Creative block (the evil sister of writer's block and the unwanted daughter of unmotivation) hits us all at some point in our lives, and often in our daily routine. As designers, creative block can be a cancer to our work, spreading and spreading until our mind produces absolutely nothing at all, leaving us to bang our heads aimlessly at the keyboard or stare at the ceiling for several hours on end.

For a designer who is put under a time limit by a client, this time waster can be lethal, and doesn't just mean lack of inspiration and ideas, but also lack of money. So how then, can we get out of the dreaded creative block and stimulate our minds into fifth gear? Well different things work well for different people, and it is all about finding what is right for you and the way your mind works, but I am going to discuss a variety of tips and techniques that I find work well for me, so that you guys can try out their levels of success on yourselves.

Firstly, Stay Positive

To overcome a mental block we must understand what causes it. Mind blocks occur when we know that we have a task to do but there are external factors that are subconsciously 'blocking' us from focusing on these tasks. How many times have you sat there at the desk thinking 'come on think, think!' when all you can really think about is the fact that you can't actually think! Well the first step to overcome this is to stay positive, and tell yourself 'I can do this'. This helps you subconsciously to believe that your goal is possible, and the following steps will help you clear your mind of any distracting external factors once this is achieved. Additionally, surround yourself with positivity. Depending on where we work; at home, in the office or somewhere completely different; we are surrounded by different types of people. Try as much as you can to stay away from negativity around the workplace. If you know those around you often moan or complain, try and shut yourself off for a bit so you can wholly concentrate on yourself. On the other hand, if you know people who are usually positive, or know how to motivate you, then stop for small chats with these people to take a break from your work; once you come back to your screen you will be fresh-minded and positive.

Remain Focused

1. Drink lots of water and eat lots of fruit. I know 'eat healthily' seems to be the answer to everything these days, but it honestly does help to keep a fresh, creative mind. GQ says that 'A University of Alabama trial fed rats 200mg of vitamin C twice a day and found that it almost stopped the secretion of stress hormones in the toothy little blighters. An OJ a day might just keep the worries at bay.' They also suggest that coffee, although providing a quick boost in our energy levels can 'raise the pulse and blood pressure, and studies show it may also increase blood cholesterol', therefore increasing stress levels.

2. Eat plenty of carbs. GQ says 'Complex carbohydrates help boost the body's production of serotonin, the brain's feel-good chemical. According to wellscotland.info, "the carbs present in one baked potato are enough to relieve the anxiety of a stressful day". Alternative feel-good carbs include bread, pasta and rice.'

3. Be realistic and honest with your clients. 'Conflict between what we want to say, and what we actually feel we can say, causes great stress. The solution is to do what most people are reluctant to do - be honest'. If you feel as if you have set an unrealistic deadline for yourself, be honest with the client rather than stressing and doing a poor job.

4. Have sex. Obviously not right in the middle of a project, but GQ says that 'An orgasm releases beta-endorphins in the brain, leading to feelings of relaxation and well-being. Alternatively, just have a cuddle, or even hold hands. A study from the University of North Carolina showed that any form of loving contact significantly lowered blood pressure and heart rate in stressful situations.' For those stressful nights before a big deadline then, sex can be the solution to calm yourself down for a peaceful night's sleep.

5. Get a dog. For those who work at home, they find it can get a bit lonely at times. GQ says that owning a pet and interacting with animals 'shows improvement in a number of areas, including lowering levels of anxiety. Dogs also provide unconditional love and stave off loneliness.'

6. Finally, get financial advice. For those working freelance there are often stressful periods where little work is coming in and money is an issue. GQ says 'Stress is often linked to financial worries, which are almost always solvable. Get a financial planner to help you through any minefields - it's what they do.'

Listen to Music

Although I discussed earlier external factors such as the TV being distracting, music can actually help to boost creativity as I'm sure you are aware. Studies on children have shown that when Mozart is played in the classroom, productivity is considerably increased. It is no different for designers, where music can help to stimulate creativity. Mozart may not be to everyone's taste, but I find that instrumental music or songs with little words such as drum and bass certainly help put me in the creative mood. For those who work in the office this may not be the easiest technique, but some offices are even implementing playing music into their daily routine to create a relaxed atmosphere and boost productivity.

Take a Break

On those occasions where you are just sat in front of your computer screen for hours on end praying for an idea or burst of creativity to come to you, I find there is only one solution: take a break. Get up and go somewhere with a completely different change of scenery. Take the dog for a walk, pick the kids up for school, do the washing, do anything that takes your mind off your work. Studies show that activities that require both mind and body to complete them use up more of the brain, allowing us to take our mind off of the project for a while. I often find that when I later come back to the desk with a fresh mind a new idea hits me, or I even come up with an idea during the activity I am doing to take a break. It may seem time wasting to be away from the desk, but it saves more time than sitting in front of your computer doing nothing and staring aimlessly at the screen.

Exercise

An experiment led by researchers at National Cheng Kung University showed that by allowing a mouse to run as much as it likes stimulates it's brain power. By pushing it further and making it run a little more than it usually would, its thinking improved even more. It is the same for us; when we are feeling a little brain dead, a short period at the gym or going for a run can stimulate those brain cells back into action. When you know you have a long period of work or a large project ahead of you, assign yourself breaks for exercise throughout the day.

