New Year’s Resolutions for Illustration and Design

    New Year’s Resolutions for Illustration and Design

    on Dec 28th 2010 with 29 comments

    In the countdown to 2011 I’ve been thinking about the things I have achieved over the past year and the things I would like to achieve for the next. While I haven’t made a New Year’s Resolution for some time (let’s face it, they’re only made to be broken!), I’ve compiled a short list of creative themed resolutions with a view to a bigger, better and brighter creative output in the year to come.

    Blog More

    "Regular blogging/writing" is a resolution that’s easy to make, but hard to keep. You may have noticed that I’m forever writing about how I have to tend to my personal blog more, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one. One of the benefits to maintaining a blog is the traffic. Without regular updates a blog will quickly lose traffic and start to look abandoned. A well maintained blog will attract subscribers and link backs and, over time, attract clients. So while this is one of the hardest resolutions to keep, it’s also a really good one to make.

    Earn Some Pocket-money

    You’re never too old for Pocket-money! In freelance terms, Pocket-money is money that you’ve made on top of your income which should only go towards having fun! A few ways to earn some extra cash are…

    • Sell Prints: Online or by consignment
    • Run a Digital Storefront: Print on demand services such as Zazzle and deviantArt Prints Shop are popular choices

    Be Organized with Tax and Invoices

    If you’re a freelancer, keeping up with invoices, expenses and paperwork is a massive pain! Make 2011 easier by keeping a regular paperwork schedule. Set aside an hour or two a week for paperwork and you will save days of messing around later. This is a must on my resolution list as the only thing I hate more than paperwork is running around and freaking out.

    Illustration by Bucket’o'Thought

    Implement a File Naming Convention… That Works!

    If you’re like me, you will have files all over your computer that can only be found by remembering weird things such as, I saved the file as, "green_finished_14.ai" in the "stuff 4" folder within the "things to keep" folder on my desktop. 2011 is going to be my Year of the Naming Convention. I have lost way too many files due to bad naming. If anyone has a good way to name and organize files I would love to read about it in the comments!

    Carry Business Cards

    I’m ashamed to admit that more than a few times during 2010, I’ve run into potential clients and not had a business card to hand them. While a hand scrawled email address on the back of a coaster is unique, it’s not going to make you memorable for the right reasons. Even if you don’t have a business a small card with your name and contact details is surprisingly handy. If you want to make a resolution that’s easy to keep, this is the one!

    Learn a New Skill

    This year I started to learn a bit about CSS, next year I want to remember it. Learning a new skill is not limited to things that can help you in your creative life, other items on my (over ambitious) list are, learn a new language and take a dance class. All new skills feed into the creative process and can help you unwind after a day hard at work. A happy Creative is a productive Creative.

    Have an Eye Check

    Yes, this is a weird one. But I’m way overdue for an eye-check and I’m pretty sure I need a stronger pair of reading glasses. For our Australian readers, you can get a free eye check once a year, all you need to do is show the optometrist your Medicare card. Good eyesight is a must. If you suspect you may need glasses, go and get your eyes checked. Glasses are so much better than blurry designs and eye-strain headaches!

    Network – The Old Fashioned Way

    I’m guilty of spending way too much time behind the screen and not enough time "chatting" for real and I would like to encourage everyone to join me in some old fashioned networking in 2011. While "Social Networking" is a fast way to make a few quick contacts, people you meet in person can become life long contacts, valuable clients and great friends. Get out and meet the people in your neighborhood!

    Do You Have a New Years Resolution?

    Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions? If so, we would love to know about them. Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

     
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    By

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    Kate McInnes specializes in Communication Design and Digital Illustration. Based in Melbourne Australia, she is the Associate Editor of Vectortuts+ and one half of the creative duo McKelly. Find her on Twitter as @bittenbypixels and Blood Sweat Vector.  

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    • http://www.ulisesart.com Ulises Bolivar

      interesante design

    • http://www.chewedkandi.net Sharon Milne

      I tend not to set resolutions, but more goals. I’m a very target/goal orientated soul due to previous jobs, thankfully those mundane jobs have came into good use!

      I don’t want to curse my main goal of 2011 by saying it outloud and then failing miserably (I still suffer from lack of confidence in my work like any artist), but my other goals would be to be part of an art collective and produce enough cat art for a vector cat calendar for 2012 :D

      Apart from that, I’m aiming to redo my website/portfolio using wordpress and push my conceptual vector art more as I feel it’s a lot more natural to me :)

      Good luck in 2011 Kate and I hope you hit your goals for the year :)

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        WordPress is a great way to go. If you don’t have time to write for yourself, Indexhibit http://www.indexhibit.org/ is another great folio tool :)

    • John Clifford

      Love the naming convention resolution. Now if I could only convince my students . . .

