Also check out their interview with the Creators Project or IDN…

Thanks to Nicolas Tual for the tip!

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DESIGNerd is an intensely geeky trivia game created by Australian designer Kevin Finn. There are currently three sets, each with 100 questions written by someone well known in the industry— namely Kevin Finn, Steven Heller & Lita Talarico and Stefan Sagmeister. There are also architecture, fashion and product design versions in development. Much more fun for Boxing Day than Trivial Pursuit, though your Gran might not get many of the answers.

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There’s something pleasing about watching multi-talented illustrator Pete Fowler‘s psychedelic illustrations grow and build in layers.

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FFF contributor Greig Anderson of Effektive designed these free to download grid based home screen backgrounds for iPhone 3GS and iPhone4 to coincide with the IOS4 software upgrade which allows you to select and image as a home screen background. These grid inspired layouts act as an organised wireframe structure to keep your applications in neat and tidy order on your iPhone home-screen. With numbered grid rows and a ‘D’ for Dock you simply press hold and drag and drop your icons into the specific grid spots. Please note these only work on devices running IOS4. More colours and styles are availbale. They are also working on some iPad versions as well.

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FriendsWithYou—the guys who created this weeks playful header illustration—have been very busy lately preparing their latest creations for this weeks Wish Come True Festival in Tornto. Running from 10th-20th June, FriendsWithYou have been comissioned by Luminato Festival of the Arts to sugar coat the city with their brand of impressive and playful instillations and exhibitions. Over the ten days FriendsWithYou have gone all out creating multiple larger-than-life inflatable installations, a gallery show, several pop-up shops, community events, speaking engagements

We’re very jealous that we don’t live in Toronto this week but if you’re interested in going you can find heaps of details over at FriendsWithYou News.

To get an idea of the kind of work on show FriendsWithYou have kindly sent through some impressive images of previous experiential instillations.

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Made & Sold charts the efforts of designers outside the usual 9 to 5 bill paying work. Published by Laurence King and edited by FL@33 towards the end of last year; FL@33 have built themselves a reputation for editing quirky titles often focusing on work produced for pleasure as much as for the pay. Made & Sold continues this trend showcasing a wide range of work from some well known trend setting creative maestros.

Most, if not all designers and illustrators at some point in their careers have had to produce dull client work stripped of creativity and visual flair. Outside this mundane work creative types have produced zines, tees, books, toys, prints and much more on their own time to stay creatively limber and fulfil the void that can only be achieved by boundless client-free projects. The essence of Made & Sold captures this playful and slightly jovial attitude in a lot of the work which makes for an enjoyable and inspiring read.

The majority of projects presented illustrate their creators own lust to produce a desirable product with the odd exception such as James West’s Create/Reject which donated proceeds to UNICEF. Though the work is often self-indulgent, this is usually out of necessity and acts as a force for good within the design community, bringing both pleasure to the creator and consumer whilst creating a perpetual motion that inspires more creatives to go on and produce their own wares. Made & Sold does a good job of distilling this ethos into a book that will not only please the eye and bruise the pocket but gives you a jolly good kick up the bum to start producing your own merchandise.

However fulfilling, self-gratification isn’t the only driving force for putting in the extra hours after work. It gives creatives the chance to experiment techniques and explore ideas often too risky for client paid work. Inevitably the free reign often feeds back into their day to day work as well as an extension of each creatives brand, which sees Made & Sold acting (in the most forgiving way) like a shopping catalogue as much as a snapshot of creative endeavours.

Each page contains quotes and a short description of the artist. This works well and brings context to them and their work. However these quotes run centred along the footer, seeming a little awkward with the rest of the grid. Apart from this, Made & Sold is well produced with plenty of detailed images that present the work well. Though some of the work really needs to be seen in the flesh the uncoated stock helps to carry the handmade feel of the work but at a relatively low price—just don’t expect any high end production finishes.

?When we first read about this book being released we were very excited, as a lot of the work on show can be far more insightful than the work people do as part of an agency. There’s a sense of authorship in every piece of work in Made & Sold which is a refreshing change and a major factor that is so alluring and spurs on creatives to keep producing this sort of work. FL@33 have become dab hands at producing these sorts of titles, producing visually exciting books that will definitely titillate the creative mind. With a resurgence in craft, this area of design is poignant and it seems a shame Made & Sold only touches the surface. Probing further, discussing the comeback of craft, out of hours work over the history of the industry and looking into creatives who make a living out of the products they create could of added depth. Those of you who like to fritter your pennies away in Magma, Analogue, Etsy etc or have dabbled in product lines will definitely enjoy Made & Sold and at the low price point it’s a great springboard to see what’s possible outside 9 to 5 whilst still developing your creativity. So go grab a copy and set up shop but don’t expect the millions to be rolling in any time soon.

Made & Sold is available from Amazon and all good local book stores now.

FL@33 have also created dedicated site for Made & Sold.

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Words: Gil Cocker
Photography: Malcolm Menzies

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Exclusive to FormFiftyFive visitors, DAHRA and Glug have released more images from their upcoming Christmas party / Exhibition in aid of Barnardos, entitled Play.Create, where they will be exhibiting and auctioning 30 exclusive Munny dolls by:

Graphic Design - Paula Scher (Pentagram), Joe Shouldice (Sagmeister Inc), Andy Altmann (Why Not Associates), Michael C. Place (Build), Studio Output, ILoveDust, Si Scott, Alberto Cerriteño, Gary Fernandez & Ollie Johns.

Product Design - 2Creatives, Anthony Dickens Studio, Forpeople, Jam Design, Max Lamb, Patrick Niall, Octo Design, Prajay Parmar, Yiannis Proestos & Rolf Sachs Fun c’tion & 10 students from Westminster school of Art

The event is taking place on Tuesday 15^th December 2009 at: The Book Club, 100-106 Leonard Street, Shoredtich London EC2A 4RH

Tickets: £5 (+50p paypal fee) – with all profits going to Barnardos!

For more information, images of the dolls and to bid online visit: http://play-create.dahra.org

To buy tickets: http://www.meetup.com/gluglondon/calendar/11953404/

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I came across this image taken in 2006 of FriendsWithYou’s rather excellent Sky Walkers parade which opened Art Basel Miami. According to FWY “Skywalkers featured 18 giant blimps designed by FWY and various artists and included over 300 volunteers, a high school marching band, full event staff, and thousands of attendees”.

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Donna Wilson has updated her site and introduced a whole bunch of new products. The site looks a lot better than the last iteration and shows off her exceptional talent with all things knitted and textiles related.

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Home De Caramel is an animation studio located near Barcelona, deep in the woods. Their work intends to be fresh, fancy and colorful. All the designers in Barcelona always seem to be having a great time, don’t they?

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