Trend Setting Design » The tsd site

Twitter, Blogging and Word Counts

Joseph Cotten — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:16:45 +0000

They say the only constant in life is “change”. Well, I’ve got nothing but nickels over here, so change is on the way. For some time now, I’ve only been posting portfolio items to this website, and in fact I’m quite behind on that too! I have discovered the allure of Twitter to be very strong, and I myself now rarely read a full length blog post any more. I’m sure that’s partly because I’m busier now than I have been for the past two years, so I have less time to devote to reading blogs (or writing them), but I don’t want to leave any of you in the dark as to why I’ve been so slack around here.

If you look at the bottom of this site, you’ll see a Twitter module showing my latest tweets. If you like what you’ve read here at the site, I encourage you to follow me on Twitter. I don’t over-tweet, usually only posting once or twice per day, but I always try to make my tweets enjoyable for a large audience.

In the future, I hope to post more blogs here, but as you all know, I never want to do anything that isn’t trend-setting in some way. There are so many great design blogs out there, that I don’t want to put anything out there that isn’t already being said by someone else. Speaking of other blogs, check out the Links are in the right sidebar to see sites that I recommend.

There’s a lesson in all of this: don’t reinvent the wheel. If you want to do something, look around and see if anyone else is already doing it. If they are, examine how they do it and make sure that what you’ll be doing is significantly different and/or better than the other guy. In my case, this means that I blog less often. When I have insights, I’ll share them, but my goal is to serve the graphic design community and my customers—not become a famous blogger!

All Quiet on the Blogging Front

Joseph Cotten — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:56:44 +0000

Hey gang,

Sorry about the blogging silence here recently. I’ve been quite busy with some time-critical projects. The good news is that I’ve been busy! The bad news is that I haven’t been able to put as much time into writing new posts. I’ve got some thoughts brewing that should prove helpful to a lot of people, so stay tuned!

Until then, here’s a couple of sneak peaks at soon-to-be-released web projects I’ve been working on:

http://www.theeasteroffering.com/

http://www.awakenyouthconference.com/

Switching RSS Feeds to Feedburner

Joseph Cotten — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:30:54 +0000

Greetings, subscribers!

I’m switching over tsd’s RSS feeds to Feedburner today, so you might have to resubscribe.

Thanks!
Joseph

Want to Hire Me?

Joseph Cotten — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:22:13 +0000

Well, it would be my pleasure! As much as I love being an artist and creating beautiful things, I need to make money! I like to say that no job is too small or large. Whether you just need a logo refresh, or a full scale corporate identity with new logo, letterhead, business cards, television and radio commercials, website, and printed materials, I can help!

My pricing is based upon the exposure that the finished design will have. For instance, if you are a small business needing a new logo, business cards and letterhead, and you only have a few hundred customers, I may only need to charge $500.00 If you are a large multinational corporation with five hundred employees, needing a full corporate identity system, I would charge anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000. The reason for this is that good design breeds good business. If you have a great logo that effectively communicates who you are and what your vision is, while simultaneously reaching your target demographic, that logo will reap tremendous benefits for your business. Your image among the target demographic will be improved, your name recognition will increase and the rewards that you will reap will continue for the life of the business, even if the logo is changed down the road. That well-designed logo then is an excellent investment, and the price you pay for it should reflect that.

Therefore, the more exposure my design will get, the more it will benefit you, and the more it is worth to you.

Contact me with the information below, and I’ll be more than happy to give you a no-cost consultation to help you find out what your needs are, and how to fulfill them.

Joseph Cotten
Trend Setting Design
trendsettingdesign@gmail.com
(336) 471-3104

Time for a change

Joseph Cotten — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:39:22 +0000

VISIT THE OLD PORTFOLIO
I’m changing things up around here, moving toward a blog format instead of just a portfolio. I’ll still have my work here as a portfolio, but instead of just the images, I’ll be posting articles about the work, diving into my thought processes, and maybe even doing a few tutorials. More after the jump… I’m also going to be blogging about current and future design trends, and giving voice to my opinions on the state of the Design industry.

If you’re just here to see my portfolio, thanks! I’d love to help you set some trends! I don’t put pricing information on the site because each job has to be priced according to the need. As I’m still populating this new site, feel free to browse through my old site to see some of my past work.

Trend Setting Design old portfolio

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