You’re here for the invites…right? Well there’s no need for me to explain what Dribbble is in much depth, as most of you know it’s a pretty rad community where you post sneak peaks of what you’re currently working on, in the form of 400 x 300 px images. The quality of work is exceptional and the chance to interact, critique and inspire is second to none.

Dribbble invites are like gold dust. I’ve been a member for several months and only just got my first two invites this week. While I can think of several people who I could give these to immediately, I wanted to open this up to a wider audience.

In the world of Dribbble who you draft is a big deal. No one wants to draft the guy who uploads pictures of his cat, so I’m going to be pretty picky as to who scores these invites. I’m held responsible for the quality of work being uploaded by someone I draft so I’m taking the selection process seriously.

The über cool John O’Nolan has also kindly donated one Dribbble invite, bringing the total to three. So if you want drafted, make sure you follow the instructions below.

How To Enter

1. Leave a comment below with a few words of the type or style of work you would be uploading.
2. Post a link to your favourite bit of artwork you’ve produced.

Deadline

On Friday 6th August I will announce the three winners on this blog post and Twitter. Good luck to all!

EDIT: The super kind Ryan Downie, Chris Gibbons and Paul Stanton have also now donated an invite, while the lovely Emma Taylor has donated THREE invites. Taking the total to Nine invites to win!

Nine Dribbble Invites To Win – Get Drafted! is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

Jack Franklin is an 18 year old web designer and developer who lives in the beautiful area of England, Cornwall. Having started out with HTML and CSS at the age of just 13, Jack has been extending his skill-set ever since and works regularly with HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP, although his main area of enjoyment lies in jQuery.

I asked Jack if he would give us the lowdown on the applications he relies upon as a designer and developer on a daily basis.

The Intro….

I picked up my first Mac about a year ago having been an admirer for a number of years. It wasn’t much, an old G5 iMac, 17″ screen but it was mine and I loved it. I did all my website work on there and soon became so fond of some of the apps available. I’ve since moved onto an older Macbook, from 2007, which runs Snow Leopard. I plan to upgrade in the next few months to one of the new iMacs and maybe an iPad.

The Dock…

• Finder – It’s just Finder. For some reason some people hate it but I don’t know why, it does its job very well.
• Things – If you’re a Mac user and have not heard of Things, you should. It’s a superb to-do app. If I’m honest I prefer The Hit List, but the lack of iPhone app means Things wins. It’s a pleasure to use, and notice how I have no due tasks. I am efficient.
• Safari – It runs very quickly on my Macbook, and V5 is the best yet. My default browser for all day to day browsing.
• Mail – Mail is the best mail client I’ve ever used. It’s brilliant. I use lots of rules to organise mail into lots of folders, meaning I know exactly where everything is. It’s search facility is a real winner.
• Skype – I use this to talk with people from all over the place, whether it be just for a friendly chat or a client. The fact I can go on Skype and call someone else on Skype who might be thousands of miles away and not be charged any money is amazing..
• Transmit 4 – The best FTP app ever. Period. The recent update to version 4 has transformed it from a good FTP app to a superb one. The design is awesome and everything works as expected..
• Fireworks – I rarely touch Photoshop now, all my mocking-up work is done in Fireworks. It’s made for it, whereas Photoshop is all about image editing at heart.
• Textmate – I’m a geeky coder at heart and Textmate offers unrivalled features when it comes to coding. The bundles allow me to set up shortcuts to increase the speed at which I can code and it’s lighting quick.
• Spotify – Does it need an introduction? Free music! At the moment I’m not subscribed on a paid plan but I’m considering it, however the free version suits my needs perfectly for the time being.
• Ecoute – Ecoute sits in your dock and is a way to play all your iTunes music (including songs that you bought on iTunes, aka DRM protected ones) without loading up iTunes, which is one of Apple’s only bad apps at the moment. It’s quick, easy and works, for just $10 it’s a great steal. I love how the icon updates to show the song artwork. (PS – that’s not Glee playing, definitely not!).
• Forrst via Fluid – Forrst is a website that allows you to share work and get honest feedback by others. I use this so much, both for giving advice and help to others and also getting help. Using an app called Fluid it allows me to use the website as if it was a proper application and access it from the dock.
• MAMP – MAMP installs Apache and MySQL to your computer so you can run PHP locally. Invaluable for development.
• Curdbee via Fluid – Once again I used Fluid to bring Curdbee to my desktop. Curdbee is a very good, simple invoicing app which I use to keep track of my money.
• 1Password – I use this to keep track of my passwords on websites and all the serials for all my software.
• Firefox – Firefox + Web Developer Toolbar + Firebug is the best web development browser by a mile.
• AppCleaner – You drag an Application icon to AppCleaner and it uninstalls it and all the extra files the app installs. I just use it to keep everything neat and tidy in my Applications folders..
• Stack: Browsers – All the browsers I have sit in this stack, as I tend to try different ones all the time..
• Stack: Recently used Apps – This lists my 8 most recently used apps which sounds not that useful but it really is.
• Folder: Public Folder – This is a quick shortcut to my public folder, working in an office things always get sent from laptop to laptop via everyone’s public folders so often I need to get to this folder.
• The Trash – I try and keep this empty but sometimes it fills up.

