GoMedia started up in early 2003 by William Beachy and was joined by Jeff Finley in 2005. With clients ranging from Pepsi to Thrustkill records, the respected Arsenal vector packs and a massively popular online magazine GoMedia is doing everything right. Add to that the fact that GoMedia has a reputation for churning out excellent black-and-white designs/illustrations and their presence in “the lose the color!” series is more that justified.

On to the questions then, as always the comments are at your disposal to discuss the topic and let me know how you feel. Enjoy!

1. What are the benefits of choosing black-and-white compared to going color?
Sometimes, Black and White images leave the viewer with a sense of anticipation. It might not appear finished, so they can imagine what a finished piece would look like. Often times coloring your black and white drawing can ruin it. It’s a fine line. Almost always a black and white drawing, if done well, is going to impress. Whereas color can make or break your art. I know a lot of designers struggle when it comes time to color their line art.

Top: Take note of the excellent line work and use of contrast. Image by respected Go Media designer Chris Comella.

2. Does going black-and-white make things easier or more challenging from a design standpoint?
It depends, it can make it easier because it’s one less thing to worry about. But it makes it harder because you don’t have values of color to help distinguish different forms. You lose the ability to separate objects by color. It’s all done with contrast, line weight, etc. It’s a hard skill to master.

3. Is there a particular type of client that has a habit of asking for black-and-white or near monochrome work?
I haven’t found one personally. What I did find out is that when a client wants you to do design for posters that will be photocopied and distributed around town, solid black-and-white is the way to go.

4. Is there any time when you’d advise not to go with black-and-white?
This is a case by case basis. There aren’t really any rules that say don’t use black and white unless of course the medium doesn’t allow for it. I think the client and the medium are the most important factors when decided whether to stick with black-and-white or go with color. What is the budget? What does the client expect? What is the final product going to look like? However, if the choice between black and white or color is purely a creative decision, then it’s up to you. Grayscale photography has a classical feel to it, it tends to be more “artsy” so to speak. It helps create a mood.

“For the Bridge and Tunnel shirt black and white was a conscious decision, mostly to save on printing costs. It’s a lot cheaper to print one color shirts, especially on white. The look I was going for was a handmade line art collage printed very big on the shirt, so it worked out well.” - Jeff Finley

5. What’s the general reaction you get from clients when you suggest
black-and-white? Is it hard to bend the opinion of a client who’s bent on full-color to going with black-and-white if it suits the project/medium better?
The client who is dead-set on color, will usually feel black and white is “boring”
and they somehow feel they’re not getting enough bang for their buck. Sometimes
black and white art looks unfinished. If it’s a logo, a client might not be able to
visualize all the various uses their logo if they first see it in black and white
only. If you insist on the project being black and white only, just describe how it
suits the project better. It can save them on printing costs too.

6. Can you give 3 tips for someone who want’s to start doing more black-and-white work?

1. Improve the quality of your lines. Using a single color to describe form and
space is a tough skill to master.

2. Try using halftones to simulate gradients.

3. Sometimes you’ll need to do color versions to “sell” your black and white concept to a client.

“I had plans to color the Paint the Stars tee but I couldn’t come up with anything I liked. In the end I left it black-and-white. I think it’s better for it. And can be more efficient when printing it huge on a t-shirt.” - Jeff Finley

Thanks for your time Jeff. Best of luck to both you and GoMedia! Below are a bunch of links that lead to more Go Media goodness!

Go Media portfolio
GoMediazine
Arsenal vector packs
Go Media Twitter

So why black-and-white as the subject for a series of posts? It’s because black-and-white is an intriguing limitation and blessing at the same time. If black-and-white is used for a suitable project it puts you into a challenging but beneficial situation. Working in black-and-white is essentially a limitation, you have one less tool at your disposal after all. You’ll have to get by without using color to set the mood or focal point. Once you get the hang of working without color though you’ll start to see that the limitation you imposed on yourself actually has some very strong benefits.

There are many good reasons to choose black-and-white over color. Time, money, mood, target audience and the media you’re working for are all factors. To help you choose whether black-and-white is the way to go for your next job I’ve outlined nine strong points of losing the color. Enjoy and be sure to add your own thoughts to the comments so we can get a discussion going.

1. Maximum contrast
This is the most obvious use of black-and-white. By working with high contrast and no colors you eliminate a lot of factors that could have distracted your visitor. The viewer will instantly be able to see what the main focus of the piece is without having to give it any thought.

If you use a dark background with light design elements for example, it suddenly becomes very easy to make a focused composition that guides the eye and attention of the viewer however you like.

By losing the color and you can easily reach a powerful and striking
contrast. Illustration by Maxim Zestkov.

2. Ability to break the mold
The design and illustration field is filled to the brim with bright full-colored work and trust me this trend isn’t going anywhere for the time being. That however doesn’t mean that there isn’t any room for work that flows in another direction.

If you create a portfolio with some outstanding black-and-white pieces in it you’ll instantly stand out from the crowd. I’m not saying you should forsake color for the rest of your career, that would be silly and unpractical, but some strong black-and-white work in prominent places of your portfolio will show you in an entirely different light.

3. A faster workflow
Just like every new thing you try your hand at going black-and-white can be challenging at first if you’re used to working in full-color. Once you start to get a feel for the limitations and learn to work with them though you’ll find that you’ll be able to get good results at a faster pace. This is because you’re spending less time fretting over color intensity and combinations.

