Wow--- you all are FAST! Within moments of this post, my inbox was flooded with questions about the upcoming magazine. I'm so excited that you are looking forward to it (at least as much as I am!) and I think you'll really enjoy the result!

For now, I need your help. I'm still compiling all of the key aspects for the mag but wanted to give you readers a chance to speak up and give me insight as to your preferences. Essentially, this PDF publication is for YOU, so I want you to love it.

In the comment section, answer the following questions:
1. Name your top three publications that you subscribe to and/or look forward to reading.
2. What is it about these publications that you love?
3. What is missing from the magazine world?

Each commenter will be entered into a drawing where FIVE winners will receive a FREE special edition copy of the magazine, which will include articles and artists not included in the PDF version.

Ready, set, GO!
[I promise that next week I'll be back to regular scheduled posting and there will be no magazine talk for at least a few days. Needless to say, I'm a bit sleep-deprived, so forgive me for my lack of posts lately!]

Ok. So I've been rolling around this issue in my over-packed brain for a week now, and I've just got to get it out before it erupts and overpowers my frontal lobe. Because I'm not sure what the frontal lobe does, but I think it's probably essential in my spinning class.

I've heard from a number of you who are encouraging me to start charging a small fee for Inspiration. And I'm not going to. And it's not that I don't love you all for being so sweet and encouraging me to look at my hobby as a commodity, but I can't. It doesn't feel organic, and to be totally honest? I'm not ready.

Part of why I resigned from my full time position was to focus more on the eZine and turn it into a REAL! LIVE! PDF magazine. A good one, with lots of content and a variety of features, which is what I love about blogging so much. Think of it as Design for Mankind After Hours or something, I don't know. But it's what I want, and it's what I'm going to make.

The new eZine will come chock full of more inspiration, and may even entail a new name. I don't know yet, but what I do know is that I just can't charge for it. My mission for this blog was to make design more accessible and to inspire--- for FREE. I can't fathom the idea of abandoning this thought process so soon, and although the idea of getting a few bucks for the 8,000 of you that downloaded the last issue is pretty yummy-sounding, it's not right. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But not now.

What I will do is offer a sponsorship for those of you who would like to contribute to the eZine. If you're a small business and/or freelancer, of if you're a big business and feel like being philanthropic for the day, email me here for a rate card. I'd like to keep the costs low and still have a few issues to hash out, but for now, we'll start with this.

I can't thank you enough for your well wishes, and for those of you who mentioned that I should charge--- I don't mean to publicly reprimand you. You were only looking out for me, and for that--- I'd give you each a double scoop of Phish Phood ice cream.

Love to you all.

I'm consistently amazed by the art of graffiti, and call me unpatriotic, but I find nothing more refreshing than a spray-painted overpass.

To me, the act of graffiti is nothing more than guerilla artists pushing the envelope in their individual worlds. Who are we to say that their art is less important than the prints, portraits and framed artwork that is hanging in the gallery on Main Street?

And who knows? Maybe the intent isn't to deface public property so much as to wake us up to the world around us. To remind all citizens that beauty is here, and it's found in the most obvious places.

Are we encouraging the creative minds around us?

Or are we arresting them?

I've been doing quite a bit of outside reading on my balcony for the past week, and it's been such a pleasure to take in the sunshine and relax [sans for the wretched beach motorcycles that drive by my house at least eleven and a half times a day].

I often find that when I'm uninspired it has nothing to do with seeking out new resources in an attempt to freshen my eye and unearth new finds. I think this community is fortunate enough that there will always be new leaves to turn over and ALWAYS new avenues to trot on. It's the beauty of art, design and creative purposes.

For me, a lack of inspiration stems from becoming so immersed into this lovely, lovely community that I sometimes lose my own voice among the noise. I marvel at the wonders of our individual gifts, but then sometimes fail to focus the attention onto my own. Luckily, I can feel myself grow uninspired when I sift through pages and pages of beauty and can't relate to the artist. That? That is my red flag.

So today, I will sit outside on my balcony and do my best to ignore the hoodlums of Los Angeles outside my window. Instead, I will regroup and redirect my thoughts for a fresh outlook tomorrow.

Love to each and every one of you.

“All noise is waste. So cultivate quietness in your speech, in your thoughts, in your emotions. Speak habitually low. Wait for attention and then you low words will be charged with dynamite.”

--Elbert Hubbard

OK deep breath. It's time for another readers speak, the last of which you had a LOT to say! I'm loving the collaboration here and am hoping you can help me with another topic I'm a bit nervous about discussing.

Design for Mankind has been growing rapidly since August of last year, and holy speed bumps, I have no idea what to do about it. I didn't realize that my passion for inspiring others would soon become a forum for others to do the same, and I am just so BLESSED to have you all along for the ride. THANK YOU, if I don't say it nearly enough.

So, the ultimate topic of a site re-design has been raised by a few gentlemen, and I'd love to open this idea to you readers, because really, I'd be talking to myself without you. [Again THANK YOU. It's not pretty when I talk to myself. Really.] And before I go on, I will address the subject of ad revenue, b/c this is an ongoing battle between many bloggers that I just really want to get out in the open:

YES. I will accept advertisers.
NO. Advertisers will not affect the content.

With that said, you should all know [hold on to your seat, Dad!] that I resigned from my day job last Friday. It's simply too much, and life is too short to burn the candle at both ends. And I would be totally hypocritical if I encouraged each of you to break free from your boundaries and I didn't do the same. Roadmaps has been the dose of medicine that I needed to feed myself, and that has become quite evident in the past month.

So. To get "technical" on you, I've been dabbling into site designs to support ads for a few weeks and am torn. I need you guys to make the call. After all, this is YOUR site, not mine [THANK YOU again. If it was my site, holy crap, it would get messy.] Here's what I want to know:

What is your design preference for the future of Design for Mankind?
(a). Magazine-style template, such as this, this or this? OR
(b). Simple layout, such as this, this or this?

Obviously, there are pros/cons to each, but my fear is that by offering more content as in the mag-style, the site will become impersonal and/or stale.
BUT, a simply layout is equally stunting, simply because content would be constrained.

Help? [THANK YOU, again. Truly.]
Note: I'll be keeping this post up until tomorrow morning, so give me whatcha got!