection of the energy and enthusiasm put into it.
What will we sell?
Our starting products will be posters and printing onto books/sketchbooks. However, if we feel another product could work that involves a print element to it, we will explore it (such as paper toys etc). As the company progresses, we hope to expand our product range into t-shirts and other accessories.
Who is our demographic?
Our target market is creatives. More specifically creatives that love printmaking and print in general and have a genuine passion for design. They will appreciate the process involved in the printing and are willing to pay a little bit extra to get an original print which has either been done by hand or makes use of a special print finish.
The minimum deliverables we require are:
Branding - We need an identity that represents what we do and our personalities.
Website - This is how we will sell the majority of our products and will also act as the voice of the company through the blog. The online store must be easy to use, highlight the products and look good.
Promotion - We require both online and offline promotion. We need to promote our website both through online media such as social networking, mailers etc but also offline promotions to advertise the site, as well as direct mail for specific customers (such as design agencies and creatives)
Packaging - We need packaging that reflects our personality and looks so good people want to keep it. We will need a way of packaging posters as well as sketchbooks and other items of a similar size and shape.
A launch event - We aim to launch MuttonBoon in time for the Salford University Degree show. We need some form of exhibition/installation/pop up shop etc that promotes our company and allows people to buy our products.


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In response to an article published by WhaTech, Bay Market Net, the largest single source partner for foreign pop rivet and engineered fastening product manufacturers selling in the US, discusses the growth of the industrial fastener market
Bohemia, NY /myprgenie.com / ACCESSWIRE / April 27, 2014 / Bay Market Net, the largest single source partner for foreign, engineered fastening product and pop rivet manufacturers selling in the United States, discusses the growth of the industrial fastener market.
According to the article published by WhaTech on April 15 titled, "Global Industrial Fastener Market 2014-2018," a new report conducted by Reportstack showcases the projection of growth of the global industrial fastener market for the next four years. The article says the growth of the market is caused by a few different factors, such as the demand for superior quality end products. Higher quality industrial fasteners make end products stronger and more reliable during the construction process.
The article also says, "One of the major trends emerging in the Global Industrial Fastener market is the development of industry-specific industrial fasteners." Because more manufacturers have created industry-specific fasteners, it spawned a huge competition. As a result, manufacturers are making fasteners with more capabilities and enhanced performance.
Michael Eichinger, the vice president and COO of Bay Market Net, the leading partner for foreign pop rivet and fastening product manufacturers, says the fastener market is booming. "The fastener market has really begun to take off the past few years and is definitely projected to continue to increase," he says. "With the stiff competition, fastener manufacturers will be looking to create the next best thing. This is great for the consumer. They will be getting better products that will hold up much stronger than in previous years. This can be a huge asset to construction companies building large structures that need extra support."
Bay Market Net is the largest single source partner for foreign manufacturers of engineered fastening products selling in the United States. Established by Bay Fastening Systems, Bay Market Net provides its services at no cost to the manufacturer including warehousing, inventory management, thousands of technical sales personnel, distribution logistics, and marketing to maximize product sales to the entire $15 billion United States market. Bay Market Net eliminates the risks foreign blind rivet and pop rivet manufacturers might face when establishing a foothold in the American market.
Contact: Scott Darrohn, firstname.lastname@example.com, 18553474228
SOURCE: Bay Market Net
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Best of luck to Wayne Anderson and UNGS.
Signifi nor BearPot
It's big news because this isn't operating as a closed-loop
Well done Maxem, just the beginning of much more to come!
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Discoveries in the Jack Family Papers: Some things change and some things don't
Derrick Usher is a communication studies major (Fall '14) completing an internship in Special Collections and Archives. He is working on a project to organize the papers of the Jack Family of San Luis Obispo.
This is the third in a series of blog posts in which he shares his experiences processing the Jack Family Papers and some of the stories that he uncovers (read the first two blog posts here and here).
