Does a believable handwritten font exist? I’m on the search. The problem is when you actually write something out, no two letters are exactly the same, like they are with a font. The pressure points and thickness of the writing utensil also varies.

If it’s not that much type, I will find a font I am happy with, type out the text, print it out, trace or write over it on tracing paper, and then scan it in. Tracing the text allows me to keep a fairly uniform size, write in a straight line, and not misspell; while giving it enough inconsistency to make it believable. It makes me laugh when someone asks what font I used.

But in this particular case, there are 10,000 envelopes that need addressed, and I cannot write out all those addresses. So I am sorting through thousands of fonts to find the best handwritten font I can find.

Do you have a believable handwritten font you would like to share?

After searching for two months, I landed a perfect new job. I was starting to feel a little hopeless, and then all the sudden I had four interviews and two offers in one week. I was very excited to accept the offer from Waterfront Communities, Inc. to be their Graphic/Web Designer.

Waterfront Communities has developed and marketed 36 luxury waterfront communities in the southern United States. My primary job will be to redesign/update some of the websites for the communities that they are currently marketing, here is one: http://summerhousenc.com/. They are currently outsourcing all of their print material to design firms, but the hope is to bring it in-house, which I think is a great idea.

GMarks - Do you use more than one computer and wish you had all your bookmarks in one place? Firefox has a great add-on to sync and manage all your bookmarks.

mygazines.com - For those of you cheapskates, like myself, there is now a free place to browse, share, archive and customize unlimited magazine articles uploaded by you.

forwebdesigners.com - helpful links for web designers

jumpola.com - lists many of the sources a graphic/web designer wants easy access to

benjaminkrain.com- Inspirational photojournalist - Benjamin Krain

logolounge.com - you can quickly search through thousands of logos created by designers and firms known and unknown, as well as upload your own logos.

A common question that I get asked is, “Where do you get your inspiration?” I should really start answering, “Where don’t I get inspiration from? It’s everywhere!” There are many sources of inspiration for a designer/artist. From commercials, internet, peers, to everyday life. Inspiration is everywhere, you just need to realize it and capture it.

When I am in between projects, I try to spend my time searching around the internet using StumbleUpon and bookmarking my favorite sites with GMarks, browsing around AIGA.org, learning new tutorials for the different programs I use, picking up print materials that interest me, subscribing to graphic design firms’ newsletters, visiting bookstores to flip through graphic design books, purchasing graphic design books/magazines, and many others. Some of my favorite magazines: Communication Arts, HOW, Print, I.D., Step, and GD USA. While most are costly, you can usually get the first issue free, and cancel your subscription if you are not happy with it. Some of the books that have helped me are: “Graphic Design that works” by Rockport, “Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works” by Erick Spiekermann & E.M. Giner, “Best of Brochure Design” by Jason Godfrey, and many others. If I had the funds to fill a library of my own, I would. I like going to the bookstore to look through them and then buy cheaper from amazon.com.

When I’m working on a project, I can be going for a jog, out shopping, or watching TV and all the sudden and idea will just hit me; sometimes even out of the blue, which I know usually happens to most of us designers. When the mind is free to wander it will! I have a handy little note pad that I keep with me at all times, so I write my ideas down so I don’t forget them.

Where do you get inspiration from?

I did things a little backwards, I started journaling before I realized I wanted to add a blog to my website. That is why I have past articles and I am just now making my blog live.

My mind usually never rests, I am always thinking up some new creative project that I want to work on. I enjoy learning new things, sharing with others, and continuing to grow as an individual and a professional graphic designer. This blog will not only be about graphic design, but also art, photography and anything else that falls under creative. I am a creative thinker at heart, and I did not want to limit this to just graphic design, because there is more to me than that.

Keep up with my journey of exploring my creative ideas. Please feel free to comment on the posts. Add this blog to your RSS feed! Thanks for reading.

– Amy Lynn

Click image to see it at 100%

The current College of Computing at UNC Charlotte’s website was created about seven years ago, so it is in desperate need of a redesign. I searched around to find out what other universities were doing with their subpages for colleges and departments. Blogs and newsfeeds are becoming hot, so I knew I wanted to have that in there somewhere (they also help webpages come up higher up on the search engines). Another trend is having large images that change every few seconds with a short description. Movement and images are the main things that catch someone’s attention right away.

I started by reorganizing the site’s infrastructure to be more user friendly. I tried to keep it in line with the main UNCC’s web design and colors, so you can still tell you are at UNCC. It will be a definite improvement to the current CCI’s webpage, which a technology based college really needs to be up with current standards.

411fit is a free website dedicated to providing tools and information needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle that will go live to students and faculty of UNCC near the end of August.

They wanted some banner ads to go in the website to advertise the 411fit features, UNCC benefits related to health/fitness, and a green tips section.

The 411fit web design is photography based, so I grabbed some free stock photos to work with. I wanted each section to have a distinct design while keeping a general theme and fit nicely with the existing web design. Since the 411fit and UNCC sections had logos, I thought it was appropriate to create a simple logo for green tips.

I find so many awesome websites, sometimes very random, but I feel the need to share! I will come up with a list few of my favorite finds and post them near the end of each month. Enjoy!

stumbleupon.com - StumbleUpon discovers web sites based on your interests.

bubblecalendar.com - a poster-sized calendar with a bubble to pop everyday

weheartstuff.co.uk - an online lifestyle magazine dedicated to spotting the latest trends and hunting out the coolest new products, places, events and exhibitions.

charlottecultureguide.com - is the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region’s comprehensive, up-to-date website featuring arts and cultural events and attractions.

webdesignerwall.com - a wall of design ideas, web trends, and tutorials.

designmeltdown.com - design Elements, trends, and problems in web design