Farewell Speak Up – 25 Must Read Articles from the Archives

As a freshman in college, in the Fall of 2002 I stumbled upon Speak Up. It wouldn’t be until a year later that I became a regular reader of what can now only be called an iconic design blog. Speak Up is the first design blog I ever read – maybe even the first blog I ever read &ndash and I am sad to see it go. Rather than simply retiring the link from my blogroll, I have reviewed the recently redesigned (or launched?) speak up archives and selected 25 of the articles that had the greatest impact on me.

1. The Hardest Working Presidential Candidate Logo
2. 100 Unused Logos and What they Reveal about my Design Inclinations
3. Where Do Standards Manuals Go When They Die?
4. Our Own Worst Clients*
5. On the Value of Design: A look at Stationery Package Creative Fees
6. The Improbable Art of Estimating
7. A Career in Graphic Design — in Three Acts
8. A Thought on Commercial Design
9. Learning Curve
10. Sales Copy Gone Wild
11. On “Just”, Awesomeness, and ™
12. The Dude Abides
13. Are We That Boring?
14. Design: Alive and Well, and Living in the Midwest
15. It’s All About the Money
16. CD Packaging, I Knew Ye Well
17. Cuteness and Green Design for a Brighter, Cuter Future
18. Untitled
19. Design Entrepreneurship: Is It Right For You?
20. Keep It Simple, Stupid: The Case for Reviving Communication
21. Design’s Glass Ceiling
22. No Work? No Problem, Part I: Shaping Your Image
23. Is that a Graphic Designer with your Client, or are you just Happy to See me?
24. The Laziest Portfolio Sites on the Internet?
25. Playground