Latest news with #graphicdesigner
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong dad inspires memories with sketches Sai Ying Pun
What began as Billy Wong Yin-chun's daily commute to Sai Ying Pun with his nine-year-old daughter became an artistic journey when he started sketching parts of the neighbourhood. 'Being a full-time dad made me feel a bit lost, so I started looking for something creative to do. I thought, why not take a sketchbook and draw Sai Ying Pun?' the 47-year-old parent recalled. With pencil, ink pen and watercolour, his artwork depicts old shops like Cheryl's Bakery, where his daughter enjoys jelly cups. Others feature Bonham Road's stone walls and ancient trees, the old mental hospital on High Street, as well as flower shops and Thai grocery stores. Wong had his first exhibition earlier this year at Knock Knock, a bookstore in Sai Ying Pun. 'This is something I wanted to do when I was a child. I never imagined that at this age, in my forties, I'd suddenly be able to fulfil this dream,' said Wong, who previously worked as a graphic designer. The view of a local father Wong has been drawing since childhood, but his first painting of Hong Kong was a gift for his brother – an expansive view from Mount Davis overlooking Victoria Harbour. 'My first sketches were for my younger brother and cousin after they emigrated. I wanted to send them something to remind them of home,' he said. Before starting his current project, Wong was feeling lost after giving up his job to be a full-time father. But now, with his paintings, he has built friendships with other stay-at-home dads and found a new purpose that works with his schedule for taking care of his daughter. Community connections Wong has also connected with local residents who have told him about their memories of Sai Ying Pun. 'One elderly saw my painting of the hospital where he was born; he was deeply touched. He even asked to take a photo of it,' the artist shared. 'I realised that my paintings, which are personal memories, could also become someone else's.' Of all his works, Wong's favourite features the Hong Kong Resource Centre for Heritage. 'It's a beautiful spot, but because it's tucked away and surrounded by trees, not many people notice it. Depending on the time of day and season, the scene changes,' he said. 'It's one of those hidden gems.' Word power depicts: an artistic or descriptive representation of something emigrated: to have moved to another country to live expansive: to cover a wide area fulfil: to achieve a dream or goal Handy phrases hidden gems: valuable things that are not widely known stay-at-home: a parent who takes care of their child or children full-time Quiz time Stop and think: Has a picture or drawing ever brought back an important memory for you? 1. Who did Wong dedicate his first sketches to? 2. Which Hong Kong neighbourhood is Wong highlighting in his current project?
Al Bawaba
31-05-2025
- Business
- Al Bawaba
New 'G': Google's logo glow-up costs a fortune
ALBAWABA - Google has secretly unveiled a slight revamp of its famous "G" logo, garnering a lot of attention and igniting internet discussion—not because of the difference in appearance, but rather because of the potential cost of the alteration. Also Read Google refers to Persian Gulf as 'Arabian Gulf' in latest update Google's recognizable red, yellow, green, and blue hues are still present in the redesigned logo, but a seamless gradient transition has taken the place of the formerly separate chunks. Users have taken note of the seemingly little change, and many have resorted to social media to ridicule what they perceive to be a costly and needless alteration. Sarcastic estimates of "a few thousand dollars" and conjectures that a graphic designer made "millions for using the Smudge tool in Photoshop" were among the comments. Although the redesign's precise cost has not been made public, branding experts estimate that such adjustments, particularly at Google's magnitude, may cost millions of dollars. That idea gains support from historical comparisons: the BBC's 2022 rebranding cost £7 million, whereas Pepsi allegedly paid $1 million for a comparable minor makeover in 2008. A total of $211 million is said to have been spent on BP's rebranding. The change seems to have been done by Google as part of a larger visual alignment with the new Gemini AI platform's design approach. Only the iOS version of the Google Search app has received the updated logo so far, but Android and more services are anticipated to follow. Similar improvements could soon be made to other product icons, including Maps, Gmail, and Chrome. Google's iconic "G" logo has been updated for the first time in a decade. A gradient has been added to replace the distinct boundaries between the colors. Considering the huge cost of rebranding, this new logo could cost millions:
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why Freelancers Need a Digital Product Revenue Stream
Every freelancer knows the challenges of growing and scaling their business. But many of us freelance alongside other jobs, or may have hit full client capacity. So how can we scale our business without continuing to exchange time for money? One way is to create a revenue stream that requires an initial time investment to set it up, but then continues to sell on autopilot. This revenue stream involves selling a digital product. Deloitte found that U.S. adults spend $120 to $130 monthly on digital goods and services. Freelancers have the golden opportunity to capitalize on this demand by creating their own digital goods such as templates, online courses, recorded webinars, eBooks, PDF guides, or even AI agents. Whether you freelance full-time or as a side-hustle, selling a digital product is a smart way to add revenue without significantly increasing your time commitments. Here's why: You're already an expert in what you do. How could you package up your knowledge or skills in a way that benefits more people, beyond your client roster? Let's say you're a graphic designer. You could create a set of social media templates that other businesses could plug-and-play, and sell these as a low-ticket offer to those not ready to invest in your design services. Think: what types of questions do you regularly receive from clients or your online audience? What topics or pain points do they ask to 'pick your brain' over? You could package up your unique knowledge on this topic into a PDF guide or eBook. Even though it takes some time to set up a digital product revenue stream including creating the actual product, setting up the system to sell it on (such as a Stan Store, Beacons, or Linktree page), and some ongoing marketing to promote it, it can be relatively 'hands-off' yet highly scalable. Here are two ways to scale your digital product revenue stream: Taking the time to create a digital product that offers more in-depth, comprehensive knowledge than your free public content (e.g. social media posts) helps to position you as a thought leader or expert in your field. If your digital product helps your audience solve a problem, this increases trust in your brand, which is imperative to business growth. According to Deloitte, 88% of customers who highly trust a brand would buy again, and 62% buy almost exclusively from that brand. High trust has the potential to turn into referrals, positive reviews, references, or citations in other content, and could even lead to speaking gigs or podcast appearances. All of which help build your brand. Creating and selling your own digital products is a smart business strategy for freelancers, especially in today's unpredictable economic landscape. It's a great way to grow your revenue without exhausting your time each week, so that you can focus on your hands-on client work.