Niklas Lundberg created this dramatic and memorable piece for the
latest Depthcore chapter.

4. Set a dark mood
Black-and-white can look very harsh and dark if you work with high contrast and fitting imagery. If you go with a lot of contrast between your black and whites it’s very easy to set a dark, depressing, grim or frightening mood. Metal and rock bands are a good example of this and have been using black-and-white for ages to create stunning and dark covers.

The Touch or Suffer logo by GoMedia is a prime example of choosing black-and-white to set a dark and foreboding mood.

5. Combine white and grey for a gentle look
As harsh as black-and-white can be if you amp the contrast, it’s actually deceptively simple to create a really soft and gentle mood with it. If you simply skip black entirely and combine white with hues of gray that don’t differentiate too much from each other you’ll end up with a very gentle and inviting mood. The less contrast you use the softer the piece becomes.

6. Black and white is timeless
Black and white has a timeless and classy atmosphere and sometimes even feels nostalgic. The classic nature of the typical black-and-white look is perfect for clients and brands that want to look exquisite and classy without being too flashy. It’s also worth noting that designs and illustrations that have that classic black-and-white look generally stand the test of time very well.

7. Unifies elements
If you mix a lot of different media in your work going black-and-white instead of color has the benefit of making these elements blend together better. This means you’ll make work that looks more cohesive with less effort. No need to adjust the colors and their intensity, just desaturate and be done with it. You’ll get good result with less effort.

8. Can make color pop
If you use a black-and-white as a basis and add a hint of color over that you’ll end up with some interesting and eye-catching results. If you want to make colors “pop” combining really bright colors with black-and-white is a sure way to achieve this.

Yes yes I know it’s Paris Hilton but it’s also a great example by Pete Harrison on how subtle color can bring magic to a monochrome piece.

9. It’s budget friendly design
Less color means cheaper production. If your client is on a low budget and you’re working for print he’ll be grateful for your decision to go with black-and-white. This saves on printing costs which can really mean a lot to a client if money is an issue.

I’m not going to go to deep into the “Is Flash bad?” debate, it’s been done to death. Suffice to say that in my view both Xhtml/Css and Flash have their time and place. I also feel that Flash’s good name has been spoiled mostly by designers who love making pretty sites but know or care nothing about usable, user centered web design. If you know your ActionScript and pick your battles you can make excellent non-obtrusive Flash sites.

So, if the validity of Flash is not today’s topic then what is? It’s something that makes a designer’s heart beat faster – Portfolios that are breaking the mold. We’re going to look at sites which feature a novel, experimental or simply out of the ordinary way to display their portfolio pieces.

Since we’re looking at experimental and different techniques I’ve limited myself to viewing only full Flash sites since it’s easier to find “out of the box” experiments this way. If you guys want a similar post to see what’s possible with Xhtml/Css, Javascript and Ajax just let me know in the comments and I’ll get to writing one.

Below are nine sites which feature a novel or unique in way to display the work. I’ve written down some comments for every site featured, as always if you agree, disagree or think I’m talking pure nonsense you’re welcome to leave a comment so we can discuss it!

Lee Towndrow

Lee Towndrow’s photography portfolio is an exercise in clean, simple yet appealing web design. The site looks great with very few design elements.

Lee presents his images full screen - meaning that they fill the full browser view. Impressive as it is this is nothing new of course. What is interesting is the slide effect when you switch from thumbnails to full size image and back. A subtle effect that fits the site and leaves a positive impression.

What I like:
Less is more and this site is a perfect example of that. It opens up with Lee’s portfolio and from that point the work is just one click away. The slide effect is subtle, fits the clean design and adds flavor to the site.

What could be better:
As far as the presentation of the work goes I’m a believer - job well done. I am curious why the site go into full screen mode when I click the first image? I want to see a photo, not have my browser hijacked! Also some hover-over-image effects would have been nicer than the whole row lighting up. It feels like you’re selecting a set instead of the loose image that loads after a click.

Joshua Stearns

Great looking site that reminds me very much of Lee towndrow’s site. Johshua’s site is less compact though and looks a bit more cluttered.

Joshua has the same slide effect that Lee Towndrow’s site has. Notable changes are that the navigation stays in place and that the images don’t load full width. The site looks less clean because of this but we could argue that the it is more usable due to the navigation being always visible.

What I like:
The slide effect is great, a very clear and good looking transition effect so the user knows what’s going on.

What could be better:
It would’ve been better to slide to the image after it’s loaded. Right now the slide effect happens and you see the photo you previously browsed while the new one loaded. This is slightly confusing. I also feel that the site could have been more compact and user centered.

Sugarrhyme

Sugarrhyme is the eccentric portfolio of Designer Karol Kolodzinski. It looks awesome and has a unique rotation wheel for browsing images.

What I like:
The design is out of the box and simply kicks ass. It’s a visual masterpiece. The image navigation looks great and is unique.

What could be better:
The image navigation looks great but doesn’t function that well. It’s very hard to select the image you want, and for all the graphical splendor I can’t blame you if you ask yourself “what the hell is going on here” the first time you try to navigate the images.

Eva Padberg

German photographer Eva Padberg has a fine looking site with image navigation that will make your head spin!

What I like:
I love the opening page and the general look and feel of the site. The photo-wheel, for lack of a better name, looks great and sophisticated.

What could be better:
The photo wheel looks sophisticated and handles, well, harder than you’d like your average portfolio navigation to do. Click an image or two and I guarantee you you’ll have no clue to whether you’re at the beginning or end of the gallery. A typical example of a great looker with usability as an afterthought.

