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Intramural NYC

Last Thursday night, Rich and I trekked down to Manhattan to attend a special Dribbble meetup hosted by our friends at Squarespace. When we arrived in SOHO, we quickly realized this wasn’t going to be just another meetup. The folks at Squarespace had designed a team competition: Renting a mini hoop basketball game, using the Dribbble API to assign attendees to color-coded, headbanded teams. Team members’ profiles were displayed along with their shots and projected on the wall.

Competition was fierce. Elbows were thrown. Tube socks were pulled up high. And in the end, a winner emerged, winning a black basketball signed by myself, Rich and Squarespace Creative Director (and hoop master), Tyler Thompson, among other prizes.

We can’t thank Squarespace enough for putting together a very memorable night. It was fantastic meeting ~80 local NYC Dribbblers, hearing how they use the service, getting feedback, and seeing a portion of the community in person. The hoop tournament, beer, headbands, swag, and snacks have set the bar high for future meetups, and perhaps created a model for others around the globe.

We’ve just added @ mention support in comments! This is a little screencast showing how it all works. Mentions will also show up in your Activity, making it easier to keep track of what other players are saying about you.

Big thank you to Dribbble consultant-at-large @monkeyatlarge for his 800lb gorilla-sized contributions to the new mentions feature.

Time Out with Alex Rinker

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Alex for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

My name is Alex Rinker. I’m originally from Ketchum/Sun Valley, Idaho but have been living and working in Southern California the last 12 years. Currently I am working at Ted Perez + Associates in Venice, CA as Art Director / Designer / Illustrator. I’m also one of the dudes behind www.generalssurplus.com & www.ascottee.com.

What are you working on?

Currently in the works that I can talk about… Putting the finishing touches on new goods for The General’s Surplus that will be launching very soon! A full blown redesign of my personal site and organizing 10 years of work for that (It’s been 5+ since the last update—yes I know that’s lame)

Currently in the works that I have to keep somewhat vague… Destroying major U.S. cities (via Photoshop) to look post-apocalyptic for a certain video game media campaign, as well as a Logo / Branding project codenamed “The Harbor Project”.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

My favorite shot is the Cocktail Recipe Cards I did these for the bar (The Buck Turgidson) we have here at the office, and pretty stoked how they came out. Eventually I would like to do a second set and maybe a third. Who knows maybe get them all letterpressed and sell as a set—depends on if people would be interested in buying them or not.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

My setup is pretty standard: AI, PS, pen, paper, wacom, imac, chair, brain. The office itself is a little more interesting… All sorts of artifacts, taxidermy, vintage goods, busts, and art surround the space.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

Like everyone else, it is very hard to choose one. Here’s a couple that have stood out recently and why I dig em.

This shot has all sorts of amazing going on. First off I love classic “The End” screens from old movies, then through in an Ale Paul typeface w/ interlocking ligatures, blow it out three dimensionally, add a lil film grain and POW!

Carl Spackler!

Jim Phillips was one of my favorite artists growing up. I had a multiple Santa Cruz skate decks and had his stickers on everything. Matthew’s work/style reminds me of Jim Phillips’ work and I dig that.

Time Out with Regina Casaleggio

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Regina for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

Hey folks. I’m Regina Casaleggio. I live Cape Town, South Africa. I’m a user interface designer. I mostly design web apps, websites and recently mobile apps. My days are spent alongside my husband Christo in our studio called Yarn where we freelance but also design, illustrate and code projects together. I’m also a foodie, lover of craft beer and red wine (Merlot being my favorite), addicted to anything local and handmade and craft/organic food markets.

What are you working on?

I’m currently working on a few fun projects; the most exciting which is a collaboration with Kelly Smith of Curious Office. I’m working on the redesign of Zapd, a mobile app that allows you to build a website on your mobile. It’s my first mobile app design and I’m learning a lot and having a blast! Hopefully I can show some of it soon.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

I’m quite fond of this shot of a Tumblr theme I designed for Style Hatch at the end of 2011. Jonathon Moore (of Style Hatch) gave me complete creative freedom. The brief was to design something I would use for my own Tumblr theme and this is just very me—excited to see it launched soon.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

I try to keep my workspace very minimal—almost like a blank canvas, but I have a view to die for!

I keep a yellow ceramic jar on my desk I got as a gift from one of my first clients (Mud Studio) – it reminds me where I was and how far I’ve come.

I work on a Mac Book Pro and a Magic Mouse. Always open on my Mac: Photoshop, Illustrator, Safari, Dropbox, Alfred, Klok, iTunes and Skype. I use Sharpies and an A3 sketch pad I can “archive” once full.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

I love this shot by Gerren Lamson for the Tasty Trailers website. The project is done beautifully. The textures, type, icons and colours are fantastic. I love how it’s so differnet than what you usually see for Mobile apps design and App website design.

