How often do you find yourself seeking inspiration from crowdsourcing?

If you haven't heard, crowdsourcing is happening all over the web. It's the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent and outsourcing it to a 'crowd,' usually an undefined, large group of people in the form of an open call. Using the Internet's vast reach has become the gateway for crowdsourcing.

It's easy enough on Twitter to crowdsource ideas. Get a group of followers to use a common hashtag and seek out ideas for anything you're working ...

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Stash Media and Filter Foundry announce the first speakers for STYLE FRAMES New York, a new design conference all about The Art of the Pitch. The two-day event will present 40 speakers and panelists, showcase outstanding pitch art in the STYLE FRAMES Gallery, and celebrate with an event party. STYLE FRAMES New York (SFNY) brings together influential design, advertising and media professionals from both the client and creative sides of the industry for two days of inspiration, networking and insight.

Conference speakers so far ...

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Today we feature Pete Harrison and his work. Take a break, pour yourself an espresso, top off your coffee, crack open another Red Bull or break out the china and sip on high tea... & let's see what Pete has to say to all y'all (just saw the Hatfields and McCoys)

Enjoy!

FF: How would you describe your art and design style?

Pete: My design style I guess at the moment you could say it was photo manipulation with lighting effects, I use similar elements and the way I work that now people recognise a piece and can put ...

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Many people are confused when asked to differentiate between graphic designers and web developers, but there are significant differences between these types of creative professionals. Sure, they both deal with digital manipulation, and will likely both have online portfolios on display, but the professions require various skills and education.

One primary difference is that of the target. Graphic designers are considered artists, and looking at a few design portfolios will likely exemplify this characterization. Manipulating images, pixels, and vectors requires an artistic eye, and the most successful are those that can be imaginative with colors and type.

Web developers, on ...

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Our friends at China Design Hub (CDH) have been covering original design and art from China for a few months now and have shared with us a couple of inspiring new artists. The blog, that features art from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, has been showcasing different creative industries from industrial and architecture to interior and fashion. Their goal is simply to shake off the negative light and biased view toward Chinese Design. Here are 3 talented artists that caught our attention.

Sally Zou
Sally is a Shanghainese born in 1986 and started picking up art, design and advertising after ...

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Filter Foundry caught up with Silicon Valley veteran Brett Lovelady, Founder/CEO of Astro Studios in San Francisco, and picked the juicy parts of his brain. Pull up a chair and lets start with his title: “Chief Instigator.”

Brett: I’ve been a classic fire starter, someone who gets big ideas quickly, rallies a lot of people, gets them all talking, cross connecting, gets all the big ideas out, formulates it, and gets out of the way. I’m not really into tending fires, I’m better at starting them …just sort of felt like the right title compared to ...

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When I was in high school, I in inherited the old family hi-fi. We had upgraded the sitting room's entertainment center and in the middle of it was a state-of-the-art Sony component system that included a CD-player, a turntable, an equalizer, an amp, a stereo tuner, and a dual cassette deck. Back then vinyl was king and portables (like the yellow sports Walkman in my school bag) were gaining ground quickly. My local Record Store was walking distance and it was my happiest place on earth.

We all have our favorite songs, our favorite albums, but I also had ...

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I never really considered myself an illustrator, even though my first foray into the art world was drawing. I even came close to posting some of my pseudo-anime pencil sketches from "back in the day" to prove my point. Sure I have tons of coffeeshop cartoons and down-time doodles but an illustrator, I am not. When inspiration strikes however, I am always prepared. Professor Brown's habit of always carrying a Pilot Rolling Ball (Precise) V5 has come in handy while waiting for friends and my never-on-time younger brother. I even started carrying what my colleague calls an  "idea book ...

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The 8 Worst Fonts In The World

We’d need another book, of course, to do this justice. And where would one start?

Fonts are like cars on the street--we notice only the most beautiful or ugly, the funniest or the flashiest. The vast majority roll on regardless. There may be many reasons why we dislike or distrust certain fonts, and overuse and misuse are only starting points. Fonts may trigger memory as pungently as perfume: Gill Sans can summon up ...

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With design week hitting Los Angeles this week, I thought it would be nice to Blog, Facebook and Twitter about the different events going on in our global art and design world. If you saw the FF facebook page, you already know about Black & White Are Not Colors, happing at Festival Breda, The Hague. But, if you are in London, treat yourself to TYPO, at least sign-up for the free ticket giveaway. ~MAC

Design's biggest names come to London this week
- and you can be there for free

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