Recommended Resources Archives - Design Work Life

5 Best CRM for Graphic Designers in 2026

Preston Lee — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 16:23:20 +0000

As a graphic designer juggling multiple clients and projects, staying organized isn’t just nice to have—it’s essential for survival. I learned this lesson the hard way early in my freelance career when I missed a crucial client deadline because my “system” of sticky notes and email folders finally failed me. But here’s the thing: not […]

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Recommended Resources: Behance Creative’s Outfitter

Courtney — Sun, 23 Feb 2020 21:00:14 +0000

I have proclaimed my love for Behancein all its formson this blog many times, but one of their services I use the most is Creative’s Outfitter, a shop where they sell all sorts of productivity-focused gear. And as a business owner constantly juggling a ton of responsibilities, I can surely say their product line is […]

Recommended Resources: The Design Method

Courtney — Mon, 19 May 2014 17:00:07 +0000

This week’s recommended resource is a book I just finished reading and found incredibly insightful, The Design Method by Eric Karjaluoto. You may be familiar with Eric through his design agency, smashLAB, his thought-provoking essays published on Ideas on Ideas, or his book Speak Human. This most recent publication centers around the process of design and provides readers with […]

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Recommended Resources: PIE Books

Courtney — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:00:27 +0000

If you want a jolt of creative inspiration, try looking to PIE Books, a Japanese book publisher who aims to produce “sweet and fresh books that keep you entertained.” They publish books in various creative categories, from design to art to photography, but I’m particularly drawn to the ones that feature colorful patterns and stationery designs. […]

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Recommended Resources: Blogs for Thought

Courtney — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 17:00:41 +0000

I follow quite a few blogs, and beyond those featuring visual inspiration, I love reading articles that make me think and help me to improve how I run my business. So today I thought I’d share a handful of recommended blogs that offer helpful advice for business, life in general and design thinking. 99u 99u is […]

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Recommended Resources: Skillshare Memberships

Courtney — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 17:00:52 +0000

I’ve already raved about Skillshare’s educational platform multiple times, so I will keep this short and sweet. In addition to their offering of hundreds of individual classes, they’ve now introduced Memberships, where students can pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to hundreds of their classes. You can now sign up for either of my […]

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Recommended Resources: Skillshare Round-up

Courtney — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 18:00:04 +0000

As an avid user (and teacher) of Skillshare’s online classes, I thought it would be great to use this column to highlight a few of their offerings each month. They are continuously adding new and interesting class options, which is why at the moment I’m enrolled in more classes than I’ve yet had the time […]

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Recommended Resources: Victionary Palette Series

Courtney — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 18:00:51 +0000

Victionary is an excellent resource for books that contain lots of design eye candy, both in the content as well as the books’ own designs. They have quite the library of titles, all thematically organized around a particular style or area of design. If you are inspired by color, their Palette series is an especially […]

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Recommended Resources: Design Square

Courtney — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 18:00:02 +0000

Design Square is a new, curated directory of the graphic design industry, aiming to make connections between design and business. The site is free to use and free to join, and the process is simple. After submitting an application form, your entry will be reviewed to determine whether or not it’s a good fit within 24–48 hours. […]

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Recommended Resources: 5 Email Newsletters Worth Subscribing To

Courtney — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:00:43 +0000

If you’re anything like me, your inbox is almost always overflowing. It’s a constant battle; and while “inbox zero” is not something I even try to achieve on a daily basis, I do attempt to minimize the extra fluff that comes through so I can focus on what’s most important. That being said, I’ve found […]

Recommended Resources: Podcast Thing

Courtney — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 14:00:03 +0000

If you enjoyed my previous podcast-themed post, you will definitely love Podcast Thing. Created by Max Temkin and Veronica Corzo-Duchardt, the site was created to help people find great podcasts. They have curated their own recommendations in various categories, and in addition they also publish interviews with other podcast enthusiasts who provide their own recommendations. There’s some really […]

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Recommended Resources: Two Minutes with TGD

Courtney — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 18:00:07 +0000

The Great Discontent is one of my all-time favorite blogs. Each week they feature in-depth interviews with people from creative fields who are doing really inspiring work and living their dreams. More recently they’ve introduced Two Minutes with TDG, a series of brief interviews centered around three questions, and expanding on the themes explored on […]

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Recommended Resources: What I Listen to While I Work

Courtney — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 18:00:59 +0000

One of the things I love about working on my own is having the freedom to listen whatever I want during the day. And while I do listen to music (via Spotify) quite a bit, more often than not I have a podcast playing. I’ve discovered quite a few over time (and continue to do […]

Risograph Radness

Jason Sturgill — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 18:01:46 +0000

The world is full of endless treasures. Staying curious and being open to new experiences is one of things that keeps me inspired. I never know what I might discover next that might open up a whole new world for me, and keeps me up all night excited to find out more. That’s what happened […]

