b* creative March 2010 - Issue #2 by b* creative

contents* *con-tents [kon-tents]: the material, including text and images, that constitutes this publication document.

Mar 1st - Mar 2nd (p4-5) Mar 3rd - Mar 4th (p6-7) Mar 5th (p12-13) Mar 6th (p16-17) Mar 7th - Mar 8th (18-19) Mar 9th (p22-23) Mar 10th - Mar 11th (p24-25) Mar 12th - Mar 13th (p26-27) Mar 14th - Mar 15th (p28-29) Mar 16th (p30-31) Mar 17th (p34-35) Mar 18th - Mar 19th (p36-37) Mar 20th (p38-39) Mar 21st - Mar 22nd (p40-41) Mar 23rd (p42-43) Mar 24th - Mar 26th (p48-49)

Featuring: Vladimir Koncar (p8-11) Mar 27th - Mar 28th (p50-51) Mar 29th - Mar 31st (p52-53)

Featuring: Tom Lane (p14-15)

Featuring: Rik Oostenbroek (p20-21) Resources: 2000+ High Quality FREE Icons (p32-33)

Tutorial: Create a Dark Portfolio Layout (p44-47)

contents* *con-tents [kon-tents]: the material, including text and images, that constitutes this publication document.

Cover image courtesy of Vladimir Koncar (www.koncar.info)

Hello again my dear friends! It’s that time of the month when we send you the inspiration that you didn’t even know you needed :) We have gone out of our way to make sure that the March issue of b* creative is even more jam packed with inspiration and creativity than the February one. We have given ourselves a little task called “making sure each issue is better than the previous one” and we plan to give it all we’ve got to make sure that we achieve this goal. In turn, we hope that b* creative will get your imagination juices flowing and that in time we’ll be able to feature each and every one of you. Speaking of features, we know you’re going to love the talented creatives we’ve got lined up for you this month. From the soon to be sunny Balkans, we have chased up Croatia’s Vladimir Koncar (a name you’re bound to have heard of already) a multitalented creative who, according to us, represents everything that b* creative is all about - inspiration, creativity, imagination, art, talent.... We also bring you an interview with Tom Lane from Ginger Monkey, as featured by the good people at Abduzeedo. And last, but not least, for those that are young and aspiring designers, we have Rik Oostenbroek - a talented young man who inspires even the ‘uninspirable’ with his delicately detailed designs. Something new that we’ve been working on here at b*creative is trying to get you more than just inspiration, so this month we’ve included a tutorial on how to create a dark portfolio layout for those of you that might need to freshen up your portfolios; and an article on our discovery of the month - 2000+ FREE high quality icons! Don’t worry, the links are all there so you can get onto downloading these babies for your resource inventories straight away. Finally, if you’re tired of your current desktop wallpapers, we have found three fabulous ones that we recommend for this month (let it be known that Florian Nicolle’s kitten brightens up my day every morning when I turn on my computer). Check them out and download your favourite, you know your computer will love you for it. That would be about it for now from us here at b* creative, so again I remind you not to forget to: Imagine. Believe. Create. Achieve. Baki

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*in-spi-ra-tion [in-spuh-rey-shuh n] : a) stimulation of the mind or emotions to special or unusual activity or creativity; b) divine guidance or influence exerted directly on the mind and soul of humankind.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Women want mediocre men, and men are working hard to become as mediocre as possible.â&#x20AC;? - Margaret Mead (1901 - 1978)

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Klein Constantia Gappa At The Deline New work from Cape Town South Africa based At Pace: “Klein Constantia didn’t know what to do with the grape skins that were left over from the production of their award winning wines. In the past they had fed the skins to their cows, but they decided to produce a limited edition grappa, as a gift to the people that were important to their business. Because the Grappa wasn’t intended for sale, Klein Constantia proposed a “half-jack” bottle with a screw cap, but AT PACE was able to source 4000 beautiful bottles with a unique porcelain wire stopper. It wasn’t the type of bottle Grappa was usually sold in, since it wouldn’t have to compete with other products in the category, instead it felt unique and special. The design was simple and told the story of how the

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Grappa had come into being, but also made the product feel premium and important, more befitting of an artisanal gift.

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Which made everyone happy, everyone except the cows that is. Which is why we included the illustration of the grumpy cow. A playful nod, to the cows who would no longer be able to enjoy their post-harvest treat.â&#x20AC;?

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Featuring: Vladimir Koncar Doing our regular creative rounds on some of the most inspiring sites that are housed in our Google reader, we came across a multitalented young man named Vladimir Koncar, from Croatia – and boy are we glad we did!

Let it be known that we don’t use the term “multitalented” lightheartedly, because this fascinating creative is everything from a designer, a typographer, a motion graphic artist, a photographer, a web designer, a painter and a didgeridoo player to the guy that you turn to when you need any form of inspiration. He is a true artist on every level and with almost any medium (which is clearly demonstrated by his “Diary Type Project” where he has created type from things like rotten apples to condoms to toothpicks [yes he is responsible for this month’s cover of b* creative]) - definitely someone that the creative world should keep a close eye on. Currently living in Zagreb where he works as an artistic dictator, information architect and designer of multidisciplinary design studio Revolucija, which he founded 6 years ago with two friends, this 31-year-old creative prodigy is bound to take the world by storm. Basically, Vladimir is what b* creative is all about, so we caught up with him this month to see exactly what it is that makes this young man such an intense fusion of creativity. Enjoy the feature and be sure to check him out on his website (www.koncar.info) or on Behance (www.behance.net/konch).

