IfLooksCouldKill

IfLooksCouldKill is a close-knit team of graphic designers and website developers, problem solvers and imaginative thinkers. Founded in 2002, they’ve formed a strong reputation within the arts, culture and education sectors. Their studio is based in Summerhall, a creative hub for the arts. Here, they recommend some of the things that fuel their inspiration…

LongLunch

Event

LongLunch is a not-for-profit organisation that’s been staging informal talks for the design community for more than 10 years. These talks offer insight into how other creatives live and work and provide a great opportunity to mingle with other designers. We recently heard from Marina Willer and Paula Scher of Pentagram and the latest event introduced Paul Barnes, a unique breed of graphic designer specialising in typography, type design, lettering and editorial design. Check out the LongLunch website for upcoming events in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.

How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul

Publication

How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy is still serving the studio after years of publication. It’s taught us to listen carefully to clients, create meaningful work for them and has supported many of the business decisions we’ve made.

The Fox Is Black

Blog

We’ve been reading The Fox Is Black (formerly Kitsune Noir) since the Radiohead Desktop Wallpaper Project. It’s primarily curated by Bobby Solomon, a designer based in LA who previously worked for MySpace, and is now an Art Director with Disney, responsible for user experience, design and social media.

Bobby’s blog is a great source of inspiration and covers a good mix of art, design and technology. We also enjoy downloading the latest wallpapers, contributed by talented creatives from around the globe. We particularly like this contribution from Julie Lee, a Los Angeles based artist who creates amazing food collages.

Video

TED is an organisation that’s devoted to the spreading of ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks of 18 minutes or less. TED launched in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers topics from science and business to creative thinking and global issues. We enjoy watching the talks online and from time to time attend local TEDx events, which are designed to help share ideas in communities around the world. My favourite talk is Stefan Sagmeister’s “Happiness by Design”.

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For more recommendations on what to read, watch or listen to, go here.