* Also want to thank Bev for the copy editing.

Time Out with Brent Jackson

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Brent for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

I’m a senior UX designer at LivingSocial in Washington, DC. I try to focus on mobile, Web, icon and identity design. On the side, I created Geomicons.com as a resource for other Web and UI designers.

What are you working on?

Mostly the LivingSocial iOS and Android apps, but I’ve also worked on LivingSocial’s Instant product, our brand icons and various other pieces of the desktop website.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

I’m a huge fan of Dribbble’s Playoffs/Rebound feature. It’s an interesting take on the idea of layer tennis, and it’s a fun way to briefly step away from whatever your working on, which I find invaluable to the creative process. I’m also a sucker for simplified geometric forms.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

At home, I have an 11” MacBook Air. I love the small form factor and being able to work at my desk, the couch, kitchen counter, coffee shop or wherever I may end up. I also find that Lion’s full screen mode really helps me focus on the task at hand. I like keeping my desk distraction-free, but I sketch a lot and usually keep a notebook and an Alvin Draft-matic pencil around. I also tend to have a phone or iPad lying around to test comps on. At work, I have a 27” iMac, but I find the extra screen real estate more distracting than useful.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

This is by far the toughest question, because I have so many favorite shots on Dribbble. That said, this shot by Ryan Boyle really surprised me with the animation when I clicked through—a nice touch on top of a great illustration.

Time Out with Prekesh Chavda

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Prekesh for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

Hello :) I’m Prekesh Chavda. I’m from Loughborough, in England. I’m a designer and student. I design icons and user interfaces, but I like designing anything really. I’m fascinated by all visual communication and I’m trying to explore and learn as much as I can. On the side I like to try my hand at some photography and illustration.

What are you working on?

I’ve been working on university projects for the past few months, most of the work is quite dull (and sometimes rushed!) so I don’t bother sharing it. But when I have time, I work on an icon set that I’ve been posting on Dribbble for the past couple of months, a couple of iOS UI projects and I practice developing my illustration style (which is proving to be as hard as I thought it would be).

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

I really like the icons that I’ve been creating for the past few months, this being the most recent shot from the set. I set myself a small challenge to create a larger set of icons, rather than 32px/48px I thought I’d move up one step to 128px. Not a huge challenge, but I want to move onto creating even larger, more detailed icons after this and I figured moving up gradually can help me learn more along the way.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

I’m like most designers I guess, I use my iMac and Photoshop/Illustrator to create the majority of my work and almost all sketches are done in my many sketchbooks. Recently I’ve started taking an interest in illustration so I’ve started using pens/brushes/paint on paper to create lines and textures. I use a Canon EOS 500D (and iPhone 4S) to take photos, but that’s just a hobby that I one day hope to pursue more seriously (when I can afford it! hahaha).

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

This is tough :P, I spend quite a lot of time on Dribbble and I’m constantly blown away by work that everyone posts. I hope you don’t mind if I pick two shots, one icon and one illustration.

This shot by Artua inspires me every time I see it. I think that the icon has a great balance between functionality and realism, so that when it’s scaled down it still looks great. They’ve used the rounded-rectangle shape very well. I’m not a fan of the “fit-an-object-into-a-rounded-rectangle” trend that a lot of designers are taking part in - but this icon does this very well. Of course like all of Artua’s work the execution is flawless, the lighting and details are fantastic.

I’ve been trying to develop my own style as I’ve been learning and practising illustration. So of course I’ve been following the work of many illustrators on Dribbble. I could go on and link to a hundred awesome people but Glen’s work always inspires me and I love the mood and textures in this shot.

Time Out with Justin Mezzell

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Justin for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

I’m a designer/illustrator currently residing in Orlando, Florida but originally from the Golden Coast. I bide my time between Wes Anderson films tending to a puppy, watching nature documentaries, and trying to understand more about space and how to be a husband—which are equally complex and awesome.

What are you working on?

Building a collection of client work, some collaborative projects, an incredible day job working with great friends at Maven Creative (where I do a majority of web and UI/UX design), as well as some self-initiated endeavors for the sake of experimentation.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

I’ve always been interested in the concept of graphical narratives that can capture a moment in time and create a window into someone else’s world. With the past few shots, I’ve been experimenting with this idea of the American Dream and how, in reality, it’s a journey into isolated compartmentalism while, in duality, a desperate grab for an empathetic understanding of our universe.