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SkyFonts Service Launches

Courtney — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:30:06 +0000

Yesterday Monotype’s new font rental service, SkyFonts, officially came out of beta and released publicly. The service gives users access to over 8000 fonts, allowing them to try any font for free for up to five minutes within any desktop application or spend credits to rent fonts for as long as they’re needed. I haven’t had a […]

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A Quick Valentine Freebie

Courtney — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:30:21 +0000

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, I thought I’d offer a quick DIY freebie: 4 cards, 4 different designs. I’m not hugely into Valentine’s Day, but I’m all for any excuse to make some fun paper goods. Enjoy! MATERIALS Cardstock Xacto Knife Bone folder or other scoring tool DIRECTIONS Print cards on your choice […]

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So Long 2009

Courtney — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:00:47 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! It’s good to be back after a long and relaxing break. I realize 2009 was a challenging year in a lot of ways. But I can’t help but look back and focus on all of the positive things that happened for us both personally and professionally. We’re about 18 months into […]

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A Last Minute DIY

Courtney — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:00:26 +0000

Two freebies in one week, I know. Looking forward to 2010, I hope to offer more of these on a regular basis. But if you’re looking for a last minute gift idea, this one in particular may help you out. This year I was looking for a simple but fun gift I could make for […]

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Holiday Freebies

Courtney — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:00:47 +0000

Ever since I started this blog I had intended to offer some freebies from time to time, and I’ve finally gotten around to it. So for the first ever dwl download, I’m offering this set of gift tag templates. They are free for personal use*, and are formatted with crop marks and ready to use. […]

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smART history

Courtney — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:00:19 +0000

An excellent resource for those looking to bone up on their art history, “smARThistory.org is a free multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional and static art history textbook”. via faye & co.

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Typenuts

Courtney — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:00:21 +0000

Typenuts is another fantastic resource for typographic iphone and desktop wallpapers, brought to you by I Love Typography.

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Color Happy 22

Courtney — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:00:02 +0000

The image below is from the Easy Graffiti Photoshop brush set sold through Media Slap.

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Fontcase

Courtney — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:24:24 +0000

I received an email last night announcing the release of Fontcase 1.0, a font management tool for the Mac that allows you to tag and control your fonts in a way similar to iTunes. It looks like a pretty cool set up, and for the next two weeks it will be on sale for €35 […]

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Random Resources 01.20.09

Courtney — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:00:28 +0000

All about grids… The Grid System “The ultimate resource in grid systems.” Everything you ever wanted to know about grids can be found here. gridr buildrrr A neat little tool that allows you to create your own web-based grids. Grid Calculator Software that allows you to create the perfect grid for any design project. Grid […]

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Random Resources 01.06.09

Courtney — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:00:27 +0000

A few random resources for this week: Freckle A new source for online time tracking. I have no personal experience with how well it works, but they do offer a 30-day trial. Has anyone used this service yet? NumberKey An application that allows you to turn your iPhone into a numeric keypad to use with […]

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New Design Bum

Courtney — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:00:37 +0000

For those of you not familiar, Design Bum is the home of talented designer Issara Willenskomer. And in addition to an extremely tight portfolio of (mainly) motion graphics work, he also offers quite a few awesome downloads for visitors. Click here to browse through all of the new work he’s uploaded, and here to check […]

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Random Resources 10.23.08

Courtney — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:00:30 +0000

Part two in my semi-regular link drop of helpful resources: School of Everything I haven’t gotten a chance to register for this site yet, but it’s such a great idea. School of everything connects people who want to learn with people who want to teach—all in their local area. Topics are completely open-ended, from arts […]

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Random Resources 09.22.08

Courtney — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:00:46 +0000

In my day-to-day web browsing I come across a lot of helpful resources that don’t necessarily warrant a full post. So I’ve decided to start compiling a few together every so often, and hopefully they’ll save you a bit of time and/or make your day go little more smoothly. Type Chart This site “lets you […]

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Action Method Online

Courtney — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:00:55 +0000

I’m a huge list maker and therefore I’m a pretty avid user of “To Do” programs. I’m always trying to figure out ways to be more organized and efficient with all the things I need to accomplish, and as a result I’ve gone through a few different programs but haven’t yet found one that fits […]

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Perspectv

Courtney — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:00:53 +0000

This site is great for anyone wanting to keep up with all of the election news. Perspctv takes traditional news feeds as well as blog posts and tweets from all over the web and puts it all in one place. Great info graphics too. via Very Short List

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Fun Desktop Wallpaper Resources

Courtney — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:00:10 +0000

I like to change my wallpaper every so often, so I’m always on the lookout for new resources. Here are a few fun ones (some have more choices than others) that I’ve come across in the last few months: Desktop Wallpaper Project Poked Studio wallpapers Bad Ass Ideas Pixel Girl Presents I Love Typography wallpapers […]

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Type Navigator

Courtney — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:00:29 +0000

I may be late in the game, but I just discovered Fontshop’s Type Navigator tool. I’m not sure how long it’s been around, but I wish I had discovered it sooner. Rather than choosing by category—Serif, Sans Serif, etc.—as most font sites do, this tool allows you to search by visual form. Once you pick […]

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Happy Weekend and Miscellany

Courtney — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:21:30 +0000

Photo from FotografeRx’s photostream So sorry about the lack of posts the last couple of days. I took an unexpected sick day yesterday and today I’m headed up to Newport, Rhode Island. So I leave you with a couple of links to get you through the last day of the week. 30 Essential PDF Documents […]

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Design Freebies

Courtney — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:42:12 +0000

Summer, of Design is Mine, just started a new blog that will compile all of the great design freebies available online in one place. Such an awesome idea—check out Free Design Goodies here .

