Graphic Design Survival Guide

I have comprised this list based on my understanding and experiences so far. I thought it would be helpful to have it all in once place to share with everyone else. Please feel free to submit new content or corrections to me! Enjoy! - Eli

GRAPHIC DESIGN SURVIVAL GUIDE

Portfolio Sites
- First Things First
- Free Portfolio Sites
- Invite Only Portfolio / Networking Sites
- Basic Free Blog / Portfolio Sites
Inspiration Sites
Graphic Design Publications
Networking Sites
Design Memberships
Design Scholarships
Awards and Contests


Forthcoming:

Internship Guide - Coming Soon - Local Internships Spots
- Portfolio Preparation Digital & Physical
Tutorial Sites - Coming Soon - Organized by programs
Resource Sites - Coming Soon - Organized by materials needed
Hosting Your Work - Coming Soon
- Upload Sites Video / Keynote / Etc.
- Hosting Files
Selling Your Work Online - Coming Soon
- Promotion
- Paid Shops
- Free Shops
- Taxes
Freelancing - Coming Soon

Portfolio Sites:

First Things First: 

Remember to apply the things you already know when building your portfolio site. If you're a Sophomore you should be well aware of the importance of color and form, the basics of Word Press, domain ownership, ftp, and web hosting. If you're a Junior you should also know the importance of wire framing, content organization, typography on screen (desktop and mobile), and navigation. Seniors, you should have all of this refined to an art after Multimedia Experience and Pro-Practice. With that said remember that the purpose of your portfolio is to showcase your work. The design should be in service of that goal.

Please keep in mind that applying what you've already learned this far in design like basic html, css, domain and ftp management it is cheaper than just customizing a paid portfolio site. It may not be as quick and easy but coding but managing your own site shows that you can do it. Learning code is not just for web designers. As a graphic designer you will work with web designers, and developers at times. If you understand the core of their work you will be able to better tailor your own to the needs of the project team. With that said if possible I would highly recommend maintaining a paid portfolio site for the exposure this early in your career and also a personal online portfolio site that will grow with you over the years. Remember that good design and effort shows through very clearly in any online portfolio presence.

* This mark beside the site name denotes that they have bonus networking capabilities. Capabilities that allow you to follow other creatives and possibly expose your work to more people. Some others below in my list offer it but I'm not sure exactly how much traffic they really generate so i've decided to leave them off. 

Free Portfolio Sites: 

*Behance Network / Free - Regardless if you have another portfolio site you should be on here for the exposure and networking possibilites. http://www.behance.net 

Indexhibit - You must know some basic HTML and have your own hosting. Indexhibit can be coded to resemble Cargo Collective if you want that look without the same price. http://www.indexhibit.org/

*Coroflot - Lists portfolios by school as well. It would be great to see more KCAI representation. No html knowledge needed. - http://www.coroflot.com/

Carbon Made / Free - The free version is limited to 5 projects and 35 images. No html knowledge needed. 

Krop / Free - The free version is limited to 10 images and a basic template - http://www.krop.com/creativedatabase/

Gigposters.com - On a side note if you make gig posters make sure you're on this site: http://www.gigposters.com/

Paid Portfolio Site:

*Cargo Collective - http://cargocollective.com/

Basic usage is free. Templates, and projects are limited. 

To apply: http://cargocollective.com/#/contact

Paid is: $66/year or $9/month.

*Behance Prosite / Paid - $11/month. - No programming required to update the site. Like Behance, minus the Behance branding. - http://www.behance.net/prosite

Carbon Made / Paid - $12/month. http://carbonmade.com/

Krop / Paid - $10/month. The paid version is unlimited images, gallery, custom domain, etc.

Invite Only Portfolio / Networking Sites:

*Dribbble - http://dribbble.com/ 

*Forrst - https://forrst.com/ 

Basic Free Blog / Portfolio Sites:

PHP & MySQL Based. Highly recommend basic knowledge of PHP and MySQL database management to make them really worth while unless you want to shell out for templates. 

*Tumblr - Any blog built on the Tumblr format can be tricked out into a decent design portfolio but it will require a good understanding of the code to do it. Otherwise you find yourself having to purchase templates to make it look half decent. 