I’m Jonas

Jonas’s site is a clean looking one page portfolio with no pretense. All it is is images and the minimum needed information. It has one unique ploy though, it’s a horizontal scrolling site instead of a vertical one.

What I like:
I like the horizontal scrolling, I feel that vertical is slightly more intuitive, but as long as the mouse-wheel works for scrolling horizontal shouldn’t be a problem. And since all other one page ports scroll vertically it’s an easy way to set yourself apart. The mouse-wheel works just fine, so Jonas pulls this one off effortlessly.

What could be better:
No complaints from me, the site looks good, is simple and works just fine.

DVEIN

Barcelona based motion and interactive studio DVEIN has a site that for some reason feels very futuristic and experimental to me. The site’s a great looker and nicely compact. For image navigation they use a circular navigation wheel with thumbnails you can hover over.

What I like:
The futuristic and sophisticated look is sure to win a lot of people over. The navigation wheel looks great when you hover over the thumbs.

What could be better:
The image navigation looks great, but my kind words end there. It’s very hard to judge what a certain thumbnail leads to. When you click something you often get multiple layers of moving imagery. Looks great but confuses the hell out of me.

If the DVEIN site just had the visual navigation the portfolio would be extremely hard to navigate, fortunately the site also has the text navigation in the middle which corresponds to the thumbnail that is currently being hovered over. It’s not a great solution as far as I’m concerned though.

Illustplosion

Bruno Fujii’s Illustplosion is a excellent designed, urban looking horizontal scrolling site. It has an about me page, but for practical purposes you could call this one a one page portfolio. The unique navigation comes in the form of horizontal scrolling that doesn’t work with a scroll-bar or scroll-wheel but simply by pressing next and previous.

What I like:
Illustplosion is designed excellent and extremely simple in use. Your grandma could browse this site with no effort. The horizontal scrolling is very linear but works well. The only time I see this being a problem is if you want to display a lot of images.

What could be better:
No complaints, looks great and works simple and effective.

Vanio Luanou

The portfolio site of Vanio’s Luanou has a graphic design feel while still looking like a modern website. Vanio’s way of navigating images is similar to Illustplosion in that it’s a horizontal linear scrolling experience that requires a click to go from “A” to “B”.

The difference is that Vanio has made it so that you can see just a glimpse of the next or previous piece. If you hover over the image it moves into view a bit more giving the feeling that you’re “reeling it in”.

What I like:
I love the “reeling it in” effect, you’re not doing anything more than clicking but for some reason it feels more interactive. Other than that the design looks great and in touch with the portfolio pieces.

What could be better:
Some portfolio pieces have multiple images that you can select below them. This in combination with the numbers below the portfolio pieces can make the whole experience a bit confusing at times. I feel Vanio did a bit too much with this site.

Silencio

To enter the site you have to click the flying hippo. Yes you heard me, click the flying hippo and it will float down to show it’s colory insides. Then click the big “Shsss” that pops up above its head and you enter the portfolio section. Terrible usability? No doubt, but it’s so silly, crazy and wrong that it actually works. When you combine your entrance to the site with the giraffe head you’ll see popping up later on Atila Meireles can sleep at night knowing he’s created a site nobody will forget for a long time.

What I like:
Silencio is actually a bit of long shot for this list, once you’re in the portfolio it’s your typical vertical scrolling one page portfolio really. I’ve added it to the list for the simple reason that once you see this site you’ll never forget it again - and I do mean that in a positive way.

What could be better:
The auto scrolling is a pain in the ass in general, is too slow and takes control away from the user for a task that’s personal (scroll speed, distance and the like).

So enjoy, be inspired and be sure to check out the source sites listed at the bottom of the post. While you do that I’ll decide if I should do a showcase on Vodka bottles - some are just so brilliantly creative. I would love your opinion on that by the way!

Source: These images came from the following sources - Packaging World, the Dieline and the Spoon Sisters.

Success in the design industry relies on many different factors. There’s much more to it than just being able to make a pretty visual. Communication, self-promotion, technique and execution of the actual creative process are just a few of the many factors that come into play.

With success depending on so many elements it’s easy to lose track of the big picture. To keep you on top of your game we asked four established designers and illustrators to share their most valuable advice.

Angel D’Amico is a Chicago based Freelance Illustrator and Designer who’s loving life and living her dream. She Combines her fine art skills with her digital artwork, to create beautiful, unique, and exotic environments of work.

1. Start making work for yourself.
When i got out of college I realized that all my creative work was done mostly for my classes and clients. I thought to myself “If i had the chance what would I create for myself?�. I combined my best aspects of my art and design and came up with my own style.

2. Make a website!
Don’t just talk about it for years, DO it. Make it simple and clean. These days to be competitive you need a website. Clients don’t want to have to download your portfolio in pdf format or view images in emails. They want instant access.
I myself took a web class for a half of semester in college to learn the basics. If I can do it so can you.

3. When you make that site, make sure it loads fast.
I’m the owner of Carpal tunnel Magazine, an online webzine where I interview artists. When I get send a link to check out and it’s a flash site that takes too long to load I usually don’t wait(there are exceptions). Simple sites are very effective.

4. Sign up for all the free listing and posting places you can.
Research and find art and design sites that let you post for free. Get your name out there, meet and chat with people. It’s great to have support and to give some in return.

