I was just thumbing through the copy of In-House Design in Practice that just landed on my desk yesterday. It's Cathy Fishel's new HOW book that's part design annual and part business coach for in-house creatives.

In it, there's a great quote: "You can love your job, but it will never love you back." The quote reminded me of a conversation I was having with Steven Morris and Erin Sarpa not long ago as we discussed plans for their session at the upcoming In-HOWse Designer Conference. Steve, in particular, has tons of experience working with in-house teams at companies like Mattel, and he and Erin have interviewed a bunch if corporate design managers to find out what makes for a successful in-house career. They'll be talking about that in their session, Lovin' Your In-House Job.

Steve and Erin both advocate having a rich and rewardinglife outside the office, so you don't rely exclusively on your 9-to-5 gig for creative fulfillment. 'Cause there's only so much love you can expect from your day job.

Geronto Bis is a lovely font inspired by a letters engraved in the stone of a French Church. It was designed by Jack Usine and is available as a free download from Smeltery.

Posted by Megan

Community T-shirt site Threadless recently announced a call for entries for hand-drawn shirt designs.

Some of the best designs begin as a simple hand-drawn sketch. It's incredible how random drawings in sketchbooks, on coffee table napkins, or doodled across sticky notes become sweet pieces of art once fleshed out onscreen. Your challenge is to create an amazing tee based on your original drawing.

The prize list is extensive:   

* Wacom Cintiq 12WX tablet!
    * $750 Gift Certificate for the House Industries store!
    * $500 gift certificate for Utrecht!
    * A full set of Front Forty Books and CD's! Includes titles such ask Graffitecture, Matt Volla's Unruly Drawings, and Short Stories Illustrated By Artists.
    * Winning design (and designer!) to be featured in Print Magazine's February 2009 issue
    * An oversize poster from the Print Magazine 2008 New Visual Artists issue!
    * The 11-year retrospective Regional Design Annual DVD!
    * One year subscription to Print Magazine
    * $500 Threadless Gift Certificate (can be redeemed for $200 cash)
    * $2,000 in cash

Posted by Megan

Senior Interactive Graphic Designer
National Public Radio

The Senior Interactive Designer is responsible for daily art and design needs for NPR.org, the online presence of National Public Radio. Will be responsible for the design and production of news and other editorial graphics and interactive storytelling applications, including information graphics, charts, illustrations and maps. Will also occasionally create graphics for other NPR Digital Media initiatives, such as the NPR Shop and external digital marketing efforts.

Posted by Megan

I just booked my flight to San Francisco for the In-HOWse Designer Conference in October. I'm looking forward to spending three days with talented designers and experts figuring out to make in-house life and work even better. Will I see you there?

Posted by Megan

Among the many things that have captivated me during the Olympics has been the series of ads for United: spots that feature otherworldly, heartbreakingly gorgeous animation. The artistic styles are quite different (I've seen three of the five), from a swirling, organic style that looks like sand painting, to a cut-paper look that reminds me of illustrator Dave Wheeler's work in HOW's December 2007 issue.

The campaign was created by BD'M and has won a Gold Effie Award for marketing effectiveness and was nominated for an Emmy Award. What's interesting is that the United brand mark makes an appearance only at the end of the minute-long ads, but the "Rhapsody in Blue" soundtrack (each spot has a different arrangement) is unmistakably on-brand; you know it's United before you see the logo, because the company "owns" that tune.

Naturally, you'll find the spots on YouTube, and you must drop what you're doing and watch all of them now.

Hornet directing team Mixtape Club recently created a beautiful and haunting video for the track "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 2", My Morning Jacket's first video from their new album, "Evil Urges".

The video, set deep in a verdant jungle on a dark night, stars a character named Jasper, a furry, timid creature with gigantic eyes. Jasper carries around a lantern inhabited by his only friend, a firefly whose light helps him navigate the treetops.  When he gets caught off guard by a roaming pack of jungle beasts, Jasper accidentally drops his lantern, letting his firefly loose.  He travels through the jungle in pursuit of his friend. The journey takes him down a river, through a cave, and up a ravine, into a beautiful, otherworldly meadow illuminated by a constellation of fireflies.  The video offers a haunting, lonely quality with a touch of fairy tale sweetness.

See the video here.

Check out visual inspiration for the animation here.

Posted by Megan

Illustrator/Apparel Graphic Designer
Abercrombie & Fitch

As an Abercrombie & Fitch Graphic Designer, your focus will be on creating strong, brand-right artwork for a range of apparel pieces (including tees, fleece tops, active bottoms, accessories, etc). Candidates will have a passion for the brand and the customer, a strong eye for trend, high taste level, the ability to work within - and be a solid contributor to - a team, strong communication and organizational skills, and can translate concepts and trends into graphics in our handwriting.

Posted by Megan

Interaction/Print Designer
Dwell Magazine

Designer will split their time between designing web-based projects of all types for Dwell.com, and creation of print-based sales and marketing materials for all other Dwell brand platforms.

Must possess strong typographic skills, a thoughtful approach to design, must be detail-oriented, self-motivated and organized. Must have the ability to take initiative and ownership of projects, be able to take the ball and run with it. Must be collaborative, and have strong communication skills.

Work closely with Marketing Creative Director at various stages of the design process, from research and strategy to design and production, in developing and maintaining the brand visual language.

Posted by Megan