The weather is getting chilly and the holidays are upon us! It’s November and because you’ll be spending more time inside this month’s inspiration is about sites that I dig. So grab a cup of hot chocolate, snuggle up with your laptop, and enjoy.
Abduzeedo
Abduzeedo.com is “a collection of visual inspiration and useful tutorials…The blog is run by design junkies for design junkies, always striving to provide the community with the latest and hottest of what the web has to offer”.
The site is Brazilian born but has expanded it’s workforce to the USA and has readers from across the globe. I enjoy a majority of the inspirational posts and actually comment on quite a few of them. There’s daily, weekly and monthly themes ranging from illustration to architecture. They even have an iPhone app!
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COLOURlovers
COLOURlovers is a global, creative community where people who are tickled by color gather, share, and discuss colors, palettes, patterns and trends.
I have often used this site to light a fire under my color creativity.
It is a fantastic place to spend a bit of time for inspiration. There’s a wide range of talent from all over the world and I find it very exciting and extremely inspirational to peruse this listing.
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Graphic Design Blog
Graphic Design Blogis “a podium giving professional insight on graphic designing, graphic designers, logo designs, typography and much more”.
I frequently enjoy GDB’s posts and they’ve recently added aforumthat I’m sure will become a valuable resource.
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Toxel
Toxel is a design, inspiration, and technology blog.
I love this sight for the sheer variety. It examines inspiration from everything. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. It’s a really cool site to peruse but make sure you have time because you’ll definitely get lost in the world of Toxel.
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Be sure to check back monthly for more Peeps I Dig. Next month’s theme: holiday designers that inspire me. Who inspires you?
Halloween is my favorite holiday so in honor of that I’ve chosen this month’s Peeps I Dig theme to be creepy visual artists. What can I say, I’m challenged and inspired by the weird and unusual.
Hieronymus Bosch
Talk about creepy. Bosch was a 15th-century, Dutch painter who depicted some quite savage biblical interpretations. Many consider him to be the Father of Surrealism. Whether he officially holds that title or not, he most definitely paved the way for expression of the disturbingly intriguing. Take a look at his works, a really close look.
Inspirations from Hieronymus:
1. Everyone interprets differently.
2. Drum to your own beat.
3. It doesn’t always need to be “pretty”.
4. It’s better to get it out, than to let it fester.
de Leon is an American artist who’s dark, fantastical works you’ve surely seen. He did the early artwork for Tool and has done quite a bit of work for the movie industry as well.
Inspirations from Cam:
1. Don’t judge the artist’s personality by their work— dark art doesn’t mean dark person.
2. A lucrative living can be made on the creepiness in the recesses of your brain.
3. Surrealism is very much alive.
4. Do what you love, even if it’s outside of the mainstream.
5. A portfolio doesn’t have to be just a portfolio.
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HR Giger
Widely known for his work on the Alien movies, Giger is a Swiss, Surrealist artist who has won an Academy Award for the creepy that comes out of his head.
Inspirations from HR:
1. You are not limited by reality.
2. Find a niche and perfect it.
3. Artists aren’t limited to one medium.
4. You know you’re bad ass when you have you’re own museum, and your still alive.
5. There are places that exist that would make me pee my pants in both excitement and fear.
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Hans Bellmer
Bellmer was a 20th-century, German artist who used his expression as opposition to the fascism of the Nazi party (anonymously). He worked in isolation creating “dolls” that protested the cult of the perfect body, then a prominent ideology in Germany.
Inspirations from Hans:
1. Art is powerful.
2. Challenge the ideology of the perfect body.
3. Beauty and disturbing can exist simultaneously.
4. It’s better to get it out than to let it fester (I really can’t state this enough).
5. Dolls are creepy; mutated dolls are downright scary.
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Peeps I Dig, hope you dig it. Next month’s theme: Sites/Blogs that inspire me. Who inspires you?
I don’t know about you, but I like my brain and rather it not be eaten by zombies.
The fundamental flaw in my plan of survival though is that I’m not a super athletic, parkour , muscle machine. As much as I’d like to be that, I’m your run-of-the-mill desk potato who stares at my computer screen long enough for it to meld with my face. Therefore, I’ve devised an alternative method of survival for those of us who might otherwise become lunch.
Firstly, you actually should try to get to your peak athletic capacity just in case the Zombie Apocalypse goes down while you’re at Starbucks or the Apple store. I know this means time away from screen but it must be done for survival of the Geek race. If you need help with this challenging feat, there are those who can provide guidance for your Apocalypse training: http://zombiefit.org/
Secondly, do your research. You can’t fight zombies unless you understand the nature of them and what to do when you encounter them. This step requires plenty of screen time so breath easy. Here are some resources to get you started:
Lastly, use what you know. There’s no reason to step outside of your natural element in order to fight zombies.
