friday blinks – 1/27/12

Here is a list of sites we’ve come across throughout the past couple weeks that we think are worth sharing. We call it friday blinks.

Behind the Scenes look at Treasure Island for iPad
Matt Cruickshank takes a look back through his process of illustrating Treasure Island for the iPad by Space Dog Books. I got the book and started checking it out with my 3 year-old son. We’ve been having a lot of fun with it. What a wonderful experience.
(via Tymn Armstrong/twitter)

Aesthetic Apparatus Kickstart a kick-ass typeface
The Minneapolis-based design/poster rock stars are at it again. This time, designing a slick, bevelled typeface, which was featured on their wildly-popular “Yes, We’re/Sorry, We’re” vinyl signs. Go on, you know you want to back this project and support the AA guys in their global graphic design domination. This project has been 100%+ backed, so you have a few more days to get a good deal on some other goodies.
(via Aesthetic Apparatus/twitter)

The Scamihorn’s Christmas Card
The super-talented illustrator and designer Aaron Scamihorn created a tasty holiday card.
(via Riley Cran/twitter)

A Hundred Monkeys Glider
Designed by Mikey Burton, letterpress printed by The Cranky Pressman. Awesome detail, and all in 2-color. Very impressive!
(via Mikey Burton/twitter)

How Pencils are Made
I love the show How It’s Made, and what an interesting process.
(via UCDA/twitter)

FREE FONT FR-FR-FRIDAY
Static by Slava Kirilenko (via Hannes Beer/twitter)
Woodshop, handmade by the generous and super-talented Nick Slater (via Nick Slater/twitter)

In other news…
I saw a great quote on twitter from Denver-based designer Scott Hill:
“Not allowing employees to claim their work, discouraging outside design work, and brow-beating is the design of old. Respect your employees.”
Amen, brother. The aforementioned scenario sounds a lot like my previous employer. Glad I (and others I worked with) moved on.

friday blinks – 1/20/11

Here is a list of sites we’ve come across throughout the past couple weeks that we think are worth sharing. We call it friday blinks.

A Journey in Typography
A blog curated by U.K. designer Ged Palmer. What a fantastic collection.
(via Jeff Rogers/twitter)

The Master Cleanse
Awesome short film with titles by Erik Marinovich, ½ of Friends of Type. Wear your headphones…NSFW stuff.
(via Friends of Type/twitter)

White room + stickers + kids
Artist Yayoi Kusama constructed a stark white space installed in the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. Then over two weeks time, gave child visitors thousands of colorful stickers to decorate however they wished, resulting in an extremely brightly-colored room. Very cool.
(via Stephen Kissel/twitter)

Fotoshop by Adobé
Jokes and jokes and jokes and jokes.
(via Evan Stremke/twitter)

How to Make a Font
Minneapolis-based type designer Chank Diesel makes a 5-point list on how to create your own typeface! Easy peasy.
(via Chank Diesel/twitter)

In other news…
This is my 100th post here on designblinks! Thanks for all of the sharing and support. I hope to make this into an even better-running blogity machine in 2012.

creative exercise – creature derby

As I have mentioned in a previous post, at my current job, with the help of our team, I run a weekly “idea meeting” on Fridays.  Since our dear colleague, Katie Gehrt, was leaving us for an awesome job opportunity in Kentucky, we decided that we needed to do something special for her last idea meeting/last day in the office.  I put a call out to think of something good for her last idea meeting with us. We decided that since Katie was headed to Kentucky, that a Kentucky Derby theme was in order. I had an idea, shared it with the team, and we ran with it. I broke out some painters tape and a giant straight edge, measuring ever four inches for the “track” game board spaces.

Now, for the creative part: create a horse, paper monster, or whatever your heart desires and name your creature. There was a wide range of creatures: a super-accurate realist horse and racer, an animal cracker-sized horse, a daisy duke jort-wearing bear, a cubist horse, a piece of toast with a long tongue, a Scooby-Doo-looking horse and racer, a pink slime monster, and a green horned monster.

From left to right: ClipArt™ (Katie), Tongue Lasher (Jennifer), Run On Sentence (Rachel), The Gobbler (Sara), Happy (Emily), Bearly Legal (Brian), The Blob? (Suzanne), 2 Cute 2 Lose (Dylan)

I also encouraged everyone to make a derby hat, tie, or any other derby accessory with whatever we had around the office.

Dylan brought some “Pick your nose” cups, which are always funny.

After the decorating was over, we got down to business and raced our creatures along the track. There were conspiracy theories that I somehow rigged the paper die to keep rolling sixes. Whatever the case may be, I won, with Katie in a close second, and Sara rounded out the top three.

Although there was no direct connection to design, sometimes activities like this one get us away from our desks and refresh our brains, allowing us to renew ourselves and keep fresh.

friday blinks – 1/13/12

Here is a list of sites we’ve come across throughout the past couple weeks that we think are worth sharing. We call it friday blinks.

Hero, a drawing made from 3.2 million dots
WOAH! I wonder how he kept a count of the number of dots?
(via Simon Walker/twitter)

Loads.in
A cool, super sleek site that will tell you the load time of each one of your pages on your website.
(via Adam Senatori/twitter)

Nerd Boyfriend
It’s like Svpply for people who want to look like other people. Perfect for that obscure Halloween costume you’ve been searching for. Example: John Candy as Del Griffith (Planes, Trains and Automobiles)
(via Mikey Burton/twitter)

Illustrated Etymology
Word nerds and design/illustration nerds unite! I shared this with our resident Managing Editor and she blew a gasket.
(via Adam Garcia/twitter)

Fauxgo
A collection of symbols or other small designs created to represent a fictional company or organization that exists only on film, curated by Tymn Armstrong. Awesome idea and follow-through.
(via Tymn Armstrong/twitter)

In other news…
A great friend and mentor is leaving her current job for an amazing opportunity in Kentucky. I just wanted to do a public “thank you” here to her for all of her hard work and help she’s given me and our entire department. Katie Gehrt, you will be missed. Continue kicking ass.

friday blinks – 1/6/12

Here is a list of sites we’ve come across throughout the past couple weeks that we think are worth sharing. We call it friday blinks.

What I Learned This Year 2011 by Scott Hill
Fantastic points about design and life by Denver-based Scott Hill.
(via Scott Hill/twitter)

Q&A with Hannes Beer
Short interview about Mr. Beer’s 365 project, The All Day Everyday Project. I’ve been keeping up with this since day one. Impressive that he creates some of those pieces within an hour.
(via Hannes Beer/twitter)

The Dieline’s year-end wrap-up
Nice list to get back into the swing of things after the break.
(via David Sizemore/twitter)

Pantone’s 2012 Color of the Year
Pantone announces it’s 2012 color of the year: Pantone 17-1463 Tangerine Tango
(via Dave Waite/twitter)

Brazilian Police/type designers
Very interesting and smart concept. A signature with heroin and assault rifles.
(via Under Consideration/twitter)

In other news…
This year, I contributed to Chris Streger’s To Resolve Project. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a great way for designers to publicly announce their New Year’s resolutions with great design. Here’s my contribution.