Are you still trying to figure out how to talk your boss into sending you to the HOW Design Conference?

Here’s a link to a comprehensive rational to help convince them: http://www.howconference.com/convinceyourboss

Please take note, March 12th is the Early-Bird deadline. The Early Bird discount extends a $200 savings off the individual full-conference rate. Once March 13th rolls around, that discount is off the table.

Plus, an extra bonus! You can save $50 more by using coupon code KL10.
*code cannot be used with combo, group or student rate. Code can be used with Early Bird rate.

Good luck! and I look forward to seeing you in Denver!

Popularity: 1% [?]

I can never get too much color inspiration…..

Here’s another online source from COLOURlovers: http://www.colourlovers.com/trends

They’re indexing the color trends as they happen. Whether it’s magazine covers, street fashions, web designs, handmade goods or interior looks… They’ve got thousands of inspirations to guide your color decisions.

Enjoy!

Popularity: 65% [?]

What is essential is invisible to the eye.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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“I see nobody on the road,” said Alice.

“I only wish I had such eyes,” the King remarked in a fretful tone. “To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too! Why, it’s as much as I can do to see real people, by this light!”

~ Lewis Carroll

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“What I like doing best is Nothing.”

“How do you do Nothing?” asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long time.

“Well, it’s when people call out at you just as you’re going off to do it, What are you going to do, Christopher Robin, and you say, Oh nothing, and then you go about to do it.”

“Oh, I see,” said Pooh.

“This is a nothing sort of thing that  we’re doing now.”

“Oh, I see,” said Pooh again.

“It means we’re just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”

~ A. A. Milne

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From You Don’t Have to Be Buddhist to Know Nothing: An Illustrious Collection of Thoughts on Naught, edited by Joan Konner(Prometheus Books, 2009).

Popularity: 3% [?]

GrandPerspective is an awesome utility that will that will graphically shows the disk usage within your MAC OS X file system.

It can help you to manage your disk, as you can easily spot which files and folders take up the most space. It uses a so called tree map for visualization. Each file is shown as a rectangle with an area proportional to the file’s size. Files in the same folder appear together, but their placement is otherwise arbitrary.

What does your hard drive look like?

Popularity: 18% [?]

The #1 reason I attend the HOW Conference (June 6–9 in Denver) is to network with like-minded people.

Imagine being lucky enough to do something for a living that you love – graphic design. Now imagine spending 3 1/2 days with a couple thousand people that have the same passion for design that you have … It makes for great conversation everywhere you turn.

You can start that conversation early by joining the How Conference online forum. There’s no reason to go it alone. If your a newbie, it’s the perfect place to make connections prior to the conference and learn all the ins and outs before arriving. For veterans like myself, it’s a place to reconnect with Howies and help out with a little mentoring.

There are several ways to network at the conference:
Studio Tour: Make friends and get a behind-the-scenes look at Denver design on a HOW Conference Studio Tour.
Networking Lunch: Join perennial HOW Conference favorite Steve Gordon for a little networking, connecting and ice-breaking over lunch.
Lunch with a Speaker: Sit down for lunch and in-depth conversation with your favorite HOW Conference speaker
Breakfast Round Tables: Start—or join—a conversation on an important subject over breakfast.

For more information visit http://www.howconference.com/

Register NOW for HOW at http://www.howconference.com/register/

I look forward to seeing you in Denver!

Popularity: 24% [?]

This is the coolest….. odosketch is an online digital canvas community.

Odosketch seeks to recreate the decidedly non-digital experience of working with a sketchbook. Its papery textures, variety of brushes and intentional imperfections make you forget you’re working on a screen. Odo-sketchers can sign-in to their own private collection of work and browse recent and featured sketches by other artists. Since its original release in 2005, over 65,000 sketches have been saved.

Try it our for yourself at sketch.odopod.com

odosketch on Flckr
odosketch on Facebook

Popularity: 43% [?]

I am what some would consider a HOW Design Conference veteran …. not because I’m getting older – well maybe – but because I’ve attended 10 times and counting.

It’s my annual source of inspiration, education and networking with the some of the most exciting people in the graphic design industry. I can’t recommend it enough, so I’ll be posting regular conference updates. Stay tuned and start planning NOW for HOW!

Popularity: 26% [?]

Beautiful animation, but…. (freaked me out a little).

Popularity: 40% [?]

Let’s do some art…

Illustration Friday is a weekly illustration challenge created by Penelope Dullaghan and Brianna Privett. A topic is posted every Friday and then participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation.

Illustration Friday just gives a no-pressure, fun excuse to use it. No clients looking for a particular thing. No one judging the outcome of the work. It’s a chance to experiment and explore and play with visual art. So welcome, novices and pros alike.

To participate, check out the rules here.

Visit this links for more inspiration:
BLOG: http://illustrationfriday.com/blog/
ARTIST INTERVIEWS: http://illustrationfriday.com/interview

Popularity: 18% [?]

I just stumbled across designmeltdown.com. It’s web design inspiration and information all bundled into one website.

Patrick McNeil manages this collection of hand picked, hand cataloged websites, design the inspire, challenge and inform you.

The site is organized in the following categories: Principles of Design; Color Usage; Design Elements; Design Styles; Design Themes; Site Structures; Site Types; Problems and Solutions; and Tutorials.

Unfortunately, since the web is alive, not all the links are up to date, but it’s still a fun and informational site. Enjoy!

Popularity: 44% [?]