May 2010
85 posts
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“The very best form of self-promotion is celebration. To celebrate is to share...”
– Jon Tan
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The effects of travel →
Jonah Lehrer on why people travel:
When we escape from the place we spend most of our time, the mind is suddenly made aware of all those errant ideas we’d suppressed. We start thinking about obscure possibilities – corn can fuel cars – that never would have occurred to us if we’d stayed back on the farm. Furthermore, this more relaxed sort of cognition comes with practical advantages,...
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Redesign New York Subway Map →
The New York City Transit Authority has unveiled a new design for their subway maps. I still think Vignelli’s is the best.
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“So let’s talk about ink on paper. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but here...”
– —Frank Chimero responding to a question on the future of print design. I 100% agree with him. As we move into an era where printed material could become second to digital content, we need to make sure the printed content is really, really good. Jaw-droppingly good. It needs to be worth the extra...
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So I’m spending the summer in Nashville
Let’s just get this out of the way first: In two weeks, I’m going to be temporarily relocating to the great city of Nashville, TN to work as a design intern at Inpop Records for the summer!
Back in January, I decided to test out the true power of social media when I tweeted that I needed an internship for the summer and asked if anyone knew anything. I honestly wasn’t expecting much but figured...
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“The table is very important, it’s about nutrition, it’s about family; you go...”
– —Nicola Marzovilla
I loved this NYT profile on Marzovilla, his new restaurant and why he will never provide a children’s menu. Be sure to read the entire piece but this part is also especially nice:
“If you don’t ask your children to try things, how will they ever know what they’re capable...
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American Apparel reports $18m loss →
I don’t like the looks of this:
But last week the company appeared to have lost its cool. The business revealed it had slumped to an $18m (£12.4m) loss, was in grave danger on defaulting on a loan it took out last year and warned there was “no assurance” it could raise enough cash to keep going. The shares lost 42% of their value in response. This latest crisis might be of a...
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‘Summer Love’ Seasonal Mixtape
As the weather gets increasingly warmer and air conditioning kicks on, I’m pleased to share my summer mixtape, “Summer Love” with you. It’s 20 songs that are perfect to accompany you during the summer months whether inside in the air conditioning, outside on the porch with lemonade, or driving down the interstate on your roadtrip.
Click here to download ‘Summer Love!’
Here’s...
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“But it’s impossible to create something great without creating a bunch of crap...”
– —Rob Goodlatte, a designer for Facebook on the fear of creating. Just motivation you need sometimes.
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Typography For Lawyers →
Graphic Designer turned Lawyer Matthew Butterick has set up an amazing resource for those who didn’t study graphic design in school to achieve better typography in their written documents. The site is geared towards lawyers but the principles work for all professions. I was surprised at how in depth he goes into each lesson all the while keeping it super simple for the non-art professionals....
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WatchSir Ken Robinson is a hero and an inspiration. This is his TED Talk from February of this year is once again fantastic. I give a lot of credit to Sir Robinson for inspiring me over a year ago to learn more about the science of creativity and how to better use it and I continue to be influenced by his speaking and books. After watching this one, I’d recommend going back and watching his first...
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“As I see it, the best designers aren’t the ones who try to reinvent the wheel,...”
– Brilliant quote to kick off this profile on men’s fashion label Baron Wells.
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Lost
“I was trying to impress the audience with smart answers to life’s big questions,” he said. “It was all hype. But then I realized I didn’t have the answers to life’s big questions, and instead of writing plays that pretended to, I had to write plays that simply asked the right questions. I had to bring the audience up on stage with me, include them in the answering.” —From Jonathan Harris’s...
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“It’s easy for people to say what they don’t want the show to be, it’s very...”
– —Damon Lindelof, co-writer and producer of LOST from this recent interview.
Fans of the show seem split going into the finale about whether or not Damon and Carlton can wrap this up in a satisfying way. I, for one, am very confident I will enjoy the finale and will serve as a meaningful ending to...
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“If you want to understand me, watch my movies.”
– —Charlie Chaplin
Loved this movie.
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Where’s My Fire Breathing Dragon?
