I don't don't know how most people in Sweden celebrate Christmas, but I think the designers of the Pipparkakan cookie cutters will be having a merry time, indeed. This would be just the thing to liven up a bake sale or cookie swap!


via NotCot

Posted by Megan

by The Creative Group

You plan to spend your entire morning doing research for an advertising campaign, something you've already had to put off for more than a week. Just as you're digging into your work, your manager swings by to ask you to proofread a client e-mail. This request is followed by one from your co-worker who wonders if you want to have a "working lunch" to brainstorm ideas for her upcoming project. Do you, as is typical, agree to all these requests?

If you want to move ahead in your career, the answer should be no. It may seem counterintuitive, but spreading yourself too thin means that the quality of your work suffers. Setting limits at work will prevent you from being overloaded and help you do your best on the projects that are most important. Following are some tips.

Posted by Megan

Building on the success of last year's holiday campaign, Toy New York and EVB, are bringing back the online phenomenon, ElfYourself.com, for OfficeMax's holiday effort.  Last year, the site generated more than 11 million elves and kept users glued to the site for the equivalent of over 600 years. I visited the site to turn myself into an Elf, which was both fun and a bit disturbing. The dance moves are great, though.

Posted by Megan

Designer Josh Jakus's Wine Pocket is constructed of industrial wool felt collected from factory excess. It's both eco-friendly and stylish and now it's on sale at DWR for $29 with free shipping.

Posted by Megan

PaperSpecs is sponsoring a free webinar, Sustainability-Hands On, with guest speaker Brian Dougherty of Celery Design Collaborative. The event, which takes place on December 13, will provide practical information about spec'ing sustainable paper and other ideas to decrease the environmental impact of your designs.

Posted by Megan

by The Creative Group

Breaking new creative ground can be a challenging proposition for designers. In a recent survey by our company, eight out of 10 in-house designers said it's difficult to convince senior management to accept ideas that deviate from the prevailing corporate style. And more than a quarter of respondents cited their company's unwillingness to take risks as the most frequent obstacle to creativity.

On the bright side, many in-house designers feel they can exercise more creativity than they did five years ago. However, it remains difficult to break certain barriers. Following are seven strategies for overcoming challenges and enhancing creative freedom.

Posted by Megan

Ventura, a recent relase from TypeTrust, is a legible script with a nice set of alternate characters. The single-weight face sells for $26.

Posted by Megan