Internship Links

Internship To-Do’s

Research (job sites, portfolios, design sites)
Resumé
Cover Letter
Portfolio (PDF and/or web)
Apply/Inquire

Portfolio Research (see some of the competition)

http://www.creativehotlist.com/index.asp?linkTarget=homePort.asp
http://www.designerid.com/

Design Industry Sites

http://www.creativepro.com/
http://www.commarts.com/
http://www.howdesign.com/

Job (Internship) Sites

http://www.creativehotlist.com/
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/jobs_display.php
http://www.coroflot.com/
http://www.creativebusiness.com/index.lasso
http://www.core77.com/
http://designobserver.coroflot.com/public/jobs_browse.asp
http://www.simplyhired.com
http://www.indeed.com
http://www.highendcareers.com/
http://www.krop.com/
http://www.filtertalent.com/
http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/
http://jobmarket.nytimes.com/jobs/category/creative-design-jobs

myPANTONE

myPANTONE for iPhone and iPod Touch

Who says you can’t take it with you? Not Pantone. Now with the myPANTONE for iPhone and iPod Touch app you have access to a variety of PANTONE® color libraries and the ability to build color palettes and share them with colleagues and clients. myPANTONE offers graphic, web, fashion and apparel designers a way to take PANTONE colors with you wherever you go. Can’t remember what a color looks like, now you can have Portable Color Memory™.

Develop Your Language Skills

Develop Your Greatest Skill – Language - Stepcase Lifehack

Powerful Writing

8 Qualities of Powerful Writing - Stepcase Lifehack

Creative Inspiration

YouTube - Ira Glass on Storytelling

This American Life's Ira Glass on taste, ability and creative development: "Most everybody I know who does interesting creative work went through a phase of years where they had really good taste but they could tell what they were making wasn't as good as they wanted it to be." This is just wonderful: watch it.

via Design Observer

Graphic Design History

Lester Beall | American Graphic Design Pioneer

Multi-touch Interaction Design

LukeW | New Multi-touch Interactions on the Apple iPad

During Apple's 90 minute unveiling of the iPad this week, a lot of new multi-touch interactions were shown off. But they went by fast. So as a service to digital product designers everywhere, we took the time to extract 8 minutes of new user interface demos from the iPad keynote. Now you can quickly just catch the UI in action on Apple's new native iPad and iWork applications.

INSPIRE

INSPIRE - A publication from the Adobe Experience Design team

Great resource on design innovation & best practices.

Feltron 2009 Annual Report

Nicholas Felton | Feltron.com

"Each day in 2009, I asked every person with whom I had a meaningful encounter to submit a record of this meeting through an online survey. These reports form the heart of the 2009 Annual Report. From parents to old friends, to people I met for the first time, to my dentist… any time I felt that someone had discerned enough of my personality and activities, they were given a card with a URL and unique number to record their experience."

Opposing Viewpoints on Designers & Code

ignore the code: Designers are not Programmers

"There seems to be a growing sentiment that interaction designers, visual designers and UI designers need to know how to write code...
I disagree with this notion. In fact, I believe that being able to program can be a negative attribute for people who are responsible for designing the user experience. Designers who know how things are implemented or, even worse, who have to implement their own designs are in danger of impeding the quality of their designs. They are tempted to take code into account when they should be concentrating on the best possible user experience."

Designers Who Are Technical: The More You Know, The Better Your Work — Flyosity: Mac & iPhone Interface Design

"A user experience designer designs the user experience, obviously... but is it really that obvious? What's the user experiencing when we say 'the user experience'? On the web, there are many things that contribute to the user's overall experience using the website or application:

* Look & feel of the application
* Ability of the user to accomplish the tasks they set out to accomplish
* The overall perceived speed of the website or web application
* Expectations being met. If a user thinks X will happen and it doesn't, there's a gulf of execution"

Communication Arts - 2009 Advertising Annual

Communication Arts - 2009 Advertising Annual

The past year was a difficult one for advertising. Despite the challenging climate, we were pleased to still see some creative risk-taking in the entries submitted.

“Not surprisingly, the most innovative work is in the online and integrated categories,” said juror Paul Little. “People are inventing what's new and that’s exciting. It doesn’t always work but at least they're trying.”

“I'm always amazed at how talented people can reinvent even the most well-worn categories,” said juror Helene Cote. “It was great to see much more integrated, conceptual thinking that went beyond traditional media.”"

Teenagers Unfriend Facebook

Driven to Distraction, Some Teenagers Unfriend Facebook - NYTimes.com:

We decided we spent way too much time obsessing over Facebook and it would be better if we took a break from it,” Halley said.

By mutual agreement, the two friends now allow themselves to log on to Facebook on the first Saturday of every month — and only on that day.

The two are among the many teenagers, especially girls, who are recognizing the huge distraction Facebook presents — the hours it consumes every day, to say nothing of the toll it takes during finals and college applications, according to parents, teachers and the students themselves.

Luring the Young Into Digital Jobs

New Programs Aim to Lure Young Into Digital Jobs - NYTimes.com

Hybrid careers like Dr. Halamka’s that combine computing with other fields will increasingly be the new American jobs of the future, labor experts say. In other words, the nation’s economy is going to need more cool nerds. But not enough young people are embracing computing — often because they are leery of being branded nerds.

