Here is your freshly squeezed design inspiration for the week of July 17 2023.
- SOMETHING GORGEOUS: Little Red Riding Hood's Quest
- PORTFOLIO OF THE WEEK: Super Hello by Dane Flighty
- \[rebox.eco®\]
- Banking Jungle by Chá de Bold Estúdio
- Coffee Supreme by Think Packaging®
- ONE GRAM: Truck Drawn Type
- ONE LESSON: A Little Progress Everyday
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Resource of the Week
The PARA Method
Something I have realized over the last couple of years as a designer and a creative person is that I absolutely love to hoard links.
Does this sound familiar? You're scrolling on the web and you come across something 'interesting'. So you then add it to a Pinterest board titled 'cool visuals' or some other name, only to never been seen again?
Guilty as charged...
This was me up until a couple of months ago. And in addition to Pinterest I was also trying out a few new apps to try and improve this habit. Eventually I ended up with a nasty spider web of random links in a bunch of different places. Now this doesn't sound like a big deal but in my head it was wasteful. I hate the idea of saving something and never coming back to it.
So, I set out to rehabilitate this disorganized system of mine with the goal of actually being able to sort and find the things that I saved. This took me down the path of the PARA Method by Tiago Forte. After watching a few videos online covering this method, I decided to build one myself using Notion and I can say 100% it has been very helpful.
The main thing that hit me with the PARA method is the intentionality behind what you save and when you actually organize it. If you're like me, you can save links endlessly. But the second part of the PARA method when it comes to Resources is actually organize them by categories and what ever other attributes you think will be helpful.
If you want to learn about how to organize your digital life and get more intentional about what and how you save things. Then definitely check out the PARA Method by Tiago Forte.
Get Started with The PARA Method Today
Something Gorgeous
Little Red Riding Hood's Quest
I am an absolute sucker when it comes to web-based game experiences especially when they are considered and executed as well as this. Little Red Riding Hood's Quest by Lusion Labs is a simple game following Little Red Riding Hood who needs to gather supplies to concoct her sick grandmother a potion to make her feel better. While the game is short, I was absolutely delighted to fully complete the quest and actually enjoy each story sequence as I gathered new ingredient's for grandmother's potion.
The artwork is gorgeeeous and the subtle mouse interaction that is incorporated to reveal the beautiful color work is chef's kiss.
If you have 5 minutes at your desk today definitely run through the game and admire it.
Portfolio Of The Week
Super Hello by Dane Flighty
Super Hello is the one man design agency operated by Dane Flighty and the reason I love this portfolio is because it is using this new idea around how to offer your services to clients. This way of operating a design business asynchronously was pioneered by Brett Williams, who started DesignJoy. If you don't know about DesignJoy then you should definitely check out this podcast episode by The Futur.
Essentially, it is giving clients the ability to always have a design or creative resource available at all times by paying a flat monthly rate/retainer. Brett goes into detail about how to structure this and what guidelines help to make this way of operating run smoothly in his recent podcast interviews so definitely check that out if this sounds interesting to you.
Back to Super Hello...Dane's portfolio website for Super Hello is nothing special and I mean that in the most kindest and sincere way. There is no fancy animations or even rich case study pages. However, Super Hello's portfolio website is very clear and straight to the point about what it does and what it can do for clients. Sure there are some illustrations included throughout the page (which I absolutely love). But I think the brilliance in this portfolio website is that it is focused on how it can solve the client's problems, which sometimes are beyond just needing good design or creative assistance.
While this portfolio website is lovely, I wanted to share it with you to give you an idea on how you can approach packaging and offering your design or creative services to clients in a different way.
Portfolio Rating: 7.2/10
View Super Hello by Dane Flighty's portfolio here.
Creative Finds
\[rebox.eco®\]
After last week’s D2C E-commerce brand packed newsletter, I thought this might be a nice relief. A company up-cycling shipping boxes to create new ones. I would love to work with a company like this 👌
Banking Jungle by Chá de Bold Estúdio
This is for all my creatives that love to illustrate. I love branding that incorporates illustration as a main component of their identity and this is a great example.
Coffee Supreme by Think Packaging®
Sure it’s not THE Supreme brand, but I could easily see this packaging in an article on Highsnobiety or some hypebeast’s shelf in their room. I love it btw.
ONE GRAM
Truck Drawn Type
Two of my favorite things combined. Large type and physical application. You know how there are planes that create messages in the sky with little clouds? Well Ryder took that idea and turned it upside. Ryder built and coded a water-pump thing that allows him to leave drive-by messages on the road that he can send to his friends and family. Slightly ridiculous? Sure. Absolutely awesome? Yes!
One Lesson
A Little Progress Everyday
At times I can get really frustrated with how slow I seem to move with either personal projects or client work. No matter how many times I make a list of to-dos or try to focus on just a few tasks. It always seems like I am moving through a pond of molasses.
This feeling is something that I am working on personally because while I may not get 'everything' that I would like to done at once. I still make strides to make progress no matter how big or small that may be, each day, little by little.
This phrase, 'A little progress everyday', helps with that feeling. It helps to calm me down from the anxiety of feeling like I am running out of time or someone else is going to beat me to it. Whatever it is lol.
For the last couple of weeks now in additional to really getting strict about my night routine, I have been telling myself that even if I only make a little progress. If I keep making a little progress everyday, no one can beat me.
Hope you have a great start to the week!
PS. I have been reorganizing my website callthedesignguy.com to make it easier to find all of my portfolio reviews and articles if you want to check it out.
PPS. At the end of this month I will be sending out the second edition of The Portfolio Squeeze.
PPPS. At the beginning of next month I will be sending out the first Beefy Brief which is my upgraded version of a brief so you can improve your portfolio. If you would like to sign up then check out this link.
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