I am now officially the newest Graphic Designer in Long Beach! If you would like to hire me for a freelance design project, feel free to get in touch.

Vegan Pesto Recipe

This is the first meal we made together in our new place and I thought it was so delicious that I would share my pesto recipe.

1 1/2 cups fresh basil
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup pine nuts (other nuts, such as almonds or walnuts may be substituted)
4-7 cloves garlic (to taste)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or a blender until the garlic cloves and pine nuts are chopped up. Pesto should still have texture and not be completely smooth. (optional) Try throwing some sun dried tomatoes into the mixture.

Thanks for visiting my blog

Also, please feel free to comment below to let me know what you think of the recipe. Enjoy!

This book requires a low cost of entry for an in-depth look into the mind of a highly experienced Designer. The hours you’ll spend reading this should be regarded as an investment of time into becoming better at what you do. It not only prepares you to become a professional, it also helps you not lose track of what initially drew you into the field. Anyone involved in any aspect of the Graphic Design industry should acquire this book for their collection.

Chapter listing

Foreword by Stephen Sagmeister
Introduction
Attributes needed by the modern designer
How to find a job
Being freelance
Setting up a studio
Running a studio
Winning new work
Clients
Self-promotion
The creative process
Bibliography
Appendix
Acknowledgments

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Read a book packed with new ideas

Most designers have already amassed their collection of technological books. However, not many of these directly address the problem of a creativity block. Here is a book that does just that.

# 1 Idea index – Jim Krause

This book has been invaluable to me. What I like about it is that it doesn’t directly help you solve your problem, it just helps you get rid of the creative block. There is an entire series of these books that are designed for a variety of different creative fields ranging from photography to web design. This one is my personal favorite because it works for most of the tough situations I run into.

Visit some new art and design centered websites

Taking the time to see what has worked for other people, even in other fields, can be really motivating. These websites can be really helpful as they are updated regularly and are usually filled with really well done art and design.

# 2 FFFFOUND!

ffffound constantly has fresh new art projects that don’t feel trendy or overplayed. I am constantly finding artwork that is really inspiring. The best part for me is seeing how people decide to push boundaries with different mediums.

# 3 Abduzeedo

Abduzeedo is filled with high quality ideas for graphic designers. They are continuously exploring photography, design, and typography. They also have a great daily inspiration post.

# 4 The Cool Hunter

The cool hunter is devoted to broadcasting things that are beautiful and amazing. Their about section boldly proclaims “the cool hunter celebrates creativity in all of its manifestations” and it definitely shows.

# 5 Start Drawing

A great source of top notch asian artists.

# 6 Drawn!

Drawn! is a collaborative blog for illustrators, artists, cartoonists, and anyone who likes to draw.

Use a new art technique

When books and websites fail you, try stepping away from your project completely and do something completely different for a while. Here is one of my favorites.

# 7 Play with ink

Splash ink all over a surface and move it around by blowing it with a straw. For added effect try experimenting with multiple colors.

Come back later for more help with your creativity

So that’s it for my first list of design inspiration. Hopefully you found something here that helped you out. I know this list is by no means complete so feel free to let me know where you get your inspiration from. Do you have any useful books to read, websites to visit, techniques to use, or places to go that you think should be on this list?

I love learning.

Whenever I get approached to do a project I don’t just jump in right away. In fact, before I even send out a proposal or sign a contract I do a significant amount of research. This research could be anything from discovering what makes a good comic book cover to how to design a business identity package.

I love art.

I love to create and come up with solutions to what I view as artwork based issues. Few things make me as happy as sitting back with a client and just going, “Wow, in the end everything worked out well.” I am still waiting for the day when someone realizes my secret that I actually like what I do and that I’m getting paid to do it.

Do you enjoy your line of work? If not, what would you change about it or what would you rather be doing with your time?

Starting Fresh

I haven’t been satisfied with how my blogging pattern had been going in the past. I decided I wanted to change this after I saw how often Teresa Cardwell has been posting on her photography portfolio that I designed for her.

I decided to completely scrap what I had been doing before, it wasn’t working and I needed to do something about.

Better Layout

This new site incorporates ratios from the Fibonacci’s Golden Section – otherwise known as the Golden Ratio. Along with the redesign I have new goals for my blog and my website as a whole. I am planning on not just running a blog that was solely focused on graphic design, as I was doing before, but also writing art related articles as well.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my site. Please feel free to let me know what you think about the new layout.