1. Name, surname and place of residence. Vladimir Končar, Zagreb, Croatia 2. What sparked your passion for graphic design / photography / writing / art? I was always fascinated with the art but the love to design happened somewhat spontaneously, when I arrived in Zagreb to study graphic design – that was at the same time my first contact with the profession. Parallel to my studies, simultaneously with obligatory lectures, I had learned how to paint with Professor Radak, and it is this man whom I can thank for breaking through my creative barriers, he taught me that there are no boundaries to creativity. Actually, design only structured and directed the creativity I discovered through the painting.

3. How creative were you as a child? Visual perception was always one of my strongest sides. I have loved to draw since I was a child and I have enjoyed experimenting, dismantling and assembling technical appliances, so my parents believed that I will become an engineer one day. When I was a boy I won a certain amount of awards in art competitions and through those awards emerged the impulse to develop in that direction.

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4. Do you come from a creative family? Are they supportive of your work? As my parents aren’t that art oriented nor have they encouraged that aspect in particular, I alone have developed that passion that was inside of me since I was aware of my existence. I used to spend a lot of my spare time reading books about great artists in the study department of the Bjelovar library and sketching retired people who used to pop in every day to read newspapers. It was my custom to spend my entire summer holidays in that library working on different sketches, noone seemed to understand why I spend so much time there, sometimes not even myself, however, the passion for creation was stroger than just mere game – at that time I aspired to become an artist. My parents didn’t sometimes understand some of my projects, but they’ve always been supportive even though they wanted art to be my hobby, and that I earn a living by having a “real” occupation, the one that was more profitable and made more sense to them, for instance, the economics. Luckily, I didn’t pay attention to what they were saying at the time, because as it turned out I am quite able to sustain myself with the creative work that I adore. 5. If you could describe your work in 3 (or 5) words, what would they be? It is not easy to describe my work in so little words because of the variety of things that I do, but if I had to describe it I would say that besides being creative (the creativeness binds together everything I do), it is honest, playful, simple, and multi-layered.

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6. What sort of education have you had? I was extremely versatile as a child, and I was interested in almost every extracurricular activity that my hometown Bjelovar had to offer, so I was engaged in many different courses like dancing, acting, aeromodelling, radiogoniometry, sports, etc. That kind of diversity and insatiable interest for wide spectrum of activities have now developed into great passion for different areas that I do. I studied graphic design at Faculty of Graphic Arts at the University of Zagreb, and simultaneously I have studied painting for four years, under professor Frane Radak. I also finished night school for film directing and screenplay, and I acquired some basic knowledge about theatre through involvement in amateur theatre that I joined when I came to Zagreb to study. 7. Tell us a little bit about your first project and how you feel about it now? One of the first design projects I did was with a few good friends and it was a magazine for art and culture called “Akt”. We worked intuitively on it, without previous knowledge or experience, but full of ideas and burning desires.When I look at that project now , I realize how little I knew then and how many mistakes I made designing that magazine. It was simply an eruption of creative energy that occurred between us, and when I look at it today it still sparkles with the same energy. I like going back to old projects because they are a constant reminder that being creative is

not enough, and that raw creativeness needs to be articulated through knowledge. I also like to look at my old projects and wonder how would they look like if I made them today. 8. Tell us your philosophy on creativity. I relate creativity with child’s spontaneity and curiosity. I’ve always wanted to know how things around me function. The possibility of combining incompatible elements and unusual ideas with no blockage imposed by the society, the upbringing, and the knowledge we acquired, I find all those things being a sort of creativity formula. It is a daily struggle with oneself and it must be, as any other feature, constantly developed, perfected, and steered in the right direction. Some find the creativity sooner, and some need much more time, but just by working systematically the creativity of every individual can go sky-high. I often think about Picasso’s working process because he used to over-paint the same picture countless times until he reached the satisfactory proportions of color, composition and idea he wanted to carry out. That kind of creative process helped me understand how inexhaustible ideas and creativity are until we somehow manage to distance ourselves from them, perceive them in a critical manner and cast them aside until we realize that there is a better way to articulate our thoughts. We cannot say why someone is more creative than somebody else, even though creativity is a part of our everyday life. What thrills me is the captivation I feel when creating something, and the creating process is something I cherish the most. The creativity knows no boundaries except those we set for ourselves and exactly that is the main obstacle that needs to be overcome in order for us to express our ideas in the best possible way. 9. Whose work do you admire and why? Considering my wide spectrum of interests I do not have some strong and prevailing role models, but there cer-

tainly are people and life stories I have always admired and that have always inspired me, such as Nikola Tesla, a great scientist and visionare, unjustly forgotten by the world at some point. I admire designers such as Erik Spiekermann, Kris Sowersby and a Croatian designer Nikola Djurek, who with their commitment and years’ work deal with problems of us the designers, thus creating beautiful fonts. I also respect the work of my two good friends, designer Vanja Cuculić, and illustrator Tomislav Torjanac. 10. What has been your greatest achievement so far? The ability to play Didgereedoo might not be one of my greatest achievements, but certainly is the one I’m most proud of. I was obsessed with that instrument, and I used to blow a wooden tube until I experienced revelation, and started to breathe circularly. It was such a discovery and I also discovered many different sounds and rhythms! For the last couple of years I’ve neglected the playing because circumstances and obligations have taken me in another direction, and also because my sojourners didn’t share the enthusiasm with me, or liked the sounds I was making. 11. What are the top three websites you like? I follow a great number of sites daily, especially since Google Reader has become available, so I don’t pay too much attention to which sites I visit, because I am only interested in the quality of their content. Nevertheless, I could single out three sites that are my daily source of inspiration: www.ilovethypography.com www.ted.com

