I love this illustration for the food packaging of Middagsfrid.

Even if you’re more into graphic design than packaging design, check out thedieline.com for more inspiration.

The Shot Glass Card is a great way to help a friend celebrate their birthday with a drink!

Fifty Five Hi’s has a nice blog post with details, and there’s a fun video below.

I love this article… Need Extra Money for the Holidays? Just Become a Photographer!

Why do I love it? Because it’s hilarious…

Most of us in the creative and/or technology industry have had to deal with this.

Designers, web developers, photographers, you name it.

Since the price of computers, software, cameras, and other previously expensive or specialized equipment has come down to the level that the average person can afford them, everyone thinks they are a designer, or web developer, or photographer.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m all for people learning new skills and trying their hand at making money with those skills, but if it were that easy, we’d all be doing it, and we’d all be rich… or broke… or something.

And I’m not about to tell people they are ruining an industry. If you love doing something, then you should do it. If you can provide amazing work cheaper than someone else, go for it. It’ll be up to you to decide if you’re ruining an industry. But keep in mind, after years of honing your craft, someone else will come along and offer to do what you do even cheaper. That’s just how it works.

Whew, I didn’t mean to get all heavy there… What I meant was, Happy Holidays! And if you need extra cash this holiday season, you might have better luck looking for loose change in the couch cushions than you will if you have no photography skills and try selling portraits of people after the fact.

Happy New Year! :)

I’ve spent about a week with the iPhone 4S, and while the main difference from my previous iPhone is the overall increase in speed, the breakthrough technology so far has to be Siri.

Apple says “Siri on iPhone 4S lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more” and I’ve found that to be pretty accurate.

If you don’t come into it thinking you’re on the bridge of the Enterprise and the computer can understand everything you say, it should amaze you. (In other words, set realistic expectations and you won’t be disappointed.)

The other day while driving I got a phone call and ended up setting up a doctor appointment. Once the call was finished it was extremely easy to have Siri add the appointment to my calendar. I also had Siri compose an email to myself so I’d remember to bring my insurance card to the appointment.

I wouldn’t have attempted to enter that information into my phone while driving, and without Siri I probably would have just waited until I got to where I was going to add it to my calendar. And as for texting while driving? Let Siri do it for you… Yeah, it’s that easy.

Some folks will point out that Apple didn’t exactly invent this stuff, and that’s true, but what Apple did is that they always do: take a technology, make it better, and make it mainstream. If you look at the iPhone 4S sales since its release, and consider that a good amount of those people gave Siri a try, you can imagine how this technology will only improve and gain popularity in the future.

(Although we’re all a bit disappointed Siri doesn’t have a good response to “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot”, you can ask Siri to open the pod bay doors and see what response you get back.)

The latest “cool thing” in the office has been Kern Type, the kerning game, where you attempt to kern type. I know, you designers and typography nerds know what I’m talking about (at least I hope so!) but for the rest of you, kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters to achieve proper visual balance. In the olden days of setting type, this was an art form. Sadly, many new designers nowadays never learned how to properly kern type… but now they can!

Here’s a great example… and hey, the Wave just happens to be one of or clients! (Looks like I should have moved the A just a bit closer to the W, and the V just a tad closer to the A.)

It’s even multitouch capable, so you can play along on your iPad.

You can also share your score with others to show off your mad kerning skillzz.