Educators and technologists say two things need to change: the image of computing work, and computer science education in high schools. Teacher groups, professional organizations like the Association for Computing Machinery and the National Science Foundation are pushing for these changes, but so are major technology companies including Google, Microsoft and Intel. One step in their campaign came the week of Dec. 7, National Computer Science Education Week, which was celebrated with events in schools and online.

Today, introductory courses in computer science are too often focused merely on teaching students to use software like word processing and spreadsheet programs, said Janice C. Cuny, a program director at the National Science Foundation. The Advanced Placement curriculum, she added, concentrates narrowly on programming. “We’re not showing and teaching kids the magic of computing,” Ms. Cuny said.

Teaching craft in a designed world

Teaching craft in a designed world - Nick de la Mare - On Design - Creativity Online

I think at this point it's important to remember that craft, by definition, is fundamentally a dedicated mastery of a chosen subject matter, not necessarily just the deep understanding of a specific material or tool. Richard Sennett, in The Craftsman, cites a commonly understood 10,000 hour figure as the time needed to master any particular skill, from violin, to carpentry, to painting, to surgery:
'As skill progresses, it becomes more problem-attuned, such as the lab technician worrying about procedure—whereas people with primitive levels of skill struggle just to get things to work. At its higher reaches, technique is no longer a mechanical activity; people can feel fully and think deeply about what they are doing, once they do it well.'

Four Things I’ve Learned About Designers — AIGA | the professional association for design

Four Things I’ve Learned About Designers — AIGA | the professional association for design

For the last two years, I’ve been doing to designers what they usually do unto others. Which is to say, I’ve been observing and studying them, asking a lot of questions and trying to discern patterns. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way.

Augmented Reality Advertising

Consumed - The Hype Around Augmented Reality - NYTimes.com

Very broadly, augmented reality can be thought of as an inversion of the venerable “virtual reality” buzz concept. Instead of plunging us into a completely digital environment, augmented reality means placing digital things into the regular old world. Those things might be bits of information or renderings of imaginary objects. And they, of course, aren’t really in the real world at all — they just appear to be there if you filter your gaze through the proper screen.

D.I.Y. Games

Can D.I.Y. Supplant the First-Person Shooter? - NYTimes.com

These game designers, a self-described indie scene, form a tightly knit group with a do-it-yourself culture and a rebellious spirit — something like a ’zine movement for video games. New and cheap technologies have enabled the movement’s rise. New tools for production and distribution — through smartphones, over the Web and via downloadable services on PlayStation, Wii and Xbox consoles — now make it possible for individuals to conceive, develop and publish their own games.

Rohrer himself is a kind of Thoreauvian game designer, a 31-year-old back-to-the-land programmer-philosopher who lives in Las Cruces, N.M., where he codes his eccentrically engrossing games, which can feel like digitally mediated poetic moods, on an ancient computer and makes them available free online. “Now anyone can do it,” he says, “which is not how the mainstream video-game industry works.”

Email 101

Great advice for students learning how to communicate effectively with your Professors OR anyone using email:
Design Educator: Email 101

I will not begin this post with the word “netiquette” (you can get the book for more details), because the term dates to the 1980s and this is something I hope someone, especially my students, will read. I’m writing this because someone has to tell this generation of students about the meaning of the poor choices they repeatedly make , most especially in regards to email. OK, ok, twist my arm, I will. Listen up!

Living Climate Change Through Design Thinking

Living Climate Change: Actionable Ideas About Our Future

Help us expand the conversation.
Living Climate Change is a place where the most defining challenge of our time is explored through design thinking. It's also a place to show, discuss, and share compelling and provocative thoughts and ideas about the future.

Student Bloggers on College Life

M.I.T. Lets Student Bloggers Post Without Censoring - NYTimes.com

Dozens of colleges — including Amherst, Bates, Carleton, Colby, Vassar, Wellesley and Yale — are embracing student blogs on their Web sites, seeing them as a powerful marketing tool for high school students, who these days are less interested in official messages and statistics than in first-hand narratives and direct interaction with current students.

Masters Of Design 2009 - Fast Company

Masters Of Design 2009 - Fast Company

Be sure to also check out the Past Masters.

Client Advice from FreelanceSwitch.com

12 Breeds of Client and How to Work with Them – FreelanceSwitch

There are loads of different types of clients out there and chances are at some point you’ll get to meet all of them. So let’s take a look through some typical clients and see if you recognise a few of your own in there!

Photoshop Disasters Blog

PhotoshopDisasters

Have you seen a truly awful piece of Photoshop work? Clumsy manipulation, senseless comping, lazy cloning and thoughtless retouching are our bread and butter. And yes, deep down, we love Photoshop.

International Journal of Design

International Journal of Design

The International Journal of Design is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted to publishing research papers in all fields of design, including industrial design, visual communication design, interface design, animation and game design, architectural design, urban design, and other design related fields. It aims to provide an international forum for the exchange of ideas and findings from researchers across different cultures and encourages research on the impact of cultural factors on design theory and practice. It also seeks to promote the transfer of knowledge between professionals in academia and industry by emphasizing research in which results are of interest or applicable to design practices.

