Today we are chatting with Matthew Smith, currently the creative director of Zaarly. Known for his online persona as "whale," Matt has proven himself as a great designer and influencer in the field.

Zaarly is a marketplace where you can ask for anything, set the price, and keep the community rooted by building local economy and helping each other out.

Follow Matthew on Dribbble and Twitter.

First up, why don't you tell the community a bit about who you are, what you do, how long you have been doing it. 

I'm the Creative Director at Zaarly, a place that's bringing business back to neighborhoods again, because life is better when you talk face to face, when you're not just a number. I've been drinking this kool aid for a little less than a year. Before that I owned Squared Eye for about 4 years. Before that I worked at a thrift store.

With the launch of our design content marketplace, CreativeMarket.com coming soon we thought it would be fun to take a look at the most popular design elements in movie posters from 2011. After all, it's the carefully & creatively designed marketing materials for the movies are what get us to the theater.
(honestly, the best selling designs at the movie theater these days are the concessions stands... $6 for a bottle of water?!) The designers capture our attention, but the real success of a blockbuster movie will be determined by the quality of the film itself (not including #4 on the list below)... Let's take a look.

What Will 2012 Bring?

What movie are you most excited about for 2012? What design elements do you think will dominate this year?

Of all the things to be thankful for, color is at the top of the list. Color is saturated into every fiber of our lives. It gives variety to our days, our moments, our very lives. It is there in our darkest moments and happiest memories. It can influence moods and reactions. It is there for us when we brainstorm inovative ideas, new marketing techniques, or complicated craft projects. Color is simply inspiring. So, on this Thanksgiving Day, remember to take a look around you and notice all the beautiul colors that this season has to offer.

How are you celebrating color this season?

Fall Leaf Garland from Maureen Cracknell Handmade as a part of Celebrate Color 

Celebrate color this season with a leaf garland made of felt and yarn. Incorporate a gorgeous color palette into your home's decor without the crunchy mess of real leaves.

Project by Triple Play

Dazzling. Do you think these sparkly aqua-blue accents steer a little bit away from traditional fall colors? You have to admit, it adds a nice depth to the overall setting and complements that traditional orange nicely.

Thankful Tree" by Simply Vintage Girl

Elegant. Bring the outdoors in to create thankful bits of autumn pastels and pattern mixtures combined in a "Thankful Tree."

Parents.com

For the kiddos. Shades of brown add warmth and provide an earthy feel in this Turkey centerpiece. Choose a fun and colorful palette for the thankful feathers.

Tradition, (What Are You) Thankful Four?

What are you thankful...4? A great excuse to use color in so many ways! Write what you're thankful for on colorful number fours cut from scrapbooking or construction paper and share. Turn them in to ornaments to display all weekend. Keep them around as reminders.

"...one year I cut large 4s from paper and placed one on each person's plate. Just before dinner, we wrote the things we were thankful for on our cutouts, then took turns sharing our lists..." - Candice Steelman (reader at Disney Family Fun)

By Holiday Crafts and Creations

There's always room to go classic. Traditional autumn colors make a space warm and inviting. These edible place settings using M&M's to imitate Indian Corn are quite fun!

KABOOSE.com under Thanksgiving Crafts

Create a three dimensional palette with blocks and display an appropriately thankful message.

Design Sponge - DIY Project Autumn Leaf Bouquet 

What better way to say thank you to the beauty of color than to use fallen leaves to create vibrant autumn roses.

avery & anderson - Fall Decor' Part 4: THANKS be to upcycling wine bottles!

Get funky, use a few recycled wine bottles, a bit of paint and some other odds and ends to create and display a thankful word.

Crafty Katie - Fall Burlap Wreath

What would fall be without a wreath? Burlap offers a very earthy-happy texture, while adding a mix of traditional or non-traditional colors livens it up.

FineCraftGuild.com - Abundance Seed Balls

Blending tradition with innovation - did you look close enough? I took a double-take after realizing those were bean-balls in the cornucopia! How creative and fitting to the season. A gentle reminder of warm soup on chilly fall evenings.

INKspired Creations - Paper Pumpkins | Teresa Collins - Paper Thanksgiving Pumpkins

Autumn wouldn't be autumn without a couple of paper pumpkins leftover from Halloween. Another way to utilize a mix of patterns and palettes.

PLAID - Thankful Art Collage

The paper flower on this thankful journal has a nice whimsical feel to it and reminds me of autumn leaves. Writing down what you are thankful for is always a great way to reflect and come back to on days when you aren't feeling so thankful.

 Kind Over Matter - Thanksgiving Fortune Cookies

This simple, yet unique idea encompasses the idea that being thankful can also remind us of the good things that are yet to come.

Incorporating autumn colors into our homes and Thanksgiving celebrations is a special way to recreate that warm feeling we experience when we start listing all the things that we are thankful for. This reason, above all, is why color should be remembered on Thanksgiving Day.

A big Thank you to all of you COLOURlovers for loving color and making our community flourish with so many beautiful creations! Be safe and colorful on this holiday! - The COLOURlovers Team

Creations Used:

header credit: Leaf Garland

Can you remember a time when people used to write letters—by hand! Or, read books made of paper, glue and ink? As our increasingly digital world seems to be moving farther and farther away from traditional print media, companies like Paperlux step in to remind us that nothing can replace the touch, smell, weight, and color of a real hold-it-in-your-hands magazine.

