Here is your freshly squeezed design inspiration for the week of May 08 2023.
- SOMETHING GORGEOUS: Teenage Engineering FTW
- PORTFOLIO OF THE WEEK: Evil Martians
- Ostrich Branding by Roser Padrés
- Vintage Italian Gas Pump Museum
- Egg Hunt by Merci-Michel
- ONE GRAM: Not Until the Octopus Sings
- ONE LEARNING: Always Be Looking
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Resource of the Week
Simpler
Simpler is an Ai productivity assistant that helps make your life easier.
Over the weekend I got a bit sick and decided that while I was in bed resting, I would do a deep dive on the ever changing world of Ai. I stumbled upon Simpler which helps you prioritize and focus on your tasks. I am constantly switching between various list apps and my notebook when it comes to managing my tasks because I just haven't found the perfect solution for myself just yet.
I played around with the demo on the website and I really loved how Simpler estimates the time needed to complete the task. Once it it has a time, Simpler is able to help you prioritize which tasks you should complete first based on how much time you realistically have. Pretty sick!
This is something I struggle with all the time as a freelancer and Simpler is a great solution for those looking to manage their tasks and time better.
Get Started with Simpler Today
Something Gorgeous
Teenage Engineering FTW
This is for all my audio nerds out there. Teenage Engineering is a consumer electronics company that breaks the industry mold by developing products that look as good as they function. I happen to have an OP-1 from them which is a lovely little synthesizer I like to mess around with but they recently announced the release of a microphone that is absolutely gorgeous!
While I am not advocating the purchase of this expensive microphone, the way Teenage Engineering approaches the design of their products as well as their branding and marketing materials is always something that I have admired and this recent release from them is no exception.
Portfolio Of The Week
Evil Martians
Evil Martians is a product design consultancy with offices in New York, Portugal, and Japan. While it is a bigger organization in respects to _us _ independent graphic designers, their website is a great example of how to incorporate data and feedback throughout your portfolio website.
I also loved how they clearly showcase what services they offer in the second section of the website. This allows potential new clients to understand all the different ways they may be able to work together depending on requirements like budget and timeline.
Below their services they've included a section of in-depth testimonials from the clients they have worked with that continue to emphasize their experience within the product design space.
The rest of their site is filled with neat little interactions and useful information from they've written.
Portfolio rating: 7.4/10
PS. I think their site is a custom build but I could see this also being developed on Webflow easily.
View Evil Martians's portfolio here.
Creative Finds
Ostrich Branding by Roser Padrés
Such a clever and sexy mark for a not so sexy industry...house removals. That 'h' is just perfect in every way possible.
Vintage Italian Gas Pump Museum
One of my little secrets for design inspo is vintage signage and this 3D virtual museum of vintage italian gas paraphernalia is a treasure trove of beautiful typography and color palettes.
Egg Hunt by Merci-Michel
Digital gamification studio Merci-Michel has created this wonderful little web game where you hunt for eggs and its addictive. I think my high score was a mere 14 but you bet I played over and over again.
ONE GRAM
Not Until the Octopus Sings
Filthy Luker is one half of Design In Air which is an inflatable art studio. Their recent work for the Mumbai Opera House immediately stopped me while scrolling on IG as I first thought the tentacles were some sort of 3D work but they are in fact physical inflatable tentacles positioned every so perfectly to look as if the building is being taken over from the inside out.
One Thing I Learned
Always Be Looking
Something that I have been saying a lot to designers in my portfolio reviews recently is, always be looking.
What do I mean by this?
I have spoken with a lot of self-taught designers and designers that went through school programs that don't really have a depth of knowledge when it comes design history or what is actually possible to achieve within design outside of what they see through channels like Pinterest and Instagram. This results in somewhat basic or "flat" design work.
I like to believe that as a designer or a creative, you should always be looking at other work, other art, other architecture, other things that inspire you and over time building a catalogue of stuff that excites and inspires you to push the boundaries of your own work.
Recently I have been recommending the likes of Aaron Draplin, Jeff Perky, and Michael Beirut which were some of my design heroes when I was younger and still very much inspire me to this day. Sure that was almost 10 years ago but these designers were the catalyst to me wanting to continue to improve and master my design skills to one day create work for the size of clients they were working with.
Naturally this will change over time, but always be looking.
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