Be Confident in Yourself

Sometimes designers have so much work on they forget to take a step back and be proud of their work. This can lead us to rush through things and be sloppy with our work, which obviously will lead in one unhappy client. It is important to be confident in ourselves in order to remain positive as I mentioned earlier. After each piece stand back and acknowledge what you have achieved in that project. Look at the feedback in a positive way, taking pride in compliments and seeing negative comments as a challenge to work on in your next project. Remember no-one is perfect and not everyone will always like your work. One of the most important parts of being a designer is realising that there will always be someone that dislikes your work.

Acknowledge the Inspiration Around You

Undoubtedly as a designer and an artist, much of our creativity comes externally from pieces and people that inspire us. Inspiration is all around us, whether it is pieces on the net, people in our daily lives, those we idolize, or even nature itself, everyone is inspired by someone or something. I can't tell you what you are inspired by as only you can know that, but I can tell you how important it is to constantly surround yourself with this inspiration to keep your creativity and productivity levels high. However, keep in mind my post on maintaining originality when being inspired by other artists!

Mindmap

I find that no matter what I'm doing, whether it's coming up with an idea for a new project, writing an essay, or even writing this post, I create a mind map to get my ideas down on paper. I find mind mapping is a great way to quickly jot down ideas so I don't forget them. It also allows us to create the 'snowball effect' where one idea leads to another and so forth, creating a constant flow of creative ideas.

Keep a Notepad on You at all Times

On occasion all the above techniques can be tried and there is still no way of getting rid of your creative block because there is simply just far too much on your mind. So how can we help this? Well, make use of the times that we are feeling creative. Take a notepad and pen everywhere you go so if an idea or concept suddenly hits you during your daily routine you can jot it down and use it at a later date when you are feeling less creative. I find that I am most creative just before I go to sleep because I am getting into dream mode and the imagination is running wild. I therefore keep a pad and pen by my bed so I can jot down any crazy late night ideas I have and look at them in the morning. Additionally this helps if you wake up in the middle of the night with a great concept that came to you in a dream - jot it down before you fall back asleep and forget it!

So those are my tips that I find help me get rid of my creative block. I hope some of them can help you release your creativity as they do for me, but at the end of the day only you can truly know what works well for you and the way your mind works. I believe everyone has creativity within them, some just have bigger urges to express it than others, and overcoming creative block is all about finding a way to release it. Take note of these tips and see if any work really well for you, I would be interested to know if any do or if you have any additional tips to share with everyone below!

You can also add me on Twitter to be notified of my future posts!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, theromb [1] & jumpingsack [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Whether designing for a client or simply just for artistic purposes, it is always important to maintain originality in your design. Why? Because originality means that you as an artist stand out as an individual. This means you are offering a distinct service that others are not providing, therefore putting you a step ahead of the competition in the eyes of potential clients. If you as a designer merely reproduce or imitate work that is already out there, then you are not proving that you are any better than the artists that created them and are therefore bringing nothing outstanding or spectacular to the client. More importantly, by implementing a sense of originality throughout your designs you are creating pieces that express your individuality and inspire others, which are essentially the primary functions of art. So now that we have established why is it important to create originality in design, we need to determine how it can be created, in order to make you as the designer stand out from the crowd and get noticed. The following three essential tips to achieving originality will show you just that.

Tip One - Avoid Design Clichés!

It goes without saying that the most important thing to do to achieve originality is to avoid imitating clichés and design trends in your work. However, this is easier said than done when the internet is crammed full of design tutorials and inspiration posts that suggest we should base our work on pieces already created. Although these types of posts are essential for our growth and development as a designer, and of course inspiration is essential for any artist, it is important to ensure that whilst we are being inspired by other pieces, we are interpreting and developing them into our own style, rather than merely imitating them. To do this, we must steer clear of particular design trends that have been reproduced continuously across the net, and attempt to create new trends ourselves. After all, even the most reproduced and worn out design trends had to start out as original designs at some point. For example, take the Avatar franchise that started out as original designs and have now been imitated and reproduced by thousands of today’s designers. So what are the most common design clichés and how can we avoid them? Well if we see it on the net, then it’s been done, and admittedly I am guilty of some of the following clichés, but it is important to distinguish whether your work is for experimental uses or for the purpose of creating an original design. Here is a list of just a few of the most overused design trends seen today:

Floral and Swirly Brushes

All too often do I see pieces of art lazily finished off and vamped up with free brushes found across the net. The most common being the dreaded floral and swirly brushes! Admittedly these can achieve nice effects, and can instantly add that extra something to your artwork, but it is ridiculously overdone! These brushes are free to download and available for anyone to use, and should only really be used when experimenting, in order to save time - but not when creating original pieces of design!

Eye Photo Manipulations

In ‘photo manipulation’ or ‘photo montage’ designs, several themes and symbols are frequently repeated across the net. One of which is the eye manipulation, again the effect achieved can be beautiful, but whether it’s a hand crawling out of the eye lid or flames, moons or water for pupils - it’s all been done!

