He got involved into graphic design during the 90′s, as a graphic designer, sign maker, as well as a creative director, iconographer and logo designer. Over the course of his career, he has worked with several leading agencies for a number of globally recognized brands. Currently he is a one man team, but don’t worry he knows what he is doing.

Duinen’s work has been awarded multiple times and published in various media, ranging from logo design books, annual design award schemes such as Wolda, and online design galleries and blogs. As a reliable self-employed brand identity designer and consultant, he thrives with the most important characteristics on a successful logo and identity design, such as originality, distinctiveness, relevance and memorabilia.

One of Gert’s most favorite quotes is “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” you will see this Da Vinci quote implemented in the following logo designs listed below. Enjoy!

You can stay in touch with Gert on the following social media outlets:

Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Google+ |Dribbble

Pixelheads

Iconik

Storm Foundry

Raven

WD-Wakeskating

Flyfish

Elise-Kim

Goldblatt Law Firm

Concur

Offworld Games

Basketball Store

Crest

Twyst

Nomade

Jeremy-Swinnen-Stratos

Joybot

Recess

Bug-Report

Whaley

Arcana

Dolphin-Seal

Bear

Elmaudio

Donciuchete

PPI

Pixelo

Terra Saka

Foxy

Hoops Family

Silverback

Don’t forget to check out our previous logo related articles!

• Hipster Branding – Famous Logos Redesigned
• 50 Fierce Examples Of Lion Logos
• 55 Pleasant Examples of Bird Logo Designs
• 30 Clever Logos With Hidden Messages
• 40 Alternative Brand Reversions by Graham Smith

Did you enjoy this logo collection? We would love to hear your thoughts, so don’t be shy and comment below! For more inspirational articles like this please don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS-feed and follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook! If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word!

• You work whenever you want
• You determine whom to work for
• You determine how much you make
• You can outsource part of your work and increase your earnings

While the above are some very attractive benefits, and reasons for almost any designer to want to be a freelancer, you should also realize that there are some harsh realities to being a freelance designer.

All the benefits that come with being a freelancer have a counter benefit, and you won’t be able to move far unless you can overcome these benefits. For example, there are a lot of great freelance designers that have a lot of clients, that make a lot of money, but hardly make anything tangible out of it; they just don’t know where the funds is going.

The worst case scenario is when the time comes for taxes. As someone who runs a CPA study website, I’ve always paid extra attention to accounting. If you’ve ever found it difficult to keep track of your finances as a freelance designer, or if you make a lot of money but don’t know where it is going this article will be giving you 5 accounting tips that can help you take control of your financial life.

Tip #1: Separate Your Personal Bank Account from Your Professional Bank Account

Image Credit: Depositphotos.com

I’ve made this mistake myself, and I can tell you how dangerous it is. As a freelancer there are probably a million things you want to do, and it can sometimes be very difficult to differentiate what is a priority from what is not. You have to realize that the amount you have in your account can influence your stability and decisions as a freelancer, so make sure you always have enough money to sustain yourself; one great way to make sure of this is to keep different accounts.

Create a budget every month, and work out a percentage of your income that will be personal; if 60% of your income will go to your personal account, then let it go instead of having to spend 90% of your income on personal purposes without knowing it. Having different bank accounts for different purposes isn’t effective unless you stick to your decision, so make sure you only use your personal account for personal purposes, and your professional account for professional purposes.

Tip #2: Utilize an Invoicing System to Keep Track of Your Income

As a professional, do you know the worst thing that can happen to you at the end of a particular year? It is not knowing how much you’ve earned! This problem might look simple at first, but when you take a look at it beyond the surface, you will notice how dangerous it can be. For example, at the end of the year you have to pay taxes. You have to check your finances to compare your spending with your earnings, and you have to take a look to see if you need to increase your hourly rate.

All these things can’t be easily guessed, and it is often easy to think you’re winning when you’re losing; the only solution to this kind of problem is to keep track of your finances. Some people do this manually, and some do it through a freelance platform, but you have to be prepared in the case that something happens to your computer. The best alternative in a case like this is to have an invoicing system. There are a lot of invoicing platforms you can use online, but my recommendation is Freshbooks.

