Illustrator Natalie Perkins is creating monthly desktop calendar wallpaper with her lovely images and hand-rendered type.

Here's April (better late than never). Also available for download is one for your iPhone.

Posted by Jessie

Julene Harrison makes gorgeous cut paper type and is available for commissions.



via Not Cot

Posted by Megan

Kitsune Noir pointed me to the website of Los Angeles-based illustrator Jon Klassen this morning, where I found an excerpt from his illustrated story "The Rabbit Mayor." Klassen created the story for the comics anthology Flight, which appears to hold many other visual treasures.

Posted by Megan

Graphic Designer
Bachman Brand Development, Milwaukee, WI

As a graphic designer, you'll be primarily responsible for developing and creating eye-popping consumer packaging graphics. You'll also need to be adept at jumping through hoops and handling unreasonable requests with ease. We'll also most likely ask you to design other consumer-focused materials like catalogs, POS and much more.

Posted by Megan

Quite the backlog of press tidbits accumulating in our "news" folder for the past 10 days, including:

• Neenah has launched a BlackBerry app that allows access to its Stock List Guide; this in addition to the recent launch of a mobile version of its eco-calculator. The mill also released a new swatchbook for its Environment line, which is entirely FSC- and Green Seal-certified and made with 100% green energy. Neenah says Environment was the first premium writing/text/cover brand with postconsumer recycled content brought to the market back in 1990.



• Speaking of mobile apps, Pantone has a new free one for the iPhone: Colorstrology by Michelle Bernhardt offers a daily color and a "color horoscope." Download here. 

• Whole Foods Market's in-house team created Earth Month promo materials entirely using third generation, closed-loop recycled papers. Which means they recycled their own paper waste (in-store materials printed on Mohawk Via and Options 100% postconsumer stock) and had it deinked, pulped and shipped back to Mohawk for remanufacture into paper (the fibers have been used three times: as paper, as recycled paper and then as recycled-recycled paper). Here's the cover for WFM's Earth Month brochure; more info on the project on the Whole Foods blog.



• International Paper has a new promo for its full range of digital papers: Hammermill, Carolina Coated Cover, Accent Opaque, Springhill and Williamsburg; a compatibility guide helps match paper and digital printing equipment for best performance.

• Extensis released an update to Suitcase Fusion 2, which is backward-compatible with Mac OS X v. 10.4.11 (Tiger).

• Monotype Imaging added 100+ fonts to its Monotype, Linotype and ITC collections, including Azbuka, ITC Bolthole and Akira Kobayashi's Trade Gothic Next. Check them out at Fonts.com.

• Quark and The Art Institutes announced the winners of their joint design contest: First prize went to Victor Trevino of The Illinois Institute of Art/Chicago (the win landed him an internship at Quark and a trip to the DSVC Student Show in Dallas); Luis Valderrama of the Fort Lauderdale school scored second prize and Mario Torres, also of Fort Lauderdale, picked up third. See their work and contest details here.

• School of Visual Arts is holding its 2009 senior portfolio review for graphic and 3D design students on May 7 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Art Directors Club in New York City. They're looking for pros to review portfolios; rsvp to cdrsvp at sva dot edu.

• Parsons The New School for Design showcases the work of its new grads with thesis shows running from April 29 through the end of May. Work will be exhibited at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center and venues across Manhattan. Here is more information.

Pratt Institute students (as well as students from the Savannah College of Art and Design) recently designed items for Barnes & Noble's Back-to-Campus Collection under the direction of Graduate Communications and Packaging Design Professor Kevin Gatta. The collection, which includes sketchbooks, journals, book covers, and pen cases, will be available in bookstores in late July.

Posted by Megan