1 | Andrew Kelsall → Design Project Studies and Graphic Design Blog

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2 | 10 Steps → Photoshop Tutorials and Resources

4 | 1st Web Designer → Design and Freelance

5 |  Aaron Russell’s Blog → Web Design Tips

6 | Abduzeedo → Tutorials, Wallpapers and Design Showcase

7 | Aiburn → Art, Inspiration and Vectors

8 |  Andrew Keir →  Graphic Design & Inspiration Blog

9 |  Andy Sowards →  Web Design and Development Links

10 |  Anidan Design → Web Development and WordPress

11 | Anti-Social Development → WordPress Tips and Links

12 | Arbenting →  | Tutorials and inspiration

13 | Bittbox → Web Development and Freebies

14 | Blog Perfume → WordPress Tips and Themes

15 | Boag World → Web Design and Podcasting

16 | Brian Yerkes → Graphic & Web Design

17 | Chris Wallace → Worpress Themes and Blog

18 | ColourBurned → Graphic Design Resources and Tutorials

19 | Creatica Daily → Design Inspiration

20 | Creative Curio → Graphic Design & Inspiration Blog

15 | Creative Overflow → Photoshop and Anything Creative!

21 | CSS Tricks → CSS, Code and Web

22 | David Airey → Logo Design and Branding

23 | Dead Wings Designs →Print Design and Helpful Resources

24 | Design Blurb → Tutorials and Freebies

25 | Designer Daily → Graphic, Web Design and Inspiration

26 | Design Shard → Design, Inspiration and Free Resources

27 | Design Flavr → Art and Design Inspiration

28 | DesignM.ag → Web Development, Galleries and Inspiration

29 | Dev Snippets → Code, Galleries and Inspiration

30 | Design O’ Blog → Graphic Design and Illustration

31 | Designus → Design Resources and Freebies

32 | Digital Arts → Design Inspiration Magazine

33 | Dosh Dosh → Internet Marketing and Social Media

34 | Dot Design →  | Graphic Design & Inspiration Blog

35 | Doug Draws →  | Cartoons & Blogging

36 | DzineBlog → Inspiration and Resources

37 | Echo enduring Blog → Design, Illustration  and Writing

38 | Elite by Design → Tutorials, Inspiration, and Resources

39 | Elliot Jay Stocks → Design, Illustration and WordPress

40 | Forty Seven Media Blog → Web and Graphic Design Blog

41 | Freelance Folder → Freelance Advice and Resources

42 | Freelance Switch → Freelance Advice and Resources

43 | Fudge Graphics → Free Textures and Resources

44 | Fuel Your Creativity → Inspiration, Freebies and Articles

45 | Function → Web Design and Development Blog

46 | Gabe Taviano → “Technology meets Eternity” Design Blog

47 | GoMediaZine → Tutorials, Freebies and Graphic Design Blog

48 | Helvetic Brands → Logo Design and Branding

49 | iDesignStudios Blog → Web Design and Freelancing

50 | I’m Just Creative → Logo Design and Brand Identity

51 | Inspiration Bit → Web Design, Photography and Blogging

52 | Inspiredology → Web Design and Inspiration

53 | InstantShift → Web Designers and Developers Daily Resource

54 | Janko At Warp Speed → Web Design, Freebies and Tutorials

55 | Just Creative Design → Graphic and Logo Design Blog

56 | Kyle Steed → Life + Design + Faith

57 | Laughing Lion Design Blog → Graphic Design and Inspiration

58 | Logo Design Love → Logo Design Blog

59 | Loon Design → Tutorials, Comic and Freelance

60 | Lost and Taken → Free High Resolution Textures

61 | Mayhem Studios → Graphic Design and Marketing

62 | MediaLoot → Premium Graphic Design Resources

63 | MyInkBlog → Graphic and Web Design

64 | Naldz Graphics → Tutorials, Freebies and Inspiration

65 | Net Tuts → Web Tutorials and Freebies

66 | Noupe → Photoshop, Tutorials and WordPress

67 | Outlaw Design Blog → Freebies, Tutorials and Resources

68 | Pixelflips → Web & Interface Designs

69 | Pro Blog Design →Wordpress, CSS and Php

70 |  PSDFAN→ Photoshop Tutorials, Inspiration and Freebies

71 |  PSD Tuts → Photoshop Tutorials, Inspiration and Videos

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72 | QVectors → Vector Freebies and Blog

73 | Redswish → Web Design and Marketing Blog

74 |  Rob Cubbon → Web design, print graphics & more!

