Illustration: Spec Work

"Spec Work" by Maki Naro

Source: BoxPlotComics at Popular Science

Maki Naro explains in comic form why spec work, contests, and other attempts to get artists to work for free are bad.  He then discusses a particular case that he thinks is pretty egregious, and proceeds to explain the correct way to go about hiring an illustrator.

Interview: Seth Godin

At the 2014 HOW conference, Debbie Millman, host of interview show Design Matters sat down with Seth Godin to discuss courage, anxiety, change, creative integrity, and why he got thrown out of Milton Glaser’s class. Listen to it here.

Advice: Wil Wheaton on Nerds

"Wil Wheatons response to a little girl on how to deal with being called a nerd"

A little girl wants to know how to deal with being called a nerd, and Wil Wheaton responds.  (There's a transcript on Medium.com.)  Just after Wheaton posted the video, it reached the front page of Reddit, and both the mother and the father of the little girl dropped comments thanking him for the excellent advice.


This video is the perfect companion to another video featuring Wil Wheaton on Why it’s Awesome to be a Nerd.  For even more wisdom from Wesley, give "Not everyone is going to like the thing you made, and that’s okay" a read.

Lecture: A Dreamer’s Childhood

"A Dreamer's Childhood" by Justin Lyon from Creative Mornings

From Idaho to Haiti, Justin Lyon of Yo Gabba Gabba! speaks on building self-esteem, celebrating the weird, and Biz Markie while speaking at CreativeMornings/Los Angeles. With a simple wish of helping foster creativity in youth, Yo Gabba Gabba! has continued to amaze and garner awards as one of the zaniest, unconventional children’s shows that is just as appealing to kids as it is to adults.

Video: The Gap

"The Gap" is a new typographic interpretation of Ira Glass’s iconic quote about the creative process created by Daniel Sax.

"I think it was at springtime 2012, when I came across David Shiyang Lius lovely piece of work about Ira Glass. It was the most inspiring and motivating video, I have ever seen in my life. I watched it over and over again, listened to Ira Glass' voice and told myself, that I am not the only person who is constantly disappointed about the gap between ones taste and ones skills. Later on in 2012 I decided to do an own filmed version of Iras interview - use my own language to tell his message. It took me about a year from concept to upload.

I made it for myself and for anybody who is in doubt with his/her creative career. I also think that Ira Glass' message isn't only limited to the creative industry. It can be applied to everyone who starts out in a new environment and is willing to improve."

Posters: Fixer's Manifesto

Fixing is the unsung hero of creativity. And it really shouldn’t be.  (Unsung, that is.) It’s the most common, humble and beautiful form of creativity. Sugru wants us to wear that belief proudly. Let’s notice and celebrate these little everyday triumphs, and help others see their value. Sugru made this Fixer’s Manifesto to fuel the conversation about why a culture of fixing is so important.  You can buy a poster of this manifesto here, and there’s a plaintext copy available for download on Github.

Lecture: It even has Roller in the trailer!

"An Xiao Mina: Memes, The Street Art of the Internet" by Creativemornings

Calling internet memes “the street art of the social web”, artist, designer and writer An Xiao Mina looks at how internet culture reflects an urban street aesthetic online during an event at CreativeMornings Oslo.

Documentary: Influencers

"Influencers" Written and Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson

INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends and creativity become contagious today in music, fashion and entertainment. The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach.

It’s an excellent documentary that is totally worth the 14 minutes it runs. SuperForester Jackson wrote a post weighing the differences between ways of creating an impact on this planet. His conclusions were something along the lines of, “Changing the world is easy”, “Changing a person’s mind is extremely difficult”, and how as a result, instead, he was interested in “influencing people”. Because influence is a powerful thing, it is “the ring in the nose of the Bull that is Change.” This film's discussion is very much in the same vein, and I think that anyone out there with a creative job can definitely take something away from it.