Mystical and Futuristic Female Characters

Another overused design in photo manipulation is the use of mystical female (and sometimes male) characters. They are often placed in the design with no purpose other than being aesthetically pleasing, and serve no contribution to the overall message of the design. Obviously sometimes it is important to have human characters in your art to express certain emotions or create a connectivity with the viewer, but please ensure they serve a purpose rather than just being there for the sake of a focal point of the design!

Splashing/Fragmented Skin Manipulations

The third photo manipulation cliché seemed very popular throughout 2009 and I am constantly still seeing it across tutorials and pieces of design. This is the distortion of the skin with a splash/fragment effect where the skin looks like it is breaking apart. Visually stunning when it was first achieved, but again, constantly overdone.

Grunge Textures

The use of grunge textures is something that has been used for years now, and sometimes it can be used in innovative ways to achieve great effects. However, all too often I see it being used as a heavy, dark overlay to cover up the unprofessionalism of the work underneath it.

Background Gradients

Similar to overused brushes and textures, gradients are often overused as backgrounds for designs when the artist cannot think of anything else to put there. Photoshop gradients have many functional uses, beyond the aesthetic use, and should generally be avoided to cover space in designs.

In Web Design:

Similar to the clichés found across illustrations and photo manipulations, there are many overused trends that can be seen everywhere across the net in the form of web design.

Drop Shadows

Drop shadows are used in all sorts of areas of design to create a three-dimensional effect and make pieces ‘pop’. However, there are far more innovative ways to achieve this effect, as drop shadows often look amateur and lazy.

Rounded Corners

Rounded corners on boxes in websites are often used to create a ‘soft’, ‘friendly’ feel, but again it is way overdone and can sometimes look amateur.

Glossy Buttons

Glossy Buttons are famously connected with the apple merchandise, and instantly give an elegant, professional feel to a website. However, they have been imitated so much by websites that they now offer nothing creative and original, and even make the website seem cliché and boring.

This list is just a few of the hundreds of overused trends that can be seen across designer’s work. Sometimes they can be recycled to create new, innovative designs, but the general rule of thumb is to stay well clear of these clichés if you want to stand out from the crowd in the design industry. Check out the following design cliché parody by the guys over at makemylogobiggercream.com!

Tip Two - Create Your Own Distinct Style

By definition, to be ‘original’, you must create something that is individual and unique to you as a designer. By creating a style that is instantly recognisable and connected to you, you are not only bringing a new area into graphic design, but you are making yourself recognisable as a product to the client. If they like your particular style and feel it would fit well with their campaign, they are going to choose you because the product you are offering is unique and they will not find that style anywhere else. If you are merely repeating styles and techniques used by top designers, then you are offering no more than the other hundreds of designers that are trying to do the same. Some styles may not be a huge success at first, but it is important to have a style connected to your name - proof of this success can be seen everywhere in art. For example, once you are familiar with the work of Salvador Dali, a piece of his work that you haven’t seen before is easily recognisable as belonging to him. It is exactly the same concept in graphic design, and many of the top designers have a distinct design style to offer. Here are my personal favourite top three successful designers with distinct styles:

Alberto Seveso

Alberto is my personal favourite example of how an artist can create a distinct style. His beautiful skin manipulations in his portraits and illustrations are both visually stunning and sexually suggestive, creating a bold design statement across his works. His use of colourful vectors against monotonic portraits has become so distinct that the style has been coined as ‘sperm shaping’. It is this style and technique that has lead to Alberto’s success, where he has worked on several magazine covers and been noticed by companies such as Nikon who have wanted him to transfer his style onto their campaigns. View more of his designs on his Flickr or Behance.

Christopher Haines

Christopher Haines is a young designer from Australia who’s blend between 3D modeling and photo manipulation is second to none. It is through this beautiful blend of mediums that Chris has created some truly outstanding works that have set him apart from the rest, allowing him to be the king of his own style. He is proof that it is possible to have your own style whilst still being versatile, as his work covers several areas of design. Here are just a few of his beautiful pieces, you can view more on his Behance.

Jerico Santander

I have included Jerico here because he is a good example of the correct way to be influenced by another artist’s style. You can see from his works below that he is highly influenced by the works of Salvador Dali, but at the same time he has transferred Dali into a new medium, whilst incorporating his own thoughts and style into the pieces. His use of fluidity in textures and his abstract take on portraits show characteristics and origins of Dali’s style, but develop rather than imitate it. More of his works can be seen via Behance

From all three of the above designers, it is clear how they have achieved a distinct style and made it unique to them. However, when creating your own individual style, it is important that you do not limit yourself to one particular area of design. Practice ways in which you can transfer your style to other areas of design, such as illustration, 3D, photo manipulation, typography and web design. Whilst it is good to present yourself as a unique product, it is also important to display a diverse range of works to prove to your client that you are versatile. Originality and success is finding the balance between your own style and a variety of works that display this. You can only achieve a style you are comfortable with by experimenting, which brings us on to tip three.

Tip Three - Experiment!

