Monthly Archive for December, 2009

50 Popular Resources for Design Inspiration

Published
by
LimeExchange
on December 29, 2009
in Freelance, LimeExchange and Technology
. 3 Comments

We all need inspiration and motivation to boost up our creativity and give our best in all types of jobs. There are innumerable resources and tools available for inspiring all the designers in finding best ideas for their design project. Here we have put together some useful resources which we classified into different categories such as online galleries, magazines, blogs, logos, and other utility sources of inspiration for designers.inspration

Online Galleries

1. Web Creme –This inspirational web design gallery offers more than 330 pages of great designs. Search the archives by the month a particular design was featured or by color.

2. Design Snack – It is a social-powered web design gallery which works as an excellent inspiration tool for the designers. It allows you to browse through the top rated designs, read design blogs and also ask questions or post comments. It has a friends lists, which is a great way to keep in touch with your favorite designers.

3. deviantART–Another inspirational gallery that helps you execute all types of artwork including traditional and digital. It allows a designer to showcase his piece of work and discuss it with the community. It provides comprehensive category structure, including photography, digital art, traditional art, literature, Flash, filmmaking, skins for applications and others, along with downloadable resources such as tutorials and stock photography.

4. CSS Clip – This is a web design inspiration gallery that lets you find a huge list of inspirational resources. These resources come across a varied range of categories including html, icon, color typography and inspiration.

5. FWA – The FWA stands for the favorite website awards; the website includes 3053 websites awarded since 2000. Here you can submit your website and get it awarded as the favorite website by the community of designers. It includes winning websites to inspire you in designing many more award winning website along with some useful articles, interviews, newsletters etc.

6. CSSline- This resource includes excellent CSS websites from all over the world. It includes many neat features like full color filtering and filtering by tags. Here you can browse through hundreds of websites in different colors and tags. |

7. Creattica- It is another useful website for designers as it allows them to submit their own designs and post comments/ rating on other designs. It includes ads, photos, logos, posters, Photoshop, CSS etc.

8. CSS Scoop – It is a resource to get fresh ideas, designs and latest design news. It features hundreds of websites to get inspiration and ideas from with their direct URLs, ratings and comments.

9. Designflavr – This online gallery featuring all kinds of artwork and design including Flash websites, CSS websites, vector art, advertising, abstract design, photo manipulation, and more.

10. Raster – Another online gallery for photographs and artwork for designers. The photographs and art pieces are included to provide inspirational images submitted by creative minds.

Blogs

11. SmashingMagazine – This is an inspirational blog website that delivers useful and innovative information to Web designers and developers. The write ups are written by the experts in the field and also about the latest trends and techniques in web development.

12. CoolHunter- It is the one the popular design website that includes thoughtful, innovative and original ideas for designers

13. Six Revisions – This blogging website also helps you in getting inspirational ideas including practical and useful articles for designers and web developers. It also provides information on noteworthy tips, tutorials and resources. creativity

14. Fuelyourcreativity – Another tool to fuel up your creativity as it provides creative tools, design resources, freebies, news, articles etc.

15. Noupe – This inspirational tool includes stylish and dynamic news for designers and web developers on all subjects of design, ranging from; CSS, Ajax, Javascript, web design, graphics, typography, advertising, and much more.

16. Design Reviver – It offers a variety of articles based on design ideas and elements. It offers informative tutorials that can be downloaded for free and can be used for design projects.

17. psdtuts+- This is a blog/Photoshop resource that includes blogs and the best Photoshop tutorials from across the globe. It helps you in learning a few tricks, techniques and tips that can maximize your creative potential. It includes articles, wiki, freebies, videos etc.

18. Web Designer Wall – Another blog website that features innovative design ideas, web trends, tutorials, general news, technology etc.

19. Tutorial9 – It works as a knowledge sharing platform as experts and teachers from around the world come to share their knowledge and experience. Here you can find Photoshop tutorials, photography tutorials, web blogging tutorials, freebies, resources, downloads etc.

20. CSS Tricks – This inspirational website offers blogs based on design ideas and latest trends. You can also participate in its web design forum, check its screencasts, freebies, and get code snippets as well.

Online Magazines

21. ArtzMania – It’s a design magazine featuring international artists and designers from across the globe. It allows you to even download the magazine to get creative ideas and motivation to create an effective design for your design project.

22. PDF-Mags.com -This website allows you to find links and information about over 200 almost free PDF magazines from around the world. The magazines are based on art, design, illustration and everyday culture. You can find magazines across multiple categories relevant to your area of business.

23. JPG Magazine – Around 227,345 photographers sharing their work in this online magazine. It is a magazine devoted to photography with themed issues. It allows you to submit photos, write stories, and vote on the contributions of others.

