Monday Load of Links

Ease into the start of the working week with some design food for thought and inspiration.

Vaughan Oliver is the designer behind the look of the classic 4AD music label, for artists such as The Pixies and This Mortal Coil. He has a Kickstarter campaign for a new book that you can donate to.

Stackmagzines.com has their finalists up for their annual magazine awards.

Pentagram partner and graphic designer Natasha Jen talks about her favourite and most challenging work.

IBM wants to create the Helvetica of the 21st century for some reason.

Oliver Jeffers is an an amazing talent across various creative disciplines. Here he talks about art, the universe and everything.

Ivy Ross is the Head of Design for Hardware at Google, here she discusses how human connection is essential to your bottom line.

Stefan Sagmeister will critique your design work on Instagram.

Ever wonder how other creatives ‘get-up-and-go’ in the mornings and wind down at the end of the day? Extraordinary Routines has got you covered.

There seems to be a recent influx of magazines covering issues of mental health and well-being, sign of the times or a passing fad?

The 1980s and 90s were the glory days of album cover design, with labels like 4AD, Stiff and Factory almost as famous for the designers they had creating those covers, as for the music itself. Mute also had an amazing visual vernacular, though one perhaps not so aligned with a singular designers vision. They have a book coming out looking back on those cover designs.

Does the price of entry for creatives impact the makeup of the industry?

Looking to balance you life a little more? Maybe The Swedish lifestyle trend Lagom is the answer.