———————————————————————————————————–
A huge thanks to Jack for taking time out to take part in the Dock Series.

If you would like to be featured in the Dock Series simply:

• Download the Dock Series Template.
• Email it along with the necessary images to: hi [at] gracesmith.co.uk.

Check out the other creatives in the series.

With more amazing creatives lined up, make sure to check each week for the latest Dock Series installment.

Show Me Your Dock Series! Part 32 is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

Please note this is not a sponsored review. This is a tool I’ve recently started to use and thought it may be of interest to some of you. I asked Brian to share the vital info on it’s creation and features. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment and Brian will be happy to answer them.

A potential new client contacts you to inquire about your awesome freelance service. So you set up a meeting, put your game face on, and get down to business. You and your potential client discuss goals, technical requirements, budget, and so forth. Exciting! Another new business lead! But you haven’t landed the gig just yet…

Now it’s time to go back, organize all the information you gathered in your meeting, and put together your proposal. Otherwise known as a bid, it’s a document presenting the project details (scope), time estimate, price quote, and any other information you choose to include. In the back of your mind is the notion that you’re not the only freelancer this client contacted for this project. Your proposal better shine so that you win their business!

That’s where WP Bids comes in.

It’s a specialized WordPress theme for creating (awesome) project proposals. Not only does it help you produce outstanding web-based proposals that will wow your clients and win more projects, it makes your life easier and saves you valuable time in the process!

Here are just a few of the features that make WP Bids an excellent tool for your freelance business:

• Easily add your own logo / branding to the header of every proposal.
• Creating and formatting proposals is a piece of cake since you already know (and love) the familiar WordPress interface.
• Set up a proposal template, drastically speeding up the process of churning out new proposals. Now you can focus your time on doing things you enjoy… Like working on projects!
• Mobile, iPhone, iPad and Print optimized.

The Story Behind WP Bids

I am a freelance web designer. In the past, when clients would contact me about a new project, I’d spend hours crafting a proposal document using Microsoft Word. It was always a process I dreaded for a several reasons:

• I was limited in terms of design and layout. MS Word doesn’t offer much in this regard.
• It took forever for me to create each proposal.
• I felt the overall presentation didn’t reflect my attention to detail as a web designer.

So I knew I had to scratch this itch by creating a solution that is; elegant and impressive, saves me valuable time and is fully customizable.

Since I’ve been specializing in WordPress, it was the logical platform to base my proposals app on. I had been creating Premium WordPress Themes at ThemeJam for a while, so I had a solid foundation in theme development to base WP Bids on.

After a few months of carefully crafting this highly specialized theme, I’m happy to have produced something that is simple, elegant, and offers an immediate benefit to one’s business. I’m truly passionate about the business of freelancing and I’m thrilled to have created something I know my fellow freelancers / small business owners will make use of.

So how much does it cost?

WP Bids follows the same pricing model as all of my premium WordPress themes on ThemeJam. For a one-time purchase of $59, you get:

• The WP Bids theme, complete with 4 built-in color schemes.
• The layered Photoshop design file.
• Detailed documentation.
• Lifetime access to theme updates.
• Lifetime access to customer support.
• Use it on as many domains as you want.

And now a little reward for making it this far…

Here’s a discount code: GRACE20 for 20% OFF your purchase, today through to the 9th August.

Pssst! WP Bids not for you? You can still use the above discount code on any ThemeJam theme!

Here is a short video demonstrating WP Bids in action:

Brian Casel is a freelance web designer and creator of the WP Bids WordPress theme. You can follow Brian on his personal blog briancasel.com and on Twitter @CasJam.

