On a recent project, I was hard-pressed to find –in my photographic archive, istock, and wiki searches—images of Baltimore.
I  ran outside with a camera, but still couldn't find the perfect shot. Eventually I ended up hitting the mother load of creative commons on Flickr and All-silhouettes. Here are a few of the pics I found and the artist link.
spike55151 has taken nearly 20,000 photographs in his travels in Baltimore and parts beyond.Here are bits of the Baltimroe skyline, as seen by spike 55151:
-Here's Baltimore's famous Skyline
-Mt. Royal Station and Meyerhoff
-Bromo Seltzer tower
-Aquarium and Power Plant

DIY, natural, crafty, and cute. That's the look of SkinnySkinny.

click on the image to view a larger version

Honey packaging is some of the most consistently lovely. I found this doing an online search and I had to share with you.

It's so easy to look at something and say, this or that should be different. However, it's not always easy to bring your ideas to life.

A lot of folks have a try -try -until you get it right approach--and frankly I do at times too-- but more often I try a methodical and creative approach.

What's that mean exactly? As a designer, I love the chance to get my hands on a variety of projects, even ones I know little about. The joy, for me,  in a redesign is in:

•  the research of an industry, 
• selecting colors that compliment my subject
• creating typographic styles that speak without images
• and bringing this all together in an elegant finished product.

One of my favorite designer blogs, Media Militia, just got a facelift.

The new user interface has the main navigation right at the top of a huge image area that highlights recent tutorials and freebies.
For those of you  who haven't visited the site recently, it's gorgeous.

It's finally spring, and time for the 2nd installment of my awesome clothing swap, Binge and Purge!  I asked everybody that I know to design the logo.  AND they were all too busy--except for my fabulous boyfriend who drew me an interesting logo in HB on a piece of card; needless to say, I ended up doing it my self.

I've been seeing a lot of times New Roman of late and decided to use that for my incidental text, plus the elegant and fun Avant Garde (I love you, Herb Lubalin!). Binge is a big, fat, dated typeface whose name escapes me--my little nod to the ironic. I hope you all like it!

In keeping with the theme, I also chose an incredibly thin chick to grace the FB event.  Here's what I came up with: and here's the autumn version.

This go round, we'll have the donations go to families in Nigeria.  I can only imagine that Jess' red and black french maid outfit went over really well when the packages were opened :)

That's all I've got for now, the new job keeps me pretty busy.

I just recently got back in touch with a designer friend, Chris Undi, and was inspired when I saw his CMYK ink

Haven't we all heard make my logo bigger, or there's too much white space or I need this to pop more from the client--or whoever you're designing for.

Make My Logo Bigger Cream

I emailed this link around back in my pre-blogging days and just came across it again.  This is dedicated to the frustrated designing masses.  Have a good laugh before you get back to using up some of that "real estate" that's going to waste.

Communications Station is in the middle of a newsletter redesign. My advice is always 'work smarter, not harder'. There are templates that can be modified by--or at least--give inspiration to, the harried graphic designer. Now, if I can follow that advice, myself, I'm golden.

A few years back, around the height of CS3 or so, I went searching for a newsletter template for a writing class with Arthur Magida. I stumbled upon the Adobe Exchange. From time to time I still flip through the pages there. I'v e found tutorials, templates, graphics and outlines that have proved helpful in the past.

Check out "Browse  by Category" in the sidebar.

In my Gmail box this morning is the latest monthly Envato Newsletter.



While in Grad School, I visited the ThemeForest site to browse through their templates for inspiration. Eventually, I bought one of their excellent, professional templates, and continued paging through their site. The following month I got their newsletter. It was okay, they hyped themselves and offered items for sale--you know, the usual stuff. When I got to the bottom of the page, I saw it. This Month's Freebies. I clicked the link and my eyes goggled. Their monthly freebies aren't throw away items either, they're high quality digital art: professional game graphics, in-depth design tutorials, multi-page Websites, studio quality audio productions, and sexy-futuristic motion graphics!

I've gotten used to high quality products from Envato. However, the February downloads have far surpassed my expectations.

 The Web template, Xero Portfolio, is sexy, Java-y, Lightbox-y, and full of options. I'm so Happy!

I just spent the last 20 minutes finishing up a blog for my latest design barter.  It was part of a 2-blog redesign deal. For my efforts I will be getting a dope, handmade Tom Baker-esque Dr. Who scarf!!! DOPE!