Author Archives: Kevin Wilson
Arsenal Army Members, we hope you can join us for WMC: Off-The-Grid! Read More ›
As a special gift, we are giving our Arsenal subscribers (brand new and old) these super cool Arsenal patches during the month of May. This was all made possible through a partnership with our friends at Patch Superstore. If you’d be so kind, make sure to thank Patch Superstore with a quick tweet here:
[Tweet “Thank you for the awesome Arsenal patch @patchsuperstore! From a @go_media Arsenal Member!”]
To receive your patch, make sure you are subscribed to our Arsenal membership!
If you need to reactivate your subscription, here are a couple ways to do it:
- If your account is on hold, follow these instructions.
- If your account is cancelled, head to My Account (upper right-hand side of your screen), View Orders, Subscriptions. Next click “View” to view your cancelled subscription, and
click into “Resubscribe” to get going again.
If you need further assistance, email Heather at [email protected], find her on chat or call her at 216.939.0000 x 239. Please have the email associated with your account on hand.
Interested in helping support arts education programming for kids? This is the design challenge for you!
To take part, create a coffee cup design as outlined in the PDF attached. The winner will receive a coffee cup with their design on it, as well as the satisfaction of knowing their design will be produced on cups that will be raffled off in gift baskets at Go Media’s upcoming Creativity at Work fundraiser in support of the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning. One hundred percent of proceeds will be going to ensuring that children here in Cleveland who need arts programming the most receive it!
Here is all the info you need, including where and when to send your final design >> Design Challenge #5
Enjoy and make sure to share your work with us on the We Are Weapons Facebook Page!
Design Challenge #5 is thanks to Arsenal Member Michael Garrett of Xtreme Custom Graphics, who is generously donating his time, efforts and printing talents to us this month!
Hey Arsenal Members, we cannot wait to meet up with all of you for our next Google Hangout!
This month, we’ll be chatting with Wesley Hoffman, founder of Treehouse Networkshop. Wesley believes in the power of meeting people in person. After a few years of working in customer service and sales, across several different industries, he decided to follow his true passion: connecting and motivating people. Wesley can field questions about how the power of connecting with others can truly enhance your business and how to network (even if it’s the last thing you want to do.) You won’t want to miss it.
If you love this hangout, we’ll make it a monthly thing. Hope to see you all there!
Find us at this link on Wednesday, May 23rd from 6:30pm to 7:30pm EST. If you’d like to be added to the calendar invite, just send Heather an email at [email protected] and she’ll add you!
Graphic Design Bundle
It’s a great month to be a member of Go Media’s Arsenal subscription. Not only do you have access to our entire library for only $15/mth, but you are able to download this month’s special graphic design bundle of products at no extra charge.
Members: Download now (no extra charge)
Not an Arsenal Member yet? Join now and gain instant access to our entire library, including this bundle, for only $15.
Get it for $15 when you subscribe
Not interested in our membership? No worries. You can still purchase this bundle for 60% off the original price, now through 3/31/2018 – or the individual products inside of it, on their own.
What’s Included in this Graphic Design Bundle by Go Media’s Arsenal:
Pricing your design work
Thanks to all who attended our second Google Hangout, featuring Go Media President William Beachy and Account Manager Lauren Hudac. During the Hangout, Bill and Lauren fielded questions about pricing design work and how to value that work. We really enjoyed having our Arsenal Members on the chat – such great questions came up and a wonderful discussion was had. Listen to that conversation below and stay tuned to our Private Facebook Group for our next Google Hangout!
A Talk by Lisa Lorek
In today’s Weapons of Mass Creation Fest talk, we highlight hand letterer Lisa Lorek. Lisa Lorek is a lettering artist, muralist, and designer born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Read More ›
Hey Arsenal Friends! Today, we’ll be going over how to create food typography. This tutorial is for beginners by someone who is relatively new to the world of food typography. Let’s explore together!
What you need for this tutorial:
- Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
- A piece of white paper
- A camera (preferably a DSLR)
- Our Coffee Vector Pack
- Our Flourishes 4 Vector Pack
- Sortdecai font from our library (*Or, receive all of these Arsenal products with our Membership!)
