Recently in Inspiration Category

Creative Review has featured the work of recent Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston graduate, Nicole Peterson.  The specific work refers to a unique design for each of the three canticas (individual stories) for The Divine Comedy.  In a sea of unwanted design-trend-porn, such relief is found when we find work that is both conceptually sound and visually stunning.  The relevance of form to concept in these particular designs is rand-esque in it's purity -  A delightful execution.

via Creative Review blog

A few short days after I finished reading through 'The Pentagram Papers', Pentagram announced the publication of their newest work compilation showcase, 'The Black Book'.    Boasting in-depth looks at over 400 projects over recent years, It's sure to be packed full of interesting and provocative perspective by the Pentagram partners.  For those of you who have had the chance to read their past publications (Papers, et al), I'm sure you're as excited as I am to have even more insight into their creative process.

Via the Pentagram Blog
Above image ©Pentagram

"TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader."

During the years I have spent designing, I've come to find that the best form of inspiration comes as a result of conversations I've held with talented designers, intellects, and esoteric thinkers.  While it's important to understand the use of design galleries boasting sales-pitch-titles like "30 ways to improve your ____", the real content lies in the dialog held with minds who have spent their lives dedicated to the academic approach of their subject; which brings me to TED.

Over the last 6 months I've been spending approximately 18 minutes a night indulging myself in some of the most intellectually stimulating content at TED.com.  There is a perfect blend of conversations ranging from graphic design to neuroanatomy.

Spend a few hours and get learned.  A few of my personal favorites:

Jill Bolte Taylor My stroke of insight
Stefan Sagmeister Yes, design can make you happy

Just a few short days after a very inspiration lecture given by Stefan Sagmeister at the University of Washington I was lucky enough to stumble across a crisp little business card straight form his hot hot hands.  It was cleverly constructed with two separate pieces, one regular stock and the other a sort of printed velum which created a particularly unique lenticular effect. Higher res shots available via the AIGA design archive sans the beef skewers.