www.behance.net featuring* 12. What is your favourite CD? *fea-tur-ing [fee-cher-ing]: a) giving special attention to; b) One of the albums that I have listened zilincluding as a prominent part. lions of times so far is the incredible recording John Coltrane: Live in Japan. The album was recorded live on Coltrane’s only Japanese tour in July 1966 at two Tokyo venues. It is a four-hour long inexhaustible creative energy that enraptures me every time I listen to it. 13. What are your plans for the future? I have no concrete plans except to continue to play some more. As long as I am enjoying the creation process, I will be producing new stuff. At the moment I am preparing a new experimental film and finishing a series of illustrations on the subject of bugs, which I have been pursuing quite some time now. I am also finishing some series of photographs, which I’m planning to exhibit. There are a lot of ideas and very little time. 24 hours is not enough, I need more than that. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. 14. What is your advice for aspiring creatives? Believe in your work and don’t give up if somebody doesn’t like what you are doing. Learn from your mistakes and enjoy the process of creation. 15. Personal motto? Carpe diem.

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Featuring: Tom Lane from Ginger Monkey Abduzeedo Interview by Fabio Sasso

1. First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time to provide Abduzeedo with this interview. Please tell us more about your art and design background and what made you become an artist and designer? No Problem! Well, luckily for me I stumbled upon the subject of Graphic Design, A friend was studying photography at art collage and was experimenting more with layouts and manipulating the photographs than he was taking them. I watched over his shoulder and was intrigued. I quit my uninspiring job to go back into education and become a graphic designer. During that time I just opened up to this new visual world I hadn’t really taken much notice of and it all started to make sense. I felt this consuming excitement for the subject, what circled around it, and learning in general. I was hooked, and have been on a nice little ride for the last few years. After Graduating from my degree I was offered a teaching position for a year and looked to fill in my spare time with some freelance work. By then I was illustrating my ideas as well and I was getting some great feedback from companies and individuals I was contacting for work opportunities. With what felt like a strong portfolio for a graduate and some industry recognition from the ISTD and D&AD and the feedback I was getting, I started to feel that I was able to carve my own little place in the industry. I set up Ginger Monkey a few months after graduating and have been plugging away at it. 2. Which tools do you usually use? Both “traditional” (pencil, markers...) and digital. My main tools are my Wacom tablet and my intuition! Without them I’d be a bit stuck. I use watercolours paints for creating depth, texture and colour for certain pieces but I rarely use drawn off the computer elements but I will plan to some degree in my layout pad with fine liners. 3. Do you work in an office? What is your routine like? What are your research resources? I have a cool little studio to myself smack in the middle of a very busy part of Bristol city centre. It’s right next to a gym, supermarket, a few big bookshops and lots of coffee shops! I like to get to work bright and early and get cracking on whatever is cooking in the commission department or to work on the million and two personal projects I seem to have going but haven’t completed! Obviously my days and weeks are dictated mostly by deadlines and the task required to meet them but I make time to do my own stuff and update my website etc as I go along. Otherwise, things will definitely get a bit out of control or neglected. My research resources cover, the internet, mostly flickr and the numerous stock libraries and I’m always browsing the blogs. I get to book shops a lot, scouring the Art & Design section and the magazine racks pretty regularly. I have a good library of my own built with what could only be described as a slight fetish for the smell of print. I do like to get out with my own camera too.

4. Could you describe for us your typical ‘start to finish’ workflow when working on a design? I listen, then I listen a bit more and then get everything in writing and read my brief a few times making notes, highlighting sections, pulling out vital info. If there is something I’m not sure off, I’ll get in contact and chat through. Clarity is my first step. Time, money and reputation wasted otherwise. Then I’ll look into things I’ve identified from the brief and get my own research done so I’m starting to get a feel for things. I’ll then start to brainstorm the subject matter and make lists broken down into sections such as message, focus, depth, structure, colour etc so I’m weighting up the options.

By now I’m itching to get cracking so take what I think are the best routes and begin making the piece by whatever means necessary. I don’t produce roughs though as they never indicate well enough what I’m thinking. I’ll get the piece to a stage that I think conveys strongly where it is going as early as possible so that the client can give me the thumbs up to keep going. This then continues until we’re both happy and everything gets signed off and I thank them with a polite invoice!

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*fea-tur-ing [fee-cher-ing]: a) giving special attention to; b) including as a prominent part.

5. What, for you personally, are the pros and cons of being a designer? The only cons for me come from being a freelance designer. I’m not paid when I’m sick or on holidays & I’m not always paid on time! The pros, however, completely out weight the cons. I feel the benefit of my efforts first hand. I’m heavily in control of what work I get to do. I get to wear a lot of hats, metaphorically speaking of course. I’ve learnt about so many new things because I needed to in order to survive. I feel there are endless possibilities to what I can achieve and what I want to create. I’m in charge of my time so I can pursue more interests. 6. How does your job as an artist and designer influence your life? Do you feel that you see things around you differently for example? My work is an absolute passion that has become intrinsically bound to all aspects of my life and it’s a very happy one! If I’m not pursing getting better, trying new things and making the most of what I have to offer it affects my general well being. This has meant I’m very aware of what is happening out in the world. I don’t necessarily read all the mags and blogs but I do heavily absorb the visual world around me. Doing what I do has given me the confidence to keep pushing and putting my mind to things. I think that really comes with the territory of being a designer, seeing problems or obstacles and overcoming them. 7. We like to know what artists do in their spare time to get some fun. What do you do? Sports, television, movies? Fun comes to me in many different ways and there is definitely no dividing line between my work and personal life, that’s what I love about it! However, I listen to Audio Books (currently getting through Stephen Kings back catalogue), I go to my friends’ club nights to get sweaty to loud music and make a point of getting out and about with my girlfriend seeing and experiencing stuff in our local area. I work out at the gym next to my studio which I strangely find fun and I’ve a big HD TV with PS3 that calls to me throughout the day. I’m also pretty obsessive about film so the local cinema is a good friend of mine. 8. What are your favorite 5 websites, and why? www.yahoo.co.uk - Don’t why but I compulsively type it into my browser whenever I open it. I love reading about all the transfer deals and rumours in the footy. www.newwebpick.com great website with lots to look at and read. www.ffffound.com - full of amazing inspiration. www.flickr.com - great for research and inspiration. And last but not least www.abduzeedo.com - good all rounder. 9. Once again , thank you very much for the interview. As a final word, do you have any tips for upcoming artists and designers? Be enthusiastic. Don’t be obsessed with creating style, just be obsessed with getting better and your voice will come out. Explore, experiment and be open to learn new things.