- This photo from our friends at Unsplash
Step One: Create a Photoshop document sized 8 x 6 inches. Download Sortdecai font from our library. Type out the word COFE in your document using Sortdeci, filling the doc. Bring the opacity down to about 10%. Print this page out to use as a template. If you’re a Pro and can be assured your F and E will look identical, go ahead and print out a full COFFEE template. If you’re sticking with me, we’ll be using Photoshop to duplicate our F and E letters in step three.
Step Two: Step away from your computer. Here comes the fun part! Pour some coffee grounds out and get ready to make some magic. Using a small paintbrush in combination with an exacto knife to start creating your custom coffee typography. Once you’re finished, use a DSLR to take a sharp macro photo of your piece.
Step Three: Using your magic wand tool in Photoshop, duplicate your F and E to create a full COFFEE lettered piece.
Step Four: Head to Image > Adjustments > Curves. Play with your curves until you achieve the look you’re after, with the coffee grounds appearing as realistic as possible.
Step Five: Delete your background layer. Next, double-click on your coffee art layer to reveal the layer styles box. Under blending options, head down to the slider that reads: This layer under “Blend if Grey.” Slide the white slider down like so until your background disappears. Save this file as a PNG.
Step Six. Open up the photo you downloaded from Unsplash in Photoshop. Place your Coffee PNG into the document, on the right-hand side. Place it where you think it looks best.
Step Seven. I think our work needs a little extra pizazz. So, let’s pull some of our vector elements into the document. Open the Coffee Vector Pack and Flourish 4 Vector Packs up in AI. Place these vectors above the mug, so that your flourish vectors represent steam and the coffee vectors playfully rise above the mug as well. By double clicking on each layer to pull up the layer style menu, I’ve set all of my vectors to divide with a drop shadow of 6%.
And you’re done!
Free Atomic Starburst Vectors
We’ve really been in a retro kind of mood lately, as inspired by a trip to a local vintage shop. What really caught our eye were the starbursts that decorated so many of 1950’s fabrics and bakeware. So, we were inspired to create some free vintage starburst vectors for you. We hope the pack serves you well and gets your motivated to create something fun and dynamic.
If you’re looking for more vintage vectors, click on the vector tab above and explore all that we have to offer, including vintage packs like:
- Our Vintage Elements Vector Pack
- Our Tattooesque Elements Pack
- Our Vintage Cars Vector Pack and our
- Our Vintage Vector Pack to name a few
These packs are each roughly $10 to $12 each. If you love our vectors and are considering purchasing two or more packs, definitely consider becoming a member. When you subscribe to our Arsenal Membership, you gain instant access to our product library, including all of our vectors for only $15 per month.
Now go ahead and download our:
A Talk by Stephanie Irigoyen
In today’s Weapons of Mass Creation Fest talk, we highlight designer Stephanie Irigoyen. Currently residing in Tallahassee, FL, Stephanie is a media specialist for the Florida Center for Interactive Media. Founder of Design Week Tallahassee, she believes strongly in community and in building a better city for yourselves. We brought Stephanie onto the stage after meeting her at WMC Fest 2017 and really loving her energy and enthusiasm for the fest.
During “Nobody Knows,” Stephanie touches on her background, the topic of depression and creativity and some tips for pushing yourself to move outside your comfort zone.
Watch and be motivated to move yourself forward now:
Learn more about Stephanie: Official Site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Propaganda Poster Inspiration Examples
Today, we’re sharing propaganda posters, known to be used as “weapons on the walls,” during times of war. These posters were valuable tools when television and radio did not exist. They were also used to educate, at times manipulate and even motivate in wartime (for example, the well known, “We Can Do It!” wartime poster.)
We hope you find these posters inspiring as you create your own for our third design challenge, open to our Arsenal Army members. If you’d like to join us in all of the fun, please subscribe.
Download our Creative-Brief_-Go-Media-DC-3! Arsenal Army Members, post your results on our Private Facebook page.
To find further inspiration, follow us on Pinterest!
Design and Social Change: a Talk by Jamal Collins
In today’s Weapons of Mass Creation Fest talk, we highlight designer, educator, consultant and mentor Jamal Collins. Jamal is a Visual Design Consultant who teaches at-risk youth graphic design throughout the inner city of Cleveland, Ohio. We are inspired by his work and story, which he shared this past August of 2017 on the Weapons of Mass Creation Fest stage during this talk, Design for Social Change. Read More ›
Retro Supply‘s Dustin Lee shares with us how he went from $35k in debt, creatively frustrated, with his first child on the way, to making over $125k in one year on Creative Market (and making a full-time living selling digital products every year since.) No fluff in this talk. It’s filled with big mindset shifts that will help you easily uncover profitable creative ideas to show you how to make a semi-passive income each month and eliminate the work you hate.
