Eric's Graphic Design Blog

Our recent poll showed that "dealing with difficult clients" is the #1 least favorite thing about being a graphic designer... 33% thought so. Here are several tips for handling sticky situations:

• What To Do When a Client Insists on a Particular Style or Design: Clients will often insist on making certain creative decisions, even when your expertise as a designer will benefit the project. Explain yourself clearly to keep the project on track and the client happy.
• What To Do When a Client Will Not Pay: Getting clients to pay on time can sometimes be difficult, but it's important to keep the relationship going while getting paid in full.
• What To Do When You Want to Raise Your Hourly Rates: There is nothing wrong with raising your hourly rate, and learning how to tell clients will keep them on board and earn you more money.

Olympic logos (of some sort) date back to 1896. I found a full list of them and couldn't help but pick my favorites... Mexico '68, Montreal '76 and L.A. '84 (maybe just because it takes me back). The most recent ones aren't doing as much for me, though London 2012 certainly is different. What are you favorites?

Sometimes the best way to break out of a creative slump, or to just take a break for that matter, is to talk about things OTHER than design for a change. If you're ever sitting at home, a solo freelancer perhaps, looking to do just that, check out the water cooler in the forums. Of course, if you want to stay on topic, you can get plenty of feedback and tips in there too.

I find inspiration from many sources and all kinds of great design. One of my favorite blogs to read is Apartment Therapy... while not specifically focused on graphic design, there is plenty in there in terms of product design, furniture, and anything for your home. Aside from seeing what other people's apartments look like (check out some of their home tours), the often-updated and very popular blog is a interesting source of inspiration from a field outside of our own, though often overlapping.

Working in graphic design is great... but it's still a business and I'm sure all of us have something we don't like about it. Share your LEAST favorite part of being a designer below, or add others in the comments.

We can all appreciate the Etch A Sketch... for many graphic designers today it may be one of the first methods of creating artwork they used, perhaps after crayons but certainly before the Apple IIc. George Vlosich III played around with it as a kid too, but quickly discovered his amazing Etch A talent. His impressive Etch A Sketch artwork is hard to believe, and others agree including President Clinton and Michael Jordon... George has done work for both. Click through his portfolio to be amazed at what can be done with two knobs and one continuous line.

As a .Mac account holder for quite some time, I'm adjusting to Apple's rebranding to "MobileMe." They're clearly taking it from a pro tool to the masses, and certainly invested in it by acquiring me.com. The one main feature Apple has gotten rid of is being able to access bookmarks online, from anywhere. This came in handy several times when trying to show someone a site that I had bookmarked at home or work. Aside from that, it looks like they've put a nice new face and name to the old .Mac, and as a supporter of the service I think it will be great if more people are syncing files and sharing photos.

Gui Borchert is an art director with an amazing body of work, for clients ranging from Nike to Absolut Vodka. He got his start in Brazil and eventually made an impact on many international brands. While most people couldn't get away with a website that is just two pages with a lot of scrolling (and not just the up and down kind), the design itself stands out and the tagline "because scrolling is fun" certainly doesn't hurt. Be sure to click around for additional screenshots and videos.

"Design is Kinky" is a simple site, mostly built to showcase great illustrators and artists and design events. The simplicity is what I really like about this site, as it's a good place to turn to if you just feel like browsing some portfolios or are looking for inspiration. There is very little content on the actual site, but if you're looking for quality work from around the web, check it out.

I recently discovered Ork Posters' city neighborhood collection, offered in both poster and screen print versions. The concept behind them is simple... maps of cities divided up by neighborhood. Their great use of type and color, however, make these posters great works of art and perfect for showing off your city love. Check them out at Ork Posters.