5 Essential Document Templates for Freelance Designers Link
17th November 2009 2 Comments http://sam.brown.tc/405
As a freelance web designer it makes sense to have a number of documents prepared as you tend to use the same ones over and over again. I thought I would share with you the 5 documents that I have prepared and ready to use, along with some excellent examples from other designers and studios.
Everything from a Website Planner and Contract, to Email templates and Invoices, some good resources here for the freelancers among us.
Lee Munroe shares 5 Essential Document Templates for Freelance Designers →
Rethinking The Fold - Presentation Ammunition Link
21st October 2009 1 Comment http://sam.brown.tc/402
The Fold is one of those mystical discussion points that I’m sure many of us have had to argue discuss with clients, thankfully Chuck Mallott has put together this fantastic little PDF presentation that I will definitely be using as future ammunition with my clients. You can see Chuck’s Rethinking the Fold presentation at his site or download a copy from SlideShare.
Xbox Sam - me and my Xbox 360 gaming escapades Link
29th August 2009 6 Comments http://sam.brown.tc/395
I have long been an Xbox 360 gamer and of late have been wanting to write a little about my experiences with it, game reviews and more. A few weeks back I launched another site to house all of that content: Xbox Sam. If you are a gamer yourself or fancy having a look at my first site that utilises Typekit head on over and check it out. /End Public Service Announcement.
David Airey's Design Pricing Formula Link
17th August 2009 3 Comments http://sam.brown.tc/393
I really like David Airey’s recent article on the ever evolving and on-going struggle of pricing with his rather interesting Design pricing formula.
level of expertise + project specification + turnaround time + service and support + level of demand + current economy + physical location = TOTAL COST
Read David Airey’s Design pricing formula →
Your guess is as good as mine as to what each of these numeric values are, but these are all definitely things worth considering when working out a price. I’d be interested to hear peoples thoughts on how the current economy and physical location should affect prices?
Elliot Jay Stocks on The Font-as-Service Link
7th August 2009 Be the first to comment... http://sam.brown.tc/391
“… we are now entering the age of the font-as-service: where the font becomes synonymous with web hosting, mobile data plans, and movie rentals. No longer fixed, fonts will be borrowed, subscribed to, removed, expanded upon, and provided on-the-fly.”
Elliot writes a great piece at i love typography on fonts as a service, with TypeKit and FontDeck paving the way forward the future of typography on the web looks great — albeit there are a still a host of unanswered questions regarding pricing, security and scalability.
Collecting deposits or retainers before starting work is a must! Link
16th July 2009 9 Comments http://sam.brown.tc/390
FreeAgent ran a survey for freelancers that ended last month and the results are in!
FreeAgent Central presents the results of our Freelancer Report 2009: a survey into the experiences and attitudes of freelancers and small businesses in the current financial climate.
Part 1: Just the Facts, Ma’am provides overall results for each of the survey questions asked, and Part 2: Who’s Feeling the Pinch? reveals what happened when we cross-referenced how you felt about the credit crunch against your industry, how long you’d been in business, and other factors.
Astonishingly in Part 1, Graph 1.8 ‘Do you collect deposits or retainers before starting work?’ reports that over 50% of people do not collect a deposit before they start work, this really shocked me! Roan let me know that this number is in no way skewed by small business owners and that the percentage is very similar for just freelancers. Scary stuff, I hope that everyone reading this takes deposits before they start any work?
I feel most inspired... and Elliot Jay Stocks Link
26th June 2009 4 Comments http://sam.brown.tc/387
Gavin Elliot recently asked 30 Designers 1 Question – Where are you most inspired? – Slightly embarrassingly my answer includes the shower, but this is an interesting question as the vast array of answers really pushes me to want to explore other venues of possible inspiration.
Build Internet’s Pricing Bootcamp is a fantastic series of articles covering pricing methods and philosophies for freelance and small business owners, definitely worth reading.
Rogie King has released his Social Network Icon Pack that I have been using down there in my sidebar for several weeks now. These are some of the nicest social networking icons around and the entire pack includes 80 different networks and larger 32px versions.
Lastly, my good friend Elliot Jay Stocks redesigned his site and I’m happy to report he too is pushing the boundaries of what is possible with some rather nifty next-gen techniques. View in Safari naturally for the best possible result. A truly wonderful redesign.
Google's replacement to Quicksilver, by Quicksilver author Link
9th June 2009 6 Comments http://sam.brown.tc/384
I have long been looking for a viable Quicksilver replacement since the development petered out, so I was plenty happy when Google finally announced QSB by none other than Nicholas Jitkoff, Quicksilvers author.
Service Industry Day Rates Explained Link
15th May 2009 Be the first to comment... http://sam.brown.tc/380
If you like numbers this post has a great break down on why you would hire a freelancer or consultant and how day rates work. Not the be all and end all on the subject but worthy of a read for sure.
Understanding Day Rates used by Service Industries →
(via On Pricing – An ongoing discussion of web app pricing strategies by Paul Farnell, founder of Litmus.)
Tweetie for Mac - A leap in the right direction Link
20th April 2009 3 Comments http://sam.brown.tc/373
Loren Brichter released the eagerly anticipated Tweetie for Mac → yesterday to much well deserved fanfare. Tweetie is an all-encompassing Twitter client that essentially removes the need to ever visit the actual website ever again, this is something I struggled to do with other Twitter clients. As a 1.0 release it is a very mature app and one I am continuing to enjoy using, be sure to check it out if you haven’t already.