Like everyone else, I love to browse the web for news, entertainment, and information. But, there are a few design sites that I keep bookmarked as my favorites. Move over, YouTube! These sites will keep you busy for hours, and the best part is that they are actually educational.

Just a little Creative Opera news: Google has found us! So, if you’re in the mood to browse the Creative Opera site, and you can’t remember the URL, you can just type Creative Opera or Manda Szewczyk or Manda Creative or Manda Opera in Google, and you’ll find us at the top of the list!

Designers use symbols every day. And, there are many websites that offer comprehensive lists of every symbol imaginable. Instead, I have created a one-page list with what I believe to be the most commonly used symbols for Mac, PC and html.

Here are some job options for designers that you may not have considered.

Wired Magazine is my all-time favorite magazine. Surprised it’s not a design mag? Grab a printed issue sometime. You’ll be inspired by Wired’s insanely creative layouts, their explosive use of color, and their imaginative use of type.

In our dreams, we have the money to hire artists or photographers to create one-of-a-kind imagery for us. In reality, we have limited budgets, and have to do what we can with what we have. Welcome to the world of stock photography. So, where can you find it?

Once you’ve created a website, how do you get the search engines to notice it among the billions of other websites out there? There are many things you can do — without spending a penny — to help your site climb the search engine ranks.

Once you know the programs, and feel confident in your design skills, you may want to work on your speed. One way to become a faster designer is to learn the keyboard shortcuts for the programs you use every day.