Resources for Students
We spend much of our time working with students in the Visual Communications Technology program at Shoreline Community College. They are enthusiastic learners, so we have compiled a portal to websites that are practical and inspirational for any student of web design.
ESTABLISHING A SMALL CREATIVE BUSINESS
For most of us in the creative fields establishing a business is a rude awakening. Business is actually the "prime directive" of any type of creative endeavor that involves an income, if you want to be paid for your work. Establishing a business is only the beginning, and even that involves a lot of advance planning. Below are links to pertinent information involving establishing a business in Washington State.
Presented as part of the Women in Non-Traditional Roles speaker series for design students at Shoreline Community College.
Presentation slides
Resources
SMALL BUSINESS RESOURCES
SCORE– Partner to small business administration. Business counseling available at no charge. Workshops. Volunteer can meet you at library.
https://seattle.score.org/
Doing business in Washington State: What do I need to know to start a business?
https://bls.dor.wa.gov/startbusiness.aspxDoing business in Washington
https://access.wa.gov/business/Seattle Times Small Business Resources – List of resource sites
https://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/business/small/resources/Definition of business ownership structures in WA
https://bls.dor.wa.gov/ownershipstructures.aspxLicenses & Applications
File with the Secretary of State if business is a Corporation, Limited Partnership, Limited Liability Company, or Limited Liability Partnership.
Obtain your legal business name and certificate of formation.
https://www.sos.wa.gov/corps/
Master Business Application
Apply for the Washington State Unified Business Identifier (UBI) Number or Tax Registration Number.
https://bls.dor.wa.gov/-
Federal Employer Identification Number
The EIN or Federal Employer Identification Number is issued by the Internal Revenue Service and identifies your federal tax account.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html Taxes & Fees
Check with an accountant for more complete information.
City of Seattle
https://access.wa.gov/business/resources/CityInformation.aspx?city=SeattleState of Washington B & O Tax
https://dor.wa.gov/content/findtaxesandrates/bandotax/Federal Tax info
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/index.htmlFreelance Seattle
For Seattle area job searches.
https://freelance-seattle.net/
WEBSITES FOR LEARNING AND INSPIRATION
Below are websites we have found to be chock full of practical tutorials and dependable information on the latest developments in web design and development, as well as inspiration for design.
Feel free to add to this list by emailing us!
BoagWorld
https://www.boagworld.comA List Apart
https://alistapart.com/Smashing Magazine
https://www.smashingmagazine.comBefore and After Magazine
https://www.bamagazine.com/Khoi Vinh blog: Subtraction
https://www.subtraction.comCSS Tricks
https://css-tricks.com/Zeldman
https://www.zeldman.com/Jessica Hische
https://jessicahische.is/Creative Live
https://www.creativelive.com/Learn jQuery
https://www.jquery.comPhotoshop Support
https://photoshopsupport.com/index.htmlgotoAndLearn
https://www.gotoandlearn.com/Responsive Web Design
A ground breaking article by Ethan Marcotte
https://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/Website Planet's Responsive Checker: https://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/responsive-checker/ (Thanks to Sophia Mesber!)
WordPress:
Codex https://codex.wordpress.org/
Plugins https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
Widgets https://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Widgets
TOOLS FOR WEB DEVELOPERS
Whether you work for a design firm, an in-house web department or freelance, these are tools we all use.
Web Fonts:
Adobe Typekit https://fonts.adobe.com/foundries/adobe?ref=tk.com
Font Squirrel https://www.fontsquirrel.com/
Google Web Fonts https://www.google.com/webfontsCSS3 Generator
https://css3generator.com/jQuery
https://jquery.com/Google Analytics
https://www.google.com/analytics/Google Webmaster Tools
https://developers.google.com/webmasters/googleforwebmasters/Color Schemes & Textures
Adobe Kuler https://kuler.adobe.com/#themes/rating?time=30
Subtle Patterns https://subtlepatterns.com/
Grunge Texture https://grungetextures.com/freebies/index.php
Bittbox https://www.bittbox.com/