Blog

Freebie | Summer Party Mini Graphics

Summer Party Freebie

To celebrate the launch of my latest product, Summer Party Graphics, I’m giving away a mini set of FREE resources for you to use in your personal projects. This freebie features six illustrations, two seamless patterns and one premade invitation / flyer template themed around summer parties and celebrations.

Files come in .ai, .eps and .png with transparent backgrounds so you can use them across a range of different media, from printed materials to social media and websites.

The download link will be in your welcome email (if you don’t see it, check your spam folder). Keep scrolling to see previews and ideas for how you can use Summer Party Mini. 🖤

Continue Reading →

Brilliant Branding Bundle at The Hungry JPEG

Brilliant Branding Bundle

Just a little heads up that my product, Cosmic Dream Logo Template Kit, is featured in The Brilliant Branding Bundle right now at The Hungry JPEG! This bundle is packed full of branding graphics in a range of styles and colours, and includes 940+ editable logo templates, fonts and design elements. You get 27 products all rolled into one big package for $19 so it’s a total bargain. I’ve been a seller on The Hungry JPEG for a while now and I really like their bundles because they always pack them full of great value.

Click to learn more about the Brilliant Branding Bundle at The Hungry JPEG!

The bundle is available from 29th March to 2nd May 2021 so you have a few weeks to grab your copy. Keep reading to see previews from Cosmic Dream Logo Template Kit and how you can use it to spruce up your branding and marketing.

Continue Reading →

Behind the Scenes | My Design Process

My design process

This post contains Affiliate Links. This means that I earn a small commission if you purchase through my links, at no additional cost to you. Please read my Affiliate Policy to find out more.

Every creative is different in how they approach their design process. I’ve been a graphic designer for over a decade now, but I’ve only been creating and selling design products for a little over a year. I thought it would be nice to give you a glimpse of my design process—from conceptualising a new product right through to creating the preview images.

The product I’m showcasing is my new design set, Summer Party Graphics, a collection of vector icons with a colourful, summertime vibe. I mainly wanted these graphics to work on party invitations, flyers and posters, as well as online in emails and on social media.

Read on to find out how I develop my products and view work-in-progress screenshots.

Continue Reading →

Design Tool | Summer Party Graphics

Summer Party Graphics Preview 01

Summer is just around the corner and some of you will be thinking about barbeques, parties and outdoor celebrations. To make things easier, I’ve just launched my latest product: Summer Party Graphics! This collection of colourful illustrations, seamless patterns and pre-made invitation templates are perfect for party invitations, posters, social media and emails. You can also use them on merchandise, apparel and stationery.

Click to learn more about Summer Party Graphics

The set includes 46 vector icons (.ai, .eps, .png), 6 seamless patterns, 6 pre-made invitation / flyer templates, a colour palette and help files.

Keep reading for some preview images showcasing how these graphics can be used, and keep an eye out for a freebie version (coming soon!).

Continue Reading →

Surface Pattern Showcase | High Tea

Pattern Showcase: High Tea

Using a surface pattern is an excellent way to jazz up different areas and objects, from textiles and wallpapers to merchandise and website backgrounds. Patterns are incredibly versatile, used in many different applications and come in millions of themes, colours and styles. If you search online you’ll see that there are a lot of patterns to choose from, and it can sometimes be hard to pick one! Some great places to start are Creative Market, Spoonflower and Design Bundles.

Over the years I’ve created a handful of repeating seamless patterns, but never had time to dedicate to it properly. This year I plan to make more surface patterns and eventually launch a pattern collection here on my site (and my other shops).

To give you a little taster of the types of patterns I will design, I’m showcasing some of them here. We’ll start with High Tea – the first pattern I ever made – with others to follow over the next few weeks.

Continue Reading →

Gaming and Streamer Logo Design

Gaming Logo Design Blog

Anyone who knows me outside the design community knows I’m big time into gaming. I’ve been playing on console since I was 10, after my parents got me a Nintendo for Christmas (Mario FTW). These days I play on PS5 and I’m hugely into The Elder Scrolls Online and the Dragon Age games (with a little Fallout, GTA5 and misc on the side).

It’s weird to think that in all the years I’ve been a graphic designer and illustrator, I’ve never really got into game design or designing for other gamers.

