November 19, 2008 – 10:00 pm
All of us have suffered from it. Designer’s block is miserable, uninspiring and downright discouraging. There are tons of “inspiration” posts that Smash you with information, but does that really help?
This is going to get a little personal, but bear with me. Have you ever considered that your designer’s block is actually a psychological defense? It’s probably stemming from fear about something (yes, I was a Psychology major before discovering graphic design).
I just discovered this awesome process that I think might help combat the block. It’s called The Work by Byron Katie.
November 12, 2008 – 10:25 pm
Are you subscribed to Communication Arts? Well why not??
I love this design publication and if you’ve been around here any length of time you’ve probably heard me say that it is like getting a design book in the mail 8 times a year…
But enough on my Comm Arts plug. Time for pictures! The following are some of my favorite winners from the Design Annual 49 (November 2008). I did a showcase from the Illustration Annual earlier this year, too.
October 22, 2008 – 10:02 pm
Paper is pretty.
Ok, so maybe I’m just weird, but I love getting paper sample books in the mail. With all the digital processes today, it’s so nice to hold something and feel its texture and warmth.
The paper swatch books usually have a section in them for performance, where they have samples of how the paper performs under different conditions—foil stamping, metallic ink, embossing, etc. I’ve even seen samples printed with a letterpress! Can you imagine how fun it would be to design these books?
October 3, 2008 – 7:00 am
Color inspiration is something we’ve done infrequently on Creative Curio. Come take a look at color palettes from packaging, a yoga studio, and several branding images. These include a wide range of colors as well as color theories from monochromatic to a palette of six distinct colors.
September 12, 2008 – 7:00 am
So now that the press is up and working, I need some project ideas! I spent snippets of this week mulling over ideas and creating little thumbnails.
The hard part about not knowing all the supplies (fonts, ink, paper) at the shop is that I can’t plan things out too specifically. I don’t want to take this design into the digital world and get totally attached to a font or an image and then not have it when I get up there.
Come see some inspiration I found from Etsy along with my own thumbnail sketch ideas. If you have a great idea and I can use it, I’ll send you 10 free cards from that run!
August 25, 2008 – 7:00 am
I went to the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach, CA on Friday. It is so inspiring to walk around all the art galleries and showcases.
In the main Festival of Arts area there was a printmaking demonstration going on when I was there. A young artist, Lindsay Buchman, was demonstrating her craft. She set up an inexpensive way for the ticket-holders to try out printmaking for themselves with a thin little Styrofoam square and some pencils. We “etched” our designs in the Styrofoam and then Lindsay inked the squares and placed them on one of her small presses for us to print.
In this article, you’ll also see some of the impressive works that were on display at the Festival.
August 22, 2008 – 7:00 am
There is so much color inspiration out there, but sometimes it’s hard to focus. This post features some color inspiration featuring retro-style designs that I found on Flickr.
