Hi, I'm Grace Smith » Theme Thursday

36+ Resources To Craft The Perfect Portfolio

Grace — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:50:57 +0000

A portfolio can be an amazing platform as it showcases your work, skills, experience and personality to potential clients and employers. However building a killer portfolio that is a lead generator on a consistent basis is a tough task.

Whether you’re a designer, developer or writer, taking the time to craft a quality, professional portfolio that outshines your competitors, suits your needs and gives you a better chance of a successful and sustainable career is extremely important.

With this in mind i chose the Portfolio theme for this week’s Theme Thursday as every creative can find something of value in these articles, from crafting the perfect portfolio to promoting your work better for optimal results.

Portfolio Creation

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Improve Your Portfolio

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Portfolio Inspiration

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Print Based Portfolios

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Promtion & SEO

Were there any portfolio based articles or resources i missed out? If so leave a comment with a link so we can check them out or feel free to add your own thoughts about what makes a great portfolio.

See you at the next Theme Thursday on the 10th September.

Photo by Fidophoto

36+ Resources To Craft The Perfect Portfolio is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocks

65+ Illustrator Tutorials, Tips and Resources

Grace — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:55:17 +0000

With Adobe Illustrator you can create remarkable illustrations and graphics that bring a design to life. However just like Photoshop it’s important to learn how to utilise it’s power and improve our technique and knowledge to achieve a more impressive result.

So with this weeks Theme Thursday focused on Illustrator and Vectors, i scoured the web and the result was more than 65 of the the best tutorials, practices, tips and resources to help make you an Illustrator heavyweight.

Get Learning

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Tutorials Roundups

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Single Tutorials

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Resources

Were there any of your favourite Illustrator or Vector related resources that didn’t make the list? Then leave a comment with a link so we can check them out.

See you at the next Theme Thursday on the 20th August.

Photo by Wallcoo

65+ Illustrator Tutorials, Tips and Resources is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocks

Productivity Toolbox: 55 Essential Tips & Tricks

Grace — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Improving our productivity and efficiency is the holy grail of most business owners. We all want to do more with less time and become better at what we do. However with so many areas to focus on within our work, it’s essential that we consistently improve our day to day productivity.

I chose this week’s theme of Productivity because it’s an area i have been focusing on myself recently within my own business.

The multitude of applications, shortcuts, tips, tricks and tutorials listed below should help you find a way to boost your productivity in whatever field you work in.

For Creatives

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For Freelancers

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For Writers

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For Developers

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Blogs and Bloggers

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Tips and Toolboxes

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iPhone and Mobiles

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Applications

Were there any of your favourite Productivity related resources that didn’t make the list? Then leave a comment with a link so we can check them out.

See you at the next Theme Thursday on 30th July.

Photo by CarbonNYC

Productivity Toolbox: 55 Essential Tips & Tricks is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocks

Theme Thursday postponed until 9th July

Grace — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:00:10 +0000

Due to the fact i am probably relaxing in a beer garden somewhere in Ireland, this week’s Theme Thursday has been postponed until next week. However feel free to browse the archives…. Theme Thursday postponed until 9th July is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocksRelated posts: Theme Thursday: Coming [...]

Theme Thursday postponed until 9th July is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

43 Must Read PHP Articles and Resources

Grace — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:35:25 +0000

PHP is a scripting language that enables people to create dynamic web pages and applications. It is a server side language that is one of the most popular used by developers today. Like any language there is always something new to learn and master.

With a large number of web developers on Twitter, it’s with no surprise that PHP was chosen as this week’s Theme Thursday theme.

Whether it be a new tip to better organise your code or a way to speed up your scripts, this list hopes to be essential reading for both the PHP newbie and the the experienced developer.

For Beginners

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Code Organisation

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Advanced

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Applications

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Tips and Best Practices

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Tutorials

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Security

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Frameworks

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PHP Toolbox

Were there any of your favourite PHP related resources that didn’t make the list? Then leave a comment with a link so we can check them out.

See you at the next Theme Thursday on 2nd July.

Photo by Lilit

43 Must Read PHP Articles and Resources is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocks

58 Essential Resources For Every Mac Geek

Grace — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:11:29 +0000

Apple products power my business. Using a Mac has enabled me to streamline my workflow and i spend less time on computer maintenance and more time doing what i love – designing.

I appreciate the beauty and efficiency of both my iMac and Macbook, although being a recent switcher (just two years), there is a wealth of Mac related tips, tricks, shortcuts and resources which i have yet to learn and discover. With a growing number of designers and developers on Twitter who use a Mac, it’s with no surprise that all things Apple Mac was chosen as this week’s Theme Thursday theme.

