friday blinks – 5/25/12

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.

5 Questions, 1-word answers, with designers
I think designer Jon Eslinger is on to something here. Great concept and follow-through. And you can’t mess with Draplin’s honesty and makeupwordisms. Love Jon’s work, too. Simple and strong.
(via Aaron Draplin/twitter) (via Jon Eslinger/twitter)

Travel Channel stamps
Designer and illustrator Tymn Armstrong illustrates a bunch of stamps of locations around the world for the Travel Channel’s website. Nice and clean, as usual.
(via Tymn Armstrong/twitter)

Type to charts

You usually don’t need directions on how to use a typeface, but this one is super awesome. Font Font’s FF Chartwell is a stout font, that will turn your plain type into of seven types of graphs (Bars, Bars Vertical, Lines, Pies, Radar, Rings, Rose). Pretty slick way to use Open Type’s powers.
(via Erik Spiekermann/twitter)

Dutch kids paint dad’s furniture

And this dad isn’t going to ground the kids for months for going to town on his freshly-built furniture, either. Dutch designer Lucas Maassen pays his 3 boys, Thijme (9), Julian (7) and Maris (7), 1 euro each for each piece of furniture they paint, so painting as quickly as possible is the key. They can work 3 hours per week due to Dutch child labour laws. This is a very interesting concept and watching one of the boys paint a little happy face under the mirror made me smile and reminded me of my son.
(via It’s Nice That/twitter)

Freelance Real Talk
Designer Breanna Rose gives some tips and tricks, as well as some background, for how to run a sucessful freelance business. As she says, “freelancing isn’t all puppies and rainbows,” but utilizing some of her practices might give you the upper hand next time you’re working with a client. I haven’t used some of these tactics, but I’ll have to give them a shot for my next freelance project. Check out her posts on Studio Sweet Studio: The Beginning, Moodboards, Pricing (Part One), and Pricing (Part Two).
(via Studio Sweet Studio/twitter) (via Breanna Rose/twitter)

friday blinks – 2/10/12

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.

Making of Portlandia “Mixology” Poster
Los Angeles-based studio DKNG shows the behind-the-screen (you see what I did there?) of their totally badass contribution to Portlandia’s artist poster series to celebrate their 2nd season.
(via DKNG/dribbble)

Space Dog Books Interview on ISO50
Very cool interview with Tymn Armstrong of Space Dog Books, sharing some details of the process behind building Treasure Island for the iPad.
(via Tymn Armstrong/twitter)

Working Not Working
Looks like a very solid network of freelancers and people who need freelancers. Awesome mark, to boot.
(via Alonzo Felix/twitter)

Warby Parker Annual Report +
A very slick, javascript-based annual report from glasses makers Warby Parker, plus a peek at their process here.
(via Chris Streger/twitter)

Bearded Studio says Take a Break
Great advice from the Pittsburgh crew. I used to work at an agency where we’d play Quake 3 over breaks. I think it definitely helped with productivity.
(via Matt Griffin/twitter)

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 – 1/13/12

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.