I’m happy to say that I’m all settled into my new place in Western NY! It’s been a roller coaster last couple months, but things seem to be leveling out a bit. I hope I can translate that into more time on my blog over these next few months. I have a lot of plans; so hopefully I can execute a few :)

It’s been another fantastic month in the design blogosphere. Here’s my collection of the best articles, tutorials, freebies and more from the design community for the month of October. Enjoy!

Articles

1. 20 Excellent AJAX Effects You Should Know

I must admit, I love AJAX effects. This is an awesome list of 20 that can come in handy.

2. 50 Stunning Examples of a Great Redesign

Sometimes a company’s logo, website, etc… just gets tired and needs an overhaul. Liam over at Function put together this list of 50 redesigns that are fantastic.

3. Are You A Design Whore

Funny title! But a good article on designers trying to be jacks of all trades, but perhaps we are masters of none.

4. Project Management Apps / Creative Freelance Series

Fuel Your Creativity has an awesome freelance series discussion going on right now. The link above is for part I of the 4 part series. Also available are Billing / Invoicing / Contracts and Collaboration & Proofing / Approval. The last part, Paid Services (non-management) is coming up soon.

5. Networking On-line for Potential Clients

Calvin of Mayhem Studios takes a look at the advantages of networking through social media sites, and gives you a great list of links to check out.

6. Setting Your Prices: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself

Every month I find something good at Outlaw Design Blog. This month, it was 10 questions to ask yourself when setting your prices as a designer. This is an issue every freelancer has struggled with.

7. 10 Principles of the Logo Design Masters

Logos are without question one of the most difficult challenges designers’ face. It’s so hard to brand a company into such a compact design. This article is filled with advice from some of the best in the industry.

Tutorials

1. Create A Swirly Type Treatment

Fantastic tutorial on logo design in Illustrator. Well explained and a lot of helpful techniques

2. Designing A Portable Gaming Device Poster

This tutorial walks you through designing a cool gaming poster.

3. Design A Halloween Pumpkin Wallpaper in Photoshop

This is a best of October, so it’s only fitting I add at least one tutorial about a pumpkin :) This is a cool tut that focuses on image manipulation to create a nice wallpaper.

4. How to Illustrate a Wooden Frame on a Wall Scene

Another fantastic tutorial by the guys over at PSDTuts. This is one of the more realistic wood techniques I’ve seen.

Freebies

1. Free Hand Drawn Doodle Icon Set For Bloggers

Chris over at Spoon Graphics Blog has put together these awesome hand-drawn icons for free download.

2. Splatters

Free Photoshop brush splatters; always handy

3. Exclusive Illustrator Watercolor Brushes

Some more cool Illustrator brushes from Grant at Colorburned.

4. 6 High Res Watercolour Brushes

More watercolor brushes. This time they are for Photoshop.

http://qbrushes.com/photoshop-splash-brushes/six-watercolour-brushes/

Contests

1. Thank You Poster Contest

A new poster design contest. I love contests, and I’m biased of this one, because I get to be a judge :)

2. WordPress Coolest Blog Competition

http://wpwebhost.com/blog/wordpress-coolest-blog-competition/

A cool contest for the best WordPress blog. The best part is the prizes!

New Found Sites

1. Sprye Mag

Jon Phillips of Sprye Studios and Freelance Folder fame has started up this awesome new design blog. It will focus on inspiration, freebies and resources that help designers and developers.

2. FBrushes

Free Photoshop brushes… what could be better? The site is nicely designed and the brushes are high quality.

3. Directory For Designers

The Arbenting Design Blog team brings you this new site. A directory of designers in most every important social network.

That’s A Wrap!

Another awesome month in the books. What did I miss? I love comments :)