Seth Godin does Creative Mornings

I was incredibly fortunate to attend Seth Godin‘s lecture at last Friday’s Creative Mornings. The free tickets sold out in 45 seconds! And for good reason. Seth is an awesome speaker who has amazing ideas and great conversation starters about all kinds of professional topics.

Although this talk sounds like its aimed at designers, the lessons can really be applied to almost any profession (especially the music industry, industry friends!). Watch the 20 minute talk above. I promise it is well worth your time.

[via swissmiss]

Animating Your Friends

You know those middle-of-the-winter blues? The ones where you spend your weekends eating too much, drinking too much, or just deciding to tattoo the inside of your lip on a whim? Well despite keeping pretty busy this month, I still managed to find time to get bored, and how did I combat the boredom? By taking this weekend’s most popular app “imadeface” and turning it into a game.

Sarah was my opponent. After creating pretty accurate cartoon versions of ourselves and our friend Karen, we decided to pick a friend to animate, then share our interpretation of said friend at the same time. The results were pretty funny. I hope the friends we cartooned appreciate this and know that we chose them because of their pretty faces.

Round 1: Julia Deakin (photo)

Round 2: Angela Holmes (photo)

Round 3: Jana Neumann (photo)

Round 4: Sarah Townson

It’s funny how to a stranger, these could look like completely different people, but to someone who knows the subject, there’s different features in each interpretation that ring true. I think Sarah won the game, unless anyone can argue otherwise! The imadeface app is available for free in the iPhone app store.

Saying No

This Creative Mornings talk by Jason Santa Maria is extremely helpful and insightful for those of you who have your own business, are freelancing, or work in a creative field. I’m among the many who find it hard to say no to new opportunities, but after watching this talk, I happily realized I’m finally at the point where I can start to be a bit more selective about the type of work I take on. Hooray!

[Via Swiss Miss]

Jess & Russ

Jessica Hische and Russ Maschmeyer are rockstars in the creative design and online world. Everything they do is arguably ground-breaking, new, exciting, and beautiful and now they’re about to begin their greatest collaboration: marriage.

Of course they couldn’t settle for the typical mailed-out wedding invitations, they had to do something new and unique,  something that puts our visual love story to shame. These two built a website putting their lives from 1996 on into a timeline complete with original illustrations, links to funny photos and videos, and intimate stories. The whole thing makes me so excited with jealousy and admiration, I could scream! Take a look:

See the entire timeline and invitation here. It’s long, but it’s worth it!

Congratulations, Jessica and Russ!

Who We Are

Who we are is largely who we meet. Cities are machines that randomize contact. The Internet is a meta-city, meta-randomizing contact. I now “know” more people than I would ever have imagined possible, because of that. It changes who I am and what I can do.

– William Gibson, American-Canadian speculative fiction novelist

Thanks to Jacob for sharing! Read the whole interview here.

Long Distance Relationships Inspired “Pair”

Have you ever been in a long-distance relationship? If you have, you know it’s not easy. Nick and I dated long distance, New York to Toronto, for two years before I decided to move to New York. That wasn’t the end though, we tacked another 8 months onto the two years while I was stuck in Canada, waiting for my engagement visa.

It seems only the strongest, most stubborn make it, but things are getting easier with today’s technology. Blackberry Messenger was our saving grace, but now there’s something that seems even better – a new iPhone app called Pair.

The app includes a feature called “thumb kiss” that vibrates when both parties touch the same spot on the screen. Couples can also co-create drawings, maintain a joint to-do list and send a “thinking of you” message that works like a more thoughtful Facebook poke.

Three of the five men who created Pair are currently in long-distance relationships. I bet they won bigtime points with their ladies for this development!

Do you think this app is adorable or nauseating? I’d love to hear your thoughts on long-distance relationships!

[via Mashable]

Shit Girls Say

Toronto’s talented couple Graydon Sheppard and Kyle Humphrey posted their first video in their new series “Shit Girls Say”.

Originally a Twitter feed, the first video features Juliette Lewis, who was one of their more enthusiastic Twitter followers.

Do you find yourself saying one or more of these stereotypical girly phrases?

OWS

To those who are against or skeptical of the Occupy Wall Street movement: I think this excerpt will change your mind and help you understand what the fight is for. So much is broken. Let’s fix it before it gets even worse.

“…These are the goals the power elite cannot comprehend. They cannot envision a day when they will not be in charge of our lives. The elites believe, and seek to make us believe, that globalization and unfettered capitalism are natural law, some kind of permanent and eternal dynamic that can never be altered. What the elites fail to realize is that rebellion will not stop until the corporate state is extinguished. It will not stop until the corporate abuse of the poor, the working class, the elderly, the sick, children, those being slaughtered in our imperial wars and tortured in our black sites, stops. It will not stop until foreclosures and bank repossessions stop. It will not stop until students no longer have to go into massive debt to be educated, and families no longer have to plunge into bankruptcy to pay medical bills. It will not stop until the corporate destruction of the ecosystem stops, and our relations with each other and the planet are radically reconfigured.

And that is why the elites, and the rotted and degenerate system of corporate power they sustain, are in serious trouble. That is why they keep asking what the demands are. They don’t know what is happening. They are deaf, dumb, and blind.”

Read the rest of “This Rebellion will not Stop” by Chris Hedges in the Occupied Wall Street Journal.

[Photo: Occupy Wall Street on Facebook]

Steve Jobs

After battling cancer for years, Steve Jobs has died. Many of us saw it coming after he recently resigned as the head of Apple, but it still comes as a shock. I personally find creative visionaries like Steve to be more exciting, relevant, and interesting than any rock star. For those of you who don’t believe the death of this man effects you, I have to say you are wrong. He changed the way so much of the media in the world works. He made other companies step up and improve by changing and adapting, not just repeating. I can only hope that there are some proteges Steve left behind who are ready to step into the spotlight and wow us.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs.

[Photo: Milton Tan Photography]

From the desk of Mark Zuckerberg

Now, this is right up my alley.

Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg commissioned designer Ben Barry to create some gorgeous stationery for him. I don’t know what’s more impressive – the bold and fun design or the fact that Mark Zuckerberg still corresponds by mail.

(Source: Design Work Life)