50 Essential Bookmarks, from Communication Arts November Design Annual 2006

Originally published in Communication Arts November Design Annual 2006, by Pamela L. Williams

Design Community
www.aiga.org “A dense site filled with loads of content, best practice design examples, galleries of easily accessed work and information on events, contests, etc.” —Phil Hamlett, Academy of Art University
www.designers-who-blog.com A comprehensive list of design blogs written by designers, illustrators, photographers, Web designers, as well as those in advertising, branding and marketing.
www.newstoday.com “Not only do you find some great inspirational links to all kinds of design-related Web sites, but what’s more fun than popping open a Dr. Pepper, eating a Snickers and watching other graphic designers argue about what’s cool!?” —Paul and Kristina Kremer, The Speared Peanut

Design Commentary
www.designobserver.com “As a whole, it provides a good way of sensing the design community’s pulse on a topic.” —Alice Twemlow, The Desk of Alice Twemlow
www.underconsideration.com/speakup “Another well-done, author-based, reader-supported blog devoted to graphic design.” —Scott Thares, Wink
www.mediabistro.com/unbeige “It’s fun to see what people are saying and doing.” —Noreen Morioka, AdamsMorioka, Inc.
www.creamcheeseandcaviar.com “This local design boutique turns me on to some new links and points of view on design issues.” —Kym Abrams, Kym Abrams Design
www.zefrank.com/theshow “An amazing designer and very funny man.” —Jane Hope, TAXI
weblogs.media.mit.edu/SIMPLICITY “There are only a few people that I want to know what they’re thinking. John Maeda’s perception of everyday events inspires me to see differently.” —Noreen Morioka, AdamsMorioka, Inc.

Advertising
www.adcritic.com “A daily dollop of great work—TV and print as well as a growing design section. This is the online version of Creativity magazine.” —Graham Clifford, Graham Clifford Design
www.adsoftheworld.com “I love checking this site out periodically. It compiles new advertising from all over the world.” —Kris Kiger, R/GA
adverlab.blogspot.com “This blog collects excellent examples of contemporary advertising solutions and is a great aid to keeping up with the creative state of the industry.” —Craig Swann, CRASH!MEDIA
www.youtube.com “This is the site that the Internet has been promising for the last seven years: user-generated broadcast entertainment 24/7.” —Armin Vit, Pentagram

Branding/Account Planning
www.brandnoise.typepad.com This site provides a steady stream of ideas, insights and resources for brand planners.
www.rebrand.com ReBrand is a source for case studies and programs on effective rebranding, repositioning, revitalizing and redesign of existing brand assets to meet strategic goals.
www.russelldavies.typepad.com “A great blog by advertising account planner, author and philosopher Russell Davies. Excellent insights on account planning, design strategy and life in general, served up with a healthy dose of humor.” —Stefan G. Bucher, 344 Design, LLC

Typography
www.tdc.org “The Type Directors Club’s role is to raise the standards of typography and related fields of the graphic arts, and to provide inspiration, simulate research, further education and disseminate information relating to the typographic arts. The club also possesses a fantastic library.” —Graham Clifford, Graham Clifford Design
www.thinkingwithtype.com This site is the online companion to the book Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students, by Ellen Lupton (Princeton Architectural Press, 2004). It is a primer for educators and students alike.
www.underware.nl “Nothing picks me up like the typographic stylings of Underware. If you make your way to their workshop section, there is even more fun: www.typeworkshop.com.” —Armin Vit, Pentagram

User Experience
www.k10k.net “k10k has been around almost as long as we have. It’s still the place to go when looking for a little design inspiration.” —Paul and Kristina Kremer, The Speared Peanut
www.linkdup.com “This site is actually my homepage. It lists all the current new and cool sites and archives old listings.” —Kris Kiger, R/GA
www.thefwa.com “I see this site as ‘the new linkdup.’ FWA however takes it a step further by including editorial content and fun things like wallpaper in addition to the best new site.” —Kris Kiger, R/GA
www.we-make-money-not-art.com “I still love seeing how people come up with new answers to questions that have already been answered.” —Robert Hodgin, The Barbarian Group

