An often unrecognized tool in a designers arsenal, a high quality digital camera can provide benefits for the designer willing to take the time to use it. This post looks at 5 reasons why designers should not only own a great camera, but use one.

Visual Swirl and Emma Looney are proud to present the eighth installment of your Desktop Wallpaper Calendars for 2010. August’s calendar is another beautiful example of the work of graphic designer, Emma Looney. Keep reading for a little insight from Emma about this month’s design.

Where do you turn for inspiration for your next website design? If you’re like many, you probably head straight for a design gallery. Read these tips and techniques on the right way to browse a design gallery and I’m sure you’ll find your browsing experience to be more valuable and pleasant.

It’s often easy to fall into the latest trends when trying to be relevant. This post looks at the balance a web designer should choose when faced with the decision to go timeless or trendy.

Article promotion is essential to building traffic for your design blog. Check out this roundup of over 60 sites to submit your design articles and tutorials and tips to help generate buzz about your blog.

Getting plugged into a community should be a high priority for a new designer and one of the best tools for design networking is Twitter. See my recommendations for designers to follow on Twitter and a few tips to get you started.

Globalization is one of the biggest business buzzwords of the 21st century. Companies of all sizes can operate internationally, thanks to the advent of the Internet era and affordable methods of online marketing, communications and networking. With this in mind, there are several points worth observing when building a website for an international audience.

Just getting started in design? Tempted to try out crowdsourcing or spec work? Before you head down that path check out these 99 alternatives to build your portfolio, expand your skill set, and make a few bucks.

There’s been quite the uproar from the design community in the last few years over the phenomenon known as crowdsourcing. Hailed to be the answer for cheap, easy design projects for businesses, crowdsourcing is the process of sending out design requests to a large number of designers with the expectation to pick from finished work rather than pitches or proposals. Dozens, if not hundreds, of designers “compete” to win a bid based solely on their best guess at what the client requires from their brief. This article looks at one instance where a designer can benefit from the crowdsourcing model.

Credibility on the web is not easily earned. To be a successful designer, you need people to recognize you as skilled, competent and professional. When someone needs something designed they turn to you because you’ve proven yourself to them as capable and reliable. That’s web cred! Here are some tips to put your name out there and earn some legitimate Web Cred.