With 58 resources to discover and bookmark, from improving performance, to time saving shortcuts, these are essential reading for every mac geek.

Applications

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Terminal

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Performance

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Shortcuts

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Tip & Tricks

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Productivity

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Security

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Mac Office Set-Ups

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Misc

Well that’s my weekend gone! This weeks Theme Thursday was really enjoyable, i know i will be giving each of these great links a closer inspection.

Were there any of your favourite Mac related resources that didn’t make the list? Then leave a comment with a link so we can check them out.

See you at the next Theme Thursday on 11th June.

Photo by Ricardoalvarez

58 Essential Resources For Every Mac Geek is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocks

75+ Truly Remarkable Typography Resources

Grace — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:15:51 +0000

Great Typography is not just about choosing your typeface, setting it’s properties and forgetting about it. Typography can add life, character and interest into a design.

As a designer who has worked in the Newspaper and Print Industry i know how much of an impact typography can make.

With a never ending need to learn more about the theory of Typography and how to apply it in a multitude of contexts, i was extremely pleased to see Typography voted as this week’s Theme Thursday.

Below you will find a range of articles, resources, tutorials and roundups which will inspire you to become a Typography Ninja:

Personally i will be spending a lot of time reading through those link’s and finding way’s to incorporate a variety of these into my own projects.

Were there any resources we missed from the list? Or have any of you used any of these in your design’s? Drop a comment to let us know.

Photo by A Continuous Lean

75+ Truly Remarkable Typography Resources is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocks

84 Amazingly Useful CSS Tips & Resources

Grace — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:26:29 +0000

As a dedicated Web Standards gal, i appreciate the beauty and power of CSS, in fact my design studio – Postscript5 is built on the aim of producing beautiful, accessible websites. The love and respect for web standards is continually growing in the online community and the push to create more and more unique web designs and layouts means the use and functionality of CSS is more keenly discussed.

With this in mind i can well appreciate that CSS was the chosen theme for this week’s Theme Thursday!

Feast your eyes over this collection of super useful CSS resources:

That’s our 5th Theme Thursday over and i think it was one of the best as CSS is a favourite topic for alot of designers and developers on Twitter.

I have just finished the initial build for the Theme Thursday website and Stuart will be incorporating the backend functionality over this weekend so if all goes well it should be up and running for the next Theme Thursday on 30th April as Theme Thursday is now a fortnightly event on Twitter to allow time for you to take in and read through the links.

Have you used any of these resources or links in your projects or do you have any other articles to recommend? Then drop a comment, i would love to get some feedback on these!

Photo by Exey Panteleev

84 Amazingly Useful CSS Tips & Resources is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocks

115 Insanely Useful Photoshop tips & tutorials

Grace — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:31:01 +0000

Our latest Theme Thursday topic was Adobe Photoshop, the application of choice for most web and graphic designers. It’s one of the apps i use on a daily basis and yet i am constantly learning new techniques and processes to optimise my workflow as well as enhancing my designs.

It’s no surprise then, that Photoshop was a runaway choice for this weeks topic. With a wealth of tips, tricks and tutorials on using Photoshop scattered around the web, we found some of the best resources throughout the day.

It’s time to get started checking out these amazing links:

Remember to send all votes, questions or feedback to the dedicated Theme Thursday twitter account: @themethursday. The site has been designed and the development is about to start, we hope to have it live by next Thursday, so stay tuned.

Thanks yet again to everyone that participated, i look forward to a new theme next week!

Photo by Frazzled Jen

115 Insanely Useful Photoshop tips & tutorials is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocks

86 jQuery Resources To Spice Up Your Website

Grace — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:16:55 +0000

The second Theme Thursday’s topic was jQuery, yet again another great choice for the week’s theme. As one of my favourite JavaScript libraries i was super pleased it was the chosen topic, it seems im not the only one who loves all things jQuery, as lots of people joined in to share links and resources on the subject.

Future of Theme Thursday

From now on the links to the chosen theme each week will be tweeted from our new dedicated account: @themethursday, so in order for you to see the links you will need to follow that account or you will miss out on all the super useful resources tweeted each week! The reason for this is so as to avoid overwhelming my own followers and it’s also going to be used in conjunction with the website im developing for Theme Thursday (which should be up and running within the next two weeks).

I know you’re here for the jQuery linkage, so here’s the rundown:

Theme Thursday has now become one of the top trends on Twitter every Thursday with more and more people joining in each week, which is fantastic to see with the aim being to promote useful resources related to a particular theme. If you have any comments or feedback drop me a comment.

Photo by Dmitry Baranovskiy

86 jQuery Resources To Spice Up Your Website is a post from: Hi, I'm Grace Smith

Big App Giveaway Code: ProductivityRocks