That’s right boys and girls; I have packed together an SHIT load of free design stuff I have been collecting. Some of you may already have this stuff but I guarantee you don’t have all of it. Everything in here is royalty free, including the images as I took them myself, so use as you would like.
If you do download and like, leave a comment or give me a shout on twitter @element3media as there will be more coming in the future. The link will take you to a free media sharing site and you can download each pack separately if there is some stuff you don’t want.
That’s it for now, check back soon for some more junk.
For the past few years now I have been quite hesitant to post some of my thoughts regarding places I have worked for, or people I work with due to the fact that I know some employers watch your social media action. I have yet to come to the conclusion on whether or not this is fair or just.
Here are a few questions I would like to pose to you guys and hear some of your thoughts on this.
Should you be able to say whatever you want about the company you work for, provided it is not linked to your personal account without repercussions?
Should companies follow your social media accounts and judge accordingly?
Has anyone ever been terminated, talked to or generally chastised for their social media accounts reflecting poorly on a company they work for?
Should employees be given the same rights as customers to complain and judge companies based on their intimate knowledge of the inner working of a company?
Thanks everyone, looking forward to your feedback.
The following is a quick e-mail conversation I had that I felt was worthy of posting.
Sent to me: “Well, you were right …. he did it. Let’s hope he (Obama) has the nations best interests at heart.”
My Reply:
Nope, WE did it.. This represents such a tremendous change for this country, I don’t think anyone has any real idea yet just how much. This was the first election won by the youth of America done almost exclusively online. Voter turnout was HUGE thanks in large part to Barack knowing and going where the people are, online. Form this day forward this will fundamentally change the way elections are run as well as how our government and businesses are held accountable. The old ideals of corporations and government doing whatever they want are OVER. Yesterday was a great win for this country and whether or not Barak does everything he says he will do, it was more important for the PEOPLE of this country, which fundamentally is what this election was all about. The primary job of the president is to unite the country for a common goal, which is EXACTLY what Obama did. This country has been given a new lease on life and we HAVE to make sure and not fuck it up again. We now have the technology, drive and will to make sure this never happens again but it will take each and everyone of doing the work, getting involved and asking the questions that need answering. Never before in history have the people had so much power as they do right now, and it need to keep growing.
I for one, am and have been for years, sick to death of corporate and government bullshit, hiding behind the veils of secrecy and their closed door policies. No more. Now we have a REAL choice. Now we have the power to find a better solution if the one we have is lying to us, or treating us unfairly. Now and only now can we truly have a government that is by the people, for the people. Now and only now can we truly have choices in the marketplace and hold these shit sucking corporations accountable for their greed and irresponsibility.
It’s going to take work. It’s going to take people, you and me and everyone we know to make a REAL change. It’s going to take people understanding technology and no longer referring to it as “Those computer things” or saying things like “I just don’t get it” That is no longer acceptable as of today, November 5th 2008, The day we elected our first black president of the United States through a grassroots campaign started, run and successfully carried out mostly online.
Today is a great day for our country, regardless of whether or not Obama lives up to all of his promises, which hopefully he will but generally things have to change as time goes by. Mostly I hope that this election has changed the beliefs of the American people.
If you’re not familiar with Gary, or GaryVee as he’s known on Twitter, he is a self-made “Internet celebrity” known for his pioneering approach to personal and business brand-building, and his unscripted video blog Wine Library TV that now draws tens of thousands of viewers daily. I also think he could be my long lost brother. I have been screamin this shit for years and as Gary so aptly pointed out to me, “Josh, you have been screaming at the wrong people, start to scream at the world”
He then proceeded to take 200 of my dollars at texas hold em with a 6 on the river to catch a straight.. damnit.
Freshbooks FreshBooks is an online invoicing and time tracking service that saves you time and makes you look professional - Fortune 500 professional.
Why this site is awesome: Throughout my years freelancing I have tried and used many different invoice and billing programs and they all pale in comparison to freshbooks. This site takes the worry out of your time tracking, invoicing and billing. It will send out paper invoices via snail mail to your old school clients (which believe it or no will actually impress the hell out of them) it will also send PDF invoices, link to your PayPal account, and generally make your freelance life just that much easier!
Basecamp Basecamp takes a fresh, novel approach to project collaboration. Projects don’t fail from a lack of charts, graphs, stats, or reports, they fail from a lack of clear communication. Basecamp solves this problem by providing tools tailored to improve the communication between people working together on a project.
Why this site is awesome: The only thing I have to say is if you don’t know what basecamp is, find out. It will change your life.