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Saturday March 6, 2010 21. “Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944)

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enhanced with subtle and delicate fragrances. In its Émilie Bertrand-Villemure packaging concept, Emily Bertrand-Villemure revisSugar its the sugar solid portion packaging that she offers as aroby Émilie matic spheres. Each flavor Bertrandis named after a woman’s Villemure. surname just as refined. The “There is spheres are packaged in white sugar, tubes and offer a renewable refined, taste experience for coffee, tasteless tea or other comforting bevand insipid. But there is also erages.” - Sylvian Allard the sugar taste that can be The Dieline’s Student Spotlight:

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27. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.â&#x20AC;? - Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

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Monday March 8, 2010

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;The best way out is always through.â&#x20AC;? - Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

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Featuring: Rik Oostenbroek

Abduzeedo Interview by Alexis Papageorgiou Rik Oostenbroek, also known as Nkeo, is an awesome graphic designer from the Netherlands. His abstract arts are famous and have brought his artwork to the cover of the Computer Arts Magazine. 1. First of all we would like to thank you for the opportunity of having an interview. Please tell me a bit about your beginning with design and why did you choose to become an artists? The pleasure is all mine, I’m not used to get interviewed so it’s kinda special for me! The first step was doodling at school, since I was always bored at school, I was a smart kid before I got into art so I had to do something else. I started making trippy scene’s with a pencil. My story of digital art started 3,5 years a go. I had a friend, named Danny Arntz and he was in that scene for I guess 2 years. This guy introduced me to Photoshop and to deviantart but I was like :”what is this?”. It didn’t made any sense to me, since I was into sports only. A few months later he showed me DepthCORE.com, the community I’m part of myself right now. After seeing Depthcore, especially the works of Wirestyle, sc3l and Shinybinary I started to mess around a bit on my own. This messing around was my first step in the design world and every time I got bored here at home, I started up Photoshop. From that point I started a deviantART account 6 months later. Receiving favorites, comments and critique were improving my skills as hell those days, I got invitations

from various communities and got my first Daily Deviation a few months later. Those things were motivating me so much that I thought to work further to the next level, being part of my inspiration source, depthCORE.com. From that point things got only bigger and bigger! It felt so good to put my creativity in pieces that I thought to give a art career a shot! I was only into abstract these days, but I felt I needed to try more things to discover my strong and weak points, where I have to work on a little more. I guess design will never become really boring, since you always learn new stuff. Right now I got myself a agent and I worked for a agency already ( left because it was way to boring, had to do all their shit assignments ). So I’m totally freelancing right now, been at the cover of Computer Arts Magazine and everything feels damn good! And I bet there’s a lot more comming up for me :) But first I’m going to enjoy this summer! 2. Your work is pretty unique. You use a lot of creativity in it. Where does your inspiration come from? Haha thanks a lot man! This is a hard one, my inspiration comes basicly from music, nature and the ordinary things in life, like troubles, emotions and so on. Of course some sick advertisement inspired me as well, right now I’m inspired

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by The Happines Factory( Coca-Cola) by Psyop. But back in the days was it MTV who was inspiring me with their funky commercials and layouts! There are some artists who inspire me as well, every time I look around at depthCORE.com or Behance.net I see stuff that’s just inspiring me to try other stuff as well. My favorite artist right now is jerico from rarz. net I guess, after seeing his stuff I gave surreal stuff a shot! 3. You sure have your own way to do a job. How does your typical workflow look like? Well I just realized that I’m always starting with a main object( a abstract shape or a photograph ) and built everything around it. I pick like a photo or make a shape and just put it in the middle of my workspace. I used to work from the sides back in the days, but this is way much better:) I always start working big and size everything I work on down after a while, so the pieces look more detailed. The last thing I do is the background. I always do that later so you could actually make the main object and background match really well together. It’s really strange since I cant make a focal point when I start with the backgruond and built it up from that point. 4. I’m a great fan of your artwork “The Dopeshow”. It’s awesome. Tell me something about this one. Haha, it seems like everyone is in love with me because of this piece;) This piece was done for the promotion of my new online portfolio www.secretshowcase.com. It’s just the piece that explains my love for digital art I took inspiration of all kinda advertising( basicly mtv ), promotion and all kinda digital styles to work this out. I’ve tried to make a combo of all the pieces I did in the last few years, and it kinda worked out. There is abstract, photomanip, surrealism in it and I really love it myself as well But the thing is, this piece was actually the finish of one of the stages I did in my digital art “career”. I usually work a few months on a style, like this abstract/ photomanipulation mix, I’ve done like 6 pieces before that no one ever saw, to try to reach this level. Right now I’m working on a more Surrealistic style and a New abstract style btw! So expect some sexy pieces in that style soon as well! 5. What are your tools of work? Do you use special software and hardware? The Software I only use is Adobe Photoshop, I never really took use of other programs. I’ve tried some like Cinema 4d, Illustrator, 3DSmax but it didn’t gave me the satisfaction Photoshop gave me! Since you could do like everything in photoshop, except rendering, I will stick with Photoshop for the rest of my life I