WP Bids – WordPress Theme For Freelancers is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

My first three articles have recently been published:

• 10 Free Wireframing Tools for Designers
• 10 Beautiful Social Media Infographics
• Top 10 Beautiful Minimalist Icon Sets

I’m currently working on several more articles for the series and having a blast working with the super talented (and crazy nice) team at Mashable. This also explains why I’ve been slightly quiet posting here on my blog.

I’d love if you could check out the articles as they are published and perhaps give them a little help in your chosen social networks. Of course any feedback on the articles is also appreciated, so feel free to drop a comment here.

On Becoming A Mashable Contributor is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

The giveaway has now ended and the two winners are: Mike Street and Katherine Cory. Congrats to you both and to everyone who didn’t win this time, don’t worry there are some great giveaways coming up!

Heart Internet have got in touch with me to offer you guys the opportunity to win one of two annual Reseller Professional packages worth £300 each (approx $430) plus a free .com, .net, .org (1 year reg) or .uk (2 years reg) domain name.

The Heart Internet Reseller Professional account has been especially created for web designers, internet entrepreneurs, web hosting resellers and developers. The Reseller package includes unlimited web space and unlimited bandwidth. Some of the headline features include:

• Sell unlimited websites at no extra charge
• Real time hosting set up
• A full hosting CRM
• Complete branding of the entire experience from the welcome emails through to the customer control panel (and everything else in-between)
• Add as many Linux or Windows hosting accounts as you like at no extra charge
• iPhone control panel to manage sites on the go and pass on to customers

If this sounds like something you would like to get your hands on keep reading to find out how to enter.

How to Enter

1. Make sure you are following both @gracesmith and @heartinternet on Twitter
2. Leave a comment below letting us know which type of domain you would like (.com, co.uk, .org.uk etc)

Competition Details

The closing date is Wednesday 16th June and the two winners will be told via Twitter DM (which is why you need to be following both of us). Good luck!

Win a Reseller hosting package worth £300! is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

This is the first in a three part in-depth series on how to incorporate sketching into your design process to kick-start your creativity and help brainstorm faster and more efficiently.

Part One interviews four established designers and illustrators to gain an insight into how they approach sketching, Part Two is an in-depth guide exploring the advantages of sketching for designers, while Part Three establishes some of the best resources to get you started. So make sure you are subscribed so as not to miss out when these are published over the next few weeks.

In order to gain a thorough understanding of how beneficial the process of sketching can be, I asked a small selection of talented designers and illustrators to share their process, advice and tips.

For this interview each participant was asked the same set of questions. Below you will see the questions listed with the corresponding responses from each person.

1. Can you talk us through your typical design process?

Brian Hoff – Designer, writer and founder of the ever useful Design Cubicle, answers:

 
My process always start off in my sketchbook, although I try not to have a 1-2-3-step process to my work (I like to switch things up and keep it interesting; I get bored easily). If I’m working on a website design in my sketchbook, I start with wireframing and layout. I like to spend a lot of time of this since I personally feel that the layout is one of the most important elements of the site. “Pretty” graphics and stunning effects will often get downplayed with lack of good layout and flow. Plus bad layout will definitely hinder the viewers experience.

Von Glitschka – Illustrator, teacher, designer and founder of Glitschka Studios, answers:

 
My best answer to this would be to direct people to a presentation I did
at the HOW Design Conference in Boston. They’ll be able to see exactly how
I approach my work.

David Airey – Blogger, Brand identity designer, consultant and founder of Logo Design Love, answers:

 
I approach projects in the same way as many other designers would, i.e., gathering information, interpreting the brief, brainstorming, sketching, digitizing, presenting — all the while communicating with clients. You can read a more in-depth description here: The brand identity design process.

Simon Wild – Illustrator, doodler, lecturer, author and lover of colour, answers:

 
My design process varies as I work with various processes including screenprint and collage. Everything starts with drawing though, either in sketchbooks as thumbnails, or uncontrolled scribbles on loose bits of paper. The drawings are then scanned and digitally treated or used as blueprints for collages. Sometimes I combine these practises depending on the work I make. My work can be very eclectic, but drawing is always the common thread that holds everything together.

2. Could you give us an insight into your style or technique?

Brian Hoff – Designer, writer and founder of the ever useful Design Cubicle, answers:

 
I try not to stick to a particular style, although I think it is fair to say that we all have influences that we draw upon. Sometimes I settle on a typefaces, other times a color palette, or at times, I start off designing something as little as button and then expand from there.