24. ROOTmagazine – It another online magazine to get innovative ideas on graphic design, illustration, photography, video, audio etc. that can help you in boosting your creative potential.

25. Revolutionartmagazine- This International Magazine is an inspirational source to artists, models, advertisers, photographers, designers and communicators. It can be downloaded in PDF format as a collective sample of the best of the graphic arts, modeling, music, and world tendencies.

26. GizMag – This weekly web magazine includes photography, illustration, design, sculpture and more, as well as interviews with eminent artists.

27. Proteus Mag –It’s a Free PDF magazine that allows its readers to get inspirational news on photography, painting, sculpture, graphic designs, fashion designs, and more.inspiration-1

28. bitFUUL magazine – Another PDF magazine that allows you to view samples and download instantly. It includes categories such as art and design including music, photography, writing, and art.

29. Blanket Magazine – A free PDF magazine for design inspiration on wide range of categories including art, design, and photography. It also helps in reading expert interviews on different design related topics.

30. Computer Arts – This inspirational magazine includes a gallery, forums, creative directory, news etc. This website also publishes over 100 consumer magazines worldwide.

Logos

31. Logo Faves- This is a logo design inspirational website that provides a huge collection of best designed logos around the web. You can also suggest an inspiring logo to this website by filling up a single form.

32. Logo Spire- This logo gallery allows you to upload your won logo by creating a free account. Other designers can view, comment and rate your logos. You can look for rising, latest, popular and featured logo submitted by other designers.

33. Logo Of The Day- It is a logo design inspiration website that allows you to discuss, share & rate logo designs. It is also a logo design award scheme that rewards the best professional logos and trademarks designed throughout the world.

34. Logo Pond – This inspirational resource also offers an impressive collection of logos to enhance your creativity. It also allows you to upload your creation and rate and post comments on others logos.

35. Logo Sauce- Here you can find some great designs and logos submitted by various great designers. It allows you to take ideas from other designs while adding comments and ratings on them.

36. Logo Moose- This website provides the best logos from all over the world. You can browse through a huge collection of impressive logos to enhance your design skills. You can also rate and post a comment on a logo submitted by other designers.

37. Logo Lounge- It a logo design inspiration website that features logos in the news, identity news, guest editorial , featured designer, featured member, logo trends, logo books. You can also submit your own creation and browse other’s designs for ideas and inspiration.

38. LogoGalleria – This logo website offers nice logos with large previews for featured logos. Here you can browse through attractive logos and get inspired for your work.

39. LogoGala - It is a logo design gallery provides fresh ideas for designing a logo. They have plenty of good samples to browse through and you can submit your logo designs into features gallery.

40. LogoFury- Another useful resource which that provides a regularly updated source of logo design ideas and inspirations. You can also browse through its CSS gallery, news, and top rated logos.

Other Resources

inspire

41. IconBuffet – It is an icon sharing community where you can send and receive icons from other designers. It is a great source of inspiration as you receive icons using tokens and send using stamps.

42. Apps Mania – It is a CSS gallery with more than 15796 sites and a blog. It allows you to view galleries by month or by topic such as associations, media, web developers, Business, Entertainment, blogging, etc.

43. COLOURlovers – Another inspirational source for designers and artists to create colors, palettes and patterns for their requirements. It lets you search its entire database where 271,667 Members have created 2,359,085 Colors, 1,058,127 Palettes and 698,889 Patterns. It also includes blogs, forums, groups to share and discuss design work.

44. Mojizu – It is an online community for artists and unique characters designed by them. It allows your rate those characters and post comments on them.

45. MAilmeART – It is an ongoing mail art project for artists, illustrators and general doodlers. Here you can also send your art work as it has a vast collection of artistic work sent in the form of mail by both professional and amateur artists of all ages from across the world.

46. NewWebPick – This online magazine can be a great inspirational source for many. It includes ideas, awards, events, interviews, templates, forums and more.

47. Poster Design – Its is an excellent resource from flickr to browse through more than 17,000 poster designs from all over the world. It works best for print and online projects and also enables you to add your own posters.

48. Stylegala – This website allows you to ask or answer questions around website design. You can also find hottest and most voted questions with their answers.

49. I Love Typography – Here you can find amazing fonts and typography ideas for your projects. It provides articles on latest fonts and typography and how they can be used for different design requirements.

50. DFCKR – This website offers design news, resources, highlights up and coming illustrators and designers from across the globe. You can easily subscribe to its RSS feed to stay updated and search by recent entries, date, and category.

Hope these tools will inspire you in designing excellent and creative designs for you project. We welcome your feedback and suggestions on the same.

Holiday Offer! 50% off On All Membership Plans

Published
by
LimeExchange
on December 22, 2009
in LimeExchange and Product Update
. 0 Comments

Enjoy the festive spirit by grabbing our Membership Plan Holiday offer. Purchase a membership plan at half the rate of regular price. The offer is valid till 7th January, 2010.

