Introducing Luvly, A Digital Design Marketplace

How do you make your blog, website, flyer, newsletter, or other online or printed piece stand out from the crowd? One way is to shop at Luvly, where you can find unique graphics, images, and vectors to use on your website--or to use for other projects such as making invitations, designing a one of a kind scrapbook, or basically any project you can think of which would benefit from some graphics to give it the perfect look.

The idea of Luvly is to function as both a marketplace where people can buy and sell designs, and as a community where people can share tutorials, DIY ideas, and more. The site is meant to appeal to everyone from the part-time crafter to the full-time designer. There is a moderation process, too, where the Luvly admins approve every design submitted to the site, so you are getting a curated experience, not a free-for-all.

Categories for designs on the site include clip art, fonts, icons, Facebook banners, and printable templates. There's a nice-looking selection of Blogger templates. As you know, I'm a fan of the easy-to-use Blogger interface, and I like how these templates let you run a Blogger site while tweaking the design to make it look like something totally new. I'm tempted to buy one for this blog! Here's an example:

I think Luvly is a site to watch, and I imagine it will just keep growing as more designers start selling their work on the site--and more customers come to browse the affordable and classy offerings.

Meet Darren, Logo Designer on Fiverr

Darren is a designer with 11 years work experience who now offers his skills on a freelance basis, designing logos and doing Photoshop work on Fiverr, an online marketplace for affordable services starting at $5. Check out Darren's Fiverr gig for original logos here, and see samples of his work on his Pinterest page.

1. How did you first become interested in working as a designer?

I have always been interested in art. As a kid, I drew all the time. In the beginning, drawing people was most interesting to me. During my first year of college, I took a drawing class, and my teacher mentioned that she thought I'd be good at graphic design. Before that, I hadn't heard the term. The more I learned, the more interested I became. As an artist, my work gives me fulfillment. The work of other people moves me, and I hope to produce design that does that connects with others in the same way. Success, for me, has come as a result of loving what I do.

2. Why did you decide to start selling logo designs on Fiverr.com?

When we dream alone, it is only a dream, but when many dream together, it is the beginning of a new reality. Fiverr is a good place for freelance graphic designers: you can take control of your time, and there is an excellent customer service system, which I love.

3. What do your clients get for $5?

For $5 my clients will get the basic logo I designed in png or jpg format. I'm delivering only high quality logos. I'm not thinking about the price. This is a great opportunity for me to help people. If you do good work for good clients, it will lead to other good work for other good clients. If you do bad work for bad clients, it will lead to other bad work for other bad clients. Just carrying a ruler with you in your pocket should be forbidden, at least on a moral basis. The ruler is the symbol of the new illiteracy. The ruler is the symptom of the new disease, disintegration of our civilization.

4. In creating a logo, what do you consider in shaping your design?

I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares, as opposed to ugly things. That's my intent. I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things. A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

5. How do you see your freelance business growing over the next year or so?

It's through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get bad in order to get good. I'm trying in another freelance site, and I always have success such that my freelance job is growing hour by hour. I never fall in love with an idea. If the one you're with isn't doing the job, there's always, always, always another. I can only say that I'm growing now, for every minute I find that for myself, without exception, the more I deal with the work as something that is my own, as something that is personal, the more successful it is.

Thanks, Darren!

Introducing EngravedPens.com, A Source for Promotional Pens

When it comes to promotional items, I have to say that pens are my favorite. I can't help but have positive associations with a company that gives me a nice pen to use. So if I were looking for a promotional item for my own business, pens would be at the top of my list. One source for corporate pens is a company called Dayspring Pens.

Dayspring Pens has been selling customized pens for almost 20 years. They use quality imprinting and engraving processes to put the text and/or logo of your choice on a wide variety of pens. They have a range of products from inexpensive plastic pens to more fancy products from brand names like Cross and Waterman. If you are looking for really nice items to give as executive or corporate gifts for client appreciation, company awards, or other business needs, there are some very nice pens to choose from. These pens create a positive, high-quality image for your company.

In addition to offering pens that you can order in bulk quantities, Dayspring also works with individual customers to create one of a kind pens or pen sets as special gifts for commemorative occasions like graduations, promotions, retirements, and more.

And if you need promotional items besides pens, Dayspring has a catalog of many different customizable products, including items like mugs, bags, flashlights, clothing, and USB drives.

Make Free Logos at FreeLogoWizard.com

I always like a good freebie, and as someone who isn't a graphic designer, I love free tools that help me with graphics I can use online. Enter Free Logo Wizard, a website that lets users create customized logos with thousands of logo templates.

To make a logo, you can click on a tag for a subject of your choice to find relevant templates. Tags include a wide variety of topics from "animals" to "industrial" to "technology" to "wedding." Once you select a template, you use the on-screen editor to change colors, add text, etc. In order to download your image without a watermark, you need to register at the site, but registration is free and just takes a few seconds.

Here's a little logo I created when I tried out the site. Cheers to Free Logo Wizard!