Well, Friday again – and I’m going a little different route. I normally talk in code and software and pixels and DPI, but today – let’s talk art. Shall we?

With a minor degree in illustration and art history, I am a bit of an art buff. As a freelance designer, I’ve found that the most cathartic thing I can do is to pick up my sketch book and start doodling. It can be a sketch for a logo or a brochure layout, or it might be a line drawing of my daughter asleep. I’ve found that doodling and drawing help me break my linear thought and help the creativity come back into whatever I’m working on. Time out of mind, to quote Bob Dylan.

Now – I understand that not everyone is as comfortable around pen and paper (or brushes and canvas) as I am, but I simply have to suggest getting your feet wet. It’s a wonderful, satisfying way to get (or keep) the inspiration and juices flowing.

I’ve found a few places that have some pretty nice tutorials on drawing and painting. Click here to dig it, or you can Google for your …

Sometimes, getting information out of a client can be a little like pulling teeth. Generally, they’re not sure what they’re looking for, and they havn’t thought the project out fully. You have to do a little hand-holding as a freelance designer, and picking a client’s brain can be frustrating.

When you set out to design a logo (or anything for that matter), there are a few questions you need to ask the client – and these questions will help you avoid spinning wheels and a lot of wasted roughs. Getting as much information up front will help you keep things going smoothly, and the information will help train your client to think about their project in a lot of different aspects, which will ultimately help you knock out their design a lot quicker.

You can download a sample logo design questionnaire here. I’ve used this one on many projects, and I’ve been suprised how much it’s helped – and how much time it’s saved me.

It’s a simple form, and I’m giving you a Word version along with a PDF. Customize it and use it for your projects. It works – and it will really …

I love to loathe Microsoft, so any way that I can stick it to ‘em, I take…

But, at the same time, you’ve got to admit that they make rather ubiquitous software, and as a freelance designer, I have to keep copies of everything that clients and potential clients might use. Don’t ask me about Publisher – I won’t answer.

Microsoft Office is NOT free – quite far from it – but there are a couple of really nice, really slick and totally compatible office suites out there.

First up is a Mac-only product – NeoOffice. It’s got pretty much anything you could possibly be looking for with the actual Office suite – word processor, spreadsheets, database and presentation software, plus it’s totally compatible with all of Microsoft’s products. You can open and save directly to Word files, PowerPoint files, Excel, etc. It doesn’t contain an email client, but there’s a million of those out there that are better than Entourage. Best of all, it’s free – and it keeps my beautiful brushed aluminum machine free of the scourge of Microsoft.

Secondly is a great free product – an open-source project called OpenOffice. It’s got versions …

Well, I’m finally getting around to putting up some free downloads for designers. Joy!

First up is a general contract. If you’re not using an online service that offers built-in contract protection(Guru, Elance, etc,) you MUST have a contract before you start any work. It not only protects you, but it gives your clients peace of mind that they will get precisely what they pay for.

The more detailed you can be (and you can get as minute with the project details as you want – just add more paper) the better off you’ll be, and it’ll be less likely that you run into the dreaded doing-more-than-I-agreed-to syndrome that seems to haunt us all.

The contract that’s here is, by no means, iron clad and leakproof – but it’s been good enough to get me out of more than one pinch, and usually, the signing of a contract is enough to guarantee that your client isn’t going to bail on you.

One word of advice for all freelancers – and I’ve learned this the hard way: If your client won’t sign a contract, DO NOT DO WORK FOR THEM. It’s not worth it. You might not get burned, …

Software is expensive, and as a freelance graphic designer, the latest version of the big name software might be a little out of reach at times. So, I present you with a real – and FREE – alternative to some of the really expensive stuff.

ArtRage 2.5 is a really cool program. Very natural, nice tools, pressure sensitive if you have a tablet, and it works on all platforms. And it runs smoothly without a ton of ram or the latest processor. Works on laptops and little machines. Sweet! Free!

Well – the started edition is free. The full version is $25. But the starter edition is really pretty stinking cool. It’s not Photoshop – but then again, what is? It’s got lots of tools and feels pretty natural. If you’re into painting and illustration (like I am) you’ll appreciate the ability to be fluid. I think I’m going to pony up and get the full version – just to have a little bit of fun. It’s cheaper than canvas.

Here’s a screen grab of a self-portrait in progress – click for full resolution:

And here’s a little detail. There’s almost as many brush strokes as wrinkles:
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