Learn more about how to make money as a freelance designer in this WMC Fest 8 video here:
Learn more about Dustin on his site, Retro Supply, and connect with him on social media –
Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Vimeo | Pinterest | Instagram
I’m so proud to show off the results of Design Challenge #1, our Elysium Cinema Poster Project! Read More ›
Win 2 Big Ticket VIP Passes to HOW Design Live 2018
Go Media’s Arsenal is so excited to be hosting this giveaway thanks to the folks at HOW Design Live. HOW Design Live 2018, happening this April 30 through May 3, 2018 in Boston, is one of the largest annual gatherings of creative professionals in the world. It’s a career-changing, life-altering experience that provides you access to up to 100 educational sessions and keynotes that will change your thinking, radically improve your work and build business and marketing skills essential to your job. During the event you will:
– have access to up to 100 educational sessions and keynotes that will change your thinking, radically improve your work and build business and marketing skills essential to your job
– hear powerful keynotes representing some of the best creative minds in the world
– experience a truly global happening, with nearly 4,000 attendees from every state in the U.S. and from dozens of countries around the world
– have an exclusive opportunity to preview new tools, technologies and products in the industry’s largest exhibit hall
– become part of a creative community that embraces every attendee, validates your work and empowers you to do great things
What you get if you win:
The Big Ticket VIP Pass (onsite ticket price of $2,959) is the highest level ticket to HOW Design Live and includes: all the benefits of the Big Ticket
- Access to all breakout sessions, Keynotes, Exhibit Hall and receptions for all four days
- Plus, you’ll receive audio and video recordings from many of the sessions, included free with your registration“Plus” as a VIP, you will have access to a special Sunday night program just for Big Ticket Plus attendees, a VIP lounge to relax and recharge, VIP seating for all keynotes to assure you get a good seat and a pre-conference concierge service to answer any questions related to the conference. The winner will receive 2 of these Big Ticket VIP passes.Please take the time to learn more about HOW Design Live here and follow them on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn
Here are the rules for the HOW Design Live 2018 Ticket Giveaway: Enter to win 2 Big Ticket VIP passes to the upcoming HOW Design Live – Boston: April 30 to May 3, 2018. Simply enter your email address and like Go Media on social media for your chance at the prize. You may enter once per email address and must be 21 or older to enter. By entering the giveaway, you will be automatically entered into our Arsenal and Weapons of Mass Creation Fest email mailing lists. You must be an active subscriber to both at the time of the drawing win the grand prize. Share the giveaway! For every friend that also enters, you will receive 25 bonus entries. You may also receive 5 extra entries when you visit the WMC Fest Facebook page when prompted. Contest ends on November 28th at 8 a.m. EST. At this time, Woobox will randomly select a winner for us. We ask that our winner send us a photo of them at HOW Design to share on our social media. Best of luck everyone!
Episode Six of our My Top Three features Sergio Anduar, Cleveland area illustrator, character and toy designer, graffiti artist, and graphic designer. Read More ›
Tips for Meeting Copywriting Deadlines
Episode Five of our My Top Three features Go Media’s copywriter Michael Miller. Michael is here to talk about his top three tips for meeting copywriting deadlines. Read More ›
Monthly Design Challenge
Hey Arsenal Army! We are so proud to present our first design challenge, the Elysium Poster Project. This monthly design challenge concept was created in our Facebook Group. Read More ›
Tips for Starting Your Own Business
Episode Four of our My Top Three features entrepreneur Jim Miketo. Jim is here to talk about his top three tips for starting your own business. Take it from us – Jim really knows his stuff! He has two successful businesses here in the Cleveland area, both of which we are huge fans of. These include The Erie Social Shuffleclub Club and Bar, Ohio’s first indoor shuffleboard club, as well as Forest City Shuffleboard. Read More ›
Episode Three of our My Top Three features Chelsey Kovar of All of Her Design Studio. Chelsey is a multidisciplinary Creative/Art Director and Designer. Today, she’ll share her top three tips for expanding your reach. Read More ›
50 Poster Design Inspirations
You’ve been asking for tips on poster layout design and we’re here to help. Today, we’ll be using a sampling of inspiring posters to show you how to design your own. Read More ›
Tips for Meeting Creative People
Welcome to Episode Two of our new video series, My Top Three. This video series introduces you to creatives of all kinds who have knowledge to share about their particular industry.