All you need to do is to add a promotional code “CHRISTMAS50”to your ‘Coupons” .

How To Add Coupon Code:

1) Log in To Your LimeExchange Account &Click Coupon from the Drop Down list under Payment Tab

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2) Click on the Link”I have a Promotional Code ”
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3) Add coupon code “CHRISTMAS50” and Submit


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4) Click on Subscriptions under My Account Tab

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5)  Click on Upgrade Plan Button

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6) Select Individual, Pro Plan or Vantage Plan

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7) Choose Billing Cycle > Apply Coupon by selecting coupon from the drop down list, choose payment mode and purchase membership plans at 50% off rate.

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Grab 50% additional discount to your regular “5%, 10% and 15% Discount on billing cycle.”

Now Get Bonus Rewards

Published
by
LimeExchange
on December 20, 2009
in Freelance, LimeExchange and Product Update
. 0 Comments

A good news for all you providers working on Hourly or pay per task project. An efficient provider who has completed the project successfully as per the buyer’s requirements may get rewarded with bonus payment from his buyer. That means you will not only get the project amount on the basis of work completed but also get a reward for accomplishing tasks efficiently.

A Buyer may decide to award bonuses to a Service Provider based at his own discretion based on the provider’s performance and competency. If a Buyer awards bonus to a Service Provider, the bonus amount will be charged from the Buyer’s account and credited to the Service Provider’s account at the end of the next Billing Cycle. The standard LimeExchange fee shall apply to any such bonus payments.

Hence to add extra money to your wallet apart from the project amount provide excellent deliverables as it also helps in establishing your credibility in the community.

50 Open Source Tools for Writers and Bloggers

Published
by
LimeExchange
on December 17, 2009
in Freelancing, LimeExchange and Technology
. 11 Comments

There are many open source tools available on the web ranging from word processors, to content management systems, references, publishing, sharing, organization, and more which can help in writing, editing, and organizing your write ups more proficiently. Here we are listing 50 open source tools for writers and bloggers to make your writer job much easier than before.

Word Processor

1. wikidPad- It is a wiki style notebook to note down your thoughts, ideas, to-do lists, contacts, or anything else you can think of. This tool utilizes a database to tie together individual text documents that the user creates into a wiki-like notepad.

2. Scribus- This is a perfect tool that allows you to create great looking documents of all kinds. It is also a great open source desktop publishing solution. It also comes with a lot of support features and services like mailing list, IRC channel, wiki, contracted support, and the bugtracker.

3.OpenOffice Writer- This tool is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers.

4. AbiWord- It is popular open source word processor that works as just like Microsoft Word. It enables you to collaborate with multiple people on one document at the same time.

5.Adobe Buzzword – similar to Google Docs and Zoho Writer, Buzzword is a robust online word processor — perfect for writing reports, proposals, and anything else you need to access online or work on with others.

References & Dictionaries

6. WordWeb- It is a one-click English thesaurus and dictionary for Windows that can look up words in almost any program. It provides definitions and synonyms, related words 5000 audio pronunciations, 65 000 text pronunciations, 150 000 root words, 120 000 synonym sets etc.

7. Merriam-Webster Online – Another useful and free dictionary for writers which provides more than 160,000 entries. Each word is accompanied by definition, pronunciation, usage, grammatical function, and a brief etymology.

8. Research Assistant- This open source research tool helps you find information on almost all the topics. It allows you to keep all your information in one place so you can easily access it later.

9.GNU Style and Diction- It helps you avoid poor wording and compare the readability (not the understandability!) of your documents with others.

10. Wikipedia- It is a free encyclopedia that provides information on almost every topic you are working on. You can get detailed information about unlimited number of subjects and topics.

Stay organized

11. ubernote- This is an important tool to remember all important to –do items. You can keep list your workshops, meetings, social events and deadlines while managing task lists, contact information, bookmarks etc.

12. TreePad Lite- This tool helps writers in organizing their notes, emails, texts, reference materials, hyperlinks, etc. into one or multiple databases. It’s easy to use interface allows you to keep everything you need for writing in one place.

13. SpringNote – This tool allows you to jot down notes, creating to-do lists, personal scheduling, among many other tasks

14. Google Calendar- Using this free online calendar you can keep track of your important events all in one place. You can also get event reminders via email or have text messages sent right to your mobile phone.

15. Tellico – It is an easy tool to organize books, videos, music, poems, bibliographies, chapters, blog posts and more. It’s simple and intuitive interface shows cover images, groupings, and any detail you want.

Collaborate

16. Campfire- It is a web-based chat tool that’s ideal for online meetings with clients or co-workers. It allows you to share text, files, and codes in real time.

