Thoughts and resources

oscars bingo cards for 2022 with ballot on pink background

Oscar bingo cards for 2022— A free printable + how to fix the Oscars

My Oscar bingo cards for 2022 are ready. This year the Oscars will be on Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 8 PM ET on ABC. It’s my 14th year in a row designing bingo cards. It’s tradition....
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PDF pages with the best google fonts of 2021

The best Google fonts in 2021— My favorites tested in an editable PDF

I’ve titled this blog post “best Google fonts in 2021,” which is shameless clickbait. What is “best”? Who made me the authority? Nobody, lol. What I really mean is my current favorites, which I’ve put into a...
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oscar bingo 2021 oscar ballot free pdf

Oscar bingo 2021: pandemic edition

(Looking for 2022 bingo? click here!) Well, friends, it’s Oscar bingo time again! This, my 13th year of making Oscar bingo, is a weird one. What kind of ceremony this 2021 pandemic edition will be, I have...
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lastname-logos-brands-that-use-founders-last-name

Logos that are someone’s last name

I had a branding project recently where a company was toying with the idea of using only their founder’s surname in their logo. We considered whittling their long company name down to just one word. Similar to...
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crumpled balls of orange paper

What does it mean to be creative?

A designer wrote this to me yesterday: “I don’t feel like I’m as creative as others are, and it holds me back from really pursuing design work.” I wrote back: “You mentioned not feeling as creative as...
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confirmshaming_no thanks i like my crappy furniture

Confirmshaming is fun!

I’ve been shopping online. Unsurprisingly, a parade of website pop-ups asked for my email address. I was 80% annoyed, 20% amused by the ones that gave an ultimatum: fork over your email address or admit that you...
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logos that include the in wordmark

Logos with “the” in the company name

When designing a logo, some company names are easier to work with than others. One-word names are my favorite— it’s possible to make a simple, very distinctive wordmark. Long names are harder. They can look great, but...
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lowercase logo examples

Lowercase logos: examples and rationale

The topic of lowercase logos came up recently when I shared a before-and-after image on Instagram. A question was raised: What is my creative reasoning for all lowercase letters in a logo? Great question. Company names are...
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how to ask for informational interview

How to ask for an informational interview over email

Are you a student wondering how to ask for an informational interview for class? I get lots of emails asking for help with assignments. Most emails read like this: “Dear Ms. Jones, I’m a student at [school]....
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