Studio Gearbox: Always on Their Game?!

Complete props to the boys in Sisters – Studio Gearbox. Book Design. Identities. Primo work. I'm taking a wild guess, but I'm thinking these gents may be Uttley Grads, as their work is most certainly up to snuff with their fellow Sisters (Oregon, that is). All told this firm is a big talent, and though you don't need me to tell you this (because they've already said it themselves on their bios), they are always on their game. Their superior thinking and design execution well eclipses the junior copywriting on their site. In my unsolicited opinion, and since this is called BarryBlog, words like "zing" and "with it" just don't communicate with the same freshness and relevancy that their work does. Regardless of my thoughts on this, hats off Studio Gearbox.

( via book art director Beth Sparkman )

10 Minute Mail: Temporary Email Goodness

How many times have you tracked down something of interest only to discover a road block on a site requiring you to create a new account? Very often that's a deal breaker for me, not only because of the time factor, but also due to the potential cat out of the bag that providing a real email causes later on. Shortly thereafter the SPAM mail starts rolling in. Well, no longer. Enter 10 Minute Mail. The email account you can apply for, no questions asked, that expires after 10 minutes. 10 minutes is generally enough time for all auto-responders to send the typical confirm email, and in this case, it shows up on their website instead of a client side email app. Sweet! Your MIS department will love you for this.

( via the brilliant Lifehacker )

In A Pinch: An Emergency Light Source

( via lifehacker )

Calling All B-Ballers

Basketball. Pretty good chance this will only make some of you laugh, but you know who you are. So which baller are you?

1. Johnny "Clear Out"
2. Mr. Excuses
3. Rulebook Jones
4. Hypothetical Dunker
5. Immovable Fat Guy
6. Richard Simmons (stretch guy)
7. Player / Coach
8. Always Fouled Guy (8b. Never Fouls Guy)
9. Bad Gear Dude
10. Dr. Quick Skins
11. Baller The Kid



Maybe I should call my blog BarryBall.

When To Use Flash Entirely: A Flow Chart

theGoogleCache blog makes it incredibly clear as to just exactly WHEN to use Flash to design your entire web site, with this no-nonsense flow chart by Russ Jones.

( via theGoogleCache )

Salamander Hill Design: David Drummond

Christopher Tobias's blog is one I frequent, but only recently did I find and follow his point to David Drummond's fine book design work–aka Salamander Hill Design. David's work is a special blend of intelligence and clarity. His execution is to the T, and his covers communicate fine tuning and finesse. Bravo to David, the marvelous and mysterious (no profile, background info, or the like as I can tell) book designer from, ugh, Canada? Malone, NY? Oh, nevermind. Just enjoy his work. I did.

( via the generous Books Covered By Tobia - Outerwear for Books )

DESIGN RESOURCE: Barnbrook Bible

Jonathan Barnbrook is a remarkably talented graphic designer. His new book, the Barnbrook Bible, contains published and personal projects, as well as new work created just for the book. The book gives light to his design genius and his political perspective. A must-have for every graphic designer working today. Buy it here.

icon | 050 | Top 50 Creative MANIFESTOS

August2007 edition of ICON magazine offers the icon| 050 | : personal manifestos from 50 top creatives such as Peter SAVILLE, JOHN MAEDA, REM KOOLHAAS, BRUCE MAU, STEFAN SAGMEISTER, YVES BÉHAR and 44 others.

( via swissmiss )

A BarryBlog (unofficial) record!

Though not all tallies are in from all 50 precincts, the unofficial number of the comments the vast BarryBlog Network of fans, admirers and haters have generated is zero. Yes, a BarryBlog record, if all the facts check! Zero comments to anything I've posted in a full 7 days.

An impressive feat, and surely an adequate reflection of the time, hard work and resources the infamous Barry has put into the now famous BarryBlog. Blogger newbies, heed my call. Blog I say. Blog until the morning comes and your bills are due, because at the end of the day, the month, the year, or even a decade...

If just one person reads this blog, it would have been worth all the effort.

(photo via: Dan Taylor )

RESOURCE: Advertising Age Power 150

Advertising Age Power 150 is a ranking of top English-language media and marketing blogs—ranking more than 360 blogs about all types of media and marketing discipline. Click here for background and additional details.

I am SO TIRED OF SETH GODIN. There, I said it.

Overused Word of the Day: Ubiquitous

For whatever reason, I cannot escape this word—having heard it and read it over a dozen times today. First of all, that's just plain strange. Secondly, that's ironic. Ubiquitous. Huh.

StateMaster—an invaluable statistical database

StateMaster—a unique and invaluable statistical database which allows you to research and compare a multitude of different data on US states. Compiled information from various primary sources such as the US Census Bureau, the FBI, and the National Center for Educational Statistics. StateMaster goes beyond the numbers to provide you with visualization technology like pie charts, maps, graphs and scatterplots. Also map and flag images, state profiles, and correlations.

I found this via TED Blog's 100 Websites You Should Know and Use, a resource the TED blog posted of a presentation by Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH.