Industrial Design
www.core77.com “Multidisciplined design insights, solid storytelling and an honest look into the heart of where design is going.” —Michael Jager, JDK
www.designalligator.com “Design Alligator turns me on to new ideas in product design...and some cool Web site links.” —Kym Abrams, Kym Abrams Design designsponge.blogspot.com “Cool, and constantly updated blog about every kind of design.” —Jane Hope, TAXI

Photography/Stock
www.bluevertigo.com.ar “This site is more or less a one-stop shop for stock photography, sounds, fonts, vector-based logos, etc. it’s easy to navigate because it’s organized by ‘free,’ ‘cheap,’ ‘commercial’ and ‘specialty.’" —Kris Kiger, R/GA
www.flickr.com “I love seeing what photos my friends and family post. Knowing what they are interested in can be really beneficial when thinking about new work.” —Robert Hodgin, The Barbarian Group
www.gettyimages.com “Even though we are saddened by the ongoing consumption of small shops by the big megacorporations, Getty houses it all (or at least most of it) to allow for quick, one-stop shopping of our stock photography needs. Easy to navigate.” —Joshua C. Chen/Jennifer Tolo, Chen Design Associates
www.veer.com “Veer offers images that are a little more ‘quirky,’ a better fit for our clients and ourselves.” —Jeri Heiden, SMOG Design, Inc.
www.youworkforthem.com “I don’t leave the studio long enough to spend time at a local bookshop so getting good design-related books online fast is ideal for me.” —Tom Brown, Tom Brown Art+Design

Technology
www.adobe.com “Adobe has become the one-stop shop for anything a designer could need (digitally speaking). This is also a robust site that one could never completely explore.” —Phil Hamlett, Academy of Art University
www.apple.com “Without Apple, we’d have to use PCs and that would be really, really sad.” —Jeri Heiden, SMOG Design, Inc.

Culture
www.boingboing.net “Established by a small group of editors including a sci-fi author, graphic artist and several leading technology journalists, Boingboing.net covers design and illustration plus any notable intersection of pop culture, technology and current events.” —Erik Johnson, Charles S. Anderson Design
www.coolhunting.com “This site has a nice range of features on design, culture and technology. The writing provides a good perspective on what can easily become an overwhelming amount of visual information. With daily updates, I’ve found that I learn about new events or products long before hearing of them elsewhere.” —Michael Jager, JDK
www.cultureby.com Culture by is the blog of Grant McCracken. The content is the result of where culture and commerce, anthropology and economics meet: marketing in general, branding in particular, popular culture, Hollywood, advertising, television, magazines and, increasingly, blogging. This business anthropologist offers an unusual and often humorous perspective.
www.flavorpill.com Flavorpill publishes ten e-mail magazines, covering art, books, music, fashion, world news and cultural events in five cities.
www.futurefeeder.com Future Feeder collects articles and projects related to the future of technology, design and architecture.
www.gigposters.com “Any and all current rock poster artists that we respect are up here posting their work, commenting on others, debating the legitimacy or ethics of some posters, trading stories or just generally bullshitting each other. We go here hourly.” —Dan Ibarra, Aesthetic Apparatus
www.popurls.com “More inspiration than I can get through in a sitting. Ask yourself a general question and load this up. I always find a trigger for myself looking at what has triggered others.” —Michael Lebowitz, Big Spaceship

Illustration
www.IllustrationMundo.com
www.Drawn.ca
www.IllustrationFriday.com
www.IllustrationClass.com
www.artdorks.com/

