fastco masters of design

I strongly believe that part of being a good designer is being immersed: staying up to date on what's going on in the world around you.  Lots of people in the design community go to the same sources (notcot, core77, yanko, to name a few).  That's fine for industry stuff, but design is more than...well, design.  It's about normal people, everyday life, and business.

One of my favorite somewhat out-of-the-box alternative sources of information is Fast Company.  They are a business-based (print) magazine with an elaborate, free, website.  Every year they have a Masters of Design issue (MOD).  You can read featured articles from this year's issue here.  The feature that caught my eye, though, is called 'Journeys of Inspiration.'  Fast Company and Canon gave four creative types really nice cameras and asked them to take photos of what inspires them.  (The photo above is from Erica Eden's set.)

Design teaches you to see the world differently and always be on the lookout for the next big problem.  When that is applied to photo-taking, the results are often pretty interesting.  People looking at the photos get to see the world from a decidedly different point of view.  The Fast Company sets are a good example of this.  Jan Chipchase's photos are a brilliant example (you can see his work on his blog, future perfect.)