Vacation Blinks 6/13-17/11

I’m taking a much-needed break and am on vacation for the week of June 13 through the 17. See you next week, internets.

Balance

I saw the above image on a colleague’s facebook page and wondered how my chart would differ? Although I am concerned with getting good grades (taking one class per semester, going towards a BFA), I also have a 9-to-5 job,  a family (2.5 year-old son & pregnant wife), and a side business (shedpress). It’s safe to say that I have plenty to keep me busy, but sometimes I wonder how I fit it all in. The lack of sleep and stress has been killing me lately and I feel I need to make a few changes in my life to accommodate my sanity.

Until I make those changes, here are a few things I use to (try t0) keep my professional and personal life balanced:

1. Lists – I always use lists for day-to-day or weekly tasks, at work and at home. I revisit the lists at the beginning, middle, and end of the day.
2. Minimizing distractions – twitter, facebook, google reader, gchat, etc.
3. Staying organized – if my files (digital or physical), books, magazines, proofs, and any other items get messy, I can’t focus on the task at hand
4. Google Calendar – I usually set 5 reminders on each event so I don’t forget what’s coming up. It may be excessive, but I rarely miss an appointment or meeting.

What and how do you balance?

The Swedish Royal Institute of Art Degree Show Catalogue

Challenge: How do you make 1,550 one-of-a-kind printed pieces without going broke?

Solution: The Swedish Royal Institute of Art has produced a really unique Degree Show Catalogue, if you can call it just one piece. The interior pages are printed 4-color; nicely-designed I might add. The impressive part, to me at least, are the covers. They were screen printing with a mix of gold (to represent royalty) and blue (same PMS as the blue in the Swedish flag) inks. It looks like they printed at least three at a time, and discovered that they could add ink in the middle of printing, which made the covers even more unique and painter-esque.

(via Under Construction)

This is how you accept an award

There has been lots of talk of “winning” this week, but I’d like to talk about winning awards. Our local Addy awards are tomorrow and our creative team at work have three entries in the running. We won a silver Addy last year and hope that we can keep the winning streak going this year.

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held a few weeks ago and designer Rob Jones won a Grammy for Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package for designing the White Stripes’ Under the Great White Northern Lights box set. Here is how he accepted his Grammy and the above photos are Rob showing off his new hardware on the red carpet. Mr. Jones had a suit custom made in pink leather, modeled after the Elvis Comeback Special suit, along with what appears to be a giant Danzig belt buckle. Bravo, Rob and good luck to all who have submitted their work into contests.

Where do ideas come from?

(comic via D&AD)

This comic made me think; where do most of my ideas come from? Sometimes I look at design books, magazines, read blogs, or scour the intertubes. For me, websites like Creattica, FFFFound, and Under Consideration can do wonders if I’m burnt out and need something to give my creative mind a jump-start. Other times, I’ll get an idea when I’m away from my desk; playing dodgeball, playing cars and blocks with my 2-year old son, folding laundry, taking out the trash, or feeding the cat. Sometimes, I’m not sure where the next idea is going to come from. Then again, there’s always last-minute panic.

Where do your ideas come from?

Potluck: Chank’s tasty new typeface

Potluck is a new typeface brought to you by Minneapolis-based type designer and artist Chank Diesel (aka Charles Andermack). All of the characters are inspired by Minneapolis landmarks, so they are all different from each other, but look great together. Chank has made the Potluck typeface available as a free download, and with collaboration with City Pages, has created the above poster as a free 11×17 downloadable PDF. Yummy!

(via Chank Fonts)

Mark Brooks

Some super clean design and logo work from graphic designer Mark Brooks.

(via Grain Edit)