Textures You Can’t Live Without: Maarten Kleyne’s Colorized Art Collection

We’re super psyched to bring you the newest in texture excellence today.

Over 100 brilliant & bubbling textures, only $35.

At 45% off of the list price, it’s this week’s special.

Go Media’s 100+ Must Have Design Resources

One of the top questions we’ve been asked recently is: “What tools, resources and programs do you use in your everyday lives over there at Go Media?”

Our creative studio here in Ohio City is filled with awesome, handy tools that keep us cranking out creativity, programs that keep us organized, and treats that keep our energy pumpin.’

Here’s a list of our favs.

Fears, Dreams, and Success with Jessica Hische

We are totally obsessed with Jessica Hische.

Letterer, illustrator and self-proclaimed crazy cat lady, Jessica oozes talent, crafting simple characters into candy before our eyes.

We probably don’t need to share with you all of her accolades: Forbes 30 under 30 (cough, twice), Print New Visual Artist, ADC Young Gun, GDUSA Person to Watch. We probably don’t even need to list her notable clients (Wes Anderson, Penguin Books, The New York Times, Target, Nike, Samsung, etc. etc. etc.!)

All we need to say is this:

Avoid Design Disaster with these New Mockup Everything Templates

Hello again from your friends at Mockup Everything! We’re here, as always, to help you avoid design disaster like this:

Clients who want the logo bigger: FUNK YOU!

5 New WMC Fest 4 Speaker Videos Released

In the chill of the Cleveland winter, we’re riding on a wave of WMC Fest 4 Speaker videos to keep us warm. Hot chocolate cheers to the release of the next five! Speeches include the talents of Kern & Burn, Jacqui Oakley, Nick Disabato, Jon Contino and Grace Dobush.

Watch them here or for free on our vimeo channel!

Comic Book Illustration Inspiration: 50+ Examples

Graphic Design Podcast: Welcome to the Go Media Podcast!

The Go Media podcast is dedicated to tips, tricks, and tales of the business-minded artist and designer. How can you be more profitable? More creatively fulfilled? It’s our way of letting you inside our studio to learn about the ups and downs we face here at Go Media and how we’re dealing with them.

Our podcast archives can also be found on Soundcloud!

Secret to Success: Track Your Metrics!

It’s a new year. A great time to look at what’s been working for us here at Go Media, as well as what hasn’t worked and what we’ll be doing better in the year to come.

We do this in the most accurate, meaningful way possible, one that benefits us ten-fold.

Ready for the simple, yet essential key to Go Media’s success?

We track our metrics.

On the Map 3 Videos Released!

Go Media proudly calls Cleveland home. Like so many lifelong residents and transplants alike, we revel in the cultural, architectural, and natural amenities our great city has to offer. We see potential in what some would call blight and we recognize opportunity for change and a prime climate for sustainable growth in our local economy.

We not only take great pride in our city, its richness and grit; we celebrate it.

Check out Cellar Door Cleveland’s WMC Fest Disarmed Sessions

Happy New Year from your friends over at Weapons of Mass Creation Fest!

Planning for this year’s event is underway, though we are still basking in the glow of WMC 2013.

40+ Excellent Hand-Lettering Inspirations

What’s better than pencil on paper?

We love to drool over the work of talented hand-letterers we stumble upon on sites like Pinterest and Behance.

Here is some work that struck our fancy as of late. We hope it inspires your own creativity.

Freebie: Mockup Everything Templates from your friends at Go Media

Hello Go Media Faithful!

I’m here with an early Christmas gift…some free mockup templates sponsored by the very best site for Realistic Mockups for Designers like yourself, Mockup Everything!

Just click the link following each photo and get to steppin’ my friends.

Build An Engaged Social Media Following Now: Tips for Designers

Entrepreneur and Marketing Connoisseur Kumar Arora knows social media like the back of his hand. Fellow Clevelander and start-up wonder for ventures including Rogue Eyewear, iLTHY, Black Rose Entertainment Management Group and ICTech Ltd., Arora has an impressive history in the field. A few things in Arora’s backpocket? Developing campaigns for Coca-cola, Verizon, Redbull, Live Nation, Puma as well as starting on grassroots and viral campaigns for performers like Machine Gun Kelly, Jay Sean, DJ E-V. He is no stranger to growing communities at a rapid-fire rate.

Arora has a few suggestions for designers, like himself, who yearn to gain a following too. In an age of #followme and #tagforlikes though, he reminds, “developing a community that cares is always better than having a group of people who don’t engage.”

Not only buying “likes” bad practice, but will also get you nowhere fast.

How to Create a Winning Email Marketing Campaign

Email marketing is a great way to blast your brand to the millions of fans following your every move. But like anything else, there is an art to creating the perfect campaign that will not only be worth reading, but worth opening in the first place.

We asked our friend Fabio Carneiro, over at Mailchimp, to share with us some words of wisdom on this very topic. Read on for Fabio’s 7 tips to creating an email marketing campaign that matters.