College Advice, From People Who Have Been There Awhile

Op-Ed Contributors - College Advice, From People Who Have Been There Awhile - NYTimes.com

Educators give some helpful advice to young adults entering school this fall.

quirky | social product development

quirky | social product development

Everyone has a product idea. Chances are, you do, too. Our 22-year-old entrepreneur-in-chief, Ben, has launched two successful companies based on this premise, with write-ups in Reader's Digest, Businessweek, Entrepreneur, and other mainstream media - including more than one primetime appearance on CNBC.

Among other things, mophie and kluster made him something of a posterboy for aspiring inventors. Over the past few years, he's received literally thousands of emails from people all around the world looking for the same answer: I have this idea for a product and saw your article/tv show/website and want your help getting it out of my head and into the marketplace - how do I start?

Design to Improve Life Winners

INDEX:DESIGN TO IMPROVE LIFE

Here are the winners of INDEX:Award 2009. They show us, how design has the power to be part of the solution to major global challenges like climate changes, pollution, natural disasters, poverty, overconsumption and other important issues.

Back to School Tips from Lifehack.org

Freshman 15: Coping with the First Year of College

What you do in your first year of college can have a big impact on the rest of your college years – not to mention on the rest of your life. A few missteps might be possible to undo later on, but too many wrong moves and you might well find it impossible to recover later. Blow off too many classes, for example, and your grades will suffer – and no matter how much you reform your ways in ensuing years, your GPA will always suffer. Do poorly enough, and you might find yourself on academic probation or even thrown out come the end of the school year!

It doesn’t have to be that way. And your first year doesn’t have to be an endless drudge, either. What’s important right now is not that you bury yourself in schoolwork until you bleed, sweat, and crap knowledge, but to establish a healthy balance of academic work, social activity, and just plain living – a balance that once established, you’ll find easy to maintain through the rest of college and into your future.

Back to School: Talk to Your Professor!

In one of my earliest posts here at Lifehack, I explained how to talk to a professor – today, I want to talk about why you should talk with your professors.

Back to School: Keep an Academic Reading Journal

Aside from partying, the thing you’re probably going to do most in college is read. Assuming you’re at all serious about your education, you’ll read so much that words will come out your ears. Unfortunately, much of what you read will also go pouring out your ears, or so it will seem looking back.

One of the best habits you can develop in college — or even in high school, if you have the discipline — is to keep an academic reading journal. This is more or less what it sounds like: a journal recording everything you read, with an added layer of academic analysis. The idea is, you record what you read, key ideas and quotes from the text, and your own reflections on the work, allowing you to fairly accurately recreate your initial reading at a later date, pershaps a much later date.

Inspiration from Design Glut

Design Glut

The Design Glut website is here to inspire you. We interview creative entrepreneurs about how they got started and what they've learned along the way. We usually post 2-3 interviews a week. Our goal is to create a resource to help you springboard into working on your own projects.

Design Pricing

A great post with links on estimating pricing for design projects:
The design pricing formula | David Airey, graphic designer

Student Graphic Design Projects on Flickr

Flickr: AIGA Design Educators Community

Great samples of student work from class projects. Look & Learn.

Success Secrets of the Graphic Design Superstars

Success Secrets of the Graphic Design Superstars

This blog, and the forthcoming book, will be a collection of interviews from the best-of-the-best designers and creatives. The idea came about because of the number of people, both students and professionals, who have sought me out over the years and asked, “What do I need to do to succeed?” and “How do I get big clients and/or big projects?”

REculture

REculture: A post consumption economy - Repair, reuse, repurpose, recycle ~ exploring the informal businesses at the BoP

Repair, reuse, repurpose, recycle ~ exploring the informal businesses at the BoP

The Personal MBA ™

The Personal MBA™ - Training the Next Generation of Self-Made Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Business Leaders

The Personal MBA (PMBA) is a systematic program of business self-education designed by Josh Kaufman to help people master advanced business concepts without enrolling in a traditional MBA program. Instead of spending time in a classroom, PMBA members believe it’s possible to get a great education by reading good business books, applying what you learn to your daily work, and discussing advanced business topics with others.

The Personal MBA consists of three main components: (1) a recommended reading list of best-in-class business books; (2) participation in the PMBA community forums; (3) optional personalized coaching to help keep you motivated and moving forward toward your business and personal goals.

The official PMBA reading list and manifesto is a collection of the very best books the business press has to offer. The list is the tangible result of hundreds of hours of research and evaluation, and covers every important topic currently addressed in traditional MBA programs. To learn more about the reading list, read the PMBA manifesto.

100 Years of Design Manifestos

100 Years of Design Manifestos -- Social Design Notes

Since the days of radical printer-pamphleteers, design and designers have a long history of fighting for what’s right and working to transform society. The rise of the literary form of the manifesto also parallels the rise of modernity and the spread of letterpress printing.

This list of design manifestos was buried in a previous post but deserves its own permalink...

The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies

The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies – Drawger

Welcome to The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies... where tools of the trade that have died or have just about died a slow slow death are cheerfully exhibited.

Operating System Interface Design Between 1981-2009

Operating System Interface Design Between 1981-2009 | Webdesigner Depot

A Graphical User Interface (GUI for short) allows users to interact with the computer hardware in a user friendly way.

