creative inspiration

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

typography


[image: print magazine]
in his article lettercentric: type as writing, paul shaw outlines a brief history of script type and how opentype technology has helpt script fonts get back to looking like hand-lettered forms. from print magazine.

the periodic table of typefaces has been circulating for awhile now, but i thought i’d post it up for clients who hadn’t seen it yet or are outside the design blogosphere. this chart outlines many classic typefaces in somewhat of a hierarchy of ubiquity, with the ability to zoom in for a better look and a credit to the type designer.

how magazine posted this really cool spotlight on james patrick gibson‘s new york type photo blog in which he photographs and submits specimens of awesome type samples from the wilds of new york city. what a great collection!

design industry


[image: thehaitiposterproject.com by alonzo felix]
thanks to <a href="designworklife.com for posting some of the results from the haiti poster project, which has a staggering number of great posters to peruse.

my colleague & wordpress master doron orenstein just posted an article on how to easily create and share color palettes online. thanks for this cool utility!

did you know that AIGA [the american institute of graphic arts] has a center for practice management free and available to the public? if you are frustrated with running your design business, see how your management style measures up with our industry organization’s list of best practices.

get your paper index from how magazine! from their blog: download [a pdf of] a comprehensive list of paper mills and suppliers, as seen in the May issue of HOW!

going to the creative freelancer conference or how conference in denver this june? i just joined this twibe [a twitter tribe for attendees]. if you’re on twitter, join up!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

design industry


[photo: designbythesis.com]
check out this spotlight on the thesis new year’s card from underconsideration.com. this letterpress card was printed in only 2 colors, using varied impression depths to create perspective. so subtle and lovely to look at, makes me wish i had one to touch.

have you ever wanted to print your own pattern designs on fabric without going into fabric manufacturing? my friend josh ross linked up spoonflower.com the other day, and it looks like a great way to play around with homemade fabric design.

typography


[image: houseind.com]
have you gotten your <a href="eames century modern catalog from <a href="house industries yet? these catalogs are outstanding visual reference material, and they’ll send one to you for free if you leave your address. follow the link to the house industries blog to see a cool video giving a snapshot to each phase of the print production process. celebrating this font release, they’ve also created a suite of all kinds of fun products to play with as well [from howdesign.com].


[image: the look partnership]
designworklife.com tipped me off to this awesome typeface lodgecode by the look partnership. so clean and clear with a slight retro flair makes it both elegant and endearing. available at youworkforthem.com

books


[image: indexbook.com]
i am really interested in taking a spin through this book, wine labels by eduardo del fraile for index book. follow the link for sample spreads from inside the book, they look great!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9418449&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Augustine Kofie:Echo Park Triangulation:Time Lapse from Augustine Kofie on Vimeo.

design industry


[photo: isaac arthur]
designer isaac arthur brewed his own honey apple mead and designed this lovely label. from designworklife.com.

going to the creative freelancer conference this year? i am, and i’m doing whatever i can to make the most of it in advance! this rundown of product releases will help you shop around at the conference, from the <a href="how magazine blog.

ever need a reliable list of universally recognized symbols and signs? the aiga has one for you! from aiga.org: A first set of 34 symbols was published in 1974, and received one of the first Presidential Design Awards; 16 more symbols were added in 1979. These copyright-free symbols have become the standard for off-the-shelf symbols in the catalogues of U.S. sign companies. They are now available on the web for the first time.

typography

did you know that hoefler & frere-jones offers suggestions for type combinations? they do! say you want to use their super-cute slab serif archer in a layout, just hit up the page, scroll to the bottom, and see the h&fj suggests section for suggested font pairings with graphic samples. brilliant!

solar beat bonus!

this lovely infographic music box is in a category of its own. solarbeat is a planetary simulation set to music i found on informationisbeautiful.net. i’ve been letting it drone away all morning [about 5 plutonian years], it’s very comforting.

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

design industry


[photo: department of graphic sciences]

my friends over at department of graphic sciences were featured in under consideration’s for print only blog for their outstanding packaging for original beans chocolate. they even utilized the long-coveted custom paper services over at french paper. truly lovely work!

another colleague of mine, velvette de laney of dew drop studios wrote a great piece for jeni herberger‘s blog: no designer is an island. and it’s true! when we work on our own we realize how much we need our network and support system. great piece, velvette!

who’s going to CFC this year? if you’re going to the creative freelancer conference and you’re on linkedin, come on over and join the discussion. let’s get to know each other a bit before the conference! or comment here!

neighborhoods


[image: jenny wang]

awhile back, good put out a call for submissions to design an infographic about a neighborhood, putting out a few parameters to follow. they’re reporting back on some of the submissions and they’re really cool to look at & analyze. check them out!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

typography


this display face sans merci by SMeltery reminds me of so many vacations, postcards, cafe signs and posters i’d see along my travels. i think this typeface does a great job of recalling the flavor of many european visual type styles.

want a font created from your handwriting? fontifier will provide you with the tools to create one with simple instructions and costs just $9 per font.

design industry


the earth glass project is turning glass bottles and containers into upcycled jewelry. some of these pieces are quite exquisite, and as a wine lover, i think it would be really cool to have one of these rings [each one is a different size].

box bottle bag is a new book by andrew gibbs inspired as a best-of collection from his blog the dieline where he collects samples of all types packaging design. if you’re into packaging design, or you have a product that needs packaging design, this book & blog are a great survey of packaging material everywhere!

color

the 50 best color sites for designers from print magazine is a great list of everything from color palette software, usafe matches for readability, and help with color theory.

creativity

as creatives, we have to keep a steady stream of tricks and workarounds to keep things feeling fresh so we can prevent burnout. 5 ways to regain your creative joy from freelanceswitch.com outlines some simple practices you can implement so creative flow isn’t such a struggle.