Tutorials are a big part of the graphic design world. They can be found on pretty much any graphic design blog, and new ones are continuously being produced. In fact, the majority of the skills I have learnt as a designer have developed from tutorials I have read on the net. However, once these basic skills have been learnt it is important to try and break free from producing effects presented in tuts. By creating works based on tutorials we are merely imitating a popular style that has gained enough attention to be taught to designers. So how can we achieve effects that are original and therefore create this unique style that I have been talking about? By experimenting. So often when I am scouring the net, I come across the work of the designer that instantly makes me say ‘wow’, as it is something that I have not seen before. This leads me to wonder how they achieved these effects, and the answer is through experimenting. By experimenting with our work we can achieve great effects and develop them into our own personal style. But we have all at some point sat at Photoshop attempting to experiment with the features and ending up with something looking like it’s been created by an infant. So how can we experiment correctly and use it to our advantage? Well this brings me back to those ‘wow’ factor pieces of unique work that we often come across. When you come across an interesting effect from another designer, try and achieve this yourself without the use of any tutorials. Now I know this idea of copying another artist’s work goes against everything this article stands for, but remember it is for experimental purposes rather than publication. By playing around with Photoshop and attempting to achieve other artist’s effects, we can then develop this into our own style, and learn how to achieve a unique effect of our own.

A further use of experimenting is to combine the techniques that you have already learnt from tutorials and various sources and experiment to achieve something new. When doing this, try and break from typical conventions of graphic design. More and more often we are seeing pieces that incorporate techniques from more than one area of design, for example my previous reference to Chris Haines’s blend of 3D and photo manipulation. This is being taken further on all levels, with illustration, typography and even sketches being incorporated into artwork. For example take a look at these Clubmaster ads for Ray Bans that recycle an 80’s retro feel by collaborating several different techniques into one.

All of these stunning effects were achieved through the artist’s experimentation, and can be developed further into endless possibilities. At times as a designer we lack inspiration and it feels as if every theme and area of design has been covered by other artists. However, there is always room for development and expansion. Art has been around since the beginning of time in several different forms, and will never cease to stop growing, as long as individuals continue to bring originality and unique perspectives to the field.

Conclusion

I hope that my 3 tips have helped inspire your own originality in your designs. I think the main importance is to impart a part of yourself, as no two people are the same, and if this can be translated into design then you will have achieved your own style. This can be difficult when working for a client who will obviously have set ideas about what they want you to express, but when creating pieces for the sake of art, never be constrained by the conventions and trends of the design world. Always try and manipulate your own style out of your work, and most of all be happy with what you have created and the message it portrays. If you are not happy with your art yourself, then it will be even harder for anyone else to be.

Let me know your thoughts on how you ensure your pieces are original, and follow me on twitter, or view more posts on design and style on my new blog!

Inspiration comes in many forms and we see inspirational art everywhere we go in our daily lives. For a graphic designer, the primary medium for this inspiration is of course on the internet, and it is on the blogs we visit daily that popular digital art is often featured for us to be inspired from (such as Media Militia’s ‘Get Inspired’ posts). Several graphic design blogs also feature interview posts, where the most successful artists of our time are questioned along with their featured works. However, it is often forgotten that we can be inspired by the works of other members of the graphic design community similar to ourselves; it is not as often that we see the stories behind aspiring artists, rather than established graphic designers. It is for this reason that I will be creating a series of interview posts that will question designers of all abilities in the community; allowing you to share your tips, inspirations, your own artwork and your own journeys. Today’s post features Anthony Hibbert, a professional designer and illustrator from England. He has kindly answered several of my questions to allow you to see the process behind his artwork.

Featured Work! - ‘Doorway to Success’

My personal favourite piece of Anthony’s work is this school-themed illustration, which was originally created as a supplement cover. I feel this piece represents Hibbert’s body of work as a whole - his collaboration of illustration, doodles, stock imagery and textures can be seen across many other works he has created. In particular, the use of grunge-like, crinkled paper textures are often used in innovative ways in Anthony’s art, and the use of stick-men characters has become almost a trademark of his work. Click the image to be taken to the work’s Behance page and let Anthony know your own thoughts on it! Hello Anthony! Thanks for taking the time out to answer questions for the rest of the design community, could you start off by telling us how you initially got started in the graphic design field?

I did a degree in Design & Communication. It was a pretty open course where I managed to experiment with whatever I was interested in the time. Looking back it was a bit Mickey Mouse but I got enough out of it despite almost being thrown off the course twice.

In addition to your degree, were some of your skills self-taught?

I tend to teach my self through trial and error. I used Photoshop for weeks and weeks before I really knew what I was doing. I think it's best to make your own mistakes on the way to creating a look or style. Following tutorials can sometimes be insightful but often all they do is show you how to recreate a particular image that is already out of fashion.

Recently I've been looking at VideoCo-Pilot.net and greyscalegorilla.com to learn more about After-Effects and animation. As it's such a vast field you just have to absorb as much as possible

Is there a particular area of graphic design that you feel most comfortable in? Do you plan on extending your skills to any additional fields in the future?