5. Do your research.
I research new and old artists, designers, sites, magazines, books etc.
Keep up with design, learn the history, it will give you greater visual knowledge and more ideas.

6. Stay open minded.
Be unique, and open to new ideas. Don’t get stuck in your habits and comfort zone.

7. Be confident, humble, and respectful
Not only to clients but also to fellow artists, people asking for advice and everyone else in general :)

Radim Malinic prides himself on his artistic sensibility, passion for details, innovative resutls, pushing the boundaries. His work has been described as imaginative, sophisticated, sensual and sexy.

1. Know what you want to do.
Decide where to start. Do you want to do Illustration, graphic design, motion, web design or be the kettle operator?

2. Know the basics.
You just got out of the university and want to work for the big agencies, doing Nike and Coca Cola tomorrow. Well, it might not just happen yet. Agency working environment is probably only three words written down for you. Get any design job you can. Get some experience. have a look around and then make up your mind about where to go next.

3. Know your software.
You might know a shortcut or two, time to take it a bit further. Knowing your software inside out will save you a lot of time. Don’t waste time learning any software that’s not relevant to your craft though.

4. Know your audience.
If you illustrate tanks and cranes, the idea of doing editorial illustrations for Fashion magazines isn’t the best. Spend as much time as needed resourcing on the net.

5. Know your style.
Some people like to create a different style all the time, some like to stick with the tried and tested. A signature style helps a lot in attracting new clientele. Make sure you know your ground and evolve from there.

6. Know your enemy and make friends.
Keep an eye on the current design scene. Shutting yourself off too much could leave you miles behind. Do not borrow from anyone’s style but make sure your work looks always fresh.

7. Know your price.
Make sure you know your price. You can be greatest of the great and work around the clock, it does very little good if you’re still penniless at the end of it. No one will tell you how much they charge, but it isn’t rocket science to figure out the financial value of your work.

Netherlands based Paco Raphael works as freelancer for several agencies and companies. Before that he worked as senior graphic, interactive and webdesigner for MTV and RedUrban interactive advertising agency.

1. Constantly watch.
For upcoming artist is it important that they obtain their skills by constantly looking forward. Look at other designers, read art-books, check out architecture and watch movies.

2. Tutorials & techniques.
It is important to do a lot of tutorials, make different things and see different styles. This helps you find and maintain your skills and techniques.

3. Read books.
Buy books! I have books about design from the early twenties up till now, from Baroque, Retro and Pop art. This will give you a good view of the strengths and weaknesses in design and art of certain years. Books like this will also inspire you to view design in a different way and perhaps some elements from the past might find their way into your designs.

4. Show yourself!
Make yourself known in the industry by discussing in forums, having your own website and by sending artwork to agencies. You’ll see that you get a lot of feedback which will be helpfull.

5. Keep your own style.
In my opinion I think every designer must have his own unique style. I see a lot of wannabe designers, copying the works of others. Don’t copy, try to keep and refresh your own style!

6. Ask for critique
Ask opinions and critique from other designers. You can learn a lot from the opinions of your fellow designers and it often leads to good analysis of your work.

7. Draw!
I keep myself fresh by doing a lot of hand-drawing. A lot of good illustrations and logo designs start on paper. After you find the perfect composition and concept you can easily import this in programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop to finalize the piece.

Scott Pollard is a multi-talented designer and illustrator that has recently put a halt to his freelancing career to join Oneighty creative in their mission to conquer the United kingdom.

1. Don’t over depend on tutorials.
Do tutorials to stay on top of your game and learn new techniques but don’t rely solely on them. Doing so will make it hard for you define your style.

2. Stay fresh - literally!
Life as a designer doesn’t mean you can sacrifice hygiene. So before sit down and boot your computer up get a shower and put on some clean clothes.

3. Use save as instead of save.
When working in Photoshop use save as more than save because once a file is closed it’s history is gone.

4. Be wary of filters.
If you going to use the filters menu make sure you make a dam good job to disguise it because everyone (and I’m not just talking designers) has seen and played with these effects before.

5. Simple concepts are often best.
Don’t over think an idea to the point it becomes confusing even to yourself. Simple is often best.

6. Social networking sites.
Social networking sites are great, but can also steal a lot of your time away. Network on the best sites only. Don’t spread yourself across them all. You won’t be able to keep contacts.

7. Laptop or desktop?
A laptop is ok to transfer your portfolio from a to b but unless you have a super expensive piece of technology, Photoshop and other memory intensive programs will just not run efficiently. If you only have the cash to buy one go for the desktop.

A while ago I did a post on great photo manipulation pieces that was madly popular for a while. It got some great traffic from a few sources (Smashing Magazine amongst others) but also from some less great ones. The visitors that came from sources that had little to do with creativity would come see the post, check the showcase and simply leave without checking out the rest of the blog. Some even closed the site in a matter of seconds. This did nothing for my blog and used up a lot of traffic for no good reason.

Since then I’ve learned that while traffic is always great (depending on your hosting plan!), getting the right traffic from people who actually care is not only much more satisfying, it’s also the way to ensure you accomplish the goals of your site.

How do you get the right traffic? I’ll tell you exactly what technique I use for the blog in a second, first I’m going to put down two points that are key to making this work.

1. Get good traffic
This means traffic from your niche - people who have an interest in what you do. Don’t try to plug your graphic designs on a fashion forum full of giggly schoolgirls. Even if they go to your site they’ll be gone as soon as the find out you’re not hosting leaked screen shots to the new Gucci sunglasses. Find places where creatives from your field come together.

