Have you ever thought that you’re unique? Or felt that you’re just one of thousands out there struggling to get a project?

Picture by Piotr Bizior

Most likely, both of these statements are true. Many designers are out there trying to get their next project and most of them are in a way unique. Still there are some characteristics that we all have more or less of. By understanding some of these and knowing how to take advantage of your better sides while getting rid of the bad ones, you will be more likely to succeed!

Different Characteristics

Very few are just one single type. Most of us have some characteristics from several of these types, giving us hundreds of possible combinations. So we are indeed unique. Being one specific type doesn’t mean that you’re better than everyone else, or worse for that matter. The best way to be is a nice mix of different ones if possible. Even some of the more negative sounding types do have their positive sides. Now let’s have a look at one way to divide us into these types:

The Over-worker

Picture by Ivan Prole

More common within the ranks of fresh designers is the over-worker. This is the designer that spends a lot of time on even the smaller projects believing that this is the answer to everything. On the good side it’s always great when people try to make sure they’ve done the best they can. On the other hand this can be a dangerous path to go as you will have time for less projects during a month. If you’re being paid by the hour your designs will be more expensive than with several other designers and if you’re paid by the project there’s a good chance you’re working a lot for every dollar you get in. The key here is to learn when to say stop and getting more confident in what you do.

The Confident

Picture by ilker

Confident can be good. Actually it’s very good to some point. The confident designer knows that he’s doing well and sometimes dares to believe in his own gut feeling when making decisions. Balance is essential though. If you’re too confident you may be missing some important feedback from the client or not be critical enough to your own work.

The Nervous Wreck

Picture by Farmer Stephanie

I’ve met a few designers that are really nervous wrecks. They think that everything they do is bad or that clients will be unhappy with them no matter what they deliver. The confidence level is zero and I’ve many times thought that it must be really painful to have it this way. For some it can be just a matter of getting some quality feedback or polishing the skills a bit to feel more confident. Ask fellow designers for feedback, read up on what you do and do an evaluation of your routines. Maybe you’re someone who’s better off in another job?

The Average Designer

Picture by Celal Teber

As the title says this is the average one. By average I don’t mean bad, just someone who’s right there in the middle with thousands of others without standing out much. A lot of us manage well in this segment and get a nice share of projects on a regular basis. These designers live by current trends without daring to take too many risks. They have the basic skills and understanding and usually make an ok living from designing.

The Creative Mess

Picture by Richard Dudley

The creative mess has a lot of ongoing projects simultaneously. He/she often has many projects outside the design terms as well, along with personal projects and dreams – all in the creative field. This can be a dangerous path to walk down if you’re not able to get done with what you’re doing. Try to get balance (the next characteristic) and work on time management. Sometimes it can be hard, but necessary to realise that you can’t do everything you want always. Priorities have to be made.

The Balanced Creative

Picture by Kostya Kisleiko

This is the succesful version of the creative mess type. With a lot of ongoing projects, this designer knows that it takes priority and hard work. Having multiple projects can be a really good thing and this designer has found the secrets to how to balance all projects in a satisfying way.

The Unique

Picture by George Georgiades

This designer works more for the design than for the money (usually). A person that focuses on design that is uncommon and rarely seen. He doesn’t always have enough work but occasionally there comes huge projects along from clients that dare to go for his unique groundbreaking style. Often this designer works part-time.

The Trendsetter

Picture by Alessandro Paiva

Many times the trendsetter can own his own company or work with a bigger one. But these can also be freelancers. This type is the first one to start-up new trends and often has a lot of success. He can choose from many available projects at most times and is well-known in his niche. To be able to stay on top this designer will need to spend a lot of time reading up on what’s happening in the market, have the latest software and keep the skills polished.

The Ego-tripper

Picture by Robert Aichinger

Haven’t we all met them at some point? The designer who believes he is a trend setter or that his designs are absolutely awesome at all times. This person needs to be better to listen to feedback and be more realistic. Instead of attracting clients he will be likely to drive them away. Clients that re-buy are few and he doesn’t understand why as he is “perfect” in his own eyes.

The Copycat

Picture by Hilde Torbjornsen

There are some designers that copy others work almost for a living sometimes. This will eventually be discovered and is a really bad thing. It gives a horrible reputation and most of these designers have to stop doing business after a short time. The secret is to do your research properly and learn to use trends without copying someone elses work.

The Lucky One and the Unlucky One

Picture by Elke Rohn

This is many times more a myth than a fact in my opinion. I’ve many times hear someone say they don’t succeed because they have bad luck or that someone else succeeded because they were “really lucky”. Obviously you can have good and bad luck with everything you do, that’s a fact. But using it as an excuse is not the way to go. While some succeed or hit that one client that is great referral or has a lot of money, it all comes down to hard work. The harder you work, the bigger the chance is for success!

