It’s May and that means graduation time. Congrats to all the students leaving college to become professional designers.

I’m working on a series of posts geared towards new design graduates. But first, I’d like to know what aching questions you have now that you’re fresh out of school. What useful advice do you need? What do you want to know about finding a job? What worries you the most?

No questions are stupid, so speak up. Email me, or post your questions in the comments. I’ll pick out the compelling ones and answer them in future posts.

I’m fed up with Photoshop and its one billion rarely-used features.

How about a simple photo-editor that’s quick, easy, and doesn’t cost a thousand dollars. Fortunately, there’re tons of web-based photos editors popping up. Most are crap, but some are promising. Check out these free web-based Photoshop alternatives:

1. Picnik

Arguably, Picnik is the most popular web-based photo editor. Why? Because it’s now integrated with Flickr.

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Posted in: Photoshop, Web

From Erik

Posted in: Design, Retro, Typography

When designing anything to accomodate names–”such as a business card, an address book, or a project management app–”don’t forget about Wolfgang Wienerschnitzelhaus.

Why?

Because he’s a got really really long name.

And he won’t be the only one.

So while everyone else cozies up to the boring John Does of this world, make sure you’re best friends with the intriguingly complicated, Wolfgang Wienerschnitzelhaus

Photo by thegloaming

Posted in: Design, Interfaces

Kyle Meyer of Astheria has an excellent post on why online portfolios just plain suck. He must be reading my mind, because I was just about to write about my intense hatred for online portfolios. Thankfully, Kyle’s saved me the trouble.

He’s combed 200 online portfolios to find these 7 common mistakes:

1. Bad navigation
2. Zoomed and cropped thumbnails
3. “Mystery meat” squares
4. No phone number
5. No email
6. No contact info of any kind
7. Background music

Amen, brother. I’d also add three more to Kyle’s list:

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Posted in: Design, Portfolios

I’ve been up to the wee hours designing, coding, and writing. The result? Two weeks of terrible, awful sleep. So if you’re in the same boat, this week’s roundup for you. Here’s 10 tips to help you sleep like a baby:

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Posted in: Lifehacks, Sleep