Guess what, guess what?! I’m writing a biweekly column for Studio Sweet Studio and it’s launched TODAY! Margot’s Design Dispatch is a digest of all things (you guessed it) design-related. It takes a similar format as my Friday Links posts, but with a little extra snazz (that’s the, uh, highly technical term) for even more fun times. Meg & Tuesday have put a lot of thought into growing their content by putting together an excellent batch of contributors, each with our own specific topic area. Breanna of Moxee writes about self-employment with Be Free, Lance, Elana Schlenker covers all manner of print and publication issues with Pressing Matters, and Mike Smith spotlights bright young talent in the industry with Honor Roll.

You’re just going to have to go, go, go to there!

It’s rare to come across an illustrator/designer with such a huge range in style. And though Nathan emailed me about his work, just this morning I was flipping through one of our older issues of Its Nice That and there he was again. No chance of forgetting about this talented wunderkind now!

How funny is this poster? An icon for every Bill Murray movie, I especially like the Ghostbusters ones! By DKNG Studios, it bears strong likeness to Always With Honor’s work. Via Hipstreet.

Here’s basically everything I meant to post about this week in one dispatch.

+ Beginners is the sweetest movie I’ve seen in a long time. By artist/designer/director Mike Mills, who’s work I adore, it’s based on his own life. Mostly about the complexities of family love & relationships, the film has a non-linear, collage-like narrative that’s especially memorable.

+ Ellie’s on a Howdy Do It roll this week, with posts on SEO and tips for starting a new business.

+ Bet you’ve never seen a water filter as purty as these ones before!

+ On setting the scene for a productive day.

+ I just discovered Doodle! A handy tool for scheduling events w/ groups of people that will eliminate the email back-and-forth. Free.

I’m working on a contract at an agency for the next week or so, that plus my own clients = 14-hour days so…that’s pretty much ALL I’m doing at the moment. HOWEVER. It is Friday and that is enough said, amiright!? I know it’s lame to talk about how busy one is offline, but at least you know that it’s not for lack of trying! A for effort. And with that, enter, the weekend.

Happy Monday dudes! I feel awesome today, my mouth is nearly healed and chilling out for a few days did tons and tons for my productivity. Just in time to prepare for the usual holiday madness! If you’re looking for a special gift this year, look no further than my friend Adi Goodrich who draws portraits of people’s homes. This is a PERFECT idea for anyone who’s purchased a house recently, I can’t think of a better way to commemorate such a landmark event. Plus there’s just so much happiness injected into Adi’s work, how could you not want to hang this on your wall? Instant heirloom for sure.

Adi’s living in LA right now doing production design with Sirocco Research Labs, together their work is very Michel Gondry meets the muppets with a side of glitter. Producers, take note. Hire these kids, because they are going to be huge.

Here’s Adi’s reel but make sure you click-through for clever behind the scenes dirt on each of these projects.
 

Few people make an effort to sniff out interesting stationery, handmade books, and zines when they travel, but get Chad, Kate Bingaman-Burt & I in a car together and apparently that’s all we want to do all the day long day. In fairness we did stop by the Portland Museum of Contemporary Craft to take in the last day of Nikki McClure’s show. Other stops in our meanderings: Reading Frenzy, Ampersand Vintage, Monograph Bookwerks, Pearl Bakery, Grüner for dinner w/ Eli van Zoeren, followed by a quick breeze through Mark Warren Jacques’ studio for dessert. Other new friends I got to see: Meg Hunt, Mary Kate McDevitt, the kind folks from Scribble Tone, Always with Honor, Clifton Burt, and even some Chicago folks like Sage Brown, Elaine Fong, and Simple Scott. I can’t believe we crammed so much into 5 days and I miss it already. Portland, when can I come baaack??