Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen is a non-profit organization that encourages the practice of and nurture excellence in heritage and contemporary crafts. From fine art fairs and a full retail space to workshops and classes, the guild has a mission that the making of craft enriches all.

The site is cleanly designed and easy to navigate.  It’s got all the expected features of a modern website (tie-ins to social networking pages, e-mail list signup, calendar of coming events), without being flashy.

Not only is it great for the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen to receive such great feedback with taking a risk on a more modern design, but it’s also great that it’s being received exactly as planned. I am overjoyed and so happy to share the newly launched pacrafts.org

Are you one of those designers who loathes looking for stock photography? Join the club. A new search engine called Compfight has been developed that uses the Flickr API to discover photos/photographers. Created by Ryan Teuscher. And it’s the seekers responsibility to make sure that they have the rights to use the selected image, be responsible.

via @dirka

No, not the World Wresting Federation, they’re now the WWE. The WWF is the World Wildlife Fund and Simon Cook created a website using paper boats, planes, and more for the WWF who were campaigning to get the UK government to tighten up on Carbon emissions in the Climate Change Bill going through parliament.

I must say, the WWF are smart for not only letting creative folks stretch their muscles in helping them, but it also attracts folks who are unaware of their efforts.

Left: The home page before the redesign, Right: The home page after the redesign.

Left: An interior page before the redesign, Right: An interior page after the redesign.

While it is obvious the site needed some updating, I’m not so sure that the design for the home page was the absolute best solution for such a resource in New York. There is an FAQ section on the redesign which gives people like me an insight into the process, but something about the home page just isn’t as engaging as I would expect. I think the content is useful and presented in the top navigation in a user-friendly way. The “Using the Library” section in particular is very important for the younger generations who are native to the internet and not the physical library.

I’d like to see if the home page will change over time, because the type doesn’t work for me, and the My Account button is distracting. I think it should have been renamed and not so consumer-like. Maybe have some fun since it’s a library, call it My Shelf, My Bookcase, My Library, something other than account. It’s too commercial.

There are a few other minor details that bug me such as the logo symbol being perfectly aligned with the word ‘library’ rather that with the entire wordmark, but you can read more on the logo design at Brand New.

As with most redesigns, only time will tell whether it has been a successful one. The in-house designers at the NYPL definitely deserve some kudos for taking on the tough task of rebranding an institution that has deep roots that is also being thrusted into the digital age.

Just found this gem and it’s in my area, hooray! The Society of Design is a non-profit dedicated to design education and community service. They are located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and have a great line-up for upcoming events including Pennsylvania-native Chip Kidd, Seattle’s Modern Dog, and this Friday, November 19 visiting will be Design Army founders from Washington DC. The event is being held at the Penn State Harrisburg Campus, for more details visit The Society of Design website.

It’s probably best to become a member and they also have a Travel event coming up in April to visit Falling Water and the Warhol Museum. Loving it already.

Typedia, is an online community revolving around typefaces where you can search by typeface, designer or foundry. “In a nutshell, Typedia is a community website to classify typefaces and educate people about them.”

Typedia isn’t just a one sided conversation or a lecture, it’s a community where you too can add what you know.

Sometimes I am amazed at the things that are available online. I recently found a site filled with tarot cards and some of the graphics, lettering and patterns are just stunning. TrionFi, History and Origin of Tarot is now a permanent bookmarked site and will continue to look – if you have LOTS of time on your hand – you too can browse through. Below I’ve put up some enticing images from their extensive library of images.

I really love the variety of illustrations, lettering and most of all the differences depicted from each country. There are several regions including Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland and much more.

I am just amazed and inspired by these and I’m not sure if it will have any influence on my work, but boy am I glad to have found it any way!

I don’t even know how I came upon this one (more than likely from Quipsologies) and just had to post about it. Steal Our Ideas is exactly as they write above. They post ideas for the advertising industry and put some humor into it, and I won’t forget to mention that each post is illustrated giving the site a completely unique appeal.

I couldn’t resist posting this sweet video from Publicis Mojo called Signs about a lonely man who finds a new friend.

Wooden Type Fonts is a mecca for wooden fonts of the 19th century. The site has a long list of historically accurate reporductions of wood type in a variety of styles. But dont’ take my word for it, see for yourself.

The site is run by Jordan Davies and if you are looking for wooden type fonts or just inspiration for your projects, this is good place to start.