Designers Who Blog: Design, Illustration, Photography, Web, Advertising, Branding …

Chris Hopkins

Design Forte

Chris has some knockout photography at his blog, Design Forte. One of my favourite photographs is the one of the dragonfly that he used in his banner (above). Since seeing his blog, I’ve taken more time to snap the wee bugs in my life (coming later…)

About: Chris Hopkins graphic designer Harrogate, Yorkshire. My design blog is a collection of my ramblings about photography and design.

You can see more of Chris’s work at the British Shakespeare Company, Countryman magazine, and Finer Catering.

Sunny and Ashleigh

A couple of days ago I received an email from Sunny, saying, “Hey! Are you like, still alive???!”

Hah! Kidding, honest. But Sunny did drop me a line to make sure I was ok and to wish me well. And here I am. Back. So I guess I just needed time to recover from being recovered? And a nudge by Sunny?

And being recovered, I’m TOTALLY chuffed to bring you Think Motto, by Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger.

Think Motto

Think Motto is a blog about living from your core. Core is all about power - it’s knowing who you are and telling people about it without deception or apology. For brands, living from the core is essential. It’s about having something to say, rather than just something to sell. We write about the things move us both personally and professionally like branding, design, core values, culture, politics, entrepreneurship and the big world around us.

I wasn’t exactly sure which category to put them in… decisions… decisions… Graphic designer… Writers… Branders… as they fit in all three (but only one will do). So… Graphic Designers, it is.

But no matter what tag Think Motto is under, it’s a fabulous blog. Well written (all original at that), informative and fun. Please check it out (and when you do, send my thanks to Sunny :-)

10 Most Influential Bloggers

Last year, Home Rejuvenation held a 10 Most Influential Bloggers push.

The winners were…

First place: Design*Sponge
Second place: Apartment Therapy
Third place: MoCo Loco
Fourth place: Decor8
Fifth place: Desire To Inspire
Sixth place: Oh Joy!
Seventh place: Swiss Miss
Eighth place: NotCot
Ninth place: Sfgirlbybay
Tenth place: Bloesem

As you can see from the winners, it’s more of an interior, product design focus rather than communication design. No matter, it’s always fun to watch how these things pan out.

The cast for this year (below) has a great bunch included. There’s some noticeable no shows dotted around, so, maybe give Home Rejuvenation suggestions for 2009? Like, who to add and who to cut?

And maybe they could even separate the focus a bit? Product design, Interior design, Communication design… or something similar…

(not that I’d place even then, but, hey…)

Vote for your favs of 2008…

2Modern Design Talk
30 gms
Absolutely Beautiful Things
An Indian Summer
Another Shade Of Grey
Apartment Therapy
Beach Bungalow 8
Behind The Curtains
Better Living Through Design
Bloesem
Blue Ant Studio
Brilliant Asylum
Casapinka
Charles And Marie
Contemporist
Cool Hunting
Core 77
Cube Me
David Report
Decor8
Design Boner
Design Boom
Design East
Design Milk
Design Observer
Design*Sponge
Design Spotter
Designers’ Block UK
Designers Who Blog
Desire To Inspire
Dezain
Dezeen
Dezona
Fabulously Green
Freshome
Grijs
Happy Mundane
Hemfeber
Home Rejuvenation
Ikea Hacker
Imedagoze
Inhabitat
It’s (K)not Wood
Josh Spear
K-Fresh Designs
Karin’s Style Blog
Katiedid
Laissezfaire
Land+Living
Lena Corwin
Made By Girl
Materialicious
MocoLoco
Mod Mom
Modern Roost
Modish
Notcot
Oh Joy!
Pan Dan
Patricia Gray
Poppy Talk
Print & Pattern
Product Dose
Sensory Impact
Sfgirlbybay
Shelterrific
Style Court
Swissmiss
The Cool Hunter
The Design Files
The Peak Of Chic
The SCOOP
The Style Files
Treehugger
Trend Hunter
Trendir
Uncrate
Yanko Design
Yatzer

Who to add: David Airey and Logo Design Love, both by David. They are two of my favourite blogs this past year, bar none.