2. Use as many different sources as possible
Unless you have friends with high traffic sites or have such a site yourself you’re usually stuck with small/medium traffic sites. Sure, it’s very possible that you have something great and Smashing Magazine or A list apart will do a post on it. But let’s be realistic, you’re not the only one who wants on there. So small and medium traffic sites will be your main focus. This means that if you get your link up there you’ll get good quality traffic, but not a huge amount. You can solve this by hitting up multiple sources at once.

The first way I always get some easy traffic is through social bookmarking. Social bookmarking sites are in essence communities where users can cast their vote on how useful submitted links are. The more votes something gets the more exposure it receives - meaning more people come and see it. The majority of the general social bookmarking sites will get you the wrong traffic, traffic from outside of your niche. Just like the example I gave above with the photo manipulation showcase, this means that the traffic you get will often be rather meaningless.

Fortunately social bookmarking for creatives is really taking off. Below are four sites that are tailored especially to creatives that I you can use, ordered in the largest populated site to the lowest. There all nearly identical in use. Just make an account, submit a link and hope it gets the designated number of votes to reach the main page. The good thing is that posting a piece of news can be done in a matter of minutes!

I’ve added estimated visitor counts. These are guidelines, you might receive more or less since a lot of factors play into this.

Designfloat
Designfloat is the biggest of the three design related social bookmarking sites, if you only submit to one make it Designfloat.
Estimated visitors: 350

Designbump
The visitor count of Designbump isn’t very high yet but it’s definitely gaining ground.
Estimated visitors: 40

Graphic design links
Slightly lower visitor count then Designbump.
Estimated visitors: 25

Drawar
I’ve only tried Drawar once and didn’t get my post submitted. The page rank 3 however tells me you shouldn’t expect stellar results from Drawar. Only submit to Drawar if you’ve been at the above two sites first.

If you’re still hungry for more traffic the next way to easily gain more without breaking a sweat is to hit a few sites and blogs up that have side blogs and community news. This basically means that on their site they have a section where they link to news submitted by readers of the site.

Submitting to sites like this is as simple as filling in some form fields and pressing “send”. Once you know where to look you can easily hit a few up in 15 minutes or less.

Noupe
Noupe is a blog that has a nice little news side blog that users can submit news to. All you have to do is submit your news, and as long as it is relevant to the site it usually gets featured.
Estimated visitors: 40

Designmag
Haven’t had a go at Designmag yet but I’m going to give it a run soon. I’ll update when I know more.

Smashing Magazine side blog
If your project is really great you might be able to squeeze in some exposure on Smashing Magazine’s sideblog - this equals lots of traffic.
Estimated visitors: 10.000 to 15.000!

Design you trust
Design you trust is an open blog platform where anyone can post inspirational things. That’s right all you need to do is make an account and you’re set. With great power comes great responsibility though. Don’t spam Design you trust and don’t over use it is my advice.
Estimated visitors: 300

If you remember only one thing than make it this. Whatever you do, don’t come across as a too eager spammer. This will only hurt your name or brand instead of strengthen it. Other than that I’d encourage you to experiment, monitor the traffic and see what works for you and what doesn’t. Good luck!

However great online communities are, they do have one downside. It’s costs a lot of time! You have to get an account set up, customize it, upload work, write your info, get and manage your contacts and so on. To put all this time into a community only to later find out it’s not what you hoped for would be a terrible waste of time. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you I’ve compiled this list of communities and added info on what you can expect if you decide to make a profile there. So have a read and get out there!

The Behance network is a community primarily focused on showcasing your portfolio. You have full customization of how your profile and portfolio pages looks without having to modify any coding. Behance has all the usual features for making, notifying and maintaining friends and groups. Read more about Behance and it’s features in this article I did a while ago.

Useful for
Designers, illustrators and web designers. If you’re one of these and only join one community I’d say make it Behance since this is the one that is most likely to net you useful contacts and if you’re lucky even a lead or two.

Mojizu calls itself a contemporary character design community and that’s exactly what it is. I learned about Mojizu through Scott Jackson when I interviewed him and I must say it’s an excellent community site. Mojizu is well designed, has all the bells and whistles one expects of a community site these days and has a focused community. One feature I absolutely love is the Moji war where characters are pitted against each other and the creators can win prize money and exposure for their piece. Very fresh!

Usefull for
If you’re a character illustrator get yourself on Mojizu…now! It’s the only place that is 100% dedicated to character art so this should be a well of inspiration and like minded souls for you.

Coroflot is a good looking community that has the same approach as Behance in that it’s very much portfolio based. Where Behance is much more of a mixture between showcasing your portfolio and keeping in touch with fellow creatives corofloat pushes the social aspect to the back and focuses on job opportunities more. How usefull the opportunities on Coroflot are I can’t say since I have little experience with that.

Usefull for
Coroflot caters a lot to the same audience as Behance. I feel Behance is stronger as a community and also offers more expression options for your portfolio pieces (also larger images). Have a good look at the type of jobs that are posted and the location of those jobs. If this is what you need consider Coroflot, if not I’d say Behance is the better choice.

Deviant art is a community which has been around for ages. Small updates to the site have kept it up to date feature wise even though it’s not very impressive to look at. Deviant art has a huge community and some very robust options as far as socializing goes. You can also sell prints and other items with your work on them through Deviant art with reasonable rates.

