I love movie title design. I really want to design a movie opening sequence someday, but until then, I’ll stare at this gorgeous collection of movie titles compiled by designer Christian Annyas.

(via @scalenine)

Visit link…

Thanks to some snow the last couple days, we’re actually experiencing a white Christmas here in Colorado. I didn’t take this photo today, but it felt appropriate.

The photo itself is from the curving road up Lefthand Canyon, just north of Boulder, on the way to Ward (if you stay left) or Jamestown (if you veer right). Back when I used to be heavily into cycling it was a staple of many mountain ride routes.

~Noah Stokes, Fantasy World

If you are one of those people who is waiting until using progressive CSS is safe because all major browsers support the same CSS at the same time, you’re living in a fantasy world.

~Andy Clarke, You’re living in a fantasy world

I was looking for something the other day and ran across this scan. According to the file, I scanned it back in 2002, but I think I took the photo sometime in the nineties, when I was in middle school.

It’s not that great of a photo technically-speaking, but it’s personally significant. Mount Evans was one of the first places that I really connected with when my family moved out to Colorado. Coming from the East Coast, it’s a huge part of the beginning in my romance with the West.

I’ve long been interested in special effects, digital compositing, CGI, etc. There’s something really fun about knowing how things have been pulled off.

At the same time, the film industry is getting so good, that I’m starting to find myself disappointed when I learn that a fairly benign scene (a.k.a. not obviously an f/x scene) wasn’t actually shot on location. It feels like cheating.

That said, this reel is amazing. You have to watch it closely to catch everything, but wow. And there’s some good background info on Stargate over at the Vimeo page.

(via @philcoffman)

Their biggest issue is actually ironic—They are so busy making money that they never think about building a business that will make money while they’re on vacation. Until they get tired of being the producer, they will be on the treadmill. The Product Focused owner is most likely to spend 30 years producing and end up with a business that can’t be sold because it never grew up.

~Chuck Blakeman, Why Product Focused Owners End Up On The Treadmill

I’ll admit it, I’m primarily product-focused in the way I do business. My dad (yes, it’s his article), actually created a profile assessment to help figure out where you fit in (hit me up in the comments if you want to give it a try).

I feel like I do a pretty good job thinking about the future of my business and laying the groundwork for it. That said, it’s still really easy to get lost in getting the finest details of a current project “just right,” to the detriment of other tasks. It’s a blessing and a curse.

This is turning into one big promo for my dad (hey, gotta pimp the family once-in-a-while), but the linked article is also the primary focus of his new book.

~Don Cuerdon

Don is a cycling journalist who uses the pen name Captain Dondo.

(via my friend Paul)

I’ve heard Jessica Hische’s name before, but today was the first time I actually checked out her work. Holy gorgeous! She creates some amazing illustrations and, especially, hand-drawn typography. It’s a skill I really wish I had.

(via Joshua Blankenship)

Visit link…

This began making rounds a couple days ago: Jónsi, lead singer of the Icelandic band, Sigur Rós has been working on a solo project that will be released next March.

I was excited just by that idea, but then I went to his website to grab Boy Lilikoi, a track from the album that he’s giving away, and now I’m ecstatic. The song is fun, in English (not Icelandic or Hopelandic), and the orchestration is amazing (the press release from the band’s manager mentioned that Jónsi’s been working with Nico Muhly, which make me very happy).

The lyric, “you grind your claws, you howly growl,” gives me chills on each listen. Why is March so far away?

Visit link…

I’ve been super-busy the last couple months on a lot of things in the studio: pushed a bunch of smaller projects out the door, one really big one, and continued work on some other big things that I can’t wait to share with you all.

As 2009 winds down, I’m excited for where [gb] Studio is headed. In particular, I’m looking forward to kicking of January with the fine folks at Carbonmade. For those that don’t know, Carbonmade makes it wicked-easy for designers, artists, photographers, and anyone else to put together a slick online portfolio.

The official announcement went out this morning from their end. I’ll be working on a lot of different things related to the next version of Carbonmade.

I’m looking forward to working with their team and excited to see where things go.

( ps – be sure and check out my own tricked-out Carbonmade portfolio: gb.carbonmade.com or get your own )

I’m not sure I own much of anything made of leather. Maybe a belt or probably some shoes that have leather in them… After watching this gorgeous video on Billykirk I find myself wanting some finely-crafted, timeless, handmade pieces.

(via Weightshift)

~Jeffrey Zeldman, On compulsion

The whole favrd shutting down thing has been sad and funny to watch at times. But, basically as an aside, I like that Zeldman is willing to take a stand against ludicrous analogies some people use to justify, well, anything.

His post really isn’t about favrd. It’s about perspective (or lack thereof).

~Rands in Repose, Up to Nothing

A good reminder (that I seem to need constantly) to slow down.

~Jeremy Tanner, Three Years in Boulder

That feeling you get when you look at the mountains and smile? I call that an “I live here” moment—as in, “I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to call this place my home.”

I don’t know any of the details behind this info-graphic, but it’s really fun. Click through to the original post for a larger version.

Visit link…

The problem here is that they know what they want to be, not what they want to do. The reason this is important is because there’s only one answer to these kinds of questions. Work hard at it. Do lots and lots of it. Do it every day. Do so much of it that it starts to affect you.

~Elliott Kember, You’ll never get what you want.

I’ve had the same experience with people asking how to become designers—or even friends wondering how to try a new path in life. You can tell in how they ask the question. You can tell it’s rhetorical: “I wonder how…” “I wonder what it’s like…” There isn’t any action or impetus behind their desire for a new job or skill.

Maybe I’m weird, but the only way I’ve ever learned new things is by actually doing them—taking on tasks that I didn’t know much about and working in those areas until the discomfort turned to familiarity.

New things require risk and action.

I randomly made a couple iPhone Wallpapers for myself this morning and thought I’d share them.

The first, Risk is a bit inspired by this Andy Rutdledge post (and corresponding desktop wallpapers), though my desire to remind myself to take risks is somewhat more personal in nature.

The second, Metal is based off a photo I took this morning with my phone for my hello mopho photo blog.

Adding the Wallpaper
to your iPhone

To put either on your phone, follow these simple instructions:

1. Visit this page in your iPhone.
2. Decide which one you want to use.
3. Using your finger to press and hold your chosen image.
4. Select Save Image from the menu.
5. Go back to your Home Screen
   and select Settings.
6. Select Wallpaper and choose,
   Camera Roll.
7. Scroll down and tap on the image.
8. Tap Set.

More Wallpaper Images

You might also enjoy this set I released at about the same time last year, along with a corresponding design tutorial.

~Andy Rutledge, Risk

We can certainly mitigate risk, but we can’t cultivate growth in anything (companies, governments, cultures, and ourselves) without taking risks.

~Jeffrey Zeldman

Already well-quoted, but I couldn’t resist. I think, ultimately, what he’s getting at is that people will care about what you do if you are a genuine person. And you can’t be genuine without recognizing that other people are also doing awesome things and that we’re all better off learning from each other.