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Archive for the ‘Found Fridays’ Category

Found Friday Vol 11

May 21, 2010

It’s the long weekend, and I’m off to Montreal to see the sights. By “sights” I mean “riots” if the Habs win. Hopefully you have some good plans for the weekend too – if not, here are 6 tasty finds from this week in the design world to get you through the weekend. This week’s instalment includes a cool book for geeks who are dads, Google’s new font library & API, a cool poster explaining where cursors come from, an alternative to boring “Closed” signs, a free and useful vector pack of barcodes as well as a bunch of free offline tools for wireframing websites. Read on, readers!

Geek Dad

Are you a geek, who also happens to be a dad? Do you want some way to share your geekdom with your child? Then check out Geek Dad, a book of projects that geeky dads can do with their sons/daughters.

Google Fonts API

Font-face is great – we use it all the time – but it’s not without its flaws. There are other alternatives out there, like Typekit, but lookout: Google just entered the fray with their new Fonts API and library. Check out this post that explains it, and shows how simple it is to implement.

Where Cursors Come From

Oh, so THAT’s where cursors come!

Yes, We’re/Sorry, We’re

Need another way to show how unique you are? Then hang one of these bad boys in your shop window. Super cool idea.

40 Free Vector Barcode Graphics

These barcodes could be used for normal applications (like an album mockup), or as a design element in a grungy poster design or similar. Download it and keep it in your toolbox!

Useful (Offline) Utensils & Toolkits for Designers

We’ve talked before about being an efficient designer and working with pencil/pen before hopping into the Creative Suite. With that in mind, check out this collection of useful offline – ie. not on the computer – utensils and toolkits for designers. More for your toolbox!

Thanks for reading – see you next week!

Found Friday Vol 10

May 14, 2010

10! 10 Found Fridays! Ah ah ahhhhh that was terrible. To make up for the unprecedented lameness of that joke, allow me to present to you 5 awesome design finds from this week: a print site updated daily with images you can order, a beautiful and useful laptop backpack, cool wedding invitations (’tis the season), and two super interesting blog posts about people and design (specifically, increasing conversion rates on websites and self-promotion). Read on, reader – and please share!

PrintCollection

We’re always looking for ways to beautify the walls here at Paper Leaf headquarters. PrintCollection offers a new image daily that you can order – museum quality prints, according to their website. Check it out!

InCase Lucky Bag

This bag is a perfect example of beauty in simplicity. I want one. Real bad.

100 Unique Wedding Invitations

It’s spring, and with spring comes the beginning of wedding season. Thus, here are 100 really cool wedding invites for your inspiration. Even if you’re just looking for print design inspiration, I’d check these out (ps. Paper Leaf does wedding invite design… just sayin’).

Human Photos Double Your Conversion Rate

According to this (brief) study, human photos can double conversion rates on websites. Makes sense; people want to connect emotionally, not just throw money at a faceless organization. However, with a mug like this, Paper Leaf might have to go the stock route. Or maybe we should just use photos of Andy. Anyway, have a read and quote this to your clients if they don’t like your design with beautiful people all over it.

Self-Promotion vs. Self-Aggrandizement

In line with the previous link, this great blog post talks about the difference between self-promotion (a celebration!) vs. self-aggrandizement (insecure, arrogant… just plain not cool). Have a read, because it’s eye-opening.

Found Friday Vol 9

May 7, 2010

Hey hey, and welcome to volume 9 of Found Friday: all the best finds in the design community this week. It seemed like this week flew past, but while doing so I found the following awesomeness: a great vintage t-shirt company, a cool wheel of nutrition plate design, 2 great articles on priming artwork for print and landing clients, and the launch of a beautifully designed new tech blog. Read on, readers!

Homage Clothing

I am the world’s pickiest clothes wearer. It takes a lot to make this trainwreck look passable, lemme tell you. One of the places I’ve recently found that meets my ridiculous standards for fit, comfort & style is Homage clothing. Their shirts fit like American Apparel, are super comfy, and have great throwback designs on them. Lots of old-school basketball references and the like. Dig it!

Wheel of Nutrition

Following the government’s stupid nutrition guidelines is near impossible, unless you like to carry around a calculator all day. This ingenius design solves that problem – a plate that’s a pie chart of the nutrition guidelines. Super cool (via swiss miss).

Is Your Artwork Ready for Print?

A great article from the Echo Enduring blog on prepping your artwork for print. Print design can be confusing sometimes, with the various color spaces, resolutions, templates & dielines and so on – check out this article if you’re in need of a refresher.

Swing & a Miss!

This article on how to talk to clients in order to land paying gigs takes a few hypothetical situations and breaks them down into dos and don’ts. Worth a read for sure.

Techi.com

The gents over at Web Designer Depot launched a new tech blog called Techi. I’m a Gizmodo guy myself, but the design of this blog is so much better than any of the tech blogs out there, I may just become a convert. We’ll see – check it out for yourself.

Thanks and see you next week! Oh, and if you want to see past Found Fridays, just click here!

Found Friday Vol 7

April 9, 2010

Welcome back! It’s been a nice week here at Paper Leaf; busy but not overwhelming, and there has been quite a number of unique and awesome finds in the design/arts community. This week’s Found Friday highlights the story behind the iPad wallpaper photograph, 2 different but awesome poster stores, a great site that allows you to see what a website looks like on the iPad, and a great article from Jacob Cass over at Just Creative Design explaining the differences between branding, logo & identity design. Read on & enjoy!

The Story of the iPad’s Wallpaper Photograph

Apple’s products are always designed beautifully, from the industrial design right down to the default desktop wallpaper. Here is the story of the man who took the photo that graced the iPad on its launch – pretty interesting stuff, and a great shot.

The Poster Cause Project

From their website: “The Poster Cause Project is an online effort to sell and promote artwork by underground artists in a very limited form all while donating 50 – 100% of all profits to charities and organizations in need. Each month we release very limited prints by a different artists with 50 – 100% of profits going to a specific charity or organization chosen by us or the artist.” Cool concept, cooler artwork, and prices are relatively low, for those of us with cash-strapped budgets. Thanks to Kevin over at www.norushonthat.com for the heads up.

Hit the jump for the rest of this week’s design-related goodness! Read the whole article >

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