Font ❤️ Friday and Other Designery Things #20

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I’m writing this on my phone, on the tube. It made me think about all the tech around us and how we use it. I’ve finally taken the plunge and invested in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

Funny thing is, I saw it on AppSumo last year but didn’t like the look of the logo and font! I missed out on the lifetime deal because of that logo. It looked a bit childish, put me off. But now, using the product it’s great. Does exactly what I need. But I judged it. Wow!

Has that happened to you? The lesson here of course is, it’s important for your logo and visuals to look professional and match your brand. Not saying that it all needs to be serious as this funky font caught my eye:

Would you say that this looks childish? It’s a fun font, but when it’s placed on an appropriate design, on the right product, it works. Take a look below!

Designed by Art Grootfontein, Letraflex is a retro typeface of the future. It is designed with upper and lowercase styles. Looks great for funky packaging, book designs, and posters.

Again, there’s a place for all designs and all typefaces. You just need the right project! The balance is being aware of your audience and who you want to attract. I mean, I wouldn’t use this on a corporate brochure selling insurance products!

Then again, you might…? It’d stand out for sure. Who am I to judge?

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If you’d like my help with your design ideas, or you want guidance about your freelance career, I’ve introduced a new ‘Power Hour’. I’ll help you get on the right track with whatever you need. You can read and book here.

Onwards, for more fonts, designery things and freelancing goodness…

FONTS

Letter learnings
The awesome typeface designer Jamie Clarke has an event coming up on April 17th in London. I’m a big fan of his work and he’ll be talking about how he uses his creativity to design decorative letters and typefaces. There are some tickets left, sign up here.

DESIGNERY THINGS

Free Design Stuff
FREE? Yup! This website Free Design Stuff has links to fonts, illustrations, icons, images, tools – in fact lots of useful links, including learning. And as the name suggests, it’s all freeee for you to use on your own project, or for clients. The site is curated by product designer Ben Sterne. But like with all free stuff, do double check the copyright and usage.

Art for all

I visited The Affordable Art fair this month. I loved it! As well as buying some art, you get to view the best of the best artists out there. I suppose the name “affordable” is debatable though. The cheapest piece I saw was a printed postcard for £40.

FREELANCING

Five Minute Freelance Friday Focus

Sarah says:
Here's my top tip for LinkedIn:

When was the last time you reviewed your LinkedIn profile? What does it say about you? Your headline is what people see when they scroll on LinkedIn and what they'll see first on your profile. Here are my top tips for writing your headline:

• Customise your headline and tailor it to your audience

• Choose the right keywords to be discovered on LinkedIn and search engines

• Use language that your audience will understand

• Think about what you offer

• Keep it short and put the most important information at the beginning of your headline to avoid words being cut off in the search results

Have you reviewed your headline recently?

Thanks Sarah! Do connect with her on LinkedIn and check out her services here.

If you’d like to be involved and share your top tip, hit reply and tell me all.

Happy Birthday Freelancer Magazine
I’m currently finishing up the designs for issue 13! Unlucky for some, but in this issue we’re celebrating the magazine’s 3rd birthday. Yaaay!

I know a few readers of this newsletter subscribe and if you haven’t well come join us! It’s a brilliant read, full of ways to run your freelance business. And it’s a good way to meet other freelancers, especially with the online coworking sessions.

You can only subscribe to the magazine four times a year now, for one week at a time. The next window opens next week, 1st - 8th April. Subscribe here.

#FONTLOVEFRIDAY

Speaking of celebrations, going out and meeting people…
Digital Women celebrated their 5th birthday with an in-person event in Birmingham recently. It was so good. We listened to top speakers on AI and marketing. I was also asked to speak on a panel of ‘Female Founders’. If you’d said this year I’d be hosting a webinar and speaking in front of people I would have said “nope, nope, nope!” …I’ve got bad memories from the past about public speaking. But now I’m slowly embracing it. Even enjoying it. I’ve been asked to speak on podcasts and share my experiences. So, never say never to things you might like to try one day.

And in other celebrations…I’ve been selected for a Woman Who Achieves Award – hosted by Sandra Garlick MBE. How happy am I? Next time I’ll let you know how I get on, the awards are in May.

I’m hitting the road (or rather, the rail) again for You Are the Media “Creator Day” in April. Mark Masters has brilliantly curated a day where business owners learn from top speakers and get to create something on the day. There are a few tickets left. Mark spoke to me and Daniel Plume about the day on the YATM podcast – you can listen here.

Happy Friday people, and enjoy the long weekend ahead! 

Ange 🌈

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I specialise in both print and digital graphic design. If you are interested in learning more about me and my services, take a look here.

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