Read more


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Gay Middle Schooler Kills Himself
Dr. Wendy Walsh: Nine days after a middle-school boy in California attempted suicide by hanging, he died. What's remarkable about this tragic story is that it reads like a script out of the 1960's. The boy, 13-year-old Seth Walsh (no relation, although his mother shares my first and last names), was reported to be gay and was being bullied at school. As in the old stories of homophobia and discrimination, the school administration in the small town of Tehachapi, California, did little to help young Seth.
According to The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, a sexual-orientation law and public-policy think tank, there are an estimated 8.8 million gays and lesbians in the U.S.; some experts say it's more like one in twenty people. The body of evidence that proves sexual orientation has a genetic component grows every day. So why are some people STILL threatened by one of nature's precious variations? Why can't middle-school kids have more compassion for each other's differences? How could what happened to Seth have happened in this day and age -- and in progressive California, no less?
The amazing thing about the Walsh family is that their grief has not exploded into anger at this senseless death. Instead, they wish to celebrate Seth's life and are asking mourners attending the October 1st funeral to be tolerant. According to the Tehachapi News, Seth's grandmother, Judy Walsh, said, "We are trying to keep it more positive. We are hoping the community will develop more tolerance for different people."
Meanwhile, the town of Tehachapi's website reads, "Tehachapi is a vibrant community known for its quiet neighborhoods and bustling business districts. With many community groups, places to worship and cultural activities, we offer something for the entire family." Hmm ... the only thing the town does not seem to offer families is a respite from horrific intolerance.
May you rest in peace, Seth.
As a Newbie, I am permanently exploring online for articles that can aid me. Thank you
Thats some quality fundamentals there, already know some of that, but you can always learn more. I doubt a âkidâ could put together such information as dolphin278 suggested. Maybe heâs just attempting to be âcontroversial? lol


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mrdigitaljedi - 2nd - 21/Sep/13 with stokienomad
Ad Shaw - Lead O/S - Jul/13 with dan callon
Hidden - Lead - 02/Jun/13
Hidden - Lead O/S - 31/Mar/13
rockaddict - Lead O/S - 15/Jul/12
chris_r - Lead dog - 21/Aug/11 with Jon Bray
JonBray - Lead β - 21/Aug/11 with Chris
Never again.IrfanM - Lead - 30/Jul/11
Pike - TR O/S - 05/Jun/11
Viki - Lead O/S - 04/Jun/11 with Jonny Nick
lozowen - Lead O/S - 31/May/11 with Sally Owen
chrisbussell - Lead O/S - 19/Mar/11 with Jonny Wing
ian2707 - TR - 13/Mar/11
David Smith - 2011
Eddie Shelbourne - Lead O/S - 30/Oct/10
Danzig - Lead O/S - 03/Oct/10 with Rich Ogden
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 05/Sep/10
Hidden - Lead RP - 10/Jul/10
Hidden - 2nd dnf - 11/May/10
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 09/May/10
Hidden - Lead - 03/May/10
Mike Soulby - Lead O/S - 26/Apr/10 with Ellie, Big Jim
Hidden - Lead O/S - 22/Apr/10
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 10/Apr/10
Hidden - Lead O/S - 10/Apr/10
padski - Apr/10
Eddie Shelbourne - 2010
nickcanute - Lead - 2010
RobSimmo - Lead O/S - 10/Oct/09 with Al Robinson
al_robinson76 - Lead β - 10/Oct/09 with Rob Simpson, Emma Robinson
skawarz - TR O/S - 31/Aug/09
nick ferro - 05/Jul/09
bail - Lead RP - Jul/09 with Andrew Troy
popebenedictus - Lead O/S - 09/May/09 with Ruth Harding
Powder Puff Girl - 2nd O/S - 09/May/09 with Ben H
Sankey - TR - 25/Apr/09 with Shunt
Horrible wall,large chucks of the rock were coming off in your hands....sonic46 - 2nd dnf - Apr/09