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New and Improved Veer

Courtney — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:00:22 +0000

I recently received an email from Veer announcing all sorts of improvements they’ve made to their Ideas section. On top of being a prime source for type, photogrpahy and illustration; the new features make Veer more of a community. Among updates to their Wallpaper section (which I always check for updates) and The Skinny, their […]

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AIGA/Aquent Salary Survey

Courtney — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:35:04 +0000

AIGA has released the results of their 2008 Salary Survey. Download your copy here. Or you can also find more details and a salary calculator right here.

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New-to-me Design Conferences

Courtney — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:00:42 +0000

I had such a good experience at the HOW Conference this year, that I’d like to try to attend conferences more often. And I recently read about a couple that I wasn’t familiar with in the current issue of STEP magazine. Cusp Conference The first ever Cusp Conference will be held over two days in […]

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The Textures of Alcatraz

Courtney — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:48:18 +0000

While in San Francisco, we took the requisite tour of Alcatraz. I actually wasn’t really that into it initially, but it turned out to be pretty amazing. Aside from the history of it all, I was really impressed by the architecture on the island. I didn’t really know much about Alcatraz before visiting, so I […]

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CreativeTechs

Courtney — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:00:20 +0000

If you’re a Mac user and you haven’t yet heard of CreativeTechs, you should check out their site immediately. The tagline says it all really: “left brain support for right brain professionals”. In person CreativeTechs provide Mac tech support for creative teams in the Seattle area. But online, they maintain a database of extremely useful […]

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An Amazing Resource

Courtney — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:00:46 +0000

I’m so excited about this. Smashing Magazine recently put together a gigantic, reader-created gallery of background textures. Photos include wood, bark, fabric, sand and tons more. Best of all, they’re completely free to use for personal AND commercial use. Definitely could come in handy. Download some for yourself here, and make sure to check out […]

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iPhone eye candy

Courtney — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:00:28 +0000

Poolga is a site where you can download artist and designer-created wallpapers for your iPhone for free. There’s a wide range of styles so it shouldn’t be difficult to find something you like. And they upload new designs every couple of days so there’s always something new to choose from.

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Gmund updates?

Courtney — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:00:13 +0000

Not sure how recently this happened, but I’m definitely psyched about it—Gmund paper finally has a brand new website. I had unsuccessfully attempted to purchase samples from their old site several times in the past, so I’ve been frustratingly waiting for them to launch a newer and easier-to-use version. Looks like you can now order […]

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Post Expose

Courtney — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:18:53 +0000

I’ve been pretty excited about Post Expose since it opened, even though I’ve unfortunately not had a chance to get there yet. They’re a screen printing and design center located in Long Island City—right around the corner from me (which makes it more ridiculous that I haven’t been there yet). Anyways, they have a gallery […]

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Making the Impossible Possible

Courtney — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:10:41 +0000

Fortunately I got a chance to see Bill Strickland speak as the closing keynote for the HOW Conference. As a speaker and a person, he is truly inspirational. He grew up in poverty in the inner city of Pittsburgh and never left the area, instead choosing to make a difference in the lives of the […]

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Marketing Mentor

Courtney — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:00:13 +0000

Another HOW Conference session I attended was “What it Takes to be Your Own Boss”, given by Ilise Benun of Marketing Mentor. I had previously attended one of their workshops locally and it was extremely helpful, so I was excited to see how the content from this session would build upon that. Ilise went through […]

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Behance

Courtney — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:23:09 +0000

Another one of Monday’s sessions I really enjoyed was given by Scott Belsky of Behance. For those of you that don’t know about the company, they maintain several creative initiatives. They include the Behance network, an online creative community; a line of productivity products, a methodology for productivity and the core of their company: the […]

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Helpful Business Resources

Courtney — Mon, 26 May 2008 11:38:25 +0000

In Monday’s second session I attended “Financial Planning for Solo Designers” given by Shel Perkins, the author of Talent is Not Enough: Business Secrets for Designers. While a lot of the information didn’t really apply to me, some of it was really helpful. One thing he mentioned that got me excited is a new website […]

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Opening Night

Courtney — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:24:54 +0000

This past Sunday I headed into the Hynes for the opening Keynote address, given by Jeremy Gutsche of Trend Hunter Magazine, entitled “Creating a Culture of Innovation”. Gutsche was an excellent speaker and his talk and made some great points about how to innovate in today’s culture of viral marketing, where consumers create the content. […]

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