One of the websites I follow on a daily basis is called Design Milk

Design Milk is an online magazine focused on modern design.  They cover it all on this site.  Architecture, technology, furniture, Interior design and even fashion.  Their perspective on design is wonderfully fresh, and their taste is impeccable. I like to be surprised, and every time I look at Design Milk I see something that blows my mind.

Here are some examples of modern design that they showcase on their website:

Mehrzeller, the Multicellular caravan.  The tent trailer just got WAY cooler in my book.

Hallstand by Oliver Tilbury

A coat rack/hat stand, umbrella holder and bench in one. I also love the combination of the woodsy, natural coatrack, and the geometric, and sharp bench.

I Make My Case a really fun interactive site that allows you to customize your own designs while using base designs from Artists.

I choose to believe that Scabetti made this absolutely stunning glass shoal in honor of Robot Salmon

While this isn’t your typical web designers(i.e. Smashing Magazine or A List Apart) place for inspiration, I love how tt takes my mind out of the flat screen mode and into the three dimensional world.

The next website that comes to mind is Tutorial9

The name says a lot, this website focuses a lot on Photoshop tutorials, web/browser tutorials and Photography tutorials. They are also a great resource for freebies and such! I think that a huge part of being inspired is feeling capable.  So, thats why I included a tutorial website.  Maybe you won’t use that crazy cartoon bunny that they taught you to make in your next website, but it allows you to hone your graphical skills and therefore inspires you to try new and different things!

Here are a few examples of featured content/resources on Tutorial9:

Resources!

Photoshop Tutorials!

Web Tutorials!

My final choice for inspiration is CSSloaf!

CSSloaf displays beautiful websites every day.  It is special because it draws content from 35 other websites that show beautiful websites, and mashes it all in to one site. brilliance. I love website sandwiches. You can view the entire list of websites in the sidebar on their homepage.

Sometimes, I just want to curb my design hunger with a MASSIVE amount of websites. I don’t want to search for them, I want them to come to me.. and CSSloaf does that.

Here are a few examples of the websites they’ve posted:

ecoki

dave brookes

MyBrandHQ

There you have it.  These are just a few of the places that I draw my inspiration from.  There is SO much on the web, and it can be easy to get overwhelmed by all of it. A good way to keep from being overloaded is to use an RSS reader to keep track of the sites that you’ve looked at.

The tool that I use and has been essential for me in keeping track of all of these great sites is Google Reader.  I used to try and memorize all of my favorite sites, and every day I’d go out look at each of them.  This became tiring as the number of sites that I visited grew.  sooooo much to remember!  Then I discovered Google Reader a couple of years ago, and I was blown away.  Google Reader keeps track of all of your favorite sites. All you need to do is go to the website and subscribe to their RSS feed. It will then give you the option to use Google Reader and away you go!!

Here is my Google Reader page.

If you are interested, feel free to follow me on Google Reader.  I have ALL of my favorite websites on there.

Also, if you have a favorite website that inspires you, I’d love you to post the URL in the comments section below. Have a great day!

<3

John Likens

Ed Franks

I love the texture they’ve put behind this design, it really adds another element of depth and interest.

dronograph

Green IS my favorite color.

Quinto Hache

This one is magical.  It also uses some colors that are very popular right now.

Si Scott

Heather Chachaty

I chose this one because I love how you can still read it even though they’ve cut out parts of the letters. Also, it’s quite simple, and it doesn’t overload it with too many decorative swirls.

Narani Kannan

I was inspired by the hand-drawn ink look of this design. It looks natural while being very precise.

Jessica Wyatt

This one is absolutely delicious. I love how the letters drip and the warm, sweet color reminds me of honey…

now I’m hungry.

Maria Simova

This type looks whipped like butter

There you have it!

Seen any other examples of floral typography that I’ve missed? Post your favorites in the comments section.

<3

Laura

In this post we feature some of our incredibly talented friends in the Illustration program (IDEA). Here are 3 video’s that the Robot Salmon crew shot and edited last semester. We worked together with 4 of the second year IDEA students from across the hall up at Capilano University. We wanted to profile the student experience… these 3 videos show you a bit of a different angle than you might have seen if you watched my profile of Andrew Young…

If you are wondering what I’m talking about when I say the IDEA program here is a bit of background info for you:

“IDEA is a career-based 3-year diploma program offering instruction in both communication design and applied illustration. This dual curriculum sets IDEA apart from other post-secondary design programs and gives graduates a lifelong edge in the job market.