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        I’m trying really hard to make one. I’ve just loaded up my desktop computer for the first time this year and all I can see is a mess of files. I think I may be off to a good start by Feb ;)

    • http://www.sonaliagrawal.com Sonali Agrawal

      I have definitely set a resolution for 2011 which involves the following:

      1. Create a Business Plan (seriously this time)
      2. Redesign my own website/portfolio
      3. Market my freelance web services diligently
      4. Learn a new skill (Ruby on Rails, most probably)
      5. Read different books

      That’s all I can think of right now!

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        Goodluck! Learning Ruby sounds like a challenge, but from what I have heard, is a really good thing to know :)

    • http://www.shorarmy.com Miri

      Oh those are good. My goals… same thing we do every year, Pinky…

      1. Blogging more: Last year’s mistake was trying to write a blog I didn’t care about. This year I will incorporate a blog into shortarmy.com and write about vikings and art to keep myself motivated.

      2. Earning money: Last year was about spending money and investing in my company. This is the year, though!

      3. Staying Organized: Last year’s resounding success was learning to keep updated spreadsheets and organized receipts. This year I’ll also learn to keep a datebook. If I stumble on a file naming convention that works, I’ll let you know.

      5. Self-promotion and Networking: Last year’s success came from designing business cards I actually like and carrying them everywhere. I also designed a sticker with my domain on the back. No one says no to a sticker. This year is going to be about participation. I want to contribute to the community totem, write a tutorial, submit shirt designs to Threadless, and be involved in more art-related local events.

      6. Improve skills – I picked up a lot of new skills last year. I started painting, machine knitting, vector illustrating, managing international production, and raising a new baby. This year, rather than learning something new, I’d like to get good at some of the skills I already have.

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        Yes, writing about things you don’t care for is really hard. Goodluck with the new format :)

    • Christopher Bailey

      Nice post!

      I have the same resolutions as the rest of you guys: Finish portfolio site, spend more time sketching, take more photos, learn Ruby on Rails, go to the gym, etc.

      Anyways, I usually organize my files into a series of folders.

      1. Main folder is called (Work) it is placed in a safe location and backed up using syncback to my secondary drive
      2. Inside of that I have folders named for the years – (2011)
      2. Inside of that are folders named for each client – (el cheapo)
      3. Inside of that I have folders for each project that I’ve named – (very aggravating poster)
      4. Inside of that I name the files – (client name_project name_file details or dimensions)

      This keeps me relatively organized. You just have to be faithful about keeping up with it.

      I’m definitely open to any other file naming suggestions though.

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        That system looks good. my computer is fairly new, so I think starting yearly folders is a good idea.

    • http://www.bsiw.us Michael King

      Integrate my blog, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts to save time and get more coverage.

    • http://www.designmatters.ws amh

      My super anal retentive naming convention….

      Main folder for the year is DMi 2010
      in there lives
      2010 Bank Statements (PDFs and QBO files. A must to stay organized)
      2010 Invoices (PDFs kept separate from individual jobs. Easier to locate. Numbered by Quickbooks)
      2010 Web (updates to my site)
      2010 Work

      In 2010 Work is a folder for each month 10.01 JANUARY, 10.02 FEBRUARY, etc.
      In each month are the projects
      10.01_001 Project name_AA (AA being the client initials)
      10.01_002, 003, 004 and so on. This lists them in order of opening the job. Now I can remember that the video came at the beginning of the month, and a book design at the end.

      Job specific docs are labeled “ESTIMATE 10.01_001 Project name_AA”

      The job names go into Quickbooks for easy tracking.

      In the project folder lives _ARCHIVE, DOCS, INPUT and GFX
      In GFX lives _ARCHIVE and OUTPUT

      Other folders that are job specific, will be added as needed ex. CAPTURE, COMP, 3D, AUDIO

      Besides Quickbooks, I keep a spreadsheet that lists each job on the Y axis, and freelancers I use on the X axis. Good for a quick financial overview.

      Business cards / Network: I don’t have cards, can never find time to put something together. But recently found a new client by buying the guy behind me at Starbucks a cup of coffee. We talked and swapped numbers waiting for coffee. Sometimes that’s all it takes.

      Hope this helps someone out there.

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        Bank Statements folder is a good idea! I have lots of online transactions that I keep in my Gmail, but I always seem to lose them by the time Tax comes around!

