We are on a roll here with another delivery of Creative Juice! How am I doing so far?

Creative Juice is a weekly newsletter published every Monday morning so you can start your week feeling inspired creatively to make cool sh*t and get paid for it. Every Monday I share something gorgeous, a portfolio of the week, three creative finds, one amazing post from social media, and one lesson I learned recently.

If you have an idea of how I can improve Creative Juice and make it better, feel free to submit your feedback here.

TL;DR

• SOMETHING GORGEOUS: GIF Me Baby One More Time

• PORTFOLIO OF THE WEEK: The Only Sidebar I'm OK With

• Making Expenses Rad

• Music Is the Answer

• An Easier Way to Animate? Maybe?

• ONE GRAM: The Magical Artificial World of Marius Troy

• ONE LESSON: When You Finally Work on Projects You Like

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Something Gorgeous

GIF Me Baby One More Time

3D photography has been around for a while and recently resurged with creatives using old 3D film cameras to create GIFs with motion and life. Industrial designer Olga Orel developed a contemporary camera design that creates unique GIF images that can be easily exported to your laptop or mobile device.

You have no idea the whirlwind of tabs I opened after seeing this design. While I currently travel with a digital camera and drone, this tiny, user-friendly camera would be perfect for nights out or casual photography.

Would you buy this camera if it was real?

PS. Olga, if you are reading this, I would love to test this camera 😅

View more here

Portfolio of the Week

The Only Sidebar I'm OK With

Daniela Muntyan's portfolio is a rare exception to my usual dislike of sidebar navigation. Her sidebar houses links to her about page, resume, and socials for wide screens, switching to top navigation for smaller viewports.

• Homepage: Simple yet meticulous, a two-up grid of thumbnails with motion and framing, including articles and speeches.

• About Page: Thoughtful bio, co-founder of Spellar, and senior designer at Ucraft, with experience and awards listed.

• Project Pages: Excellent case studies, like Translator Guru, detailing process, problem, research, solution, features, and results.

Overall, Daniela’s portfolio exemplifies the “keep it simple, silly” principle.

Score: 8.8/10

Built with: Framer

View portfolio here

Creative Finds

Making Expenses Rad

The app Expensify had a brand refresh by The Collected Works, presenting a playful universe where expense reports don't suck.

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Music Is the Answer

MITA (Music is The Answer) allows you to invest in artists as if they were stocks. The landing page features engaging scroll interactions and animations with Helvetica bold typography.

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An Easier Way to Animate? Maybe?

Modyfi is a platform for multidisciplinary designers to design, animate, and generate assets without switching apps. I’ll test it over the holidays and report back.

PS. If you’ve tried it, share your feedback with me!

View more here

One Gram

The Magical Artificial World of Marius Troy

Marius Troy uses AI image generation (like MidJourney) to create stunning visual works. His guides on AI image generation are resources I plan to explore.

View more here

One Lesson

When You Finally Work on Projects You Like

After 9+ years as a graphic designer, I’m finally working on projects I’m genuinely excited about. Relationships matter more than experience or fame.

Example: In two weeks, two music festivals came across my desk—projects I dreamed of working on years ago.

Plans for 2024 include launching a small design studio. If you have 1-2+ years of experience in design, 3D, or motion, reply—I’d love to see your work.

PS. I’m organizing The Portfolio Squeeze newsletter again with fresh portfolio tips and reviews in 2024.

If you would like Creative Juice sent directly to your inbox every Monday, you can subscribe here.