I was recently asked by a good friend and fellow ESO-er AJ – aka. Celtic Reaper – to design a new logo for his YouTube channel. The brief was to use a reaper, scythes and the Celtic symbol for Trinity. Click below to see the green version…

Continue Reading →

Tutorial | How To Use Seamless Patterns

How to Use Seamless Patterns

This post contains Affiliate Links. This means that I earn a small commission if you purchase through my links, at no additional cost to you. Please read my Affiliate Policy to find out more.

Seamless patterns are repeating graphics that you can use infinitely on different surfaces in a number of different ways. They are an incredibly versatile resource and can enhance your websites, merchandise and even your home. In this post I show you how to use seamless patterns in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and give examples of where you can apply them.

I have a few seamless patterns available in some of my products. These are normally part of a larger product, but you can find patterns all over. A great place to start is Creative Market.

Patterns can typically be applied to:

  • Textiles (clothing, home furnishings)
  • Digital backgrounds (websites, social media, app design)
  • Merchandise (journals, stickers, mugs, pens)
Continue Reading →

How to Choose Your Social Media Accounts

How to Choose Your Social Media Accounts

If you’re just starting out on your creative journey, knowing which social media platforms to use can be overwhelming. There are many options already and more platforms get launched every year, each of them strong in different areas. This post aims to help you decide which social media platforms are right for you and your creative business.

I always recommend picking 1-3 social networks to dedicate the majority of your online social time. There are a couple of reasons for this:

  1. Trying to dedicate time to too many profiles will spread you thin. It could end up diluting your brand, message and content. Focusing down on the most important tools is key to building a strong presence.
  2. Not all social networks will serve you equally. Relevance is often a factor. If you are a creative, chances are you want to show the work you create. A text-heavy platform like Twitter might not serve you as well as a visual platform like Instagram.
  3. You should limit your time on social media anyway. Too much exposure can be bad for your health, especially if you choose a platform where strong opinions are dominant (i.e. Twitter!).

Saying that, it’s OK to have additional accounts where you can cross-post content and support your engagement and reach. But these should be secondary. Generally people use automated posting services such as Later or Tailwind to populate additional accounts.

Continue Reading →

Why It’s A Little Quiet on J. Oliver Designs

Why it's a bit quiet here right now

I haven’t posted much over the last few weeks and I thought I’d update you on why things have gone a little quiet ’round these parts. I don’t talk about my personal life much because this is my creative business space, but because this relates to my recent silence and has an impact on my online participation, I don’t want anyone to think I’m not creating new work!

In September 2018 I began an online Master’s degree in Graphic Design. It’s a part-time degree, so it has been spread out across two years rather than the usual one year. What I love about the part-time MA is that I can do it at my own pace from home while still running my business and working a full time day job (and finding time to dedicate to my family and friends 😊).

The MA ends in October 2020 and I am currently knee-deep in my Major Study, which is the massive project we do in the final semester. Luckily, my Major Study is centered around my freelance business so I can still work on everything at the same time, but it also means that time spent on social media and here on my website has diminished as I give my project a final push toward the finish line.

I’m happy to say that I’m now developing my next design product and I’m hoping to release it before the end of the MA (as I’d like to include it in my project!) along with another freebie. I’ll post an update about this nearer the launch.

I try to check in on social media as much as possible, but my Major Study must take priority at the moment. All I ask is that you bear with me for a little while longer. You can find out when new products and freebies are launched by joining my newsletter group (I never spam and always aim to include relevant design-related content):

Enter your email address for updates about new resources, freebies and special offers.

Thank you for your patience! 💛 If you’re new here, why not check out my other blog posts or my shop for digital creative resources.

Freebie | Occulture Mini Graphics

Occulture Mini Freebie

To celebrate the recent launch of my new product Occulture Design Resources I’m giving away a FREE mini-set of graphics for anyone wanting to sample this product before picking up the full set.

Occulture Mini Graphics features 9 stunning vector icons with a mystic theme and 2 seamless patterns. The files come in .ai, .eps, and .png with transparent backgrounds (high-res 300 ppi), giving you plenty of options to use them in your own projects. They’re perfect for sprucing up your social media feeds and stories to give them a cosmic and magical vibe. Or you can use them as decals on your personal items, create gift cards, invitations and labels with them—there are so many options!

Enter your email address to join my newsletter and get your set of FREE Occulture Mini graphics.

The download link will be in your welcome email (if you don’t see it, check your spam folder). Keep scrolling to see previews and ideas for how you can use Occulture Mini. 🖤

Continue Reading →