Canvas picture is the trend of the day as it is highly durable and has a fantastic visual effect. The effect of the picture is controlled to a certain extent by the quality of the canvas used and the special imaging effects included by the printer. The equipment used for the purpose is a high resolution digital camera, a computer and a multicolor inkjet printer.

A canvas pictures is one of its kind and excellent for use at home or in the office. It has found various other uses apart from decorating homes. It has a great potential for commercial purposes too. They are being used as sign boards out side stores, in tradeshows, banners, catalogues or brochures. A whole advertisement for a product can be printed and used for a long time.

Custom canvas printing of photographs has become very popular and many of them are opting to get their photos printed on to a canvas with a back ground of their choice. The back ground be a color or a pattern of our choice. At times it can be created by using an old graphic design or even a photo graphs enlarged. The other photographs can be placed on it to give a novel look.

The Art Calendar magazine is accepting entries for their self portrait magazine cover competition. I’m not sure if artists outside of the United States can enter, but I entered it anyway. Entries are submitted online and it’s free to enter, so it was pretty easy.

Here’s my self portrait entry..

Here’s their blurb..
“Entrants will have the chance to win one of three great prizes. Our first place winner will receive a $500 gift certificate to Blick Art Materials and have their artwork featured on the cover of the March issue of the magazine! They will also be interviewed by one of the Art Calendar editors for a one-page profile, where we’ll feature a picture of the winner and their winning work. Our second place winner will receive a $150 gift certificate to Blick Art Materials and our third place winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to Blick Art Materials. Both our second and third place finalists will have a half-page profile with an image of their work and a short biography about them inside the magazine.”

Probably the best exhibition I have seen in Australia (coming from a fan of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cezanne). Masterpieces from Paris has 9 Paul Gauguins, 7 Van Goghs and 8 Cezannes. So it’s more than one or two good paintings thrown in with a bunch of weaker paintings like the usual “blockbuster” exhibition. The Van Goghs alone are worth making the effort to see the exhibition.

It has been called the “most valuable collection of art ever to be exhibited in Australia.”

The works come from the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and will be on display at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra until April.

Vincent van Gogh – Starry Night Over the Rhone
I was surprised by how fresh this painting looks. For some reason I expected it to be smaller and duller than it really is. This painting was worth the 5 hour drive.

Vincent van Gogh – Bedroom at Arles
I thought this painting would be bigger. The Musée d’Orsay version of Vincent’s bedroom is a little smaller than the first two versions that he did. Still a great painting.

Vincent van Gogh – Portrait of the Artist
The man himself.

Paul Gauguin – Tahitian Women
I probably should like Gauguin more than I do. He did some really good paintings but I don’t think he comes close to Van Gogh or Cezanne. Having said that, I really liked seeing his paintings in the flesh.

I would show some more works but the NGA website was down. In short, Masterpieces from Paris is a must see if you’re an Australian. They’re easily the best paintings in the country at the moment.

Any good freelancer has surely hear the saying that 80% of your work will come from 20% of your clients. As a young freelancer, I found this saying to be far from true. In the beginning, it was more like 80% of my work came low paying clients I found on job boards and 20% of the time I wanted to shoot them in the face.

At the time, I couldn’t understand how this saying could be true. I rarely ever had repeat clients, let alone ones who would come back time and time again.

Looking back, I’m sure it to do with two things:

1. The quality of my work.
2. The quality of my clients.

Problem 1

Obviously when I started freelancing I wasn’t exactly the best designer. Granted I got better as the days passed, but I was still far from exceptional. This undoubtedly was part of the reason I didn’t get repeat clients. While most of my clients were happy with the end product, it wasn’t anything special enough for them to seek me out the next time they needed work.

The solution to this problem is only one that can happen over time. In order to be able to produce designs of a caliber that cause clients to seek you out, you need practice. Becoming an amazing designer like Elliot Jay Stocks or the guys over at Meta Labs won’t happen over night. Constantly designing and pushing yourself to up your game is the only way you will ever become a sought after designer. As such, it is the main way you will get 80% of your work from 20% of your clients.

Problem 2

Assuming you have had a dozen or so clients in your time as a freelancer, I am sure you have come across a variety of clients. Some of them good, others, not so much. I have learned that the sort of clients that fall into the 20% category are a certain type. Typically, that type are the ones who appreciate good design and are willing to pay for it. These types of clients are rarely found on job boards and classified sites.

So, that begs the question, where are these 20% of clients found? More than likely they are found through word of mouth referrals and through amazing work. As I said before, if you produce amazing work, clients will find you.

