From the desk of Matt D. Smith

Since publishing Wireframing with Illustrator and InDesign I've gotten lots of questions about the why behind the process. Why not use artboards in Illustrator rather than using InDesign and individual .ai files? This was the most popular question so here's a breakdown READ MORE

Buy now from Cotton Bureau I'm happy to announce that my logo was declared the winner after the final round of voting for Athensmade. To commemorate the project, we're selling an Athensmade t-shirt on Cotton Bureau. All proceeds of the shirt (beyond READ MORE

"Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down" -Anonymous I'm always fascinated by my complete ignorance of time when it comes to my own projects. For client work I'm always careful to account for plenty of time for each phase READ MORE

Yesterday Squarespace released a new product, Squarespace logo and my Twitter feed was blowing up about it. Some people were "extremely disappointed" and others "expected more from Squarespace." Before I dive into the implications and interpretations of the site. Have you actually READ MORE

This will make more sense if you read this post first. The logo competition for Athensmade.com is over. Sort of. There's a twist. Two of the logos were neck and neck during the wee hours of January 15th, so a sudden READ MORE

I design all of my wireframes in Illustrator. The main reason: I know how to use Illustrator extremely fast. Like seriously mind-bending fast. I don't use UI kits, ready made templates, I just open it up and start powering through ideas. Drawing READ MORE

"So, what do you do?" is the age old question that everyone seems to face on a regular basis. Be it conferences, weddings, family events, parties, church, and many other life events. Lots of people in our industry often feel conflicted about READ MORE

2013 marked my 5th year in business for myself. The year was great as I did incrementally increase revenue but also worked a lot less. With a few exceptions here and there, it was a nice easy pace throughout the year. I READ MORE

A few months ago a handful of people had the idea for athensmade.com, an initiative to create an identity for products, companies, etc. hailing from the classic city. It's been a seed of an idea for some time now and it's READ MORE

"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein My 2 year old daughter, Isa, got some washable crayons intended for drawing on the walls of the bathtub. This immediately prompted a desire for her to take an READ MORE

When I get home from work, it's a toss up as to whether or not my wife is completely worn out from being with our kids all day long. She stays at home with all of our kids, which is incredibly demanding. READ MORE

Dear Noah and Justice, I was driving to work today after taking you to school and was consumed with my thoughts. That's usually what happens when I'm driving. It's the reason I miss turns when I'm going somewhere even if I know READ MORE