Today's article is presented by the leading magazine and glossy booklet printing company, Next Day Flyers. Check them out for fast turnarounds and amazing prices.

When the graphic design magazine Novum commissioned Paperlux to come up with an innovative magazine cover, the creative juices kicked into overdrive and the result is truly something spectacular to see and feel.

Paperlux, a design studio based in Hamburg, Germany, was seeking a way to focus on the palpable nature of paper. The result was a very tactile approach as a way to draw people to a colorful product sporting a geometric design that makes you ache to just reach out and feel it for yourself.

Geodesic sphere at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World (left - source)

The design was fashioned after what is called a geodesic dome (source). Although the magazine represents a much flatter version of the dome, it still has the texture and look of the real thing.

The DNA11 Palette Contest has come to a close with a staggering 6,000 plus entries of which one (1) winner and four (4) runner-ups are now announced! The mix of science and art proved to be quite intriguing. So without further delay, the winner is...

Under my Skin by BerryColor

BerryColor won a palette-customized, 24 x 36” DNA Portrait. Additionally, this beautiful palette will be added to the DNA11 collection for future use in their line of personalized DNA Art.

The DNA11 Palette Contest was a huge success thanks to many COLOURlovers artists. Finalists have been determined from over 6,000 entries and the final round of voting is now open! Ten (10) Finalists have been selected with COLOURlovers LOVES, five (5) of which will receive prizes.

DNA11 is hosting the final voting on their Facebook Page - facebook.com/dnaart, so head on over and place your vote!

VOTE NOW

To vote, you need to LIKE the DNA11 Facebook page. Choose the DNA11 Artwork Palette you would like to vote for and click on the thumbs-up below it. If you are not already on the voting panel, it is located in the left menu under, COLOURlovers.

Make sure you vote ON the DNA11 Facebook Page, NOT on COLOURlovers.com.

Voting will last until Thursday, November. 10th at midnight (12am) PDT. Winners will be announced Friday, November 11th.

Finalists

In no particular order, the 10 finalists are:

Tranquility by ChairmanCao

When I glow up... by jazminredux

moon trip by sirda

Dog DNA by Miaka

ROCKIN TOWERS by rubyvillasenor

Peace in the Blood by OrigamiMei

Under my Skin by BerryColor

DNA by Any Palacios

big city lights by earlgrey

Art is in my DNA by synthetic innocence

Winners & Prizes

First prize: One finalist will be voted as the winner. The winner will receive a 24x36 DNA Portrait (value $500) their palette becomes a permanent part of the DNA 11 collection.
Secondary prizes: Four runners up will receive $250 DNA 11 gift certificate and their palettes also become a permanent part of the DNA 11 collection.

Good luck to the finalists!

With the advent of the internet the accessibility of information has never been more readily available than it is right now. All the answers are mere clicks away. But rather than stare at endless streams of data, creative minds have taken it upon themselves to reinvigorate the way information is displayed by transforming it into visual art.

Today's infographic may very well put the pie chart to shame but this is by no means a modern marvel. The infographic has existed for as long as humans have sought to express themselves. With the rapid pace at which technology is advancing there has also been an artistic movement brewing within digital seams. We are building a bridge between an inherent need to be imaginative and seek creativity all while living in an age dominated by computers.

Here I give you a medley of infographics with perhaps an overstated pop of color because, as you know, we can all appreciate that here.

When you come home with empty pockets you know you had a great vacation and while the days ahead may have you regretting the whole thing ever happened the folks over at Bundle created the infographic: "America's Most Expensive Towns" so that in the future you will be armed with the information necessary to choose wisely!

The art of true poster design from sketch to illustration to finished screen print is a fantastic experience! The hours of work that go in to some of these designs are impressive in itself! One of my favorite designers, hands down is DKNG Studios.

dkngstudios.com used a simple 3-color illustrative design for this gorgeous poster. Can you spy the wine glass?

Explosions in the Sky 

Explosions in the Sky - Poster Process from DKNG Studios on Vimeo.

The process is so exciting to watch as the final version takes form before your very eyes. As a designer, I appreciate process videos to learn techniques and style I might like to try out in other designs.

Phish poster by DKNG Studios 

This was a 4-color screen print on Astro Black paper. More image, high-res views of the poster and shots from the show in Southern California are on the DKNG blog.

The Appleseed Cast poster by DKNG Studio

The National Poster by DKNG Studios

Vector Patterns by COLOURlovers

I simply can't get enough of the world at DKNG Studios! Between process videos and finished artwork previews, their artistic style is one of the most inspiring I have seen in a long time.

Halloween is approaching! What patterns, palettes and colors are you favoring as we get closer?

We challenge all you COLOURlovin goblins and ghouls to create!

Ray, from The Vector Lab has made all COLOURlovers some Spooky SVGs to play with! You can download them for FREE until November 1st. SVGs can be used with Seamless Studio.

DOWNLOAD SPOOKY SVGs

Use code: HALLOWEEN

SVG vector set by The Vector Lab

 *You have to be logged in to The Vector Lab to be able to download the SVG files. 

Check out these other great Halloween Patterns by COLOURlovers!

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