My best friend just forwarded me this website, www.design-police.org, where you can download different templates that notify people of any and all design crimes they've committed, whether it's "Microsoft Word is not a design tool" or "Helvetica was an unimaginative choice" or "Turn off the CAPS LOCK." And in bright pink, how can you resist poking fun and brightening up an otherwise boring project?

Theispot.com, which links designers to stock and assignment illustration, just unveiled its new site design. It features more and better ways to search portfolios and stock, including by multiple keywords, artist’s name and most recent uploads; plus art director accounts to save searches and lightboxes, license stock illustration, track new uploads by their favorite artists and review licensing history.

Posted by Megan

We're absolutely lovin' the poster that Clifford Stoltze and his team in Boston have created for this year's HOW Conference. Keep an eye out in the March/April issue for a full-size pull out.

Designer Malena Grosz recently won a small grant from Toyota to put together a show of vector art to raise money for worldwildlife.org, conservation.org and directrelief.org. The submission deadline for the show is January 30 and details can be found at Art for the Earth.

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Pantone and the color experts at X-Rite Color Services today announced the 2008 release of the company’s popular seminar “Color Control Freak”.  With a completely revised curriculum, Color Control Freak 08 offers an in-depth understanding of color, its value in the design process, and techniques for proper reproduction. The seminar travels to 24 cities from March until May including stops in Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, New York and Seattle.

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With 2008 being the big Presidential election year, The Art of Politics "is a dynamic and innovative way to engage Americans this election year by fusing the political issues that people are passionate about with stylized artistic posters in a nationwide contest. The result is a visual expression of issues reflecting the diversity of our country," according to its website. They are inviting creatives from around the country to enter poster designs that reflect their political thoughts and feelings.

If you were lucky enough to get an iPhone for Christmas, Veer has a treat for you: a selection of design and type-inspired wallpapers for your shiny new gadget.

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Strathmore's Quarterly Letterhead Contest is now accepting entries. The first deadline for 2008 is March 31. Each quarter, the first 25 designers who enter the letterhead contest receive a special gift.   The gift for Q1 2008 entries is an iPod nano. Three quarterly winners will recieve $150 (bronze), $300 (silver) or $500 (gold) and the four gold winners will be eligible for the $1,000 annual grand prize.

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Illo is a new quarterly magazine dedicated to illustration. The first issue can be ordered from the Illo website and the second issue is set to debut soon.


via Boing Boing

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CSA Images just announced a new collection of mod art called Mexlore, which are as weird as they are wonderful.

Posted by Megan