75 |  Script and Style → Design and Web Development Blog

76 | Sharebrain → Web Design, Fonts and Graphics

77 |  Six Revisions → Web Development and Design Information

78 | Smashing Apps → Free and Useful Online Resources for Designers and Developers

79 | Smashing Magazine → Graphics, Inspiration, Coding and Design Magazine

80 | Spoon Graphics → Photoshop & Illustrator Tutorials and Freebies

81 | Standout Blogger → Blogging Tips To Help Improve Your Blogging

82 | STYL.ETI.ME → Design news and links

83 | Texture Lovers → Free Textures, Inspiration and Resources

84 |  The Design Cubicle → Graphic Design, Twitter links and Inspiration

85 |  The Roxor → Freebies, Tutorials, Logos, Package Design and Photography

86 | The Dieline → Package Design and Inspiration

87 | The Graphic Mac → Mac OS X tips, tutorials, resources and software reviews

88 | Think Design → Graphic Design Freebies, Resources, and Inspiration

89 | Tracey Grady → Graphic Design, Web Design and Illustration

90 | Tutorial9 → Photoshop Tutorials, Photography Tuts, and Resources

91 | Usability Post → Usability issues for Web and Design

92 | Vectips → Illustrator Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials

93 | Vectordairy → Illustrator Tutorials & Tips

94| Vector Tuts → Adobe Illustrator and Vector Tutorials

95 | Veerle’s Blog → Webdesign, CSS and Graphic Design Blog

96 | We Are Not Freelancers → Web, and Design Blog from Obox Design

97 | Web Designer Depot → Web  Design Resources and Tutorials

98 | Web Design Ledger → Web Design Blog, Tutorials and Inspiration

99 | Well Medicated → Graphic Design and Inspiration Blog

100 | WP Beginner → Beginner’s Guide for WordPress + Resources

Okay, I worked on this list at various times over the last couple of months, so some of the graphics will be outdated. However, I do expect that I will expand upon this list and add other sites on at a later date. There are plenty of quality design blogs out there, so if I missed your blog, it may get added on the next revision

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Firstly, I would like to thank you, both ‘readers’ and RSS Subscribers, who are following this article series. It’s been a while since my last instalment due to a heavy design-workload.

In my last instalment, I wrote of how I learned to code CSS. This part is about how I chose a WordPress theme to customize. When I initially decided to use WordPress, I had three options regarding the design of the blog, as follows:

Design my own theme/template

Although there are plenty of tutorials out there on how to do this, I determined that it would take too much of my very precious time to learn about designing my own theme. Although I had the ability to code CSS, designing for a PHP-based blog would command new skills that would take time to both learn and master.

Use a pre-designed theme/template

Obviously, this option would take the least amount of time to implement, however, as a designer I needed to stand out from the crowd and stamp my own flair regarding my online presence. The way that my site is presented online is the bridge between potential clients and myself, not to mention my readers also. So for me, using a pre-designed theme, either free or “premium” (paid-for) simply wasn’t a viable option.

Customize as pre-designed theme

Well, as you guessed, this is the option I chose because it gave me the best of both worlds. I was able to design my own graphics for my blog, but using the code structure of a theme that had already been designed and tested.

If like myself, you are already a WordPress user, you will have probably seen the vast array of templates out there, both free and Premium. What I was looking for was a theme that I could strip down to the bone, as it were. I searched the net for a while looking for a theme with a great structure, not design. To elaborate, I wanted a theme that just had a basic code-structure that I could leverage to create a unique appearance out of.

The screen-shot (at the top of this post) is the theme that I chose to use — GridFocus by Derek Punsalan of 5ThirtyOne.com. Now, I had seen this template used many times before on various blogs, customized by site owners and designers. I noticed how well it could be be adjusted to any particular blog, with the only main aspect giving-away that it was GridFocus was the main navigation bar. It would be fair to assume that the majority of non-designers and non-bloggers would even notice this theme being used on various sites.

So, after downloading the theme, I set to work on customizing the images and even overall layout. This shall be covered in more detail in Part #5, be sure to subscribe to my feed so you don’t miss it.

If you have any questions or comments on this article, please type your message below…

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Hello there potential freelance/contractor. I’m still in the process of starting my new online venture, AndrewKelsall.com, and already I’ve got a couple of print jobs lined-up. However, somewhere down the pipeline I’m going to need talented Slicers/Coders to call upon.

I’m capable of coding CSS myself, but it’s not my specialty. If I work on a print job for a client, and they request web-work, I would design their site for them, but would look to great contact to slice it for me for an arranged fee.

I would never want to turn work away because I haven’t got enough contacts, so here’s a chance to add your details.

Please copy and paste the information below in the Comment Box and add the information you want.

For example,

Specialty: CSS, XHTML & PHP. Can code for WordPress and Drupal themes. I can code to web standards, including XHTML Strict [...]

Skills:

Specialty:

URL’s of Previous Work:

Price per hour:

Average Price to slice 1 PSD File:

I know that the last question, ‘Average Price to slice 1 PSD File’ is subjective and depends on the file, so leave this one blank if you want, but provide some more info on your pricing structure, etc.

If there is any other information you would like to add, please do!

Original top image: Shane Pope

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall