Makers, Designers and DIY

Have you ever scratched your head in confusion as you wonder, "Where do I find the world's finest kelp caviar and jellyfish art? I'm having a party." Take comfort in knowing you're not alone! Touch of Modern has compiled a digital compendium of extraordinarily designed objects for everyday use, and put them in one convenient location for your leisurely perusal. They're classy like that. ...

Since 2009, when a passionate open letter from designer Mark Dudlik to the Phoenix, Arizona design community gained momentum and supporters, Phoenix Design Week has been bringing together a variety of visual disciplines into one crazy conference of love, support and everything you can think of related to design. It's a wonderful grassroots campaign that draws in worldwide attention, and is ...

Sewing has been a hobby and pastime for too many years to count, and with a little elbow grease and ingenuity you can turn your love of thread into a lucrative business venture. With the advent of the internet, the small world of sewing exploded into a worldwide community and events like Sewtopia were born. A Sewtopia Retreat is held each year in a different location and is an entire wee...

The internet is a wonderful invention that, when used correctly, can make your life easier, more well-rounded and give you social skills that your awkward 13-year-old self would envy. Sometimes, though, the World Wide Web can feel like the land of Oz - you know there's something great and powerful running the show and you're not sure exactly what it is, but it's obviously something to pay y...

Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous. - Bill Moyers Whether you're a writer or a designer, there's nothing more frightening - or inspiring - than a blank page ... Designing a new sticker is like facing that blank page, and then some. It's a blank page and moving target, all in one. Design success isn't found by just checking off the boxes and flicking the switches. ...

Fluorescent light fixtures have a well-deserved reputation for being anything but beautiful. While they're fast and easy to install in a suspended ceiling, a grid of fluorescent fixtures = hum drum conformity. What if you could turn those boring fixtures into windows on a whole new world? What if you could look up at the ceiling in your basement rec room and see a sky full of beautifu...

Click here for a great art education! The University of Washington School of Art (a.k.a.: SoA) offers degrees in Art, Art History, and Design. SoA degrees include Interdisciplinary Visual Arts, Painting + Drawing, and 3D4M (ceramics, glass and sculpture). Design degrees include Industrial Design, Visual Communication Design, and Interaction Design. More than forty faculty educate studen...

2000 21st Street in Boulder, Colorado is home to the Madelife Factory. It's a place where stuff gets made. And sold. It's a gallery. And a place to learn. It's a showroom. And a studio. It's a hub for artists and entrepreneurs, alike. Madelife is a collaborative community that designs and produces both physical goods and digital content. From videos and music, through fashion, furnitu...

Want to trim your drawing to the exact dimensions of the art board in Adobe Illustrator? Here's a quick step-by-step ... Start with an image that overlaps the edge of the art board. Use the Rectangle Tool to create a cropping path that is the same size as the art board. Center the cropping path on the art board and send it in front of all the other objects on the art board. (Object &...