Episode Two features Heather Sakai, Arsenal Manager here at Go Media and Event Director at Weapons of Mass Creation Fest.
In today’s My Top Three, Heather will talk about her Top Three Tips for Connecting with other Creatives. Please enjoy the video below and connect with Heather @sakaipower on Twitter.
Resources:
Facebook Group: If you’re an Arsenal Member, please email Heather, who will confirm your subscription and then send you an invite to our Private Facebook Group.
Find a Slack Channel to join: https://slofile.com
Good luck everyone!
Tips for Meeting Creative People
How to use Stock Vectors & Freebies
Go Media’s vectors are known industry-wide as being the best of the best. We have thousands of these hand-crafted illustrations (all royalty-free) for you to use in your own design work. But not everyone knows how to work with them. So, if you need assistance using them, we’re here to help! Read More ›
How to Use the Best Mockup Templates for Graphic Designers
Here at Go Media’s Arsenal, we have been creating and curating design resources since 2006, when we first began releasing our collection of royalty-free stock vectors. We have since expanded to textures, fonts, e-books, tutorials and perhaps most famously, mockup templates.
We passionately create our mockup templates and love that we have become a go-to for professionals in the industry. Because of this, we get tons of questions every single day about our mockups and how to use them.
So, we thought we’d create a quick (and free!) guide to killer mockups, which includes information and advice we dole out regularly. This includes:
– Info for Newbies, like how to open and use our mockup templates
– How to Use Smart-Object Enabled Mockups and Displacement Maps
– Tips to Killer Mockups (Using Them to Your Advantage for Future Success!)
– Pro Tips for using the best mockup templates for graphic designers (ours!)
With the download you’ll also get:
– a mockup PSD free download
– a vector freebie pack
If you’d like to grab the guide, simply sign up for the Arsenal newsletter below. Please note, you’ll have to confirm your subscription in the first email in order to receive your free download in the second email, so wait for it…
Subscribe for our Updates and get the Killer Mockup Guide & Freebies
It’s time to become a member!
Our Arsenal Membership sounds like a dream, and it is.
Subscribe for only $15 per month to access every product in our library. Yep – every vector, mockup template, tutorial, and business resource Go Media has ever made. No strings attached, cancel at anytime.
Bonus: if you sign up during the month of September, our friends at Jakprints will hook you up with a box of design goodies to welcome you to our membership.
Smart-Object Enabled Mockup Template Packs!
Congratulations on purchasing your brand new mockup template pack! If the pack is smart-object enabled or features a displacement map, this post is for you. Read More ›
Email etiquette for creatives
We exchange emails with clients and potential sponsors on a daily basis. Sometimes multiple emails in a day. It’s vital that these messages mean what they say and say what they mean. Here is a guide to writing emails that make you look like the professional creative you are.
Ask Google first.
Have a question that you think Google can answer? Definitely check there first. There is nothing more annoying than receiving an email or IM and thinking ‘Why didn’t they just Google this?”
Be positive always.
Avoid using negative verbiage in your email. Make sure that everything has a positive spin to it. No one likes an email that starts with: “Unfortunately…” or “I’m sorry to have to annoy you with this question, but…” Either put a positive spin on it or rethink what you’re sending.
Provide value in return.
When you send an email with a request for value, make sure you’re giving value in return. For example, when reaching out to a possible mentor, asking to pick their brain about everything they’ve learned about business in 30 years, you’ve got to:
– Only offer them something valuable right back and
– Give them an easy way out in case they’re busy or uninterested.
Do not put them in the position where they have to feel rude if they have to/want to say no.
Be a unicorn in a field of horses.
Here’s the thing to keep in mind. Time is currency. I don’t know about you, but I have a constant rush of emails flooding my inbox on any given day and it seems like they never stop. The most refreshing emails that I open are the ones that have a few lines or less…what I like to call the magical unicorn of emails. They get to the point and even better, make my ability to respond a whole lot easier.
– If this is an initial reach out with a sponsor or potential partner: introduce yourself, say hello, who you are, and that you see a synergy between your brand and theirs. Attach some information about what they do and ask that they get in contact with you should they agree.
