Julian Hector Patterns

I've recently rediscovered the patterns created by illustrator Julian Hector (previously featured here). Fun, bright, with a great balance of simplicity and strangeness, Julian's style never fails to engage.

Creative Group 2008 Salary Guide

The Creative Group has issued their 2008 salary guide. There is a number to call for your free copy (though all circuits have been busy, so email may be your best bet). Those of who you got last year's guide know that it contains some very interesting and useful information—a great free resource.

Flight001 Sale On Now

Ever-cool West Village travel shop Flight001 is having another big sale. The sale includes info graphic- and color therapy-based products, as well as laptop cases, bags, and novelty items like duct-tape wallets and stamp sets. Flight001 specializes in highly designed travel goodies—many sport 60s airline flair (the brand is named for Pan-Am's legendary round the world flight), and graphic lifestyle and tech items from new designers are also on the shelves. Not in the clearance section but always available are several varieties of Lomo cameras.

Chank Co Fonts

In addition to offering some interesting free fonts, The Chank Co site has a fun short film up. The film shows company founder Chank Diesel, a self-described "American Alphabetician", leading a session at last year's HOW Design Conference in which participants created a "flashy, hip hop-inspired photo font" using various bling (a de-blinged version is available for sale). He also interviews designers about their favorite letters and typefaces—"Everybody has an opinion about the alphabet!" [via the Feb issue of HOW magazine]

GDBar Returns

After a hectic holiday season and January, during which I quit one job, found another, fought the flu, did some obligatory traveling, survived the adventures of home repair in NYC and began to pack for a cross-country move, GDBar has finally returned. Thanks so much for all your comments and encouragement—you've been a motivating force for me to get back in action. Several changes to the site are still in progress and will continue to take shape over the next few months. Meanwhile, back to the posts!