Freebie: High Res Spray Paint Textures

Today we have a high-quality set of 8 spray paint textures to release to DesignM.ag readers. The textures are from Sebastiano Guerriero of WeGraphics. This is a follow up to the first set of spray paint textures released at WeGraphics.

The textures are free for personal or commercial purposes (which includes use for creating templates or themes to distribute or sell). All 8 textures are shown below. Click on any of them to go to the Flickr page where the image can be downloaded. Or you can download the whole set at the end of the post.

9 Ways Freelancers Disrespect Their Own Time

As a freelancer or independent designer, the most valuable asset you have is your own time. Your ability to earn a living relies upon your own time management, which will allow you to perform income-generating services for clients. With effective time management you may be able to earn more and work less, and with poor time management you may find yourself working very long hours just to get by.

In this article we will look at 9 different things that freelancers often do that is disrespectful to their own time. If you find that your own time management skills are sometimes lacking, evaluate yourself in these areas to see if you have some room for improvement. Respecting your own time will lead to more profitable and efficient work, and more time away from work with your family or friends.

25 Mega Menus for Your Design Inspiration

Navigation is a critical element to any website. Mega menus are a current trend that take drop down menus a step further in attempt to make it easier for visitors to navigate through a large site.

In this post we’ll showcase 25 examples of mega menus in use. For more, see this post from our archives: 25 Examples of Mega Menus in Web Design.

Converse

Free HTML/CSS Template for Download

A few weeks ago we published a tutorial How to Design a Blue Marketing Company Layout in Photoshop. Our friends at SnobbySlice have taken that design, coded it, and made it available for free download. The template includes the homepage design that was created for the tutorial, as well as a secondary page that can be used for the other pages on the site. The homepage includes a jQuery slider to provide information about the various services offered.

Here is a preview of the homepage:

15 Useful Premium Plugins for WordPress

In the past few years the growth of the premium/commercial WordPress theme market has grown exponentially. While there are also premium plugins available, they generally get far less attention than premium themes. The right plugin will allow you to improve your site through specific functionality that might otherwise take a lot of time and/or money to set up.

In this post we’ll feature 15 premium plugins that may be able to help you with your own site or with those of clients. Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments at the end of the post.

Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms is a form creation and management plugin that makes it quick and easy to add simple or advanced forms. Features include conditional form fields, email notification routing, dynamic field population, reply to entries from WP, autoresponers, allow users to create posts through a form (example, community news), and much more. A single-site license costs $39 and an unlimited developer’s license costs $199.

11 Tips for Making Your Home Office More Comfortable

Freelance designers will probably spend more time in their home office than anywhere else. Having a comfortable office that is conducive to work is essential in order to keep your working hours pleasant and productive.

In this post we’ll look at some things that you can do to make your home office more comfortable and more enjoyable to spend those working hours. Obviously, some home offices come with certain limitations (such as the area of the house or the size of the space), but every situation could be improved in some way by the things in this list.

1. Get a Comfortable Desk Chair

Having a comfortable desk chair really is a necessity since you will be spending so much time in it. If you have an uncomfortable chair, you’re probably not enjoying your work as much as you could be. A good chair can cost a lot more than a cheap chair, but your health and comfort are worth the expense. For some tips, see How to Buy an Ergonomic Desk Chair.

Photo credit: Cameron

Interview with Dan Noe of Noe Design Studios

I recently had the opportunity to interview multi-media designer Dan Noe. Many DesignM.ag readers have probably seen Dan’s portfolio site for Noe Design Studio showcased at various design galleries or blogs. Dan works at Screenscape Studios in Des Moines, Iowa. I hope you’ll find Dan’s insight and experience to be helpful in your own work.

25 of the Best Blogging and Social Media Icon Sets

Icons are a favorite free resource of designers and bloggers. There are tons of quality, free icon sets out there and in this post we’ll feature 25 that are great for blog design. These icons sets include the types of icons that are great for use with blogs and social media.

Cute Blogging Icon Set

Showcase of Beautifully Designed Brochures

Brochure design is a key component to the marketing of many businesses large and small. A well-designed brochure can present a positive image of the business while providing helpful information about the products or services offered.

In this post we’ll showcase 25 examples of well-designed brochures for your own design inspiration. All of these examples come from the Behance Network and each image is linked to the project on Behance. Many of the Behance pages include multiple views of the brochures, so if you see something you like be sure to click through and see more.

By Roman Krikheli

Win 1000 Free Business Cards from PrintRunner!

PrintRunner has offered to give 1,000 business cards each to 5 readers of DesignM.ag! PrintRunner offers a wide variety of printing services including business cards, brochures, post cards, flyers, and posters.