Conclusion

Picture by Joke van Zomeren

There are many types of designers, and you’re probably a combination of several of these. My advice to you is to have a look at these, make up your own opinion and work towards becoming the type you think is the best for you. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some characteristics, so feel free to leave your feedback for everyone to hear. By doing things your own way without blaming the situation and working hard instead, you will have a better chance at success!

Good luck!

( Which type are you? )

One of the main things that designers think through before going freelance is the benefits compared to working in a company. Then they often think about if they’ll be able to get the same size on the paycheck and so on.

Picture by Dani Simmonds

One thing I believe should be way up on that list is to compare what you can offer to your clients when you’re freelance, compared to what a design company can do. You’ll be quite likely to struggle a little bit with getting clients to choose you if you’re new in the game and they have dealt with a bigger company in the past.

If you know some of the major differences and keep these in mind it will be easier to sell them the package you have to offer, while eliminating some of the risks that the clients are facing.

Picture by Matthijs van Heerikhuize

Now let’s have a look at some of the differences for a client. We know there are several more, and would love to hear your own tips in the comments!

By chosing bigger companies

Picture by Sigurd Decroos

A more extensive portfolio

Bigger companies have more designers and they have more extensive portfolios. This can be a challenge for you when you’ve just started up. This being said, you should focus on building up a really good portfolio for yourself. Include a good variety of your very best work, and remember to show your versatility. The power of a good portfolio should never be underestimated!

More versatility

Picture by Billy Alexander

As bigger companies have more workers, they’re also usually a lot more versatile than what you are. Don’t let this get you down though. If you’re really good at listening to the client, you will be able to compensate for this mostly. The designers also have great opportunities to get feedback from each other and work together on projects involving several products/services.

Not vulnerable to people being away

In a bigger company there’s usually someone who can step in if a designer is sick or has to be away for other reasons. When you’re a freelancer this can be a potential risk for the client. There’s not a whole lot to do about this other than having good communication with the client and look for options on how to solve things if you have to be away for a day or two.

Better prices/more extras

Picture by Sachin Ghodke

This doesn’t always have to be the case, in some cases it can actually be the opposite but we’re including it here anyway. Bigger companies can afford doing projects where they lose money if they’re part of a bigger plan. This means that sometimes they can throw in an extra product or service when negotiating with the client.

More stable

I’ve had the question from clients several times: But what do I do if you’re out of business tomorrow? Bigger companies have a more stable economy and a better economical core, where freelancers can be very vulnerable to changes. One of the ways to solve this can be to have the client pay after a project is done, or at least very late in the process. This usually makes them feel more comfortable if it’s a case to begin with.

By chosing a freelancer

Picture by Julien Tromeur

A more personal service

This is many times your strongest selling point. The fact that you are the one they will be in touch with in every stage of the process can be a great advantage. This will prevent clients from having to deal with several different designers and make sure that the chance of misunderstandings is a lot smaller. My tip is to use this actively when trying to get a deal with a new client.

Freelancers often “give more”

Picture by Maria Beliakova

This is a fact in many cases and it can be both good and bad. For the clients this is usually a good thing. As freelancers depend more on each project, they also tend to give a lot more during the process. It’s not uncommon that we give our phone numbers for clients to reach us outside of regular work hours, and meetings after hours/during weekends happens a lot more with freelancers than with regular employees in bigger companies. Obviously you should try to get your deserved time off to recharge the batteries in-between work, but this can be used as a final selling point to tip the client in your direction.

More characteristic designs

Being able to show versatility is important, and so is having a design style. Where companies have many different designers with different looks, you as a freelancer will most likely build your own look over time. This can be a great selling point for you and clients will often get very happy with this. In a market today where many designs look similar (logos, websites and so on) a look that stands out is a good thing. If you’ve made a good portfolio, clients will be very likely to fall for this point.

Better prices

Picture by Dani Simmonds

In general, freelancers are many times able to give better prices. This point was on the company side as well, but there a little bit different. Where you as a freelancer can’t give anything away for free, you are still likely to be able to get a lower price range on most things. Bigger companies have more costs to cover, and along with the other advantages from chosing a company, clients have to pay a bit more. Don’t under price your services but be aware that as long as you’re not being extremely expensive, you’re probably cheaper to use than a company.

They’re helping

Some companies/clients are actually very interested in helping out new designers and/or local ones. This can be a good reason for them to choose you. By letting them understand that you’re thinking forward and have a good plan for the future, they can be more than happy to help you out by choosing you. For many designers, starting out in the local community can be a great way to start building up a portfolio and getting some practice before stepping out into the rest of the world.

Conclusion

Picture by Eduardo Schäfer

Being a freelance designer can be hard, that’s no secret. Remember to read up and know what you’re dealing with and you can be in for many good surprises along the way. By knowing how to sell your services and being a serious competitor, you can land many deals from this. Never talk bad about any competitors but know what your forces are and use them in your sales pitch. If you have a client or two saying no, don’t give up! With time you will get a more extensive portfolio, good and loyal clients and a great reputation. When you get there you’ll get even more clients.

