What the croc's been been Tweetin' this week

A quick round up of links I've posted this week that don't really warrant an article in themselves, but are worth a quick look…

Type & Typography

20 great sans-serif free fonts: http://bit.ly/6sSwEB #typography

Download a free font Type Zero and helpp the environment! Become part of the Journey to Zero movement http://bit.ly/7gLZZ1 

Nice new merchandise from House Industries… I really like the new Maple Valentine Blocks http://bit.ly/6Mr2U8

Funky Alphabet prints from Paperfingers http://bit.ly/7iZ9LO

History of the Ampersand, with showcase of intersting examples http://bit.ly/55jvRt and one of the best the 'Spampersand' http://bit.ly/7KFoRK

New punctuation mark to indicate sarcasm? http://bit.ly/89zqBi

ABCing: Seeing the Alphabet Differently: http://abseeing.com/

New type foundry Commercial Type http://bit.ly/7f3S9N

And ever had one of those "oops" moments… French Anti-Piracy Organisation Hadopi uses a pirated font in it's own logo: http://bit.ly/hadopirate

Graphic Design

Chilling collection of Nazi stationery discovered: http://bit.ly/7W13dL

The process of redesiging N.Design http://bit.ly/4FNy93

A nice infographic that might just save your life…  How to spotting a hidden handgun. http://bit.ly/7KrCju

Nice collection of 2010 calendars with a retro feel http://bit.ly/6exRUM

A little more bespoke than the old PG… Nice packaging for Steven Smith, teamaker. http://bit.ly/4BKmKP

33 typography effect Photoshop tutorials http://bit.ly/6UqW1w

Jawdroppingly good collection of classic Penguin Science fiction book covers http://bit.ly/12NMU2

Apple price mark-ups info graphic.… Aren't you glad you don't live in Brazil! http://bit.ly/7N3qbU

Flickr, but different… http://bit.ly/6Nfg4W

Showcase Of Beautiful Vintage and Retro Signage - Smashing Magazine http://bit.ly/6iVAG1

Freebies

12 amazing and FREE stock photo resources http://bit.ly/8unqTf

225+ Free Adobe Illustrator Patterns http://bit.ly/5QHP0j

Odds & Sods

Only in America: How to get your luggage looked after better on internal flights, by packing a pistol! http://bit.ly/8uMzvk

Sky cycling. http://bit.ly/8QfUAP C'mon Boris, sort it out, you know it makes sense.

First Person Tetris! http://firstpersontetris.com

Silly man  gets glasses tattooed on his face http://bit.ly/4u9ubF http://bit.ly/5Uwv0C

More common sense, (this time on the topic of complaining effectively) from Seth Godin http://bit.ly/7cZZty

Four-year-old girl lives in cage with crocodiles from birth (http://cli.gs/VPDj3) http://cli.gs/VPDj3

A couple of Lego ones… Lego on Hoth http://om.ly/eAUn and a iPhone/Lego gaming mashup http://bit.ly/8RMaph

26 Rules for writing gooder http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2010/01/rules-for-writing-well.php

10 words you need to stop misspelling http://bit.ly/4ZLDZ8 and a ruder version (be careful here, boys and girls) http://bit.ly/4ZLDZ8

This is creepy: World's first "Sex Robot" unveiled in Las Vegas http://bit.ly/8WykJB

The best http://bit.ly/8fHFs2 and the worst http://bit.ly/6maBlo of CES 2010, and the most pointless (but oddly hypnotic) gizmo ever http://log.emonk.net/post/319917350

…and finally, a great one if you want to do something for Haiti 

For the next week 100% of sales from will be donated to helping Haiti. http://bit.ly/4Nk4ft #Haiti

Acknowlegements:

Thanks to Cat Higgins, David Airey, Typography Echo, SignalNoise Art, Freeload this, Paddy Donnelly, Derren Brown, Guy Kawasaki, PSD Tutorials, Vector Tuts,

I Love Typography and everybody else that brought these things to my attention.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Not your average Volvo

I haven't posted anything automotive for a while… and this beauty from Sweden caught my eye. This is the new Caresto Speedster… a mid-engined hot-rod style car powered by a Volvo V8. Built to integrate the styling of a traditional Hot Rod with the handling of a sports car, the designer and builder is Leif Tufvesson terms it a "Sports Rod". Although it's unlike any Volvo I've ever seen before, it somehow retains a little Volvoness… maybe it's that shade of blue.