Von Glitschka – Illustrator, teacher, designer and founder of Glitschka Studios, answers:

 
My style is influenced by the project type and context. Regardless of
style my technique and approach stays relatively the same from one project
to the next.

David Airey – Blogger, Brand identity designer, consultant and founder of Logo Design Love, answers:

 
The emphasis is on ideas. I aim to keep the outcome as simple as possible, so it’s easier for people to remember (and therefore recall at a quick glance).

Simon Wild – Illustrator, doodler, lecturer, author and lover of colour, answers:

 
I don’t think I have an identifiable style as such. Sometimes my work is born from reckless doodling. Other times it comes from relentlessly observing something, or glueing paper together like an angry child. I think my work is a collision of the real world and the imagination with a strong passion for colour.

3. Who or what inspires, informs, and influences your work?

Brian Hoff – Designer, writer and founder of the ever useful Design Cubicle, answers:

 
My passion lies in typography and layout, so much of my web work places emphasis those things. I love looking at old, hand-drawn type and signage, book cover design, and publication design / layout. I enjoy timeless design.

Von Glitschka – Illustrator, teacher, designer and founder of Glitschka Studios, answers:

 
Being informed on as many fronts as possible inspires, informs and
influences me the most. I read a lot both non-fiction, fiction, physics,
business journals, and marketing. I love traveling and studying history.
All of it kind of mixes together and my mind starts to make connections
and it helps me to formulate ideas and better understand topics so I can
design from a more informed perspective and not just merely be a picture
maker.

David Airey – Blogger, Brand identity designer, consultant and founder of Logo Design Love, answers:

 
I’m influenced by friends, family, designers, blog readers, authors, business-people, the weather, nature, architecture… everything. A strong designer will make use of all the elements around him or her.

Simon Wild – Illustrator, doodler, lecturer, author and lover of colour, answers:

 
I am very inspired by travel and keeping sketchbooks of the places I have visited. I love design in nature, and colour plays a significant role in my work too. I love the absurd and try and capture some of that in my work. I admire the work of Heinz Edelmann for it’s distinct personality and quirks.

4. How do you effectively use sketching as a designer?

Brian Hoff – Designer, writer and founder of the ever useful Design Cubicle, answers:

 
If I’m designing a logo I start off by mind-mapping in my sketchbook. It’s my way of visualizing with words, that help me come to terms with the iconography that relates to the logo I am creating. Once I settle on a few terms and keywords I then beginning loosely sketching ideas based on the mind-mapping exercise.

Von Glitschka – Illustrator, teacher, designer and founder of Glitschka Studios, answers:

 
My process is both analog and digital. I start off in analog, move to
digital and go back and forth through out my creative process. I strongly
believe all designers should be drawing. Doesn’t matter if you ever want
to become a full-blown illustrator. That isn’t the point. It’s about being
able to take that intangible idea and put it on paper in 2D form. Drawing
improves design period.

David Airey – Blogger, Brand identity designer, consultant and founder of Logo Design Love, answers:

 
I don’t think there’s an effective and ineffective way. All sketching helps, as long as you consider it an integral part of the process, and don’t simply go through the motions.

Simon Wild – Illustrator, doodler, lecturer, author and lover of colour, answers:

 
I use sketching in different ways. To solve problems/ make mistakes / try out and remember ideas and for finished work.

5. What are the important elements to consider within a composition?

Brian Hoff – Designer, writer and founder of the ever useful Design Cubicle, answers:

 
Lately, I’ve been finding myself starting off in the early stages of a project by choosing a particular typeface and then designing around it. Type has so much personality and can really set the tone for the remaining elements of which still needs to be designed.

Von Glitschka – Illustrator, teacher, designer and founder of Glitschka Studios, answers:

 
Focusing the viewers attention, and directly them visually where they
should go and what they should think. Making sure visual tension isn’t
within my design because it deteriorates your design. The more visual
tension the weaker the design.

David Airey – Blogger, Brand identity designer, consultant and founder of Logo Design Love, answers:

 
Space, shape, texture, colour, line, form, balance, proportion, emphasis.

Simon Wild – Illustrator, doodler, lecturer, author and lover of colour, answers:

 
For me personally it is the white space that frames the subject I am illustrating. So it is the areas that you don’t design in that helps to enhance the areas that you do.