Good luck!

Do you have all the client info you need?

Do you need any files from the client?

If you’re making anything that includes pictures, logos or other files you may wanna make sure that you have everything at an early stage. Have the client list everything they want to be included and double-check that you have it.

How does the client want to be perceived?

Company info and history

Picture by Sanja Gjenero

You can pick up a lot of valuable information from getting some more company info besides the product and service descriptions. Try to get some more basic information. A tip would be to read up on the available information that is already out there on their website if they have one, then use that information to come up with a few more questions to get a complete profile from your contact.

Are there any flagships? – introduction of services/products

Design-specific wishes

Deadlines

Conclusion

This leads to the issue of finding a subjective method for deciding which webmail system is best. How? Read on to find out.

Making a decision: which is best?

Of course, all of our views are subjective, and it seems the fairest way to decide is to run an impartial test on between some of the most popular webmail services.

The three webmail services that are well ahead of the pack in terms of users are of course Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail, and so today we will pit them against each other in a usability battle.

UI faceoff - who will win?

Rather than colouring the results with our own biases, this article will be broken into two parts: Round one is the testing process, and getting feedback from users, and round two will be the summary of results and what we think should or could be done differently.

So see below for the testing process, the test itself, and how it all works. Hopefully you can learn a little more about the usability testing and how it can help you too.

Part One: The Testing Process

The testing process is very straight forward. There is a brief test at video.intuitionhq.com/email-face-off which should take around 3 minutes to complete – you can read about the testing process, or just head on over to take the test now.

You will be presented with a series of tasks (17 total in this example), and all you need to do is click where ever you think is the right place. For example, you might be asked with the following image, ‘Where do you need to click to sign up’:

I pick the big green button

This is obviously a very straight forward example, but if you imagine when you have a site or UI with important features that people can’t find, or aren’t in their expected place things might not be as usable as they should be.

Another example might be ‘Click where you’d expect to return to the home page’ with a grid to click on:

A grid for testing perceptions and reality

This grid can then be overlaid over a design to see if the perception and reality of the design are the same thing:

The overlayed grid for comparing ideas with reality

In this example, most users would probably click in the top right hand area, either aiming at the logo (which commonly links back to the home page) or the home tab. This is a common convention these days, and it generally pays to follow it.

Not following conventions means people have to relearn. Imagine someone swapped the position of the shift and delete keys – you would be frustrated that after learned the original location (the traditional location of the enter key) that someone changed things around. Consider that when creating your sites and contemplating usability.

Of course, every great site doesn’t have to follow conventions, but there should be a good reason for ignoring them. Conventions and expected behaviour generally do help improve usability.

The results:

At the end of the test, a nice heatmap is generated (for the test creator to see) showing where people clicked, and how long it took them (not shown here), so you can judge what is or isn’t working properly, as per the example below:

The final product - a heatmap with results

In this example, you can see 87% of people clicked the correct button, and a few random clicks as might be expected as this is a demo test page we like to show people, but all in all most people get the exact right place. Of course, if we’d asked people how to preview a test and they clicked publish instead, we might need to make some changes.

So, what next?

Head on over to video.intuitionhq.com/email-face-off and take the test. Help us figure out just which webmail service is the best, most usable among them. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments about the different services and testing process too.

We’ll be writing about the results shortly, and how we think these sites can improve, and what they’ve done right, so watch this space.

And if there are any other categories of sites you’d like us to see in a usability face off, be sure to let us know in the comments.

If you want to lose clients fast, acting without thinking is the way to go! By focusing on how you represent yourself towards the market in general, you can avoid a lot of things that could harm your business. By following these tips, you could instead build yourself a good reputation out there and take a huge step closer to freelance success!

Picture by Svilen Milev

You don’t have to always use Photoshop to style your images. Some cool effects can be achieved trough CSS, jQuery etc too and I strongly suggest you to continue reading to find out how to do it!

1. 

CSS3 Rounded Image With jQuery

Learn to wrap a span tag around the image element to achieve rounded images which will be displayed right in all modern browsers.

2.

Multiple Backgrounds and Borders with CSS 2.1

Learn how to use CSS 2.1 pseudo-elements to provide up to 3 background canvases, 2 fixed-size presentational images, and multiple complex borders for a single HTML element.

3. 

Quick Tip: Multiple Borders with Simple CSS

Quick screencast showing you how to achieve multiple borders with simple CSS that way adding more depth to your designs. Much simplier version of previous tutorial.

4. 

Multiple Borders on Dynamically Sized Elements with CSS2

Third version of Nicolas Gallagher showing you what to do if you don’t the size of element.

5. 

Have Fun w/ Borders – Beveled, Pressed, & More!

Learn how to achieve pressed effect with CSS and some simple border style tricks to get various effects.

6. 

Polaroids with CSS3

Learn how to use some awesome CSS2 and CSS3 to turn an otherwise unassuming list of images into a full-blown set of Polaroid pictures.