( via TED top100, via swissmiss )

iTunes Killer App: Simplify Media

Finally—a solution that allows me to dump all the music from my external drive at work. With Simplify Media I now listen to all my iTune music that I have stored on my computer at home from my computer at work. And vise-versa. In fact one of my colleagues has invited me to listen to all his music on his home computer. So now I've enabled my account so he now listens to my mp3s. And the best part is it's legal, free, and no support is required. Killer app.

Here's how it works: Simplify Media software lets you browse and play remote music using the iTunes software interface. Music is streamed directly between computers over the Internet within small groups that you control. Your group can be made up entirely of your own computers, for example home and office. You can also invite friends to join. Once an invitation is accepted, you will be able to sort, search and play each other’s libraries when online, all within iTunes.

Why Not? Apple iPhone Take Note

This idea is smart. It is also funny how he edited the video to have some awkward expressions and delayed comments. The guy's voice reminds me of Demetri Martin.

iPhone Copy and Paste from lonelysandwich and Vimeo.

Rifkatu Patience Kore: She sleeps the sleep of the righteous

She sleeps. My mother sleeps. She sleeps the sleep of the righteous; she sleeps the sleep of one beloved by God.

This evening I learned of the sudden passing of the mother of my friend and former colleague named Victor. His mother went to be with her Lord on July 30th, and I see he posted of her death on a 10 hour layover in Heathrow airport– a post that is a loving tribute to his mother as well as a testimony to the importance he places on his friends. Read the loving tribute to Rifkatu Patience Kore on Vic's blog. I never met her, but as Victor says "he is certain in the knowledge that one day we will."

Victor is a brother in Christ and a man on a mission for justice, peace and education of his fellow man. I had the privilege of speaking to him quite recently in a parking lot of all places, and he shared with me his passion for educating and mentoring his brothers in Africa. God has blessed Victor and everyone who knows him, and I can't wait to see how God uses him next.

Is it just me, or do we sometimes not recognize or pay adequate attention to what special people and friends are around us until we no longer work together? Everytime I see Vic it dawns on me how I took our friendship completely for granted, not taking advantage of working together. Vic, if you read this, know that I love you brother, and that I appreciate you, am thinking about you, and am praying for you. Thanks for sharing the tribute to momsi with the world.

Please pray for Victor and his brother as they are with family and as they travel back to the states from Nigeria.

Now That's Energetic

Print. Pattern. Color. Textures. Inspiration.

print&pattern blog is full of inspiration. Complete with textures, colors, DYI, etc. Nice resource. Thanks print&pattern.

(Thanks My Little Projects )

dailypoetics' Flickr Sets: Me Likey

dailypoetic has crafted and shared some really great Flickr sets which I think you'll like, especially if you are Jess or Liz). They include...business card exhibit, things, kids art, inspirational collages, ephemera, copy, hangtags, packaging, stationery, business cards. Some real great finds here. The dailypoetic blog is also interesting. So who is dailypoetic? Well, guess no one will know. Seems to have left no fingerprints, as best I can tell. Hats off, dailypoetic, whoever you are.

[Jott from Barry A. Smith] Recently on Michael Hyatt's blog called From Where I Sit, I was made aware of Jo...

Jott From Barry A. Smith

Recently on Michael Hyatt's blog called From Where I Sit, I was made aware of Jott, a new service which allows me to make a 30 second voice mail on my cell phone, which is automatically transcribed and emailed to me. I've been doing this on the road as an idea comes to mind or when I want to remind myself of something, and it's been really great. I've also set up my account so I can just speak into my cellphone and post directly to Barry Blog. This post was done in this fashion.

Listen to Audio

Set reminders, assign, and manage this jott on Jott.com Brought to you by Jott Networks, Inc.

Bauhaus 2 Your House: Modern Furniture Direct

Modern Furniture Classics from Aalto, Bellini, Bertoia, Breuer, Gray, Jacobsen, Knoll, Le Corbusier, Mackintosh, Nelson, Noguchi, Saarinen, Van Der Rohe, and Wright can all be purchased from a plethora of dealers and wholesalers across the country and on the web. But what caught my attention here is this particular companies' name: "Bauhaus 2 Your House." I'm sorry, but that's funny. The prices, apparently wholesale, are still well beyond my means, but they appear to be factory direct originals—not knock-offs. The site's design is rather uninspired (a bit ironic), so if for nothing else it serves as an opportunity to learn more about classic furniture design and legendary designers. You'll also find bios for each of the designers represented, though if that's what you're looking for Design Within Reach does a better job. As many of you know, I am a HUGE fan of these design classics, and though I can't afford these prices personally, I have been fortunate over the years to collect two tan Marcel Breuer Wassily chairs (Knoll) for $75/e from a colleague 10 years ago; a Charles Eames Aluminum Group softback Executive side chair (Herman Miller 1969) at a garage sale for $5; an Eero Saarinen Executive Side Chair (Knoll 1957) on the side of the road for free; and a Heywood Wakefield Butterfly table (1954) and 4 chairs for $225 at a flea market.

Bauhaus 2 Your House. That name kills me.