In this demanding, full-time cohort program, students are given a strong theoretical foundation and learn how to develop and apply concepts, manage complex projects and meet current industry expectations, both creatively and technologically. All instructors are current industry professionals – graphic designers, illustrators or consultants. ” From the Idea Program Website

Duder met with Cara Bain, a kick-ass, super cool girl with tons of style. She is an incredible illustrator with a true talent for capturing the essence of a person and portraying it in her work.

State Side got a chance to hang out with second year IDEA student Gabriel Hall. It seems like Gabriel is one of the few people in the IDEA program that could jump across the hall and hold his own amongst us aspiring web designers….almost….

Big Red had the opportunity to interview Stephanie Larsen for an afternoon to see what she does day to day in the IDEA program and get the low down about how she finds the challenge of translating her fine art skills onto the computer. Keep an eye out for her wicked poster designs around Vancouver.

Watch a Student Experience on Robot Salmon’s You Tube Channel

Interested in what else the Robot Salmon crew and the rest of the other web design students do up in the mountains at Capilano University check it out here!
>> interactivedesignlab.com

I hope you all enjoyed the first part of this post: New To Gmail Tutorial.
Today, we’ll go over adding filters to your inbox so you can immediately
organize emails as they come in.  We will also look at applying labels to your emails.

How to add a Filter to your email:

Start by clicking on the “Settings” link in the top right corner of the page.
Next, select the “Filters” link from the settings page.

You should see this page:

Choose the “Create a new filter” and you should see the screen below:

This is the part of creating a filter that is not so friendly and useable.  You would think when you go to type in an email address, gmail would pop up their helper that shows your contacts… but it doesn’t. So be WARNED, have your email addresses ready and accessible before you try to create this filter.

I’ve inserted an example below to illustrate what text fields I generally fill out.

You can go as general or specific as you want with Gmail filters.  Beauty!
When you are finished, click on “Next step” to continue on.

The next window will be the Actions window.  This is where you specify what you want to happen after Gmail filters the emails.  Do you want them starred for emphasis, archived for later, or (my personal favorite) do you want Gmail to add a Label to them.

Select the actions that you want to apply to your filter.  If you haven’t made any labels yet, you can create a new label right in the drop down box.

Gmail also give you the option to apply this filter to any current emails that meet the requirements. You can find this option to the right of the “Create Filter” button.

When you have selected all of your desire actions, click the “Create Filter” button.

Gmail will then show you the filter that you’ve just created.. and you are good to go my friends!!

Now that you have created your filter… lets look s a bit more at Labels.

Gmail keeps your labels in the left column on your page.

If you want to label something on the fly, Gmail also has a new feature that allows you to click and drag the label onto any email you want.  Give it a try.  click on the “personal” label and drag it over to a email of your choose. quick and easy!

If you click on a label… A little window will pop up where you can choose the colors of your label.  (If there aren’t enough colors for you, there is a Lab for custom colors)

Here’s a screen shot of a “Personal” label attached to one of my emails.

So there you have it!

With these tools, you can customize your email as little or as much as you want.
I hope this post has helped you organize your life even more.

If you really enjoyed this post, or think there is something I haven’t covered, please let me know by commenting below.

much <3

Laura

Check out my program! Interactive Design Lab

Well well well. I love these! It is often soooo cold in my classroom. What I wouldn’t give for a pair of heated mittens that I could actually type with.  I gifted these to my good friend Hillary, and she has nothing but good things to say about them.

and if gaming is your style, then no worries. Clearly, this person is enjoying themselves

2.USB Turbo Keyboard Vacuum

Miniature Vacuum.. also insanely useful.  I am looking at my keyboard right now, and it could definitely use some vacuum love.

The features on this thing are insane.

• Its got a separate attachment  for cleaning the keyboard
• LED light just in case you feel like… doing a Midnight cleaning.
• Turbo mode for twice the power.
• Retractable brush holder for those hard to reach places

I agree with this product. Here are a few more specs for ya:

3.USB Turntable in a Briefcase

I’m not sure you could get more hip than this.

I’d like to call it a fusion of the past and future. USB Briefcase Turntable! Tote your record player in style my friends.

This turntable isnt just for playing music, it also can convert the music to digital format. Nice!