I'm interested in too many things: I started professionally in print but did as much digital work as possible, often learning software (like flash) during a brief. A bit scary when you're winging it but sometimes the only way to get the job. In recent years I was a full-time digital designer working on websites, screensavers, flash games, banners etc. I've also spent alot of spare time on illustration based work (Editorial, educational etc). I've dabbled with bits of animation alot of the years and I'm spending alot of time pushing myself in After-Effects.

You have a vast portfolio showing excellent talent, but is there a piece in particular that you would claim as your favourite?

Recently I've been proud of a postcard set I did inspired by H.P Lovecraft and tourist photographs, titled Holidaying Horrors: HP Lovecraft Influence:

Anthony’s Process:

Anthony’s final products:

If you could describe ‘the purpose of art’ in one sentence, what would it be?

I’m not sure what Art is but if I can be a little creative everyday I tend to sleep better.

Who would you say is your biggest inspiration?

I tend to be inspired by creative people from any and all fields. It doesn't matter whether it's still image, moving image or music based it's always the idea and how it's expressed that interests me. I'm an avid fan of Dave Mckean, Terry Gilliam, The Beatles, Radiohead, David Lynch, Super Furry Animals, Bob Staake... The list goes on and on.

Can you take us through what you consider a ‘normal process’ when embarking on a new piece of work?

It's different every-time. Sometimes I'll just know in a instant what I want to do. Sometimes I just have to do something, anything until it looks finished. Sometimes the initial idea seems too easy and I'll waste hours to justify the initial and simple response. It's never the same and I have the back ache to show for it. If I do storyboards or sketches I usually end up following them pretty closely, at least for the composition. I'll usually find that I'll add details as I go that I'd not thought of previously.

Sometimes I'll just start with a blank page with nothing in mind though this can be difficult without a well stocked library of fresh photography, drawings and textures. I try to source new stuff myself as often as possible.

Case Study! - ‘Prison’

Here we can see the process Anthony went through in order to achieve his stick-men inspired piece set in a prison cell.

Initial Sketches:

Illustration Process:

Final Product:

Many members of the community work hard to get their works noticed, how do you promote your own works?

I have a website but haven't really promoted it much recently. At the moment I send targeted emails to individuals, and I also have Flickr and Behance accounts that are great for receiving constructive criticism from other members of the graphic design community.

Where do you see your relationship with graphic design in 5 years time?

I'd like to have produced a short film of illustration that I'm proud of and be a little more sure of myself. And hopefully supporting myself as a freelancer (As I am currently).

You’ve already talked about music being a big inspiration to you, are there any songs in particular, or any other mediums that help get those creative juices flowing?

I listen to alot of podcasts and watch alot of movies on BBC iPlayer. Podcast wise, I don't listen to much that's related to Art & Design. I try to find as much good comedy as I possibly can like the following. Laughing when you have a ridiculous deadline to deal with is important!:

• The Adam & Joe Podcast

• The Ricky Gervais show

• Radio Spirit world

The VFX show is a fantastic show about visual effects. People working in the field discuss new and classic movies from a visual point of view.

I also listen to alot of original movie soundtracks - Clint Mansell (The Fountain, Moon) is fantastic. I have eclectic tastes. At the moment my songs include 'Depth charge Ethel' by Grinderman, 'Father Lucifer' by Tori Amos and 'Ohio Heat' by Super Furry Animals.

Ohio Heat - Super Furry Animals:

If Photoshop was a deserted island and you could only take one PS tool with you, which would it be and why?

The transform tool. I guess distorting imagery is where all the fun is in Photoshop. Retouching and colour correcting is important but you can't beat warping texture onto a drawing of tentacle for that warm feeling of a job well done!

Finally, do you have any advice or quick tips to share with other members of the design community?

Learn as many keyboard shortcuts as you can and stay off the beer!

If you would like to see more of Anthony’s work, head over to his Flickr and Behance pages, or visit his blogspot!

For your chance to be the next featured viewer, or if you have any questions that you want to be seen asked, follow me on twitter or my new blog!

Are you sick of your type looking plain and boring? Many OpenType fonts have alternate characters built into them that can transform your type into a beautiful piece of art. By using these alternate characters you can add things like flourishes and flair to your type with ease. Some type faces have alternate characters that can help out with legibility at smaller sizes. Even some handwritten fonts have alternate characters to change the style of a characters to make it seem more handwritten. In this article we will take a deep dive into using alternate characters.

How do you tell what fonts have alternates? Well most likely the fonts you are downloading from free font sites like DAFont.com will not have alternates. You have to pay money for a good font, where the designer of the font put in extra characters into the font family. At the end of this article, I have listed some of the most amazing fonts that have alternates.

Photoshop enables endless options for image creation, an invaluable tool for designers and digital artists. A great way to create a stylish natural look in website and print design, and in digital painting, is to use natural brushes. There are loads of natural brushes available from fellow designers on Deviant Art and across the Internet; many are free to download and use as long as the designer is credited and linked to. This post brings together 24 of the best natural brushes divided thematically, perfect resources for introducing the flourish of natural elements to your digital design work.