robblowen - Lead O/S - 29/Mar/09 with jason pinder
asmith37 - Lead O/S - 29/Mar/09 with Bex Leigh
rednip120372 - 2nd - 29/Mar/09 with robblowen
MattT88 - Lead O/S - 28/Feb/09 with Thomas Grandperrin
WillCass - Lead - 2009 with Whitey
stemill - Lead O/S - 26/Oct/08 with Jeff
Calder - Lead O/S - 26/Oct/08 with Andy Clow
jeffb - Lead O/S - 26/Oct/08 with stemill
Hidden - Lead O/S - 20/Oct/08
Hidden - Lead O/S - 21/Sep/08
backed offKirill - Lead dnf - 21/Sep/08 with Ilia
sstanier - Lead O/S - 04/Jul/08 with Sam Clarke
Sam Clarke - Lead O/S - 04/Jul/08 with Sam Stanier
mark32 - Lead O/S - 10/May/08
djbeaumont - Lead O/S - 03/May/08 with Trace
Adam Potter - Lead O/S - 02/Feb/08
Different Steve - Lead O/S - 27/Jan/08 with Ian Thurgood
Hidden - Lead O/S - 2008
Chossy, gritty, sandy, pulled off lots of unpleasant loose rocks having an anxious 'moment' yuck!Chalky Cat - Lead O/S - 27/Oct/07 with Mod
Hidden - Lead O/S - 27/Oct/07
Chris Ellis - Lead O/S - 23/Sep/07 with Helen Odwell
Hidden - Lead O/S - 20/Aug/07
High 1st bolt, but just a scramble below that. Pleasant.jeffsheard - Lead O/S - 11/Aug/07 with Sarah Davis
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 11/Aug/07
Hidden - Lead rpt - 23/Jun/07
Profile Removed 22 - Lead O/S - 09/Jun/07 with Alex
swoosh - Solo O/S - 22/Apr/07 with Dave Rosenberg
Hidden - Lead O/S - 31/Mar/07
Hidden - Lead - 14/Oct/06
Hidden - 2nd O/S - 14/Oct/06
Roget - Lead O/S - 17/Sep/06 with jon
a bit scary when dripping wet!ebunick - Lead O/S - 20/May/06 with Lou
An epic! The bolts seemed to run out halfway up the arete. I ended up wandering about 10m off to the right where a TV sized block came out of the wall and bounced off my knee. I managed to stay on. Rob was only bother about the fate of his mobile in his bag, it had landed on it after plummeting past him. I meandered up the rest of the cliff without protection. I searched the top for a belay. Rob was unwilling to anchor using the distant tree and attempted to climb up to me via a muddy gully. As I attempted to take the rope in, Rob's belay, still on the rope jammed into the 1st runner. I heard a cry for help and peered over to find Rob halfway up the steepening gully gripped. Unable to continue nor decend. I had to throw him the short length of spare rope, dig my heals in, for there was no belay and haul him up. Rob however redeemed himself after the epic by soloing up to get the runners back.howlingbaboon - Lead O/S - May/06 with Rob
DerwentDiluted - Lead - 10/Apr/06 with Nicola Pettit
Guy Wilson - Lead O/S - 13/Nov/05 with Chris Johnson


text: After three visits, I completely gave up. Cosy location, but horrible service. My last visit, I was there on a quiet weekday again and still had to wait at least 30 minutes for a simple coffee,despite reminding the lovely staff. We had a breakfast, it was simply horrible. (the bacon and sausages were inedible).


text:
Party Wigs & Fancy Dress Wigs For Every Occasion
Christmas Wigs, Cleopatra wigs, Pink Wigs, Black Bob Wigs and Dolly Parton Wigs
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Superpartywigs.co.uk is the leading online stockists of party wigs and hold a wide range of Afro Wigs for a Retro '70's look, Rasta wigs, Dreadlock wigs and Hippy wigs for a more laid-back theme, and Pink Wigs, Blue Wigs, and Green Wigs to make sure you get noticed!
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text:
DealBase.com, an online database devoted to aggregating hotel deals and packages, has secured $1 million in Series A funding from angel investors including Russ Siegelman, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Read the rest of the good news on TechCrunch.
The entire North team would like to congratulate Sam Shank, CEO of DealBase.com, as Sam and his team went through our Venture 360 due diligence process earlier this year.