7. 

Perfect Full Page Background Image

Learn how to add background image with CSS that fills entire page with image, no white space, scales image as needed, does not cause scrollbars and much more.

8. 

CSS3 Box Shadow and Image Hover Effects

Explore a new way of adding drop shadow effects just by editing a style sheet.

9. 

Fancy Thumbnail Hover Effect w/ jQuery

Achieve neat flash-style effect with CSS and jQuery.

10. 

How To Create Simple CSS Image Rollover Effect

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to create simple CSS image rollover effect with basic HTML and CSS styling.

11. 

Floatutorial

Floatutorial takes you through the basics of floating elements such as images, drop caps, next and back buttons, image galleries, inline lists and multi-column layouts. Check out 4 tutorials dedicated to image floating.

12. 

Snazzy Hover Effects Using CSS

In this tutorial, you will be going over creating flexible advanced hover techniques using CSS2.1 properties.

13. 

Fast Rollovers Without

Preload

When using CSS image rollovers, two, three, or more images must be loaded (and often be preloaded for best results). Learn how to put all states into one image makes dynamic changes faster and requires no preload.

14. 

jQuery Rounded Corners

Lots of jQuery effects for rounded corners and much more patterns.

15. 

Easiest Tooltip and Image Preview Using jQuery

See 3 examples of using jQuery rollover preview script. This simple script can be applied for a variety of purposes.

16. 

Supersized – Full Screen Background/

Slideshow

jQuery Plugin

Superzided is a jQuery plugin that resizes images to fill browser while maintaining image dimension ratio and cycles Images/backgrounds via slideshow with transitions and preloading.

17. 

PNG Overlay

Have you ever run into the problem of creating a site with pictures given by the client, only to find later after they update their photography the original look and feel is not retained? This solution involves creating a transparent PNG overlay which can be used as a mask / frame around regular JPEG or GIF. This way, a typical CMS installation can be configured so users can upload photos without having to worry about using any graphics program to apply filters.

18. 

BeZoom

Lighweight

JQuery

Zoom Plugin

BeZoom is a simple and lightweight alternative for JQZoom. It’s lighter and it’s easier to use.

19. 

Using jQuery for Background Image Animations

Play with jQuery and change the position of the background image to create the type of effect you’re looking for. There’s a new article answering the “How do I handle active states?” – Handling Active State for jQuery Animated Backgrounds.

20. 

5 Ways to Spice up Your Images with CSS

Here are a few simple tricks to add some flavor to your typical bland images. Using Photoshop to style each image can be tedious and difficult to maintain in the long run. These following CSS techniques will help you ease that pain.

21. 

How To:

Resizeable

Background Image

Learn how to set up resizeable background image with CSS. You have 3 options to choose from.

22. 

Style Your Image Links

Letting users know that particular section of our website is meant to be clicked on is best achieved through mouse over effect. Those “clickable” sections certainly include content images. Image Link is a script that enables you to apply additional styling to your image links.

23. 

Multiple Background Images with CSS

At times, it makes more sense to use background images than to insert them directly into the page. And while each element – like your body tag – can hold only one background image, they can be applied to several elements.

24. 

Image Borders with CSS

Really easy tutorial showing you how to add solid border to images using CSS.

25. 

CSS Sprites without Using Background Images

Learn how to apply hover effect without lot of knowledge about CSS sprites.

Breadcrumbs, in the simplest form, are horizontally arranged text links separated by a greater than symbol (>). Using breadcrumbs on your website can be really beneficial. It provides a convenient way for users to navigate around the website and also allows users to establish their location on the website.

It provides an alternate way for users to navigate the website. For first-time visitors breadcrumbs can be a great way to entice them in exploring the website. Hence, it can be really effective in reducing the overall bounce rate of the website.

Different websites use different stylized breadcrumbs that blend in well with their site theme. Below is a showcase of websites with some of the best designed breadcrumbs.

1. Apple Store

The Apple Store has made use of breadcrumbs in a really creative way. The breadcrumbs are designed in the form of stylized buttons that fits in well with entire site’s theme.

2. The Glasgow Collective

The Glasgow Collective has made use of stylish colorful breadcrumbs shaped in the form of a hexagon.

3. Nestle

Nestle has used simple and neat breadcrumbs that blends in well with the theme of the website. The breadcrumbs are arranged in the form of horizontal text links separated by a greater than symbol (>).

4. Delicious

Delicious has presented their breadcrumb trail of keyword tags in a simple and interactive way. The ‘x’ button besides the keyword tags lets you delete items in the breadcrumb trail in order to help you find your bookmarks easily.

5. Crooked Tongues

Crooked Tongues has made use of the standard attribute-based breadcrumb trail with a right-pointing triangle replacing the classic greater than symbol (>).

6. Ideo

Ideo has presented the breadcrumb trail in a really innovative way. The breadcrumb trail consists of square shaped colorful buttons whose color becomes darker as the breadcrumb advances.

