A few weeks ago I celebrated this blog’s 2 year anniversary by offering a Huge Anniversary Giveaway. With 255 comments, it’s clear that you guys liked the prizes being offered. I don’t blame you, I wish I could have won some of them :) Thanks so much to everyone for the kind comments and your participation!

This is part 5 of the Design Toolbox Series where I interview top designers about what tools they use to help them create their art. This series was largely inspired by Grace Smith’s “Show Me Your Dock Series.” It’s my hope that you can gain insight into what other designer’s are using, and hopefully find some new apps/tools to check out.

Not long ago I did a post here on MyInkBlog calledElements of a Great Band Website which discussed the must-have elements that you should always include when designing a website for a band. The reason behind the post spawned from the fact that as a designer you never know who your next web client is going to be, and what kind of site they are going to require from you.

The more MyInkTrails that I do the more I am convinced that more is not always better. I’m now much more focused on quality over quantity. Plus I’m frustrated with the lack of creativity with some blogs in the design community. Regardless, I dug deep and found some quality reads, and I’m sure I missed a few others.

The callused hands, the dirty brows, and the sweat-drenched boots. I’m talking about the blue-collar worker. The men and women who wake up every morning with a day full of manual labor in front of them. From coal mining to telephone pole repair to high-rise construction workers, the working class makes the world go with their hard work, dedication and sweat equity.

Should you sell advertising space? There is no right or wrong answer to that question, ultimately you have control on what advertisements are shown, but will advertising turn off some of your readers? Before you jump into anything, it’s a good idea to ask these sorts of questions. Here are some things you should consider before you make that jump.

Blogs rarely last very long. They age more in dog years than human years, so making it two full years feels like quite an accomplishment. I’m stoked with the progress the site has made and the support from the design community and my sponsors. I’m shocked and humbled it’s already been a full year since the birth of my son, which I shared about in my 1st year anniversary post.

A few weeks ago I teamed up with Designious to giveaway Mega Vector Packs to 3 lucky winners. Thanks to everyone who participated! I used a random query to pick the 3 names. The winners are…

The term Photoshop has been absorbed into the vernacular and transformed into a verb having to do with the digital modification of an image, seemingly regardless of what actual software may have been used. It would seem that this language phenomenon has helped Photoshop solidify its firm grip at the top despite other quality applications like GIMP, Pixelmator and Corel Photo Paint.

Another busy month in the books. This month’s MyInkTrail is short but very useful. Here are the best articles, tutorials, freebies and more from the design community for April 2010.