Cheers guys. Well done!
Questions about our apps? Ping our support forum: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
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While fancy and sophisticated foods continue to grow in popularity, ask most people what their favorite foods are and the answer will invariably be classic comfort foods: lasagna, meat loaf, mac and cheese, and cake. Unfortunately, most people think that having diabetes means the days of enjoying these hearty classics are long gone, and that their favorite foods are a thing of the past. Author Robyn Webb shows that healthy eating doesn't have to mean giving up on favorite foods! Diabetes can be overwhelming, but it doesn't mean reinventing the wheel when it comes to cooking. Just a tweak here and there and familiar foods can remain favorites, guilt-free, and enjoyed every day.
The American Diabetes Association Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook creates a "go-to" collection of updated comfort foods for families that need to cook nutritionally sound and diabetic-friendly meals that will satisfy and soothe the souls of the member (or members) of the family with diabetes—and do the same for the rest of the family. No need to cook two meals to please everyone in the household. Now everyone can enjoy the same hearty and nutritious meals. This book will ease the stress of planning meals by offering easy and flavorful recipes and a menu planning guide that allows for mix and match meals that will keep everyone in the family happy, healthy, and satisfied.
Filled with gorgeous original photography and a beautiful four-color design, this cookbook will look as good as it's meals. Sprinkled with helpful tips and time-saving advice, The American Diabetes Association Comfort Food Cookbook will not only make classic comfort foods healthier and diabetes friendly, it will make them a snap to prepare as well.
Following a diabetic meal plan doesn't have to be a flavorless chore. Now everyone can enjoy the classic foods they know and love!
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text:
1-10 of 163 properties for sale found
2 bed end of terrace house for sale
6 bedroom property for sale Ingram Avenue, NW11, Hampstead Garden Suburb
An impressive six bedroom double fronted detached family home arranged over four floors spanning 530 Square Metres - 5,707 Square Feet.Meticulously interior designed to an exemplary standard throughout by renowned interior designer Richard Spark, this fine home backs onto and enjoys breathtaking ... More details ›
9 bedroom property for sale Wildwood Road, NW11, Hampstead Garden Suburb
Set well back from the road behind electric gates and a long driveway in an elevated position facing the Heath Extension and Turners Wood, a double fronted and detached family residence located at the Hampstead Heath end of this superb residential turning, surrounded by gardens giving a high leve... More details ›
6 bedroom property for sale Spaniards Close, NW11, Hampstead Garden Suburb
A magnificent detached freehold residence set behind a sweeping carriage driveway in one of the most desirable roads in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Arranged over three floors this fine family home offers 4,871 sq ft (452 sq m) of accommodation and is presented in excellent condition. The rear g... More details ›
6 bedroom detached house for sale Spaniards Close, Hampstead Garden Suburb, NW11
Imposing residence in a discreet tranquil close More details ›
£5,500,000 Guide Price
Guide Price £5,500,000
8 bedroom house for sale Hampstead Way, Hampstead Garden Suburb, NW11
SOLD IN 2014 An attractive double fronted detached family residence 4544 sq' (423 sq m) superbly located directly opposite the Hampstead Heath Extension. This outstanding property has been the subject of a recent refurbishment to a high standard throughout whilst retaining t... More details ›
5 bedroom detached house for sale Hampstead Way, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, NW11
A beautiful detached house directly overlooking the Hampstead Heath Extension with the benefit of a large integral garage and off street parking for two cars. (contd...) More details ›
5 bedroom house for sale Hampstead Way, Hampstead Garden Suburb, NW11
An attractive double fronted five bedroom detached house 3,649sq ft (339sq m) superbly located directly opposite the Hampstead Heath extension. This desirable house is offered in good decorative condition throughout and retains numerous original features. The well proportioned family ... More details ›
7 bedroom detached house for sale West Heath Avenue, London, NW11
SIMPLY STUNNING. A NEWLY MODERNISED FABULOUS EXTENDED 7 BEDROOM DETACHED FAMILY RESIDENCE situated in a PRIME POSITION just yards from GOLDERS HILL PARK and WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE to HAMPSTEAD HEATH. Benefits include THREE RECEPTIONS, CINEMA ROOM, PLAY ROOM, GUEST CLOAKROOM, LUXURY D... More details ›
