I thought it'd be fun to share a few of my favorite gadgets and sites that I use to keep productive when I'm working on design work and even personal blogging. I have a little list of them that I'll be sharing over the next little while, but wanted to start with these two because they're used almost daily! Hopefully they'll help with your productivity, too!
Up first, Adobe's Kuler program! Kuler is an online color palette directory that will make your design-loving heart swoon! I use this site every time I'm looking for a color palette for commissioned designs, as inspiration for new shoppe products, and even for outfits! The possibilities are endless! All you do is browse the site for all things pretty! You can choose to download the palettes onto your computer or you can do what I typically do, just screenshot them and put them in a folder! Then you sample out the colors using an Adobe CS product or the eyedropper tool in any other program! It also gives you the HEX values and all of the parts needed to make that color yourself in your swatches! The "Create" page allows you to choose all types of color schemes such as analogous, monochrome, triad, etc! If you've ever taken a Color Theory class then you will absolutely love this feature! Below I'll share a few of my favorite schemes!
(retro package by mariagroenlund)
(basic dry by mariagroenlund)
(brownie by whoneycutt)
Isn't it fun?! Ah! I could play with it all day long. If you love color, you'll love Kuler!
Second up is a lifesaver! This little application has been so well used since downloading. I officially do not know how I ever managed without it. Thanks to my lovely designer friend Elle for introducing me to DropBox! DropBox is a free online application that allows you to seamlessly share photos, videos, documents and more with multiple computers. Think of it as the GoogleDocs of your harddrive! I tend to go back and forth between my iMac and MacBookPro but I hate having so much stuff on the MBP's harddrive so I just drop it into my DropBox folder and voila! It's instantly available on my MBP! You can sign into your account anywhere in the world so you can always access your stuff! So important for people on the go or ones who travel a bit! It also comes in handy when you have files far too big to fit into email attachments. You just share a box! It's also a safety precaution for a failed harddrive. I'm awful at backing my stuff up on an external, but if it's on DropBox, I don't need to! Win! It's been a heaven-send for me so hopefully you'll enjoy it, too!
This post may be a little techy/geeky for some but I know there are more than a handful of you out there who will benefit greatly from these applications! Let me know what you think of them! I'm looking forward to sharing many other things that help keep me organized (even though I'm a hopelessly unorganized person!) Enjoy!
Have you used them before? What do you think of these applications now?
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