Being a freelancer means that technically you can work from anywhere you can find Internet. But a trip to a new country (or even a new neighborhood) could be a challenge! Here is the first part of a list of things you’d better do before you go on a journey.

Internet connection
Going to a remote isolated place on this planet might be a challenge. One of the first difficulties you’re going to face is slow internet connection. 1mb/s might be maximum download speed if you’re living in a bungalow on a tropical island. Sometimes 50 kb/s will be a nice speed. The upload speed is usually much lower.
So if you’re going to make photos for stock agencies you’d better upload ‘em later, cause waiting up to half an hour for a file to upload can drive you insane.

Make sure your clients, employers, colleagues, etc can get in touch with you
Before you have left your office, set up voice mail, email auto-response, wright something in your Facebook to let everyone who’d like to contact you know you’re away and you won’t be available to reach for few days. Next thing you need to do is to get information about local mobile companies and internet providers situated in the place you’re going to. Gathering information about ‘em after you have landed will consume more time and this can be critical in some cases.

Ways to retreat
Sometimes you can come to a place you’ve been thinking of as a wonderful one, but it turns out to be horrible and unsuitable. This is why you should think of ways to retreat – check out the flights and trains timetable, get some extra gas if you’re going on a safari – think for anything you might need to get you out of this hell quickly.

Get some background information about the place you’re going to
Going on a trip means that you’re changing your location to the one you’re not very familiar with. So it’s a good idea to google out that place’s history, traditions, people habits and so on. You’d better read about some shamanic rituals before you see them Besides, lots of people like it when they feel you’re interested in their culture and probably they’d be friendlier and this would be a great help for you.

Get camouflage
Sure you’ll look like a stranger when your home is 1000 miles away. And there are always people who are afraid of or aggressive to foreigners. So you’d better mask yourself somehow: buy some casual clothes, remember not to stare at everything, pay attention to how people move and talk and try to copy that manner.

Check out:
Preparing for a trip. Part II and
Preparing for a trip. Part III

The photo above was taken by Marina Nozyer.

Below is a small collection of music videos that look like illustration. If you press “pause” you can see a very nice illustration instead of video almost anytime!

Austin TV / Shiva from Alberto Cerriteño on Vimeo.

The Beatles Rockband Intro from Stephane coedel on Vimeo.

The Beatles Rockband Outro from Stephane coedel on Vimeo.

Hifana Wamono from AntiSeptic on Vimeo.

Streetlight Manifesto “We Will Fall Together” Official Music Video from Streetlight Manifesto on Vimeo.

“Would You Be Impressed?” By Streetlight Manifesto (Official Music Video) from Streetlight Manifesto on Vimeo.

Katabasis from VJRUSSIA on Vimeo.

This time I’ve decided to leave maximum white (in this case black) space for users needs – so one can place all the icons, shortcuts, etc without hitting the graphics.

You can download this wallpaper from Smashing Magazine for free.

If you like this wallpaper, you might be interested in following ornaments for sale designed by me:

You can Buy this item on GraphicRiver or on Shutterstock

You can Buy this item on GraphicRiver or on Shutterstock

You can Buy this item on GraphicRiver or on Shutterstock

All of us face dull work time to time. Here are some options how to avoid negative feelings about it.

• Delegate it to someone
  It might look simple, but you are still responsible for the result and you have to pay the person for this work. If you’re a good manager and you have reliable workers this might be an option for you.
• Make yourself believe this work is not dull
  This option requires a bit of imagination, but if you can explain yourself why the actions you have to do are exciting or important it can work. Just remember to remind yourself from time to time. An easy and comfortable explanation of almost any action – you gain more experience and you become more skilled in it.
• Find new ways to solve the problem
  “Dull” usually means that you have done this action a lot of times before. Look for new solutions – these could be some software features you have not tried before. Check out tutorials related to your task.
• Add some distraction
  In my previous post I’ve written “Pay maximum attention to whatever you are doing“. This can be kind of hard while doing dull work. If you really hate what you’re doing – turn the speakers on, listen the music you love. If can perform desired actions and think of something else – do it! If you have some future plans it’s a good time to think about ‘em. But of course this adds the risk of doing that dull work not so good.
• Stimulate your body
  Anything containing caffeine might work – most popular substances are coffee, tea and coke. Sugar is an important component to keep your brain active. Yerba maté is also a great legal stimulant that might help. Don’t take too much whatever stimulant you choose – otherwise you’ll stop doing the dull work and go to the park

It’s no secret that being a freelance designer/developer/photographer/copywriter/etc is kind of hard cause there are so many distracting things around and there’s no one to tell you that you have to focus on work except yourself. After almost three years of freelancing I’ve found out a nice and easy way to prevent unimportant actions and improve needed ones.

