Good advice.

I’ve been waiting to find this in video form… Audio helps the words sink in, right?

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Just kickstart it.

MAX100: The Book Project from Jewell&Ginnie on Vimeo.

‘ve loved these Nike redesigns since the first time I saw one… really I have, I even tweeted it. When I stumbled across this video on Kickstarter the other day I was hooked all over again. Not that this project needs any more money (it has raised $40,000 +), but I would donate a few dollars just to get a high res PDF to put on my computer like the one below. Yup, I’m that hooked (and I like my Nikes that much).

To all you font snobs.

I’m Comic Sans, Asshole from joehollier on Vimeo

A monologue from the perspective of Comic Sans – maybe it’s not so bad of a font (maybe). Either way this video is pretty hilarious.

Happy Valentines Day.

via Design Modo

Please send me this card today.

Keep calm and carry on.

Talk about a design that stood the test of time.

Upon the outbreak of World War Two the British Government’s Ministry of Information commissioned posters to be distributed throughout the country as a means of allaying public fear. Three different posters were produced and while the first two designs were widely distributed the third poster, simply bearing the words ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ along with the royal crown, was held in reserve intended for use only in times of extreme crisis.

Although hundreds of thousands of these posters were produced, only a handful ever saw the light of day. Even now ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ is a phrase which perfectly encapsulates the traditional British ‘stiff upper lip’.

 

Cover story.

Judge a book by its cover. Sometimes what is on the outside can be just as interesting as what is on the inside (or more interesting if it is a bad book). If you are searching for some good procrastination activity – check out the gallery for some fantastic blogs/websites dedicated to book cover design.

Colour Lovers

NYT The Book Design Review

The Book Cover Design Archives

Covers

AIGA Design Archives

Honey Tech Blog

Flea finds.

ver the past few years I have lost hours days of my life just clicking through blogs – blogrolls have to be the most fascinating procrastination device ever invented.

Some of the blogs that always instantly capture my time, and subsequently my attention, are design blogs. Interior decor, fashion, photos, layouts, prints – you name it, I love it. Even though I’m no design expert in any of these categories, I do think I have always had an eye for what looks good and how to make things interesting. After all, I am the direct product of a mother who only needs a bucket of paint, a spatula, and a piece of newspaper to redecorate an entire house. The creativity gene is there, even if it is not quite trained.

So this weekend I took a lesson from some of my favorite design blogs and I went on a mission in Manhattan. Let’s call it Mission: One-of-a-Kind.

The best home decor and fashion finds are never from a department store or off the shelf at Crate and Barrel, the best finds are things no one else can have (and not because of price tag discrimination) and from places no one else knows. Those were the things I set off to find and the places I wanted to discover. Cue: dun, dun, dun, dun dun dun – Mission: One-of-a-Kind music.

If you know Manhattan, then you know all about the Shake Shack on the upper-west-side. The place has the best 3,000 calorie chocolate milkshakes in the world. Ironically I like to run there on Sundays. My path from Morningside Park, t0 Central Park, and then to the calorie count killer takes me through an “organic” flea market (what organic and flea market mean together I still don’t know). So I decided this Sunday I would bypass the shake and instead go shop with the ‘greenies.’

Rain and a poor sense of direction prevented me from making it to the organic flea market, but instead led me to an even better find – a secret flea market in the depths of a public school basement. Getting lost lead me to exactly where I wanted to be.  Literally the lady ‘guarding’ the door said, “So glad you came…” in the sweetest grandma voice ever, and then “…don’t tell our secret” like some creature out of a horror-flick. I’m pretty sure I can outrun the seventy-year-old woman, but I will keep the secret just in case (and so no one else can get my goods)!

So was Mission: One-of-a-Kind successful? Absolutely. Pictured (COMING SOON) are my favorite finds: drawings of NYC circa 1934. These sketches were made on the back of book pages and have handwritten notes from the artist of what city scene each depicts. I can’t wait to frame these in my first apartment… umm, when exactly will I be sucking it up and moving out of the sorority house?

(Drop cap art via www.thedailydropcap.com)

Toothpaste truth.

This is a design by Gavin Potenza I stumbled across while searching through blogs. He says it is a “cultural statement based on how brands have changed their ideals and fundamentals throughout the years” and it “inspired by the words of Marty Neuemeier and how brands no longer aim to communicate what they represent but rather attempt to cater to the consumer’s varying interests.” Nice explanation…

I think this design and message can extend beyond brands and marketing – it can be related to journalists and anyone who blogs/tweets/tumbles/digs/likes/podcasts (you get the idea). Adding new elements, the latest trends, or superfluous features to make your content “interesting” will do nothing for you or your work. Interesting is a subjective word used by people who don’t know how else to describe something that has grabbed their attention. As a journalist I don’t want to write interesting articles – I want to write articles of value or function. The same goes for my tweets and blogging. I’m not so shallow that I think everything I produce has value – I enjoy tweeting about my random observations or sharing a melodramatic accounts of my life (For example when I tweeted “Counting down the minutes til #glee #glee #glee #glee #glee#glee #glee” or when I asked @harposcomo to kick people out so the line could move faster, I was not trying to add value to the twitterverse – and that’s why you can choose to unfollow me). But, anything I put true time into to produce, create, or promote I want to provide ome type of value to someone somewhere.

Sum of my thoughts – by working to become “interesting,” brands and people do more harm than good. A focus on making content valuable as opposed to interesting should be your goal.