Over the years a range of GUI’s have been developed for different operating systems such as OS/2, Macintosh, Windowsamiga, Linux, Symbian OS, and more.

We’ll be taking a look at the evolution of the interface designs of the major operating systems since the 80’s.

I should mention that this article showcases only the significant advances in GUI design (not operating system advances) and also not all of the graphical user interfaces and operating systems existing today.

Social networks for creative pros | Create | Creative Notes | Macworld

Social networks for creative pros | Create | Creative Notes | Macworld
I

If you’re like most creative professionals, you rely on advice and inspiration from peers to stay on the top of your game. Mainstream social networking sites such as Facebook include thriving design communities, but finding the relevant information means wading through random quizzes and personal drama. For more focused interaction and education, a better option is using the many social networking services built specifically for creative pros.

CUSTOM LETTERS

CUSTOM LETTERS - FIRST HALF 2009 — LetterCult

As we approach the halfway point of 2009, we’ve begun seeking out the best and brightest in the ol’ Custom Letters Dept. And we are asking for submissions—if you see something we’ve missed, please send us a link.

Custom Letters is an evolving category that includes calligraphy, sign painting, graffiti, stone carving, digital lettering, hand lettering, paper sculpture, and type design (we’d prefer to feature new/original type over, say, revivals).

Custom, in this instance, means built from scratch; we aren’t looking for customization—a type treatment or 3d treatment—of an existing typeface.

We’ll be adding more pieces as the year progresses, culminating with a Best of 2009 at the end of the year.

Now to the good, the great, and the notable stuff we’ve seen so far in 2009.

A Fine Line - How Design Strategies Are Shaping The Future of Business

A Fine Line - How Design Strategies Are Shaping The Future of Business - Hartmut Esslinger

A Fine Line offers a step-by-step overview of the innovation process — from targeting goals to shepherding new products and services to the marketplace — in order to reveal how to arrive at an authentic human design that connects strongly with consumers. With a unique perspective, rich stories, and a global mindset, Esslinger explores business solutions that are environmentally sustainable and contribute to an enduring global economy.

Design is in the details...

A Portrait of the Designer: Child’s Play

You would think that something like letterhead or business cards would be so simple that anybody could design it. After all, it’s just an application of the client’s logo and contact information onto a blank canvas. When I would bring my first round of comps to Lisa, however, she would immediately point out details that I have never before considered. Direct but patient, she indicated inconsistencies in the spacing of elements and half-point differences in type size that rendered my work inelegant.

In a great article about the importance of detail, Naz Hamid argues, “It’s a phrase you hear often: design is in the details. With design, paying attention to small details—and in some cases, obsessively focusing on ‘what isn’t right’ — can take a design from ‘nearly there’ to ‘there’ and beyond.” Paula tells me that this specificity is the basis for craft — what makes Pentagram Pentagram.

Inspirational Typography Resources

42 Amazing Resources for Inspirational Typography: Speckyboy Design Magazine

There are many theories to what constitutes good typography, its not as simple as choosing an appropriate font and setting it in the style of a particular project, that would be too easy. Theories and tutorials are one thing, putting typography into perfect practice is another, and is perhaps the hardest part of any design. Every designer you ask will give you a different answer to what constitutes good type, where is the benchmark?

PutItOn.com

PutItOn.com - Home to the World's Undiscovered Artists

* 1 gigabyte of space for your portfolio
* No transaction charge when selling your work
* Ability to stream audio/video works in their entirety
* Live personal broadcasts to your followers
* Translation of your words into 10 global languages
* And many more robust portfolio management features"

An Open Letter to Design Students Everywhere

A must read for all my IDD Majors:

Design Observer: An Open Letter to Design Students Everywhere

With structure comes freedom. And freedom, let’s not forget, is what education is all about. It is a great time to be a student. Go out and make great things, things that help us, inform us, enlighten and change and impact the world in millions of meaningful and glorious ways. Your education will not end the day you graduate: on the contrary, what you're doing is learning how to learn, and how to think, and how to visualize the ideas that percolate in your brain. So here's what you do: never stop thinking. Never stop asking questions. Never, never stop reading, looking, imagining what else can be done. And don’t be afraid to start small. You’ll get there, eventually. And when you do? Send somebody a thank you note.

Lots of Inspiration

Fast Company: 100 Most Creative People in Business

“There are no rules about creativity. Which made constructing our list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business a tricky task. We looked for dazzling new thinkers, rising stars, and boldface names who couldn't be ignored. We avoided people we've profiled in the recent past. We emphasized those whose creativity addresses a larger issue -- from the future of our energy infrastructure to the evolution of philanthropy to next-generation media. So read on. Enjoy. Quibble. Complain.”

Business Design: The curriculum of 2012

“In the near future, I believe that you'll be able to get an advanced degree in Business Design.
Some programs like the d.school (a formative experience for me) and Rotman are playing with this idea, but I don't think these programs really nail it yet.
The educational experience would be applied and pragmatic. Classes would be harder than fluid dynamics (ok maybe not, but close). As a student you would feel as inspired and challenged as you would in the most advanced studio art class. Theory alone wouldn't cut it. If you didn't do something practical by the end of the term in each class, you would fail. We would get things done.”