1. Ask yourself: What am I doing this for?
You should be very honest answering this question.
For example: I’m writing this post to help others, to promote myself, to improve my writing skill.
This is obvious but you might forget about some of these reasons and this action will not reach all the goals.

2. Stay focused on your action
Pay maximum attention to whatever you are doing.
For example: If you’re walking in a park look at the trees, birds, squirrels, feel your legs moving and lungs breathing. Don’t think about your work or a friend you are going to meet in this park. There’s no sense of going walking if you are dreaming of something else. The same applies to any other action. Even if you find a task boring try to concentrate on it. As a result you’ll finish it faster and more efficient rather than if you were trying to ignore it while doing.

I hope this short tip will be useful. You can also download a my “Focus on work” wallpaper from Smashing Magazine.

I don’t doubt most of you have seen Black Square by Kazimir Malevich or at least have heard about it. Lots of people find this painting genius and others find it stupid.

For those of you who did not have history of arts course in school here’s the short explanation: the Renaissance artists believed classic ancient Greek art was ideal – everything in it was perfect, later impressionists said that form does not really matter – what watcher feels is the point, after that abstractionists declared that even the paintings subject is not needed – composition is the key to true art. At last Kazimir Malevich, the leader of suprematists, said that forms should be as simple as possible. The Black Square was the visualization of this philosophy.

I’m not a big fan of this piece of art, but it definitely attracts my attention. The thing that interests me is why some people like it and others don’t. I’ve even got a Daily Deviation at DeviantArt with my work Suprematistic Envy

Yesterday I’ve been wondering what Malevich could do to make this painting more attractive so more people would find it genius rather than stupid. The answer came out quickly – he had to make it round!

Circles are much more natural, neutral and complete. You will never find a square apple or a square planet. Circles don’t have sharp edges and angles that make a square look aggressive and offensive. Maybe Malevich did wanted to struggle and he did not give a damn about what people he did not even know 100 years later would say about his art. That does not matter.

What I wanted to share with you is if you are going to reach people’s hearts rather than brains, use circles, not squares!

UPD I’ve found Malevich’s Black circle – he did it two years before the square

Watching time-lapse videos is always fun! Besides you can learn some techniques and get inspired. Here are six time-lapse illustration creation videos showing different styles and approaches to this process.

2 Feet on the Ground from Kevin Briones on Vimeo.

CS15 – Spacecraft Illustration from Super Silo on Vimeo.

Chameleon – Octopus Illustration from Super Silo on Vimeo.

Process: Architectural Illustration from James Provost on Vimeo.

Science Machine from Chad Pugh on Vimeo.

Timelapse Doodle: Stan the Drummer! from Chris Schroeder on Vimeo.

Yesterday I went to the cinema to watch “Enter the void” by Gaspar Noé. Frankly speaking, I though it would be more philosophical and sophisticated piece of art – not just a drug dealer’s life-story.

The moment that caught my eye was right in the beginning when the guy was tripping on DMT – the visuals were very stunning and fascinating. The next three (3!!!) hours were total boredom until the camera got inside a woman during sexual intercourse.

Anyway, if you like “trippy” movies, this one might be just for you – vivid and fluorescent colors, surrealistic visions, ghost-like shooting, etc – this can be a nice source of inspiration.

Here’s one of the best parts of the movie – the opening titles:

And this is the trailer:

Well, I’ve finally have set up everything for a blog and I’m going to post on a regular basis.

I’ll start updating my portfolio shortly. Until that you can check out my DA and Behance accounts.

Download this wallpaper (1680×1050px)