7. Mia & Maggie

This website too has made use of the classic breadcrumb trail in which the greater than symbol (>) is replaced by a forward slash (/).

8. guardian.co.uk

guardian.co.uk has made use of simple & colorful hexagon shaped breadcrumbs that matches pretty well the multi-colored theme of the website.

9. Coolspotters

Coolspotters uses simple button-like breadcrumb trail that matches well with the website template and also provides an easy way to navigate between the sub-categories of the website.

10. Yahoo! TV

Yahoo! has made use of interactive button-like breadcrumbs on their Yahoo! TV webpage. Clicking on the inverted triangle brings a drop-down menu displaying different categories of the website.

11. NASA

NASA has made use of the simple, classic breadcrumb trail consisting of horizontal text links separated by a greater than symbol (>). The color scheme of the breadcrumbs blends in well with the entire entire.

12. Design Collectors

The Design Collectors have designed simple and classic text-based breadcrumbs with color scheme that matches well the website’s template.

13. Bell

The Bell shop uses simple text-based breadcrumb trail in which the text links are separated by a right-pointing triangle.

14. Wufoo

Wufoo has made use of the simple text-based breadcrumbs in their own creative way. The breadcrumbs have been integrated with the site’s logo and the classic greater than symbol (>) have been replaced with a right-pointing arrow.

15. Girl Scouts

The Girl Scouts website have breadcrumbs that are well designed to provide an easy navigation around the website. The breadcrumbs displays various categories and sub-categories of the website. Breadcrumbs are used as a primary navigation on the Girl Scouts website.

16. Bridge55.com

Brige55.com uses the classic text-based breadcrumbs that indicates the user’s current location on the website as well as provides an easy way to go back and find similar products.

17. The Hillside Group

The Hillside Group uses breadcrumbs that are similar to the ones used in the Apple Store website. It has been designed to provide an easy way to navigate around the sub-categories of the website.

18. Wowhead

This website has made use of interactive breadcrumbs with drop-down menus that display the various categories, sub-categories and pages of the website providing a convenient, user-friendly navigation scheme.

19. Devlounge

Devlounge uses simple button-like breadcrumb trail that enables users to easily navigate around different categories of the web blog.

20. MarTique Designs

MarTique Desings uses the simple, classic text-based breadcrumbs in which the greater than symbol (>) is replaced by a forward slash (/).

21. TechRadar

This technology website uses the classic text-based breadcrumbs in which the greater than symbol (>) is replaced by a right-pointing triangle. The breadcrumbs indicate the user’s current location on the website as well as enables the user to easily navigate between the sub-categories of the website.

22. BP

This website too uses the classic text-based breadcrumb trail that enables users to easily navigate around the website. The color scheme of the breadcrumb blends in well with the entire website.

Today you can see a list of nine great examples of very usable, well designed websites from a wide range of industries/areas to give you an idea of what makes great, usable design. The more we like a site, the more we use it, and the better result we get for all concerned. Read on to see nine usable sites, and what makes them great.

1) Gmail.com

What is does: Gmail is a web based email service from Google, and it aims to be your primary inbox with a big feature set to boot.

Why it’s good: Many of us use it on a daily basis, but how often do you stop and think about how it works, and if it functions well? Not often?

This goes to show how good a job the Google folks are doing with Gmail. Email is a crucial service, and many of use couldn’t live without it. Gmail is constantly improving and adding new features, while keep a consistent UI that is really easy to understand.

The additions they include always make it easier to use, such as drag and drop attachments, or viewing most Microsoft Office documents inside of Gmail, and they don’t interfere with the user experience at all, and in fact make the whole service much more usable. What it does, it does extremely well, and makes the experience more enjoyable.

Think of all the people you know who aren’t the most computer literate, and then think of sites they use without needing to ask you for help. Gmail is right up there in my experience, and that’s why I think it’s a great, usable site.

2) RetailMeNot.com

What it does: RetailMeNot is a really cool website for sharing coupon codes for a whole range of different sites (from the same people as BugMeNot fame) so you can get discounts online no matter where you are buying from.

Why it’s good: As well as having a huge collection of coupon codes, they have also introduced lots of little useful features to make the site that much more usable, and provide a more enjoyable, easier experience.

People can rate the different codes to show which ones are or aren’t working, so you know which ones to try. People can submit their own codes, so it’s always got new codes on the site. If you want to copy the code, you can click to copy, or if you want to be taken directly to the site, it will try to store the code in a cookie (although this doesn’t work for all sites). It just makes the whole process so easy, and saves you money too – all while looking pretty good. What more can you ask for?

3) Audible.com

What it does: Audible is quite possibly the biggest repository of audiobooks in existence, and are the exclusive provider of audiobooks to Apple/iTunes. If they don’t have it the chances are it doesn’t exist.

Why it’s good: As well as having a fantastic collection of books, they have also worked very hard over the years to add new, useful features to the site, and create a better user experience for their users.