GOOD Transparencies Archive

“An archive of Transparencies that have run in our past issues and online at www.good.is”

The best in advertising, design, and digital creativity | Creativity Online

Creativity Magazine Online

Yale Graphic Design MFA 2009

Lux Et Veritas: Yale Graphic Design MFA Exhibition 2009

I had the opportunity to visit the exhibition last Friday – the final day of the show. I was intrigued enough by the presentation of the work that I scrawled some notes that I thought I’d share.

Steven Heller on Hand Lettering

Graphic Content | Hand Lettering - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

I am a big fan of this anti-type typography. This may be because it is something I can do without mastering complex techniques. But it is more complicated than that. Nonetheless, hand lettering is liberating. Sure, most official documents, in fact, most things we read (like books, magazines and blogs) require official typefaces — the more elegant, readable and legible, the better. But not every type treatment needs to be standardized. The hand offers a more human dimension and individual personality.

For those about to graduate (or look for an internship)

Three from Viget Labs – Web Design Blog: Web Design & Innovation in web standards

Finding a Job in the Design Field

Portfolio Reviewin’, Thoughts and Ideas for Design Students

Interview Expectations : Web Strategy, Web Design, Web Development, and Web Marketing

Very funny...

in a totally design geeky kind of way...

M A X K E R N I N G

More on sketchbooks

"Sketchbook" by Timothy O'Donnell

Sketches provide a truer reflection of a designer's thought processes, preoccupations, and problem-solving strategies than can be had by simply viewing finished projects. Highly personal and idiosyncratic, sketchbooks offer an arena for unstructured exploration — a space free from all budgetary and client constraints. Sketchbook aims to elevate these books — visually arresting objects in their own right — from mere ephemera to important documents that provide valuable insights into the creative process.

Another color palette generator

Color Scheme Designer 3

Design Student to Design Professional

Never Sleep

There is a major disconnect between the life of a design student and the transition to being a design professional.

To demystify the transition, we share the failures, successes, and surprises during our years in college and progression into the field: the creative process, monetary problems, internships, interviews, mistakes, and personal relationships. We include the work from our first design class to our most current client work, along with side stories and interviews from our mentors, teachers, and peers. This book will serve as the ultimate companion for design students, educators, and anyone breaking into a creative field.

Computerlove | Connecting Creative Talents.

Computerlove™ | Connecting Creative Talents.

Computerlove {cpluv.com} is a unique social platform and source of inspiration for talented creatives. www.cpluv.com/www/editpost/15158
. Find inspiration and get fresh, hot design news
. Share you work with talented and awarded creatives (Population: 20, 000+)
. Stay connected with creative people you know and admire
. Promote yourself to find a job or get famous !

Every free account include: Personal blog/ RSS, Gallery & portfolio management tools, plus a networking engine.

Student Expectations & Grade Disputes

Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes - NYTimes.com

A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that a third of students surveyed said that they expected B’s just for attending lectures, and 40 percent said they deserved a B for completing the required reading.

Homage to Shigeo Fukuda

Speak Up › An Homage to Shigeo Fukuda

We define reality through sensory experience. Some experiences challenge our notion of what is real, so we call them illusions. I could argue that illusion is reality and reality is illusion, but I won’t. Instead, I offer this: If you change the way you look at the world, the world itself changes. No one knew this better than Shigeo Fukuda.

How can you look at the world differently? How can you reveal other realities, other possibilities? How can you approach a design problem from a different angle?

Ever wondered about working at Pixar?

Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age: A New Model for the Workplace | Edutopia

Pixar University’s Randy Nelson talks about what they look for when hiring at Pixar:
“…the proof of a portfolio over the promise of a resume…”
“…more interested than interesting…”

Keys: depth, breadth, communication, collaboration

Another article about Pixar University from the NY Times
And another article: Pixar's tightknit culture is its edge

smARThistory

smARThistory.org

Why We Made smARThistory
For years we have been dissatisfied with the large expensive art history textbook. We found that they were difficult for many students, contained too many images, and just were not particularly engaging. In addition, we had found the web resources developed by publishers to be woefully uncreative. We had developed quite a bit of content for our online Western art history courses and we had also created many podcasts, and a few screencasts for our smARThistory blog. So, it finally occurred to us, why not use the personal voice that we use when we teach online, along with the multimedia we had already created for our blog and for our courses, to create a more engaging 'web-book' that could be used in conjunction with art history survey courses. We are also committed to joining the growing number of teachers who make their content freely available on the web.

Michael Bierut on Becoming a Graphic Designer

Preoccupations - Drawing Board to the Desktop - A Designer’s Path - NYTimes.com

IN 1972, when I was a sophomore in high school in suburban Cleveland, I was asked to do a poster for our drama club’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace.” I found a nice big piece of cardboard, did the most elaborate piece of hand-lettering I could manage with a couple of black felt-tipped pens and turned it in to the director.

That was on a Friday. When I arrived for class on Monday, my poster was in every hallway, in every stairwell and on every bulletin board in school. Among my peers, I was considered a good artist, but the miracle of mass production took things to a different level. More people saw my poster than would see the play. It was then that I decided to become a graphic designer. My dream was to design album covers for rock bands.

