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Archive for the Rants Category
101 Reasons to Follow Me on Twitter

17 Sep 2008, Jay Hilgert

I’m not gonna lie, I’m addicted to Twitter. I’ve compiled a list of reasons why you should follow me on Twitter, not only because I think it’s silly how hooked I am, but because it can help build the community here at BittBox and help me connect to you in real time. Here we go :D

101 Reasons to Follow Me on Twitter
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25 MORE Reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic/Web Designer

28 Apr 2008, Jay Hilgert

It’s been over a year since the first edition of this post, and since it was by far the most popular BittBox post ever (and also the most ripped off), I thought it was due time for another. So I thought I’d lighten things up a bit and, back by popular demand….25 MORE reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic/Web Designer. These are in no particular order but I gave them numbers so you all could reference them in the comments if you like. OK, here we go..

  1. You’ve had a client that thought they knew more about design than you.

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25 Reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic/Web Designer

14 Apr 2007, Jay Hilgert

It’s that time again. I thought I’d let you peer into my head for a post, so I sat down with a notepad, a pen and a 12 pack of Bud Light. After some deep thought, I came up with this list of signs that you might be a hardcore designer. A lot of these signs can overlap other professions too. From my experience, the following list contains mostly truths, mixed in with a little humor.

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Blogging from a Designer’s Perspective

2 Apr 2007, Jay Hilgert

I started BittBox in January 07, and it’s been a learning experience to say the least. There have been many challenges, and tons of challenges still ahead. I wanted to spill my guts and try and give my story and perhaps persuade a couple of you to start your own blog, despite the ups and downs. Here’s what I’ve experienced so far:

It’s been a wild ride the past 3 months, and I think I can honestly say I’ve never been busier. I’m just like you. I work a normal 8-5 design job, and blog on the side in my spare time. I started this blog so I could share what I know about design with the rest of the world, but I was surprised as to how much I’ve learned just from blogging.

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The Fastest way to find High-Quality Freebies on the Web

16 Mar 2007, Jay Hilgert

Finding High Quality free files on the internet is every designers daily dilemma. Sometimes you don’t have the time to make your own swooshes, or seamless paisley background image. This is why we search, and from my experience, the search can be brutal. There is a lot of crap out there, and sifting through all of the 1990′s “clip art” makes me want to blow chunks sometimes. I have, however, found a way to bypass a lot of the “junk” and get right to the good stuff, relatively speaking. At the very least, call it a freebie search tip.

As you all probably know, adding the word “free” to a Google search can increase your crappy results exponentially. This sucks when all you want to find is a free button, badge, pattern, or anything else that you’re looking for. Nothing out of the ordinary, just quick and free. It doesn’t need to be this hard, and it shouldn’t be because there are plenty of sites out there willing to share free designs but don’t necessarily rank well on Google. This is where we take advantage of both Google, and the social media sites in order to get instant highly relevant results, and quick access to freebies. It’s like using every social bookmarking site at once. Here’s how it works. . .

Google Logo
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2 Months of Blogging Notes

28 Feb 2007, Jay Hilgert

I wanted to lighten things up for a post and show you my brainstorming method. It may seem a little archaic, but this is honestly how I decide what story to publish next. From emails I get from you all, and various comments, I can tell that some of you are probably curious as to who exactly I am, and how I come up with my ideas. So I’m dedicating this post to answering some of those questions.

2 months of blogging notes
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Using Flickr to Reduce Bandwidth and Get More Traffic at the same time

11 Feb 2007, Jay Hilgert

I Googled my site’s name the other day, and found something very interesting. On the 1st page, the 4th result was a URL from Flickr?! Someone liked my Free Glass RSS icons, took a screenshot, and uploaded it to Flickr with a link to my site in the description. View it Here >(Thank you, whoever you are!) Granted, this site hasn’t been around all that long, but I was truly amazed that this page was ranked higher than a lot of my own, but hey, I’m not gonna try to understand it. How bout we just roll with it and try to see the bright side here?

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