You have definitely seen Demen1’s designs scattered across design blogs, t-shirts and posters. There is no missing his unique design style and highly detailed typography. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with my long time friend Steve Goodin to interview him on life, design, and what sets him apart. First off, thank you Steve for taking the the time to participate in this interview. Can you please tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Steve Goodin aka DEMEN1. I am 29 years old and currently live in Sacramento, California USA. I am currently working in the Creative department as a Motion Graphics Designer for a new media agency here in Sacramento known as Wirestone. I have been working in the Motion Graphics field for about four years now and I am constantly learning something new and I feel very blessed to be able to do the work I do.

What does design mean to you?

To me Design is a way for me to truly express myself, it is a real escape, I feel the process of design just swallow me up into a world where nothing matters but the work. Everything around me becomes a blur and I feel my own creativity taking hold, controlling my every move. Everything is fluid, movements feel more deliberate than they have ever felt. It is such a liberating feeling, I guess you could say design is my schizophrenic alter ego.

What design applications do you use?

The applications I mostly use at the moment are Cinema 4D, Sometimes Adobe After Effects and of course Adobe Photoshop. I started using Cinema 4D because it is the primary 3D software the creative team uses for our motion projects at work. Not only is it very easy to use, it also integrates seamlessly with After Effects. So after working with Cinema 4D for motion design, I started using it to render 3D elements for my print work. As for Photoshop, its the only raster editor i've ever worked with.

What tricks or secrets do you have that you don’t want people to know?

If I told you then they wouldn't be my secrets anymore.

You put a lot of time into your designs. How do you know when too much is too much?

I know when I'm trying to add too much when whatever I'm trying to add or do just isn't feeling right, when the mood of the piece has changed, or if maybe the balance is being thrown off. I have noticed that its never easy for me to call it quits on any piece... I could tweak a piece forever and still fell it needs something else. I guess deadline would sway my opinion on the matter as well. If I am up against a shorter deadline then my time for fine tuning a document that has 1,000 + layers rapidly decreases.

What was the most embarrassing moment you had with a client or design?

I think the most embarrassing moment was when you and I designed (Well you designed it) one of our flyers for an Annihilation Productions party, we got the prints from PsPrint.com and and found there was a misspelling, the prints all had "Febuary" on them...

How did you get into graphic design?

Well for as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be "An Artist" or at least do something creative. I've grown up around really talented musicians, illustrators and graffiti writers, and I always felt this yearning to stand out, to express my individuality like they could. and for me design is that medium. it gives me what I need to express my creativity and carve something out of this life that is truly my own. My first exposure to digital art came when you (Jeya One) and I took a 3D Studio Max class at a community college in Reno, NV. That was when I really started to understand the possibilities of design and digital art.

Lately you have been doing a lot of motion graphics. How did you get into that?

I got into doing motion graphics work while working at a cable access television station. I was an editor and most of the shows i would work on needed animated opening titles created. So naturally i had to jump into Adobe After Effects with both feet and learn everything I could. Now I currently work for a new media agency in Sacramento, California in the Creative Department as a Motion Graphics Artist.

What version of Photoshop did you start at? Do you remember what was hard about learning it?

I believe I started using Adobe Photoshop at release 7 I think, at the time I had no idea what an alpha channel was or what the difference between a jpg and a gif, let alone what a psd or a pdf were... so, to me, it was all foreign and i was lost in the sea of technical jargon and the vast desert of file types. I was and will always be a little lost.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Some of my favorite artists are Daim, Giant One, Reyes, Sam Flores, Scott hansen, Joshua M. Smith (Hydro74). and sooo much more... There are so many people out there who are very talented, I hope to one day be half as creative and successful as they are.

Your a big Burning Man fan. How does that affect your design?

To me Burning Man is kind-of a different experience all together, its more of a cleansing of the mind and relaxing go where the wind takes you kind of approach to my life in general. While I'm there I really forget about everything that I have going on back here, work, art, bills, groceries, bank statements. everything gets filed away so its not cluttering up my mind therefore allowing me to take in all that the playa has to offer me.

On average, how long does it take you to complete a design?

I guess on average a piece can normally take me around a week. and that's pitch, conception, sketching, and then implementation.

Before you start a project, what things do you do to prep for it?

Whenever I start a piece, i usually take a few days gathering inspiration and doing research based on the mood I want to set and the theme I want to convey. After I feel I've got a nice foundation or an idea of how I want the piece to look, I start to create any 3D elements I need, then gather any stock imagery. Based on the quality or the balance of those stock images, the overall piece may change given the original preliminary comps I may have mocked up. After that the real fun starts, this is where the piece will evolve and transform into something I could like to look at.

What are your Top 5 forms of inspiration?

I'm not sure how to answer that, I mean, I can find inspiration anywhere. so I guess my top Five would have to be: In music, animation, fashion, architecture, and nature.

Outside of design, what are your other passions and hobbies?

Other than design, I grew up Skateboarding, and Snowboarding. I used to work at a ski resort a while ago so I used to love getting up everyday, riding until like 3 in the afternoon, then bumping chairs till 9. Some of the best times of my life. I like to think I rode a skateboard or a snowboard because at the time, I didn't draw or paint or play music, so it very much became my way of expressing myself creatively. I was never into playing any team sports so thats another reason I would ride, it was only me and the street, or snow, and I could pick my line as I rode alone. I didn't have to follow any "play-books" or gather into any "huddles".