Tip #3: Hire an Accountant

Photo Credit: Depositphotos.com

Most people see this has the last resort, but it really doesn’t have to be. Depending on your budget and the kind of work you accept, the best solution might sometimes be to hire an accountant. My philosophy as a freelancer is to only focus on what I can do, and to let others handle the rest. Of course, your work is to design and help clients get better results, so why waste precious hours calculating how much you earn? Why not leave the work to a professional?

Tip #4: Try to Avoid Spending Money Based on Impulse

Photo Credit: Depositphotos.com

To complement my point above on separating your personal account from your professional account, something else you can do that can be of great help is to avoid buying things based on impulse. You probably don’t need that new designing course, or that new photo editing software. At least, not yet! So, why spend money to buy it outside of your budget?

Make sure to create a monthly budget to help you spend money on things that can help you improve; this includes courses, software, consulting, and any other thing that can be of help. Don’t just buy on impulse; I can tell you that impulse buying can easily lead you into debt. No matter what you need and how desperate you need, as much as possible, try to avoid buying it if it is beyond your budget for a particular month.

Tip #5: Spend Very Little Time on Accounting

This is probably the last advice you want to hear, especially since this post is on accounting, but I think it is the best so far. Accounting is good, and knowing your finances is great, but letting it take over your life is deadly. You have a life, and you have a career. You need to make more money, improve your skills, and lead an overall better life. Don’t let accounting get in the way of this. If you find yourself spending hours every day keeping accounts, get rid of most of the work and hire a professional to help you with it.

Did you enjoy this article? We would love to hear your thoughts, so don’t be shy and comment below! Please don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS-feed or follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook! If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word!

Stay Connected

Image Credit: Depositphotos.com

It is common to work from home and begin to feel some isolation. You don’t have the camaraderie at the water cooler. This is easy to overcome and you will want to work to resist the urge to stay within those walls. Harness the power of the Internet through Social Networking. More than likely you have a Facebook page, Twitter account, You Tube, Foursquare, etc as we know technologies reach millions. But go further. Join local community organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis’s, etc., and build a network of people who you can deal with on a regular basis.

Meeting your Clients

Photo Credit: Depositphotos.com

This can pose a problem for the home based business owner, but you can be creative and still offer a high level of professionalism.You have the option to meet our client for lunch and ask for a table in a corner where you can focus. Another option is to rent a venue, which will let you have a small space for a few hours. These office venues can give a look and feel of a real office without the overhead. You can always go to your client’s officealso. Depending on the level of meeting, pick your options.

Team Building

Photo Credit: Depositphotos.com

Did you know there are businesses today completely virtual? Owners can see potential of adding to the team by technology as via Skype, and GoToMeeting resources on the Internet. You can have your entire team on-line looking at documents, planning a project, or whatever you choose as a home-based practitioner. Depending on your budget, you can draw your team into a non-virtual meeting several times a year. You will find that you can do anything from your home base that anyone in an office can do.
Don’t set limits; remember you choose to manage your professional life at home. It can work!

Did you enjoy this article? We would love to hear your thoughts, so don’t be shy and comment below! Please don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS-feed or follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook! If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word!

Mercury Graphics Engine

CS6 is powered by a new processing engine called Mercury Graphics. Some features of the Creative Suite have always been processor intensive; video editing, creating graphics in After Effects and even applying filters in Photoshop can be demanding on user’s processors. Using cache memory more effectively, Mercury Graphics aims to relieve any performance issues caused by these intensive tasks and also boasts a potentially project-saving feature with interval auto-saving. Although this improved speed and performance may go unnoticed by users who use the Creative Suite for more basic projects it will be welcomed by those who have suffered from crashes and software slowdown in previous Creative Suite editions.

Photoshop Video Editing

Photoshop’s automatic features, such as content-aware recomposing and auto corrections, have been tweaked and users may notice that the software delivers a better starting point for manual editing than before. Photoshop’s major new implementation is video editing. The interface can now handle videos and users can edit, add effects and music to a range of different video formats. It’s a welcome feature for users who extensively use Photoshop for image editing and can now use it for video, too.