Michael Bierut’s Design Notebooks

Design Observer: 26 Years, 85 Notebooks

On August 12, 1982, I took a 10 x 7 1/8 inch National Blank Book Company composition book from the supply closet of my then employer, Vignelli Associates. From that moment, I have never been without one. I always have one at my desk. I take one with me to every meeting. I am now in the middle of Notebook #85. It's in front of me right now. Together, these well-worn books create a history of my working life that spans three decades.

Michael Bierut on Design & the Recession

Designing Through the Recession

Even if you don't know much about the economy, you've probably noticed that something went horribly wrong in 2008. And 2009 doesn't look much better. I've been working as a designer for over 28 years, and depending on how you count, this is either my fourth or fifth recession. Here's what happens, and a few things you can do about it.

Inspiration: Student Innovations

The New York Times special section on Education Life is devoted to student innovations:
Education News - Education Life - The New York Times

Today’s students have heard more about Bill Gates than F.D.R. They thrive on speed, and love to innovate. Not surprising, entrepreneurship education is booming.

A little Flash inspiration for the new year.

A very simple, but elegant little Flash experience. Give it some time & enjoy. :)

Book of Numbers

Video Game Design 1990-2008

Video Game Design Between 1990-2008 | Webdesigner Depot

Remembering the good all days, when me and my friends were playing Doom, Mortal Kombat, Quake or War Craft on a Pentium 133 MHz computer with Sound Blaster and a 4MB video card. A lot has changed since then.

Video games actually are a lot older than that we used to play in the 90s. The first video game was created in 1947 called Tennis for two and it was played on an oscilloscope like device.

Are you sure you want to take on that web site project?

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents : 20 signs you don’t want that web design project

Most clients are good clients, and some clients are great clients. But some jobs are just never going to work out well. Herewith, a few indicators that a project may be headed to the toilet. Guarantee: All incidents taken from life.

Replenishing your Creative Juices

It’s the end of the semester - you’re burnt, fried, finished. Watch this - you will thank me... I promise.

YouTube - Creatives grow better in the South West

On Liberal Arts and Design

gongblog - journal - In defense of generalists

It is no secret that I think design education is a little too specialized to the point of only being able to churn out high-tech craftsmen. In this time of global recession, jobs being decimated, major economies hanging in the balance, a new left-of-center administration about to take the helm -- just take a look at what the design blogosphere continues to blog about -- nothing of real consequence (well, maybe some proactive insights as to how to make our existing super-surplus of consumer crap...a more sustainable super-surplus of consumer crap).

Design Education and Social Change

Design Ignites Change

Design Ignites Change is an annual program that promotes and encourages talented high school and college students from across the country to use design thinking and innovation to create messages for and solutions to complex social problems.

New International Design Blog

Design Assembly

Design Assembly is an interactive discussion forum managed by industry professionals for fellow creatives. We are made up of a select group of individuals working at renowned global agencies from a cross-section of creative disciplines.

Our objective is to reveal, discuss and debate inspirational pieces of work both past and present. We think that a creative blog should contain unbiased critique, informed opinion and topical debate. We don’t want to condescend or patronise, just provoke originality and purpose in what we do.

The Designer's Review of Books

The Designer's Review of Books — Books for the creative mind.

Although there are several good design websites that occasionally have book reviews, there didn’t seem to be a single place online where you could get constant updates and reviews of new (and sometimes old) design books.

Design books are often expensive and contrary – sometimes the book is worth having for the physical production values alone, sometimes for the images, sometimes for the words and, occasionally, for all three. We wanted to cover those elements in our reviews so that you know whether it’s worth owning.

30 inspiring Flickr groups on typography

30 inspiring Flickr groups on typography | David Airey - graphic designer, logo designer

Inspiring typographical Flickr collections, for designers and type nuts. The following groups contain more than 50,000 images showcasing typography. Just about enough to quench your type desires.

New Visual Research Photo Archive

LIFE photo archive hosted by Google

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.

New Graphic Design Discussion Forums

Design Forums - Graphic Design & Web Design Forum

SFMOMA | Explore Modern Art | SFMOMA ArtScope

The works of art and design are a bit overwhelmed by the interface (visual browsing tool), but you should spend some time with this:

SFMOMA | Explore Modern Art | SFMOMA ArtScope

Learning Design Learning Software

ATTENTION ALL CURRENT IDD STUDENTS:

There is a national survey for design students this week and I would like all current IDD students to answer, so that we can get a better understanding of what works, what doesn't and what you perceive your needs to be. It is completely anonymous - I just need for you to indicate “IDD” when it asks for a class code, so that I can compare your responses directly with those from design students across the nation.

Learning Design Learning Software Survey

Please take 10 minutes of your time this week to help me improve my courses! I will be so grateful.

PB

Time Management for Anarchists

No Media Kings = Free Anarchomic Released

Time Management for Anarchists started as a seminar I did at a zine fair five years ago, so I’m happy to be launching this comic at Canzine this Sunday. After doing the seminar a bunch of times, I did a Flash animation where judging by the traffic and the comments, various non-anarchist folks found it useful/enjoyable. So I worked with Marc Ngui and comic publisher IDW to start on a comic adaptation of it to see how it’d work for a broader audience, and Diamond is shipping the results to comic shops soon.