Looking Back

I make no claims to be an amazing designer, but I manage to make a decent living at it. Having worked my way up from nothing as most freelancers do, I realize now that the 80/20 rule is very much true. In fact, it is a very amazing thing. You usually end up with the majority of your work coming from those 20% of clients because the two of you get along and work very well together. So not only are having to look less for work, but you are getting to work with people who appreciate your designs and creativity.

Almost all of us are aware of logos from our favorite brands. Yes we recognize them instantly. This is because visual images create a deep impact when blended along with written content. Hence if you are about to launch your own business you should consider applying special attention to your business logo. If you are unsure as to where to proceed from, you can approach several logo design companies that can design a professional looking logo for your business. Although it will be best to let them decide the best design, you can very well give your own inputs. Another good thing will be to ask them for samples so that you get a good idea of what you are going to get. Always make sure that you do not overlook trifle details such as quality of work, turnaround time and of course the budget. Similarly, you need to be sure if you need the logo for online use or for printing on cards, flyers or brochures.

As many of you may have noticed, I haven’t had a chance to update Outlaw Design Blog in some time and it has really been bothering me. I would like to apologize for this lack of work on my part. As some of you regulars may know, I recently got married, am buying a house, and having a baby soon. On top of all that, my WordPress Designers business has been really taking off. Not that any of this is an excuse to leave you guys high and dry, but it is a reason.

Apologize aside, I have been trying to find a new way to bring Outlaw Design Blog back to life. It seems that there are 1,001 design blogs online these days, so I have been trying to think of a way to do something new. One thing I have decided, is to do more video posts and follow them up with some written text. I also have an idea that will hopefully encourage more detailed comments and interaction on the posts.

This new blog format also calls for a new design. In the weeks to come I will be launching a new design that better suits the blogs new golas. Below is a sneak peak of the new design.

Personal Projects

Aside from all the extra personal projects such as home buying and baby making, I have a number of cool things going on online as well. I thought I’d share some screenshots to let you guys know whats going on.

If you follow me on Twitter @DannyOutlaw you have probably already seen these mockups for my re-design of WordPress Designers. But, if you haven’t, you are in for quite a treat! This may be one of my most favorite designs I have ever done.

Butterflied roofs should be avoided at all costs … St George Wharf, London

Something magical happens when dictators and architects fall in love. The offspring, these days, is usually triangular.

Dictators understand the power of architecture. Saddam Hussein was an enthusiastic patron, and particular fan of marble. Hitler’s favourite was the architect Albert Speer. Norman Foster recently built the Orwellian-sounding (and very triangular) Palace of Peace and Reconciliation for the dodgy regime in Kazakhstan. Take a look. Remind you of the all-seeing eye much?

Architects, left to themselves, mostly produce wonderful buildings with one eye on the sensibilities of the man on the street. Give them a tyrannical patron, and all sense of proportion – the human scale – vanishes. Just look what the North Koreans built: the Ryugyong Hotel.

“The more centralized the power, the less compromises need to be made in architecture,” said Peter Eisenman when asked why architects like working for dictators. Let’s hear it for compromise and decentralisation, then. The main aesthetic crime committed by the Ryugyong Hotel – as by most dictators’ commissions – is its sheer monumentality: it’s just so unnecessarily huge. Such colossal buildings seem to crush the human spirit, and do so knowingly. Then again, only an oversized ego builds oversized buildings – as if trying to reduce everything else to the significance of an ant farm. In architecture, ugliness and contempt are synonyms. This is a building that clearly hates people.

Is it the world’s ugliest building? It’ll make most lists – but there’s a lot of competition. For my money, the world’s five worst have got to be:

1. House of the Republic (now Palace of the Parliament), Bucharest

Nicolae Ceaucescu’s monumental folly still holds world records for the largest civilian administrative building, most expensive administrative building, and heaviest building in the world. Constructing it required demolishing much of Bucharest’s historic district, including 19 Orthodox Christian churches, six Jewish synagogues, three Protestant churches, and 30,000 residences. It’s still unfinished.

2. Buckingham Palace, London

Home to the second-longest lasting unelected head of state in the world, let’s face it, it’s monolithic and could have been built by Stalin. Nash no doubt did his best to beautify a pig, but a pig it remains.

3. Ryerson University Library, Toronto

Proving that democracy can also be brutal (just ask the Iraqis), this 11-storey tower looks more like a second world war fortification than a temple of learning. The sort of place you wouldn’t want to be late returning books to.

4. Any McDonald’s drive-thru, anywhere

They are to architecture what the Happy Meal is to nutrition. And they’re always the same. Everywhere. Around the world. No matter where they’ve plonked them. Vernacular? What’s that?

5. St George Wharf, London

Butterflied prawns are good, butterflied roofs are not. What were they thinking? Occasionally voted the UK’s most hated building, it probably wouldn’t look out of place in Shanghai.