– If this is your ordinary email and you need something or have a question: ask for it, ask it. Be polite, but leave out the fluff.
Pro tip: Leave your social media links in your signature, so that potential clients or brands can take a look at your work if they’re so inclined. This will reduce the amount of material you have to put in the body itself.
—–
Good luck and happy emailing!
Graphic Design Pricing Tips
Here at Go Media, we receive countless emails about how we price our design work. This is a fantastic question, but a complicated one, as it depends on a couple of factors – mainly your skill level and the number of customers you have / the amount of work on your plate. Too, we don’t mind giving advice, but we never want to lay out what your pricing structure should be. You’re the boss here! Read More ›
Weapons of Mass Creation Fest Promo Code
It’s almost time for Weapons of Mass Creation Fest, the premier art, design, and music conference in the Midwest! Read More ›
Weapons of Mass Creation Fest Workshops
We have carefully curated three Weapons of Mass Creation Fest workshops that we think you’ll find not only inspiring and enjoyable but also important to your careers and creative lives moving forward. Read More ›
How to Run a Successful Graphic Design Kickoff Meeting
Any great project starts with a great kick-off meeting. For this reason, designers must know what it takes to participate in a successful one, including how to dress, look, act and express themselves. Today, we’re sharing some tips we share with young designers about kicking a** in kick-off meetings. We hope they help you, as well.
1. Be Prepared. A designer must read through the proposal, creative brief and do research on the client. You must come across like you KNOW about the project. If a client tells a sales person all about their business, then the designer comes in and asks all the same questions – the client is going to get angry and feel like we’re not communicating internally! This is a bad way to start a project off!
2. Have a list of questions ready to go before the meeting. Whether you’re selling or having a kickoff meeting – it’s easier to participate if you’ve pre-written a bunch of questions. Coming up with good questions on the spot is hard. Hopefully, as you do your research and read through the creative brief some questions will come to mind. Fortunately, Go Media has been doing this for some time, so we do have a boilerplate document filled with common questions. So, we never have to go in cold, but this is no excuse to not do research. The more detailed your questions, the more it will show the client you give a damn and will help your design process. This is your BEST OPPORTUNITY to start brainstorming design ideas and to pick the customer’s brain about what they want. So, take this opportunity and do it RIGHT – because it’s easier to get your designs right in the first place instead of having the client displeased and have to do them again!
3. Make them like you! This is a VERY powerful design tool. Did you know that if your clients like you, they are more likely to like the designs you send them? So, how exactly do you get a client to like you? Be friendly. Look for opportunities to connect with them on common interests. If you like fishing and they like fishing and that comes up during the meeting – awesome… talk about fishing for a while! Tell a joke. Show them pictures of your kids… whatever it takes. Get the client on your side!
4. Match the client’s body language and energy. This relates somewhat to the previous item. You want to make your clients comfortable! A great way to do that is to match their personality. If they are stiff and all business, you should be too. If they’re laid back and want to talk about their kids for an hour – do it. If they talk fast and have high energy, you should talk fast and have high energy.
5. Watch your own body language! You are subtly communicating to your clients based on your body language. Are you focused on them or staring off into space? Are you biting your nails or playing with your hair? Are you slouching in your chair? Sit upright, be alert and LISTEN CAREFULLY. Your body language should be saying: “I care about you! I am alert and listening intently. THIS is important to me.”
6. Dress the part. Show your client that you care and kick it up a notch for the kick-off. This is just another way to show your client that you have an interest in their project.
7. Take detailed notes. Unless you have a photographic memory, you’re sure to forget something was discussed. Even hand-written notes are unreliable. If you do prefer to hand-write notes go straight to your desk after the meeting and transcribe them onto your computer.
After the kick-off meeting is done, don’t forget to sincerely thank your client for their time. Throughout your working relationship, continue to connect with them and show them you care, carrying these tips with you even if you’re not face-to-face with your client. Good luck everyone!
