dynagirl

Gorgeous animation and type, deconstructed here.

Quark re-redesigned their logo after the old new one caused a flap. The new new one could be more refined… but, what do I care, since I use InDesign anyway?

MIT Advertising lab has a really nice collection of magazine and newspaper ads that use the properties of paper very creatively. I love this ad for car polish.

A ginormous collection of Dr. Pepper rip-offs, with photos of each can. Browse the lot of them, and you’ll start to wonder what would happen if next time you ordered a soda you asked for “doctor flavor.”

Yesterday I played around with the new CS/Flickr fad of making fake miniatures from photos. This is the best so far. Way funner than making acutal miniatures.

Czech book design from the 1920s: pretty pretty!

If Microsoft rebranded the iPod.

Guide to Printing & Having a Successful Press Check.

Colorburn is a cute Tiger widget that gives you a daily color set for inspiration.

How to create monochrome textual illustrations from photographs using Photoshop.

Rooms painted in ways that look strange, until viewed from a particular angle – and then it’s a freak-out.

Change hair color in Photoshop, a simple tutorial.

The Cycloc – cooool. Of course, you need a wall to hang it on, which doesn’t really work when you have too many bikes and no garage. But still!!
via A Whole

I noticed this some time ago already ( the current look, Disco CoolVetica, dates from May 2004 ) — which means that Helvetica, timeless as it is, and as gorgeous as it is, is somewhat played. What, then, is the new brown? Or is Helvetica’s resurgence a harbinger of a larger trend, towards elegant “classics” that may have been ahead of their time with their clean lines and optimistic, future-looking design?

For one thing, look for a lot more Century Gothic, Elephant, Engravers, Futura, with clear colors. Oh, sort of like I already did over here. I wish the client would send me copy so we can launch that already. HI, MOM!!

The Barbara Kruger Graphic Standards Manual

You’ve probably noticed all of this, but it’s a very nice enunciation of branding and design in this category.

Usable wall colors. Jakob Nielsen, I hate you.

DesignMadison is setting up a CafePress store to make t-shirts available, and I was wondering if it had been set up yet. I searched “design madison” and this t-shirt came up. Awesome!

The Design Encyclopedia. It’s just started, and it’s fabulous, and will be moreso as it grows.

Turn Your Head takes your profile and turns it into a real version of those optical-illusion vase/two-people things. How cool is that?!

Metro logos from around the world.
Thanks, CzelticGirl!

Drawers! in the stairs! Really a “duh” moment when I saw that. I mean, why not? Although, given how much near-foot traffic there’d be, and how dusty stairs tend to get, I think that a recessed pull would be a better way to open the drawers than simple finger-holes.

Gallery of telephone ads from the 1910s – 1970s. Interesting for the language (shall we bring back “to-day”? Let’s do!), typography, technology and sociology.
Via BoingBoing

Today’s design clichés. More copywriting/jargon, but add any variation of “thinking outside of the box.” My favorite lately is how it’s been shortened to “out-of-the-box thinking,” which, really, means just the opposite of what the pointy-haired one speaking it usually means.

Squirrel Flask, made from real squirrel! How handy for when you’ve locked yourself out of the house and have to hang out in the back yard until your housemate/s come home to rescue you. Also, a good way to hide your hooch from the cops when they pull you over in your Squirrel Car. Maybe you could even stash an olive in the nut he’s holding…

Fresca gets a fresh look. I love it! Soda labels are so overdetermined lately, with elegance and simplicity reserved for only high-end waters. This is crisp and fresh, like the taste, and very naughties.

Naughties or not, Fresca always makes me want to listen to The Smiths: when I was in high school, the soda machine at the Exclusive Company featured the elusive Fresca, and for the low, low price of 35c. a can.

Wal-Mart is refusing to print many photos that look “too professional.” Just stupid… it’s not like I’d set foot in a Wal-Mart without loud protest, but this just shows how much the copyright laws need to be clarified and/or eased.

Dave Devries turns children’s art into paintings, and it’s really, really cool.
thanks, BoingBoing

Special Clown Craft Hell from Threadbared.

Intel’s new computer, Codename: iRipOff.