And if there’s ever a blog voting what’s it for designers with language blogs, I’d put mine forward: Women Learn Thai

(perhaps a better name would be See the Expat Women Struggle to Learn the Thai Language from the Comfort of Her Own Sofa…)

Note: As mentioned, I’ve been absent from DWB with crazy health problems. With a lot of work to get it sussed, and more than a lot of bitching, I’m coming out of it. Slowly. So please look out for regular features on fabulous bloggers.

Ok, I’ll continue to kick up a fuss… but I’ll be back for sure.

Enjoy…

Vote for Jeff Fisher

So here I am. Going on the third month of being under the weather. Going on goodness how long of my adopted country heading for another… political party in power? coup?… or… some such. Right now it’s a toss up on what happens today, so, who knows for sure what’s going to happen tomorrow. Or next week…

So, in the meantime, what’s a blogger to do?

Decisions, decisions… as whatever it is, it needs to be short and sweet and easy and… you know… easy.

Well, if you are a designer (as I am). And there’s a home-based 100 competition (as there is). And all it takes is pushing one button a day, well, who do you vote for to win?

It’s not exactly rocket science from where I’m sitting, as it’d have to be author and design advocate Jeff Fisher of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

Website: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives
Blog: bLog-oMotives
Book #1: The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success
Book #2: Identity Crisis

There’s more, but let’s catch our breath and get on to what we need to do…

… which is to keep on clicking a button. Daily.

I can do that much. How about you?

Please join in by celebrating America’s most outstanding home-based businesses and the people behind them.

Vote for Jeff, or whoever else you believe has busted their butt to make good.

Because they certainly deserve a bit of recognition for their continued hard work. Yes?

Tip: When you decide who it is you want to support, temporarily set their page as your start up page on your browser of choice. Then, viola! You won’t even have to remember to remember.

Simple. Short. Easy. Yeah. I like.

Tim Foley

If you look in the Illustrator section of DWB’s Blog Roll, you’ll find a lot of Illustrators. And for good reason. They hold a soft spot in my heart.

Tim Foley uses Illustratorium as a running portfolio, featuring work as it rolls in.

If you are a fledgling Illustrator, or even settled into your illustrating skin, you wouldn’t go wrong keeping an eye on what Tim is up to. For sure.

Jos Buivenga

After looking at that wonderful face, how could you not enjoy the talented Jos Buivenga’s exljbris? And yes, there is a blog attached, the exljbris - Free Quality Font Foundry blog for news, releases & comments on the exljbris site.

exljbris

And since I’m on a sort of an enforced hiatus, I’m going to send you over to ILT’s to read Face to Face, an Interview with Jos Buivenga. Please enjoy. I did!

Chris Gregori

I’ll bet you all thought I dropped off the face of the earth. Well, not quite. I’m still suffering from a lovely Thai stomach bug (or some such). So life has not exactly been a whole lot of fun this past month. But I’m still here. Just moving sloooooooooow.

So to rev up the fun a wee bit, I give you c. gregori dot com blog. Enjoy.

c. gregori dot com blog

And if you don’t see me again for another week, feel free to come looking. Or send flowers. Or both.

Chain Change

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Year of Creativity - YOC - is designed to stimulate something we all have in common: creativity. It is a starting point from which to explore the amazing potential of small changes and the infinite opportunities they offer.

YOC is an invitation to be more curious and more imaginative. It is a catalyst that promotes real and virtual opportunities for us all to discuss and compare our own creativity.

It is a space in which the endless personalities inside us can express themselves, as only those who are inwardly creative can also be creative with the world at large.

My favourite from Chain Change (the blog)?

:-D

Romain Colin

Introducing fubiz and Romain Colin…

Since May 2005, the Fubiz site is centered on the subjects of the graphic world, the urban culture, the products tendencies and numerical arts. A baseline: Daily proportions inspiration off, and a version available in 5 languages.

And it is. For design, check out the Super-bastard Toy. Photography? Julia Fullerton-Batten is a beaut. Inspiration? Radiohead - House off Cards is eye-catching.

And like it says on the label, it comes in 5 sweet languages. Nice.

Davor Peic

davor peic.gavran {new media designer}

While I’m out here celebrating Buddhist Lent (now designated in Thailand as No Alcohol Day, not to be confused with No Tobacco Day), I’d like to you enjoy the beautiful blog of Croatian designer Davor Peic.

Davor is biting off quite a huge chunk by writing a multi-language blog. I can barely handle English (although I am struggling along in Thai) so my hat goes off to him big time.