WMC Fest Donut Challenge
WMC Event Director Heather and Speaker Stephanie Irigoyen sit down to shove donuts in their faces in the name of this year’s festivities. Read More ›
Weapons of Mass Creation Fest 8
Hello Arsenal Fans. Did you know that Go Media hold an annual design conference called Weapons of Mass Creation Fest? Read More ›
Gig Poster Design Inspiration
Here are 15 gig poster design inspirations to inspire your day. Enjoy! Read More ›
How to Construct an Email List
We all want to create an email list that matters, but doing so takes some know-how. Here are some of our suggestions for cultivating a community of email subscribers. Read More ›
WMC Fest Drawing Challenge
Today, Weapons of Mass Creation Fest Event Director Heather Sakai is challenging Cleveland-born lettering artist, muralist, and designer Lisa Lorek to a good old fashioned drawing challenged all in celebration of this year’s Weapons of Mass Creation Fest.
Who wins this drawing competition? You decide. (Spoiler alert: the judging process isn’t a difficult one.)
Make sure to come and root Lisa on when she takes this year’s Weapons of Mass Creation Fest stage on this coming Sunday, August 20th from 1:45 to 2:10 pm. You can purchase tickets to see Lisa and the rest of our incredible line-up over at our official site, wmcfest.com.
Now, onto the video!
Take our Quick Survey + Get an Arsenal Coupon
An Idiot’s Guide to Not Replacing your Boss with 12 Bosses
Mark Brickey’s guide to truly working for yourself instead of quitting your job to only find that you now have 12 bosses instead of one. He covers creating additional revenue streams, passive income projects, creating long-term personal projects that scale, making time for your own brand and using personal work as leverage for better client projects and rates. This talk is available exclusively to Arsenal members, so become one today. Read More ›
WMC Fest Design Podcast with our Emcee, Lenny Terenzi
We are beyond thrilled to announce that Lenny Terenzi, designer, illustrator, screen printer and founder, owner of Hey! Monkey Design Studio, is this year’s Weapons of Mass Creation Fest emcee. Read More ›
Now that tax money is rolling in (with any hope) we’ve got our eyes on some items that will make our lives as creatives a lot easier. (And more fun.) Here is a round-up of items we’re thinking of purchasing with our tax refunds this year.
What do you have your eye on? Let us know in the comments section.
An interactive sketchpad
There’s nothing better than a traditional sketchpad for getting ideas down and drawings out. But interactive sketchpads are pretty darn cool, in that they can transition your notes to files that you can open in PS or Illustrator in the blink of an eye. Try the: Bamboo Wacom Slate.
Tickets to Weapons of Mass Creation Fest
Weapons of Mass Creation Fest, the premier design, art and music conference in the Midwest, is back for its eighth year! Come to see the ultimate WMC Fest experience, as we’re going back to our roots and celebrating the ideals our grassroots festival was founded upon. There will be TED-X style talks, interactive workshops and panels on topics like battling burnout and how to practice understanding, music, meet-ups, food trucks and bowling, too! Learn all about WMC Fest 8 and buy tickets here. Starting at $85 for the entire weekend.
A new desk set-up
The most people spend the majority of their time is at their desks – well, other than in bed, of course. So, it’s worth it to spend a few bucks to make it comfortable. Try the: Jarvis Standing Desk.
A legit flash drive
I don’t know about you, but I have 17 flash drives floating around my desk, each one on its last leg. It’s about time I grew up and treated myself one that won’t let me down. I have my eye on the: SanDisk 128GB Extreme Pro USB 3.0 Flash Drive.
Laptop backpack
I attempted, with all my might, to make it down to Creative South this year, but was unable due to several flight cancellations here in Cleveland. While I waited, I was shopping for a new laptop backpack that would have gone really well with my outfit. I feel like I deserve to buy this Mancro bag for myself, even though I don’t have any future travel plans. I think it will cheer me up, though it won’t replace the incredible time I missed.
Subscription to Go Media’s Arsenal
We’d be remiss if we didn’t suggest that you join our Arsenal Army and instantly access our entire product library for only $15 per month, including all of our mockup templates, vectors, textures, tutorials, business resources and more. Learn more here.
A fun new keyboard
Anyone else geek out about keyboards? This is a perfect opportunity to grab one that feels great underneath your fingertips, like this Logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard, that comes in several different colors and connects with up to three devices simultaneously.
A planner
Okay, I know I am a little late to the game on this, but I have just realized how badly I need a planner. I really miss having a to-do list to create, then check off. I found this pretty serious one by Erin Condren. Looks like I’m going on deep.
A donation to…(fill in the blank)
Whatever organization you feel needs help right now. Because the world needs it. Here are some ideas.