If you could work with one artist, who would it be?

To me a chance to work with any talented artist or designer is an honor for me, I learn so much when I work with another creative. It's always exciting to be working in a collaborative atmosphere as ideas that I would have never thought of are brought to the table.

What other forms of art/design do you practice?

Well as I said, I grew up around very talented artists most of which were graffiti writers. I have always been intrigued by the rawness of it, and naturally, the rebellion of it all. Sneaking around in a train yard at night, or laying in bushes as cars passed so as to not be caught in their high beams just to hit that spot you've been eyeing all week. In some cases it was like planning a prison escape or a diamond heist, you always knew the plan if you needed to bolt. Never go back to the car!!!

How did being exposed to graffiti affect your design work?

Well I guess for me I was really drawn to graffiti because of the letters. I guess in a way it was the first time I was exposed to Typography. And today, Typography is usually one of the main design elements in my work so I suppose you could say that I have always been drawn to type and all the different forms of type.

If you were influenced by one artist who would it be?

For as long as I can remember, I have always really admired "gmunk" (http://www.gmunk.com/),(http://www.gmunk.tv/). I have always loved his approach on his own marketing. In my opinion, he is one of the forefathers of "Viral Marketing". Brilliant!

Where do you see yourself in 1 year, 5 years, 15 years?

I hope in 1, 5 or 15 years I'm still finding ways to stay creatively productive. I am blessed to have the career I have now. I want to continue to learn as much as I can and continue to work and create.

What tool do you have that every designer should have?

I think there are many different types of "tools" a designer may use, but I think one every designer should have is an open mind and a willingness to learn.

Thank you again for taking the time to be interviewed. Do you have any last words? How can people find you and check out your work?

So the past few years have been really amazing for me. And It's only going to get better, I have just recently learned I'm going to be a new daddy soon and I can't wait to meet my baby. I cant stop thinking about it like, WOW! I am going to be a dad! And you know my son or daughter will be surrounded by the arts in some form, and just knowing that makes me feel even more blessed. I hope my words made sense, and this wasn't too hard to read. It sucks having A.D.D... I would like to thank you for the opportunity. I am very honored and humbled. You can see my work on: Behance and Deviant Art

Removing a background from an image is a common task that every designer needs to do on an almost regular basis. There are so many ways that you can extract a subject from its background to end up with a transparent background. With all the different ways, there is really is no exact method that you should take every time. Depending on the background or complexity is how you should determine which method you should take. If you have the luxury of being the designer as well as the photographer, then you have complete control of the contrast between the subject and the background. Try to make the background as plain as possible with highly defined edges. This will make any of the methods below an easy process in removing the background. Most of the time you will be supplied an image or have to find one on a stock site. Unfortunately, if the background is pretty intricate, you will have more of a time consuming road ahead of you. You should assess your image and try to figure out which method will be the easiest and cleanest way possible for your design. Becoming a master at extraction is very useful in all design jobs. Go through the different options below and find the method that you like the best. More than likely you will find yourself using a mixture of multiple techniques to achieve a perfect extraction.

Generative art as defined by Philip Galanter is, “Any art practice where the artist creates a process, such as a set of natural language rules, a computer program, a machine, or other mechanism, which is then set to motion with some degree of autonomy contributing to or resulting in a complete work of art.”

I became a huge fan of generative art after I went to a presentation by Joshua Davis at Adobe Max. His presentation was on his new experimental work, titled "space". It was a real treat to see how Joshua pushes himself and his work to the next level. He is by far a master in this area. You can watch the presentation here.

After the workshop, I was really inspired to find as many resources as I could on creating generative art. Listed below are some programs that you can download, as well as some tutorials and of course, inspiration to get you started. For better understanding about art, enroll at Art Institute Washington DC.

I personally like the idea of generating art inside of Flash with some ActionScript. It is a lot more versatile and cleaner in my opinion. But who's to say you just have to use one program? Try them all out!

How many times have you said, "I wish Photoshop had..." or "Photoshop should be able to..."? I say those phrases almost every time I use Photoshop. I have been using Photoshop since its early days and as each new version comes out, they include some very neat and stunning features, but usually lack features that I hoped for. With Photoshop CS5 coming out soon (most likely in April 2010), I created a list of the top 10 most requested features that I believe would make Photoshop a more powerful and time saving tool. I have listed each of the requested features that I hope to be included in the next version. In some cases, I have even included workarounds; like utilizing 3rd party software or taking some extra steps to get to the desired outcome. So here they are:

1. Better Brush Panel & Viewer

Inside of Photoshop's current Brushes Panel, you have the ability to change the preview thumbnail to a large thumbnail, unfortunately the thumbnail isn't really large, it is a mere 53 x 53 preview. I wish we could be able to view the whole preview of the brush, that would save us countless hours! Most of us just experiment with the brush by painting in pixels and hoping it looks good. If it doesn't, then we undo and try a new one. With more and more digital artists downloading and collecting brushes, why is it such a pain to find that brush you downloaded recently? I would love to have the brush author be able to add tags or keywords to the brushes, which would allow you to easily search through your whole brush collection to find that perfect brush for your design. We all know that some brushes aren't that great of quality, so how about giving us the ability to rate our brushes as well? Features Wish List

• Ability to add keywords to brushes
• Rate your brushes
• Search your brush collection
• Organize and Categorize your brushes from multiple ABR files
• Quickly preview brushes at 100% scale.
• Increase the pixel size limit (Currently Brushes are limited to 2500 pixels)

2. Styles for Type

The idea here is that you should be able to define a style for your text. If you need to change anything, say the color and the size, you should be able to open up a styles area, make some changes and all of your layers that have the type style would also be changed to that style. Features Wish List

• Define and Edit Type Styles
• Preview all the Type Styles associated with the PSD
• Link Type Layers to Type Styles so you can edit them in one place and update all associated layers.