Business
www.betterbydesign.org.nz Better by Design is an informative Web site created by the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise that promotes the value of design. The site includes case studies which prove that well-designed services and products are more likely to earn a higher premium, gain a bigger market share, be better quality and cost less to produce or deliver.
www.fastcompany.com This is a great resource for online guides to Internet and technology, business strategy and innovation, human resources and marketing and branding.
www.hoovers.com Hoover’s, Inc., delivers comprehensive company, industry and market intelligence. With a subscription, you can research company information, business news, business reports and profiles from its database of more than 16 million companies.
www.trendwatching.com This is an independent consumer trends firm, relying on a global network of 8,000 spotters to provide the latest trends in 120 countries worldwide. Lots of free information is available and easily accessible.
www.wgsn.com “Worldwide trend forecasting that gets it right. Global scope with 100 plus reporters with their own networks of writers, photographers, researchers, analysts and trend-spotters. Pricey but worth the money. We find it indispensable in our work in footwear and apparel.” —Michael Jager, JDK

Resources
www.abebooks.com “I’ve had great luck tracking down really obscure books here.” —Alice Twemlow, The Desk of Alice Twemlow
www.thedesignencyclopedia.org A Wiki-based, user-built encyclopedia devoted to design.
www.loc.gov “There is nothing like browsing through old ephemera to learn about design. And every now and then you find something that you can swipe... I mean use... I mean appropriate... You know what I mean.” —Armin Vit, Pentagram
www.m-w.com/mw/table/proofrea.htm “A section of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Web site that provides a full glossary of proofreader’s marks complete with symbol, meaning and example. Very handy for deciphering those editor’s comments on book galleys.” —Joshua C. Chen/Jennifer Tolo, Chen Design Associates
www.moma.org/exhibitions/2001/whatisaprint “As a design educator, I am constantly having to explain to students the differences in various production techniques. I also need to be able to distinguish advantages that online communications have over traditional print media. This excellent site allows me to kill two birds with one stone.” —Phil Hamlett, Academy of Art University

A Few Favorites
We asked six designers, each with a unique voice and perspective, to share a list of sites they consider to be vital to their work. Due to space limitations, we only included the sites not already listed in "50 Essential Bookmarks.”

Pamela Zuccker, Principle
Craig Swann, CRASH!MEDIA
Debbie Millman, Sterling Brands
Eric Heiman, Volunme, Inc.
Janine James, The Moderns
Dana Arnett, VSA Partners



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Work and Play
There were lots of sites that did not make the final cut but are worth checking out:

del.icio.us
“THE tool to organize bookmarks. It’s a creative thinker’s dream—being able to follow one train of thought into the next, seamlessly finding things to pique your interest. I’m on the site several times a day finding content that finds content that finds content.” —Sasha Koren, Organic

www.lifehacker.com
“Who couldn’t use techniques for making life run more smoothly? This blog regularly produces gems.” —Michael Lebowitz, Big Spaceship

superfuture.com
“This is the ultimate resource for discovering new cities (or your own home town). It is a Web-based way of finding the best design, fashion and street culture. It is filled with reviews, maps and in some cities offers a ‘retail concierge.’ It beats any tourist map/guide on the market.” —David Schimmel, And Partners

www.tasktoy.com
“Simple and highly functional to-do list software that you can e-mail and SMS tasks to when you’re on the run.” —Michael Lebowitz, Big Spaceship

www.technorati.com
This is the blog finder that keeps getting better as the blogosphere gets bigger.

thislife.org
“Webcasts of This American Life are a great, intelligent late night companion when I’m working overtime.” —Stefan G. Bucher, 344 Design, LLC

electricsheep.org
“A continuously morphing, non-repeating, abstract animation that is one of the most striking, beautiful examples of what humans can create with computers.” —Sasha Koren, Organic

www.seatguru.com
“This site compiles seat maps from all airlines, by aircraft type, and helps you ensure you never get stuck by the lavatory, or in a seat that doesn’t recline.” —David Schimmel, And Partners