Help Us Share the Love for those in Need: Go Media Launches COSE’s Warm and Bright Campaign

The designers at Go Media are proud to approach each and every project with passion. But we must admit, our ongoing partnership with COSE and specifically, our assistance with the launch of their Warm and Bright campaign, has us feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

Not only did we have a ball coming up with the festive concepts for COSE, but more importantly, we wholeheartedly support the cause behind the designs. You see, when anyone visits COSE’s Warm and Bright landing page and clicks to share, COSE will donate $1 to families in need.

8 Detrimental Design Habits to Break Today

You’ve just landed that internship or job of your dreams and are ready to take on the world. Maybe you’ve been working at a firm or have been freelancing for years.

You’re sure you’ve got it under control. You’re got this in the bag!

But wait! There are just a few common mistakes that may be holding back from achieving your full potential.

We’d like to help. Thanks to some great names in our industry, we have a wealth of advice for you regarding some design habits to break now! Or, better, those to watch out for and nab before they become etched into stone.

Go Media Presents: On The Map 3

On The Map 3 is rapidly approaching! Below you can find the official event details in the Press Release, along with a peek behind the scenes of one of the new episodes – A day in the life at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. I hope to see you, our local readers, at the screening Friday, December 6th. And for all our readers, keep your eyes peeled for a follow up blog post that delves into the video creation process. Enjoy!

The Fundamentals of Great T-Shirt Design

What makes a good t-shirt design?

Sometimes it just feels like, well, you know it when you see it. But how do you quantify that feeling?

Despite a good, solid understanding of design, many are stumped and come looking to Jeff Finley, partner here at Go Media and author of Thread’s Not Dead, The Designer’s Guide to the Apparel Industry, for answers.

Jeff shares some not-so-obvious fundamentals of great t-shirt design in Thread’s Not Dead, so we’ve decided to share some of them with you today. We’ve also asked a few of our friends, t-shirt greats Brandon Rike, Dan Mumford, Glenn Jones and Anthony Hall to weigh in.

WMC Fest 4 Speaker Videos Release

We just released the first wave of speaker videos from WMC Fest 2013. Check them out here on the ‘Zine. They are also viewable in HD for free on our vimeo channel!

Included in the first batch are Brandon Rike, Rena Tom with Lisa Congdon, Troy DeShano, Stephanie Landes Burris, and These are Things.

Disclaimer: talks from Troy DeShano and These are Things many bring you to tears! They are examples of the type of humility and honesty we admire in our speakers.

The Challenges and Rewards of Product Photography

Capturing a clean, crisp, accurate image of the work you’ve spent so many hours to achieve is one of the most vital elements of pulling together your portfolio. Miss the mark and you may lose the job.

Since there is so much skill and expertise associated with product photography, unless you are well equipped and well educated, you may be misrepresented. Professional Cleveland photographer and extended Go Media family member Dan Morgan, of Straight Shooter, recommends designers leave it to a professional.

With over 30 years of photography experience under his belt, Morgan has learned to shoot and light every kind of product conceivable. Beginning his career at his father’s photography business, Morgan Studio, Dan has worked for the likes of Bonne Bell, Sotheby’s in New York and Kate Spade. He has photographed everything from the jewelry Marilyn Monroe and Katharine Hepburn once doned to fishing lures and Ferraris. Dan has come to specialize in shiny objects, arguably one of the most difficult products to shoot.

Dan talks to us today about some of the challenges he has faced as a product photographer, as well as some of the tricks of the trade.

16 Ways to Become a Master of Marketing

Whether you’re fresh out of the gate or an experienced designer, you’ll need effective marketing to keep the leads coming in. If you’re like us, you’ve experienced the ‘chug chug effect’ – waves of being booked solid followed by scrambling for work. It’s easy to get so entrenched in design that marketing strategies fall by the wayside.

We’ve learned through the years that marketing is an ongoing process, something we have to make a concerted effort to do. Yes, it takes time and money, but it’s essential for a sustainable business.

In this article, we’d like to share some of the techniques we’ve found to be effective through our experience – some traditional, some not so much. We hope you find this information insightful and please share any ideas you have in the comment section!

How to Launch your Freelance Business: 9 Simple Tips

So, you’ve been fantasizing about taking the big leap in the freelance world. Maybe the three days at Weapons of Mass Creation Fest was just the little push over the edge you needed. Maybe the current job market looks so grim, that making it on your own seems like the best solution. Or is it that you just cannot stand living to create something you don’t believe in one minute longer?

You’re not alone. We chatted a bit with freelance designer Dan Stiles, known for his vibrant, bold and bright screen-print art prints and rock music posters honoring such acts as The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, Ray Lamontagne and Sonic Youth, about his decision to dive in head first. Rena Tom, of Makeshift Society in San Francisco (a sweet co-working space and clubhouse for creative freelancers), also contributed. And lastly, we drew some gems of knowledge from both our experience here at Go Media and Bill Beachy’s book, Drawn to Business.

Learn How to Build the Design Firm of Your Dreams with Drawn to Business!