As creatives, we tend to become scattered and follow wasted tangents that lead to nothing. Eric Karjaluoto points out some of the misconceptions that he's seen happen first hand to design studios as they grow their business. His words ring true with his own anecdotes and confessions that make this article both inspirational and insightful.

Steve Gordon explains your Creative Collective as "a real-time, living reference guide to just about everything". We think you should heed his advice and hear what he has to say because once you start helping your network succeed, it will come back to you ten fold.

Armin Vit, co-founder of the truly inspirational design community Speak Up, has given us some words of wisdom that have always been with him to guide him throughout his career. This is a BONUS article for Issue 3!

Some call it "being in harmony", others say its "aligning your chi". No matter what you call it, there is no denying that we all possess the same energy inside of us to fuel our desires. Florence shares her experiences and explains how you can use your physical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual energy to fuel and evolve your work

Keith Robinson serves up another terrific article that shares his own experiences and suggestions on how you can remain creative while the world around you is constantly moving towards the mundane.

Welcome to the new Graphic Define, an online magazine, providing articles and guidance on business topics that matter to Graphic, Web, and Interactive Professionals in the Design Industry.

In putting together this first issue, I've had much time to reflect on what does the word "business" mean to me. What I have come to realize is that before embarking on this journey I thought my purpose was to teach others about the best ways to navigate around the looming and unpredictable storms of running a business. What I soon discovered was that this magazine, and my initiative at the helm of it, is to provide a place for all of us in this industry to help each other become expert sailors so we don't have to navigate around the rough spots, but instead steer right through them with the confidence and knowledge we will build.

I invite you to read through the excellent articles that mark this first Volume of Graphic Define Magazine. Comments are deeply encouraged, participation in future articles is most humbly appreciated, and thoughts of good will and support are always welcome.

Enjoy!

Having trouble figuring out how to start your own design studio? Creative Public gives some advice on the key things you need to focus on to start your own design business.