guess! My hardware is kinda bugging me and fucks my photoshop skills up lately, since it’s rebooting out of nothing all the time while I’m working. 6. How does your job influenced your life? Do you see things differently? My life didn’t changed that much when I became a freelance designer, but it did when I got in touch with art. Since the time I discovered Photoshop, I became more interested in other mediums as well, like Photography and Traditional art. The way I look to things changed as well, I’m looking for a story or emotion in every piece of art I see. It’s also funny that I look so close to every “designed” ( even cigarette packages and book covers ) and try to imagine how they made that. I’ve learned many things from just looking to stuff and tried to understand what they’ve done to made this product or design. 7. Thank you very much for this nice interview. Do you have any tips for upcoming designer? Thank you for having me;) Just try a bit and experiment with various styles, till you find the thing that suits you best, you have to cross your boundaries. I just think that people have to do the thing they like most themselves, not caring to much about the popularity or the opinion of the rest of the people. You should have some goals to reach as well, to motivate you a bit more. And last but not least, never give up!

Wallpaper of the month #1 by Florian Nicolle

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Wednesday March 10, 2010 Le Cherche Midi Fragrance At The Dieline “The fragrance industry spends a lot of money creating beautiful trash in the form of cardboard boxes that look great on a shelf, but are discarded after purchase. So when we developed the packaging for our artisanal fragrances, we sought to combine beauty, function, sustainability and re-usability. The result was our signature wooden box with silk lining. Conceptually, wood fits very well with our brand – conveying our belief in luxury as a passion for quality rather than pure opulence. Unlike most fragrance packaging, these boxes can also be re-used after purchase – as keepsakes, jewelry boxes, or any other use that our customers can and have come up with. But perhaps the most surprising feature is that we were able to use discarded shipping pallets, which are normally burned or thrown away, to create unique packaging that is thoughtfully beautiful. The process was not complex, we simply took the discarded pallets, sanded them down to the usable wood, and then constructed our boxes. Our fragrances are only identified by color and number, so incorporating the color of each fragrance was very important to the packaging. Rather than obscure the natural beauty of the wood, we decided to emphasize the color on the interior, selecting silk lining to add a touch of understated refinement.” - Nathan Motylinski, Owner

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Thursday March 11, 2010 The Dieline’s Student Spotlight:

Coppola Wine Redesign Henry Lannan is a recent graduate from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Hi completed a wine redesign project from one of his advanced packaging

classes: “Essentially we were tasked to take a wine label and evolve the design ever so slightly. I decided to take elements that I thought could be improved and created a better working type system for the varietals. The wine shipper box they use is also 1 color flexo printing on cardboard, so I made a version that would perhaps sell in a wine shop.”

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Friday March 12, 2010

“I don’t really trust a sane person.” - Lyle Alzado (1949 - 1992)

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50. “We are all apt to believe what the world believes about us.” - George Eliot (1819 - 1880)

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“I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.” - Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592)

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Monday March 15, 2010

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Mortlach 70: World’s Oldest Bottled Single Malt Whisky At The Dieline “Gordon & MacPhail has been laying down casks of single malt whisky since 1895; we are now the custodian of some of the rarest whiskies in the world.

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Our grandfather joined the firm within a year of its foundation and it is now owned by the third and fourth generations of his descendants. Each generation has passed on a lifetime’s experience in maturing malt whisky, guided by a simple principle:

“The future is shaped by what we do today, while today reveals what we did in the past” Mortlach has long been ranked ‘Top Class’ by experts. Our grandfather filled this cask in 1938: a Spanish oak, ex-bodega sherry hogshead - universally acknowledged to be the best wood for so rich a whisky. He left it to mature in our warehouse in Elgin, and there it has slumbered from generation to generation. Now it seems to us to be perfect: a whisky without equal which epitomises our family values, built on generations of expertise in single malts.” Gordon & MacPhail Family

58.

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Wallpaper of the month #2 by Alex Varanese

61.

Tuesday March 16, 2010

resources* *re-source-s [ree-sawrs-es]: an available supply that can be drawn on when needed.

A Priceless Collection of Delicious Icons Every Designer’s Must Have!

Some of you might associate the word “icon” with fashion or a historical personality, but the icons we’re showing you this month are technologically oriented. What we mean is that the icons that we’ll b showing you here are those that graphic and web designers are most familiar with. Since we know that not everyone that reads our newsletter is a designer, we wanted to share a little insight with you about what these icons are used for (note to designers: you just might find this information useful so don’t be too quick to skip ahead). A variety of icons can be found in one of the following three types of environments: • as part of an Operating System’s desktop environment like Windows XP or Macintosh • as part of a specific computer application (within software toolbars) like Microsoft Word • within Internet websites or other online applications to include the following: website interfaces, forums,

blogs, bulletin boards and Internet chat applications like AOL Instant Messenger. For the purpose of making this article as simple to understand as possible, we will generalise icons, their environment and their purpose into seven categories, as outlined below. Application Icons Environment: Software like MS Word, Photoshop, Mozilla Firefox, Power Point. Purpose: Purpose of a function. Other names: Software icons, interface icons for applications, toolbar icons. Avatars Environment: Web Forums and some Bulletin Boards. Purpose: Mainly identity. Other names: Message board icons, forum icons. Desktop Icon Environment: OS Desktop - Windows, Macintosh, Linux KDE/Gnome. Purpose: Purpose of a function. Other names: Computer icons. Emoticons Environment: Chat Software - AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, Chat programs. Purpose: Emotion and/or voice inflection. Other names: Emots, emotion icons, smiley icons. Messenger Icons

resources* *re-source-s [ree-sawrs-es]: an available supply that can be drawn on when needed.