6. How do you think a designer can develop a personal style when drawing or sketching?

Brian Hoff – Designer, writer and founder of the ever useful Design Cubicle, answers:

 
In every designer’s body of work, even though each piece is different, you can always see at least small traces of the designer’s hand and eye in their work. When it comes to sketching I would imagine it being similar.

Von Glitschka – Illustrator, teacher, designer and founder of Glitschka Studios, answers:

 
Just start drawing and the more you do it the more your style will come
out and be apparent. You can’t really force it, it’ll come out naturally
but it takes time and patience.

David Airey – Blogger, Brand identity designer, consultant and founder of Logo Design Love, answers:

 
By sketching quickly. If you take too long, it defeats the purpose. Remember, sketching isn’t about becoming the next Picasso. It’s about transferring ideas from your brain to paper. The more sketches you make, the more ideas you can draw upon when moving forward.

Simon Wild – Illustrator, doodler, lecturer, author and lover of colour, answers:

 
By getting out and observing real life. Avoid copying trends, but opt for drawing the things that interest you. I think that drawing from life really contributes to the designer developing their own visual language.

7. How do you think sketching can be of benefit to other designers?

Brian Hoff – Designer, writer and founder of the ever useful Design Cubicle, answers:

 
Sketching is very beneficial for designers; it allows us to quickly get ideas out on paper and focus more on the overall picture instead of minor details too early in the process. I was recently speaking with Dan Mall and he also noticed and mentioned his past students mostly focus on the tiny details much too early; many of which bypass sketching all together. For anyone that has ever taken a drawing class, in fine art they call it gesture drawing. The act of getting the shape of a figure down before worrying about little things (ie: eye balls, finger nails, etc).

Von Glitschka – Illustrator, teacher, designer and founder of Glitschka Studios, answers:

 
Lets say you start drawing daily now. You continue to draw for the next
five years, do you think you’ll be a stronger creative at that time or
worse? Creativity is progressive, it should always be growing, refining,
becoming better both in craft and concept.

That said drawing can be directly related to inspiration and if you’re not
feeding the furnace by taking in life at it’s fullest it’ll be very hard
to stay motivated and keep that fire going. So I think this question ties
into question 3 in very significant ways.

David Airey – Blogger, Brand identity designer, consultant and founder of Logo Design Love, answers:

 
Sketching is the fastest method available for documenting visual design ideas. Using a computer brings an unnecessary restriction into the mix, almost like a “middle man.”

Simon Wild – Illustrator, doodler, lecturer, author and lover of colour, answers:

 
I think that good design should have personality and something to say. Sketching and visually recording provides a good platform for strong design. Sketching is the place where you make your mistakes and your discoveries. It is a place to lay the foundations of your ideas. Sketching can develop a designers voice.

8. Lastly, name 5 tips for the budding sketch artist?

Brian Hoff – Designer, writer and founder of the ever useful Design Cubicle, answers:

 
1. Sketch often.
2. Sketch loosely and fast.
3. Forget the tiny details.
4. Never leave your house without a notebook; you never know when inspiration will strike.
5. Keep written sketches / notes just as much as visual sketches.

Von Glitschka – Illustrator, teacher, designer and founder of Glitschka Studios, answers:

 
1. Start: You’ll never grow if you never start.
2. Have Fun: Don’t worry about what to do, just do what wherever you’d
like to do.
3. It’s OK to do a bad drawing: Many times you’ll learn more from a crappy
drawing than you will from one you love. No one nails it every time.
4. Save your doodles: Even if it’s not a formal drawing and just a doodle
save it.
5. Make it easy to do: Personally I don’t like sketch books, I prefer
sketch pads I can tear off. So figure out how to make it work for you,
that will help you stick with it.

David Airey – Blogger, Brand identity designer, consultant and founder of Logo Design Love, answers:

 
1. Carry a notepad and pen/pencil with you.
2. Practice makes better.
3. Focus on the idea — not shading or tone.
4. Don’t worry about making a mistake. Mistakes are how we learn.
5. Stay hydrated.

Simon Wild – Illustrator, doodler, lecturer, author and lover of colour, answers:

 
1. Draw every day
2. Get interested by the little details of life.
3. Spend as little time in front of your computer as you can manage
4. Draw with your opposite hand
5. Don’t seek praise for your drawing. Seek criticism

Conclusion

So there you have it, some fantastic insights and advice from a selection of talented designers and illustrators.

