Mel Choyce

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  • Book Cover Redesignsview →

    Book covers, I’ve noticed, are becoming increasingly more attractive. While you can’t necessarily judge a book by its cover, an eye-catching cover is a great way to get someone’s attention. Often, when I want to pick up something new, I wander around a bookstore looking for something that looks visually interesting. I find a cover that appeals to me, read the synopsis, and if it sounds awesome I’ll get it. Covers definitely play an important role in that initial attraction to an unfamiliar book or series.

    Recently, there’s been a pretty big influx of redesigned book covers in bookstores. My favorite, unsurprisingly, are the new Song of the Lioness covers:

    Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce cover redesign
    In The Hands of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce cover redesign
    The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce cover redesign
    Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce cover redesign

    I need to resist the urge to buy the whole set again just for shiny new covers (I already have three sets). Seriously. I’m kind of obsessed.

    Anyway, Tamora Pierce books aside, I recently came across this gallery of recently redesigned book covers, and damn, they look good! Here are a few examples:

    Little Red Riding Hood Cover Redesign
    His Dark Materials series cover redesign

    Does anyone else have any book covers recently redesigned that you like?

    mel

    December 22, 2011
    link, photo
    book covers
  • Star Wars Coffee Setview →

    Star Wards Coffee Set(Designed by Eric Beatty as an assignment at Savannah College of Art and Design)

    If these are every actually made, sign me up!

    mel

    December 15, 2011
    link
    packaging, product design, star wars
  • Attention WordPress users!view →

    What are you looking for in a WordPress meetup? (asked by @kurteng)

    Saw this on Reddit and thought it was a great question, since @ryelle and I both organize the Western MA WordPress meetups and are always looking for new topics for presentations. So, what are you guys looking to learn? What are you interested in seeing presented?

    mel

    November 30, 2011
    link
    meetups
  • Reclaim Cyber Monday: Cyber with people, not vendorsview →

    reclaimcybermonday:

    What is up with people thinking they can turn shopping events into holidays? Listen, Black Friday is bad enough. The mindless capitalism that occurs when swarms of people, hypnotized by commercial jingles and promises of outrageous sales, wake up at the crack of dawn and book it to shopping malls so they can spend money they don’t have on stuff they don’t need is beyond embarrassing — it’s disgraceful.

    Now marketers are trying to take the concept of Black Friday and apply it to ecommerce sites, calling it Cyber Monday? And it’s actually catching on as a legitimate Day? This shit has got to stop.

    Sorry, Don Draper wannabes, but you picked the wrong term to attempt to convert for your profitable purposes. See, “cyber” already has a definition. In fact, it has many. But the one we all know and love has nothing to do with shopping. It’s about getting off with someone online.

    Capitalism, you can take my paychecks, you can take my home, you can probably take most of my dignity. But you can’t take my favorite activity and turn it into a fake shopping holiday.

    It’s time to reclaim Cyber Monday.

    From here on out, on the Monday following thanksgiving, don’t buy anything from ecommerce sites — especially the ones advertising “Cyber Monday” sales. Instead, if you get an impulse to buy something, stop and think about the true meaning of the word “cyber.” Reach out across the internet and type to your special someone that you’re thinking about them, naked. Right now. And it’s making you so hot you can’t concentrate on anything else.

    If you also would like to reclaim Cyber Monday, take this pledge by either reblogging this on Tumblr or tweeting it with the hashtag #reclaimcyber.

    mel

    November 28, 2011
    link
    reclaimcyber
  • Creative (non-web) Professionals Take Noteview →

    http://www.dontfeartheinternet.com/

    Don’t Fear the Internet is an awesome introduction to html/css for non-web creative professionals. It’s another one of @jessicahische and @StrangeNative’s projects. Take a look!

    mel

    November 21, 2011
    link
  • I love @jessicahische’s portfolioview →

    Jessica Hischehttp://jessicahische.is/awesome/

    I was reading this article earlier on Smashing Magazine earlier today and stumbled upon Jessica Hische’s portfolio. The article lists her site as a good example of segmentation (which “entails sectioning content on the page according to audience or task”).

    First off — bam! Nice large photo, bright orange, good typography. Interior pages are nice and clean. I’m also a big fan of vanity urls. Anyway, I noticed pretty quickly that not only did she make the Daily Drop Cap I posted about the other day, but also the “Should I Work For Free?” infographic!

    I did some more poking around and discovered that she also designed the super sexy covers on the Barnes & Noble Classics I’ve been ogling for quite some time. Look at them. Really. They are gorgeous. This woman is a veritable design powerhouse. Check her out!

    mel

    November 18, 2011
    link
    portfolio design, typography, web design
  • Are you a web professional?view →

    A List Apart Survey for People Who Make Websites

    This year’s A List Apart survey is up! If you’re a web professional, make sure to fill it out. It’ll take you no more than five minutes.

    Interested in last year’s findings? You can find them here.

    mel

    November 17, 2011
    link
  • Daily Drop Cap Projectview →

    Daily Drop Cap Project

    Just found this! Very, very cool. Lots of awesome different styles, and ongoing. Free for non-commercial use. I personally think more sites should be using drop caps.

    Some awesome examples:

    G from Daily Drop Cap L from Daily Drop Cap A from Daily Drop Cap H from Daily Drop Cap G from Daily Drop Cap

    mel

    November 14, 2011
    link
    typography
  • Awesome wine logoview →

    Nevada Wine Logo via @dribbble

    Really clever. Love it!

    mel

    November 10, 2011
    link
    dribbble, logo design, wine
  • Logo from a local designerview →

    Hyperion Law, LLC Identity

    Nice logo from Justin Zucco (@justinzucco), a local Western MA designer. Love how he outlines his process in his portfolio!

    mel

    November 9, 2011
    link
    local designer, logo design
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