Wordpress.org -  Wordpress has greater customization installed on your own hosting. http://wordpress.org/ 

Wordpress.com - They host it free with less customization - http://wordpress.com/

Drupal - Option... I would stick with Wordpress (self-hosted) if you have to take this route. http://drupal.org/

Joomla - Option... I would stick with Wordpress (self-hosted) if you have to take this route. http://www.joomla.org/

Inspiration

(e-mail me to add to this list! elibrumbaugh at gmail dot com)

Remember that inspiration is wonderful, but plagiarism won't help you grow at all.

Designspiration - http://designspiration.net/ (Images can be saved with membership)

FFFFound - http://ffffound.com/ (Images can be saved with membership)

Grabbbb.it - http://grabbbb.it/ (Like ffffound.com) (Images can be saved with membership)

Buami - http://www.buamai.com/

Design Envy - http://designenvy.aiga.org/

But Does It Float - http://butdoesitfloat.com/

Under Consideration - http://www.underconsideration.com/

Grain Edit - http://grainedit.com/

Reform It - http://reform.lt/

Design Work Life - http://www.designworklife.com/

Design Defined - http://designdefined.co.uk/

The Solid Studios Blog - http://blog.thesolidstudios.com/

Visual Graphic - http://visualgraphic.tumblr.com/

Nice Things - http://nicethings.me/
Creattica - http://creattica.com/
This is Colossal - http://www.thisiscolossal.com/
Fonts In Use - http://fontsinuse.com/
Oh Beautiful Beer - http://www.ohbeautifulbeer.com/

Graphic Design Publications:


This list does not include the many mixed design / photography / architecture / fashion magazines.
They are also great for inspiration!

Remember that many of these accept submissions from students!

Computer Arts
 - Arts Projects
 - Illustrator
- After Effects
- Inspiration Ed.
Computer Arts Collection's
- Graphic Design
- Typography
- Illustration
- Branding
- Photography
- Advertising

Communication Arts

IdN
Digital Arts

Creative Quarterly
HOW
GD USA
Print
.Net
I.D.
CMYK

Networking Sites:

*LinkedIn - A great online resume! It allows you to network other people in any field. Its hard to keep track of everyone you meet at events so let LinkedIn do it for you. It also allows you to embed your Behance portfolio into it. It also informs peers and possible employers of your internship progression while you're still a student. http://www.linkedin.com/

Design Memberships:

AIGA KC (American Institute of Graphic Arts) - No seriously. Get on it. It pays for itself. Make you sure you attend the events and if possible volunteer to work them! http://www.aigakc.org/

AAF-KC - Join if you're really into advertising or just want a great chance to network with some really great people already in the field. They also offer a student scholarship currently worth $2000 a year to several students yearly. Don't miss it! http://aafkc.com/

Design Scholarships:

AIGA World Studio Scholarship
http://www.aiga.org/worldstudio-scholarship/

• Basic scholarships are awarded in the amounts of $2,000–$3,000.
• Up to two additional awards may be given in an amount up to $5,000 at the jury’s discretion.
• Honorable mention prizes in the amount of $500 cash are also awarded.

AAF-KC
http://aafkc.com/ad-club-foundation

• Financial assistance of $1,000 per semester
• One-year support and counsel of a mentor from the membership of the AAF-KC
• One-year membership in AAF-KC
• Invitations to attend all regular program activities of AAF-KC at no cost while in school (excludes annual ADDY Awards show)
• All AAF-KC mailings/emails
• Membership in the American Advertising Federation

Art Directors Club

http://www.adcglobal.org/education/scholarships/

• $2500 Veer Scholarship in Advertising
• $2500 ADC Scholarship in Advertising
• $2500 ADC Scholarship in Illustration

Awards & Contests:

• AIGA A's - http://www.kcdesignawards.com/ - $15 Student 
• Above the Fold - http://awards.abovethefoldbook.com/ - $10 
• Addys - $35 Student AAF-KC Members or $45 Non-Student Members
• Creative Quarterly - $10
• CMYK Magazine - http://www.cmykmag.com/ - $45 (Unlimited entries after base cost)
• Communication Arts - http://www.commarts.com/competitions - $40 Single Entry / $80 Series
• ADC - http://www.adcawards.org/ - $35 Student (There is a School Discount: Enter 10 or more pay $25 per entry. To qualify all items must be entered by an individual administrative account.)
• Core 77 - http://www.core77designawards.com/ - $60 Student