Environment: Chat Software - AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger. Purpose: Mainly identity. Other names: AIM Buddy Icons, Buddy Icons, MSN Icons. Misfits Environment: Various / None Purpose: Various / None Other names: Non-Standard icons. Website Icons Environment: Internet (website) - Interface, navigation. Purpose: Purpose of a function. Other names: Web interface icons, clipart icons, web buttons.

Arguably some of these cat egories could be merged into the icon type “applications icons” like Website Icons, but for the purposes of making some distinctions about the icons themselves, we thought it would be better to present them to you as separate categories.

Now that we’ve educated you a little bit about icons, we feel that it’s best to tell you the exciting news that we have for you this month….

Our team has stumbled upon (and incidentally enough it wasn’t using In certain cases you will find StumbleUpon) a priceless rea mix of icon types within one source of free icons waiting environment. For example a Mesfor you to download them and give senger application like AOL Instant Messen- them a good home. And we’re not talking ger (AIM) may use several icon types within 20, 50 or even 100 free icons – we’re talkthe application. Some of these icons are ing an amazing collection of 2000+ high under the user’s control while quality free icons! others are built-in and cannot be changed. Also So while the designers are salivating at this you may find some custom stand-alone icons that con- news, we urge the rest of you to go and vey more than one purpose. have a look for yourselves, because you For example people have used Avatars or Messenger never know what you might Icons to convey emotion but discover and where those creative discoveries may they are primarily used take you. for identity. For more info visit: http://www.tutorart.com/ index.php/102-free-high-quality-icon-sets-over2000-icons/

inspiration*

62.

Wednesday March 17, 2010

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.â&#x20AC;? - Marlene Dietrich (1901 - 1992)

inspiration*

â&#x20AC;&#x153;People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.â&#x20AC;? - Soren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855)

inspiration*

Thursday March 18, 2010

63.

“There are 350 varieties of shark, not counting loan and pool.” - L. M. Boyd

“Take everything you like seriously, except yourselves.” - Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)

Monoprix Stationary At The Dieline

64.

the category emotion, modernity, pleasure, a sense of product innovation, a ‘cool’ status to move Lewis Moberly has redesigned the away from the typically boring, bland, static scholar/stationery Monoprix stationary brand: world. To goal was to link a diverse range of products under “Monoprix is a major French suthe same design concept and crepermarket chain with 300 stores ate cohesion on shelf.” across France. The brief was to re-design its own brand stationery range and to create a radically new design to bring to

inspiration*

â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the most obvious facts about grownups to a child is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child.â&#x20AC;? - Randall Jarrell (1914 - 1965)

66.

Friday March 19, 2010 65. 67.

68.

69.

inspiration*

That Little Piece Of Paper That Reveals So Much About You We’ve all been in a situation where we’ve come across someone we really like, admire or simply want to keep in contact with, but we don’t have with us that tiny little piece of information that we can leave with the other person – our business card! Even if you have one, whether it be a personal one or a company one, we’re sure you’ve found yourself (at some point) in a position where you’ve forgotten it at home or in the office and the person you want to share your details with is standing there waiting for you to give them something…. any-

thing…. so you pull out an old, used piece of paper from your pocket, or the closest napkin that’s lying around and scribble down all your information, surely missing some of the most important bits due to your embracement. People need to pay more attention to the importance and the significance of a business card. Your business card is not just a little piece of card or plastic – it is something that represents you! When you meet someone (and we’re talking about people you want to make a connection with, build a network with, not the romantic type of “meet”), even though you might have hit it off and you agree to stay in touch or catch up for coffee and discuss that potential project, by tomorrow they may not remember who you are. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying that you aren’t interesting, but you have to keep in mind that not everyone has the memory of

inspiration*

an elephant. If you’ve given them your business card, however, chances are they’re likely to call you the very next day. Ok, so maybe we’re overexadurating a little, it’s not like Leo Burnett is going to call us tomorrow just because we gave him our business card yesterday – but there’s more of a chance that he’s going to call us at some point in our lives if he has it, than if he doesn’t.

of branding yourself, or rather, making a brand out of yourself in this article, because that topic is reserved for another time, but what we are going to do is give you a little Business Card Inspiration to get those ideas rolling and hopefully see you on your way to creating/designing/making/ building/ producing/inventing your new business card. Since we strongly believe in the importance of the business card, we’ll look into making this a regular inspiration - let us know what you think?!

Keep in mind though, that it’s not enough just to have a business card. If you want to distinguish yourself from the other many millions of people in the world, you have to make your card unique. We’re not talking ‘make it out of gold and diamonds’ kind of unique (although that would be a first ;) ) but a ‘distinctive kind of unique’. It doesn’t have to be sparkly or plastic, it can be see-through or it can be rubber, it doesn’t’ have to be plain white or really colourful, the important thing is that it represents YOU! The best thing to do is to sit down and think about what it is that makes you a one of a kind and apply that to your business card. We’re not going to go into the importance

Saturday March 20, 2010

inspiration*

71.