Resource for Design Students by Design Students

The Graphic Student

THE GRAPHIC STUDENT is a resource for design students. Whether you're studying graphics, fashion, architecture, or any other creative visual field, this is the place for you. A place to share work, speak your mind, and learn from one another.

From Cave Paintings to the Internet

Jeremy Norman’s From Cave Paintings to the Internet: 70,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE Timeline

Welcome to the interactive version of my timeline on the history of information and media. Since publication of a relatively brief static version in my 2005 book, From Gutenberg to the Internet, this timeline has been a work in progress, and as it has grown so has its scope. Reflecting the greatly increased scope of the timeline, I decided to rename it From Cave Paintings to the Internet.

Recently, with the help of web designer Jessica Gore, I was able to convert the timeline into an interactive database with several new features. When I completed the conversion in October 2008 there were more than 1550 annotated timeline entries, nearly all of which had one or more hyperlinks to online references. There were also sixty-four themes, by which the timeline could be searched. Individual timeline entries were indexed by up to six themes. You will find links to each theme at the end of each timeline entry. If you click on that theme after the entry you will see a timeline based on that theme alone. You can, of course, access the timeline by various different eras, and you can switch back and forth between eras and themes. Users should recognize that in order to trace the origins of concepts or technologies back in time I have sometimes defined themes loosely. In order to make some themes more accessible to historical treatment I have also combined related themes. For example, I combined Internet and Networking in order to trace this theme back to the first road networks in the ancient world, to railroads, to the telegraph lines that followed railroad lines, to telephone networks, up the network of networks that is the Internet.

Technorati: State of the Blogosphere 2008

Technorati: State of the Blogosphere 2008

Welcome to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008 report, which will be released in five consecutive daily segments. Since 2004, our annual study has unearthed and analyzed the trends and themes of blogging, but for the 2008 study, we resolved to go beyond the numbers of the Technorati Index to deliver even deeper insights into the blogging mind. For the first time, we surveyed bloggers directly about the role of blogging in their lives, the tools, time, and resources used to produce their blogs, and how blogging has impacted them personally, professionally, and financially. Our bloggers were generous with their thoughts and insights.

2008 International Design Biennial

Some inspiring work here - you must see:

2008 International Design Biennial / Exhibitions

An original and unique event in the world of design, inaugurated in 1998, the Saint Étienne Higher School of Art and Design (formerly the original Beaux Arts School) the Saint Étienne International Design biennial, right from its inception, brought together a large number of French and international creators, of widely differing cultural and professional horizons.

The biennial bears witness to the Cité of Design's intense activity, linked to the worlds of business, professional and teaching activities, and is also a large-scale event accessible to all types of public. 15 000 square metres of exhibitions on the Cité du Design site, formerly the Saint Etienne Weapons Manufacture, with three main venues

The Blogging Scholarship

For real!

The Blogging Scholarship

Is Your Blog Worthy of a $10,000 Scholarship?

Do you maintain a weblog and attend college? Would you like $10,000 to help pay for books, tuition, or other living costs? If so, read on.

We're giving away $10,000 this year to a college student who blogs. The Blogging Scholarship is awarded annually.

Great Design - Amazing Message

Bew sure to visit the site: The Girl Effect

Beyond Flash, an addendum

Jonathan Harris calls out “Flashy” work for what it is. This is a must read for my IDD students.

Beyond Flash, an addendum

I see a community that is distracted by relentless experimentation (experimentation is great, in moderation), constant tinkering (tinkering is great too, in moderation), advertising, games, purely aesthetic design, but most of all by the dizzying evolution of technology. Technology is just a language, just a tool. And tools will always evolve. There will always be stronger chainsaws, faster computers, newer plugins, better features, and the faster these improvements occur, the more distracting they can become. But it is important to remember that tools are just the language – you still have to decide what you will use the language to say.

When I look at the Flash community, I see an incredible amount of output, a ton of production, but not a lot being said.

My IDD Students...

will be able to relate to the wonderful Sesame Street videos in this blog post:

Art Practice as Research: The artist in academia and the shape of things

Design Education and Advocacy

Deserve Your Dream: Design Education and Advocacy, by Mariana Amatullo - Core77

Social impact projects that come into the classroom and burst out into the field are thrilling. The rush of creativity and the synergy of many minds working together can result in purposeful design projects to great effect: generating tangible solutions that make a lasting difference in people's lives.

10 Creative Advertising Ideas from Students

You must see this creative work:
Advertnews.com - Advertising - Media - Agency - Marketing News

London Design Festival 2008

London Design Festival 2008: All posts in one place - Core77

Check out this list of Core77's event coverage of London Design Week in one easy-to-browse place.

Book Cover Contest Finalists

Lots of good work to look at here:

Show of Talent | Creativity Online

Creativity and Penguin lead a search for America's next great book cover. Check out the 25 finalists

As part the first year of Hearts & Minds, Creativity partnered with Penguin Books on a talent contest, asking artists of all types to conceive a cover design for one of the publisher's upcoming titles. Penguin, as you may know, appeared in our Creative Marketers report last year, for bringing an updated art-driven aesthetic to its book covers. Notably, its Graphic Classics have become veritable collectors items, with cover art reimagined by contemporary artists like Frank Miller, Tomer Hanuka, Roz Chast and Art Spiegelman.