Added on 08/09/2014 by Ellis and Co, Golders Green. Call: 020 8012 2185 Local call rate
Property for sale Dunstan Road, NW11, Golders Green
The ground floor is ideal for a large family who enjoy entertaining and, features a stunning LEICHT fully integrated kitchen/diner with Miele and Neff appliances, a beautifully appointed drawing room and a well-proportioned dining room. On the upper floors the magnificent and large air conditione... More details ›
Property for sale Heathgate, NW11, Hampstead Garden Suburb
Positioned in this highly prestigious and much sought after road in the heart of Hampstead Garden Suburb is this beautiful 6 bedroom grade II listed semi-detached family home. The property offers over 3500 sq ft of excellent living accommodation arranged over 3 floors. There are 4 excellent ... More details ›
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Reserve Price: Each auction property will be subject to a Reserve Price below which the property cannot be sold at auction. Normally the Reserve Price will be set within the range of Guide Prices or no more than 10% above a single Guide Price.


text:
The State of Design
This is a video about the desire to create something new. We discuss inspirations, dreams and the worst parts of being a designer.
To work with a project like this is of course a dream for a car designer. To be part of the evolution of a concept car is a very unique process that challenges you to always push the limits of car design.
In the video you can see my colleague Conny describing the creative process behind his design - "Your mind kind of goes blank, you know, like when you are in flow, like when you're driving really fast or dancing really well, you don't think about anything. You just do it".
Obviously all designers have their own sources of inspiration and their own way of describing the creative process. As my other colleague Jonathan put it - "It's like creating a sculpture…but with wheels"! I often get my inspiration from nature, exciting landscapes and sometimes from animals. It is also very inspiring to be in an environment like this, surrounded by inventive people and great car design. /Andreas


text:
30+ Love Tattoo Design
Today in busy and painful life we need to exploit love, feelings, emotions and many other things. So to exploit love I do post Love Tattoos, through tattoos I will provide you some lovely messages. You have no power to stop yourself falling in love; it's not in control to anybody. You just feel that you are in love with him/her. To express your love you need to do something else like, express it with pictures, express it with quotes, you can give cute gifts to your love as well, can celebrate different for your love, and you can show something to prove your love by tattoos. Yes will astonished that how can tattoo express love.
Very simple, write any quote on your body, any sign of destiny, or any pictures which you can show your love. Tattoo designs for love; I mean to say you can see many more ideas of love tattoo in my listed collection. And we promise that you will love with my collection. We give you some quotes as well in some pictures which relating to love. According to my finding especially in tattoos, show some type of signs or pictures in love tattoo. Because it leaves a message of love, it gives silent message to your love.
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text:
(Source: creatememe.com)
"The Grabbit".
Most people have some experience with those crane machines…trying to get the stuffed toy, iPod, or whatever other novelty item may be in the machine with nothing but three pincers and your own steady-handedness.
And most of us failed miserably…some more miserably than others.
So we all know how poor Gollum feels as he struggles in his eternal quest to get his "precious".
Inspired by J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Available from RedBubble.
Reblog, click the picture, and prepare for battle.
i made it 'til 30 before my eyes got tired
oh, this is fun! :D
Made it to 47 before my hands were too cold and I had to get ready to go anyway!
Saved for when I'm on the computer
Introducing the Source Filmmaker
The Source Filmmaker (SFM) is the movie-making tool built and used by us here at Valve to make movies inside the Source game engine. Because the SFM uses the same assets as the game, anything that exists in the game can be used in the movie, and vice versa. By utilizing the hardware rendering power of a modern gaming PC, the SFM allows storytellers to work in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get environment so they can iterate in the context of what it will feel like for the final audience.
