My Favorite Things: May 13, 2015

I haven’t posted my favorite things in a while, but I’ve definitely accumulated more than a few favorites in recent times. I wanted to share some things I’ve discovered lately.

Rhodia Writing Pads

There are several reasons why Rhodia Writing Pads rule. First of all, they have epic bright orange covers and use the Futura typeface. Second, they use super high quality, extremely smooth vellum paper, which makes it an ideal pad for practicing calligraphy with a dip ink pen. I got mine at a local art store, but you can buy them on Amazon or directly via their website here.

Herschel Supply Co.

Yes, it’s a hipster thing and yes, they’re everywhere, but seriously Herschel Supply Company bags are the BEST. They are very durable, lightweight, and  come in a huge variety of styles and colors. I recently replaced my purse with an Ottawa tote, and it’s fantastic. It really holds up and holds a lot of stuff. I wanted something large enough to carry my normal purse content plus all of my sketchbooks and pencils.

These Are Things

Design duo Jen and Omar run a design shop in Ohio called These Are Things. They make lovely artisanal goods such as pins, enamel pins, prints and stickers, but at a very, very limited run so your purchase are pretty unique. They have a real obsession with cats, which always scores points in my book and they have great packaging design. They do a great thank you note with any purchase and overall seem like great people. Check them out!

Adventures in Design

This is a great, daily podcast for creatives and designers run by Mark Brickey. He covers all types of content from interviews with other creatives to hot design topics. His work is hilarious, engaging, but really useful for people in the design industry.

Small Bites: Design Links I Love | May 4, 2015

It’s another Manic Monday….wish it were Sunday. Here are some design links to kick off your week with inspiring things I found on the web.

Creative Market published a series of posters called “Confessions of A Guilty Designer.” They are basically designers confessing to all the things we hate that the client does or says (“I hate flat design, I got a tattoo in Helvetica, I took that photo from Google images). They’re pretty hilarious and most of us are guilty as charged with a few of them!

In this world where we’re constantly bombarded with information and interacting with others, it’s becoming harder and harder to lose focus. Not only is that bad for one’s stress level and getting tasks accomplished, but it’s especially bad for creatives who need their energy to make good work. Blog 99U has some good advice for a simple 18-minute daily plan to help refocus your life and take a breather.

Logo evolutions are fun to look at. Some seem pretty consistent over the decades (Coke, Starbucks) and others started off in a radically different place from where they ended up (Apple). Design Taxi published the evolution of the LEGO logo this week. I actually didn’t realize those magical blocks had been around so long, but it definitely went through some very different incarnations in the earlier times than where it is today. I love the 1936 version the most and find it very reflective of the design of that time period. Second runner up is 1950. Today’s seems really boring compared to those classics.

Although we operate in a digital world, we designers still have a mad love affair with paper. We sketch, we doodle, we jot things down, but we’re very snobby about our paper choices. This week, Inspiration Feed published the best notebooks for designers. I’m definitely a fan of Field Notes for basic doodles, but for my calligraphy I use Rhodia. For better sketching, I love Moleskines.

And, finally, some packaging eye candy for you. Check out this innovative packaging for olive oil seen on The Dieline this week. They really went outside of the typical greens used for this industry and went bold with a bright yellow and black. Nice work, N.