Loving these features:

• Includes Audacity Software Suite for recording and editing audio content
• Belt driven turntable mechanism
• Plays 3 Speeds – 33 1/3, 45 And 78 RPM Records
• Plays 7″, 10″ & 12″ Records
• Fully automatic return tone arm
• Adjustable tone control
• Built-In dynamic full range stereo speakers
• Vinyl-wrapped exterior
• Chrome snap closure
• Heavy duty corner guards
• Dimensions: 18″ x 19″ x 9″
• Weight: 7kg

Can you argue with that? I’m not sure.

Here’s an image of the Turntable in Action. nice choice.

Here are the built in speakers. Wonderful!

4.USB Massage Ball

While life as a web designer is awesome and inspiring most of the time, its also very stressful. I often get what I’d like to call “you’re obsessed with the internet so here’s a stiff neck” syndrome. So I would absolutely love one of these little massage buddies.

oooh. calf massage.

5.USB Roll-up Piano

I dig this Roll-up Piano. Sometimes, I get a tune in my head, and it would be great to simply plunk it out on the piano (AND be able to save it to my computer)

Its powered by USB completely so nooo batteries!

Also, I think its very cool that there is simultaneous 49 key activation. We can actually play chords!

It also comes with software so that you can edit and play around with your creation.

Here’s the downside: Windows ONLY!! booo.

I know I said Top 5, but I just couldn’t resist adding a bonus USB gadget.

USB Rocket Launcher!!!

This thing.. would just be too much fun.

Well, now we can stay warm, keep our keyboards clean, listen to bad ass tunes, stay relaxed, create music, and assassinate our co-workers.  I like this plan.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Laura

Check out my Web Design School Program here: Interactive Design Lab

If you are new to Gmail, your inbox probably looks like this(above). Sure, it look clean, and pretty enough but I like my email inbox to have a more personal feel.

So, here is how to  add a theme to your inbox:

• Click on the “Settings” link in the top right hand corner of the page,
  and you will see will see the page below.

• Click on the “Themes” link. It is the link farthest to the right.
• And you will see a whole page full of themes waiting for you
  

I’m confident enough to say that there’s a theme for everyone. There’s a video game theme for the nerds, a mountain theme (that changes depending on your location!) for those outdoor types, and there’s even an option to pick your own color scheme if you know exactly what you want.  Good times.

The next Gmail gem on my list is Gmail Labs. Without labs, Gmail would not look so special next to Hotmail or .. Microsoft Outlook But these labs bring much needed functionality and an ability to customize your inbox exactly the way you want it.

So, here is how to enable Labs in your Gmail account:

• Return to the settings page where you first found the “Themes” link.
  and just two links to the left, you will find the “Labs” link. Click on it!
• Your page will look something like this:

This part can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you haven’t explored a ton of Gmail’s features, so I’ll outline five Labs that in my opinion are must-haves.  If you’d prefer to explore on your own, all you need to do to get each lab working is to select “Enable” to the right of the lab.  Make sure you save your changes at the bottom, or it won’t work.

My Top five Gmail Labs:

1. Google Calendar Gadget

This lab puts a small Google Calendar widget in your left-hand column. I LOVE this.. because then I don’t need to switch over to Google Calendar to see what is coming up in my schedule.

2. Right-side Chat

This may be personal taste, but I really don’t like scrolling down the page to see who happens to be online to chat.. and depending how many widgets you have in your left column, you might have to scroll as well.  This one is pretty self-explanatory. It puts your chat on the right side of the page.

3. Navbar drag and drop

Yes! a Lab to control all of these widgets.  This allows you to drag and drop the elements in your left-column.

4. Mark as Read Button

This may be the biggest timesaver of all! I don’t know if you are obsessed with organizing your email like I am, but I was growing weary of having to click on the “More actions” drop down menu to Mark my emails as read. Nevermore, my friends. This Lab places the “Mark as Read” Button right next to all the other important buttons.

5. Inserting Images

This Lab is great. It allows you to insert images directly into the body of your message. Sometimes, I just want to send a silly image that my friends don’t have to download.  Also, It can be great to add context and interest to your emails.

There you have it! I hope this post has expanded your world and helped you enjoy Gmail even more.

In my next post, we’ll dive into filters and labels.  It will be perfect for you if you really enjoy an organized mailbox.

<3

Laura

Check out my program at:

http://www.interactivedesignlab.com/