Posted by Bryn

File under: Wow.

French artist and videographer David Lasnier has a lovely Flickr stream of sketches he's made using the iPhone Sketches app on an iTouch. Five bucks worth of finger-painting fun.

 

Via The Morning News

Posted by Bryn

Yep, it’s official: We’re in a recession. Have been since December 2007. All hell is breaking loose, we’re all going to lose our jobs, and we’ll be subsisting on peanut butter (yikes!) and ramen noodles within weeks. Or so you’d believe if you listen to economists, financial experts and reporters.

Frankly, I’m tired of all that. Seeing as how I’m a glass-half-full kind of girl, I prefer to find opportunity amid the chaos.

Don’t get me wrong: The tough economy is hitting pretty close to home (trust me, publishing is a business you don’t want to be in these days). But I also believe the crunch will prompt us, and businesses around the globe, to make smarter decisions, to focus and to pursue what matters. And those things, in the long term, will set us up for success. Here’s what I mean:

Make smarter decisions. As resources (both people and finances) get tighter, big companies and small design agencies can’t afford to pursue half-baked ideas that don’t have real potential. We simply can’t spin our wheels making products our customers don’t want, or extending brands beyond their logical audiences. As designer and business coach Peleg Top argues in HOW's April Business column, we can’t spend foolishly to upgrade to the new cell phone we don’t need, or to write a new car off as a company expense. We need to be smart and strategic about how we spend our time, money and manpower.

Focus. If you’re a freelance designer or design firm that takes any project from any client who knocks on your door, you’re probably feeling the pinch more acutely than your peers who specialize in specific markets or categories. Why? Because your clients don’t perceive you as an expert who’s vital to the very survival of their businesses. For years, gurus like David Baker have touted the value of finding a focused market for your design services, so you can develop a deep and valuable understanding of your clients’ needs and goals. Companies retain relationships with their key partners during a downturn.

Pursue what matters. An article published by the American Marketing Association in 1993 (cited here), following the 1991–1992 recession, reported that companies that invested marketing dollars during the down economy gained market share—and kept it. Now’s the time to ramp up your marketing efforts, especially if your business is slow. Instead of laying off staff, spend those unbilled hours on projects for your firm. If you’re a solo designer, invest in your career by learning one of the many in-demand skills.

Panic? That’s for weenies. Be smart, focus and pursue what matters. We’ll all be fine.

Use the Text Ascii Art Generator to turn any word or phrase into one of many Ascii fonts, then use it to totally trick out your email signature.

Posted by Megan

I saw the packaging for Nellie's All-Natural Products on TheDieline.com and had to find out who was behind the quirky, retro design. After some poking around on the internet, it looks like Vancouver-based Burnkit Creative Group is responsible for the the packaging, while the amusing Nellie's website was created by Fuse Interactive, also in Vancouver.

UPDATE: "The packaging was done in-house at Nellie's with an illustrator whose name escapes me... We (Burnkit) concepted, designed and developed the website (complete with physical diorama) and we partnered with Fuse for the content management and shopping cart technology."

Posted by Megan