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

design industry


[underconsideration.com credits photos to notcot.com]

kraken press kit from underconsideration.com. the black ink of the kraken was the inspiration for this black spiced rum. this press kit is stunning! read & view more in the original post.

HOW conference early bird deadline is friday, march 12! i’m making my final decision in the next 24 hours, but it looks like i’m going to add the HOW conference to my creative freelancer conference and have a super ridiculous design week in denver this june!

the power of colour in brand design another look at how much impact color has in a strong brand.

scent as design symposium from howdesign.com. i am fascinated with this new area of study into scent as design and signed up for this one day symposium. curious!

HOW and Print magazine have formed a partnership in design leadership with AIGA. i’m happy to hear that my favorite tenets of the industry are working together in a leadership role for designers everywhere.

make your own graph paper. i like funny tools like this, this site will allow you to generate a pdf sheet of graph paper to whatever specs you like.

typography


[image from jessicahische.com]

jessica hische, and illustrative initial every day is a project by jessica hische where she illustrates a decorative letter every work day. each one is quite extraordinary!

alphabattle! from lettercult.com. post up your best examples of each letter and join in on the fun.

mostardesign is offering 25% off all their fonts at myfonts.com through april 10.

nature


[photo by zota]

the santa monica office of sustainability and environment is holding a sustainable landscape design contest for their demonstration gardens on 3200 airport avenue. interesting!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

design industry

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9084072&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

2010/01 Michael Bierut from CreativeMornings on Vimeo.

eco-friendly business envelopes from green la girl. if you’re thinking of running a stationery package or designing one for a client, be sure to get the latest on eco-friendly envelope options!

top 10 web sites for designers [march 2010] from how magazine.

starting a successful link-building campaign from the marketing mix blog. boost your own search ranking with an intelligently-planned link campaign.


[photo: fortmakers]

fortmakers: blankets & quilts re-imagined from apartment therapy. nana spears and naomi clark use blankets and quilts found at thrift stores and flea markets to make these artfully repurposed blankets. cool!

branding

caribou coffee leaps into the future from underconsideration.com. i think this retooling of caribou coffee’s identity is really nice, and i even disagree with armin, i think the caribou doesn’t look like a jumble in all it’s trying to communicate, and reads as a great rendering.

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

typography


font aid for haiti from the how design blog. two great things packaged together: love of ampersands and supporting relief for haiti. this set of 400 ampersands will retail for $20 with the proceeds benefiting doctors without borders.


justin perricone has made this beautiful poster listing all the ingredients in hot pockets in beautiful lettering. makes you think about just what’s in those suckers!


hat trick design’s typographic deck of cards & poster from underconsideration.com. these cards use typographic letter forms to create some variation of the referential suit. quite lovely!

design industry


[photo: http://www.helkatdesign.co.uk]
handprinted pillows by helkat design from apartment therapy. get regal! these pillows are really cute.


flaunt, by armin vit and bryony gomez-palacio from the how design blog. “Written and designed by creative power couple Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Flaunt is an exploration of what it takes to make a great portfolio. The book will start shipping on Feb. 22, but the digital version is available now.” looks lovely!


vintage-inspired ceramics by heyday design from apartment therapy. these porcelain recreations of vintage jars and glassware are exquisite!

craft


[photo: psimadethis.com]
how to make adler-inspired pottery from apartment therapy. inspired by the vintage porcelain above and want to put your own spin on it diy-style? i thought this project looked really cute and a great way to reuse containers while creating a decor theme.


[photo: blog.creativekismet.com]
paper bag inspiration booklet from creative kismet via the craft magazine blog. no matter how you decorate it, i think this inspiration “caterpillar” book is such a cool fold for a colorful piece, i wanted to share it.

nature


[photo by peggy archer]
it’s time to get outside and see the wildflowers! thanks <a href="
greenlagirl.com for the info!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

color

fall forecast: conservative from the how design blog. the pantone color matching system has released it’s fall color forecast, and though it’s on the conservative side, it sure is pretty!

color theory for designers from smashing magazine. a great primer for anyone interested in the meaning of the colors they’re using. this is first in a series, here are the next 2 as well: understanding concepts and terminology and creating your own color palettes.

typography

helvetica typeface cookie cutters by beverly hsu from designyoutrust.com

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9001402&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Colosseo: Available March 2010 from Cameron Moll on Vimeo.

300&65 is showcasing a different ampersand every day of the year!

concepts

design quotes is a really cool site that rotates quotes about design or by designers through a spectrum of color. take a look!

maybe a new street sign is what the world needs now from the ted blog [gary lauder]. i love the concept that drivers would stop falling back on right-of-way or road rage and work together to make safe transportation and cooperation happen. this sign gives me hope that an effective cycling awareness sign can’t be far behind. from the ted blog: Lauder has registered the sign with a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license — so share it freely (just credit him, don’t modify the sign, and don’t sell it). And imagine a world where every street sign contains the word “Please.”

design industry

limited run pillows by hola amiga from <a href="apartment therapy. these pillows are a really exciting pop of color, run only 20 at a time. sweet!

best practices: press forward from print magazine. I found three people who work as consultants or within their own companies to come up with new and creative approaches to green the production process. Their innovative thinking could change everything about how designers print, from the paper chosen for a project to the boxes used to ship the final product. [jeremy lehrer] read the article to see what designers are doing to stay true to best practices.