The most beautiful image for me, is that of my mom's hands. They will always be a visual representation of love, hard work, and hospitality. And you can also see where I get my caffeine addiction. I love you Mom... Happy Mother's Day!

moving over....

ASU has recently developed a whole blog & wiki area for students, faculty and staff to easily enter the blogosphere. So to be true to the community that I am engaged in, I am moving this conversation about design inspiration over here.

And I don't mean to sound like a sap, but...
dang, I love working here.
We've got great people.

Word It

I just discovered a great site with lots of examples of visual wit. Its a section of the Speak Up blog called Word It. Designers submit their interpretation of the one-word topic for the month--this month the word is Rebel. Anyhow, its a great place to hang out before you have to do concepting or brainstorming. It'll get those creative juices flowing...

fun and ukuleles

As a designer, I have found that we are not only inspired by visual beauty, but also by the spirit of the people around us. After I walked into the office yesterday, my incredible colleagues, Nina and Cameo, came in a sang me a customized birthday song on the ukulele. Check it out. Thanks you guys! You're the best.

Peace: 100 Ideas

I just stumbled on a book that I found inspiring, not only visually, but on a much deeper level. Check out Peace: 100 Ideas. If you click "The Book" link, you can view a few selected spreads. It whet my appetite enough that I am going to have to drop by Borders tomorrow and pick up a copy. As I was looking at some of the artwork, and thinking about the whole idea of peace, I realized something. We often assume the concept of peace was birthed in the 60s, but the truth is, its a much older idea.

Sante Fe & Nakamura

Our family spent New Year's in the beautiful town of Sante Fe. I love that town. Its such an artistic and yet spiritual place.

The whole time we were there, I was hoping to run across some of the work of my favorite illustrator, Joel Nakamura, because I knew he lived in Sante Fe. Since I wasn't that fortunate, I just came home and looked through his online portfolio. I love the way he interprets the complexity and beauty of life. Its one of my dreams to hire him to illustrate our design imperatives here at ASU. Anyhow, thanks for enriching the world, Joel!

More than ephemera...

In this business of creating images, ads, and websites that are probably only viewed for a couple seconds by the audience, its easy to feel like all your doing is creating ephemera. I wonder if I am really doing anything worth while to contribute to a better world, or am I just producing one more stream of visual pollution?? Then I turn around from my computer and see photos of these beautiful faces. Nothing inspires me more than my daughters. Their beauty is deep... and eternal.

The Thought Project

A Danish photographer stopped people in New York and Copenhagen and asked "What were you thinking about the second before I stopped you." His goal was to encourage us to look deeper at the people we pass on the street, and question our assumption that their thoughts are trivial. Personally, I just think people are beautiful! The Thought Project

Beautiful and bouncy

Talk about thinking outside the box! This Sony commercial was shot last July to announce the "next generation of television," and to communicate this idea that the "color is like no other," Danish director Nicolai Fuglsig did something very unpredictable. A beautiful city, beautiful color, beautiful music, and 250,000 superballs. Enjoy.
www.bravia-advert.com

Colorstrology

This site has a really nice feel to it, and I love the interface. Personally, I can't say that I buy into the whole astrology/colorstrology concept. I was a believer for a couple minutes, though: I found my color, and when I read the description, it was like, "Yes! This is exactly me." But then I read my hub's and that was exactly me, and my daughter's also fit. It was fun reading through random personality descriptions, and I was quite amazed at how many words they found to name 365 colors. www.colorstrology.com

Visual Thesaurus

ThinkMap did a great job of making our words, and the relationships they have to each other, almost dance. I have to admit, though, I liked the classic version better. If you have some spare time, or need to do some concept brainstorming, play here a while: www.visualthesaurus.com

Christine Johnson

When I'm having a bad day, and just need to look at something beautiful for a while, I often visit this site: www.christinejohnsonphotography.com Her work is just so gorgeous. Not only does Christine have this amazing gift of catching the essence of someone, but she is an extremely beautiful person herself and celebrates the beauty of love and family. Thanks for making the world a more beautiful place, Christine.

Honoring those who inspire

After being a graphic designer for over 20 years, I've come to realize the importance of being visually inspired. My colleague, Nina, and I often talk about how we need to feed our "creative spirit" with the beauty and brillance of other great creatives.

So, if you're hungry yourself, feast here with me; and if you have other sources of inspiration, leave a comment and a link. Thanks.