The fifth annual World Entrepreneurship Forum was held in Lyon, France last weekend (October 24-27), bringing together freelancers, small business owners, policy-makers and stakeholders to focus on new developments and sustainability. The main topic of discussion over the weekend was the idea of an "entrepreneurial ecosystem" in which small businesses could prosper and encourage more start-ups to flourish. ...

Whether you get most of your work done at home or in the office, it can be difficult to stay focused, especially when you're the only one who calls the shots! As the Harvard Business Review released some of its top tips last week, we've decided to put together some of our own favourite techniques. 1.      Get creative. If you're not invested in what you're doing, you'll never put all of your concentrat ...

A new survey by The Hartford insurance group showed that only one third of small businesses owners surveyed were feeling optimistic about the economy's development, down from the 61 per cent who felt the same way in spring 2011. Almost 60 per cent of the 2,000 asked stated that they had not added any new staff in the last 12 months, while 67 per cent had no intention of doing so in the year to come. About 5 ...

A review of HSBC's media strategy and creative agency requirements could herald the end of its relationship with Mindshare and JWT, as marketing director Chris Clark determines a new branding method for the banking group. The review, which is believed to be a closed one at present, is likely to look at its creative needs, and consider the possibility of appointing several creative houses rather than using j ...

Graphic art specialists Phaidon have put together a definitive compilation entitled The History of Graphic Design, containing 500 items which define the art form. The collection, which comes in a box and weighs over ten pounds, also come with removable fabric handles for easy transportation. The History of Graphic Design contains an array of different formats, including logos, books, typefaces, posters and ...

As stationery sales rise throughout autumn, fashion houses and graphic artists are starting a new trend in bespoke letterheads and business cards. While wedding dress designer Vera Wang has just announced her own range, many individuals are creating their own personalised styles in an attempt to break away from the norm. The new Vera Wang Fine Prints collection, produced by stationery manufacturer William A ...

 Photo-quality printing, otherwise known as high-definition reproduction, creates ultra-high resolution prints of intricate graphic design work. As digital media gets more sophisticated, printing processes need to keep up so that large-scale posters can be just as impressive, if not more so! To start with, the print must come from an image with double the normal resolution for print images - 2400dpi (dots ...

Running your own freelance business is hugely rewarding, allowing you to manage you own time and make money doing something you really love. Often, the hardest part is finding customers, so we've put together a quick guide to help you promote your new venture. 1.      Social media. Set up a Twitter account and start reaching out to people who work in the same industry. Have a website that explains what ...

We've updated our Fotolia Image Library plug-in today so that it now works across all browsers and platforms. This means that all Flyerzone customers can now access over 14 million different images to use within their designs on any internet browser - all free of charge! Simply select 'Replace' when editing images in one of our thousands of design templates to bring up the Fotolia image library and type in ...