Links for Friday, May 17

From 100 Books That Should Be Written

I've just found this blog of books that should be written, and I think it's pretty great. Moral of the story: If you start a blog about making book covers, I'm gonna be all over that. (see From Cover to Cover)

I love this one too!
Although...if Jessica Hische wrote a book, the whole cover would be hand-lettered.

It's also been a pretty fantastic week on the Creative Mornings front, with Austin Kleon and Seth Godin both rocking my world.

Austin Kleon on video is way different than I imagine him - I think I imagined his voice being different. He also makes me reconsider the way I blog and the way I show the work that I've done. Maybe in the future, I'll start to use this blog as a place for compiling information, and brainstorming.  Kind of a mixture of sketchbook and book of inspiration.
Also, Austin Kleon answered a question that I asked on tumblr once, and it was cool.


Seth Godin is a rockstar in the new media/advertising space, and he really brings it in this talk. It's about making a conscious choice about what sort of clients you want to work with, and actively seeking out those clients. I love the line at the end too - "I have no doubt that the people in this room are going to succeed.  The question is; are you going to matter?"
That accounts for 90% of what keeps me up at night.

Have a great weekend!

Self-Education and Making Stuff

This is a woodblock print I made.
 I think this print might be the best thing I've made at design school.
I love it.

I was really busy this semester.  Some of that was school, some of that was me, whatever.  What's important is that it's over, and it's summer now. Summer, for me, means that I have time to do what I want, time to focus on my projects.
What am I doing?
I'm writing. I'm reading. I'm trying stuff.

I'm working on a novel (it's been going for a while.  Slow going.) and working on a collection of short stories.  I have no idea if I'm ever going to finish the novel, but I'm hoping that I can have something of the short story collection done by the end of June, then edit the blerg out of it in July (and probably August, if we're being honest) and then publish it.  It'll be an ebook, pay as you wish sort of thing.

I'm reading a lot of books. I love reading, and while I'm in school, I have very little time to read.  I have a whole bunch of books from the Kendall library (design stuff, mostly) and a bunch of novels that I've been meaning to read.

I'm trying stuff. 365graphic is about trying stuff. I'm doing Codecademy too, which is about trying stuff. Both are a bit of a gear switch from writing, which is nice.

How is all of this related to education?
To me, education is about inspiring curiosity. It's about searching for new experiences, and it's about making things. In my formal education, I feel like I've lost that. Now, I'm trying to find it.

There's something else too. Some people might call it "passion" but I'm sort of uncomfortable with the term. I feel like it's more about drive. No one else can make you want whatever thing it is that you're going after, and some people don't seem to want anything. You know who they are. They're the ones who are phoning it in, on everything, all the time. They worry you a little bit. You don't want to end up like them.

For people who are interested in doing stuff, the first step is just to do it*. If you want to make movies, then just stop talking about it and do it. The barriers to entry have gotten lower or nonexistent - you can make your weird artsy short film with your phone. You can make radio with your computer. You can bootleg a copy of photoshop and start trying your digital art.

Just fucking do it already. That's what I'm trying to do right now.

An important part of education is connection - connecting yourself to resources, and to others who are interested in things. If you're someone who's interested in things, let's get in touch. Even if you're interested in doing things that are totally different from the things that I'm interested in doing. I think we might be able to learn from each other.

Oh yeah, my posts are up on the Kendall Blog.  Read it?

*UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE A SURGEON.  If you want to be a surgeon, just starting to cut people open is a really bad idea.  You should go to school or something first. If you want to be a suregon, maybe reading a book about it or interviewing a suregon is a better first step.

Links for Friday, May 10

This Marc Johns drawing makes me happy.

I've been working on my 635 project for a couple days now, and I'm really happy with how it's going.
I wrote an article this week for the Kendall blog.  It's about collaborative design! You should read it!
I went to TEDxGR yesterday, and it was amazing and inspiring and it makes me want to start doing some big things.
This office is so great, I just want to steal it. Ugh!
"Networking" is hard and awkward and Rookie feels you on that.  Here's what they recommend to make it a little less painful.
If you have a blog, business, or Etsy shop, I'm still offering some free ads to anyone who uses the promo code NEW ADS, so get on it!

Links for Friday, April 26

It's Friday, and that means that it's time for some links to things that I love (or have strong feelings about) from the internet!

Minimally Minimal talked to Dieter Rams. Is this pretty fantastic? Yes. Would that be the coolest thing?  Yes.

If you were wondering how Transformers are made, now you know.  I want a feature like this about every single thing that exists. Built world!  Tell me how you came to be!

The Flattening of Design.  I am all about simpler, flatter logos. Flatter graphics look cleaner, and less like they're trying to be something that they aren't.

These notebooks are pretty clever. If I didn't already have such a huge stash of notebooks and sketchbooks, I would buy them!

Cooper Union is going to start charging tuition for undergraduates. I really like that Cooper Union students have risen up against this, and I wonder if Kendall students would ever do something like that.  Here's the twitter account run by students, and articles about the issue from NPR and Metropolis.

As you might have noticed, there are new ads set up in the sidebar.  If you're interested in sponsoring Fifteen-Seventeen, I'm offering free ads to the first five people who buy ads with the promo code NEW ADS.  Really!  Free advertising! NEW ADS is the code, so go and try it out.

If you wanted to see me look crushingly awkward in front of a green screen, now is your chance! This video was a part of the Dialogue and Personality class presentation, and I think it's an interesting perspective on student life at Kendall.

Free Pizza = Student Life?

The biggest gathering at Kendall College of Art and Design is Halloween. There’s a costume contest, there’s food, everyone comes to it. On most other days of the year, the school is empty.