High Rise Highrise helps you track communication and conversations with leads, employees, clients, colleagues, vendors, or anyone else that matters to your business. With Highrise you know who’ve you talked to, what you talked about, and what you need to do next.
Why this site is awesome: Highrise is an excellent contact management system for busy freelancers. Being a freelancer you usually don’t have the money or the need for a big (or expensive) CRM system, but quite often you are taking to a lot of clients and it is easy to forget what was talked about or where a discussion was left off. If you actually USE highrise it is awesome. You can keep track of all the people you talk to under one company, take notes on conversations, set up reminder tasks for yourself, and all kinds of other good things. So the next time someone calls you and they sound like they know you, but you have no idea who they are, look them up in your highrise account and (provided you take good notes) find out what the hell is going on.
Why this site is awesome: This one is a no brainer. Easiest and most comprehensive blog software available today. If you want to start a blog, use wordpress.
Think Geek ThinkGeek started as an idea. A simple idea to create and sell stuff that would appeal to the thousands of people out there who were on the front line and in the trenches as the Internet was forged. From programmers, engineers, students, lovers of open source, to the masses that helped create the behind-the-scenes Internet culture.
Why this site is awesome: Too much good stuff to mention. Find yourself all kinds of awesome gadgets, apparel, toys and generally awesome stuff.
Why this site is awesome: We all need to work (well most of us do) if you are looking for a high-level agency position in a major market, you will find it here. The live search feature of this site is awesome, so easy to use.
AIGA AIGA, the professional association for design, is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research and advance education and ethical practice.
Why this site is awesome: For those of you looking to expand your horizons, connect with other creative people or generally get your fat ass out of your chair and get out in the community, AIGA is the way to go. Find your local chapter and JOIN UP!
Woopra Woopra is the world’s most comprehensive, information rich, easy to use, real-time Web tracking and analysis application. And it’s free!
Why this site is awesome: Holy Hell is this site awesome. For those of you that are not afraid of technology, have a blog, portfolio, or company site, you will be wondering how the hell you ever lived one day of your life without this program. This program is google analytics on steroids, oh and did I mention it’s REAL TIME! That’s right, request an account, install the program, add a few lines of code to your site pages and you can actually watch your site visitors and where they are going on your page in real time. It also tells you everything google analytics tells you about location, platform, ip address, browser, resolution, pretty much everything that can be tracked, is. It also has an incredible analytics engine that will give you awesome reports and show you how your visitors find you, what they do on your site and a host of other fantastic information. Also, it’s F@$%ING free (right now) so get it while you can.
The FWA Favourite website awards. Web Awards recognising the very best in cutting edge website design.
Why this site is awesome: Just have a look, you will understand when you get there.
Why this site is awesome: This site is one of the best design communities I have ever come across. Tons of good conversation, amazing designers and all kinds of awesome things you will want to know about.
Kuler Discover Adobe® Kuler™ - the web-hosted application for generating color themes that can inspire any project. No matter what you’re creating, with Kuler you can experiment quickly with color variations and browse thousands of themes from the Kuler community.
Why this site is awesome: Ah, Kuler. How many times have you saved my ass, let me count the ways. 1, that time I had the brain fart and could not come up with a good color pallet. 2) The time I had the "Ex-Designer" for a client who thought he knew everything there was to know about color pallets. 3) Last night when I had a few too many and tried to drive home.. no, it can’t help you there, but it will help you choose very nice color pallets as well as give you some networking opportunities as well as some good inspiration.
xobni Xobni is an Outlook add-in that organizes, searches, and helps you navigate your email inbox.
Why this site is awesome: For those of you that are as big on communication and covering your ass as I am, you will love Xobni. It’s a free outlook plug-in that organizes your e-mail in ways you never thought possible. It also (which I just found out by the way) has an amazing analytics engine that breaks down everything you never knew you needed to know about your (and your client’s) e-mailing habits.
mint Mint is fresh, intelligent online money management. Not only is Mint free, it saves you money. While existing personal finance software packages require hours to set up, a passion for accounting (is that possible?) and hours of weekly maintenance, Mint is virtually effortless.
Why this site is awesome: I was turned on to this site by a guy I worked with. He kept raving about it and I was like, yeah, yeah, how great can it be. Need I say that I was blown away by this site. It takes all of your bank accounts and organizes them in to one easy to use interface. It gives you awesome reports on your money and where its going. With one glance you can see EXACTLY how much money you spend at the bar and how many trips to 7-11 you have made and every other frightening detail about your spending habits. It is safe, secure and very, VERY easy to use. Banking nubes as well as seasoned pros will love this site for its simplicity as well as many features.