17. Central desktop- This tool enables you to collaborate, communicate and share files with clients and co-workers instantly. It helps you connect and collaborate faster with your network.

18. Loose Stitch- Another collaboration tool that allows you to share outlines for your write ups with fellow writers and editors. You can also send your work as an attachment to your clients.

19. PDF Online- It is easy to convert your work files in to PDF doc files instantly using this Free PDF online converter.

20. eFax – It allows you to fax your work easily across the globe. It is cost effective, reliable and instant way to send and receive faxes by email.

Networking

21. MenWithPens –One of the popular blogs for writers includes interesting write ups from prominent writers that can help you in getting really useful tips for effective blogging and becoming a successful writer.

22. 43Folders —This tool helps you in connecting with fellow writers and bringing out ideas and tricks to come up with excellent work results.

23. LibraryThing- A community of 900,000 book lovers, which includes all types of books and collections. It provides a platform to connect with different writers of similar interests.

24. Red Room – It is a social networking website for authors to connect with readers and network. It includes blogs, essays, videos, podcasts, events and more.

25. Shelfari – Another social network that allows you to share recommendations and reviews. It also helps you in knowing what you and others are reading.

Content Management

26. XOOPS- This web application platform written in PHP for the MySQL database. It is an ideal for developing small or large community websites, intra company and corporate portals, weblogs and much more.

27. Plone- It a powerful content management system that lets non-technical people create and maintain information using only a web browser. It is best suited for web sites or intranets.

28. Opencms- Another professional and easy to use website content management system usable in open source environments and commercial components. Using this system content can be created with an integrated WYSIWYG editor similar to well known office applications.

29. Drupal- It allows you to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website. It offers a variety of optional modules that can add lots of interesting features like forums, picture galleries, file uploads and downloads, user blogs, OpenID, profiles and more.

30. Joomla- It helps in creating content is simple with the WYSIWYG editor as it allows you to combine text, images in an attractive way. There are a number of pre-installed modules to show the most popular articles, latest new items, newsflashes, related articles, and more.

Ideas & Inspiration

31. Wridea- It is an online idea management and collaboration service which lets you manage, improve, and share your ideas with people and friends.

32. Inspiration for Writers – You can browse through this website to for encouraging writing tips from experts in the field.

33. The Story Starter- This tool provides 763,591,140 creative ideas and writer prompts for writers of all ages. The ideas are good for short stories, novels, plays, scripts, or just for fun.

34. Geoffrey’s Automatic Story and Idea Generator- You need more ideas for your story then you just need to fill some details and generate a new fresh idea for your story.

35. The Imagination Prompt Generator- This tool enhance your imagination power by giving different prompts. They can be used for writing, blogging, art projects, music, discussion, or anything else you need some inspiration for.

Productivity tools

36. Amaya- This is an a free, open source HTML/XHTML editor that allows you to update or edit content directly on the Web.

37. Word Count Plus- This Firefox add-on helps in counting number of selected words written. It can also add the count to a running total.

38.PDF Creator- It is an application for converting documents into format on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It allows you to select it as your printer, permitting almost any application to print to PDF.

39. Toodledo – This online tool enables you to track your tasks including folders, subtasks, due-dates, priorities, tags, contexts, goals, notes, time estimates and other information.

40. PingMe- It is a useful tool to set reminders for all important events and happenings that can be sent via e-mail or text message to your phone.

Utility tools

41. Time59- This is a billing and invoicing tool for keeping a track of work done and sending invoices to your customers for work done.

42. StoryMash- It is a creative writing community for authors, amateur writers, readers and anyone interested in collaborative fiction and creative writing.

43. Docvert This tool is useful in converting word processor files (typically .doc) and converts them to Open Document and clean HTML instantly.

44. FireFTP- It provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers. Along with uploading your files quickly, you can also try its advanced features such as: directory comparison, syncing directories while navigating, SFTP, SSL encryption, search/filtering etc.

45. txt2tags- This open source tool which works as a document generator. It reads a text file and converts it to the formats such as HTML, XHTML, SGML, LaTeX etc.

46. Writer’s Network – It’s free, fun, and a great way to polish your writing skills or get quick feedback on your ideas. You can share your writings with your friends, everyone, clients etc.

47. ASuite - You can use this application with removable storage (uses relative paths) media like USB sticks, hard drives, iPods, etc. It launches files, folders and webpages from anywhere .

48. ZManda- This open source backup tool and recovery tool keeps your files secure and protested.

49. TrueCrypt- It is a Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux It encrypts all kinds of files and keep them secure and confidential.

50. Sonar It is a submission tracker that offers “free manuscript tracking” capabilities so that you can keep a track of publications, contests,trends, markets and much more.

We hope these tools will help you in becoming an efficient and successful writer/blogger. We welcome your feedback and suggestions on the same.