2010 July Archive - Paper Leaf Design | Edmonton Graphic Design, Edmonton Web Design

Archive for July, 2010

Found Friday Vol 19

July 30, 2010

Once again, there were many great finds in the design community this week. Here on Found Friday Vol 19, we have an article dealing with design by committee *shudder*, cool wall decals to spice up your office or home, a gorgeous notebook, the new Lumix camera and its great industrial design, and a fun poster on typography moustaches. Enjoy!

How to Navigate Design by Committee

Design by committee rarely, if ever, results in design of any value. Read this great article on SixRevisions on how to get the most out of the process.

Blik Wall Decals

We used Blik decals at our wedding, and they’re a great alternative to more traditional wall decorations. Check ‘em out!

MUCU Notebooks

I can never get enough of great notebooks and sketchpads. Here are a couple more for those of you like me!

Panasonic Lumix LX5

I think our old Lumix might have an unfortunate accident soon, so I can justify picking up this beautiful camera. A high-end point & shoot with Leica glass, full manual control and more.

Know Your Typestache

Show off your typographic nerdery and your love of moustaches all in one fun poster.

See you next week!

The Benefits of Working Remotely

July 26, 2010

Freelancing has its ups and downs. We get the freedom to make our own schedule, but we don’t have steady paycheques all the time. We are our own bosses, but in reality, our clients are our bosses. Making the jump to freelancing or running a small business is a scary thing, but the best part about it is that, by and large, we get to make our own decisions and take advantage of the benefits of that. One pro that I’m experiencing right now is working remotely.

Working remotely – aka from a remote location, or a location other than your usual work place – is the stuff of legend amongst freelancers and small business owners. We long for the beach and a laptop, checking our email, watching our business grow while we sip on margaritas. While this may not be an entirely accurate picture, working remotely definitely has benefits and is easier than you might think to achieve.

The Benefits of Working Remotely

Hit the jump for the full article! Read the whole article >

Found Friday Vol 18

July 16, 2010

Why hello, dear readers, and welcome to Volume 18 of the world-famous* Found Friday series. This week we have a great mix of design-related (sometimes loosely related, I’ll admit) finds: a fun/simple sign app for iPad/iPhone, a great article on type choices, a preview of the USA World Cup bid design by Pentagram, 9 great and free design ebooks, and some uniquely flavored designer fuel. Read on, readers!

Letterboard

SwissMiss said it best: “Letterboard turns your iPad or iPhone into a sign-board. It lets you create signs in the style seen in airports and convention centers everywhere. Oh, what fun can be had with this?!”

With Beautiful Type Comes Great Responsibility

A great article over on The Design Cubicle about free fonts, type choices, and responsibility as a designer. Hell, even if you don’t want to read it, go check out his beautiful site design.

US World Cup Bid Design

I pretty much put any new Pentagram work in here. It’s always so good, and they do such a great job documenting and explaining it. Check out their work for the USA World Cup Bid in 2018/2022.

9 More Useful & Free Downloadable Web Design eBooks

eReaders are plummeting in price, and iPads are the new black. Why not even out your Twilight collection with some design-related ebooks?

Maple Bacon Coffee

I love coffee. I love bacon. I’m Canadian, so I like maple (and igloos, polar bears, hockey and donuts). So it stands to reason that this clever, caffeinated concoction would be the stuff of dreams. Plus, we all need fuel for that rush work, late night project, right?

That’s it! See you next week.

*not famous at all, really

6 Tips for Working with Developers

July 13, 2010

Some web designers write their own code; some don’t. Even if you’re in the former category, chances are you have worked with a developer who has been hired to bring one of your web designs to life (if you haven’t, you will soon). Sometimes clients have a developer already in mind and are just looking for a designer; sometimes a developer will approach you; the list of possibilities goes on and on.

With that in mind, us designers have to be cognizant of how we work and how best to make life for the developer easy. If you make their life easy, the project will run that much more smoothly and the client will be that much more happy. So how do we do that?

6 Tips for Working with Developers

Hit the jump to find out! Read the whole article >

Found Friday Vol 17

July 9, 2010

It has been a crazy week here for me; I’ve barely been in front of my computer. However, I still managed to come across some great work and some great ideas. This week’s Found Friday finds include a collection of helpful typography posters, a inspirational notebook, a great article on usability, some astounding branding work for an organic farm, and a useful way to get full-browser-window background images with CSS3. Read on, readers!