Posts Tagged ‘graphic design’
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

In June, we announced that we would be issuing a monthly cS Award to honor quality work by designers and writers in the crowdSPRING community.
We are thrilled to announce that July’s award will go to cloud168, who had the site’s highest average Buyer score for the month!
cloud168 has been a crowdSPRING member since October, 2008 and comes from Indonesia. We are proud to have him in our community as a wonderful Creative and are proud that he will receive the $1,000 cS Award for July.
Thanks to everyone who participated last month, and special thanks to cloud168, and congratulations on winning the cS Award!
Image: cloud168
Tags: crowdspring, cS Award, design, graphic design, graphics design, graphics designer, writing
Posted in Awesomeness, community, crowdsourcing, design | 19 Comments »
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011
The August cS Award of $1,000 will be given to a designer who does the most to upgrade their crowdSPRING portfolio in the next 4 weeks.
To be eligible, you must upload, during the month of August, at least five (5) new portfolio items. In case of a tie, the award will go to the creative who has the highest average buyer score for their entries in August.
You do not need to win a project to be eligible for the August award.
Good luck to everyone!
Tags: community, crowdsourcing, crowdspring, cS Award, design, graphic design, graphic designer
Posted in Awesomeness, community, crowdsourcing, design, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Monday, July 11th, 2011
In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice.
We’re very proud to feature MJ (crowdSPRING username: UpQuark) today. MJ lives and works in the desert southwest of the US.

1. Please tell us about yourself.
My name is MJ (I’m a female “Junior”). Contrary to popular belief, I was not spawned, but rather hatched in the northeast region of the US. I live in the desert southwest US, and am the youngest of four girls who, oddly and inexplicably, were not hatched. The explanation is classified, even to me.
Okay, so random tidbit (or is it random? We’ll see…): I’m ambidextrous. Not in a perfect-handwriting-with-either-hand kind of way, because my handwriting isn’t… oh wait! My handwriting is equally bad with either hand, so there ya have it. Clarification issue solved.
I actually do believe that my ambidexterity translates into everything I do, in that my logical and creative sides tend to balance each other out, or slap each other around, depending on what’s needed. I’m often frenetically creative and possess hyperfocus superpowers (unless I see something shiny, and not in a girly way; I mean like futuristic spacecraft shiny. Or escaped mercury). My sister and I can riff on creative ideas faster than a… something really fast, or get extremely excited about something really geeky. If I get too hyped, there’s cheap entertainment to be had. Think superball let loose on a vibrating surface.
So, linear background.
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Tags: 12 questions, blog, community, creative, creativity, crowdsourcing, crowdspring, design, designer, graphic design, graphics design, graphics designer, inspiration, interview, logo, logo design, logos, MJ, UpQuark, weekly glance of awesomeness
Posted in Awesomeness, community, crowdsourcing, design, inspiration, Interviews, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
The July cS Award of $1,000 will be given to a designer or writer who has the highest average buyer score for all entries they submit to crowdSPRING projects during July.
To be eligible, you must participate, during the month of July, in at least five (5) projects on crowdSPRING and submit at least ten (10) entries total.
You do not need to win a project to be eligible for the July award.
Good luck to everyone!
Tags: crowdspring, cS Award, design, graphic design, web design, wriitng
Posted in Awesomeness, community, crowdsourcing, Site Updates | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
Last month we announced that we would be issuing a monthly cS Award to honor quality work by designers and writers in the crowdSPRING community. The first award was to go the the designer or writer who was awarded at least one project during the month of June, and who had the highest average buyer score for all their entries submitted to projects last month.
We are thrilled to announce that June’s award will go to iSergio, who had a perfect buyer score of 5.0! iSergio won the project “Zappta ecommerce project” for which he was awarded all three of the awards offered. iSergio has been a crowdSPRING member since August, 2009 and comes from Kiev, Ukraine. We are proud to have him in our community as a wonderful Creative and are proud that he will receive the $1,000 cS Award for June.
Thanks, iSergio, and congratulations on winning the first monthly cS Award!
Image: iSergio
Tags: contest, creativity, crowdspring, cS Award, graphic design, graphics design, graphics designer, inspiration, leadership
Posted in Awesomeness, community, inspiration, Site Updates | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Starting this June, crowdSPRING will have monthly cS Awards to honor quality work by designers and writers in the crowdSPRING community.
At the beginning of each month, we’ll announce the criteria for that month’s cS Award – we’ll do our best to keep it simple and objective – and to focus on honoring quality work.
The June cS Award of $1,000 will be given to a designer or writer who is awarded at least one project on crowdSPRING during the month of June and who has the highest average buyer score for all entries they submitted to projects during June. If there’s a tie, the tiebreaker will go to the creative who participated in the most projects during June.
Tags: crowdspring, cS Award, design, graphic design, web design, writing
Posted in Awesomeness, community, crowdsourcing, Site Updates | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice.
We’re very proud to feature Keith Woodruff (crowdSPRING username: Dayshift) today. Keith lives and works in Akron, Ohio.

