Panda’s mission is trying to keep designers and hackers inspired by filtering and delivering the highest quality content in a beautiful and non obtrusive way. Nice!
Noisli
Noisli is a background noise generator ideal for working and relaxing. (Plus Text Editor for distraction-free writing with plain text and Markdown support.)
So simple. So neat.
Habit List
I have been trying to change up my daily routines a bit and form new habits. So, when Jessica told me about Habit List last night I made sure to download it asap. It looks just like the app I’ve been waiting for to help me stay focused and on track with my new daily goals. It’s the little things that make a big difference, isn’t it?
Dragdis
Dragdis allows you to easily collect images, texts, links or videos to your private folders or post directly to Facebook, Twitter & (soon to come) Tumblr, Dropbox, Pinterest etc. Interesting!
Dropmark
Dropmark is one of the few services I use daily and that I could not do without. So, I figured I’d share again. It’s a super simple cloud-based collaboration tool. Do you ever do research and save a bunch of links or images? Dropmark helps you with that! You can easily organize what you found and invite colleagues to view and collaborate privately, or share your content with the world. I use Dropmark in my search for new Tattly artists, research toys for my kids, bookmark recipes, to save my favorite YouTube videos and to share design mock-ups.
What do you use Dropmark for?
MOO Cards
I remember what a hassle and expense it was to get business cards printed when I got my first design job in 1999. How the world has changed! MOO has completely redefined the landscape of business cards and notecards for that matter. They have made rich looking, full-color printed business cards affordable and accessible for anyone. I get so many compliments when I hand out my CreativeMornings card (see above). I love my cards so much, that we teamed up with MOO to send all of them a set of CreativeMornings Luxe Business Cards. Needless to say, the surprise was a success.
But my love for MOO goes beyond just the beauty and affordability of their cards. It’s the level of detail they put into everything they do. If you have ever received a MOO package you know what I am talking about. From the YAY sticker on the outside to the beautiful (!) business card box they come in. MOO cares. They care about good design. They care about delighting the customer. Consider me a fan.
Quick Fit – 7 Minute Workout
Quick Fit looks like the perfect app for busy people – based on the 7 Minute Workout popularized by the NYTimes. Download the App or check out the free web version.
(via LifeHacker)
Peek Calendar
Peek Calendar just totally caught my attention. As someone who spends *a lot* of time in my calendar, I am craving a more enjoyable interaction, especially when on the go. Peek aims to add a human touch on calendar experience. Consider me intrigued. I’ll download the app.
Say Hello to Somewhere
During my stay at DLD in Munich earlier this week, I had the pleasure to meet Justin McMurray, founder of Somewhere, a brand-new service to share the story behind what you do and how you work.
Everything Justin told me about Somewhere, got me incredibly excited and reminded me a bit with what we are trying to achieve with the CreativeMornings profiles. Linkedin profiles feel sterile and cold. What I want is to see how someone works, what side projects they work on and what super powers they have. I think Somewhere is about to offer that.
Team Somewhere was so kind to create a custom sign-up link for swissmiss readers, so you don’t have to request an invite. (YAY!) Voila, use this link and Go Somewhere!
What do you think?
ps: Justin McMurray gave the November CreativeMornings talk in Berlin. Watch it here.
Squarespace Logo
I landed in NYC today, opened my Twitter timeline and found a bunch of angry designers getting at Squarespace for having created Squarespace Logo. I was stunned.
The never ending stream of snarky comments on the new tool that helps anyone create simple “logos” made my heart sink. What is it with the design community so quickly lashing out at other creators? It’s totally ok to disagree but not to ridicule other people’s creations. I have no respect for that.
I am impressed by the simple tool they built. I have respect for the thoughtfulness and craft that went into it. Am I super thrilled that they are saying ‘anyone can design a great logo’, not really, but that’s not the point. Their logo builder is not much different than a tool like Adobe Illustrator.
I know quite a few folks over at Squarespace and I can assure you one thing: They care about design. They care about the web being a more beautiful place. And I am grateful for it. They even state in their blog announcement that this tool will never replace the need for professional designers.
Next time your cousins, uncles and aunts ask you to design a website and logo for $250, just know, that there is such an amazing tool like Squarespace that will help them get online, in a beautiful minimal way, at a low price.
