009: Copying, Rebrands, and Trend Indexes
Plus a job search guide.
Welcome to Asset Library, my graphic design-ish newsletter where I share inspiring and interesting design, tools, articles, etc.
I feel like I’ve been slacking on providing tools and resources lately, so this Asset Library caters towards that.
You can never have too many.
🗞️ A thoughtful argument about copying in design
Designers are often precious and defensive about others copying work, but copying is kind of what makes the design world keep spinning. I think this can be said of other disciplines as well.
Copying helped me develop as a designer without needing to go to design school. For lots of people too young for college-level design programs, or without the means to attend these schools or bootcamps, copying serves the same function.
And then, when folks like me wind up in a career in design, we find that copying is still useful. I eyedropper colors from Apple’s marketing websites. I start my color palettes from Google’s Material Design examples. I screenshot and recreate components from Facebook’s new redesign.
🖍️ Rebrand Roundup
Goldman Sachs: a $20M “return to heritage.”
Tupperware: sophisticated and playful. I love cute expressive type.
Speedo: a sleek ode to the swimmer. I was a little underwhelmed by this, but I think it’s cool they’re taking the Nike route—young, cool, highlighting athletes, etc.
Glossier (proposal): a really smart execution using a lot of the existing Glossier brand elements. Loved it.
📈 The Pinterest Fall 2024 trends report
Pinterest unveils the top trends for fall 2024, featuring refreshing takes on fashion, beauty, home decor, food and hobbies. As the ultimate destination for discovery, Pinterest has seen an increase in searches for fall aesthetics, activities and inspiration.1 Pinterest users are embracing group activities this fall, with searches for "cook book club" up by 130% and “fall movie night” up by 140%. There is also a growing interest in Japanese culture due to the influx of travelers to Japan, with searches for "Japan fall fashion" rising by 140% and "Japanese living room design" increasing by 135%.
As a corporate graphic designer, integrating Google maps screenshots can make work feel ugly—this site gives you so much flexibility and customizability, it makes my heart sing. It doesn’t have a lot of presets so if anyone has a better version of this pls share.
A search engine for aesthetics that I could look through all day.
Austurbane, Curly Girly, and Acidgrafix A tool I find myself coming back to time and time again. I think this is helpful for non-designers and coders (lol do we still call them that) who dabble in creative projects as a starting point for color help.
🔠 Honey Lettering by Kier Novesky for GQ
I immediately recognized it from the Robert Pattinson cover from 2022 (made out of glue). Lo-fi and inventive!! He’s a great follow for creative inspiration on Instagram.
“Doing Graza” to everything lol
via Twitter 🛠️ For the Job Seekers: A Career Pivot Guide
📢🗣️📢🗣️📢🗣️📢🗣️📢🗣️
I was job searching for the first six or so months of the year, trying to transition out of a large agency to go client side (I did it!!) and it was tough and overwhelming at times—planning, inward searching, writing, goal-setting, stress, applying, being rejected constantly, etc.
This guide from Carly Ayres is so helpful, practical, and includes great resources. I wish I had had access to it!!!! Please read if you’re currently looking for a career pivot, even if it’s not in design.
See you next time. On the first Monday of the month, you can expect Asset Library and on the third Monday of the month you can expect In the Clouds in your inboxes.
I use Snazzy Maps at work (has way more graphic presets and options for pins) https://snazzymaps.com/
I had no idea those GQ headlines were made from glue! So cool. I remember not liking the Rob Pattinson cover when it came out a few years ago, but it's grown on me so much... It was so ahead of the curve