1. Please tell us about yourself.
I am an ex ad agency writer and am freelancing now as gRasShoPpEr Communication. (The big and small font is an e.e. cummings thing.) My hobbies are, in this order I suppose, reading and writing, fishing, hor
ror movies, craft beer (all hail Lagunitas) and jogging to run off the beer – and to smooth out the edges. I have two Border Terriers, Otty and Indy, and am haunted by the ghosts of my cats Katie and Paisley. My first love was the ocean, the Pacific, even though during my childhood there the Zodiac Killer was hiding down every path. One of my favorite foods is Blind Robins. I makes em and eats em, much to the disgust of everyone around. (If you have to ask you’ll be sorry.)
2. How did you become interested in writing?
I would have to say reading made me interested in writing. (Have always been an avid reader.) I read Of Mice and Men in high school and was devastated, in a good way if that makes any sense. I thought, if I could ever write a story this gorgeous that would be quite an accomplishment. Then there was the whole Stephen King thing.
3. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your writing?
… Third base. I think the word play of classic comedy had a big influence on my advertising writing. I remember loving the word gags of Abbott and Costello as a kid (and still do.) as well as Laurel and Hardy and imitated their style of word play whenever I could. Later Steve Martin, George Carlin, Steven Wright, more wordsmiths. I think that that love of word play and sense of humor about language helped me with some of my best headlines and also makes it hard to get a straight answer out of me—or so I am constantly told.
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Tags: 12 questions, ads, advertising, blog, branding, community, copywriting, creative, creativity, crowdspring, Dayshift, design, graphic design, graphics design, inspiration, interview, Keith Woodruff, marketing, weekly glance of awesomeness, writing
Posted in Awesomeness, community, crowdsourcing, inspiration, Interviews, Uncategorized, writing | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice.
We’re very proud to feature zaxgarner (crowdSPRING username: zaxgarner) today. He lives and works in North Carolina.