Creative Inspiration: Margo Chase on Lynda.com

Margo Chase at lynda.com Online Training Library

Margo Chase is one of the most influential graphic designers of our time. Over the past 20 years, Margo's highly expressive work has been seen in movie posters for Bram Stoker's Dracula; on album covers for top performers like Cher, Madonna, and Prince; and in ads for brands such as Starbucks, Target, and Procter & Gamble. With a background in biology, Margo migrated to the world of graphic design, where she brought a unique, organic quality to logos, lettering, and identity design. Never one to live life passively, Margo has developed a love for competitive aerobatic flying in her own high-performance plane. This installment of Creative Inspirations takes viewers inside the studio, portfolio, and adrenaline-pumped lifestyle of this inspired and inspiring designer.

11 Free Mind Mapping Resources

11 Free Mind Mapping Applications & Web Services - Stepcase Lifehack

There are a million and one uses for mind mapping. You can use it to study for a big exam. You can use it brainstorm new article ideas, or flesh out what needs to be covered in the business plan for a new venture. You can organize a big move of house; heck, I’ve seen people use the mind map format for their daily to-do lists...

Social Studies | Educating Designers in a Connected World

Upcoming Conference:

Social Studies | Educating Designers in a Connected World

This AIGA design educators' conference addresses the social life of design. Graphic designers work with clients, institutions, users, and communities to make things happen in the world. Yet education often focuses on the individual voice. How are we preparing students for a lifetime of working with and for other people? How are our students connecting to the world? Come participate in a relaxed and stimulating weekend of lively discussions, hands-on workshops, and informal activities.

The 50 greatest arts videos on YouTube

The 50 greatest arts videos on YouTube | Technology | The Observer

YouTube is best known for its offbeat videos that become viral sensations. But among its millions of clips is a treasure trove of rare and fascinating arts footage, lovingly posted by fans. Ajesh Patalay selects 50 of the best - Joy Division's TV debut, readings by Jack Kerouac, a Marlene Dietrich screen test, Madonna's first performance... and much more

Schoolhouse 2 | homework manager

Schoolhouse 2 | The homework manager for Mac.

With the ability to sort and organize your assignments, exams, and projects quickly and easily Schoolhouse is a must have for any student on-the-go. The power of smart notebooks allow you to interact with your work as simply as your iTunes library.

Classcasts give the ability to publish your assignments to the web automatically for anyone to subscribe to. A newly redesigned grading system allows you to chart your scores over the course of the term to keep an outlook as you go. All of this works to ensure you will never be in the dark at the end of the semester.

College Survival Guide

Psych Central - College Survival Guide

College is a great time for most people, because it's a chance to really explore who we are and not feel pressured to do anything we don't want to do. But inevitably, pressures do arise from other unexpected areas -- girlfriends, boyfriends, roommates, frat brothers or sorority sisters, heavy course loads, athletics, exam and paper stress, Internet overuse, gaming too much, parents' expectations, etc. etc.

The key to a good time at college is to be prepared psychologically for what you are about to face. In that vein, we've compiled some of our most popular and useful articles on college life for this Psychological College Survival Guide. Enjoy.

Climbing out of the Genius Trap: Eight Real Ways to Build Your Creative Skill Set

Coroflot - Coroflot's Creative Seeds Blog

How do we go about getting better at what we do, then? The last installment of Creative Seeds was all about being flexible and acknowledging that creative ability can (and should) be endlessly improved. The obvious next step is to make a list; faithful readers are well aware of how much we love making lists here at CS.

For the creative professional eager to make that toolbox brighter and shinier, then, but unsure of how to do it outside of school, here are eight ideas you may or may not have thought of...

The Clever Creative, Languishing in the Genius Trap

Coroflot - Coroflot's Creative Seeds Blog

The single most effective way to improve your prospects as a creative professional is to improve your creative skills.

Despite the millions of words of advice and discussion that have been traded on the web over the years about how to market yourself, that sentence is almost certainly the truest, most useful advice you're going to find.

Design for Social Impact

Design for Social Impact

With a new focus area on innovation, The Rockefeller Foundation is exploring new avenues for social change. One promising area is design and how the design industry can play a larger role in the social sector. This How-to Guide and the accompanying Workbook are written for design firms that are interested in joining in the conversation.

AIGA Aspen Design Challenge

AIGA Aspen Design Challenge

The 2008–2009 Challenge to Students

Open call to students around the world:
Use your creative talent and strategic design skills to address the global water crisis.

Color Palette Inspiration: Salt Evaporation Ponds

Color Design Blog / The Colors Of Salt Evaporation Ponds by COLOURlovers

While nature tends to trump humans when it comes to color inspiration, at least in my opinion, when humans put their hands into engineering nature, like in the case of salt evaporation ponds, together, unimaginable colors can be created.

The beautiful colors in these images from Google Earth are created during the process of harvesting salt. The vivid colors, which can range from green to bright red, come from different concentrations of algae.

IDEO

You must explore the new IDEO website!

IDEO

Let’s build a generation of design thinkers. Our world needs great minds who can build powerful solutions to the challenges we will all face in the 21st century. Historically, this role was left for a select few, but now it is up to everyone. What would the world look like if everyone saw the problems in the world as design opportunities? What if every child believed in their creative abilities, and had a means of productively addressing any challenge they might face?