
14 Things Every Designer Should Do in 2015
Welcome to 2015! Here's a little motivation to help make this year even better than last year. Read, share, be inspired! 1. Draw More. A drawing a day keeps the doctor away. Studies have shown that drawing is a form of active meditation---which can help lower blood pressure, anxiety, and stress! So grab a pen or pencil the next time you're talking on the phone or you have time to kill a little. You'll be doing more good than you think! 2. Be Patient Things don't just happen o

The DesignBloc Feature // PLAY: The Documentary
PLAY: The Documentary play (plā/) verb : engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose. All work and no play, is just no fun! People from all over the world are working themselves too hard, and leaving no time to enjoy the little moments in life. However, our friends at The Urban Conga are making a difference to change that. The Urban Conga, is a non-profit community that activates social interaction through the act of "PLAY." Thei

Banksy Hoax Strikes Again
By now, you may have already read on the internet that the legendary Banksy was arrested early morning by London's Metropolitan Police and his identity has been revealed! Well take a deep breath. We have some news for you... The DesignBloc is happy to report that this story is a HOAX. Yes, once again, the internet has tricked thousands of people. Shocking right? The article featured on "National Report" goes on to identify Banksy as Paul Horner, and 35-year old male born in L

Not your Grandfather’s Great Outdoors Experience
Import.Export Architecture is updating our ideas of what we consider “roughing it” in the great outdoors. They want to look up, way up. Their creation is a 5-story platform that completely changes the camping experience. Each platform can be reached with an attached ladder and the alternating design of the levels allows people to be able to interact with those on other levels. The idea was to create a design that would allow the benefit of a cheap camping option while still b

Art is Blood, Sweat, and Tears...Literally
This story is not for the faint of heart. Brooklyn-based artist, Ted Lawson has taken a new meaning to art being a part of the artist by painting a self portrait using his own blood. This is how he did it.
By using an automated self-filling brush and ink Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC)
machine, he created a vector-based artwork all from bitmap images... and a little of himself.The entire process took hours to complete but Ted kept his energy and blood sugar levels up
A Design Festival: London Style
Mark Your Calendar: London Design Festival
For all my Brits and non-Brits alike, get out your pen and add something to your calendars. The London Design Festival is back and running from September 13 – 21. Started in 2003, the festival has become one of the world’s most important annual designn events. This year you get more than 300 events and exhibitions from designers all over the world.
Just a small tasting of the events scheduled... The Global Design Forum: Debating

U.S. Postal Service Has Gone "Americana"
Graphic design studio, GrandArmy, has just recently completed an overhaul of the signage and packaging for the U.S. Postal Service calling it the "largest retail rebrand project in American history." Wanting to update its 31,000 locations, GrandArmy took the opportunity to simplify and modernize the in-store graphics as the USPS knew their locations needed help. The rebranding took on all materials used in the retail outlets including the tags, signage, kiosks, menu boards an

Bringing People Together with Design: The Urban Conga
Great things are going on right now in Tampa, Florida. A Non-Profit Organization called The Urban Congo has recently designed and set up one of their newest installations: A PINK Ping Pong Table in a park! Their motto is "Come Out and Play," and they encourage public interaction through the power of public design and urban furniture. They even got the Mayor of Tampa to join in on the fun during the ping-pong in the park kick-off. Check out the video below for an overview of

Professional Artist Recreates Drawings from When He Was 4-Year's Old
Dutch artist, Telmo Pieper has given some of his childhood drawings a second chance at life. We all remember as a child, when we didn't care if our drawings had proportioned bodies or the same sized eyes. Well as a 4-year old, Piper didn't care about intricate details as well, and he is sharing his childhood artwork with a whole new twist. As you will see below, Pieper took the time to enhance and digitally render a few of his former adolescent masterpieces by adding material

The Abyss Table
A Cross-Section of the Ocean Christopher Duffy is at it again. This time he brings the ocean to your living room using layers of custom cut glass at wood to create an illusion of the ocean. While Duffy’s work usually plays with gravity, his new undertaking is showing a bit more depth... into the ocean. "I was looking into sheets of thick glass at my glass manufacturer's factory, and noticed how the material darkened as they added more layers - the same way the sea does as it