Comment With Care!

Commenting is an amazing resource. Many people use the internet as a ‘look but don’t touch’ source of entertainment and information. They don’t even realize the vast opportunities that commenting and forums provide. I myself will admit to having had this outlook for a very long time. It lasted until I actually began using these foreign notions of online communication. Once I began there was no going back.

Let me tell you about an experience that I had with comments on ColourLovers. I had just created a new palette and someone commented with a question about my profile picture. The question was in Chinese. I don’t speak Chinese. I  used the translation tools offered by Google and got to a point where I understood what was being asked quite clearly. I reverse translated my reply and as soon as I had sent it I realized, I was conversing with someone in Chinese! It was such a cool thought, that I could easily communicate with somebody who was across the world, using a language I had no clue how to speak, helping another creative with her interest and  being assisted in return! This wild world of actually (gasp) TALKING to other people on the internet isn’t as bad or as time consuming it’s made out to be.

One nuisance when it comes to these forms of communication, is people not respecting the recipient enough to think about what they’re saying. You get comments that say nothing but an emoticon on a forum that was asking for actual advice! This isn’t intrinsically a bad thing when responding to a request for positive or negative opinions with no need for further details, however; on a form thread that is wanting help finding an actual solution, it muddies up the comment line and makes it necessary to weed through the unusable content for the replies that carry weight.  It is generally a good thing to get as many comments as one can, and receiving comments that do nothing but sing your praises are nice, sure, but they don’t actually help with the subject at hand. The real point and purpose of comments and forums is to provide well thought out, honest feedback to the person or persons who posted the work. To help them with their work and to give them a better understanding of how it looks to the people who haven’t been a part of it’s creation. You may be surprised at how different things look to someone who doesn’t know the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of the thing.

Commenting is a useful option for the ‘more than casual’ internet user. Not to mention it’s fun! just try to make sure your reply is relevant to the situation, and don’t be afraid to ask people to give feedback. Most of the time the people who would comment are genuinely trying to help you out or get your thoughts on something.

Internet Desing Resources You’ll Come Back To

When I started as a designer, I spent almost all day on the internet looking for tutorials, photos, fonts and all other kinds of resources you can think of. These days, I still spend most of my time on the computer, but now I know where to go to find the best of what I need to fulfill any given challenges’ requirements. These are sites I go back to over and over again. They have been tested over time and have consistently come through for me. Some I use more than others. Some I refer back to so often I have to leave them pulled up while I work. All of them have made me wish I knew about them a long time ago.

Colour Lovers

I LOVE this site. It has so many options to help you find just the right colors or patterns to fit your need. You can search the colors for any hues that fit a keyword or browse for pallets that have been created by other color ‘Lovers’. You can also make your own pallets and keep them organized and accessible from any computer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuts+

This is a collection of sites specific to different design programs. They have great tutorials and inspiration highlights as well as video lectures by designers across the world. Each site goes in depth into the field of it’s focus. They also have articles just for beginners to teach something from the ground up for those who are just starting out or who need more work in some area.

 

 

 

 

 

Web Treats etc.

This site has the most amazing tileable patterns I have ever seen in one place. They come individually or in collections and are just beautiful. The site is part of a group of sites which I would also recommend, iconsEtc. and backgroundsetc. WebTreats also has premium files for sale,  all of which have an impeccable attention to detail and very high quality.

 

 

 

 

Brush King

This is a source of hi-res photoshop brushes in a multitude of styles and purposes. The selection is very good and varying. Some of the brushes require you to credit them when used so make sure you check the terms of use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stock Exchange

Totally free images covering the spectrum and often just what you need. It’s not quite as posh as some of the leading sources on the internet but it is free so it has that over them.

 

 

 

 

 

Search Free Fonts

Here you can find so many fonts that are completely free of restriction it makes the designing process easier.

 

 

 

 

 

Love Textures

A great source to find just the right texture. They’re kinda new so they’re still ‘adding to the library’ as it were, but the selection is already great and nicely organized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DeviantArt

When you’re looking for inspiration, critiques or the opinions of others in the field this is the place to go. It is a worldwide forum for sharing ideas and getting input on your designs.

 

 

 

 

 

Design Contest Forums

When you’re ready to try out those smashing new skills, go enter your work in a competition tailored to fit a paying client. Challenge yourself to make the best design that works for them and GET PAID!

 

 

 

 

 

 

W3schools

The most comprehensive overview of coding. With many different tutorial sets on a wide variety of scripts and languages.