There are many examples of this: the bookmarking system of audible means that you can listen on your iPhone, shift over to your computer and pick up where you left off. They have over the air downloads, a good range of quality choices for users and support for more than 500 different devices. The search system on their site works really well, and the whole procedure from first searching for a book, until you’ve finished reading is really a seemless process, and something for other content providers to aspire to.

4) KiwiBank.co.nz

What it does: kiwibank is a New Zealand owned and run bank which offers all kinds of typical bank services – online banking, text and mobile banking, branch services, travel cards and the like. It’s pretty much a typical bank.

Why it’s good: There are a whole range of different banks out there, and the all offer very similar services, with similar rates. What sets kiwibank apart is the ease of use of the whole site (check out the online banking demo).

Content is very easy to find, navigation is well thought out, and although there is a huge amount of information available on the site, it’s so well organised that you never feel like the information is overwhelming you. This is a great example for how to manage content and navigation.

Add in all the methods they give you for banking (text banking, iPhone app, travel cards and more) and you have a winning site that other banks could learn from.

5) WebDevRefinery.com

What it does: Webdev Refinery is a forum for web developers, designers and other interested parties to get together, share ideas, get feedback, learn and improve and converse on design and development.

Why it’s good: Of course the community is a key part of any forum, and webdevrefinery seems to be doing well in that respect, but they’ve also gone the extra mile from a typical forum to make the whole system that much more functional, usable and enjoyable.

They make it really easy to monitor different posts, give different subscription levels for each topic, have a very simple direct messaging system, a really simple, easy to use input editor for creating and replying to topics/posts, and a nice head-up display for managing the whole affair. In a time where it looks like most forums were designed in the late ’90s, they have made a nice looking, easy to use forum with a nice community around it too.

6) YouTube.com

What it does: YouTube is the biggest video sharing site in the world, and is the number 3 ranked site overall (according to alexa at least). YouTube is to video as Google is to search.

Why it’s good: I would be the first to say, YouTube doesn’t have the most attractive design out there (I think Vimeo would have to take the cake on that front), but it is so functional, and the design works so well for what it does that it isn’t an issue.

More or less everyone I know can and does use YouTube on a regular basis. My own mother, without any help or advice, has hunted down a huge range of kids TV shows for my nephew to watch, played them full screen, high quality, and bookmarked them for future viewing. This goes to show just how usable and functional it is.

Add in a highly functional search system (hey, it’s Google after all), easy ratings and sharing systems, and ability to embed where ever you want to, and you have a winner.

7) TradeMe.co.nz

What it does: Trademe is the eBay of New Zealand, and one of the most popular sites in the country. It has a huge range of products up for auction, and has a very strong community around it as well, and hence is very successful

Why it’s good: Trademe has a very clear structure, and the way auctions are laid out is clear, consistent and easy to understand. The navigation structure is very easy to follow, and everything is neatly categorized making it that much easier to find. It’s easy to keep track of auctions that you are interested with a well organised watch list, and the design of each page stays consistent throughout the site.

Prices are all clearly laid out, so when you are buying something you’ll know exactly what you are paying, and you won’t have to swap across pages to see all of the most pertinent information about an auction such as delivery costs, sellers location, feedback rating, payment methods and more. It’s what eBay should be.

8) Dropbox.com

What it does: Dropbox is a backup system that allows you to sync your files online, and across many different computers automatically. You can also share files through public links, access files online, on your computer(s) and apps on several different platforms (iOS, Android etc.) – there are really a number of great features.

Why it’s good: Dropbox is a fantastic site for a number of different reasons, but the reason it really stands out is that it just works. Whether you are transferring files in the same room or from country to country, whether you are using mobile devices, Macs, PCs, whatever your usage scenario, it just works.

The fact in, it slips into your workflow so smoothly, you don’t even notice it’s there, and there are so many wonderful features that you don’t really think about until you need them, but they are always there. It’s like they read my mind, and put in all the great features before I needed them, and made it fantastically easy to use too.

Oh, and did I mention it looks great too?

9) GetHarvest.com

What it does: Harvest is a simple time tracking app with a bunch more features thrown in, such as invoicing, expense tracking, budget tracking and more. Pretty useful for freelancers and design companies.

Why it’s good: This is another of those ‘it just works’ kind of sites. It’s really powerful for when you need that power, but it’s really simple for when you just want to get things done. There are more features hidden inside it than you could shake a stick at, and a pretty interface for when you are working with it.

The key thing is that it takes up very little of your precious time, while keeping you on top of your time management, billing, budgeting, expenses and more – which makes life much easier for both you and your clients. Throw in widgets and mobile apps, and you have a winner.

Summary

This list isn’t a definitive list of the most usable or well designed sites out there, but just gives you a small number from a wide range of industries/areas to help inspire you, and to make you realise there really are a number of different ways to approach a project, and a number of different ways to make your site and design more usable.