I really enjoyed this little gem from Frank Chimero’s class blog the other day:
When I was in school, my favorite professor was the fire-breathing dragon. Why? Because if you received a compliment, it was meaningful. The feedback was sincere and not sugar-coated, there wasn’t much coddling, but you can guarantee everything was helpful. The Fear of God he put in all of us made us all show up with...
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Apple Officially Ends ‘Get a Mac’ Campaign →
Sad.
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Trailer for ‘The Scientist’ →
I don’t really know anything about this movie but from the trailer and short description, it has the potential to be really good.
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Perhaps the Universe is Trying to Tell Me...
A few days ago, in the middle of the recent Mars Hill podcast I was listening to, Rob Bell stated:
History describes not decides.
And then, the other night I came across a passage from Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, a book I’d read before but apparently this passage didn’t hit me the way it did the other night:
And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their...
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Panera opens a ‘pay what you can’ cafe →
Following the various online trends, Panera Bread has reopened one of it’s stores in Saint Louis that features a pay what you can afford model:
The café, which reopened Sunday as a nonprofit, has cashiers who provide receipts with suggested prices and direct customers to the store’s five donation boxes.
What an interesting concept! I’m very curious to see how this works.
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WatchI really love the art direction of this promotional piece for the 99% Conference. I love the incorporation of infographics and the various quotes. My only complaint is the entire piece moves too fast making it hard to actually read each quote. I found myself pausing it a few times so I could read the entire thing.
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Will you do me a favor?
Stop what you’re...
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What is a Philosopher? →
Now that The New York Times mini-series on Math is complete, they welcome Simon Critchley for a new series titled The Stone which is focused on philosophy:
Pushing this a little further, we might say that to philosophize is to take your time, even when you have no time, when time is constantly pressing at your back. The busy readers of The New York Times will doubtless understand this sentiment....
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Zinsser and the hill →
bobulate:
William Zinsser on finding enjoyment in making things:
You should paint like a man coming over the top of the hill singing. —Robert Henri
That’s a quote he took down in a commencement address given by David McCullough in a small Connecticut town. He continues:
Amen. That’s also how you should write, sing, dance, draw, sculpt, act, play an instrument, take a photograph, design a...
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Little Wing by Alanna Weaver on Etsy →
My friend Alanna Weaver has a new Etsy shop with some of her photographs for sale. You should go buy something. I have the Robot print and I love it with all my heart. You will too when you buy one.
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“Sometimes it’s so hard to find what it is I’m trying to say. People...”
– —Gwen Stefani
Well said, Gwen, well said – I never thought I’d be posting something you said on my blog.
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“What have you done that’s so great? Do you create anything or just...”
– —Steve Jobs, from this alleged email exchange with Gawker Media reporter Ryan Tate.
I’m honestly not sure if this email conversation really happened or if this is just a continuation of Gawker’s obvious battle with Apple, but if it is, Steve Jobs has perfectly summed up my thoughts on...
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It's not about the logo →
Michael Bierut talking about logo design:
I think the best work in the area comes down to what most designers would agree on: the obvious thing, it’s not the actual logo but how it is used. The Nike swash that cost $30 and was designed by a Portland State University art student was probably worth that when she first showed it to them. At that point it had no equity at all. None of the guys...
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This is how Apple Rolls →
Great piece from John Gruber for Macworld on Apple’s slow, but brilliant development process:
Apple has released many new products over the last decade. Only a handful have been the start of a new platform. The rest were iterations. The designers and engineers at Apple aren’t magicians; they’re artisans. They achieve spectacular results one year at a time. Rather than expanding the scope of...
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New Site from DesignStudio →
The talented folks at DesignStudio have launched a brand new portfolio site. I usually hate Flash sites, but this one seems to work well and has a really nice grid system that I’m completely smitten with.
Aside from the site design, make sure you actually look through the portfolio—there is some great stuff in there.
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Happy Friday (90s Edition)! Eagle Eye...
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An Unexpected Reminder About Why I Make Art
“Whachu takin’ pictures of?”
I turn to see a large man—thick New York accent, tight black shirt, dark sunglasses, bluetooth headset, shaved head, gold jewelry adorning his ears, neck and wrists—start to approach me. I had just left my sister’s track meet and walked over to the park across the street to take a few quick shots.
“Just the water?”
“What? Yeah,” I nervously respond, not sure who he...