Illustrator

Animators have long loved the creativeness that Adobe has supplied them with over the years. The new addition to the series allows for users to manipulate the gradient and thickness of any line at any time in the process. That means that even when a line has been set in the document, it can still be influenced to the creator’s liking. The conversion of images into vectors has been made even easier with the improved tracing engine that features as standard in the CS6.

Dreamweaver

The grid layout, which is adaptable to any style, allows the user to create styles, rules and functions in the design of a website. Overall, the biggest advantage of such a feature is that it doesn’t require the user to know an excessive amount of HTML coding to develop a successful and attractive website.

Streamlining and tweaking several integral features, casual users of the Creative Suite may not notice many of the new improvements but Adobe has worked hard to address performance issues and make the Creative Suite a smooth and powerful experience.

Adobe has managed to create truly kick-ass software once again. We hope you found this article useful. We would love to hear your feedback, so please don’t be shy to comment below! For more inspirational articles be sure to subscribe to the RSS-feed and follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter+ Facebook! If you appreciate our work, please share this article with your peers!

The following are some of the most advertised & instantly recognizable brands in the world, who spend millions on marketing their products, services and values to you. This set is heavily based on this Wikipedia’s list, where you can also find the complete listing of companies and their name origins not mentioned in this post. Some might surprise you. Enjoy!

Source: Boredpanda.com

Check out our previous articles!

• 35 Wisdom Packed Owl Logo Designs
• Hipster Branding – Famous Logos Redesigned
• 50 Fierce Examples Of Lion Logos
• 30 Clever Logos With Hidden Messages
• 55 Pleasant Examples of Bird Logo Designs

We hope you enjoyed this collection as much as we did! We would love to hear your opinion and feedback, so please don’t hesitate to comment below. For more inspirational articles like this please don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS-feed and follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook! If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word!

The quest to find the perfect colors and color combinations is a common thread that runs from those who have painted great masterpieces and graphic artists to interior designers and landscapers. As French impressionist Claude Monet said, “Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.” Today we are here to help you find that perfect color palette. We based this collection on the most viewed palettes of all time on Colourlovers.com

In their own words, COLOURlovers is a creative community where people from around the world create and share colors, palettes and patterns, discuss the latest trends and explore colorful articles. We decided to collect the top 100 color palettes based on all time views. If you’re a designer, we strongly suggest joining Colourlovers because of their friendly community. Great minds think alike, with over 2.1 million user-created color palettes you are definitely in the right place to inspire your ideas.

Note: Simply click on the desired palette and you will be redirected to the page where you can get the exact Hex and RBG code for each color.

Check out our previous articles!

• Successful Marketing Starts with Your Brand Identity
• Why Logo Simplicity is Vivid in the Fashion Industry
• Simplicity Realized: 20 Examples of Brand Spirit
• Discover Five Secrets Behind Great Logo Design
• The Use of Curves in Modern Design

Did you enjoy this article? We would love to hear your thoughts, so don’t be shy and comment below! Please don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS-feed or follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook! If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word!

Photography is an art-form. It takes practice, skill, and an eye for the unexpected. Not all people will take the time to study a landscape, wildlife, building, or other subject to find the hidden depth within, but when they do often they will find great meaning in the photo they take. Photographers spend their lives looking for new and different ways to shoot a subject. Digital photography is just one new way of taking a picture. There are many advantages for working with digital photography.

Photo Credit: Depositphotos.com

1. Attend a workshop

Workshops are a great way to learn about photography, they are usually very informative and thought by experts in the field. The only downside is that they usually only happen in certain locations which might be somewhat far away.

2. Read a book

Books are a good way to learn photography because they are usually very specific but yet educational. One book that I suggest you check out is “Visual Poetry” by Chris Orwig.

3. Sign up for Lynda.com

Lynda.com is a software subscription service starting at $25 a month, they have many video tutorials on photography and other creative fields. Some of their courses are on topics like Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 4. Chris Orwig who I mentioned earlier, is an instructor at Lynda.com.