If you give careful consideration to things such as navigation and menus, feature set, content layout, and come up with a consistent strategy and design for your websites, you will end up with a better site, no doubt about it. Usability testing (try IntuitionHQ.com) can help prove that the site and design are usable.

The more you think about it, the better it will be. The better it is, the more people will use and enjoy it, and I guess that’s the end game for all of us.

What do you think of this list? Are there any sites you really love or hate? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

Make a budget

Picture by Linusb4

Making a budget is crucial. You have to have plans and goals financially no matter what you do. This is sometimes underestimated, but you have to make one if you really want to succeed. With a budget you can see if you are on track or not, what you need to change, where you have big costs and so on. It’s a great way of keeping an overview of your business. Anyone can make a budget, it doesn’t take a degree in economy. All you need is to get an overview of all the money that come in and go out and put them into system.

Track your time

Picture by Nathan Sudds

To be able to make a living from freelancing you need to track the time spent on each project. If you bill too few hours, you won’t be able to earn enough to keep going. If you bill too much, well – then you can most likely say goodbye to your clients. Getting a time management application for this can be a very good idea, unless you are into doing it old-school with a pen and paper. Just pick whichever system that works for you, and make sure to also include time spent on research and other preparations for specific projects.

Set your hourly rates properly

Picture by Ivan Prole

Many sell their services too cheap trying to get into the market. This usually will lead you to failure within short time. To be able to set your hourly rates how they have to be, you must have a full overview of what everything costs for you and divide it into hours. Then you will be able to see what you have to make to get even. After this you will have to make a decision on how much you should have left. In many countries there are set average tables for what freelancers usually get paid in different niches, so you may want to check that out as well. To save you some of that work, check out the hourly rate calculator over at Freelanceswitch. CLICK HERE to visit it.

Make offers that are easy to understand

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When a client is getting an offer you should take some extra time while calculating it. Make sure to include everything and make your own copy of the offer to keep – with explanations to how you’ve calculated it. This way it can be easily altered if the clients wants something else included or if you need to have a look at it yourself afterwards. This way you do a very important part of the job beforehand. This will also help you when you are going to send out the bills.

Make offers that can be altered

Picture by Jakub Krechowicz

Make sure to include in your offers (at least the bigger time-consuming ones) that the price can be changed by up to a certain percent due to market changes or unexpected costs. The usual percentage to use seems to be around 10%. This way you will cover some extra work in case it turns out that something is a bit more time-consuming than you thought at first.

Bill your clients regularly

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To not lose track of how much clients owe you, you have to get set routines for billing. If possible you should have a specific date monthly to send out the bills, or have a routine of sending them out due to the agreement with your client. This way you will have a good sense of how much you have coming in and make sure it doesn’t take too long before you get paid. And while you’re at it – make a routine for how to send reminders to those who haven’t paid in time.

Invest in your business

Picture by Thiago Miqueias

A certain amount of what comes in should be spent on your business. This can be upgrading software or your own knowledge by taking a class or buying books/magazines. For most freelancers it’s very important to stay updated on the latest technology and what goes on in the market. Because of this you should have a post in your savings that is marked for that purpose.

Marketing

Picture by Will Thomas

Another thing you would want to spend some money on is the marketing of your business. This can be done be either by investing of your time to do certain things for yourself and/or paying someone else to do it. It can be the redesign of your website and portfolio or a simple thing as buying an ad through an advertisement system. With all the competition in the market it’s very unlikely that your products will sell themselves from day one.

Save

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I repeat this a lot in many of my articles, and it can’t be mentioned too many times. You have to put a savings post into your budget. No matter how well you earn – it won’t help you much in critical moments if you’ve spent everything. You will run into situations when you need to repair equipment or buy something new. You may also experience that a client doesn’t pay when he’s supposed to – or that a project takes more time than expected. Because of this, that buffer of savings can be very valuable.

Shop smart

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When it comes to office supplies, coffee, equipment + + , shopping smart can make a huge difference in your budget. Don’t get the cheapest of everything if it takes away quality. But there’s often someone selling that exact keyboard you’re getting a little bit cheaper, a cheaper insurance company and so on. What may seem like a tiny dollar here and there can quickly turn into hundreds and even thousands of dollars over a whole year.  You should also think through it before going out to eat every day. Buying something in bigger quantities can help a lot.

Insurance

Picture by Piotr Dorabiala

Make sure you have insured yourself, along with your equipment. This monthly/yearly fee can seem “unneccessary” if nothing happens, but when that moment comes when you need it – you will see that this is an investment in the safety of your future. Check out different insurance companies, listen to the advice you get and get offers from different ones before you decide. Thinking that nothing bad ever will happen to you is an unrealistic thought that can cost you a lot of money and maybe your business if not taken seriously.