Usefull for
Deviant art is rich with great talent, but richer in anime loving kids who are just starting out. This isn’t necessarily bad, but might be a turn off if you’re looking to interact with peers who are at a professional level. Consider Deviant art if your craft is digital painting or photography and you’d like to sell prints. If you’re on the design side of things I’d say look elsewhere where the community is a bit more mature and more focused.

Shadowness is a community that looks great even though I fear it’s usability suffers slightly because of this. Profiles on Shadowness are customizable so you can really put your mark on them. The size of the community however is relatively small unfortunately. Shadowness has some great artists on the site but also some very mediocre work posted. You might compare Shadowness to a better looking deviant art with less users.

Usefull for
Shadowness is mostly about digital painting and illustration. Consider Shadowness if that’s your thing and you like the very different and highly customizable layout. If you don’t care so much about customization and the way the site looks I’d advise Deviant art over Shadowness because of the difference in community size.

Flickr is a photo sharing community I’m sure most of you are aware of. While Flickr is used by some people simply as an image host it also has a lively community. It’s not just the new Photobucket. The benefit for creatives is that Flickr has a lot of social possibilities but is image minded.

Usefull for
Flickr is in essence a photo sharing community. There are a bunch of designers and illustrators with an active account but my main recommendation still goes out to photographers.

CG portfolio is part of the CG society, a place where digital artist gather for news, portfolios and the popular forum CG talk. I’m not very impressed with the look and feel of CG portfolio and from a usability standpoint it’s not great either. It’s in the list simply because if you want to get into the game industry CG portfolio should definitely be considered.

Usefull for
CG society has strong ties to the gaming and movie industry so if you’re looking for an entry point into those fields it’s definitely worth a look. Good place to hang out for game artists (both 2d and 3d), concept artists and sci-fi or fantasy artists. A strong user interface designer might be able to use CG portfolio as an entry point into the game industry.

Buzznet is a social community focused very much on the alternative music culture. There’s a lot of teenagers on the site and at first glace you’d definitely say that a serious creative has no reason to be on Buzznet. If you’re looking to get into working for artists and bands however, Buzznet might very well be a place where you can make an easy kick start.

Usefull for
Creatives looking to work with artists and bands. If you are already established in this field then you can most likely safely pass up Buzznet, if you’re trying to make a name for yourself however consider giving it a try. If this is what you’re after you can also consider Trig.

Twitter isn’t tailored to creatives at all but I discovered recently that there are a lot of bloggers and web professionals who use the service actively. Twitter is different from regular social communities in the fact that it’s built to send across small messages called “twits” telling people what you’re doing or thinking about.

Usefull for
Bloggers and web professionals looking to network and don’t mind trying this different type of communication method. Graphic designers and illustrators looking to network with like minded creatives had best look on, since these generally aren’t the type to try a totally new social concept like twitter the community for them is rather small.

Myspace is in the list? A daring move I know! It’s here for a simple reason though, every creative (and their mothers!) are on myspace. Yes, it’s ugly, outdated and has a horrible user interface, but it does deserve a mention as a recourse. Myspace has a lot of features for maintaining friends and is actually pretty decent as far as notifying others of new work you’ve put up. Since nearly everyone is on it it’s pretty good for getting into contact with other creatives.

Usefull for
Creatives that would like to network with others for collaboration (If you’re an illustrator wanting to work with fashion photo’s Myspace is a good place to find the right photographers). Do keep in mind you have to be able to stomach horrible page layouts and lots of spam…

Honorable mentions
Below are some other communities that didn’t make the cut either because I’m not sure how useful they’d be to creatives or because I feel the community might be too small for me to recommend them.

• Virb
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• GFXartist
• trig

Good luck deciding where to network and post your work! As always, opinions and suggestions are most welcome.

One really powerful way to showcase your work is the full screen flash portfolio. They say you should let the work do the talking, and that’s exactly what this type of site does. It showcases work full screen in the browser with the minimum amount of navigation and layout elements. In this article I’ll go over things you should keep in mind if you’re considering a portfolio like this and I’ll showcase a few examples and bring forth what I consider their strong and weak points.

So what’s to like about a full screen flash portfolio?
It’s easy to see what the strong points of this type of site are. Large images with a minimal interface allow your work to shine like it never has before on the web. Flash navigation and layouts often confuse (or in the very least challenge) users, but if you build this site right anyone can operate it. Using a “next” or “prev” button to browse a gallery isn’t that hard and that’s all the majority of users will want to do.

The fact that you build the site with very little interface means that your work takes the spotlight more than on any other type of site. No header graphics, text or other excesses to distract the user while he’s browsing your pieces. It’s all about the work.

Another strong point is that you don’t see this type of site that often so you’re fairly original. I’ll go into the reasons for this in a little while.

Things to keep in mind
Ok so let’s say you’re thinking a site like this might be good for you, what do you need to consider before you take the plunge?

Can you afford to just showcase the work?
This type of site will only work if you mainly want to express your visuals. If you want to have an elaborate about me, a contact with some encouraging words, explain the way you work and bring forth some case studies you’d best have a look at some more classic layout solutions. The reason for this is that this type of site is very different in use from what your viewer will normally see. Research proves that the majority of users will not invest time to learn how to navigate your site, if the navigation you’ve created bothers or frustrates them they’ll just exit the site. This means that for the full screen flash portfolio to be crystal clear to all users from the moment it loads it has to be very simple in use. Since your portfolio has the function of netting you clients or jobs this is obviously very undesirable. So to make this type of site work I would strongly advise you to keep it stupid simple.