Thank you to all of the contributors who were very gracious in taking their time to answer my questions. Don’t forget to subscribe or check back next week for Part 2!

The Benefits Of Sketching As A Designer: Part One is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

Scott Glasser is a freelance web designer and developer out of Schenectady, NY. He manages and owns sum(design), and also handles all of the web development duties for a local web and graphic design shop. He loves PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript and jQuery, MySQL and MS SQL, User Interface design, SEO, Macs, the Chicago Bears, and things that transform.

I asked Scott if he would give us the lowdown on the applications he relies upon as a designer and developer on a daily basis.

The Intro…

I carry my trusty 2008/2009 15″ Macbook Pro with me everywhere I go. I have a 24″ monitor, and external keyboard and mouse at home and at the office. They aren’t Cinema displays (yet) but they do the job.

The Dock…

• Finder – I find myself favoring Pathfinder, but rely heavily on Finder. The truth is, I strongly dislike Pathfinder’s icon, so I can’t bring myself to keeping it in my dock.
• Firefox – I’m sort of addicted to Firefox. There, I admitted it. The extensions make it absolutely essential for me on a day to day basis. I could not live without the Firebug, Web Developer, Read-it-later, Colorzilla, and Measureit extensions.
• Safari – Firefox is my go to browser, but I find myself in Safari quite often. It’s not a memory hog, like Firefox, and launches much, much faster.
• Google Chrome – I’m not a huge fan of Chrome, but I keep it around for testing, and in hopes that it continues to improve. Now that extensions are supported, it could become useful. We will see.
• Postbox – Postbox recently became my default email client. If you haven’t tried it, I strongly recommend it. As much as I loved Mail.app, I’ll never go back!
• iCal – Well, it’s a calendar. What more can I say? I actually use Google Calendar as my primary scheduling tool, but sync to Mac and iPhone.
• Things – Things is my task manager of choice. I’ve tried Basecamp, Remember the Milk, The Hit List, but always find myself coming back to Things. I love it for it’s simplicity and aesthetics, as well as the companion iPhone app and wi-fi sync. My only complaint is that it doesn’t support nested tasks. *grumble*
• Photoshop – Photoshop does most of the heavy graphic design lifting for me, but I’d like to start using Pixelmator more regularly. Mainly because of it’s speed.
• Color Schemer Studio – Color Schemer is extremely handy to have around. The $50 price tag might be a bit much, but was lucky enough to grab it when it was on sale at either MacUpdate or MacZot.
• Littlesnapper – Littlesnapper is one of those apps that you don’t realize how useful it is until you really start using it. I find myself accessing it constantly to quickly capture design elements on sites and in apps (much easier than digging through bookmarks for inspiration), screen captures of complete web pages, creating quick instruction sheets for clients, highlighting browser bugs/design flaws, etc. I don’t know how I lived without it.
• TextMate – I’ve used, and loved, both Coda and Espresso, but just cannot move away from TextMate. For me, it’s pretty close to being the perfect development tool.
• Transmit – Combined with the power and flexibility of TextMate, via bundle, Transmit is a near perfect fit for my workflow. It’s fast, compatible, easy to use, and powerful.
• Sequel Pro – As a web developer, and a PHP guy, I find myself dealing with MySQL databases constantly. It’s donation ware, so if you’re looking for a great MySQL development tool you really have to give Sequel Pro a shot.
• Adium – There isn’t much of a selection of messaging apps out there for Mac, so Adium it is. I was a fan of Digsby on PC, but no Mac support yet. It’s been “coming soon” for quite a while. I stopped holding my breath about a year ago.
• Tweetie – I’m really looking forward to Tweetie 2, especially since Twitter purchase atebits! For now, there really isn’t a better Twitter client for Mac than Tweetie. I’ve tried a TON, and always find myself coming back.
• Projects – I keep a smart folder on my dock so I can quickly locate and jump in to a specific project in TextMate.
• Client files – Another smart folder, which brings me directly to the client directories on my system. Saves me a couple of clicks while navigating through Finder.
• Applications – Yeah.
• Parallels – Parallels installs a handy “Start menu” on your dock by default. It has actually become pretty useful, and has found its way in to my daily workflow. Obviously, as a web developer, I have to be able to hop in to Windows and deal with Internet Explorer. IETester, for Windows, makes life a little bit easier in that department.

———————————————————————————————————–
A huge thanks to Scott for taking time out to take part in the Dock Series.

