WANKEN - The blog of Shelby White » Inspiration

Minimalist Icon Sets

Shelby White — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:23:30 +0000

As Alex Koplin and I have discussed in the past, coming up with new and unique icons can be a real challenge. Lucky for us, Mashable.com has come up with the Top 10 Beautiful Minimalist Icon Sets.

Read the full post here on Mashable.com.

There Was Rain

Shelby White — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:58:03 +0000

I have a slew of links I’d like to share that are my go-to’s for inspiration on those rainy days and There was rain is one of them. The site–curated by Cory Gibbons–is a large collection of gorgeous photography and architectural works from people all over.

Make sure to hop on over to his site at Therewasrain.com.

Mid-Century Modern Inspiration Pt 2

Shelby White — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 06:58:29 +0000

More inspiration from the Mid-Century Modern Art & Design Flickr pool. I would love to find out what cameras were used to take these images–if you know anything, please share.

Alex Varanese

Shelby White — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:29:44 +0000

Alex Varanese is a stunning graphic designer based out of San Francisco. His work has a very unique and retro feel to it, using experimental type to really make each piece sing. Initially the detail is what I was drawn to, but after reading about Alex on various sites, I realized that the majority of his work is true 3D Illustrations. It’s extremely hard to tell because each piece has been completed so extensively. I could only imagine that each one of these pieces was substantially time consuming.

I would love to take the time to learn how to work with a real 3D program such as Maya or 3ds Max. It seems like there is so much that could be done design-wise. If you have any other great 3d design links, feel free to share them.

Hit the jump to see larger images.

ItEvenHasAWatermark.com

Shelby White — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:18:31 +0000

It even has a watermark is by far the finest collection of the business cards out there. Not to mention its one of the largest that I’ve found and one of the most inspiring. If you have the patience of clicking, sift through all of the cards, its well worth the time. In case you’re wondering about the name–It even has a watermark–watch this scene from American Psycho.

No related posts.

Brooklyn Modern

Shelby White — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:44:42 +0000

This project is a 224 page, 8 x 10 hardcover book focusing on a collection of residential buildings in Brooklyn, New York. It was done by Project Projects, a New York design studio.

Experimental JetSet: Paradiso / Bassline

Shelby White — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:03:04 +0000

More great designspiration from Experimental Jetset. Check out what they have to say about these pieces and more of their amazing work at their website.

Between 1995 and 1999, we designed various posters and flyers for Paradiso, Amsterdam’s premier rock venue. Paradiso plays an important role in the recent history of Amsterdam, and in Dutch counter- and rock-culture in general, so it is a real honour to have been involved with this place. It also has a rich history of graphic design (Martin Kaye’s amazing concert posters, to name one example), so we’re proud to stand in that tradition.

More after the jump.

NAiM Jean Prouvé + Designspiration

Shelby White — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:04:16 +0000

Talk about amazing design–these pieces are incredible. I’m definitely a fan of Experimental Jetset’s work and their process which is explained on their website. They are a small, independent design studio based in Amsterdam.

M.S. Corley Cover Design

Shelby White — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:35:38 +0000

More designspiration, this time classic redesigns from Washington designer Mike Corley. Corley brings back the classic Penguin Book look but with his own style. Hit the jump for more covers.

Images via Art of M.S. Corley.

Expo 67 + Designspiration

Shelby White — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:10:00 +0000

Expo 67, originally known as The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, was the World’s Fair held in Montreal, Canada. It is considered to be the most successful World’s Fair of the 20th century. The design and innovation was outstanding; see the large scope of designs here.

From the Record Factory + Designspiration

Shelby White — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:58:38 +0000

Tonpress was a polish label from 1980’s. Belonging to KAW – Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza (The National Publishing Agency), their catalog consisted of foreign albums, singles, audiobooks and Polish records.

Tonpress was shutdown in 1990, due to the Polish government discontinuing most of the state-controlled publishing houses and agencies. Much of Tonpress’ collection was lost when it was split between two privately owned music labels. Tonpress records are still available at on-line auctions. Below are several amazing pieces of the artwork from albums.

