Handy Links 10

AFTER A MUCH NEEDED BREAK for the holidays, I'm back on track with the blog for 2011. I'm changing Handy Links frequency to every 2 weeks to better fit my life.

This issue features a fabric iPad stylus, mini coffee process documentaries, nerd merit badges and a watch diary.

	Stylus Socks Check out these hand-sewn conductive fabric socks, wrapped around a pen holder to create a unique stylus. Works great on my iPad. 2 pack for $17.
	Intelligentsia Coffee Mini-Documentaries Excellent documentary film series by The D4D on coffee. Filmed at Intelligentsia in California, featuring Espresso, Cappuccino & Syphon brew methods.
	Nerd Merit Badges Pulled duty on family tech support or achieved Inbox Zero? There's a Nerd Merit Badge for it! $6 each, velcro sash $13.37. Thanks for the tip Jason.
	Watch Diary An interesting diary with integrated watch from Yanko Design, with integrated watch right in the center of the book. Thanks for the tip Carlos.

Handy Links 9

THIS WEEK'S LINKS feature royalty-free icons, an article about the problem of design sales teams, ambient music for your workflow and Moleskine cases for iPhone and iPad.

	Symbolicons A beautiful series of icons from Jory Raphael at Sensible World, featuring clean and simple, royalty-free vector files. Free to $30 for various sets.
	Sales: The Fail Team Great article by Andy Rutledge about sales team issues at design firms and his word of mouth prescription for a better reputation, clients, and work.
	Music for Pilots I'm always hunting for music to power my workflow. Check out Music for Pilots, a Milwaukee ambient/techno group featuring my pal Andy Wright.
	Moleskine iPhone & iPad Cases Blend analog and digital tools with these Moleskine cases for the iPhone and iPad, featuring integrated notebooks. iPhone $50, iPad $90.

Handy Links 8

THIS WEEK'S LINKS feature quirky wooden robots, a book of designer sketchbooks, a useful resource on iPhone Retina Display design and a tiny yet powerful wireless speaker.

Scrap Wood Robots This Bit Rebels article tells how “Mao” Marjolaine Poulin creates quirky robots from scrap wood. I love the personality of these guys. $15-$20 each.

Graphic: a Book of Sketchbooks Steven Heller & Lita Talarico's Graphic is a collection of sketchbooks from great graphic designers. Read Review Copy's post for photos of the book. $38.

Designing for iPhone 4 Retina Display: Techniques & Workflow Here's an excellent Smashing Magazine write-up from Marc Edwards on creating graphics for the iPhone 4 Retina Display with very helpful imagery.

Jambox Jambox is a slick and small, portable wireless speaker and speakerphone from Jawbone. Check out the promo video by Adam Lisagor. $200.

Handy Links 7

THIS WEEK'S LINKS include a wooden iPhone amp, an iPad case with built-in keyboard, great advice from a veteran designer and a pack of font reference documents.

Koostik Wooden iPhone Dock

Forget batteries. The Koostik is a gorgeous, $85 hardwood iPhone amplifier which works like a guitar body, amplifying sound naturally and acoustically.

ZAGGmate iPad Case & Keyboard

I love this $70 aluminum case that snaps on the iPad, with a $100 version featuring a built-in keyboard. (currently pre-order.)

Do You REALLY Want to be a Design “Rock Star?”

Excellent essay by veteran designer Speider Schneider on success, humility, doing great work and focusing on what's important in life.

Type Education at FontShop

I love this cache of beautiful and educational PDF font references from FontShop. Load 'em up on your iPad for the holidays!

P.S. I've changed Handy Links in this 7th episode, simplifying the title and including teaser images with each link. Hope you like the tweaks. Thanks Jordie van Rijn for your ideas!

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Handy Links 6

Featured this week:
This week, an ultimate Dropbox guide, funky minimal watches, a hand-drawn font called Clumsy, a music recommendation and a podcast on sketchnotes.

The Ultimate Dropbox Toolkit & Guide

If you use Dropbox like I do, check out this reference on how to make best use of the service.

Nooka Watches

Really dig the minimal, colorful style of these Nooka watches, particularly the unique graphical time displays - I want an orange Zot.

Clumsy Font

My pal Kyle Steed's personal, hand-drawn font named Clumsy. Download free and be sure to donate generously!

Collections of Colonies of Bees - Birds

Local Wisconsin band Collection of Colonies of Bees album Birds is an excellent set of tracks for working to. $10 on iTunes or Amazon MP3.

Thirsty Developer Podcast: Sketchnotes

Stumbled across this old podcast done about 2 years ago with the Thirsty Developer guys, Larry Clarkin and Dave Bost. It's a really good overview of sketchnotes and how I approach them, in audio form. Here's the direct MP3 Link.

See you all next time.

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