There is nothing to hide behind
Since you want to use as much screen space for displaying your work you won’t be able to have great looking graphics and a good layout to boost the overall look and feel of the site. It’s your work and only your work that will decide how you come across. So consider carefully if this is what you want and if you feel your work is up to it.

Also keep in mind that larger displayed work means that the tiny details will be much more visible. For some people this isn’t a problem at all but a positive thing yet for others this means that their work might start to look a bit sloppy.

Are you capable of properly building it?
This is the big question. Most creatives I know like to build their own site which of course makes perfect sense. They know themselves and their work best and usually have the skills to make a portfolio that expresses them best. In case of the full screen flash portfolio however I would only advice to do this if you’re sure you can build it properly.

I say properly because if you build it poorly it’s going to hurt you bad. Earlier I said that you don’t see these type of sites all that often. Part of the reason lies in the fact that you need to have some real action script skills to make this work, it can get pretty technical. You have to be able to make flash check the screen resolution and size the movie accordingly. If the user re-sizes the browser window flash needs to automatically recalculate the new size of the movie. The images need to be loaded dynamically one at a time, you can’t pull the old flash trick of loading the whole site at once since you have to work with very large image files that can fill very high screen resolutions(you can of course pre-load the next image while the user is viewing the current one). And of course flash has to effectively scale your images to always fit the browser window.

So another part of the reason you don’t see full flash portfolio sites all that much most likely lies in the fact that most creatives would have to spend some cash to have it built for them.

Let’s examine some examples.
Now that we’ve given the pro’s an cons some thought lets look at some examples of full screen flash sites. As far as web design is concerned I can be pretty blunt but these are, as always, my opinions. I’m not at any point attacking the people who designed or scripted the sites but simply saying how I feel it would’ve been better.

01. Brooke Pifer | Visit site

Brooke Pifer’s site might be the most well know example of a full screen flash portfolio, and as far as I’m concerned it’s also the best from what I’ve seen. The reason is because of it’s perfect technical execution and it’s simplicity in use.

The site is easy to navigate by using the “prev” or “next” buttons or by clicking “gallery” to access a thumbnail navigation. Giving users multiple ways to navigate is in most cases a very good thing.

Other strong points lie in the things this site does not do. It skips extra nonsense like sound, splash screens, unnecessary content and also does not suffer from extreme load times.

02. Filippa Smedhagen Sund | Visit site

Filippa Smedhagen Sund’s site has been out there for a while but it doesn’t look dated at all. It’s a site that combines full screen images with a unique screen dragging navigation. The navigation works on basic level, it easy to use and even explained while the site loads so as far as operating the site goes it’s definitely good.

Where I feel the site fails however is that you can not only drag from left to right but also up and down. Combine this with the fact that the position of the images is random and you can imagine that you’ll soon be lost in the forest of images that is Filippa’s portfolio. In my opinion this site would have been way better off using a simple dragging system that worked from left to right only with a secondary thumbnail navigation like Brooke Pifer’s site has. In essence it does it right but just does too much.

03. Saso Kos Photography | Visit site

Just Filippa Smedhagen Sund I feel Saso Kos’s site does too much. The images look great, load fast and navigating the work is a breeze. Unfortunately by default the site boots up with background music (I’m a firm believer this is a no no 99% of the time), moves the photos around and has a slide show option on. That’s three things happening you never asked for and would most likely want to do without.

The user has the option to turn all of this off, it’s even possible to hide the menu bar. While I applaud the option to turn these options off I still feel the designer would have been better off just leaving them out. That said I do feel that when these options are off Saso Kos’s site is an excellent example of a good full screen flash site.

04. Emmanuel Rouzic | Visit site

Emmanuel Rouzic’s site looks great, but in my opinion that’s about the only thing it has going for it. It’s the perfect example of a flash site gone totally wrong. The load time before the site shows up is extremely long on my reasonably fast broadband connection, if you have a slower connection you can walk the dog in the time it takes the site to load. While the site loads you have deep drum sound effects that remind me off Lord of the rings. This is irritating enough on itself, if you combine this with the long load times and the fact that you can’t turn it off this means that a large part of the visitors of Emmanuel’s site will most likely close the site before it loads.

Those that stay for the ride get a navigation system that looks great but doesn’t have any grounding whatsoever and are once again confronted with the photographers favorite music track. However much I want to like this site for it’s innovative design and great look I can only say that in my opinion this is by far the worst of the bunch.

Conclusion
I love this type of site since it puts the work forward in a fairly unique way and because I’m a sucker for big images on my screen. In conclusion I’d say that if you’re after a site like this remember to keep it really simple in use and carefully consider if you want to built it yourself.

Hope you enjoyed the article and feel a bit wiser when it comes to this type of portfolio. I’m currently experimenting with the code to run a site like this so if you have any good references be sure to share them with me!

Sounds good doesn’t it? It is actually, but I think those of us who have been active on social networking sites like Myspace and Virb are inclined to be somewhat pessimistic. Myspace sometimes seems like a virtual dating site with profiles designed by five year olds. Virb on the other hand has a great clean look, is easy to use but has a very small user base so it never really feels alive. So how good is the Behance network really when we examine it critically? And why should you care about being on a creative specific social network? Read on.