_86 explored this topic the most fully for me as it pulls on an incredible time in history (with the mid-century modern motif) where this idea of retro-futurism ran supreme in terms of the luxurious class. All this was an attempt to peer into the life of a single individual with his one chair, one table, telescopic eye to the sky in a neatly groomed suburban bubble. That and I have a fond love for geometry. Working in the mid-century modern style allows for the use of functional grid-based illustration with hard angles and inspiring violators.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

I move around a lot throughout my workflow so I tend to gravitate between my desktop and a laptop. Usually both are sitting open on my desk and I’m working between both screens in an attempt to navigate frenzied file placement. I’m all Adobe Creative Suite with some hints of handmade textures. The top of my desk is typically coated with a robust collection of empty coffee mugs. I rarely sketch before I start but if/when I do, I use Microns and any sort of flat surface area I can hunt down. Though I’d like to challenge myself to break way from the computer screen and add more tangible assets into my work in the future. As my workspace is fairly underwhelming, this map of it should serve as a necessary replacement.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

This will undoubtedly be the most difficult question I answer today but Nate Luetkehans was a recent discovery for me that has been putting out some killer work. Oui 1 is a favorite of mine in its line work and reductionist perfection.

Time Out with James McDonald

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to James for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

Hello, I am James McDonald. I am a 21 year old UI Designer dabbling in UX, based in Glasgow, Scotland.

What are you working on?

Right now, I am grateful to be working on a project called Want Me Get Me. It’s a website were a user would go to find great boutique hotels, in different cities across the globe. The main feature of the website is allowing you to filter out Destinations, Dates & Amenities which will help you find the perfect place to stay!

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

I think if I was to single one out, it’d definitely have to be one of my proudest shots and thats this:

Fair enough its not the most glamourous shot, but it means a lot to me. I got lucky and had the opportunity to go work with a startup in San Francisco this year called fav.tv. This shot is all about the new homepage we relaunched, introducing folks to the new redesign of the web app, iPhone app and Android app.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

I like to call my setup my baby. I put a lot of work and effort into buying the best software/hardware to help me along the way and create beautiful things. I’ve attached a photo of my current setup. Right now, i’m using a 27” iMac to create all those pixels you see on Dribbble. For iOS work, I have an iPhone 4S and iPad 2. As for software, i’m currently using Adobe Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4 and if I need to code anything very simply, i’ll use Espresso.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

Hmm, this is a hard one. I’d have to say Rogie King is definitely one of my favourite designers and has been for quite some time now. His bold, risky decisions when it comes to button design are phenomenal, always knowing how to pull it off. When I first saw this shot of Rogie’s, my jaw hit the floor. Bold, clean and eye-catching!

Time Out with Ryan Putnam

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Ryan for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

Hey guys! I’m Ryan Putnam and I’m from Colorado Springs, CO. I’m a designer, illustrator and blogger. I run the design studio Rype Arts, the blog Vectips and the online shop, Vector Mill. On the side I dabble in pottery, sculpture, and I’m a perpetual doodler.

What are you working on?

I’m working on a bunch of stuff right now. I’m revamping Vectips, making some design changes to the Rype Arts website and continuing to work on the Vector Mill crates. I’m mulling over some changes to Vector Mill so that the crates come out on a more regular basis. I’ve got some client work going on now as well. It’s a mixture of branding projects and illustrations.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

This is one of those rare times when the design went almost exactly according to plan. From my initial sketches, to the final shot…I was really happy with it! Plus, it gave me a chance brush up on my typography and truthfully, it was just really fun to put together! An added bonus was I won a cool font and some t-shirts.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

If you know me, you know my primary software is Adobe Illutrator. I spend 90% of my day working in Illustrator and the other 10% in the other Adobe software and Coda. As for non-design software, I can’t live without Evernote, OmniFocus, Reeder, and a browser.

For hardware, my primary machine is a 27in iMac and my mobile machine is a 13in MacBook Air. Other essentials are: Wacom Intous4 Medium Pen Tablet, Moleskine, 2mm Caran d’Ache Lead Holder with HB lead, Pigma Micron Pens, and grab bag of markers, brushes, and ink.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

I love this shot. It has this mid-century modern / Total Recall / Noir feel that I love. Whenever I look at it, I create all these crazy stories in my head about what is being illustrated. Craig Henry is awesome. He is an expert with color, texture, composition, and story telling.

May we suggest…

In our continued efforts to help members discover and follow great new work, we’ve launched a new Shots tab today called Suggestions. Our first release simply shows a stream of shots from people you don’t follow that have been liked by those you do. Hovering over the thumbnail will show you which member did the liking.

It’s quickly become one of our favorite views over here at Dribbble HQ, exposing a seemingly endless stream of new talent. We hope you like seeing what other folks like as much as we like.

:D