We love sharing our tools and resources. Here's a special gem: Designers Toolbox, a site dedicated to shortcuts for design measurements and sizes. Remember this the next time you need to figure out what the exact dimensions are for a remittance envelope or the actual size of your business card.

In a recent article posted on the website of graphic designer Tim Larsen, the firm asks the question "Is print dead?" and answers it in more than one word. They assert that the answer is not yes or no, but requires the consideration of three important factors: content, control and impact. Whether print is the right choice for you depends upon your product, your desired impact and the way you want customers or readers to look at your company. Print isn't always the best option, but neither is the web.

Larsen suggests that you ask yourself "Which media best...

Before you start writing up your 2011 new year's resolutions, it is time to face the goals you set out for 2010: grow your business, connect with your target audience, redesign your web presence, write a press release, practice more yoga (one of my personal goals).

The theme for this month is: if not now, when.

After Thanksgiving, we'll find ourselves deep into holiday season. Take time in these next two weeks to write down a few goals - both personal and for your business. What can you accomplish before the end of this year?

One of the things I like best about Philadelphia is the city's bike-ability. Strap on your helmet and you can venture through the city or take the scenic route behind the art museum. We are also lucky to have independent bike shops in almost every neighborhood. However, none of them have a creative bike wall to store trade-in bikes like this shop in Altlandsberg, Germany, about 30km from Berlin. It started with 40 bikes and has now grown to 120. The bikes range in age and model. Owner, Peter Horstmann, says that business is up 40% this year – in...

Today is Google's 12th Birthday. The business idea was developed by two PhD students in 1998 at Standford University. The first domain was actually google.standford.edu. Now, Google has become a religion to Internet users across the world. Not only known for their search engine speed, clean user interface and business solutions, the company is also a leader in redefining business culture through their corporate headquarters, Googleplex.

Dear Google, we're honored that you exist and look forward to watching you grow.

Cheers,
BAJ Design

I just finished Seth Godin's latest book, Linchpin. It bridges a broad audience with a very specific message: we are all artists. In his definition, not all artists are painters or writers; rather, lawyers and servers also have the potential to share their art in how they debate or treat a customer.

"Art is unique, new and challenging to the status quo. It's not decoration. It's something that causes change. Art cannot be merely commerce. It must also be a gift."

This book speaks to those who dare to deliver their gifts. He uses...

A recent blog post by marketing expert and author Seth Godin discusses the tensions between senior and junior management. Godin argues that companies can lose pace with what’s new when senior management continues to make decisions. He stresses that it’s important to bring junior employees into the decision making process – not necessarily because they are younger, but because they will offer fresher ideas to the company. 

Executives that stay with one company for too long are more prone to missing trends because they tend to stick with decisions that are comfortable. 

Godin ends his post with this quote: "When...

At first I was hesitant to use the Doodle link sent to me last fall, but now I’m pretty much hooked on Doodle. Doodle is a relatively new service that helps coordinate both formal business meetings and casual lunch dates with busy friends. Even more convenient, Doodle is now an iPhone application, so I can track and initiate meeting requests from anywhere.

Doodle allows you to set up a poll, meaning that you indicate available meeting times. Next you can invite participants, by directly inputting their email addresses or sending out the link to whomever you want to participate. Doodle...

Ask anyone and they'll tell you that the most important stage in any design process is proofing. Making sure every sentence has punctuation, words are spelled correctly, grammar, colors, font sizes...there are so many pieces to the puzzle. Someone once told me that a good way to proof is to read each word backwards. This takes patience, but it does work. I always recommend to have at least one clean set of eyes review before you go to production. It may add time, but in the end, it could save money!

Sometimes finding the exact typography for your design can be daunting. We found this tool that you're going to want to add to your list of resources.

FontStruct is a free, web-based tool to create a custom font. It uses a basic geometric grid to allow a user to build a font system that can then be downloaded as TrueType fonts used in Mac or Windows applications. Once logged in, you'll also be able to interact with other users in their network.

We think it's pretty cool. Try it!