At the first indication of a zombie attack, hunker down. Whether that be your basement, home office, bedroom, whatever—you’re used to being in cramped, closed spaces for long periods of time for deadlines so this won’t be anything different.
Stockpile all of your usual processed, preservative-filled foods so you have plenty of supplies that will last. No need for fresh produce, you wouldn’t eat it anyways and the smell of rotting fruit could give away your location to the hoard of hungry zombies outside your bunker.
Forget about finding loved ones. That’s a sure way to get eaten. They wrote you off as dead anyways since they haven’t seen you in months ’cause you were too busy meeting deadlines and socializing with your computer screen.
Don’t worry about getting bored or going crazy. Geeks around the world will be online 24/7 as usual. Besides, your iTunes library is jam packed with enough music, podcasts, and videos to last months. Not to mention your extensive DVD collection and Netflix account.
If by chance zombies breach your bunker, think outside the box. You have weapons all around you disguised as Geek supplies, like that box of X-Acto knives on your desk. They’re like little ninja throwing stars. How about that T-square in the corner? You could surely decapitate a few zombies with that. Even that Epson printer could do some damage. It’s not like your going to be printing anything anyways. My point is, be creative people. It’s what you do daily, you just have to adapt it Apocalypse style.
No need to be a hero like those guys in Zombieland. That’s a for sure ticket to being lunch. Just be your same Geek-self you’ve always been with slight modifications.
So, since you don’t know how well you will do until Z-day actually arrives, it’s best to take the zombie quiz to see just how much training you will need.
Be prepared people. Treat it just like a design project: research, sketch, refine. When you’re plan of action is in place, I assure you that you will rest easy knowing that you are prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse.
I was surfing the ‘net and ran across something that brought back a ton of design school memories. It’s a site that was set-up for a book put out by Princeton Architectural Press and Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Spring 2008. It’s a guide to basic design principles:Graphic Design the New Basics.
The site itself is a bit frustrating since not all of the links are active but if you can bare through it there’s some solid info on the basic principles of design. There’s also some exercises that brought me straight back to my foundation year. So if your a design student or just someone looking to get back to the basics, check it out.
Got any good resources for basic design principles? I’d love to hear about them.
Welcome to the second installment of Peeps I Dig. If you’re new to this series, you can read about the birth of Peeps I Dighere. This month is all about inspiration from animated characters.
“Really?”, you might ask. Well being the mother of a 2 year old, a large portion of my tv viewing ends up being cartoons. It’s interesting to me how the cartoon world has evolved since my childhood. This got me thinking about the lessons and inspiration I took away from the animated shows of my childhood as well as the tidbits I’m getting from the shows that my son watches. So here it is, animated characters that inspire and have inspired me:
Daria
As sarcastic as they come, Daria was a high school girl who didn’t buy into the crap of high school life.
Inspirations from Daria:
1. Don’t buy into trends.
2. No matter how weird, sarcastic, or non-mainstream you are, there’s always that one friend who can relate.
3. Being misunderstood by your family sucks, but they still love you even if they don’t get you.
4. Having a witty comeback is always cool.
5. Being smart is not a downfall.
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Team Umizoomi
Premiered in 2010 for kids ages 2 to 8, Nickelodeon’s show Team Umizoomi is a blend of animation and live-action that focuses on math skills.
Inspirations from Team Umizoomi:
1. Math is everywhere you look.
2. It’s good to lend a helping hand.
3. Being tiny doesn’t mean that you can’t do big things.
4. Simple shapes are the building blocks of complex objects.
5. Each of us has a unique talent.
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ThunderCats
Thundercats is a cartoon that ran in the mid-80′s who’s human-cat hybrid characters flee their dying world and end-up on Third Earth.
Inspirations from ThunderCats:
1. Home is where you make it.
2. When you’re faced with challenge, lean on your friends for support.
3. Being a girl doesn’t mean that you can’t run with the boys (Cheetara).
4. Treat others with the dignity, patience, and respect that you’d want for yourself.
5. Violence is a last resort.
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Dora the Explorer
Premiered in the late 90′s, Dora is an educational cartoon that teaches children Spanish amongst other life lessons.
