30 Essential Twitter Tutorials for Newbies and Experts

I didn’t think it would happen in this lifetime, but I joined the world of Twitter yesterday.   I spent the last 24 hours poking at Twitter and what it has to offer.  It’s definitely more than just a social tool for micro-blogging.   There’s a lot you can do with Twitter for personal use and for business.   The website below includes a nice compilation from beginner to expert level Twitter tutorials.  “How to change your Twitter background” and “How to use the Twitter API” are just a few examples.   Please share others sites that you found useful.

30 Essential Twitter Tutorials for Newbies and Experts [Outlaw Design Blog]

Useful Cheat Sheets for Web Designers

Six Revisions put out a post not too long ago that listed several cheat sheets for web designers.  Below are some from the list that I found to be useful, especially for those who are looking to grow and become more efficient with web design.

Photoshop Lasso Tool Cheatsheet

Photoshop Brush Tool Cheatsheet

RGB Hex Color Chart

VisiBone Font Card

Common Fonts to Windows and Mac

Approximate Conversion from Points to Pixels

CSS Shorthand Cheat Sheet

HTML/XHTML Character Entities

Click here to see the full post from Six Revisions:  http://sixrevisions.com/resources/cheat_sheets_for_web_designers/

Website Launch Announcement

I am pleased to announce the launch of my brand new website for Goodtravel Design. 

I want to thank my wife, Jennifer and also Emily, Aaron, Ben (Happy Birthday by the way), Summer, Paul and Jill for providing me with the resources to accomplish this project.

On this site, you can read my list of services, view my portfolio, get a custom quote and read other information. Goodtravel Design creates high quality websites, email newsletters and print media at a favorable cost to the small business owner.

Visit www.goodtraveldesign.com.

Spice Up Your Website with Icons

Rather than using text in a bulleted list, spice up your website with icons.   When a user visits your website, they initial scan the page to find anything that draws their attention…something visual.  After the user finds that visual attraction,  the user starts to actually read the text.   It’s all psychological and all about communication.

So where can you get your icons?  There are plenty of sites out there, but here are a few that I use on a frequent basis that can provide a nice sleek look for your page.

Icon Finder

Nice, clean looking icons!   It’s easy to search and find something you need.  They offer various sizes for most icons.

IconsPedia

I just found this site recently and it has a large number of icons for your needs.   They provide good categorization for easy browsing through their icons.   This site is a good place to go if you are looking for icons to match certain events, specific products or business types.

iStockPhoto

Although it’s not free, it has a great library of icons along with stock photos.    Purchase the credits at a low cost and you’ll have a large library of icon sets to choose from.

AppStorm

If you’re a Mac fan, check out this site.  They have a section for “50 Unusually Awesome Icon Sets for Mac”.

Crystal Clear Icon Set

Although there are not that many choices, you’ll find an icon or two useful for your website.  The icons are focused on icons for Computer Applications, Devices, and File Systems.

123 Free Vectors

Not just for icons, but this site includes an excellent collection of vector images.

Google Image Search

Of course, if can’t find your icons, then GOOGLE.   The key to finding good icons in Google is finding the proper search string.  It usually takes several tries before finding the right icon for your needs.

Got others?   Post your sites here, I’d love to hear more that are commonly used.

Tarheels are National Champs! UNC Stylesheet and Designs

Two days later… the excitement still lingers from the game Monday night where UNC defeated Michigan State for the NCAA National Championship!   Typically, I would have been on Franklin st. cheering “Tar…” and waiting for the other half the street to chant “Heels!” back at me.   But after looking at this video, I was content with being a spectator from my living room couch for this chaotic celebration!

Screenshot from DTH Video of Franklin St. Chapel Hill - National Championship NCAA

I’m proud of our UNC team and the job that Roy has done since the 2005 National Championship.

That said, I’ve seen many people doing graphic design work that has a UNC theme.   I have seen people make t-shirts, websites, and print designs that have UNC colors and different logos.  They all look great, but there’s something missing.

I just wanted to mention that there is an official stylesheet for UNC.   For such a large institution, it is important that this was made available for consistant branding.  Their stylesheet consists of information that help you design your work with the true Carolina colors and logos.  For example, the true shade of Carolina Blue color is Pantone 278.

The other colors that are used by Carolina are:
Tar Heels Deep Blue: Pantone 282
Tar Heels Silver: Pantone 877
Tar Heels Metallic Silver: Pantone 429

Those pieces are the most important to me.   They also have various logos that shouldn’t be altered as well.   Apparently, you have to get permission to use them.

Here’s the link to where their stylesheet guide lives:
http://www.licensing.unc.edu

So next time you make a new computer desktop background or design that new banner, make sure to use the ‘true’ Carolina Blue colors!    Feel free to post any designs you have, I’d love to see them!

Go Heels!

Welcome!

Welcome to the first posting of my Goodtravel Design blog!!   This blog has been created to share my thoughts on design, lifehacking, technology, and any other interesting information I think about or run into.

I am in the process of finishing off my website before it launches in a few weeks.   I’m very excited about this, as it has taken me 7 years to finally get a website together for myself!   I’ll make sure to post a global announcement about this.

In addition to the launching of the Goodtravel Design website, I’m excited that I have taken on a new website project from my sister, Sherrie and her husband, Steve.   We are in the infant stages of planning right now – logo concepts and corporate branding.  It should be an exciting project.   I’m glad to be part of starting their new business.

Welcome again, feel free to leave a comment or message to say hello!