-Shift-K in Slack

Marco Polo Video Chat App

I just discovered the Marco Polo Video Chat App and I am intrigued. With my family and a lot of my friends living in different parts of the world, I often find it hard to stay in touch beyond just text and email. Marco Polo seems to have cracked this nut. You can talk/ aka record a video message when you’re on the go, between appointments, whenever it’s convenient for you. Your friend can watch in real time or later. Unlike other video apps, you don’t need to be live. It’s safe and private. So, that means, no likes, no comments. Dreamy!

CreativeMornings Job Board

This week I interviewed two *delightful* humans for a designer position at Tattly that found the job listing through the CreativeMornings job board. The thought that my team and I built a job board that attracts talented and big hearted humans makes my heart explode.

The job board is global and you can filter by all commitment levels, meaning, full time, part time, contract, freelance and even internships. You can post unlimited jobs with an affordable membership to the CreativeGuild, the global directory of companies, professionals and jobs, run by CreativeMornings.

My To-Do App featured by Ellen degeneres

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@JayShetty on keeping it simple.

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OMG! My simple to-do app TeuxDeux is featured on Ellen DeGeneres’ Instagram account with over 77M followers. I am dead.

Design Questions Library

The Design Questions Library is part of d.school’s recently launched “Public Library“, a digital collection built to help you go beyond the basics and dive deeper into the nuances of design. Can’t wait to see what else they’ll be adding.

Marie Kondo Your Twitter Feed

This site allows you to go Marie Kondo on the accounts you follow on Twitter. It guides you through them, one by one, and asks you; is what they are sharing sparking joy? Insightful exercise. (And, of course, I kept following Liz Danzico)

Letterlist

Letterlist allows you to find newsletters based on your interests. I signed up for a few new ones.

Speechify: Audiobook Anything

This app just took my breath away: Speechify let’s you turn anything into an audiobook – readings for school, reports for work, PDFs on your computer, articles online, physical books. This way you can listen while doing other things like driving, cooking, or at the gym.

Dimensions Guide

Dimensions.Guide is a (free) reference database of drawings documenting the standard measurements and sizes of everyday objects and spaces.

Transform your Handwriting into a Font

Calligraphr helps you transform your handwriting into a font: Fill out the form, get a handwritten font. Easy as that.

(via Chris)

The Noun Project

I am continuously amazed by The Noun Project: Search a database of over a million of royalty free icons. Such a delight!

8×10.co

8×10.co is a new, easy and intuitive way for artists to sell high quality, limited edition art prints, by simply posting to Instagram. No need to set up a separate online store. I am friends with the founders and was able to see sample prints: They are *impressive*! Overall the service is carefully crafted, intuitive and a pleasure to use. But the best part, they handle all of the shipping. Where has this service been all along? See how it works.

Directory of Tools and Resources for Illustrators

Oh, this made me look: Directory of tools and resources for illustrators. Via the always wonderful Chris Glass.

Anatomy Drawing Hack

Where was this when I was in art school trying to get a handle of life figure drawing?

Personal News: Introducing The CreativeGuild

I am ANXCITED over what I am about to share:

For nearly a decade CreativeMornings, an organization I started, has been bringing together people who are driven by passion and purpose, who support one another, and are collectively raising the bar on what it means to be creative.

Today, we’re launching the CreativeGuild where we will be translating our face-to-face community values to an online network for creatives. We like to think of it like LinkedIn, but for the creative world. .

This is something I wished existed 19 years ago, when I first moved to NYC and would Google ‘design studio NYC’ to find companies to apply to. All these years later, there is still no broad directory of creative companies, until now.

The CreativeGuild will start out as a global directory of creative companies and jobs but with an ambitious product roadmap ahead of us that will make it evolve into much more, a place for creatives to meet, that will open doors to new connections and opportunities. (The individual profiles will undergo a major upgrade next!)

Where other social networks are leaving me wanting more; more connection, more inspiration, more control over my data – we’re taking what we have learned with our face-to-face events and are aiming to create a more human experience.

What if, there was a place on the Internet that optimizes for opportunities instead of advertisements? An internet that is more interested in how you show up as a human, than how your data shows up in an algorithm? An internet that believed online experiences should feel more like face-to-face interactions?

I believe this version of the Internet can exist. Help me make it a reality.

Join the CreativeGuild.

are.na

I have just fallen into the biggest internet rabbit hole since ffffound. Please everyone, welcome Are.na, an online platform for collaborative research. Here’s how they boldly talk about themselves: “Think of it as a visual Slack, or Pinterest for smart people. It sits in a unique position between a productivity tool and social media platform. Launched as a side-project by a developer at Artsy, Are.na has gained significant traction amongst designers, programmers, academics, and agencies.” While the ‘smart people part’ might rub some people the wrong way, I am impressed by what they are building. It seems to be improving daily. Love seeing folks pulling their sleeves back, building a new platform by pouring their hearts into it, guided by a strong mission and values statement: I am impressed by their vision for 2018.

The Creative Independent

The Creative Independent is a resource of emotional and practical guidance for creative people. Published by Kickstarter. Love this.

(via Chris)

Email Charter

We would be all better off in our lives (and inboxes) if we all respected and followed these Email Charter rules.

(Yes, I wrote about this a LONG time ago!)

ConferCal

Ever think you want to attend a conference but you don’t know which one or you always find out after they are sold out or happened? The newly launched ConferCal can help!

George Heilmeier’s Method for Solving Research Challenges

Next time I have to break down a problem, I will remember George Heilmeier’s method for solving research challenges:

– What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.

– How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?

– What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?

– Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make?

– What are the risks?

– How much will it cost?

– How long will it take?

– What are the mid-term and final “exams” to check for success?

(via John Maeda)

Happy Birthday TeuxDeux!

8 years ago today, I launched TeuxDeux together with Cameron and his FictiveKin Crew. It has been keeping me organized ever since.

TeuxDeux is a simple list-app and the closest you can get to a paper to-do list, digitally. I keep my TeuxDeux as the browser landing page on my computer, which means, every time I open a browser window I am being reminded what I should be focusing on. Whatever you don’t check off today, will automatically roll over to the next day. It’s delightfully simple. And in the ‘someday section’ below I keep lists like shopping, movies I want to watch, gift ideas for the kids, etc

Try it for free! And if you do, do me a favor and enable the flying cat in the settings. You’ll see!

Threadless Customization

I haven’t visited Threadless in a while and am amazed at their custom one-off printing offerings. From T-Shirts and Apparel to Home Decor and Accessories. I had no idea! Check it out!

(via Chris)

Laser Cats Stickers

My friend sent me an animated laser cat sticker this morning and it made me laugh out loud. It scanned the entire text message with its laser eyes. Hilarious!

Fighting Off Telemarketers

Jolly Roger are artificially intelligent bots that keep telemarketers on the line for as long as possible. Listen to this example. OMG!