Freelancers: The New Face of the Workforce

According to Freelancing in America: A National Survey of the New Workforce, 40 percent of the workforce—21.1 million people—are independent contractors.  Another 5 percent—2.8 million people—are freelance business owners.

When faced with the prospect of underemployment or temporary employment many workers have decided to freelance and the number of freelancers is expected to grow to 65 to 70 million over the next decade.  This would mean that over half of the total workforce will be freelancers.

If you are a freelancer or considering making the switch here are the top ten skills that are in demand as reported in a surveys conducted by Freelancer.com and Elance.com:

1. IT & Programming
2. Design and Multimedia (These include: Illustration, Photoshop Design, Banner and Logo Design)
3. 3D Rendering, Modeling and Animation
4. Android and iOS Development
5. Social Media
6. Presentations (PowerPoint and Report writing)
7. Accounting
8. Writing and Translation
9. Marketing, Strategy and Public Relations
10. Business Management

Looking for freelance gigs? Here are some sites where you can find jobs just for your skill set:

https://www.freelancer.com

http://www.craigslist.org

https://www.odesk.com/

http://www.elance.com

http://www.peopleperhour.com/

Need to update or obtain new skills to launch your freelance career?  KnowledgeCity has courses in Business Management and Computer Software.  Try the first 3 lessons of any course for free!

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Create Your Own Festive Greeting Cards

Halloween is coming soon! Rather than spending a fortune on holiday greeting cards (which can cost up to $5 a card!), why not design your own?

Programs like InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Publisher, Word, and even PowerPoint allow you to create your own high-quality cards that are customizable with personal images and messages. You can even create customized labels for your card envelopes. Click here for our blog post on design and layout tips.

Tip: Remember, paper makes all the difference in the look of your card, so be sure to pick out a good quality or paper stock. Try printing out your card first on plain paper, to make sure everything looks okay and will fold the way you want it to. If you're using a card template, make sure to note the size of paper the template is using (these typically use the 8.5x11in. paper size). Envelopes can be purchased at a department or crafts store. A 6x9 envelope is a good size to use for a half fold card using 8.5x11in. paper.

People will appreciate the personal touch of a handmade card just as much, if not more, than a store bought card. Plus, family photos are a great touch when sending cards to relatives and friends.

Need help navigating the Microsoft and Adobe programs? No problem! We offer video training tutorials in both suites, complete with in-depth examples to really help you understand how to work with the available tools. Check out the first 3 FREE lessons of each course to get a feel for the programs!

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Designing Dynamic Layouts

Have you ever come across a magazine, website, or article layout that really captured your interest with its creativity and design? Such a layout might seem complicated or difficult to create, but that's not the case at all! There are several easy-to-use resources and tips to help you design your own exciting layout.

One element to think about first when designing is structure. Start by deciding where you want your focal point to be:

1. Look at your page and break it up into sections (3 is a good place to start). If you want more than 3 sections, just remember: keep the number odd! This makes a better design layout.



2. Look at where the sections intersect with each other. These places make strong focal points—you can place your main focus here, to create interest.

One thing to note: items placed directly in the center of the page do not create as much interest as items that are off center.

Other elements to consider when designing are balance, white space (this helps with balance, as well as directs the viewer's eye), proximity (the distance between items and how they are placed), alignment (which affects readability of the page), consistency (which helps the reader know where to find things), and the types of images you choose to use.

A fantastic program to use for creating rich, interactive layouts for both print and online publication is Adobe InDesign. InDesign CS5 is the newest version of this program, and features all sorts of exciting tools perfect for creating a high-quality layout.

Great Tip! On the Adobe website, you can download a free trial version of InDesign CS5, which allows you to play with and explore the program for a whole 30 days! In order to make the most of this program, and to start designing your own layouts, check out our fun courses on all the features InDesign has to offer. We have both beginning and advanced courses, as well as a course on InDesign CS5's new features if you are already familiar with InDesign CS4.

For more tips on the elements of design, check out our courses on Design & Layout, Graphic Design Principles, and Typography with InDesign, and make sure to take advantage of the first three FREE training tutorials!

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