September 2009 Archives
September 30, 2009
100 Greatest YouTube Hits in 4 Mins#
I'm mildly ashamed of how many of these I've already seen. If you haven't seen them before, this is a great place to save lots of time.
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September 28, 2009
havar.info » Extract fonts from PDF files using FontForge#
A handy little bit to be able to pull a font out of a PDF. Nice to know of this open source font editor, since I usually just want to tweak something, not create one from scratch.
September 26, 2009
40 Excellent Adobe Illustrator Tutorials - Smashing Magazine#
A great set of instructions to learn how to use (or use better) Illustrator - something I've wanted to do for quite some time as I've spent more and more time with the pen tool. I've already completed one of these.
September 22, 2009
X Almond Surfboards - MWM Graphics#
I'm diggin' these surfboard designs. Maybe it's all the geometry, or the slick colors, or that natural wood fin… whatever it is, I like 'em.
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September 21, 2009
Squidspot - Periodic Table of Typefaces#
While I'm on a Type kick this morning, this Periodic Table of Typefaces is very well done. Sure, there's not much Periodic about it, but I love the attention to detail on it. Don't miss the interview with the creator as well.
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Tungsten | Hoefler & Frere-Jones#
A beautiful typeface and one I can immediately put to use. They aimed to create "… a flat-sided sans serif that was disarming instead of brutish, one that employed confidence and subtlety instead of just raw testosterone."
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September 18, 2009
Dan Pink - The Surprising Science of Motivation | TED.com#
An interesting talk/presentation, and one that most managers should watch. Hold all the carrots in front me that you want, but that's the wrong kind of motivation for the work I do. Here's the proof.
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The secret of school success - USATODAY.com#
Master yourself and you'll master school as well. Understand the rewards of sacrifices, get your desires and emotions in check and you'll do better. Sent to me by my mother. (goes perfectly with the video I posted as well)
Oh, The Temptation - Vimeo#
A charming video showing some kids given a choice: eat this one marshmallow, or leave it alone while I step out of the room, and if you don't eat it while I'm gone, you get a second one. Couldn't have been better timed thanks to the article I just linked to.
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September 14, 2009
Life-Sized PaperCraft Link#
Although I thoroughly enjoy the Zelda series of video games, and think Link is a pretty cool dude, I would never make something like this, no matter how impressive the final product looks.
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The Painted Pretzel Packaging#
Besides looking delicious, these pretzels have a fabulously designed label as well. They contribute to the "hand-crafted" message of the product, and have a nice artisan feel to them. Now if only I could get some of those pretzels...
September 10, 2009
Embeddable Google Document Viewer#
A very handy discovery for your PDF-viewing purposes. Use the power of Google to allow people to view PDF's instead of having to use some bloated Adobe plugin.
<iframe src="http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/papers/google.pdf&embedded=true" style="width:600px; height:500px;" frameborder="0"></iframe>
Replace the bolded part with the file, and you're good to go. (special bonus is that it works on powerpoint files as well. Start raising the office roof!) [Via]
RageHaus - DIY Wooden Wax Seal#
How freaking cool is this? Really simple instructions on how to make your own old school wooden wax seal. I would imagine this would be a rarity to use, but still would be pretty cool to have (like an embosser).
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September 9, 2009
McSweeney's: The Beatles: Rock Band Easter Eggs#
In honor of the release of the game today, and always a fan of McSweeney's, this list of Easter Eggs found in The Beatles: Rock Band is great (albeit total BS). (Semi-related: a long time ago I found this rss feed for McSweeney's, since they don't provide one themselves. Handy.)
September 7, 2009
Guess What Chicken Butt T-shirt (red)#
If you don't know what to get me for Christmas, here's an idea (in this color, and large enough to fit my girth units). If you're my oldest daughter, you have absolutely no idea why I said "Chicken Butt" as often as I do, but this would clue you in.
Design*Sponge » Decorating with Houndstooth#
I can enjoy houndstooth as well, though I'm not obsessed with it. Anything that has such a cool name probably deserves some level of attention. I think the wallpaper would be cool to have on a small wall (because it would probably make my eyes bleed on a huge wall), though $85 for a single roll is… excessive.
The beach and villas, Blankenberghe, Belgium - Flickr#
Thanks to The Library of Congress for their continual (Friday) Flickr uploads with photos of awesome old places (hereafter referred to as AOP's). This particular photo I love, mainly because of the architectural detail in the buildings. (Easy to see where Lego could be inspired for some of their buildings)
Swink | Let’s Tell Better Stories#
I love the illustrations, colors, and concept behind this self-promotion of Swink. They have great colors, simple message, and I love the fact that you can pop them out and build stuff. The whole camping/campfire motif reminds me of a previously linked-to Coleman concept piece.
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September 2, 2009
Wal-Mart Shopper Slaps Crying Child#
It's certainly frustrating to have somebody's child crying and for it to appear that the parent is unaware of, or unconcerned with the child - especially at this, one of my least favorite stores. I don't agree with what the man did, though I can understand that he wanted the crying to stop. For me, the highlight of the article is "The girl… was not injured, but did suffer some redness in the face." (emphasis added) So… redness in the face is now something you can suffer from? I better not exercise, go outside for long periods of time, or anything like that any more, since I don't want to suffer from any redness in the face. True suffering.
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September 1, 2009
In My Shoes: Fall collection in progress#
A kindergarten-aged child sketched her own clothes, and her mother was kind enough to create the drawings for the child. I'm sure my wife would love this idea, and might even venture to do it herself, especially considering the artistic abilities of my oldest daughter.
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Papier Valise ~ Provisions#
The owners of Papier Valise have an eye for lovely old labels. Vintage paper (and other provisions) are all available through their online shop (some in large quantities). This particular example reminds me of something that inspired, or could be re-created with that beautiful typeface Phaeton.
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