Never forget: The web is a place of abundance. There will always be folks that appreciate the importance of a custom tailored brand. So, designers, take a deep breath. It’s all good. There’s a place for basic tools like Squarespace Logo *and* for your craft.
And, next time we want to ridicule someone else’s labor of love, let’s all remember this great talk by Jason Santa Maria.
UPDATE: Yes, as Erik has mentioned in the comments, Squarespace has been supporting this blog over the last year with sponsored posts. I would have written this post even if they weren’t my sponsor. I have had the pleasure to meet a few Squarespace team members over the last year and have grown fond of the their passion for what they are building. I respect their craft and hustle. They are good people! I will not accept the design community lashing out at people I admire. There is too much negativity in our community and I hope that posts like this will help swing the pendula the other way.
MotaWord
MotaWord claims to be the world’s fastest, lowest cost, cloud-based, collaborative human translation platform. While I haven’t tried it (yet) myself I can for sure say that their site design is absolutely beautiful. Also, the brand mark, so smart.
Print All Over Me
Print All Over Me offers hats, scarves, totes, pillows etc for you to print all over. In addition to ordering your own unique pieces, you may also sell your designs on their site, and receive 20% of every sale.
All pieces are made to order and take 2-3 weeks for delivery. Interesting tidbit on their site: “Print All Over employees are full-time, receive full health care coverage, and make at least four times a fair wage. Our design studio is based in the Flatiron district of New York.”
Definitely giving this a try!
(via Kate)
Madesum
To all of you serial collaborators out there: Madesum is a friendly way to keep track of things you’ve been working on and together with whom. You simply post/showcase things you’re proud of and link that thing to everyone you’ve been working together with. Really lovely idea.
Do Lectures Blog
The fine folks over at Do Lectures just launched their brand new blog. Definitely bookmarking this one.
STET by Editorially
My studiomates of Editorially just launched STET, a writers’ journal on culture & technology. STET’s goal is to demystify writing by drawing attention to how writing works. It pairs good writing with notes that explain what makes writing good. Topics range across culture and technology, with special attention paid to the intersections between them.
STET is published by Editorially, a fantastic collaborative writing and editing platform. Team Editorially never ceases to amaze. Such good and smart folks.
Tick To-Do App
FastCo Design wrote a blog post about a new To-Do App called Tick. I am fascinated how people organize their work flow and can definitely see the appeal of this one.
I use my own app called TeuxDeux.
Podcast Thing
Podcast thing features brief interviews with interesting folks who share their favorite podcasts. A project by Max Temkin and Veronica Corzo-Duchardt to help people find great podcasts to listen to.
UI Stencils Case
I can hear user interface designers rejoice over this UI Stencil Case!
Designers & Books Book Fair
Your heart is about to go pitter patter if you are a lover of design books. The fine folks of Designers & Books launched an impressive Online Book Fair, featuring nearly 400 books about design from 13 internationally distinguished publishers.
Hold on to your wallet, some of the books at the Fair are being offered at discounts of up to 50% off their retail price.
The Designers & Books Online Book Fair provides a well crafted browsing and discovery experience of books online. I was especially impressed by the refined search, sort, and filter capabilities.
The Book Fair includes books about architecture, fashion, graphic design, interior design, landscape design, product and industrial design, urban design—and all related design fields: 14 in total. Impressive!
New books and publishers will constantly be added to the site. Check out the site! Congrats to team Designer & Books. Well done!
UX Archive
Any UX Designer working on mobile apps will love UX Archive, a project by Arthur Bodolec, co-founder of Feedly. UX Archive simply documents and archives interesting iOS apps’ user flows. Incredibly helpful for designers who are working on specific tasks like onboarding, creating a list, deleting a list, signing up users etc.
Check it out: uxarchive.com
Etsy Pages
I was thrilled when the fine folks over at Etsy reached out to me and asked if I would like to be one of the first bloggers equipped with what they call Etsy Pages. My love for Etsy and what it stands for, is so big, how could I say no? They just launched the project today which means you can now follow my swissmiss Etsy Page to discover some of my favorite and recent finds.
I’d recommend you also check out other curated pages such as Sweet Paul Magazine, Walker Art Center and Martha Stewart Weddings. And here is Etsy’s official announcement of Pages.