Notebook

Nau We’re Talking

From the way they source their materials to their approach to retailing, Nau ’s ambitious approach as an apparel company is revolutionary. (They get bonus points for recognizing the value of unique and well-executed graphic and interactive design too.)

Then came the bad news.

The first part of May, I heard Nau was going out of business. Naturally, I took advantage of 50% off prices across the board. I couldn’t be happier with the items I ordered, but when they arrived I was even more bummed that they were closing up shop. Great quality and style from a company that values unique design and ethical business practices isn’t easy to find.

When you least expect it…great news.

I was excited and happy to read …Read More

Resources To Determine Your Rates

Whether it’s settling on salary for a full time gig or your hourly rate as a freelancer, determining what
your time is worth is something every designer has to work out.

Once you’ve been working in the field for a while you’ll have a good sense of what your work and time is worth and what the market will bear.

If you’re new or have expanded into a additional areas of expertise, you need to evaluate what you can and should be paid. Even veteran designers should keep tabs on market trends, though. You might be selling yourself short and be none the wiser. …Read More

A Must-Have Tool For Every Designer

About half of the staff at my regular coffee shop is in design school and while some of the questions that come up are new, most of them I’ve heard from my students and young designers before. Jason Tselentis solicited some answers to 10 questions a lot of students ask this morning over at Under Conseration’s Speak Up , so while I was in the right frame of mind, I thought I’d start writing about some of the things that come up in my coffee shop chats here. (Remember, you usually get what you pay for. Take my free advice for what it’s worth.) …Read More

Pepsi RAW Logo And Package Design Greatly Improved

For monster brands like Pepsi and Coke, diversification of their lines are really the only way to see a sales increase. The beverage market worldwide is enormous and continues to see increases in sales among premium brands in general, but especially those with a more natural or healthful appeal.

Ziggurat Brands (London) has unveiled their design for a new Pepsi International brand, Pepsi RAW. The new take on Pepsi with more natural ingredients in place of artificial uses cane sugar instead of corn syrup, apple extract as a flavoring, etc.

Their trademark application filed last spring included a much rougher, more rock-n-roll take on a logo. They smartly took it in a very different direction. Beyond trend, consumers that find natural products appealing also tend to be attracted to clean, spare design. Ziggurat nailed the design with less emphasis …Read More

Power Of The Pens Calendar Wallpaper

I stumbled across a project that Wacom put together called Power of the Pens.

This is the story of 12 leading artists each tasked with creating a piece of calendar art in their own unique style. Meet the artists, explore their work, and watch them create digital magic. For the next 12 days, a new work by one of the artists will be revealed highlighting the process and experience of its creation.

There are wallpapers for each month of the year available to download. It apparently …Read More

Sexy New Slab Serif Hotness Out From H&FJ

There’s sexy new slab serif hotness out from Hoefler & Frere-Jones. It’s no secret that HF&J have produced almost all of my favorite typefaces. The latest addition to the list is Archer. Originally developed for Martha Stewart Living, it’s now available to anyone regardless of your felony record. I have a huge crush on this slab serif and it’ll be in my bag of tricks…and fast.

I can’t describe it better than HF&J, so I won’t. Their words: …Read More

Powazek’s People Powered Picture Product Pixish is Live

SF-based designer Derek Powazek’s latest online baby Pixish is live.

What’s Pixish?

"Pixish is a place where people who want images and people who make images can easily find each other and collaborate on creative projects together."

Say you’re a publisher and need an illustration, photo, etc. …Read More

The cobbler’s kids finally get some new kicks

Once a website is launched it’s way too easy to sit back, breathe a sigh of relief, and call it done. This seems to be especially true for those of us that do a fair amount of the stuff for a living.

I’m taking some of my own advice–to stop ignoring my websites and start making more frequent content additions. You’re looking at step one. …Read More