It’s a Hoodie-bag!

I’m a huge fan of hoodies and bags so you could imagine my excitement when I was tipped-off to The Play Coalition and this GENIUS creation. Observe the glory: Talk about the best of both worlds! What sort of crazy genius inventions tickle your fancy? home about...

Designer’s Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

I don’t know about you, but I like my brain and rather it not be eaten by zombies. The fundamental flaw in my plan of survival though is that I’m not a super athletic, parkour , muscle machine. As much as I’d like to be that, I’m your...

Back to the Basics of Design

I was surfing the ‘net and ran across something that brought back a ton of design school memories. It’s a site that was set-up for a book put out by Princeton Architectural Press and Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Spring 2008. It’s a...

Basic WordPress Tutorials for Your Tech Challenged Clients – Part 1

This tutorial series on the basic usage of WordPress is brought to you by akstokes.com At times it is unavoidable, you are going to need a CMS. I tend to avoid CMSs and frameworks in my own design, I don’t like to use the word control freak…I prefer to...

Beneath the Surface at Rutgers

I attended a really interesting lecture and exhibition this past week: Beneath the Surface: Poster Exhibition from Iran at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts. It’s a collection of Iranian posters curated by Nahid Tootoonchi, Townson University. AIGA has an...

Not Just a Chip Off the Old Block

Everyone needs a mentor. Whatever your passion, talent, dreams—everyone needs that special someone to look up to. Well gals and guys, my pizza pie in the sky is Chip Kidd. I fell in love with his design when I worked at Borders Books. Being a creative, I of course...

Best Guerrilla Marketing

The art of guerrilla marketing is a tricky one. If done well it can catch like wild fire and bring more exposure to a brand than any big money campaign could. It’s hard to do well but definitely memorable when success is achieved. Here are some of my faves:...

The OCD of Design

My friends and family consistently make fun of my anal retentive ways. I often pow-pow with my designer friends about our frustration with the lack of order in the day-to-day of, well frankly, most people we know. My world professionally and personally must have...