If you would like to be featured in the Dock Series simply:

• Download the Dock Series Template.
• Email it along with the necessary images to: hi [at] gracesmith.co.uk.

Check out the other creatives in the series.

Show Me Your Dock Series! Part 31 is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

Women In Web Design: Group Interview is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

So what could you potentially get for that £40? It’s time to find out….

• Website UK Design

• HavenWorks

• Fabric Land

• Nina Hagendas

• Yvettes Bridal Formal

• Norcalis

• Tusitioya

• John Eppler

• DP Graph

• Frnz

• Dokimos

• Silver Queen

• MIA UK

• CPT Pisa

• Arngren

So would that £40 have been well spent? It’s up to you to decide just how much your value your business and brand.

Still not had your fix of the ugly? Well here are some more resources to feast your eyes upon:

• Internets Ugliest Website
• Fuglysite
• Webpages That Suck
• The Big Ugly Website
• Worlds Ugliest Websites
• Ugliest Websites Of The Decade

So if your eyes are still in working order after that dose of ugliness, in the comments tell us what your favorite ugly site of all time is!

What Cheap Web Design Really Looks Like is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

£40….Did I just read that correctly?

As designers we know there will always be the cousin or ‘local lad’ who can build their website for £40 or $50, what surprises me is the fact that perfectly professional and legitimate businesses think this is good value! It’s unfortunate that the power of design is currently so misunderstood and undervalued by many businesses.

Design essentially provides an external ‘face’ for your customers (of your business). So why have a website that is such a poor representation of your business to potential customers?

The cost of web design also applies to logo design, which Jacob has superbly laid out in his article, which also inspired me to write about my recent experience.

• Design Process

How can we qualify that professional, quality web design doesn’t cost £40? Let’s first look at the typical design process, in fact this is the process I typically follow.

Phase 1: Concept and Consultation

We start with a discussion on the scope of the project which provides a solid foundation before we begin. Your project is then defined using the Creative Brief (a Wufoo form which I ask all potential clients to fill in), which is often referred back to during the project. By clearing defining the concept we are able to map out the goals and requirements of the entire project before moving on.

Phase 2: Discovery

Once there is a clear concept for the project, we move into discovery and research. I get to know and understand the exact needs of the project along with research into users needs and goals, target audience or demographic until there is a complete outline. I also build up a thorough picture of the personality and intended style of the website.

Depending on the scale and complexity of the project we may then move into creating a visual sitemap of the project which is essential for organisation of content on larger projects.

Phase 3: Wireframes

I then create sketches of the layout which are turned into wireframes (using the grey-box method) for review and approval before the design process begins.

A wireframe is a basic mockup of the page without any design elements which gives a stragetic view of the positioning of elements within the layout and shows how the content will flow on the page. It is an important step in determining the placement of content, function and navigation. It is used to iron out any problems or missing elements, and will act as the blueprint for the content, design and construction work that comes later.

For a more detailed rundown on this, read the in-depth look at my wireframing process.

Phase 4: Design

Once the wireframes are approved we move onto the design phase. The wireframes are taken and given the design treatment and polished. They are then presented for feedback and iteration as necessary until approved.

Phase 5: Build

I then build the design into working prototypes using CSS and XHTML (all according to accessibility guidelines). These are presented and given feedback on all aspects of the build. This is where incoporating a CMS also takes place (if required). We work together to polish and tweak until the build is finalised and complete.

Phase 6: Testing, Launch & Signoff

Although the project is tested through each stage of the build, this stage involves a complete usability test across all platforms and browsers, checking for cross-platform functionality and appearance. I use a combination of my own testing environment and Browsercam to do a complete check, with the results forwarded onto you for review. We are then ready for launch!

Phase 7: Monitoring and Maintenance

Once the site is launched I will do a thorough link check and monitor the site for 7 days to squash any potential problems that may arise. Once the monitoring period is over I can set up a maintenance plan if desired.

But why follow a process at all? Because this type of process will allow us to:

(a) Get really clear about what the goals of the site are.
(b) Know what the site’s visitors want (after all they’re the ones using it).
(c) Gain an insight into users’ goals and behaviour.
(d) Get a good picture of the personality and style of the design.

Without this, we’re designing ‘blind’, essentially just delivering something pretty with no awareness of your audience, targets or goals, so how do you expect it to be a success?

I think we can all assume that £40 isn’t going to cover all of the above, but does it cover your experience or expertise?