Doctor Who 'RPG' spoof by CollegeHumor
(btw….Spoilers! ;P )
(Source: gogoporen)
birth by sleep
I wish I could take this awesome gif seriously. But I can't. Because of this shit.
reblog, then go to your page and click the tumblr. image
and never get bored again!
i bet faceboook didn't think of this
(Source: alrighthen)
With this I say GOODNIGHT Tumb1r!
(Source: frenchcore)
Anyone wanna give me a ton of money for all the cool games coming out soon?


text:
TUESDAY, Oct. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Women who deal with a lot of day-to-day stressors in middle-age may have a somewhat higher risk of developing Alzheimer's later in life, a new study suggests.
The findings, published online Sept. 30 in BMJ Open, do not prove that your job or your family are raising your dementia risk. But experts said they add to evidence that chronic stress may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease in some people.
No one is sure why, but there are theories, according to Robert Wilson, a professor of neurological sciences and psychology at Rush University Medical Center, in Chicago.
It's possible that chronic stress, via effects on certain hormones, may reduce the efficiency of people's "brain circuitry," explained Wilson, who was not involved in the new study. And that could leave some people more vulnerable to the impact of Alzheimer's-related brain changes later in life.
But past studies have generally focused on the possible effects of stress from more-severe traumas. The new study looked at "common" stressors, said lead researcher Lena Johansson, of the Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University, in Sweden.
Her team studied data from 800 Swedish women who were followed for nearly four decades, starting when they were in their late 30s to early 50s. The women underwent periodic psychiatric exams and answered questions about everyday stressors -- such as divorce, job strain and family members' health issues.
Over 37 years, 19 percent of the women developed dementia -- most often Alzheimer's disease. And the risk climbed in tandem with the number of life stressors that the women had reported four decades earlier. For each stressor, the risk of Alzheimer's crept up 17 percent.
That doesn't prove that a stressful life is to blame, said Dr. Marc Gordon, chief of neurology at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y.
But, he noted, the researchers did account for a number of other explanations for the link -- including whether the women had high blood pressure or diabetes, were overweight or had low incomes.
Other studies have tied heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, to Alzheimer's, and lower income and education levels have also been linked to the disease.
Still, Johansson's team found, stressors themselves were connected to an increased risk of Alzheimer's.
Gordon, who was not involved in the study, agreed that it's "biologically plausible" that chronic stress could contribute to dementia. But a big unanswered question is whether any efforts to reduce stress in your life can also trim the risk of Alzheimer's later on.
"This type of study can't tell us if there's an intervention that can affect people's outcomes," Gordon said. "We can't make any recommendations based on this alone."
An interesting finding, Rush University's Wilson said, was that the number of stressors in a woman's life seemed to matter, regardless of whether she felt "stressed out" by them.
Women in the study were asked about their typical "distress" levels -- including tension, fear or sleep problems related to work, family or their health. Women with "longstanding" distress were at increased risk of Alzheimer's. But so were women with a greater number of life stressors.
That suggests that stressors can take a toll, even if you do not feel overwhelmed, according to study author Johansson.
"These are the kinds of stressors that grate on people day to day," Wilson noted. And this study, he said, suggests that these issues should not "just be brushed off." He agreed, though, that the question remains: Could stress reduction make a difference in people's Alzheimer's risk?
Zucker Hillside's Gordon said more studies are also needed to confirm these results in other groups of people, since this focused on white women. And even if common types of stress are linked to Alzheimer's risk, any effect on an individual could be small.
No one is sure what causes Alzheimer's, but Gordon said it's thought to be a mix of genetic factors, family history and environmental influences.
"This would be only one of many potential factors," Gordon noted.
More information
The Alzheimer's Association has more on Alzheimer's disease risk factors.
SOURCES: Lena Johansson, Ph.D., researcher, neuropsychiatric epidemiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University, Molndal, Sweden; Robert S. Wilson, Ph.D., professor, neurological sciences and psychology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago; Marc L. Gordon, M.D., chief, neurology, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y., and researcher, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, N.Y.; Sept. 30, 2013, BMJ Open, online
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