4. Join NAPP

NAPP stands for The National Association Of Photoshop Professionals, it was started and led by Scott Kelby an industry leader in photography. Some of the benefits of joining NAPP are Photoshop User Magazine, a magazine for Photoshop Users, free tutorials, a user forum, and discounts on photography products. The price is $99 per year.

5. Read blogs

Blogs are another great way to learn photography. They generally have post about various things to do with the subject, like information about new gear, inspiration, how to use your camera, and more. Some blogs that I like are envato.com, scottkelby.com, and chasejarvis.com.

6. Learn Photoshop

Learning Photoshop can greatly improve your skills in photography, because it will allow you to become good at photo editing which can lead to many creative possibilities.

7. Visit 500px.com

500px.com is one of the leading photography social networks on the web, just by visiting their home page you can pick up a lot of photography inspiration.

8. Watch photography videos on YouTube

YouTube has lots of videos on photography and even some of the top photographers in the industry make videos on the site. You can find videos from guides about specific cameras, to how to do strobing photography.

9. Watch a photography podcast

Podcast are usually weekly shows around twenty minutes to over and hour, about various subjects. Some of the photography related podcasts that I like are, Photoshop user and dtown.

10. Go to Photoshop World

Hosted by NAPP, Photoshop World is the convention for Photoshop users, the conference includes various workshops from leading photographers in the industry like Scott Kelby, Dave Cross, and Pete Collins just to name a few.  Note, you have to pay for Photoshop World if you want to attend the workshop and it happens bi annually, once on the west cost and once on the east.

If you put these ten steps into action, I am sure that your photography skills will be improved in no time.

What do you think? What are some other good ways to learn photography? We would love to hear your thoughts, so don’t be shy and comment below! Please don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS-feed or follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook! If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word!

Our place of birth is sometimes not enough to gain inspiration from or in some cases it may be but we feel that there is always something more out there, unexplored and vast spaces and places that we have yet to feel and create something from.  These places exist for a reason and they are open to us, transportation to and from these places is possible. Certain countries serve a purpose of simply inspiring us especially if its our virgin voyage to it. I always believed that travel broadens and widens the mind and for inspiration it can serve as an unlimited source.

Image Credit: Depositphotos.com

The discovery of a rainforest, a jungle, a motorway and a city can serve as inspiration to attach to our chosen pieces of art and the easy part is we can recollect from them, we were there, we experienced the sounds, smell and feel of the specific space and that in itself counts for something, taking a picture of it to draw inspiration from is the easiest source and from that picture something much more emerges from it we are found there yet again drawing from it and becoming emotionally attached but we are sitting right at home all we have in front of us a memento from that place but sometimes that memento serves a purpose for that place to exist in our mind.

The traveller chooses their route and discovers the most incredible of places to draw their inspiration, travellers can include ourselves but most importantly artists, musicians  and painters where in most cases have discovered that their muses exist in nature and outdoors, some have even travelled to remote places to discover something more meaningful to serve as a vital source of inspiration and when they discovered it they knew in themselves that they have stumbled a plethora of unlimited and astonishing beauty from then on creating their chosen pieces of art was comfortable.

Image Credit: Depositphotos.com

Why though go to these places simply to draw inspiration, one can also go and take their inspiration with them, and feel it even more, there is nothing greater than taking something created to their place of birth, the place where it was made and in which the surroundings created its purpose. Travel Europe, Africa or any chosen continent these places serve a vastly important purpose to the first time traveller to them it can unlock something in their subconscious which they have only experienced in their dreams but being there and feeling it is a whole new and principal encounter.

So when you travel and you make the time to visit these chosen places that exist out there take in their beauty, encompass yourself in their whereabouts and if you have a camera or a notepad with you express it and take it with you so its memory can forever stay within you wherever you may go. A traveller’s inspiration will forever become immortalised because it is inspiration from another place and that in itself is hugely important to where it will stay within the traveller, take it with you wherever you go, the memory , the place, the inspiration, the subconscious becomes the conscious and its place eternal.

“We don’t always need a map, the inspiration is our direction and our heart the compass..”

Did you enjoy this article? We would love to hear your thoughts, so don’t be shy and comment below! Please don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS-feed or follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook! If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word!