The rise of design competitions among the community are a growing concern, with many artists believing it’s just a way for companies to source material for free. But is this really the case? Are design competitions spec work?” – Creative Bloq

“We’ve spoken to leading designers from around the world, and asked them to reveal the free and paid best iPad apps for design, creativity, inspiration and organisation. In this first instalment, covering the 20 best iPad apps for designers, we’ve spoken to Nicholas Patten, Dan Mall, Jeffrey Zeldman, Elliot Jay Stocks, Si Jobling, Ben Winter, Claudio Guglieri, D. Keith Robinson and Ajaz Ahmed, to find the iPad apps that they simply couldn’t live without.

Unlike the iPhone, Apple’s tablet has enough screen space to enable more complex interactions. It’s therefore no surprise many within the design industry are using iPads for research, organisational tasks, finding inspiration and even creating work. In this feature, designers give us their take on the best iPad apps for designers.” – Creative Bloq

Created by: Online PhD

1.) “My Village, My Lobster” A Documentary Film Project

“My Village, My Lobster” is a one-hour documentary film that tells the powerful and harrowing story of the indigenous Miskito lobster divers along Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast who risk their lives diving for the region’s most lucrative resource – the Caribbean spiny lobster.

View “My Village, My Lobster” Kickstarter Page

2.) The Yes Men Present: The Yes Lab for Creative Activism

For years, the Yes Men have been tinkering with side-splitting mischief as a way to fight injustice. Our latest film about those efforts, The Yes Men Fix the World, won lots of awards and was released all over the planet… but it simply did not fix the world…

View The Yes Lab for Creative Activism’s Kickstarter Page

3.) The Art of the Patent

New inventions are described in patent documents, which usually have a dry written description and a number of black-and-white line-art drawings. Just about everyone involved with a patent is listed on the front cover–with one exception: the artist who created the patent drawings. In the US alone we now have over 200 years of patents—more than 8 million documents–illustrating everything from the cotton gin to the iPod. Yet the artist is not mentioned anywhere in the patent record. They remain anonymous.

View The Art of the Patent’s Kickstarter Page

1.) Revolights

What are Revolights? Revolights consist of 2 thin profile LED rings (white in front, red in back) that mount directly to each wheel rim (just below the brake calipers) using a series of rim specific clips. Power is supplied via a thin wire to the hub where a lightweight and slim, USB rechargeable polymer lithium-ion battery is held in a special bracket. A small magnet is secured to the fork to provide speed and orientation information to the rings.

View Revolights’ Kickstarter Page

2.) PenMoto

PenMoto is a magnetic ring that quickly retrieves and stores a pen making it possible to transition from writing to typing with the simple flick of a finger. The self-sizing ring and coupler adapt to nearly any pen or stylus, and is ideal for a Wacom pen.

View PenMoto’s Kickstarter Page

3.) Rockit 8 Bit Synth Kit

The goal of the Rockit 8 Bit Synth is to make an inexpensive open-source synth kit. For musicians, Rockit will be a source of gnarly full-blown synth sounds and, for hackers and electronics enthusiasts, Rockit will be an engaging electronics project and a platform for synth exploration. I’m near the end and I’m glad to report that Rockit rocks on both counts. The synth makes deep fat bass, chip noise leads, sci-fi robot weirdness and everything in between. The hardware is well-documented and the code is written in easy to follow C with ample comments, so the average electronics geek will find a project with enough depth to keep them busy for a good while.

View Rockit 8 Bit Synth’s Kickstarter Page

On the way back from visiting my hometown I took a few pictures of the clouds and sunset while I was flying. Also included are a few pictures I took while in Central Park and also a few from @melfi. The image below is one of my favorites from this pack.

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I went skydiving out on Long Island last weekend. This is the result:

I was included in an infographic entitled “Graphic Designer’s Road Map” which features information to help you grow as a graphic designer. Thanks for including me.

View full Infographic