72.

Sunday March 21, 2010

inspiration*

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Monday March 22, 2010 75.

76. “An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” - Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895)

77.

“Humor is also a way of saying something serious.” - T. S. Eliot (1888 - 1965)

Wallpaper of the month #3 by Neil Hanvey

78.

Tuesday March 23, 2010

tutorial*

*tu-to-ri-al [too-tawr-ee-uh l]: a method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of learning, more interactive and specific than a book or a lecture.

Create a dark portfolio layout or a CSS design showcase layout by Razvan for Grafpedia

http://www.grafpedia.com/tutorials/create-a-dark-portfolio-layout-or-a-css-design-showcase-layout

I will create a new document with the following size: 1000 pixels width and 1200 pixels height. I will set my foreground color to #1d1d1d, and then with the Paint bucket toll I will press inside my document once. With the Rectangle Tool I will create two shapes on the bottom and on the top of the layout. The color I have used for these two shapes is #222222. For both shapes I will use the following layer styles:

This is my result so far:

I will create a placeholder for the logo. For this I will use the Rectangle Tool and I will create a shape on the top left side. For this shape I will add the following layer styles:

After you add all the settings your shape will look like this one:

tutorial*

*tu-to-ri-al [too-tawr-ee-uh l]: a method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of learning, more interactive and specific than a book or a lecture.

I will create other rectangles in the middle of the layout, and I will use the same layer style from before. Now I will use a few icons from a set of Mono vector icons. I will open the eps file inside adobe illustrator and I will select some random icons. To copy an icon you need to select it in adobe illustrator with Selection Tool, and then press on CTRL+C ( to copy the icon to clipboard ). The next step is to paste ( CTRL+V )the icon in Photoshop. After you add some icons to the layout it will look like mine:

For all icons I will add the same layer style as shown:

After I use the same layer styles for all my icons they will look like this:

For the orange icon you have the layer style below:

Now I will select all the layers with icons in my layer palette ( hold down CTRL key and with your mouse click on each layer you want to select ). *tu-to-ri-al [too-tawr-ee-uh l]: a After I have the layers selected I will drag them to the â&#x20AC;? Create a new layer method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of â&#x20AC;? button from the bottom of the layer palette. learning, more interactive and This action will duplicate all icons and will create separate layers for each specific than a book or a lecture. icon. You will see that all duplicated icons will be selected. This is very good because I will press on CTRL+E to merge all the selected layers into a single one. After that I will go to Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical, and with Move Tool I will place the layer like in the image shown:

tutorial*

I will change the opacity value to 10 % and with Eraser Tool ( use a smooth round brush ) I will delete the bottom of the icons. This way you will create a nice reflection for these icons.

I will place our logo and on a new layer I will create some thin lines with the Pencil Tool ( please note that your pencil brush size should have 1 pixel ).

I will add some text and images on this layout.

tutorial*

*tu-to-ri-al [too-tawr-ee-uh l]: a method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of learning, more interactive and specific than a book or a lecture.

I will create a new layer ( hold CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+N ) and with the Pencil Tool I will create another thin line. I will use two colors: orange â&#x20AC;&#x201C; fe9901 and a dark gray â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 313131 and I will draw a horizontal line with the Pencil Tool.

On the footer of my layout I will use some icons for social bookmarking. This is my final portfolio layout. I hope you like it.

inspiration*

79.

Wednesday March 24, 2010

80. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.â&#x20AC;? - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Thursday March 25, 2010

inspiration*

81.

82. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.â&#x20AC;? - Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)

Firday March 26, 2010

inspiration*

Earbudeez

83.

At The Dieline

Audiovox found that customers choose their earbuds like a fashion accessory and packaging is key to their choice. JDA developed the earBudeez series as personalities with the earbuds as eyes in different positions to convey attitudes and emotions. These fun, eye-catching packages appeal to customers of all ages who want to express themselves with a unique product. - Megan Cummins for The Dieline

Saturday March 27, 2010

84.

inspiration*

Whey Protein Packaging Concept

85.

At The Dieline A smart concept from NTGJ – Multidisciplinary Design: “If we over-look throw the packaging design of the nutritional supplements we can conclude that everything is very similar. The market is full of brands and all of them are using big sized standard plastic packs with powder to be solved with water or milk, for products such as When you buy whey protein, you Whey Protein, Creatine, Mass Gain- can find a scoop with the right meaers and others. sure of use, my idea is to replace the powder by small cubes containActually they are innovating a lot ing the same quantity of powder as in nutritional supplements but only the scoop. You just take the small on the scientific aspects, trying to cube, solve it in water or milk and find strong anabolic formulas to drink it. enhance the human body perforWith this way of using whey protein mances. On this project we propose you can replace the plastic packagan innovative way to produce, es by small sized cardboard packto use and to pack supplements, ages. Cardboard is very ecological which is more ecological, functional, because it is entirely recyclable. cheaper and small. Consumer, Producer and

Environment would benefice a lot with this new product. The price would be lower because you are using a cheap material and the transportation would be cheaper as well, because you are using smaller packages. We propose a pack with 9 units (+/- one week of use). This concept could be used in other products such as Creatine, Mass Gainers and other suplements.”

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Sunday March 28, 2010

inspiration*

“Seek simplicity, and distrust it.” - Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947)

88.

“Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows.” - David T. Wolf

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Monday March 29, 2010

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94.

“Love can be sordid only if you work at it.” - Brooke McEldowney

inspiration*

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Tuesday March 30, 2010

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just need enough to tide me over until I need more.â&#x20AC;? - Bill Hoest

100. 97.

