jpkoudstaal

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🙌🏻 Collaborative brand design

Last month I listened to a fantastic talk by Chara Smith and Mike Smith of Smith & Diction, where they unpacked their approach to collaborative brand design.

Their focus on breaking down silos and encouraging fearless, frequent collaboration really hit home for me, as it's something I deeply believe in.

See the talk:

“It is so important to make sure that your process has time for you to chase an idea. Even if you kind of know in your gut that it’s the wrong idea see where it leads. And who knows maybe at the end of that idea it unlocks something that you never would have thought of if you’d stopped exploring.”

One of the most unique and valuable things they shared was their actual Figma files, showcasing their process and branding work for two hotels, such a powerful learning tool.

And those slide designs! 😍

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📸 !Camera by Not Boring

This new camera app looks very interesting, and definitely not boring.

!Camera is the first fully-3D camera interface with dynamic lighting, sounds, & custom haptics that evoke the tactile experience of holding a premium camera. You’re gonna love how it feels. I guarantee it.

[jpkoudstaal]

No AI used here, just old school Photoshop trickery

🍰 7 Years Freelancing: What I’ve Learned (So Far…)

Seven years ago, I left a full-time agency job to see if I could make it on my own. I thought I’d freelance for a while – see where it would take me.

And here I am, seven years later… and honestly? I didn’t expect the lessons that came with it.

→ Here are 7 things I’ve figured out so far

[jpkoudstaal]

That g is something else!

Asoma

Asoma (by James Plattner) aims to revive the sense of wonder and mystery of 1970s monoweight typefaces such as ITC Busorama, ITC Serif Gothic, and Marvin.

Loosely inspired by its predecessors, Asoma riffs on aesthetics of the past, embedding new shapes and ideas with an offbeat sense of nostalgia.

This makes Asoma a great option for horror film titles. For some reason, it also works surprisingly well on packaging for black beans.

→ You should follow James Plattner on IG

(via Jason Santa Maria)

[jpkoudstaal]

🕶️ Shopify’s Summer Edition is out!

Another huge one-pager, this time with a huge ’80s synthwave vibe, I love it! 🥰

→ And they even added a racing game?! (Click the link in the footer) 🤯

[jpkoudstaal]

✍🏻 Sketches I make in my free time

I wanted to add more personality into my (concept) Pizza Dough Calculator’s look and feel, so I decided to redesign it using OH no Type Co’s Softie for a doughy look and ChatGPT to generate the 3D illustrations.

But I’m bored with it now, so on to the next sketch, which is: a graphic for the NBA Finals. 🏀

Using Figma Draw (and a little Adobe Illustrator) with these fonts: Dreamboat from Mark Simonson, Humane from Rajesh Rajput and FF Market Pro by FontFont.

→ You can see more sketches on my website

[jpkoudstaal]

👁️ Invisible Creature has a new website!

Invisible Creature brings bold ideas to life through design, illustration, and storytelling. Whether it’s an iconic album cover, a thought-provoking campaign, or a toy that lives quietly on your shelf, their work is made to endure and inspire.

So much amazing work, like the largest bas relief mural in the world, their visuals for La Marzocco, and a mural for LEGO®.

And don’t forget their shop, so much cool stuff (too bad shipping to EU is €32.95)

And I love how they decorate their offices with vintage toys — makes me think I should add way more stuff to my collection.

[jpkoudstaal]

💡 Disney Pixar Luxo Jr.

One thing I will definitely add to my collection is this new Luxo Jr. lamp from LEGO Ideas (pre-ordered this set so fast…). I hope LEGO make a big version the Pizza Planet Truck next. 🤞🏻

[jpkoudstaal]

🙌🏻 SuprOrdinary

SuprOrdinary follows the inspiring journey of designer Devin Mathews as he actively seeks to inject more creativity into his daily life.

The first episode’s sandwich shop rebrand is visually compelling (giving off Wes Anderson vibes), and has great editting and storytelling. However, I don’t think the branding he creates truly reflects a small, local business. 🫣

In the second episode Devin and his brother go backpacking in the mountains for four days and attempted to make something that would rock your socks off. 😅

Looking forward to the next one!

[jpkoudstaal]

��� Classic Stephen King

I’ve been reading Stephen King books lately, starting with 11/22/63, Later, just finished The Green Mile, and now I’m reading his latest You Like It Darker.

I want to read his classics next and I discovered these vintage covers from Scribner that look so awesome. Too bad they don’t have The Shining.

[jpkoudstaal]

😍 The Ohno Book: A Serious Guide to Irreverent Type Design

From one of my favorite type foundries OH no Type Co. comes this richly illustrated and endlessly entertaining handbook featuring type specimens, process sketches, and instructions for creating typefaces.

 

Released on October 14th — Pre-order here.

[jpkoudstaal]

🎬 The Studio

Seth Rogen stars in this satirical cringe comedy about a newly appointed studio head desperate for celebrity approval.

The series is a huge homage to cinema, it’s great for film geeks like me.

Seth shares a couple of behind-the-scenes on his instagram too, very cool to see how they created those elaborate scenes.

[jpkoudstaal]

🧘🏿‍♂️ The blissful zen of a good side project

This article by Josh really resonated with me. He writes about how he was maybe depressed, or burned out and let his consumption-to-creation ratio run wildly out of balance.

He got out of it by working on his side project with the freedom to explore possibilities and happily follow any compelling whim. (via Sidebar)

[jpkoudstaal]

😍 52 weeks of obsessions

Talking about side projects: each week this year Thomas Moes explores a topic he obsessed with and he designs a custom page for it.

“It should feel like a visual bonbon, a lovely little surprise every week, as a small antidote to the algorithmic curation.”

Love this concept and I’m learning a lot on topics I know little about, like soviet watches, Enzo Mari or Fellini’s sketches.

[jpkoudstaal]

🍕 Pizza Dough Calculator

And talking about side projects again: I’ve created a Pizza Dough Calculator app:

Well, “created” is a big word, I’ve spent a few hours designing just these three screens, but I’m already thinking about adding more features, including fun transitions and animations.

And now that Figma released Figma Make, maybe even start “vibe coding” it… 😏

(I could also try to build it with 0dev, Lovable, Bolt, Cursor… OR I’ll just move on to another project)

[jpkoudstaal]

🤯 The Hardest Working Font in Manhattan

Marcin Wichary (author of “Shift Happens”, a book about the history of keyboard) wrote a delightful love letter to a 150-year-old font you’ve likely never heard of, and one you probably saw earlier today.

This meticulously researched and beautifully photographed deep dive celebrates urban design and typography, uncovering the fascinating story behind an iconic font.

Highly recommended (for type nerds)!

[jpkoudstaal]

🌈 Mesh Gradient Generator

Unlimited color stops, grainy noise effect, adjustable blur, a gallery for inspiration and editing, and a very handy one-click SVG export & paste into Figma.