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Music
It seems listening to music is a prerequisite to brilliant design thinking. Some of the designers’ favorites:

www.allmusic.com
“We work primarily on music and entertainment projects. This site is my #1 resource for background info on artists’ bios, discographies, credits, history, genres, context, etc.” —Jeri Heiden, SMOG Design, Inc.

www.emusic.com
“It seems that eMusic has some contract with Pitchfork. Anything that’s reviewed on Pitchfork is also downloadable off of eMusic. We get most of our digital music downloads from here, and it’s a pretty good deal too.” —Dan Ibarra, Aesthetic Apparatus

gorillavsbear.blogspot.com
“Gorilla vs.Bear seeks out and serves up the finest in new music, from indie to hip-hop. This is great because coming across an amazing song is a lot like thinking up an amazing idea—you might sift through a ton to find one you like, but the daily possibility of hitting on that perfect one keeps you coming back for more.” —Jane Hope, TAXI

www.itunes.com
“How can one possibly do any design, without having great music to listen to? Apple has made it easy.” —Scott Thares, Wink

www.pandora.com
“I actually have this site playing on my computer at all times. It’s a music genome project where you submit queries on artists you like and it pulls music from other artists that have similar styles. Best of all, it’s free of cost and has no advertising.” —Kris Kiger, R/GA

www.pitchforkmedia.com
“Not only is music an integral part of our studio, keeping up on music is also a major part of our business. Pitchfork has become the online authority for independent music these days.” —Dan Ibarra, Aesthetic Apparatus

www.runegrammofon.com
“Rune Grammofon is a record label releasing work by the most creative Norwegian artists and composers. Great CD covers all done by Kim Hiorthoy, one of the world’s great designers.” —Tom Brown, Tom Brown Art+Design


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Design Observer: Thought leader

www.designobserver.com
Considering that there are more than 50 million blogs (with a new blog created nearly every second), Design Observer is one of the most successful in the blogosphere. Technorati, today’s recognized blog authority, ranks Design Observer #525 among all blogs, with 3,922 links from 1,602 blogs. And the blog has been saved by 1,762 people on del.icio.us.

So what makes Design Observer special?
For starters, its creators/writers have impressive credentials. Its content is often controversial (plagiarism, spec work); attention-getting (the relationship between design and bullshit); broad-based (the aesthetics of wind farms, scrapbooking) and resonates with its readers (most essays prompt at least a dozen comments).

Design Observer is not self-absorbed; instead it offers in-depth essays along with shorter, link-focused round-ups of articles and news, along with a valuable archive that has grown to include over 400 essays.

Repeat visitors are ardent enthusiasts. Debbie Millman, of Sterling Brands, calls it “an erudite and compelling site.” VSA Partners’s Dana Arnett calls it “the best, most topical and engaging read for those who wish to experience an unbiased forum addressing critical design issues...it features highly relevant and entertaining dialogue on what matters most in the world of design.” Writer Alice Twemlow calls it “staple reading material” for designers and design writers. Vibranium’s Steve Carsella says Design Observer is “more philosophical and heady than other blogs” like Speak Up.

Its creators had no idea three years ago that Design Observer would become what it has today. The brainchild of William Drenttel and co-founding writers Jessica Helfand, Michael Bierut and Rick Poynor, the blog has grown exponentially since its launch three years ago, today logging upwards of 200,000 site visits per week. “Frankly, we are shocked by the success,” says Drenttel.

Design Observer has reached beyond the world of design. Fast Company counts this blog as one of seven must-reads for design. “Though academic at times, this smart blog hosts a thriving community.” Marketing consultant Steve Portigal (a repeat visitor and author of his own blog All This ChittahChattah) posted this note after a heated online debate: "Thanks... for a great piece. This is what blogs excel at—a personal story, not too confessional...a relevant one, of course, mixed in with perspective, and analysis. Add in an articulate critique of colleagues whom are liked and respected (but not unequivocally supported in every single decision) and you’ve got real leadership.”

Not only has Design Observer taken the lead in design blogs, it has become one of the most credible thought leaders in the world of design.

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