Wednesday March 31, 2010

101. 98.

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references

1. http://wen-m.deviantart.com/art/ Anima-A-kiss-in-the-rain-33113123 *** 2. http://www.behance.net/Gallery/COLLARIX/336053 *** 3. http://keepinspiring. me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 4. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 5. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-7/ *** 6. http://www.behance. net/Gallery/coulure/312757 *** 7. http:// www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/03/kleinconstantia-gappa.html *** 8. http://www. behance.net/Gallery/Beauty/392325 *** 9. http://kutsche.deviantart.com/art/ Selfillumination-28710584 *** 10. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 11. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-5/ *** 12. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 13. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickrfriday-5/ *** 14. http://keepinspiring. me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 15. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 16. http://www.behance.net/Gallery/ Nike/340304 *** 17. http://keepinspiring. me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 18. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 19. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-5/ *** 20. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 21. http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Carnival-Paper--paper-sculptures/448470 *** 22. http://www.thedieline.com/ blog/2010/03/student-spotlight%C3%A9milie-bertrandvillemure.html *** 23. http://girltripped.deviantart.com/art/ Playground-Punk-59363733 *** 24. http:// humandescent.deviantart.com/art/ Old-Dogird-153261803 *** 25. http://www. behance.net/Gallery/MSN-TALK/446828 *** 26. http://nasimo.deviantart.com/art/ perfektna-krasota-77205431 *** 27. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 28. http://www.behance.net/Gallery/ Design-by-Humans/415200 *** 29. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 30. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-5/ *** 31. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 32. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickrfriday-5/ *** 33. http://www.behance.

net/Gallery/avantgarde/438409 *** 34. http://abduzeedo.com/wallpaper-week87-florian-nicolle *** 35. http://www. behance.net/Gallery/To-Be-Young-Giftedand-Black-(Soul-Portraits)/229821 *** 36. http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/03/ le-cherche-midi-perfume.html#more *** 37. http://www.thedieline.com/ blog/2010/03/student-spotlight-coppolawine-redesign.html *** 38. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 39. http://fedrick.deviantart.com/art/ Some-Web-61158902 *** 40. http://www. behance.net/Gallery/Darwinamic/430785 *** 41. http://www.behance.net/Gallery/ The-Food-Gang/438401 *** 42. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 43. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-5/ *** 44. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 45. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickrfriday-5/ *** 46. http://keepinspiring. me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 47. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 48. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-5/ *** 49. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 50. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickrfriday-5/ *** 51. http://keepinspiring. me/2010/03/flickr-friday-6/ *** 52. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-5/ *** 53. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-5/ *** 54. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-6/ *** 55. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickrfriday-6/ *** 56. http://keepinspiring. me/2010/03/flickr-friday-6/ *** 57. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-6/ *** 58. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-6/ *** 59. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-6/ *** 60. http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/03/ mortlach-70-worlds-oldest-bottledsingle-malt-whisky.html *** 61. http:// abduzeedo.com/wallpaper-week-88-alexvaranese *** 62. http://www.behance. net/Gallery/Brothers-Grimm-FairyTales/416014 *** 63. http://www.behance. net/Gallery/Lenovo-Edge/424700 *** 64. http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/03/

references monoprix-stationary.html *** 65. http:// hibbary.deviantart.com/art/Is-WinterOver-Yet-103172321 *** 66. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-6/ *** 67. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-6/ *** 68. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-6/ *** 69. http://lucaszoltowski.deviantart.com/art/ The-Smoke-100571961 *** 70. http://www. tutorart.com/index.php/35-beautifulcreative-business-card-designs/ *** 71. http://loish.deviantart.com/art/superhoroscopes-63730755 *** 72. http://www. behance.net/Gallery/TOMS-One-DayWith-Out-Shoes/446443 *** 73. http:// www.behance.net/Gallery/Faces-Of-History/433787 *** 74. http://www.behance. net/Gallery/Graffiti-Girls/450926 *** 75. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickrfriday-6/ *** 76. http://keepinspiring. me/2010/03/flickr-friday-6/ *** 77. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-6/ *** 78. http://abduzeedo.com/wallpaperweek-90-neil-hanvey *** 79. http://www. behance.net/Gallery/Recent-Work/411327 *** 80. http://zancan.deviantart.com/ art/Home-and-the-Fairies-21248847 *** 81. http://sharadhaksar.deviantart.com/ art/Brand-Irony-1-Just-Do-It-37618718 *** 82. http://ravenskar.deviantart.com/art/ something-like-an-astronomer-111558725 *** 83. http://www.thedieline.com/ blog/2010/03/earbudeez.html *** 84. http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Sudokua/419464 *** 85. http://www.thedieline. com/blog/2010/03/whey-protein-packaging-concept.html *** 86. http://tanya-n. deviantart.com/art/Anonymous-77034058 *** 87. http://benoitpaille.deviantart. com/art/splash2-93574554 *** 88. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 89. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-7/ *** 90. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 91. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickrfriday-7/ *** 92. http://keepinspiring. me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 93. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 94. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-7/ *** 95. http://keepinspir-

ing.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 96. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickrfriday-7/ *** 97. http://keepinspiring. me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 98. http:// keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 99. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/ flickr-friday-7/ *** 100. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickr-friday-7/ *** 101. http://keepinspiring.me/2010/03/flickrfriday-7/

Features Vladimir Koncar: www.koncar.info Tom Lane: http://abduzeedo.com/interview-tom-lane-ginger-monkey Rik Oostenbroek: http://abduzeedo.com/ rik-oostenbroek-interview