While this has nothing to do with what I do (web, print, logos, etc), I think all design and art are very cool, especially something that takes an immense amount of talent.. and time! Check this out: http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2008/07/28/creative-sand-sculptures-from-latvia. What kinds of cool art have you seen lately?

I happened upon this post: http://designm.ag/interviews/best-design-sites and it got me thinking.. where do find yourself most often on the internet? Here are my top picks:

http://css-tricks.com – Chris Coyier has a lot of good things to say and lots of valuable insights, a great resource to read.

http://noupe.com – A great resource to find out whats going on with other designers and other blogs. I love the news section where people can post their blogs and cool stuff they find.

http://nettuts.com – Very nice tutorials and in-depth stuff here, some great mootools and jquery stuff

http://webdesignerwall.com – Great posts, great insight, good stuff

http://logopond.com – Lots of great logos for when I’m looking for something really cool or to just feel inspired by others.

http://designmeltdown.com – I love how everything is divided into categories and you can find example sites and inspiring design in just about every genre you can think of.

What are your top picks?

Freelancing is hard work. Not only do you have to design work that satisfies your clients, but you have the other office tasks that come along with any business: accounting, job management, client management… the list goes on. These things usually don’t come easy for creative types, myself included. As anyone that has worked on their own knows, wearing a bunch of hats doesn’t always come easy.

I’m fairly new to freelancing as a business, although I’ve done quite a bit of freelancing in general. Here’s my unofficial list of what you need to start up a freelancing biz and feel good about going to get clients:

• a brand – as a designer I feel this one is extremely important. How can you sell branding and marketing if you can’t bring yourself to do it?

• a purpose – every major successful company sets out with a goal, creates a plan, and then executes it. To be successful, you certainly need a purpose.

• determination – working on your own takes drive and patience, and sometimes some long hours to get you through

• good solid contracts – without these, you look unofficial

• supporters – this one seems silly, but without support, you’ve got nothing!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my list, what kinds of things do you need to get through the storm?