Hey cS Community!
Thanks for the opportunity to join you today.
Life has been busy, so I will drop a few brief lines for a quick read & then we can all get back to designing!
1. Please tell us about yourself.
I’m a self described simple man…. 02′ Grad Appalachian State University (the real ASU…in Boone NC) – I think this was also Kevin’s ol’ stomping ground! I majored in Graphic Design & Marketing… in an attempt to balance the business side with the creative. The design
department was big on typography & fine art ‘which was a huge plus’. I took classes in casting, photography, clays, & metals etc… I think I could have got by with a little less art history though! The marketing courses were awesome, I enjoyed learning how design/creative work enters our marketplace & society.
Former Rowdy Kid, Construction worker, Repo-Man, & Tattoo artist…. To Graphic Designer. Also a converted Christian since 04′ attempting to operate under Col.3:17.
2. How did you become interested in design?
I started my design career with non-commissioned murals. You know; crayons on walls etc… & tracing drawing books to keep up with my older brothers. I won a few art contests in kindergarten & found out that this design thing could pay off – The hook was set!
3. What is your favorite project from the past year?
In listening to a podcast I found out Concealment Solutions – in Orem Utah was hosting an independent T-Shirt design competition for their best selling concealment holster – ‘The Black Mamba’. In working with the owner we got the Tee nailed down & the project evolved into a complete branding package for: Concealment Solution’s primary logo, Misc. Product logos, Business cards & web headers etc… I still have a great working relationship with them… with future projects on the horizon! They sent a me a bunch of gear as an added bonus!
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Tags: 12 questions, community, creative, crowdsourcing, crowdspring, design, designer, graphic design, graphics design, graphics designer, illustration, inspiration, interview, logo, logo design, logos, weekly glance of awesomeness, zaxgar.com, zaxgarner
Posted in Awesomeness, community, crowdsourcing, design, inspiration, Interviews, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, April 15th, 2011
If you are a creative, you know the galleries in projects can be filled with page after page of designs, and everyone is trying to stand out from the crowd. There are several techniques you can use to display your designs that may help draw the eye of the buyer and the decision makers on their team.
First, you need to start with your brilliant design idea. Next – display your concept in a way that will capture attention. Here are a few ideas…
Versatility
For logo projects, it is important that your design is versatile enough to work wherever a company will want to use it. The design will need to work on the web, in print, and on many other types of collateral.
For true flexibility, show that the logo can work in color, on a dark background and light background, and in back and white.
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Tags: branding, community, creative, creativity, crowdsourcing, crowdspring, design, designer, graphic design, graphics design, graphics designer, inspiration, logo, logo design, logos, Strategy, weekly glance of awesomeness
Posted in Awesomeness, design, How To, inspiration, Strategy, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice.
We’re very proud to feature Shawndra Renée Cox (crowdSPRING username: OOPS) today. Shawndra lives and works in Lodi, NJ.

1. Please tell us about yourself.
My name is Shawndra Renée Cox. I currently live and work in Lodi, NJ, but I was born and raised in Queens, NY. I am a single mother, a lover of all things creative and became a registered business owner at the age of 26 (technically, I was still 25 but turned 26, twenty-nine days later). I can’t say that my path to running my own business was something I knowingly set out on so much as it was a really cool, unexpected place I ended up at after taking a wrong turn somewhere. Well, maybe not a wrong turn. It was more like being forced to taking a detour due to major road construction.
As soon as I graduated from college, I applied for jobs, went on interviews and got rejected by every studio and firm I visited. Over the course of about 4 years, there were at least 30 places that I went to in person. Some places I had actual appointments with. Others, I just walked in with my portfolio and resume and tried to shake someone’s hand. Plus, you can tack on the 50+ places I sent my resume to that I just never heard from lol.
All the while, I was picking up work from random people on craigslist and friends of friends that were trying to start their own businesses. They were always quick jobs though, and with my newborn son, I was more focused on finding something steady and stable rather than searching for the next gig to maintain for the moment.
So, finally, I landed in a small photography studio in Queens. It was 17.2 miles away from the Manhattan office I had always pictured myself in and it was about 5 times smaller. Still, they liked my work and I created some really cool things there. That was until they stopped being able to keep up with their expenses and I ended up without a job. That was when I got hit with the choice (yet again) to get a job that I could somehow convince myself was still “art related” or dig in and fight to do the design work I wanted to, full time. That’s (the short version of) how my studio was born.
2. How did you become interested in design?
Drawing was always a major part of my childhood. I used to watch “Imagination Station” with Mark Kistler as the host. I would follow along and draw with him probably at the age of 5 or 6. He always had the cutest little cartoon creatures and was really big on “foreshortening” and “shading.” I learned how to incorporate both techniques into my drawings early on. Looking back, I was able to keep up with his pace and did a decent job of copying most of the characters he made up.
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Tags: 12 questions, community, creative, creativity, crowdspring, design, designer, graphic design, graphics design, graphics designer, illustration, inspiration, interview, logo, logo design, logos, OOPS, Shawndra Cox, small business, weekly glance of awesomeness
Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, Uncategorized | No Comments »