New York City-based artist couple Justin and Christine know exactly what they want so they paint the objects and sell them for what said items would retail for in the real world. They've just posted new March Wants like this one: "Drinks On Us" for $500.

Posted by Megan

From the graphics-industry trendwatchers at The Industry Measure comes another bit of news: The number of creative shops in the U.S. grew from 2006/2007 to 2007/2008. The group's "Design & Production Demographic Atlas" counted 52,513 total design and production establishments, a 0.9% increase (about 500 firms). That doesn't seem like whopping growth, but consider the rise in corporate design departments, the sluggish nature of the economy, and the trend toward consumer-generated/viral marketing efforts, and the data is notable.

Coroflot just released the results of its 2007 Design Salary Survey. You can dig through the data to see where you stack up or peruse a selection of helpfult charts like this one that shows a nice increase in salaries for web/interactive designers.

Posted by Megan

Veer, a producer and provider of visual elements and design-related products is now accepting applications for its internship program from design students across North America. Veer offers paid summer employment with its award-winning, in-house creative team. The successful applicant will spend the summer at Veer headquarters in Calgary, Canada. It is a two-month internship. Veer provides airfare and accommodation. The student intern is responsible for food and entertainment.Applications will be accepted until April 30, 2008. For more information and instructions, please visit www.veer.com/ideas/students/internships.

Posted by Megan

Debbie Millman will be interviewing Stefan Bucher today at noon on Design Matters. He'll be talking about his new book 100 Days of Monsters, among other things. Besides getting a mention in Wired earlier this week, the book was just reviewed in Communication Arts and got a nod from Very Short List. You can check out Stefan's creatures at DailyMonster.com.

Posted by Megan

To celebrate today, TypeTrust is offering 29% off of any fonts designed by Neil Summerour and Silas Dilworth, including gems like Donatora and Vandermark.

Posted by Megan

Henry Sene Yee, whose day job is designing gorgeous book covers, has a photoblog that captures the essence of being in New York City.

Posted by Megan

All you in-house designers who work in cubicles will love the book I just received as a belated birthday gift: Overheard in the Office, Conversations from Water Coolers, Conference Rooms and Cubicles.

Overheard in a HOW Books meeting today: "A journal is just like a book with nothing printed in it."

Posted by Megan

Amazing designer and friend of HOW Stefan Bucher just sent over the trailer for a new movie called "The Fall." Stefan created the titles for the trailer, including the exquisite "Fall" logo, based on previous work he did for a book promoting the film. "The Fall" is directed by Tarsem Singh, the man behind 2000's gorgeous "The Cell," but he's probably most famous for his work on R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" video. After watching the trailer, I can't wait to see this movie, which is supposed to open in the U.S. this spring.

Posted by Megan

If you like Shepard Fairy's Obama Hope Poster that's been buzzing around the blogosphere, now you can get the design on a t-shirt from Upper Playground for $25.

Posted by Megan

Design*Sponge today points to a line of cute office supplies from Galison that features the designs of William Morris. What's really cool is that the Clover pattern supplies recently won a merit award in the HOW In-HOWse Design Awards. The pattern was reproduced from a wallpaper sample in the Brooklyn Museum of Art and can be found on file folders, journals, notepads and  more.

Posted by Megan

The judges for HOW's latest International Design Awards were mighty impressed with a collection of gig posters from north of the border. We've just posted an article about this Best of Show-winning project, as a sneak preview from our International Design Annual, on newsstands now.

Poking around on Flickr last night, I came across some playful lettering by designer Jon Contino, which made me want to know more. It turns out he has a blog as well as a site for his design studio Onetwentysix, so you can see work from early sketches through finals.

Posted by Megan

Stefan Bucher's soon-to-be-released book for HOW, 100 Days of Monsters, just popped up in the pages of Wired magazine. How cool is that?

Posted by Megan

A few years ago, during a drip to Madison, WI, I came across a set of adorable mugs with catchy word/image pairings. I chose one that paired the word "big" with a cute drawing of a wedge of cheese. But when I got home, the mug was broken (due to some bag packing on my part). So I was excited today to see a post about Jane Jenni on the Drawn! blog. I thought her style looked familiar so I checked out her site and there it was: big cheese (plus a bunch of other designs that I like even more.)

Posted by Megan

   
Seattle artist Rakka has been working on a thing-a-day project where she creates logos out of appropriate materials, like Quaker Oats out of oatmeal. You can watch her creativity unfold at Suspect and Fugitive.

via Craft

Posted by Megan

Those of us in media and marketing communications know we need to stay on top of consumer trends. TrendWatching.com is one of the smartest sources. We're digging their monthly trend briefings, like the latest one on the trend toward free (tho ad-supported) products, from phone service to air travel to stock photography to rental cars.

via A Brief Message

Turns out, the peace symbol is 50 years old next month. HappyBirthdayPeace.com documents the sign's history and supports a book "Peace: 50 Years of Protest" that's due out in March.