        The coffee story is good, how can you not want to work with someone who takes the time to be nice? Happy 2011 :)

    • Ali

      My new year resolution is “to follow last 5-years resolutions” :(

    • Zeb

      My resolution for the new year will be 300 dpi

      Zeb

    • http://www.Voicexox.com Sabrina S

      Hi,
      Nice post! You have me thinking. I have a similar filing system to Christopher B. It helps. I am always making a resolution to be better with my taxes too so far as keeping receipts organized to make things quicker to process.
      My new resolution is to spend more time..somehow… improving my animation and learning 3D animation…
      Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

    • http://www.misspato.com Patricia Carvalho

      Regarding naming conventions, I’ve been testing them and this year I used the following (which I think work very good):

      Work (general folder for work)
      - US-NameOfClient (country and name of client as I have clients from many countries)
      - – 10001-NameOfProject (2010.01) (10 is for the year 2010, 001 is for the number of the project for each year, the name of the project and then year and month)
      - – - temp (where all assets given by the client go and that I can delete when archiving the project
      - – - psd files named NameOfProject_hp.psd (for homepage design for example), NameOfProject_hp_r1.psd (for revision 1) and so on

      In a different folder I keep all JPG files for previewing > Work > Portfolio > 2010 > Projects-2010-01 > NameOfProject_hp.jpg.

      I also keep track of all projects, invoices and work done using Studiometry.

      Hope this is useful :-)

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        A different folder for previews is a good idea :)

    • Claudia

      I name all files web friendly – no caps – no spaces – in case they need to be ftp’d, in this fashion:

      clients initials_job type_name_date, so it might look like this:

      sfjs_bookmark_newyearsale_012011.ai or whatever

      or this:

      nmbc_bc_jen_062010.ai or whatever

      Resolution:

      Get control of color across all devices and platforms!

      Happy New Year!

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        You have just reminded me to run my Colorimeter (i1Display). :)

        Happy New Year!

    • http://egypt.urnash.com Egypt Urnash

      > Implement a File Naming Convention… That Works!

      A single file:
      ~/documents/gfx/working/2010/lizards with pipes.ai

      A larger project:
      ~/documents/gfx/working/2010/pipelizard comic/

      A larger, important project, especially one that I work on over a few years, also gets this:
      ~/documents/gfx/working/pipelizard comic (an alias to the above directory)

      I keep the ‘working’ directory and my current Huge Projects in the Finder’s list of ‘Places’, too.

      There is a ‘finished’ directory as well but I haven’t used it since 2000; if I was setting things up now I’d just keep everything in yearly directories under ~/documents/art/ but hey, it works like this, I’m not gonna try changing it.

    • David Rojo

      Great post. I myself had a rough year, including being unemployed for 6 months and failed to accomplish a lot of things would have wanted to. I’m setting myself a few professional/creative goals and some personal ones as well. I’ve never really been one to set resolutions, but I feel motivated and excited to start 2011. Happy New Year everyone!

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        Unemployment can be a pain, and also very scary. It’s good to know that you haven’t let that get you down and you’re ready for 2011! All the best for the coming year, I have a feeling this one is going to be good :)

    • http://www.dot-design.co.uk Gareth Coxon Dot Design

      Mine are pretty much the same as your list give or take a few. I’m certainly looking at other areas of interest outside of graphic design and I’m already better organised for 2011.

    • http://lauralynndesigns.net Laura

      I actually have a file naming system. Thanks to my previous job for the idea. I have a folder on my desktop set to the right (I have a PC…) anyways, inside the folder I have several million folders that start with the project name using either my clients name or business. This way I can easily track down files for certain clients. Then within that folder I usually have a mess of files and previous versions, and when the project is done, I create a folder call ‘Finals’ and that way if they come back 2 months later..”I lost my .EPS file for the logo” I know which logo was the final.

      Hope that wasn’t to confusing.

      I plan to do a few things. One I’d like to attend a design conferance. I’d like to get business cards made, and I’d like to dive into website design/development more by learning javascript and PHP.

      P.S I will also be getting my eyes checked :)

      • http://bucketothought.com/loungekat/blog/ LoungeKat
        Author

        Yay, eye tests for all! I’m going to book mine this week – I’m probably blind without knowing it :P

        Thanks for the file naming advice, I’m totally going to make a “Final” folder.

        Happy New Year!

    • sharon

      Thanks for this article, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one with wierd file names lol. Like you, I’m guilty of spending too much time behind the computer and not enough time networking. My resolutions this year are to revamp my freelance work, sell some artwork online, and take a web design course, and further my knowledge of flash and dreamweaver. I consider myself a print designer, but I need to be more marketable by learning web design. I love that quote “a happy creative is a productive creative.”

      Good luck on your future plans in 2011!