Inspirations from Dora:
1. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
2. Always know where you are going (a talking map helps aka GPS).
3. Being bilingual is awesome.
4. Always be prepared.
5. Keep trying and you’ll get there in the end.
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GI Joe: A Real American Hero
Based on a Hasbro action-figure line, GI Joe was a cartoon that ran in the mid 80′s which was basically a bunch of military dudes kicking ass and taking names.
Inspirations from GI Joe:
1. Knowing is half the battle.
2. Every story has a moral.
3. Teamwork.
4. I’m an American hero.
5. Strategy helps.
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Be sure to check back monthly for more Peeps I Dig. Next month’s theme for Halloween: creepy artists that inspire me. Who inspires you?
Welcome to the birth of Peeps I Dig, a monthly series of people who inspire me past, present, and future. Who knows, maybe they’ll inspire you too. This months theme is go, go girls! Just a little sampling of the large pool of strong, intellectual women who have taught me how to be one.
MOM1 and MOM2
The adorable, Japanese lady on the right is Mom 1 (the one who birthed me) and the red head on the left is Mom 2, my mother-in-law. Now I know it’s a bit cliche to state that my moms are an awesome inspiration, but seriously, they’re totally awesome and inspire me daily.
Inspirations from Mom1:
1. Whatever you do, just make sure you’re happy.
2. Your home is where you make it.
3. You create the definition of success.
4. Organization is a lifestyle not just a skill.
5. You’re never too old to learn something new.
Inspirations from Mom2:
1. The wisdom of Sesame Street is all you need, “if you want to play the saxophone, then you have to put your rubber ducky down” aka “life’s about choices”.
2. There’s good in every situation, even having cancer. It’s all about perspective. Her daily saying, “Thank you God for giving me cancer and the strength to survive it”.
3. The Universe will give back what you put out.
4. Worrying is a waste of time and energy.
5. Your child will teach you how to parent him. You just have to pay attention to the cues.
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MARIKO
Mariko Mori is a Japanese, multi-media artist who through the mediums of photography and technology melds Eastern and Western mythology and culture.
Inspirations from Mariko Mori:
1. Art and technology are not exclusive of each other.
2. Be bold.
3. Challenge cultural norms.
4. If you can dream it up, it can be done.
5. Explore.
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XENA
Xena, The Princess Warrior is a fantasy series from the late ’90′s in which Xena, aka Lucy Lawless, kicked some serious butt for the greater good for redemption of her former sins.
Inspirations from Xena:
1. Kick ass when necessary.
2. It’s never too late to be a better person.
3. Go into battle in style.
4. Do good.
5. Be a loyal friend.
Inspirations from Paula:
1. Be prolific.
2. Don’t be bound by one medium.
3. Be inspired and never limit the sources of your inspiration.
4. Break boundaries and then break them again and again.
5. Be a rock star in whatever you do.
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Be sure to check back monthly for more Peeps I Dig. Next month’s theme: Animated characters that inspire me. Who inspires you?
This tutorial series on the basic usage of WordPress is brought to you by akstokes.com
At times it is unavoidable, you are going to need a CMS. I tend to avoid CMSs and frameworks in my own design, I don’t like to use the word control freak…I prefer to think of myself as detail oriented. However, as I’m sure you know, they have some very positive attributes, the major ones being: your client can update their own content and built-in browser compatibility.
While you may be okay with plugging-in updated pictures and copy at a moments notice, there is something to be said for letting your clients have a certain amount of autonomy. This is when the CMS aspect of WordPress becomes an indispensable tool. At its basic level, WordPress is a free blog tool and publishing platform. Even though gaining access to the code, in order to move past the generic themes, costs an annual fee, it can save hours of compatibility testing and content updating. There are many other web-publishing tools available, but for the purposes of this tutorial we’ll be using WordPress.
This series of PDF tutorials is meant to be handed over to your client when you hand over control of their WordPress site. They are written with the most novice users in mind, the kind who have trouble finding a login or password field. While it may seem dumbed down to the point of being insulting, try to think like someone who has never used a platform like WordPress and how overwhelming it can be. Even if you initially sit down with your clients and walk them through it step-by-step (as any good designer should), it’s always helpful to have something on paper/screen to refer back to (think of your pocket reference for CSS that’s torn up beyond recognition).
Part 1 – Getting Started is specific to WordPress blogs. Even if you’re not ready to remit total control to a CMS or publishing platform, a WordPress blog is a great (free) way to give your client some level of content management while keeping their main site under your watchful eye. Getting Started is written with the assumption that you have already set-up and styled your client’s blog and now you are giving them the finished product to populate with content. Part 1 addresses the absolute basics of the blog: signing in, simple posting, and changing a password.
akstokes is a Philadelphia based web and graphic designer. She is a fabulous designer, a web wiz, and a kick-ass colleague. Check back soon for Part 2 – Going Further.
