Mike Smith, Author at SpyreStudios

10 quick tips for first time freelancers

January 28, 2011 by Mike Smith 6 Comments

Beginning your freelance career can be a scary time in your life, no matter how excited you are at taking the plunge. On one hand, you’re excited to know that you are going to be leaving your job and doing something you’re passionate about & on the other hand, you’re scared out of your mind because you’ve never done this before and you’re not sure where the money is going to come from to keep your family secure.

Luckily, this article will outline 10 quick tips for first time freelancers, so you’ll be able to put a lot of your nervousness to rest. I hope you enjoy it and learn something from what I’ve written for you.

Inspirational Showcase Of 50 Famous Album Covers

August 13, 2010 by Mike Smith 19 Comments

If an artist’s name brings images into your head when you hear it, odds are you’re remembering an iconic image of that artist and these album covers are, in my opinion, some of the most iconic covers in history. Today, I have been looking over some of the most famous album covers of all time […]

Fantastic Footers: 25 Examples And Best Practices

May 17, 2010 by Mike Smith 45 Comments

You’ve got a great design for your header and the content is well placed and flows nicely – but why stop there? When the viewer scrolls to the bottom of the page, are they greeted with only a credit link and a copyright notice? Your website’s footer is a great place to direct the attention […]

18 Dos and Don’ts Of Usability On The Web

May 3, 2010 by Mike Smith 79 Comments

Are you a web designer or do you run a website? Good, because this article is for you. If you’re designing websites for a living or running your business online, there are 18 tips in this article that you should definitely read and remember. You can have the best visual design skills on the planet, […]

40 WordPress-Powered Websites With Awesome Designs

April 21, 2010 by Mike Smith 52 Comments

The days of WordPress being used solely as a blogging platform are over. WordPress has powered some of the coolest sites on the internet, and this post is an example of 40 great ones. I design wordpress blogs for a living, so I am always on the lookout to see what others are doing in […]

Showcase Of 30 Sweet Email Newsletter Designs

April 13, 2010 by Mike Smith 43 Comments

So, you’ve got people signed up to your newsletter; now what? Do you just fire off regular text emails, or do you take the time to craft something amazing? If you’re one of these thirty websites, you choose the latter option. In today’s showcase, I’m going to show off some newsletter designs from 30 websites […]

40 Amazing Minimalist Website Designs For Your Inspiration

March 12, 2010 by Mike Smith 44 Comments

Minimalism is beautiful. It truly is. The best part about minimalism in web design is that it comes in many styles, colors and sizes, but they always have the same goal in mind – saying the most while saying the least. A great quote by Albert Einstein can sum up minimalism (in my opinion) 100%. […]

5 Things That Can Make (or break) A Killer Website Design

March 5, 2010 by Mike Smith 40 Comments

Starting the website design process can either give you a really great feeling, or can leave you feeling hollow in the pit of your stomach. The feeling you get is usually dependent on how great of a kick start you get with your design process. What if I were to tell you that you can […]

30 Blog Designs with Killer Typography

March 1, 2010 by Mike Smith 40 Comments

A killer design is one thing – but one that also uses the right typography is (in my opinion) on a whole other level compared to those that just ‘look pretty‘. Typography is needed with blog designs because, well, the blog is built to speak your mind, right? So, if your blog isn’t readable then […]

Agencies, Labs, Studios, Media, Interactive and Creatives: The Many Names Of A Design Business

February 18, 2010 by Mike Smith 47 Comments

We’ve all seen them (and probably use them) – extensions of your company name. Agencies, Labs, Creatives and many others are used as a way to set us apart, but how far apart are we, really? More and more you see designers straying away from the traditional “design” at the end of their company name […]