• Knowledge

The story goes that Picasso was sitting in a Paris café when an admirer approached and asked if he would do a quick sketch on a paper napkin. Picasso politely agreed, swiftly executed the work, and handed back the napkin — but not before asking for a rather significant amount of money. The admirer was shocked: “How can you ask for so much? It took you a minute to draw this!” “No”, Picasso replied, “It took me 40 years”.

You weren’t just paying for that drawing, you were paying for the countless hours, days, weeks and years of research, knowledge, experience and talent that it took to create that drawing.

Many of us in the design industry spend countless hours refining our knowledge wherever possible, constantly learning and challenging ourselves to be better in all aspects of both design, development and business. Why? One of the core reasons is so we can provide a better quality of service to our clients.

As Benjamin Southworth points out, that £40 “would price my 10 years professional experience at £4 p.a – which I deem as less than minimum wage?”

• Operating Costs

Freelancing isn’t cost free, there are a wealth of overheads that most of us have to incorporate into our pricing. Some of the more obvious expenses include:

(1) Broadband
(2) Stock photography
(3) Web hosting
(4) Email marketing
(5) Hardware (iMac/Macbook/Printer)
(6) External hard drive(s)
(7) Software (Including Online Apps)
(8) Office Equipment
(9) Fonts
(10) Stationery
(11) Marketing
(12) Insurance
(13) Tax
(14) Travel

Mosts Freelancers are serious about their business, and run a credible professional small business. In doing so there are numerous costs involved which have to be taken into account when costing a project. The reason the local lad can do it so cheap is because he has no overheads because for him, it’s just a hobby.

• Community Response

In order to get a more in-depth view on how the design community views these type of requests I asked for some input from those smart folks on twitter, who had the following to say:

@garethbotha A company or brand’s first impression to the world at large is worth more than £40.

@brimanning If it costs that much, that means anyone can do it.

@ianglang Clients by far are uneducated: copyright: (just get it from the web) process: (I want to see it before I decide to pay).

@egeek Audi garage charges £98/hr for a mechanic and surely that’s just screwing parts on a car. So £40 would get you < 30min.

@paulashton1979 Because web design/dev = html, css, photoshop, cms knowledge, seo, copywriting, typography, design, infoArchitecture & fontReplacement etc.

@ianglang “You wouldn’t compromise your integrity. Why would you ask us to compromise ours?”

@helo_biagi Well, you have costs… your equipment, maintenance, studies, rent, time and the programs you use cost way more than £40.

@mohdesign How about the fact that designers and developers spend a huge amount of time just learning and increasing their skills to make a living.

@StuRobson I’d say “how much page space would £40 get you in a magazine or newspaper?”

@cun I’ll input… “£40 wouldnt even get you a full years worth of hosting + domain” let alone the coding work and time involved.

@pixelcellar Definately worth chucking in the mix the phrase “you get what you pay for”, one I use a lot with prospective clients!

@DanielApt We’ve spent an amazing amount of time to master our skills, we need to compensate this learning time in the bill.

@goody815 My first reply is always “the copy machine repair person is $150/hr so lets start over shall we”.

@deakaz Awesome, If someone expects it that cheap they should sign up to a free service and use a stock theme.

@jhuskisson Because web design isn’t done in an hour (£40 is an hourly rate, or lower than an hour for a lot of designers).

@shredcreative I’d say that when people send emails like that, we as web designers/devs should educate them as to why they should spend more.

• Conclusion

So if web design doesn’t cost £40, what does it cost? The answer is, it depends on both the project specification and the designer you’ve approached. There are numerous variables and just like logo design, the best way to approach this question is to draw up a customised quote for each individual.

• The Pitch

I may not charge you £40 but If you’re interested in working with a seasoned professional web designer then please get in touch via my contact form or through my portfolio.

• Further Resources

(a) Why Design Can’t Be Billed By The Hour
(b) The Added Value Of Design
(c) Communicate the ROI for Design
(d) You Get What You Pay For

• Let’s Have Your 2 Cents

Have you experienced this type of request before, if so, how did you handle it?

Is it actually our fault as designers for failing to effectively communicate the ROI of design? Because clearly people do not understand how important and valuable it is to their business.

Or does there need to be a shift in current thinking from regarding design as an afterthought to being an integral part of business strategy?

Here’s your chance to talk….

Why Web Design Doesn’t Cost £40 is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.