As creative people we are always looking for that spark of energy or that person who’s work never fails to get our heads thinking in a new and more creative direction. I have profiled eight people who I always look towards in inspiration for both product and graphic design.

Brian Hoff is a one of those folks in the design community that make logo design look effortless. His logos are sleek and elegant. A fantastic acid test for a logo is how well it displays in black and white. Given that Brian’s logo gallery is entirely in black and white, yet looks stunning, I’d say he gets an ‘A’ on that test.

Picasso’s Blue period spawned some amazing pieces from within the artist’s self-proclaimed torment of that time. In my Blue period, I have created some abstract vectors all containing a certain geometric-ness.

3D text effects are a growing and awesome design trend. They can add angles, lighting and interest that many 2D text effects can’t bring. Here is an awesome Showcase of 3D Typography that was put together a little while back by Angie Bowen. I’ve also been seen and been inspired by tutorials like 3D Text on Fire and this Fresh Text Effect.

About three weeks ago we announced a giveaway from the awesome folks at SnobbySlice. Thanks to everyone who participated.

John Resig and the jQuery team recently released Sizzle, a new CSS selector engine as a spin off from the jQuery project, announcing its release when jQuery 1.3 was made available for download.

It’s no secret around here, that I like letterpress design, and think that it’s a growing trend (and it would seem that I’m not alone on that. I even wrote a tutorial on how to achieve the look in Photoshop. Armed with my fascination for this style, I combed gallery sites for business cards that showcased beautiful letterpress designs.