Inspiration: Chalk Typography

Chalk typography is something I have been coming across a lot lately on my internet travels. I am a big typography fan and the vintage twist to these designs is just the kind of style that I love.

Chalk is an interesting medium as it creates a lovely texture that is so difficult to achieve an accurate replication of on Photoshop. I like the simplicity of one colour balanced with the elaborate designs shown in these images, they definitely create a striking visual centre piece in an office or home.

Find A Job Online

I have been MIA on the blog front recently; starting a new job and having a sizeable commute means that thinking and writing up blog posts have been put on the bottom of the to do list. I'm hoping to write a few posts tonight so I can keep updated. Anyway, on to the main focus of this post...

Finding a job can be tough, especially being a graduate. I spoke repeatedly banged on about my struggle to find employment post uni many times. I posted about the importance of a creative CV's here and along the theme of employment I have compiled a list of great job finding sites I used that can hopefully help you too.

Creative Pool

I find that Creative Pool is a really useful site because everything is so simply organised and the search criteria can easily be adjusted. You can also search for a particular company that you're interested in and make your own profile with examples of your work.

I find the site layout to similar Facebook, which makes it easy to navigate and filled with vibrant user generated imagery. This can be such a bonus if promoting yourself on Creative Pool as people are first influenced by your work before viewing your profile.

Form Fifty Five

This is a really good website for general resources such as articles and inspirations. What it also has are job listings, albeit a small selection they are all really fantastic companies and also have offers for internships. I used to check the site regularly and most days there will be a new job posting.

It's Nice That Job Board

I regularly enjoy the "It's Nice That" articles and the job board is just as exciting with job posts from the likes of Burberry and Asos. It hosts a collection of fantastic creative roles, most of which are based in London. 

Reed

Reed is one of the biggest recruitment sites in the UK and is packed full with job opportunites. The big bonuses I found was that it saves your cover letter when you apply for a job so you can quickly adjust the note for different jobs. Another good point is that it attracts huge companies such as Amazon and Vodafone which aren't found on smaller sites.

Milkround

Milkround is actually the site that I found my job on so I had to mention it in this post. Milkround is targeted primarily at undergraduates and newly graduated individuals with many graduate scheme opportunities. I found this site to be really beneficial and has a lot of information about further study and options for post grads.

This is only a brief summary of the websites that I found useful but hopefully they will help someone else land their perfect job.

New Job: First Day

Today was my first day at my new job.

There was snow, ice, floods, traffic and a broken sat nav but I got there!

I had met the people I would be in a team with early last week at a quarterly meeting so knew a couple of names and faces, which made me feel much more at ease.

Everyone was really welcoming, warm and friendly and I'm excited to get working on a whole range of new projects for a worthy cause.

I also got my new car which makes it even more exciting :)

Source

Graphic Design Valentine

It's just over a week until Valentines day on February the 14th. Choosing a present can be tricky, so to solve this I created a gift guide for graphic design nerds to give to their other halves in order to inspire them to be creative or vice versa.

Creative Valentines suggestions include:

Pantone mugs for the caffeine addicted designer. Set of 6 £54.99 from The Gifted Penguin

"I love CMYK" T-shirt by Supreme Being.

Cool screen printed alphabet (with lots more great designs) from The Keep Calm Gallery from £22

A fantastic invention; The pixel ruler from UI Stencils from around £17.50

Adobe Software cushions to brighten up the studio (lots more design nerd cushions available) from Mysuitestuff.com around £10 each

Funny typographic iPhone case from Society 6 (lots more designs to check out) from around £22.50

Book Wishlist

Previously I have written a few posts about design books (here, here & here). I like books. They're a great inspiration and there are varieties to suit every need, plus you can always come back to them. These are some of the books currently on my book wishlist.

"Know Your Onions: Graphic Design" by Drew De Soto £14.99 Amazon

After reading Lorna's review on this book I have really wanted to get my hands on a copy. I find many of the books classed under the design section can be visual and it's nice to have some that look at the theory of design and get you to think about the task at hand in a different way.

"Finger Print No. 2: The Evolution of Handmade Elements in Graphic Design" by The Chen Design Associates £18.55 Amazon

I own Fingerprint the original version, it was one of the first really creative design books I bought and it made me realise that you can't and shouldn't rely solely on the computer to create great design. If this book is anything like the first it should be a fantastic read.

"Hand Job: A Catalog of Type" by Michael Perry £17 Amazon

I've borrowed this book from the library many times and I'm sure most designers will be aware of it. Michael Perry's books have a childish, eclectic feel to them, much like a scrap book which means they are packed full of exciting examples of hand rendered type.

"Sign Painters" by Fayth Levine £13.59 Amazon

This book is right up my street; I love retro style typography and these examples look great. This is something I will definitely be purchasing and recommended for anyone with a strong interest in typography.

"Drawn In" by Julia Rothman £10.87 Amazon

I love books that look at designers sketch books because it feels like you're getting to look into their mind and see how their sketches develop into the finished product.

Interview Creative Brief

As this post title would suggest this is about the creative brief I worked on as part of my application for the job at The Air Ambulance Service. Luckily I got the job so decided to share my efforts at this design task :)

The interviewers positively encouraged a creative outlook on this brief which which was so refreshing as it allowed a lot of freedom which is always exciting.

The brief itself was to design a postcard for the TAAS promoting the benefits of longer hours of sunlight in the summer months in regards to the air ambulance operating longer. I decided to go for an illustrative style as it was such a departure from the existing style of TAAS and I could really put my stamp on it. The concept is quite humorous and adds an element of fun, which moves away from the more shocking tactics of some charities.

This are my versions, one for TAAS and one for The Children's Air Ambulance.