Freelancing is a fine balance of variables that can create success if juggled correctly or spell disaster if not juggled well.
I’m often asked “What’s it like to be freelance?” Well, ladies and gents, it can be amazingly hard and stressful but at the same time as equally rewarding. Like anything in life, it takes patience, attention, some elbow grease and tender loving care.
Over the past few years, I’ve learned to ride the ebb and flow of the tricky waters of freelance. Here’s a quick list of pros and cons for those of you thinking about jumping in:
PROs
1. You’re on your own clock—it’s great to be on your own schedule. I’m flexible enough to be able to be spontaneous with my days and can work at any hour of the day instead of clocking in and out for someone else.
2. You’re your own boss—it’s all about me and no one to tell me differently.
3. Being fed—following your dream to be your own boss and doing what you love leaves your spirit and soul completely fed.
4. It’s on you—when in an office full of talented people, it’s sometimes hard to get recognized leading you to feel under appreciated. When it’s just you then all of the glory is put forth upon you and you get to beam with pride when your client falls in love with you and your work.
5. Fundage—when the juggling act is going smoothly cash flow can be excellent.
6. Uncle Sam—there are loads of organizations and municipal and governmental programs who love giving money and resources to small businesses.
7. Renaissance Woman or Man—when you’re out on your own you tend to become educated in a plethora of other subjects that have nothing to do with your actual trade but are vital to running a business. This education challenges your boundaries and ultimately helps you grow as a person and business owner.
CONs
1. You’re on your own clock—when all of your time is YOUR time, it’s hard to manage it effectively. You have to be really disciplined with your time. It can be really tough on those lazy summer days but it must be done.
2. You’re your own boss—when you’re the one making the rules it’s easy to give yourself a lot of leeway to do what you want and not what you need to be doing.
3. Being fed—the paychecks don’t come in a nice bi-monthly pattern so budgeting gets difficult at times and sometimes you might not be fed.
4. It’s on you—usually in a work place when something goes wrong the blame can fall in a variable of ways; however, as a freelancer, that blame sits solely on top of your shoulders when things go awry. Disclaimer: Murphy’s Law—things will, at some point, go awry.
5.Fundage—when the juggling act is not going smoothly cash flow can be non-existent.
6. Uncle Sam—if you thought taxes were high when you were employed by someone else, brace yourself for the beating you’ll get being a freelancer.
7. Renaissance Woman or Man—when you’re out on your own, you’re really out on your own including auxiliary tasks that you might not know how to do like accounting, billing, networking or even customer service. So you either have to get yourself schooled or you have to shell out money to have someone do it for you.
So there it is. My pros and cons to freelancing. If your a little confused as to why the pros are the same as the cons, just from a different perspective, well that was on purpose. That little paradox is the essence of freelance. It can be absolutely rewarding in every way and it can also be the bane of your existence.
My best advice to those of you thinking about taking the plunge is to really look into your heart and be honest with yourself. You have to know your potential as well as your limits. Going freelance is the best thing I’ve ever done spiritually but I have to be honest and say that it isn’t the best thing I’ve ever done financially.
You have to be willing to work twice as hard for twice as long to get to where you want to be. It’s much easier said than done especially since Life likes to throw curve balls. However, if you can ride out those rough waters then I would have to attest that going freelance is just awesome. Even the cons aren’t so bad because really it just comes with the territory.
So my vote is, DO IT but do it with a plan to avoid as many cons as you can. You might regret it or you might not but at least if you try, you’ll never look back and say “What if?”
I attended a really interesting lecture and exhibition this past week: Beneath the Surface: Poster Exhibition from Iran at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts. It’s a collection of Iranian posters curated by Nahid Tootoonchi, Townson University. AIGA has an excellent article about it.
Tootoonchi, Iranian herself, felt that her purpose in doing this exhibit was to open up an opportunity for Westerners to be exposed to Iranian design. In fact, each piece in the show is from her personal collection. She visited each of the artists in their studios and discussed their design with them. I found this to be really cool and very much appreciate her efforts.
During the talk, she gave a quick and dirty run-down on Farsi because typography is a major element within Iranian poster design. As a monolingual designer, this aspect of the presentation was especially interesting. The Farsi was beautiful. Hard edges are non-existent and each element flowed seamlessly into the next.