This got me thinking… what I'd really love to see is a mainstream manufacturer take some of these styling cues and make a single seat, ultra lightweight, low emission, fuel thrifty, environmentally friendly, stylish, sporty car. After all… when you're driving, the vast majority of cars you see only have a single occupant.

There's lots more about the Caresto Speedster on (in english) on German site Babez.de

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Beautiful Vintage Pacakging from Schweppes

I love these mixer bottles from Schweppes… Developed for sale in bars pubs and restaurants rather than through retail. The simple use of vintage advertising imagery really gets over the history and credentials of the brand – and gives them real standout. Great work by Australian packaging design agency Di Donato. 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Design heroes: Dick Bruna

You probably already know the work of dutch graphic designer Dick Bruna. His classic, beautifully simple illustrations for children of Miffy and friends are classics… right up their with Dr Suess and Eric Carle in my humble opinion. What you may not be aware of is his other work as an illustrator and designer of book covers – maybe the best known being the Maigret covers. There's an excellent collection of this work on butdoesitfloat. Excellent stuff.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Free font of the week - Nevis

Nevis is a classy, classic geometric sans Serif font, reminiscent both of London Underground's original Johnston. It's available for free from Ten by Twenty, who have some excellent free (and cheap… sorry… not cheap, inexpensive!) stuff – fonts, wordpress themes, icons, that sort of thing – on their site. Ten by Twenty is the work of Bournemouth based designer Ed Merritt. Nice work Ed.

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Learning to harness the power of constraints

When producing creative work today we have the technology to create virtually whatever we want. In any colour, any size, using any picture we take a fancy to, (or have the budget for). For instance, how many fonts have you got available on your computer right now?

With so many choices available, there is the opportunity to procrastinate more than ever, you often get stuck in process, running through endless combinations, and not getting anywhere. That's if you even get started.

I read a great book a while ago called the Houdini Solution by Ernie Schenk that expounded the theory  that the tighter the brief, and the deadline, the more creative you have to be. It's an interesting twist on the received wisdom that what you need as a designer is creative freedom, and plenty of it.

It certainly worked for Harry Pearce who has created a wonderful new book called Conundrums. This collection of elegant typographic puzzles constrained by three simple (self imposed) rules: one box, two colours, a single typeface. As he says “Sometimes the more cornered you are the more fun you have.” It reminds me of other great design classics like A Smile in the Mind: Witty Thinking in Graphic Design and The Art of Looking Sideways, as well as a charming little book called Words Fail Me, by Theresa Monachino. 

So, next time you get a tight brief, a small budget, have to work to rigourous corporate guidelines, celebrate… you may have just got the opportunity to do some of your most creative work. And if the brief is too loose… why not set yourself some arbitrary ones. And if you do… stick to them!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Lesson for 2010 – Find your niche!

Cheeming Boey has.

It's not something that you would have thought of immediately – that's what makes it niche.

Boey draws on Styrofoam coffee cups. Mainly with a black sharpie marker. You know the kind of thing you chuck away without even thinking about it. And he makes them into something exquisite and beautiful. Why he started drawing on cups I don't know, but he's made an artform out of them. He's cups are unique, and he sells them from his beautifully simple website. Check it out, and while your there visit the journal. Or just go straight to flickr and check out his sets. Have a browse and you'll even discover what happens to Styrofoam when you take it 10,000 feet under the ocean. You can buy some cups on Etsy (Well you will be able to when Boey gets back from his 'adventures'. 

So, in 2010, why not do what Boey has done? No, don't go out and start drawing on cups. Find your own thing. It might be something you create and sell, or what you write about on your blog. Whatever you do, find your niche make it yours… and excel at it. There's never been a better time to do it. 

Oh, and Happy New Year. I'm back.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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