3. Selective Undo

This feature would be mind boggling yet very practical. Imagine that you could open up your History Panel and delete a section of 20 history states without changing any of your latest history states. Selective Undo allows you to do just that! Currently, you only have the option to revert back to a history state and lose all of your latest changes. At Adobe Max 2009, one of the Fireworks engineers tried to show this off, however, it didn't work that well. At least we know it is in Adobe's toolbox of tricks to come out in the future. Features Wish List

• Choose the state to eliminate without affecting any of the future history states.
• Make a selection around an area and be able to undo just in that selected area.

4. Better Swatches Panel

Just like the Brushes Panel, why do we only get a tiny preview of our swatches? Wouldnt it also be great, if you could click on a color and view colors that go with the color right in the swatches panel? I would love to have better integration with kuler.adobe.com and have keywords associated with the colors and color sets. There is a lot of improvement needed here. Features Wish List

• Larger thumbnail view
• Integration with kuler.adobe.com
• Ability to select a color and get all the colors that work well with that selected color
• Have multiple tabs of color swatches
• You should be able to add keywords and be able to search for colors

5. Auto Saving

This one baffles me that it hasn't been implemented yet. You have probably seen tweets lately that go something like this, "Photoshop just crashed! I just lost two hours of work!" Everyone has had this problem at one time or another. Yes, we all know that you should be saving your work, but when your really into a design, that is really the last thing on your mind. Lot's of software vendors have this feature in their software. Why not Photoshop? Features Wish List

• Auto Save PSD files.
• Ability to change how often it auto saves in minutes.
• Change the default auto save location.
• Give us the ability to turn on/off this feature.

6. Undo Keeps Current Layer Selected

This is the most annoying thing that was changed a few versions ago. Say your working on layer #1, and you go to layer #2, create something and then you undo what you just created. Photoshop will make layer #1 now the active layer. There should be an option in your preferences menu to disable this from happening. To this date I have no idea why Adobe would have changed the way it used to be. Features Wish List

• Go back to the old way. When I undo, keep the current layer selected!
• Have the option to turn on and off this feature in the preferences.

Update: It appears that only the Step Backward command has this annoying behavior. The Undo command still keeps the layer selected. But come on, most of us use Step Backward as our undo. Right? (Thanks Josh of Orkron Studios for pointing this out!)

7. Outer Stroke with Square Edges

How nice would this be? Currently when you stroke anything in Photoshop, it will stroke it with rounded edges. It looks allright, but it would be nice to have the option to make the edges square. Illustrator can do it, why not Photoshop? Features Wish List

• Add a Square Edges option in the Stroke dialog and in the Layer Styles
• Add dashed strokes that you can change the spacing
• Give us the ability to add multiple strokes without having to create new layers.

8. Keyboard Shortcut to Rotate Brush

Currently there are keyboard shortcuts to increase/decrease the size and the hardness of the currently selected brush, which is a huge time saver. But say you have a grunge brush selected and you want to rotate it, you have to open the brushes panel and change the angle, then brush, and then go back into your brushes panel and repeat. This is not practical at all. Features Wish List

• Have a default keyboard shortcut that you can rotate the brush in 1% increments left and right.

9. Improvements to Gradients

Let's face it the gradient tool and the editor is not very intuitive and is lacking features. It hasnt had a major overhaul in a long time. Illustrator CS4 just got a new interactive Gradient tool that makes creating gradients and working with them so much easier. Add the Illustrator Gradient Tool with the current Gradient Adjustment Layers and bingo...I would be happy! Features Wish List

• Integrate the Illustrator Interactive Gradient Tool into Photoshop
• Allow the Gradient Fill Adjustments Layer to use the new Interactive Gradient Tool
• Live editing of the gradient

10. Add Clarity Adjustment Layer

If you have used Adobe Camera Raw 4.1+ or Lightroom, you will have seen the Clarity slider. This is a great way to make your images look extremely better. It is pretty much a mid tone contrast enhancing setting. This is a must have adjustment layer that needs to be added inside of Photoshop. Features Wish List

• Add a new Adjustment Layer: Clarity!

Conclusion

So what can you do to make these features come to life? Check out the Adobe Feature Requests forum and post some of these features or even features you wish to see in future versions of Photoshop. John Nack of Adobe has posted a poll and is requesting feeback. Go give Adobe some feedback. Please leave a comment below on what you think are your top feature requests. I would love to know!