Source here.

Simplistic Designspiration

Shelby White — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:56:44 +0000

Simplicity in design often speaks louder than complexity in design. This is very much the case with these inspirational design pieces. After browsing Ffffound for an hour I found a whole series of artworks that I find inspirational.

Source Images from Ffffound.

David Carson…whoa wait, let’s back up here

Shelby White — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:06:09 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

In my recent post from a few days ago, I asked all of you to voice your opinion on some photos pulled from the shot bag. There are a handful of lengthy comments as well as some short comments but there are some valid points being made. The feedback window is still open so take the chance to voice your short creative analysis–comment here–it helps and is greatly appreciated. After reading the comments I came across the word inspiration.

People often wonder what and who inspires creative folk the most.

Personally, I love to ask and to tell. I’m often curious to understand how the creative people whom we look up to, get inspired and how to apply it to the work we do. Just recently I was asked to name a few people who are of inspiration to me. I just began rambling off names of my most recent sources of designspiration…Chase Jarvis, Ffffound.com, Scott Hansen, Shepard Fairey, David Carson…whoa wait, let’s back up here. I named David Carson and I’m not even that big of a fan of his work.

For those who don’t know, David Carson is a graphic designer whose work is very subjective and experimental. My first glance at Carson’s work was quick and right to the point. I didn’t love it–I wasn’t inspired, in fact it was the furthest thing from inspiration for me. I first felt was a crock and didn’t understand how someone could be inspired by his work. That to me suggests that when I was first introduced to Carson’s work, I was not given an insight to what others felt was the inspiration for them to like the work. They simply skimmed the surface by saying a name and proceeding to show the artwork. Month’s later, by chance I came across the video posted above where Carson talks about design in a very open and humorous fashion. Note: He minimally shows his work throughout the piece.

I now see him as an inspiration, but why?

Carson’s work is not the reason behind the inspiration. It’s his willingness to talk of how he discovers design; it’s his humor that I find inspiration in. This is the most important thing to understand when trying to find inspiration through someone else or when told an inspiration that someone speaks so passionately about yet you disagree. Find out just why they’re an inspiration for that person–it could be something truly interesting.

Mastering Creativity

Shelby White — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:24:43 +0000

Malcolm Gladwell – Outliers: The Story of Success
[See post to listen to audio]

The first time listening to this talk by Malcolm Gladwell at the 2008 AIGA Business Design Conference was eye opening. The first few minutes of the video pulled me in as Josh Liberson steps onto the stage, introduces himself, and then proceeds to tell us of how Malcolm knows nothing of design. Malcolm then comes to the stage and starts speaking about Fleetwood Mac–I’d never heard of the band at this point–and I began to wonder where he was going with the topic.

It’s not until the second and third time listening in that you’ll really start to process what Malcolm is saying and how to apply it. So lets back up and look at his points main points:

Dedicate at least 10,000 hours to whatever it is you’re trying to master.

Only 10,000 hours? Well, yes. If you look at the time it takes to master something, it takes about 10,000 hours–that’s roughly four hours a day for ten years. It’s not to say that creativity and mastership of a profession can’t be had overnight or in a shorter period of time, but it just doesn’t happen for most people unless they’re solving a problem that can be summed up that simply.

Malcolm then goes on to say that the choice of profession is not trivial–I agree. The example that Malcolm uses is that if you decide to be a teacher, being a great teacher is not something that simply happens. It is something that comes out of an investment of your time (10,000 hours) and the things you’re a part of. You can’t just walk in and become a teacher and be great at it. It simply doesn’t work like that. The same goes for being a designer, photographer, or a profession in any other field. It takes time to learn and and develop each of the creative tasks and then solve them.

Additionally, someone could invest a large amount of time to a profession and still be terrible. You have to take into account the quality of the time and the underlying intent for spending that time.

Here is the link to the video again as well as a transcript of it word-for-word so you can gather more information from his enlightening talk.