I just got an email from designer Jeff Harrison about a CD cover project he recently designed for the band Vonnegut Dollhouse. You can see images of the finished CD here and images of the design process on Flickr. (Did I mention how cool I think this is?)

Posted by Bryn

A bunch of news updates on this dreary Wednesday:

• We've heard of designers donating their creative talents to a worthy cause, but this—wow! A group of Pittsburgh design and marketing folks are teaming up to raise money for breast cancer research not by doing some pro-bono work, but by climbing really tall mountains. The group, working with the Pittsburgh Ad Fed, is part of the national Climb for Hope. Friend of HOW Ted Williams let us know about the project; he and fellow creatives Nick Cobler, Todd Lepley and Laura Willumsen are climbing Ecuador's second highest peak, Cotopaxi, in January; a fifth team member, Karen Kern, is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in June. Dennis Brown of Giant Ideas in PGH is managing campaign.

• Pantone and onOne Software recently announced a bundle of digital-imaging products geared toward improving color fidelity in creative projects; it includes the Pantone hueyPro calibrator and onOne's Genuine Fractals 5, a Photoshop plug-in for image scaling.

• CTI Paper USA is now stocking 180+ Strathmore Writing and Script envelope styles.

• Rocky Nook, a division of O'Reilly, has released "Managing Your Photographic Workflow with Photoshop Lightroom." For a review of Lightroom and two other photo-workflow applications (Nikon NX and Apple's Aperture), pick up the December issue of HOW.

• Appleton Coated Paper's 10th annual design competition, U B the Judge, is accepting entries through December 31; use the online entry form to submit work printed all or in part on Utopia. Designers at U B the Judge events in 5 major cities will select the winners.

• VT3 Studio released VT3 Video Suite Limited Edition, a one-click tool for converting video into 33 different formats, including Flash, for display on players including the iPhone and iPod; sadly, for Mac users, the product is currently available only for Windows machines.

• The School of Visual Arts Masters Series retrospective exhibit on Steven Heller, featuring the prolific designer and author's books and design work, continues through December 8.

This week's guest blogger on Design*Sponge is Emily Martin, owner of OrangeBeautful, a small design shop that specializes in invitations and cards. In her first post, she ruminates about running a small business and staying true to your ideals. And she mentions HOW's brand new business issue. Tune into D*S this week for more thoughts from Emily on being a creative entrepreneur.

Posted by Bryn

Microsoft just bought Veer. Full story here. I hope this part is actually true:

Under the deal Veer and its 170 employees will continue to operate relatively autonomously from Corbis, which Gates serves as chairman of the board.

Posted by Megan

We need your help to plan a future issue of HOW. We've grouped our story ideas under four different themes and want to know which one you like best. Please take our short survey and you'll be entered to win a free subscription to HOW (if you already subscribe, we'll extend your subscription for one year). Plus, you'll have a direct hand in influencing an upcoming issue of HOW!

The 6-question survey should only take about 5 minutes to complete. Please be assured that your responses will be treated in absolute confidence and used only in combination with those of other readers. For official sweepstakes rules, visit www.howdesign.com/SurveySweepstakesRules.pdf.

Thanks for your input!

Posted by Megan

Production & design company Imaginary Forces recently completed main titles and animated content for the new FOX sitcom "Back to You" starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton.

The main titles are executed in an illustrated style reminiscent of film title sequences in the 1960s, and take viewers on a journey from the cityscape into the inner workings of a newsroom. Opening on the Pittsburgh skyline against a burnt yellow sky, the camera moves through 3D space through the various sound stages of the network building. As each character and their newsroom personalities are  identified by the highly stylized illustrations, the color transitions from the yellow of a setting sun to the blue and purple of evening.

Posted by Megan

Willoughby Design Group, in collaboration with the United Nations, recently helped launch the international brand campaign Deliver Now for Women and Children at Bryant Park in New York City. Deliver Now is a new global advocacy drive to reduce maternal and child deaths and improve the health of women and children around the world.

Posted by Megan

Posted by Bryn