I had the chance a couple of months ago to go with Skip1 (a non-profit we love) to Lima, Peru to check out some of the work they are doing there. My intentions were to see if Clover might be able to come along side Skip1′s efforts in Peru, and help in whatever way we could. After getting there, the immediate needs of the little community in Lima we came to serve became strikingly evident… They needed a kitchen and dining room built in order to reopen the orphanage serving the at-risk kids in their area.

The short-story:

Just outside of Lima, Peru, there is a town called Chilca that because of its incredibly quick growth and lack of resources (like most surrounding mountain towns of Lima), has much more people than resources to support them. Because of this quick growth, foundational necessities for growth (i.e. food, water, jobs, and social institutions like orphanages) have become secondary to simply having a shelter. In the midst of this chaotic living situation, a christian organization named ACED has stepped in and really began to help take care of some of these vital elements in these fringe mountain towns. One of these projects began by ACED was an orphanage that was birthed out of a school in the town of Chilca. They built classrooms and meeting areas for the school, as well as housing for 32 at-risk children who needed a place to stay. Having the orphanage on the premises, they also needed some sort of way to feed all the children. A makeshift kitchen was built, but because it was not up to city code, the orphanage had to be shut down and the kids kicked out.

Skip1 has partnered with ACED to build this kitchen and dining room (per Lima city code) in order to reopen the orphanage and once again serve the at-risk kids in the town. But in order to do this (cheaply), it is going to take about $30,000 USD to build the structures, kitchen (with all the appliances needed), and to furnish the dining room appropriately.

(There’s a way better, more complete explanation on Skip1′s site. Check it out here).

Here’s where you come in:

We at Clover have decided to come alongside Skip1 to provide a matching grant to get this project completed. We will match any donation you make for this project through Skip1, up to $15,000 from now until the end of the year. This means that together we can raise the $30,000 needed to build this kitchen and dining room that will allow this orphanage to once again take in these at-risk kids and give them a safe, secure place to live.

We know that many of you are asked to give in lots of ways at this time of the year (or you are doing the asking!), but we wanted to take the risk and share a real, tangible way you can help change some kids’ lives. In the midst of this need, we totally trust that God will take care of these kids in one way or another… We just wanted to share the need with our family!

Here are some pics I snapped of the kids who will be helped by getting the orphanage up and running again… Hopefully it puts a face (or faces) to the cause!

They’re a really great group of people with great coffee, so if you’re up for helping them with their awesome cause, give today on philanthroper.com.

The idea is surprisingly simple.  By supporting a project, you get a varying level of “reward” based on the size of your donation.  You don’t get a piece of the company, or any other benefit besides the good old fashioned feeling of helping someone out.

For the project starters, it’s an amazing way to not only get a foundational investment, but also to effectively presell a product before it’s even created.  For example, these two guys that have an idea for an iphone tripod mount have managed to raise over $100,000 in two weeks.

For those designers out there looking for a little inspiration, check out Mister Retro’s filters for Photoshop. One of our designers introduced this tool to me last year sometime, and I’ve been pretty amazed with its power.

The one I use is the Permanent Press filter, which gives the look and feel of vintage offset printing, including some super authentic halftone effects. Not to mention, the customer support is awesome.

I used really subtly recently for our birth announcement, and when printed it looked like I actually used a vintage press. Rather than having Hatch Show Print create them for me on their presses, I opted for the cheaper version. Here’s how it turned out:

So be sure to check them out if you are a designer and looking for a vintage feel.

Clover is proud to be a sponsor of the Story Conference that is happening in Chicago on September 23-24th. Story’s intention is to gather artists from the church who are communicating the greatest story ever told.

Seating is limited to 500 peeps, so make sure you get in quick.

Personally, I think hearing form guys like Jason Fried (who’s products we use regularly around Clover) and Gary Dorsey (who’s work is dope) is well worth the trip.

So check it out- and if you’re there, come say a big “what up” to us.

In any event, PelFusion.com has compiled a list of 54 Tutorials to “Satisfy the Appetite of any Web Developer”.

While this list is specifically focusing on CSS 3, WordPress & jQuery, it seems to be a pretty good resource probably worth checking out.

This guy has some of the most beautiful and unique collection of script style fonts, however it is his consistency and attention to detail that really impresses me. Hubert Jocham is a type designer with a vast portfolio of fonts and custom type design, but I believe his real expertise can be seen best in his display fonts and more specifically his script fonts. I mean look at the balance between elegance and legibility that he challenges. He’s artist and type designer… doesn’t that have a name? Oh yeah, a calligrapher.

If you want to check out more of Hubert Jocham’s other stuff (including his awesome house) you can go here: www.hubertjocham.de

Here’s a great way someone is translating the way we read magazines to a digital format. You can read the full story of this concept/prototype here.

Here are just a couple of quick thoughts/opinions:

- I love the UI (user interface) on this tablet. It seems well thought through, and beautifully animated.
- Although smooth and easy, they really aren’t “re-thinking” how we digest the information… It seems they are just attempting to translate the way we consume info in magazines to a digital format (much like the Kindle… See my post about this).
- There are some obvious design/formatting problems for the mass market.
- The magazine industry will need to turn into a programmer-driven/UI design world.
- I really hope that as the magazine world transitions into more of a digital medium, design, aesthetics and experience are still considered on equal footing as content. It will be easy for this world to move towards digital, and (due to the lack of programmers and UI designers) forget to maintain a high standard of design and usability.

Those are just a couple of my quick thoughts. If you want to read more, check out the Vimeo page… I especially like “Emir Shad’s” comment below. He says “browsing on this is almost a formal affair, and indeed on all readers including the internet.. browsing should be the opposite of formal, taking in small amounts and (at a) very very fast pace..” I tend to agree with Emir.

Nevertheless, the Mag+ is a beautiful concept.

The design process behind ISO50′s work?

…”pretty much experiment, undo, experiment, undo…etc..etc..ad infinitum.”

An interesting read at Grain Edit.