Be prepared to adjust

Picture by Colin Brough

If you have a budget with set plans for the next months or year, there is always the chance that something will not go as expected. The good thing is that you have a budget that you can monitor occasionally to see the signs early on. Because of this you should aim to have the ability to adjust on short notice. Be prepared to work extra hours in some periods to make ends meet, and be prepared to put in extra hours during the end of deadlines.

We hope these tips were useful to you. Remember that there can be variations from country to country when it comes to laws and regulations. Still most of these tips should apply to most freelance workers out there and hopefully be helpful advice on your road to success!

Thank you for reading this article, we would highly appreciate your comments. Don’t forget to share this article if you found it to be an interesting read!

Logo-design is an art form, there’s no doubt about that. There are own websites, forums and communities dedicated to the logo creation process.
This article is for those who aren’t necessarily experts of logo design but want to learn a bit about the basics of the process. Maybe you’re a new freelancer or want to design a logo as part of a bigger project. Either way this article is for you.

A logo is supposed to be something that sticks to the minds of everyone your business is in contact with. It’s in many ways a part of your face outwards and should not be underrated in any way.
A logo can and should be used actively in your marketing.

First, let’s have a look at some common questions.

Picture by Svilen Milev

What is a logo ?

A logo is a graphic mark/emblem used to promote your company or brand towards the public. It can be a symbol only, a symbol combined with text or text written in a certain way (font, color etc). This leaves you with an extreme amount of creative freedom.

Where can and should I use my logo?

• Website
• Brochures
• Business cards
• Social media (Facebook, Twitter + +)
• Business signs and stickers
• Invoices
• Fax forms

Basically you can and should use your logo everywhere you represent your firm/brand. This means everywhere from online to car stickers and t-shirts + all kinds of print.

What software do I need?

Picture by Jeff Vergara

Technically Id say use vector software if you know any. This could be for instance Adobe Illustrator(quite expensive but very good) or Inkscape (also good, but free). If you are a huge fan of Photoshop you can also use vector shapes in there even though you don’t have the same versatility as you do in a full-blooded vector drawing software. And if you for some reason are unable to make it vector based, at least make sure to create the logo in a pretty big size to begin with, as rasterized/bitmap images don’t scale well the way vectors do.

Common Logo Mistakes

Many people seem to underestimate the power of a good logo. Because of this they sometimes end up with pretty bad ones that aren’t given the time needed for a good result. Here are some common mistakes that you should try to steer clear of

- using fonts that are “everywhere” else
- colors don’t fit at all together
- the logo is too busy (too much detail, color and so on)
- it has no personality
- it looks too much like another logo

My top tips:

Picture by Ivan Prole

1. Use Vector

This sounds so logical for some and is completely Greek for others. Kept short vectors can be resized as big as you’d ever want without quality loss, while those jpegs loose quality pretty quickly.

2. Don’t use more than a couple of colors and fonts

Unless you have a very good reason, try not to use too many colors. You want the logo to be simple and not too busy or tacky. Same goes for fonts. Two fonts can be really cool, but remember to keep it simple!

3. Make it easy to read/see

Picture by Kevin Lockheed

If your logo has text, make sure people can see what it says right away. If it has a drawing of something specific – make sure people can see that too. A logo with unreadable text accompanied by a horrible drawing is a huge turn off.

4. Spend time on it!

Don’t expect to make a complete logo in an hour. Make several different versions, try out various fonts and colors. Have others give you feedback and give it some days to grow on you. If you choose something too fast that you’ve spent too little time on you will have to go through the process again eventually. And the whole point of people recognizing your logo won’t be any point if you have to change it over and over.

5. DONT use photos

Picture by Colin Brough

Most people seem to understand by now that adding photos to a logo never is a good plan. One thing is that a photo can’t be vectorized (without tracing it somehow and then it wont be a photo anymore), another thing is that it’ll lead you into a lot of problems.

6. Versions

You always should make sure that your logo can look good on both dark and light backgrounds. Another thing you could do, is making a black and white version. It might come in handy.

7. Browse other logos to get inspiration

You should never get too stuck in what the current trends are but make a logo that you think you can be happy with for years to come.

8. LIKE your logo

Picture by Svilen Milev

If you don’t like the logo yourself, don’t expect others to like it. Choose fonts and colors you think look good and try to use these colors in other designs related to your business, like for example your website. Spend the extra hours required to get a result you like.

9. Don’t use too much detail

You’d want your logo to be easy to see and recognize, also at smaller sizes.

10. Get feedback

Share your logo suggestions with a few people who you know can give some valuable feedback. Maybe something that looks cool to you isn’t necessarily as good an idea as you think. One example can be shapes that can be seen differently, where you see it as something related to your business while it for other people look as something else. Just make sure to get some feedback. It can also confirm that you’re on the right track.

Picture by Ali Taylor

I hope these tips will help you on getting a great logo together for your business/product/website.

Finally, go have a look at our previous article 30 Best Written And Explained Logo Design for some of the best tutorials that can help you with the creative process of designing a logo.

Thanks for reading, and remember that we would love to hear your comments!