From the same folks who brought you the Compendious Coffee Chart poster (which is now available in coffee mug form) comes another coffee-themed print, Exceptional Expressions of Espresso. This beautiful 18"x24" poster breaks down the ingredient ratios of 23 different espresso beverages, some of which we've not heard of but sound delicious anyway. We recommend hanging it near your coffee-making area for…
The Icons & Coffee group, makers of the popular 'Perspective' icon set for OmniFocus, have released another awesome set of icons: 'Essence' for iOS 7. With 300 icons covering a wide variety of categories, this set is the perfect tool for developers who want their apps to look great on iOS 7. When you buy the set, you get a .zip archive…
Sean McCabe is a very talented hand-lettering artist and designer, and sells a number of awesome prints and other goodies. My favorite of the bunch is the 'Influence the World' poster, not just because it's beautiful, but also because it's a much-needed reminder for us to strive to find our own voice rather than merely follow the crowd. I recommend hanging it…
While the term "life hacks" has gotten kicked around a lot over the years, a new Kickstarter project by Alex Croft breathes new life into the phrase. The 24x36 inch poster is well designed, featuring white and black art over a beautiful blue. Each "hack" is told as a fun little story around a big owl. Guides on CPR, the Heimlich maneuver,…
There are a lot of books about Apple's history. However, most of them end at the iMac in 1999 or the iPod in 2001, which is disappointing. This is starting to change a bit, though. The $1.99 Kindle book Design Crazy: Good Looks, Hot Tempers, and True Genius at Apple by Max Chafkin over at Fast Company includes interviews more than fifty…
Just Enough Research is the latest book to come from the ever-excellent A Book Apart publishing group. Written by Mule co-founder Erika Hall, Just Enough Research delves into the nitty-gritty of doing excellent research for your projects, whether they be design-related or otherwise. Erika has been doing this kind of thing for many years, making her a foremost expert on the matter.…
Written by our fearless editor Shawn Blanc, Delight is in the Details is an audio book, eBook, and interview series for people who make things. The focus is on addressing the finest goal a person in our industry can have: to create substantive work that delights and excites our audience. To that end, this book bundle contains eight audio interviews with such…
The Shape of Design by Frank Chimero is a fantastic book that examines the world of design, and the role of designers that inhabit it. This isn't a guide to making websites look great, or a how-to on making apps. Chimero encourages the reader to think about the why behind great design, not the how. There are fantastic quotes and illustrations sprinkled…
Yesterday, the guys at Typography.com introduced a webfont project they're calling Cloud.typography, and it looks fantastic. This appears to be their answer to services like Typekit, and includes the entire H&FJ typeface collection. You know how the default fonts in Check the Weather and Vesper are Idlewild and Ideal Sans, respectively? Yeah, they're both included with this service, along with a lot…
Learning iOS Design is a book written by William van Hecke, the User Experience Lead at the Omni Group (the makers of OmniFocus and other well-known apps). In this book, William takes you through the process of becoming an iOS app designer, regardless of your experience level. You'll learn how to flesh out your app ideas, from early sketches and wireframes to…
Longtime readers may remember Mike Rohde's The Sketchnote Handbook, a guide to taking better notes by sketching rather than writing. If you liked the book, you're gonna love The Sketchnote Typeface. Mike created this typeface by scanning actual ink-spread on paper to make it more authentic. Of course, he did it to save himself a lot of work while writing the book…
About a week ago, the guys at Pixelmator released version 2.2 of their popular image editing app, code-named "Blueberry". It was packed with new features, such as smarter shape-selection tools, a palette with drag-and-drop shapes, a new light-leak effect, and a lot more. What they didn't announce until yesterday though was that there was another, more hidden feature built in: Vectormator. Press…
Remember back in 2009 when designer Rob Rhyne unveiled an ambitious UI prototyping toolkit for iPhone called Briefs? After several years of waiting, and a couple of rejections by Apple, Briefs has (finally) made its introduction to the public. Briefs for Mac allows app designers to arrange UI elements (such as buttons, toolbars, alerts, text/search fields, etc), entire screens, artwork, and transitions…
I like to joke that my approach to editing CSS goes something like this: Right-click, 'Inspect Element' Find the appropriate selector Mash the keyboard until it works Needless to say, I can always use a little help when it comes to web design. This book, written by Jon Duckett, is a great resource for such knowledge. There's nothing contained within it that…
Standard business cards are pretty boring. Unless you're Patrick Bateman, you probably can't even tell one from the next in that pile of yours. If you want your card to stand out from the crowd, you might check out this Kickstarter project called Engraved. These laser-etched wooden cards will definitely make more of an impression than the eggshell-with-Romalian-type card you're carrying around…
The Inkwell is a sketching kit made just for app- and web designers. It's got the essential tools one needs to put together an awesome UI wireframe: Hand-crafted bag Copic C-1 marker Copic C-3 marker Micron 05 pen Sharpie fine point marker 2 Sharpie ultra fine point pens (1 red, 1 black) 3 Post-it pads 250 Architecture dots The kit is currently…
While I don't have many of them hanging anymore, many of my posters from college have had their corners destroyed by years of taping, tacking and stapling to numerous walls. The OpenFrame is a Kickstarter project that tackles this problem head-on. Each frame is built using birch plywood, birch veneer, and stainless steel, with a with a clear lacquer finish. Thanks to…
Yesterday I posted about the CINCH wallet, which is made by the fine folks at Portsmith Co. In addition to that wallet, they sell a variety of lovingly-crafted wooden acoustic docks for the iPhone and iPad. Each dock is made out of wood that has been salvaged or harvested using sustainable methods, machine-milled by professional woodworkers, then hand-finished with non-toxic, eco-friendly tung…
Sir James Dyson has done it again. This time, he's come up with a sink faucet called the Airblade Tap that not only washes your hands, but dries them right there in 12 seconds by blasting out air at 420mph. The water pours from the central piece, while the two handlebar-looking objects are the air vents. This luxury won't come cheap though.…
You don't have to be a graphic designer to appreciate beautiful signage and cartography. These hand-illustrated, stylized transit posters are a great mix of both worlds and will fit in with just about any decor. As of this writing there are 18 cities available, each with a variety of interesting color palettes to choose from. Some are low-key like the one pictured…