Benefits of being on a social network site built for creatives
There are a lot of reasons you could have for social networking. We’ll get into some Behance specific reasons in a bit, first I want to say something about getting work and generating direct leads through social networking. To be blunt, it doesn’t happen often. I’ve interviewed quite a bit of creatives in my time(not just on Designfeedr) and I’ve often asked if social networking led to any real leads. They all said no. Even though the Behance network is slightly different and is set-up to give good exposure I still feel that the average user should not count on this hapenning on a regular basis (if it happens at all). It is however a good way to build an online presence. A strong portfolio with a good online presence(Something I will get into in a future article) will lead to job opportunities.

So what good things do come from networking on Behance? First is of course the chance to be amongst your fellow creatives. You don’t need to filter and search to find the right people in a huge sea like you would on a general social networking site. This means that from day one you can have conversations with people that have the same interests as you. You can get and give feedback, you can even ask for it if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s an excellent way to be inspired and see new trends emerge before the general public catches on and it’s a good way to attract the attention of the press and bloggers like myself.

Closer look at the Behance network
Below I’ll give my take on a few elements which I feel are critical to a creative social networking site like Behance.

Design
If you’re building a site that’s going to host the portfolios of thousand of creatives it had better look good. While most of us are on Myspace which has poor design and horrid usability that doesn’t mean that we’ll easily switch over or add another site to our daily routine if it looks as bad. The target audience of Behance is also very image minded so a good design is essential. Fortunately the Behance network looks great. It has an excellent clean semi web 2.0 design with it’s own character but never overpowers the portfolios of the users on the network.

Usability
Looking good is one thing but a smooth operator keeps them coming back for more. This is especially important on the web where users have built up a certain resistance because there is so much mediocrity and spam around. While I am no usability expert I feel that the Behance network holds up nicely. Whether you’re browsing, communicating or changing your profile most actions can be easily done without much searching or button hovering for tooltips. The configuration options are placed logically and you’re not buried under a ton of settings. The profile and project customization tools are also very intuitive in use while being relatively powerful, more on that below.

Good example of a customized layout

Customization options
While the Behance network is portfolio driven this doesn’t mean that a personal touch in the presentation is not an important element. One creative may design typefaces for a living while another might earn his money doing cute character illustration. Both need to be able to make a profile that they feel represents them properly. The creators of Behance on the other hand wants to ensure that the site doesn’t end up looking like some of the worse Myspace profiles do since that would turn certain people of. This of course calls for a tradeoff.

Behance gives users the maximum amount of freedom without letting them touch any Html or Css code. There is a visual editor that allows you to edit color, font types, font faces, add images, edit background colors and the like, all live. Personally I feel the decision to take out the option of editing the code is a very wise move on Behance’s part. It keeps the network clean and makes it so that people who are not into web code don’t feel like 2nd class citizens.

Membership by approval
Behance is membership by approval, if you want on you fill in a small form and your application will be considered. This approach has it’s pro’s and it’s cons. If you let everyone on the site you’ll end up getting a second Deviant art. You’ll get a site where there’s a lot of great work, but let’s face it, also a lot of crap. Membership by approval solves this problem, but does make it harder for the user wanting to immediately get into the thick of it. Some people are used to instant access to online services and the approval process will turn some people off. In the case of Behance though I think it turned out very well, the somewhat elitist approach is one of the key elements that gives and ensures Behance’s professional look.

Communication options
When you dissect behance on a very basic level you get a social networking site that has replaced the option of adding photos with portfolio pieces. This creates an environment where one is not judged by how he looks but by what he creates. Users can comment on work or on a profile, can give work the “thumbs up” and can send you private messages. You also have the option to send your entire circle of friends a message. All in all very similar to other social networking sites, which is fine since that’s how the medium works.

One downside I’ve experienced is that when you have a large circle of friends the amount of mail you get can sometimes be downright annoying. You’ll get mails which notify you when someone in your circle has posted new work but you’ll also get mails when someone has left you a message. This in itself can be annoying, but when someone posts five new portfolio pieces and then also sends their friends list(with you in it) a message to inform them they have new work up you’ve just gotten six mails in your inbox. And this is only one person. At first I felt this was rather broken, but when I took a good look at the settings I noticed you have the option of turning a weekly notifications on instead of the default instant one. I haven’t tested it yet but if it works like I hope it will that’s another problem solved.

Conclusion
If this article sounds very much in favor of the Behance Network I can only say that, yes, it is. Not because this is a sponsored post or anything, I have no ties to Behance other than the fact that I’m on it to promote Designfeedr. The thing is, if you’re looking for a social networking site tailored especially to creatives there is currently nothing that rivals the Behance network. With great design, portfolio based profiles, solid communication options and a nicely sized user base why would you not be on it?

That’s it for my positive rant on the Behance network. Stay tuned for a showcase I’m working on that spotlights some of the best work on the network.

01. by Absolut | Absolut’s site

02. Triangle carton package

03. by Daniel Eek | Daniel Eek’s site

04. Happy cider

05. I need help

06. Lush

07. Clear men

08. Illy | Illy USA’s site

09. Boot collection

10. Sprinkles

11. Perrier

12. by Orgut Cayli | Orgut Cayli’s site

13. by Route 29

14. by Studio43 | Studio43’s site

15. by Catherine Harvey | Catherine Harvey’s site

16. Puschkin | CPuschkin’s site

This last one is my personal favorite, for obvious reasons;)

If you want more packaging design inspiration check Packaging world, Veerle’s blog, Smashing Magazine or have a look at the cool hunter.