Many of the designers used English and Farsi simultaneously within the designs since the posters were often internationally displayed. Seeing the two juxtaposed side by side created an appealing tension between the hard, straight edges of English and rounded, graceful strokes of Farsi.
Another element that caught my eye was the lack of imagery. I’m not that familiar with Muslim but learned that the use of human imagery is frowned upon because it could be considered worship of a deity. If imagery was used, it was obscured in some way which gave way to an air of mystical mystery.
There were movie posters in the mix and it was odd but refreshing to see them done without pictures of people. It seemed that the boundaries of creativity were pushed due to this restriction and the intelligence of the viewer stimulated.
The styles spanned the spectrum from graffiti looking to folky. Whatever the style each piece was a learning experience in itself. It was like getting a little sneak peak into Iranian culture. Makes you wonder what tidbits people around the world get from our posters.
The exhibit is fantastic and I highly recommend you attend. Here are the designers that are highlighted:
Whatever your passion, talent, dreams—everyone needs that special someone to look up to. Well gals and guys, my pizza pie in the sky is Chip Kidd. I fell in love with his design when I worked at Borders Books. Being a creative, I of course definitely judged a book by it’s cover. Rows and rows of lovely books surrounded me everyday and I would walk up and down the aisles running my fingers over the spines taking-in that oh-so-exhilarating dusty aroma. Time and time again, I’d pull a book of the shelf and fall in love with the cover. Almost every time I flipped it over to see who designed that cool jacket, it was the Kidd.
Naturally I became obsessed with him and tried to find out everything that I could. I mean look at the guy. He’s talented, he’s stylish, he’s really sexy in that cool geeky kind of way—what’s not to adore?
For a long time I wanted to follow in his footsteps and design book jackets. Well, I still do but it’s not my only goal in life now. I’ve been able to expand my horizons a bit but nothing is sweeter than that first electric spark that makes the hair on your arms stand-up and send shivers down your spine. That’s what Kidd’s covers did for me. It got me excited. It got me motivated. It made me want to be a designer. It was about the same jolt that I got from Cyndi Lauper’sShe’s So Unusual album sheath. It was my first vinyl, my first glimpse of van Gogh and my gateway into the world of fine arts. Thanks Cyndi, time after time girls do just wanna have fun.
Kidd is prolific. Not only does he do covers, he’s also a writer, speaker, comic book connoisseur and all around modest guy. I’ve met him a couple of times. Once for a signing for his first novel, Cheese Monkeys which I did read and enjoy. It’s a coming of age story about what else but a budding Graphic Designer. I read it while I was still in school so it was one of those special reads that hits home. It did leave me questioning though—what the hell is a cheese monkey?!
The second time was just to go drool at him. He was moderating a discussion with a graphic novelist that I can’t for the life of me remember. I was too busy imagining Chip as my husband to pay attention. I know it’s pathetic, shut-up.
His newer novel, The Learners the sequel to Cheese Monkeys, came out in 2008. I unfortunately haven’t picked it up yet. Since I don’t work in the bookstore anymore it seems to be a major feat to actually go buy books. Your guess is as good as mine on why that is. I just might go pick it up today though after seeing this awesome video. Yes, I admit it. I’m turned on by the typography and layout of this book. What can I say?
Some chips off the Kidd block for your pleasure (and mine):
This cover really makes me thirsty which is appropriate since it’s about Burroughs journey to alcoholic recovery. You would think that it’d be a given that the cover reflect what’s inside it’s pages. Well, that doesn’t always happen so it adds to the experience when it does. I asked Kidd at one of his signings if he was able to read all of the books before designing the covers. Turns out that reading the book before designing the cover isn’t done often. Makes you wonder what kind of voodoo magic these designers are practicing when they hit the nail on the head with a cover without reading the book.
This cover gives off a deeply mysterious feeling. It’s mystical, allusive, engaging and intriguing. It really makes you just want to crack it open to see what magical world is between the pages. Tartt’s story is just as enigmatic.
Who could forget the iconic cover for The Lost World? I don’t know how well Crichton wrote it but the movies were bangin’. Kidd’s cover design was admired enough that they carried over the visual language that he created for all of the movie paraphernalia. So simple. So cool.
I could go on and on about all of the cover designs that float my boat and I could especially gush a lot more about Chip (yeah, we’re on a first name basis—he might not know it but we are). I want to hear from you. Book cover design is often under rated and taken for granted so throw out some props for your favorites. I’m looking forward to seeing them but I can’t promise that I won’t judge it by its cover!
Graphic Design Blog is “a podium giving professional insight on graphic designing, graphic designers, logo designs, typography and much more”.
