Here is your freshly squeezed design inspiration for the week of May 08 2023.
- SOMETHING GORGEOUS: Activity Zone by SLAS
- PORTFOLIO OF THE WEEK: Bryn Taylor
- Ami Ami by Wedge
- Great Wrap by A Friend of Mine
- Charter by Sociedad Anonima
- ONE TOK: Ai Raving Renaissance Painting
- ONE LESSON: Learn to hack it
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Resource of the Week
LS Graphics
Did you know LS Graphics stands for Lovely and Spotless because I definitely didn't 😅
Recently I have been working on a few projects that I needed mockups for and LS was one of the ones that I loved. There a ton of places that you can get mockups from for free but I usually find that those are overused and somewhat boring. You end up seeing them all over Behance, and I get it. Sometimes you aren't in the position to purchase a ton of paid mockups. But like I said, the projects I am working on now require a level of polish that I want to make sure I hit for these projects and LS grabbed my eye. I specifically love their clay mockups because I think they do a great job taking the focus away from a nice flashy iPhone and put it back onto the design I'm presenting.
If you're in the market for some new mockups for a special project then definitely check it out.
Get Started with LS Graphics Today
Something Gorgeous
Activity Zone by SLAS
The "Activity Zone" in Chorzów, Poland, designed by SLAS Architects, is a visually captivating and unique playground that pushes the boundaries of conventional design. This innovative design is part of an integration initiative between the University of Silesia and the city of Chorzów, transforming a former military site into a welcoming space that fosters connections between the academic and local communities.
Not only is it beautiful looking on the ground, But from above it is the most instagramable playground ever. This is what influencers and creatives alike eat up. You can see more pictures of the playground here.
Portfolio Of The Week
Bryn Taylor
Default done right! Bryn is a Freelance product designer based in Copenhagen. Besides the great use of everyone's favorite sans-serif, Neue Montreal. Bryan is doing a lot of wonderful things with his portfolio website. Let's break it down.
For starters I love the use of negative space. Each section feels nice and airy and makes the scrolling and scanning of this portfolio website very easy on the eyes. Next, the hierarchy of the type is spot on. Using contrast in size and font-weight to draw attention to links and important information. Continuing down to the work section, I love how Bryn has decided to highlight his most recent or most important project as a full-width image which makes me want to click on it even more. Below his work are a few sections with a lovely scroll interaction highlighting his writing, interests, previous experience, skills, and also testimonials from clients. You don't have to be a big fancy agency to ask clients for testimonials and Bryn has a ton!
Portfolio Rating: 8.5/10
Built with: Webflow
View Bryn Taylor's portfolio here.
Creative Finds
Ami Ami by Wedge
I am the person that buys wine based on the label design so now I can also be the person that purchases boxed wine based on the package design.
Great Wrap by A Friend of Mine
In a world where everything needs to be aesthetically pleasing, why not make your cling wrap holder one of them.
Charter by Sociedad Anonima
I am a happy customer of Monos and I do solemnly swear that I will not be purchasing these brightly colored suitcases for my next trip.
ONE TOK
Ai Raving Renaissance Painting
I am still being amazed at some of the things you can do with Ai and this little frame-by-frame video created with an Ai engine is one of those things. I'm also just a complete sucker for this Temper Trap remix. Here is the original video that was used to create it. Also check out the account for a bunch of other cool video examples like this.
One Thing I Learned
Learn to hack it
Over the weekend I went through a roller coaster of emotions digging into the popular portfolio platform, Adobe Portfolio. At first I was annoyed, then I was impressed, then I was confused, and now I'm a bit relieved to honestly say that I would recommend Adobe Portfolio...
So since it was raining all weekend here in Phuket, Thailand. I basically locked myself in my room and ran through every nook and cranny of Adobe Portfolio to better understand why this tool can sometimes get a bad wrap. I will have a few articles coming out over the next few weeks as well as a
But as I was digging through the features Adobe Portfolio, I started to realize why so many creatives tend to struggle using this tool for their portfolio website. And I believe it's because there have been some assumptions made on Adobe's part on how you should go about creating your portfolio website through a tool like Adobe Portfolio. And yes we can also throw in that the interface isn't exactly to clearest. But after a few hours of messing around with it I started to figure out 'hacks' that I could do to make Adobe Portfolio bend in my favor.
And this is something that I feel like I have done my whole entire life. 'Hacking' my way around things and tools, figuring out solutions that weren't initially possible but somehow I figured out how to do the thing I wanted to do with them. For example, I was terrible at testing in high school and when it came time to apply to colleges, I had one of the worst SAT scores ever. My chances of being accept were basically flattened. So instead of 'practicing' and 'studying' to take the test over and over again. I said 'No thank you' and signed up for 2 years of community college where my SAT scores would be overlooked by the fact that I received a liberal arts degree lol.
This drive to 'hack' things, has been invaluable to me as a designer and as a business owner. Instead of hitting the wall on one path and giving up. I will continue to search for a solution and that skill has gotten me to this very point as a designer. So here is a quick guide on how to 'hack' it:
Step 1: Spend a few hours messing around with a thing(like Adobe Portfolio) and build something no matter how ugly it is.
Step 2: Tear it down and start over.
Step 3: If it's still not working, tear it down and try again.
Step 4: Repeat step 3.
Here is a Tiktok to help illustrate my point.
Hope you have a great start to your week and make some cool stuff!
PS. If you want to be the first to try out my Adobe Portfolio mini-course just shoot me a reply here.
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