Our kick-@ss panel of judges wrapped up their work a half-day early on Thursday evening, much to our immense gratitude. Our hugest thanks go to Stefan Bucher, Shannon Carter and Lisa Sanger for their keen eyes and strong backs. Stefan summed up their picks (more than 200 in all) thusly: "All the work used its format well and to the utmost." Right. Stay tuned for the April 2009 issue of HOW to see all the glorious designs. In the meantime, check out our gallery of past HOW award winners.

The entire HOW staff will be away from the office the week of October 20 to facilitate the HOW International Design Awards. The cavernous facility we use does not have internet access so blog posts will be short, random and/or at odd times. But rest assured we'll be digging through piles of design work to find the best of the best, which we'll bring you in the March/April 2009 issue.

Posted by Megan

Production Artist
Crispin, Porter + Bogusky

Crispin, Porter + Bogusky is looking for a Digital Production Artist with strong typography, mechanical and design skills. The candidate must be a highly motivated team player with an eye for detail and show an uncompromising quality in their work.

We prefer an individual with a conceptual background and experience working at a creative driven agency. The individual will need to have a good understanding of pre-press, printing processes and building graphic files accordingly. The candidate must also be well organized, have good communication skills and be able to thrive in a fast-paced, quick-turnaround environment while giving support to other artists as needed.

Posted by Megan

Stefan Bucher, author of 100 Days of Monsters and master of DailyMonster.com, is giving away three free glow-in-the-dark monster posters. To nab one, download this inkblot and create your own monster. The first three people to email me (megan.patrick (at) fwpubs.com) their monsters will receive a signed poster from Stefan.

Posted by Megan

Andrew Gibbs, editor-in-chief of The Dieline packaging blog, is looking for the best in packaging design to feature in his forthcoming HOW book "Box. Bottle. Bag." Get all the details here.

Posted by Megan

Design Center Manager
Herman Miller

Responsible for all aspects of managing a Corporate Design Center located in Chicago, IL. This person will oversee installations, customer experience, events, and day-to-day operations of the design center while managing concierge and receptionist.

Posted by Megan

Lots of us are watching the economic news and wondering what the next 6 to 12 months hold for our businesses (and for our retirement funds!).

If you're a designer, one of the things you can do right now is taking steps to improve (and prove) your value to your clients and employer. How? HOW's longtime career expert advises tactics like developing your business know-how, educating your clients about the work you do and doing a bit of internal PR to build your reputation. For more on ways to "recession-proof" your design career, see the Career section of HOWdesign.com.

Here's another strategy: Invest fifty bucks and an hour of your time and develop the strategic-thinking skills that will make you more valuable to your clients or employer. Popular HOW conference speaker Jeni Herberger presents a one-hour live webinar, Making Yourself Priceless, on Thursday, October 30.

Think of it as a little bit of job security.

I'm loving this ampersand T-shirt from Ugmonk.

Ugmonk was established in 2008 by designer Jeff Sheldon. As the market continues to become saturated with overly complex, cluttered designs, Ugmonk’s mission is to provide high-quality products with simple, yet fresh graphics.

Posted by Megan