In today’s Weapons of Mass Creation talk, we hear from RA Washington, writer, musician and community worker living in Cleveland’s Detroit Shoreway District. Read More ›
Free Wood Textures
Today we’re releasing seven free wood textures for your use in any personal project. Enjoy!
Love our products? Access our huge product library ($11k in resources) and exclusive content for only $15/mth. Yes, seriously. Learn more now.
Download now: Free Wood Textures – 1 and Free Wood Textures – 2
Enjoy!
Here’s what you get:
Weapons of Mass Creation Fest 8 Early Bird Tickets are now available!
These tickets, getting you into all three days of the conference, are limited in quantity and available through 4/2.
Please note, Cleveland Design Studio Tour and workshop tickets are separately ticketed items and will be made available on our Event Brite page. Stay tuned for the workshop tickets soon.
Speaker, workshop leader, panelist and band announcements coming your way, so stay tuned to our official site!
Official Site Purchase Tickets
WMC is a massively popular three-day event created and hosted in Cleveland, OH. Attendees mostly include professional designers, artists, students and small business owners who flock from around the country, including popular creative hubs like New York, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco and Chicago. This year, attendees will have access to 16 speakers, 3 workshops, 2 panels and 15 vendors. Alumni include Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, Debbie Millman, Tad Carpenter, Aaron Draplin, Austin Kleon, Brandon Rike, Chuck Anderson, Dan Christofferson, James White, Johnny Cupcakes, Mark Brickey and the Adventures in Design Podcast, and Jon Contino and National Poster Retrospecticus. WMC Fest attendance has ballooned every year since its 2010 debut, with over 1,200 packing event venues in 2016. Stay tuned to more information about next year’s event at wmcfest.com.
How to Create a Vintage Image with Photoshop
We’ve just released the Particle Texture Pack, which includes 20 unique high-resolution jpeg files of dust, scratches, and scrapes for your downloading pleasure. The pack is gloriously simple to use. Simply File > Place your image under your new texture, apply some vintage color corrections to your photo, change your blending mode to screen and poof! You’re done! Let’s review that below. Read More ›
Isabel Urbina Peña
Today’s WMC Fest 7 talk comes to us from Isabel Urbina Peña. Isabel is a letterer, graphic & type designer originally from Venezuela and based in Brooklyn, NY. She has worked at Penguin Random House, C&G Partners LLC, American Museum of Natural History, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas and for clients like The New York Times, Harper Collins, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Variety, Campari & Diner Journal. In 2015, she was named a New Visual Artist: 15 under 30 by PRINT Magazine. In her spare time, she teaches workshops, designs typefaces & zines and runs Yes Equal, a database of creative women.
Everybody Else is Already Taken:
More Isabel: Official Site | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Grab our 3 Free Photo Templates
Join us on Thursdays, when your friends here at the Arsenal take over the Go Media blog to share insights, tips, freebies or other fun to brighten your work day.
Today we’re releasing three photo templates for your use in any personal project. Enjoy!
Love our products? Access our huge product library ($11k in resources) and exclusive content for only $15/mth. Yes, seriously. Learn more now.
Download now: Go Media Freebie – Photo Templates
Check out the goods:
In order to use your template:
- Open the Photoshop template in Photoshop
- File > Place your image into the “Your Artwork Here” layer
- You’re done!
We’re happy to announce WMC 8 will be taking place August 18-20 at Mahall’s in Lakewood, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. Be sure to check our site for regular updates and more info. Get ready to party.
About Weapons of Mass Creation Fest: WMC is a massively popular three-day event created and hosted in Cleveland, OH. Attendees mostly include professional designers, artists, students and small business owners who flock from around the country, including popular creative hubs like New York, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco and Chicago. This year, attendees will have access to 17 speakers, as well as workshops, panels and vendors. Alumni include Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, Debbie Millman, Tad Carpenter, Aaron Draplin, Austin Kleon, Brandon Rike, Chuck Anderson, Dan Christofferson, James White, Johnny Cupcakes, Mark Brickey and the Adventures in Design Podcast, Stay tuned to more information about next year’s event at wmcfest.com.
We’re sharing indie patch inspiration
Who else is obsessed with patches? Here are some we fancy. We hope they get your creative juices flowing. You never know…you might be the next Michael Jackson of patch design. But remember that these are only here to serve as inspiration. You are your own unique unicorn, so do your own thing. Have fun!
Click on each patch for more information.
