feed your paper crave

I stumbled upon a brilliant site called papercrave.com and I cannot go a day without scrolling through it's pages of beautiful post. There is enough design, illustration, typography, and print inspiration in this one site to last years!

In the words of the TV show host of Reading Rainbow 
"Don't take my word for it."


the hotel of your dreams

Ok, if I ever step foot in Paris again I will be making a stop at the
Le Royal Monceau Hotel. This is the hotel of my dreams. It is the most beautiful hotel I have set eyes on. I am sure you feel like a king or queen upon arrival.

Take a look for yourself on their site and on The Cool Hunter

Frescobol, you are beautiful (reblog)

Frescobol, the Brazilian paddleball beach sport dating back to the 1940s, looks a bit like ping-pong without the table. The bats look slightly similar, the ball  somewhat bigger.

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the cool hunter

While searching for the cool I found the hunter. "The Cool Hunter is not a trend-spotter, trend-watcher or trend predictor. We select and celebrate what is beautiful and enduring from all that is sought-after in architecture, design, gadgets, lifestyle, urban living, fashion, travel and pop culture." It also is a cool site. There are colors for your eyes to play with all day. It is a cool color filled imagination playground. Let's play!




Follow me to check it out for yourself.

free periodical eye candy

If you are in need of inspiration or just want to pass the time, check out pdf-mags.com. This site is a "infobase for PDF magazines made all over the world." There are magazines that cover almost every topic from architecture & art to writing. You could spend hours on this site and not scratch the surface. Enjoy!

straightforward printing techniques & terms

You ever talk to someone wanting to get something printed an you go right into questions like "Do you want a custom print with die-cuts or foil stamping?" only to find out they have no clue what you are saying?

Did you answer yes?

Did you answer yes again?

Anyhoo, here is a great link to share or pull up on your phone in the moment to get them on the same page. It can also help with designers not being sure of how to go about setting up a file correctly for the printer if you are wanting these custom techniques.

Smashing job Smashing Magazine!


Designing & Producing Creative Business Cards: Techniques & Details

30 new free typefaces! sweet! (reblog)

Smashing Magazine always post the best new free typefaces. I get excited with every new typeface and dance around, passing out smiles to all that see me. They do all the work and I gain the benefits with beautiful well designed typefaces. Enjoy!
30 New Free High-Quality Fonts



an ampersand a day...

Ok, I LOVE ampersands so when I found out I could enjoy a new one everyday I clicked as fast as my finger could move. Below are a few of my faves and a link to all 365 of them.

Follow me for all 365 ampersands at ampersandampersand.tumblr.com

"skate & destroy" (reblog)


"HARVEST by haroshi has been a refreshing take on recycled artwork, known for producing various items out of used skate decks. Showcasing all of the collective’s work throughout the years, they recently held an exhibition at the PLSMIS Gallery in Tokyo. Images of the show can be seen HERE, courtesy of Brandon Shigeta."


 Follow me for more "skate and destroy."

just add water

Typography in Water by YouWorkForThem

"We at YouWorkForThem decided it was time to take a break for a few days on posting new fonts and have fun with them for once. We choose five of our most popular fonts and decided to see how they worked when added to water. The final result was quite interesting to say the least. We have also provided iPhone4 and iPad wallpapers that you can use to spice up your device's appearance."


To view more follow me to Behance

tracking the real-time color trends

Color lover? You may like colorlovers.com. It's a site that, "indexes the color trends as they happen. Whether it's magazine covers, street fashions, web designs, handmade goods or interior looks... There are thousands of inspirations to guide your color decisions."

Spec This!

Do you ask a lot of printers for quotes? Do you sometimes leave important information (like PMS colors) out about your project by mistake which can alter the real price of a job? Spec This can eliminate that problem once and for all.

It is a free online print estimation tool. Fill out the form for any print project under the sun, and Spec This will send out your project's info to any printer(s) you specify so they can provide you with a quote. (Don't worry, you'll get a copy too.) Check it out! It's FREE!

freelance billing made easy and beautiful

 5 Reasons to check out Billings
  1. Easily track time from any application using the convenient menubar timer.
  2. Billings immediately alerts you when a client has an overdue balance - with obvious red icons.
  3. Setup a recurring invoice once and forget it.
  4. Multi-currency support 
  5. Did I mention you can bill right from your iPhone?!
billingsapp.com

what's in the box? my 4 favorite package design websites

There are 4 websites that feature some really awesome package designs that may help feed your creative hunger. They seem to be my go to sites to feed my need for package design inspiration.

Dieline
Established in 2007 by Andrew Gibbs, The Dieline is dedicated to the progress of the package design industry and its practitioners, students and enthusiasts. The Dieline has quickly grown into the most visited website on package design in the world, and has become the voice of the industry.

the dying art of hand-painted billboards

Up There is a wonderful short documentary on hand-painted billboards and wall paintings. The film tells the stories of the New York painters who are struggling to keep this method alive. This film will simply pull your inner artist out and make you want to fight the good fight along with these passionate painters. The finished artwork from these guys is just unreal.


Up There

Watch the full 12 minute documentary here and spread the word.
uptherefilm.com

part 2, design nerd iPhone apps

I want to start off by asking, don't you wish you could bookmark apps right in the app store on your phone? There are apps that can do that for you but that should just be a feature right in the regular app store. Apple, you should be on top of this stuff and not out making pads.

Anyhoo, to all of my iPhone loving designers out there this is for you. I found more great apps that I wanted to share.

I like to start out with FREE things first. A good free app makes the day better.



"Action Method is an intuitive approach to productivity, designed to help creative thinkers push their ideas into action. Based on the power of capturing and managing "Action Steps" (tasks you need to complete), Action Method ensures nothing falls through the cracks, and ideas are accomplished."

Try it out, it's FREE!

the art of dance. LXD style

This video gave me chills and almost brought a tear to my eye, no joke. I have loved dance since I was a itty bitty me and this just spoke to me on another level. It is simply amazing and it is something that brings me great joy to share. theLXD.com



The LXD (the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers) electrify the TED2010 stage with an emerging global street-dance culture, revved up by the Internet. In a preview of Jon Chu’s upcoming Web series, this astonishing troupe show off their superpowers.

ignite, episode 45 by Leesean Hepnova



Ignite is five minutes, 20 slides. What would you say? Artists, technologists, thinkers, and personalities will take the stage to answer this challenge.

design sponge

As a designer I find myself not only sticking to what I know best but drifting into other ways to express my creativity. Each time I visit Design Sponge, a daily home and product design blog, I just can't help but get inspired to create and restore the old into the new. There is something just amazing about their before and after series.

Here are some of my favorites.



why didn't I think of that?

I am having one of those moments.

 
How simple and useful this that little doodad? Very!

It was made by budesign.
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